Chapter 379: Gathering
Hui Yue was about to leave the room when he suddenly heard a voice call out to him, “Little Yue!”
The voice was very familiar. It reminded him of his younger days, and with a great smile he turned around and looked at Rong Xing who was running towards him. Behind her was Deng Wu, Rong Ming, Gao Yan, and shockingly enough also the third prince of Taiyang Kingdom.
Opening his arms, he gave Rong Xing a warm hug only to hear a loudly complaining Deng Wu followed by laughter from the rest of his friends. This seemed natural, but while Hui Yue was filled with happiness, he was not complacent in the least. His spiritual energy was spread throughout the room, and he was able to sense any movements happening within this innermost chamber.
While Hui Yue was busy greeting his old friends, Xiao Ning and the three others suddenly became alert and shifted their positions so that they surrounded Hui Yue. They did not allow anyone to even come close to Hui Yue. They would not want anybody to interrupt their reunion.
“I am glad to see that you are all safe and well.” Hui Yue said from the heart while observing all his friends, and he gave an approving nod to Deng Wu. For them to have reached this far, it was clear that Deng Wu had to have used Little Dragon’s strength.
“We need to get out of here now; there is nothing more for us to find here.” Hui Yue sighed as he had let go of Rong Xing. He then gestured for the Saints to come closer which they instantly did. None of them asked even a single question. They just waited for Hui Yue to introduce them.
“These are my new friends. All of them are Saints of the Taiyang Kingdom,” Hui Yue started, but he was interrupted by all the Saints bowing to the third prince. Although Xiao Ning did not seem to be too respectful, he still bowed to the prince. The other three Saints were incredibly respectful, but even so, after bowing they went back to stand behind Hui Yue.
“Your highness, I did not expect to see you here,” Hui Yue said with a nod to the third prince. Although he was currently living in Muchuan City, he was not a genuine citizen of the Taiyang Kingdom. If anything he belonged to Shenyuan, and due to this, Hui Yue did not need to show the same respect to the prince.
“For now, we need to leave,” Hui Yue said with a smile on his face, but his spiritual energy was observing the many Saints that were starting to move. Although Hui Yue was strong, he did not believe that he had the capability to protect his friends and at the same time defeat these Saints.
Xiao Ning was not slow and looking at Hui Yue he understood that something was wrong, therefore, Wu Wei poured out from his body. It created a dome-like barrier around them, and it was not before his Radiant Aegis was complete that he could relax.
The barrier was large since it needed to cover an astonishing ten cultivators. The quantity of Wu Wei that this barrier consumed was unimaginable, and from time to time he would pop a red medicinal pill into his mouth. This was followed by a fluctuation in the energy surrounding them.
Leaving the chamber was no hard task. Although the Saints were starting to tail them none of them wished to be the first to move. Instead, they all insisted on waiting for Xiao Ning to run out of energy, yet after a full day of walking the energy shield was still active.
They had left the innermost chambers of the Grave and had taken the same tunnel they went through on the way in. This place was familiar, and they could move far swifter than they had been able to if they took one of the other tunnels.
Even though it was like this, they were still followed by the Saints. On the way, they came across many lower ranked experts that were heading for the inner core; some were there to look for treasure and others just to see the actual grave and to say they reached the core.
Amongst the many experts, Xu Min could not recognize any of them. “I had hoped to run into Wang Ju Long or Sha Yun. Even Ma Kong would be good to run into,” Hui Yue mumbled, but Lan Feng quickly answered him. ‘No. It is not a good idea to increase the number of people you need to watch. Let us rush out of the grave, and split up the treasures. Make sure that the Saints are aware that they owe us one and then get rid of the third prince.’
Understanding what Lan Feng said was correct, Hui Yue could only sigh. He nodded his head before he gestured for them to stop. It was time for them to rest during the night before moving further through the tunnel. There was no reason to travel during the night.
As soon as Hui Yue’s group stopped a large group of people around a kilometer away also stopped in their tracks waiting to see what would happen.
“The Saints will be on guard duty during the night. Two Saints together and we will switch three times. Since we don’t have enough Saints, Deng Wu will guard together with me,” Hui Yue said.
No one questioned his orders. Instead, they quickly gathered up and got ready to rest. The lowest ranked person in their group was the King ranked experts, but all of them were experts of the upper dantian. Although they now went to relax for the night it was not because their bodies were exhausted, nor was it because they needed food as after reaching such a level their bodies were sustained by the essence of the heavens and the earth.
The reason Hui Yue decided they needed a break was because he felt uncomfortable traveling through the tunnel at night. The light stones were already dim, and they would dim further making it possible to accidentally release the traps they had previously managed to avoid.
The night went by without many issues; the worst part was that the following group of Saints slowly inched closer and closer during the night. By the time it was morning the group of Saints were now only half a kilometer away.
Ignoring them, Hui Yue broke up camp and started moving in the early morning. Although he ignored these experts, his other friends had a hard time being as carefree. This caused a tense atmosphere to descend upon the group.
Xiao Ning was about to keep the radiant aegis up all day, but before he summoned his Wu Wei, he saw Hui Yue shake his head. “Go to the front and make sure no one succeeds in attacking up there as if that were to happen then we would truly be in a terrible position.” Hui Yue mumbled low enough so that only Xiao Ning could hear what was said.
Hearing the words, the Shield of the Taiyang Kingdom nodded his head solemnly before he marched to the front. Hui Yue, on the other hand, stayed at the back, ready to welcome the Saints should they feel the need to throw their lives away.
The three remaining Saints mingled with Hui Yue’s friends. They started talking with them about what they had experienced in the tunnels and compared their trips. When they reached the point where Hui Yue had used them as bait to trigger the traps, the mood instantly changed from being somber to becoming cheerful. Seeing how well the three Saints managed to make his friends forget about all their worries was enough for Hui Yue to feel grateful to them.
During the day, none of the experts tried to get closer to Hui Yue and his friends. Instead, they ensured to keep the same distance between them, something that did not surprise Hui Yue in the slightest. Although these experts were strong, and had the advantage of numbers, none of them truly trusted the others. They were all from different families, and all of them had the terrifying Snowstorm Prison etched in their mind. This, coupled with the fact that so many Saints had been killed within a very short time was enough to cause them to hesitate greatly. It must be known that normally Saints would have an almost unlimited lifespan, and it was truly a rare day when a Saint died. When one Saint passed away the whole kingdom would mourn their passing, but earlier a whole group of Saints had been killed almost instantly; they were slain as easily as a knife cuts tofu. This was truly enough to shake any cultivator.
Even if they did not feel like admitting it, this Emperor in front of them scared them witless. They had no idea where his strength came from, what his true strength was, and whether or not he even originated from their plane. Everything about him was a mystery, and no one wished to risk their lives to get the answers to their questions.
As long as Hui Yue was at the back, no one tried to inch closer, in fact, they increased the distance between the two groups. This continued for the following days. At first, they had seen a lot of experts passing by them, aiming for the innermost chamber, but soon all the experts going further and further into the grave understood that since the Saints had returned, then there was likely no treasure left behind. Soon what started to be just two groups of experts turned into a train of people, pushing their way forward trying to exit the massive tomb. No treasure meant that none of them had a reason to stay any longer. If anything it would just cause them to lose more cultivation time.
While Hui Yue was dismayed at the sudden increase in people, the Saints were very much pleased with it. Forcefully suppressing their cultivation base, they were able to slip closer and closer to the group belonging to Hui Yue, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Unfortunately, they were noticed every single time, and as soon as Hui Yue made eye contact, they lowered their heads before they dejectedly returned to the larger group of Saints. What their current aim was, no one truly knew. Even the Saints hunting down Hui Yue would have been incapable of answering. Yes, they wanted his treasures, but none of them wanted to fight him. Yes, they could kidnap his friends, but then they would have to fight him. With a sigh, they all decided to be satisfied with what they had gained and slowly leave this godforsaken place filled with dangers, traps, and monsters.
Leaving the tunnels took far less time than when they first explored and evaded the traps on their way in. This time of the trip was merely a few days, and as soon as they exited the tunnel, they found themselves in the large chamber where Heaven’s door still stood. Though now it was partially broken. It was, without a doubt, one of the strongest sealing methods Hui Yue had ever seen.
“You are all safe!” Suddenly a joyful voice rang throughout the bustling room. Everyone turned to look at a young, beautiful person with long black hair who was wearing a dark green robe. Looking at this person it was impossible to tell whether it was a woman or a handsome man, but Hui Yue knew the answer. The smile on his face increased tenfold as he laid eyes on Wang Ju Long.
“Who is that?” Xiao Ning quietly asked Deng Wu who in return whispered back. “it is the boss’ wife so don’t get any ideas,”
“Uuuuh, the boss has a wife!” The three other Saints cursed. Their words were not as low as the words Xiao Ning and Deng Wu had said, and the sound was enough to make Wang Ju Long’s face flush red as she stopped advancing. She instantly turned tail and ran back to the infirmary.
“Look what you did!” Hui Yue scolded his new friends before he sighed and went towards the infirmary. This time certain that he would get to have a proper talk with this shy woman.