Chapter 476: Heartache
"How refreshing!" Lu Jing, the three-headed dog, called out as he killed the last soldiers that were attacking them. During the last ten minutes, these soldiers knew that they didn’t stand a chance, but even when trying to flee, they had been hunted down and disposed of.
It was not only Lu Jing who was excited about the battle which had just occurred, but all the Gods were as well. They had not been in a real battle for a long time, and even a one-sided massacre like this was enough to get their blood boiling. This battle brought back memories from long ago.
"Let’s destroy the entrance to the Dungeons of the Divine!" Zhong Li, the Qilin, yelled out. His entire body was bursting with energy, and although he was in his human form, a ferocious air hung around him. It was like the aura of an intimidating beast that had just been woken from its hibernation.
"No. Before going, we need to clean up the mess we created here." Hui Yue said sternly. "This is the previous home of the four Divine Beast Gods. We cannot allow for all these corpses to contaminate this place."
Hearing Hui Yue's words, the urge to fight in the many Gods quickly cooled down, and they nodded their heads. In this world, there was no one they revered as much as the divine beasts, and to think that their old home was going to be defiled because of them was enough to make them feel disappointed with themselves.
"What do we do with all these corpses? I am hungry... But not that hungry." Tang Tian, the flood dragon, said as he looked at all the humans. His words caused Hui Yue and the others to feel rather shocked.
"Well if you are hungry, and like human flesh, go eat whatever you want." Hui Yue answered surprised. "Those who are left will be burned. Also, make sure to take their items. Although we have enough materials, for now, there is no such thing as too much. In time we will enter many different worlds, and at that time we will need all the resources we can get."
The Gods nodded their heads and all scattered throughout the battlefield. Some went for the ones who had tried to escape and brought back their corpses while others went for the ones close by.
None of the beasts ate the corpses. It was clear that they did not find human flesh tasteful and therefore just stacked them in one large pile.
Another pile of storage stones kept appearing by their side, and this mountain was in no way small. Hui Yue could feel how the Universe Box within his palm was getting excited looking at all those storage stones, and he could not help but snicker every time he thought about how this lofty and powerful spirit had a weak spot for storage stones.
The cleanup took three times longer than the fight even lasted, and when they finally finished, everyone was cursing at the many corpses. Not many of them were complete, and thus the cleanup had been messy and time-consuming.
As they finished, Hui Yue went to the pile of corpses and summoned forth his eternal flame from within the cave in his chest area. This flame was so hot that even the Gods felt uncomfortable close to it.
With a flick of his hand, a ball of fire shot towards the massive pile of corpses. As soon as they were touched by the flames, they instantly turned to ashes.
Reaching out his hand, the Universe Box appeared in his palm and absorbed all the storage stones.
The Universe Box disappeared into his palm, and he sat down on the ground. Closing his eyes, he entered the world within the box. Here he saw the formation of life alongside Cai Jie who was calmly cultivating. Looking at this friend of his, Hui Yue had great expectations. He even expected that it would take him less time to become a God than he himself took during the process.
Searching further into the Universe Box he also found the realm which he had absorbed. It was there like an obscure area, but the moment he touched it, he could enter the realm with but a thought and leave it just as easily. He understood that if he wished to do so, he could use the Universe Box to send people to the realm and carry them around with him.
Finally, after observing the realm and the formation, Hui Yue turned his attention to all the items which were floating within the space of the Universe Box and his eyes widened, there were so many resources, so many materials, and gold coins. The combined wealth of five thousand soldiers, five thousand top experts from the Dungeons of the Divine, was so outstanding that Hui Yue couldn’t help but have a silly smile on his face as he opened his eyes once more.
"We're rich." He said excitedly. "There are so many materials and wealth that we should be able to travel anywhere without worrying about expenses."
"Well, you need to remember that every world has its own sense of wealth. What is considered a treasure in this world could very well be trash in another." The bull pointed out, and Hui Yue turned serious. "Of course, I know that." He nodded his head. "But we have so many materials, and materials can always be traded for gold. Especially if it’s something from another world."
Hearing this the bull nodded his head. Materials would always sell well, and stuff such as demon cores which contained the essence of the heavens of the earth was always in high demand in any world.
"Let’s rest for the day." Hui Yue suggested. "When it is morning we will break open this cave system and allow for the outside world and the Dungeons of the Divine to once more become aware of one another. Not to mention rescuing the Laws and destroying the headquarters of An He's lackeys."
Everyone thought this was a good idea, and together, they left the grounds of the Central Palace and moved towards the area where the entrance to the Dungeons of the Divine was located.
They were not willing to stay close to the Central Palace for now as blood was everywhere on the ground, and even if they wished to relax, it would be impossible to do so.
They soon reached the entrance to the dragon caves where they had entered before, and Hui Yue, who had never been there before, looked around curiously.
The entrance was incredibly plain. A set of stairs led down into the underground world they had visited once years ago, and there were no guards present guarding it. Hui Yue could not help but feel surprised as he looked at this ordinary entrance.
"Well, let’s camp here for the night. Tomorrow morning we will enter and rebuild the caves." He said feeling a little tired as he thought of all that had happened recently. He had become a God, become one with a realm, and then battled an entire army. His body and internal energy were already in peak condition, however, his mind was strained, and he needed rest.
No one went against his suggestion, and soon all of them were setting up a small campfire, hunting beasts, and setting up tents. Although none of them needed to sleep anymore, sleep was still the best way to recover from mental fatigue. All his friends, especially Sha Yun and Wang Ju Long thought that Hui Yue should at least sleep a little to get into his best condition before the next day where they were going to see him use his Ancestral Worldpower for the first time.
Hui Yue was grateful when he realized the reason these Gods were setting up tents. When Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long returned with two whole deer, Hui Yue quickly started cooking them.
They had not eaten fresh meat in years, and Hui Yue could imagine that these Gods had not eaten dried or fresh food in forever, and everyone was salivating as the scent of roast meat spread throughout their small camp.
Sharing the food, everyone was eating quietly, enjoying the taste of the food. Although food was not necessary for them, it was something they could enjoy and now was the time to do so.
The two snake-women were sitting together, and as they finished eating, they started talking in low voices. From time to time, laughter could be heard from the two, but usually, they were quietly talking, and no one tried to interrupt them as they seemed to be in a world of their own. It was clear that there were not many snake-people in the world, and when they met one another, they would instantly connect. From time to time, they would glance at Hui Yue and giggle.
Hui Yue felt warm in his heart when he saw how his friends were mingling with the Gods, and how all of them seemed to be open to one another. Deng Wu, Shen Wei, and Tang Tian were sitting together talking about the Dungeons of the Divine, comparing experiences, and getting ready for the day that was to come.
Hui Yue did not spend the rest of the night observing the others; instead, he went to his tent. The moment his head landed on the pillow, he slipped into deep sleep.
Hui Yue did not wake up before the sun was fairly high in the sky, but when he did wake up, he felt like a completely different person. He felt so energized and lively. He felt so alive, so powerful!
Seeing Hui Yue awaken from his sleep the others could not help but tease him slightly. "Finally up?", "You slept like a rock," and "About time you woke up." Seeing his friends in such good moods filled his heart with happiness. When Hui Yue reached the small fire they had created he found that there were trays filled with berries, fruits, and roasted meat that was left from the evening before.
"We already ate, this is for you." Wang Ju Long said with a gentle smile on her face, and Hui Yue nodded his head in gratitude while sitting down to eat. It was delicious and much better than he had remembered. After being without food for so long, Hui Yue finally remembered how delicious it truly was.
While Hui Yue was busy eating, he looked at everyone else around him with curiosity and then suddenly he started grinning.
Every time he looked at the two snake-women his heart started beating rapidly. At first, he assumed that this was because of his relationship with Sha Yun, and his love for her, but soon he realized that it was something else.
It was not Sha Yun who made his heart beat rapidly, nor was it even his own emotions that he was experiencing. No, it was Lan Feng's emotions from whenever he looked at the God-ranked snake-woman!
'How long are you going to pretend that she is just a member of the older generation?' Hui Yue laughed to the bird, but Lan Feng just shook his head. 'I can't... Look at me. I am a soul without a body, what can I do for her? What can I give her now? It is true that there was something between us a long time ago, but she suddenly vanished. Only now do I know that she went to my father's realm. She never told me anything and just vanished. I was fearful for so long, but there was nothing I could do. No matter where I searched, I found no trace of her. No one would tell me anything no matter how much I asked and eventually I started blaming her for leaving me so abruptly! Now that she is finally back, am I really good enough for her?"
Lan Feng's voice was filled with pain, and Hui Yue, who had been in a great mood suddenly turned sad because of this. Lan Feng was his best friend, to have him feeling so dejected, how could he not be affected?