Chapter 502: Together
Having listened for a full evening and night, everyone had a lot of information to digest, and no one spoke for a long time.
Looking around, Hui Yue frowned. "Where is Xu Piao?" He asked confused. When he had called out the Saints his friend had not appeared and even now he had not appeared.
Deng Wu, just now noticing that he was missing, shrugged. He had arrived with Hui Yue and was unable to guess. Next to him, Rong Xing said nothing. She just sat in her chair, clenching her hands tight seemingly lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes were downcast and her mouth kept moving as if she was speaking, yet no sounds could be heard.
Xiao Ning also just looked around and shook his head. "We haven't seen him for a long time." He said with a sigh. "He never really showed himself at the start as he always trained and cultivated on his own waiting for you to return with the power to allow him to reunite with the woman he loves." He said with a doubtful voice. "One day he just vanished. He didn’t leave a note behind and said nothing; he just disappeared without a trace."
"We don't even know when that was really." Xiao Ning continued apologetically. "He was the only resident left in the Hui mansion, and the rest of us did not visit him often. He rarely came out to see the servants either so asking them provided no other answer than the fact that one day his chambers were just empty."
Hui Yue frowned upon hearing this. Had Xu Piao lost his patience with Hui Yue and started searching for alternative ways to become a God, or what had happened? It was hard to say, but now that he was gone, there was nothing Hui Yue could do about it. It did not seem as if there was a crime behind his disappearance or someone forced him to leave, and thus Hui Yue decided just to leave it be. If he came across Xu Piao later, he would like to hear what had happened, but he was not in a position to pay attention to what everyone was doing. He had far more important matters to attend to.
Hui Yue led his consciousness into the Universe Box and looked around. It was as if he was standing in a never-ending galaxy. He could see the red realm floating in the distance, taking up such a small region of space within this storage treasure that he truly understood why it was an immortal treasure.
"What can I do for you today?" The treasure's spirit asked with a dry and rather annoyed voice, but the emotions within were completely ignored by Hui Yue. He had experienced too much these last couple of days; he needed to get answers so that he could plan what to do in the next few days.
"You once said that you could contain the entire universe if I were strong enough." He started by reminding the spirit of his own words, but that did not seem to phase the spirit at all. Instead, it just made him nod his head. He had indeed said such words, and he stood by them. No one besides himself knew exactly how amazing a treasure he was.
"I want to store this entire world within the Universe Box and bring it with me. For a world such as this, how long will it take me to gain enough strength to do so?" The urgency within Hui Yue's voice was obvious, and it made the spirit listen to him. He had been inside the Universe Box this whole time and did not know what had transpired in the outside world. He was unaware of the fact that Hui Yue had lost a loved one, and he was even more unaware of the fact that he had been battling a God ranked cultivator. If he felt like observing what was happening outside, he could easily do so, but normally he didn’t care about the events in the outside world.
"With your current strength, and considering how great I am, it is not difficult for you to store the Divine Beast World here. We can do it in three days, but removing it from the Universe Box will, however, take a bit more time. When it is stored here, you can visit the world as often as you wish and you can send people here as you wish. The world will be completely in your control. It is like bringing your home away with you."
Hui Yue felt excited. The fact that he could already bring the world with him meant that he did not have to wait long. "Thank you." Hui Yue said from his heart as he bowed to the spirit. Right now he truly was grateful, and his actions startled the spirit quite badly, but he also understood that something had happened.
"We will store the world tomorrow, and I will set out on my journey." Hui Yue said before he vanished and returned to his body.
As he opened his eyes, everyone was looking at him. Everyone was waiting to hear what decision he had made. Hui Yue was the leader of their group, and therefore it was only natural that he decided what they were to do.
"I need to go to the Netherworld." Hui Yue said slowly. "I need to speak with Yanluo, the ruler of hell, and hear how I can resurrect Ju Long. I will move this world into my Universe Box and carry it with me."
"I know I swore that I would not go without you." Hui Yue continued as he remembered the oath they had taken when he had come back from the Grave of the Unknown. "But I am unable to wait for you all to become Gods before setting out. It will take many years, and I fear that my heart will die if I wait that long."
"I will visit the Divine Beast World often as I will be bringing it with me, but I won't take anyone to explore the vast universe until they are Gods. We will walk a dangerous path in the future, and I cannot keep you safe if you do not have at least the strength of a God."
"We will set out tomorrow, and I will be taking Huli with me." Hui Yue said with determination. No matter what they were thinking, they understood that there was no way they could change his mind.
The rest of the night was busy. Hui Yue ordered all his friends to look after the Hui mansion as that is where they would be living. He gifted them various medicinal pills to help those who were still not Saints breakthrough to the Saint level. Ma Kong, Gao Yan, and Rong Xing were still King ranked experts. They had a long way to go before they could become Gods.
The atmosphere within the mansion was tense, but everyone soon relaxed. Ma Kong had contemplated for some time before he went to Hui Yue's side.
"Yue... Although I wish to support you, it is not my fate to become a God and fight for the world I live within. I have enough dealing with the other auction houses and merchant families out there, and my family cannot manage without me. I do wish to support you, but I can't join you in this." He sighed, and Hui Yue, who had already guessed it would end like this nodded his head. "Return home and take care of your family. If you were to force yourself to become a God, then you would very likely end up dead from a lack of combat experience."
Hui Yue did not wish to see any of his friends die, and he understood that Ma Kong had never been one to go out and fight. What suited him was to live a normal life amongst mortals. He had never aimed for immortality in the first place.
Gao Yan scratched his head and stepped forward as well. "I wish to say the same." He sighed. "I want to help, but I fear I will be more trouble than help. I am not suitable for combat any longer, I am now a person who sits behind a desk, and that is where I belong. If there is anything you need from the Divine Beast World, then I will do everything in my power to assist you, but if it concerns the galaxy or outside worlds, I am afraid I am not the person to turn to."
Hearing that two of his friends had backed out, Hui Yue did not feel disappointed but relieved. This meant that those two would at least live simple lives without the constant threat of danger. They would have a peaceful life that didn’t have them traveling from one death trap to another and constantly experiencing life and death battles.
Not just this, these two men had not been in a real fight for a very long time. They were not suited for the life of following him and the others to the heavens above, but when Hui Yue looked at Rong Xing, he saw a determination in her eyes. "I will not leave the Hui mansion." She said with a stern voice. "I am currently the weakest but one day I too will become a God, and then I will join you in your fight against An He."
It was clear that she blamed all of her father's behavior on An He. He had been lured into becoming a General, of that Rong Xing was sure. It was also An He's fault that Hui Yue now wanted to kill Rong Liang.
It went without saying that Lao, Jo, and Deng Wu were going to follow Hui Yue and Sha Yun even more so. Seeing Rong Xing was also on their side, these experts felt a certain nostalgia.
"I will follow you!" Ye Ling was the first to call out of the four Saints that Hui Yue had met in the Grave of the Unknown. "You have already done so much for me, you allowed me to become a true expert, and you have taught me about life. Although you are younger than me, following you has so far been the best decision of my life. I will continue to follow you, even if it means treading a dangerous path that may claim my life in the future."
Hearing the determination in his voice, Zhu Jun and Luo Qiang both nodded their heads and steeled their determination. "We will follow you as well." They said, and finally, everyone's eyes fell on Xiao Ning who sighed. "I love my family and my simple life." He started. "But when I hear about the battles that are to come, when I think of how exciting our time was in the Grave of the Unknown then my blood starts to boil. Yes my family is great, and it is true that they might be in need of my protection, but going with you does not mean that I cannot come home to visit." The more he spoke, the brighter his eyes shined.
"What's more is that it will be quite a few years before it is my turn to enter the Formation of Life. It is only natural that I spend this time preparing my family for how it will be while I am gone. Let’s do this!"
Xiao Ning raised the cup in his hand up high and smiled at everyone. "Our friendship started with a disaster, but we will turn it into a great adventure! Together we brothers will go to new worlds and experience a new life! Together we will make our names resound throughout the entire galaxy, and together, we will revive Wang Ju Long!"