Dungeons of the Divine (Blue Phoenix Book 2) (14 page)

“Sleep well?” Hui Yue asked as he looked at his three friends in front of him. During their trip through the tunnels none of them managed to catch any sleep, they instead used the time to cultivate. Upon arriving at their room, especially because they were in the safety of an inn with key stones, Hui Yue ordered each of them to sleep half of the night and then cultivate  for the rest. This way they could catch up on some much need sleep.

Although cultivation was something which allowed for them to relax and restore the energy of their bodies, it was not the same as getting a good night’s sleep where their minds were allowed to completely relax and become refreshed in the morning.

The four all nodded simultaneously as they accepted the congee Hui Yue brought from the restaurant downstairs.

While eating, everyone was seated in silence. Although they were stuck within the earth, living in caves far beneath the surface, oddly enough the sun still shone through the window and the bustling streets could be heard outside the inn.

Sitting together in this way reminded all of them of the previous years at the Royal Academy and nostalgia swept over the party before smiles appeared on the various faces, happy memories surfacing in their minds.

“We will make it through this so called Dungeon of the Divine,” Hui Yue said with a smile on his face. “After we get out of these dungeons we will be much stronger. I’m sure that the Rong twins will be as strong as us. Remember how they got accepted into the inner branch of the Royal Academy. We cannot slack off the slightest bit or we will be left behind.”

Hui Yue’s eyes were shining with excitement as he said this, seeing his excitement a sliver of obsession was obvious to everyone, showing that his interest in cultivation bordered towards madness.

“We need more information about this cave,” Hui Yue said as he ate a spoonful of congee, happy to eat something other than dried meat. “We also need to get some of those demon coins,” He continued, as the loss of beast cores caused him to feel great sadness.

The friends knowing Hui Yue’s personality all nodded in agreement. Information and money were the things they needed to survive within this new world, and fortunately they ended up in a town where both were overflowing.

Wearing the black cloaks, the four friends walked down the staircase, having left Little Poppy behind to guard the room and some of their belongings.

As soon as the four appeared at the stairs, all talk within the bar stilled and everyone turned towards the four cloaked people, eager to get a hint of their origin or power.

Hui Yue expected that their appearance would attract attention; however, he had never expected it to be this obvious.

Hui Yue contemplated for a moment before he left the stairs and headed for the door. Finding someone who was interested in selling information in a city like this would be like looking for a tree in the middle of a forest, but to find that person and speak with him without allowing others to overhear their conversation, that would be hard indeed.

Leaving the inn, the white-haired youth also considered whether or not he should enter an alleyway and allow them all to enter the street without their cloaks, but thinking it through, Hui Yue quickly dismissed the idea.

If he were to enter an alleyway wearing the cloak and leave the alleyway without the cloak it would be obvious who they were. Hui Yue did not think that he had to hide himself away, nor did he feel like there was anyone present within the city who were capable of defeating him, however, there was still a nagging feeling left behind.

If water mages were capable of finding their trail, then it would be best if no one knew what they looked like. Coming to that conclusion, Hui Yue moved towards a big building called the ‘Mercenary Guild.’

A small tinge of pain appeared in Hui Yue’s heart, as he knew that this trip would cause him to lose even more of his beloved beast cores, but right now information was currently the most important. Beast cores were something he could always gain later on by fighting.

The Mercenary Guild was a massive building in the middle of the town. Looking around, Hui Yue saw no signs of a City Lord and he guessed that the mercenary guild was the owner of the city.

Not wanting to waste any time outside, Hui Yue made his way towards the entrance followed closely by his friends. As soon as he reached the entrance, ten guards appeared out of nowhere blocking the doorway with their weapons and a menacing aura coming from their bodies, their spiritual energy gushing out.

Their spiritual energy was still of lower quality than that of Hui Yue’s, their cultivation base was also a few stars below him as well. This caused the oppressing spiritual energy from the guards to dissipate as soon as it came into contact with Hui Yue’s cloak. The entire oppressing force being nullified by the cloak clad on his body.

Seeing how their oppressive aura was dismissed easily without the cloaked person even revealing a hint of his own cultivation base fear emerged within the hearts of the guards. Gritting their teeth they were about to launch an attack at Hui Yue as they thought his actions meant that he would force his way through.

“Halt!” A harsh voice sounded from within the Merchant’s Guild, and a beautiful woman strode out from the shadows. Looking at the woman, Hui Yue narrowed his eyes. She was definitely not just a middle dantian Master, she was at least a King ranked expert. Although Hui Yue could hold his own against a Duke ranked cultivator, it was different when it came to the upper dantian. The difference in strength was not something which he could oppose just yet.

“Mister Black, please follow me.” She said as she gestured for the guards to allow passage for Hui Yue and his friends. Looking at the woman, Hui Yue did not feel any hostility only genuine curiosity and for now he followed without asking any questions.

The woman they followed did not lead them towards the main hall where most mercenaries were headed, instead she led them past multiple courtyards which belonged to the mercenaries who stayed within the guild.

Having moved past the courtyards, Hui Yue and the others were  led to a large mansion where the woman went inside, bringing her guests.

Inside the mansion she kept walking with the same steady steps as she had the entire time. She did not stop until she stood in front of a door carved from heavywood, elaborate images of the Azure Dragon could be seen upon it.

Standing still, she knocked on the door a few times before she entered the room, gesturing for Hui Yue and his friends to wait outside.

From inside a shriek sounded out followed by billowing laughter. After a few minutes of waiting,  the heavywood door was pushed open and an almost naked woman ran out from within the room. At first her head had been crimson with embarrassment, but when she almost ran directly into Hui Yue her face paled as she backed away and escaped into a room located down the hallway.

“Enter!” A laughing voice called out, and Hui Yue, who was standing slightly shocked, was roused back to reality. He quickly knocked Deng Wu on the head before he went into the room, followed by his friends.

The feeling of entering this office was similar to the one Hui Yue felt the times he had entered the office belonging to Rong Liang. Whomever owned this office was not to be trifled with.

“Welcome, welcome!” The voice from before belonged to a young man who seemed to be around twenty-five years of age, however the knowledge within his eyes far exceeded that age. Hui Yue could not help but be alert when he saw the man.

He was half naked only wearing pants and his muscles were something Hui Yue envied. The man looked like the same sort of person as Deng Wu, and although he seemed very dangerous he also seemed friendly towards them showing a smile which reached his eyes, making him seem more mischievous than troublesome.

“Please take a seat,” He continued, spreading his arms and pointing to the chairs which were placed randomly within the office.

Looking at the man, Hui Yue took a gamble and removed the black cloak he had been wearing, revealing his features and cultivation base to the man and woman in front of him.

Both gaped openly as soon as his white hair was revealed along with his blue eyes, as the majority of the citizens within the caves were black haired and brown eyed unless they were mixed with magical beasts.

The cultivators which were half human and half magical beasts would always fetch a high price at the markets for servants, but looking at this specific person it was easy to see that he was not half beast. Why he had white hair and blue eyes was even more mysterious due to that fact.

“That was quite the surprise,” The man suddenly laughed as Hui Yue revealed himself. However what shocked the man the most was not  his abnormal looks, in fact what surprised him the most was that the man in front of him was only a Master ranked expert, but the aura around him far surpassed his level, causing the man to not dare taking him lightly.

As they saw Hui Yue drop his disguise, Deng Wu, Wang Ju Long, and Sha Yun followed suit and removed their cloaks, allowing for their appearances to be shown.

At first Hui Yue had expected that Sha Yun would cause a ruckus, but it seemed that mixed breeds were not so unnatural under the surface as they were up in the world above, causing the manager to only let a praising whistle escape his lips as he looked at the seductive snake woman.

“I am sure we are both interested in working together,” The man said with a smile on his face. “My name is Xu Piao. I am the leader of the Mercenary Guild within this city and my family owns the entire Mercenary Guild which appears within this Demon Dwelling Cave.”

Hui Yue made a mental note about the name, Demon Dwelling Cave before he waited for more free information. It was obvious that this man was one who thought highly of equal exchange of knowledge and before he found out how little knowledge Hui Yue actually had, the white-haired boy did everything he could to get free information.

“Where are you from?” Although Hui Yue had shown no signs at all, this man had still caught on to the fact that they had very little knowledge, but he shook his head wondering where they could be from to not know the name Demon Dwelling Cave.

“Information like that is going to be very expensive,” Hui Yue said seriously, his eyes showing no signs of joking and Xu Piao nodded solemnly.

“I will answer three of your questions for that one answer,” Xu Piao said seriously, his eyes not ready to haggle. Seeing this, Hui Yue looked at his friends behind him and nodded his head as he looked at the woman next to Xu Piao.

Narrowing his eyes slightly he noticed how the man nodded his head and the woman slowly left the room, quietly closing the heavywood door behind her, leaving only the five people inside the office.

“I hope that this is worth it,” Xu Piao said with a sigh, however his sudden worry was quickly answered by a small smile on Hui Yue’s lips.

“We come from the world above.” He said seriously, causing the man behind the desk to almost fall from his chair. His eyes widened and his heart started beating erratically.

“Above? There is a world above?!”

”Above? There is a world above?!” Xu Piao exclaimed with sheer disbelief shining from his eyes, his breathing turned ragged and his entire body stiffened.

On one side, the young man wished for nothing more than a different world, but in spite of that, deep inside himself was a voice of reason which told him that if there truly was a world above then he would have known about it. Everyone would have known about it.

“Above,” Hui Yue stated calmly. “Can you not see the stone ceiling on your caves? Above those ceilings is ground filled with lush grass, tall mountains, vast oceans, and endless skies. That is the world where we came from.”

“How did you get here?” Xu Piao was no longer calm and collected. He was seated at the very edge of his chair, looking at Hui Yue with great excitement in his eyes. Even if it was a lie, he was keen to hear about this world beyond his own. He had always dreamt of moving freely, and felt as though the caves were holding him down, still he had never expected that someone would tell him about a world above his own.

Hui Yue looked at Xu Piao for a short while before he withdrew a memory stone from within his storage stones. This particular memory stone was one he had bought long ago back in Riluo City and it contained a detailed path towards the capital from Riluo City. It was a map. A map which showed the way rather than having it written down on paper.

Accepting the memory stone, Xu Piao was still skeptical. He placed it upon his forehead and quickly a silvery blue light flashed, showing to all that it was showing the recordings to the young man.

The recording contained a detailed description of the road and it went through forests, past mountains and through the land, showing the many different landscapes to the Guild Leader. Only after nearly an hour did Xu Piao finally wrest his eyes from the stone.

His eyes were clouded with mist as he handed back the stone, but Hui Yue shook his head, refusing to take it back. “Keep it as a gift,” He said smilingly.

Xu Piao frowned slightly, but in the end he nodded his head. There was no such thing as a free gift when exchanging information. Gaining such a valuable map as the one Hui Yue had given him was never free of charge. It was obvious that Xu Piao would owe him a great favor in the future, but this map was so alluring that he was willing to become indebted to the younger boy.

“What are your plans within our world?” Xu Piao finally asked, having stored away the stone in his pocket. The ordinary memory stone had turned into a treasure for the young man.

“We are here to train,” Hui Yue said while shrugging his shoulders. “Our teacher told us to enter the Dungeons of the Divine and pass through it.”

Hearing this, Xu Piao stared aghast at the young man as though it was just the simplest thing to travel through their underground world.

“Right, ask your three questions,” He said, finally back to his usual self. Although the information gained was far more valuable than he had expected, Xu Piao was not someone who would want to be too generous.

“Tell us about this world.” Hui Yue’s first question sounded.

“There are four tunnel systems,” Xu Piao started explaining right away, not even questioning how detailed Hui Yue wanted the information to be. “Each tunnel is guarded by an elite group of practitioners. Our tunnel system is guarded by the Dragon Corps. The neighbouring tunnel system is guarded by Wings of the Vermillion Bird, the third tunnel is guarded by the Ferocious Tigers, and the final tunnel is guarded by the Armoured Black Turtles.”

“The names are given to these four tunnel systems according to the four ancestors. It is only possible to enter another tunnel system if you have done some great deed like capturing a feared criminal or paying a very large compensation.”

“In our tunnel system, which is called the Azure Dragon Trail, there are thirty-nine caves. Some are as big as this one, while others as small as Cave’s End. The closer you get to the Cave of the Sacred Families the stronger the average cultivation base will be. The stronger you are, the further you are allowed to go into the caves.”

Having said that, Xu Piao finally got quiet and Hui Yue too stayed quiet for a bit, contemplating the information he had just been given.

Considering this information, these citizens of the underground world were not familiar with the name ‘Dungeons of the Divine,’ nor did they seem to know anything about the outside world making Hui Yue wonder just how long they had been living inside these tunnels and caves.

Another thing which made Hui Yue curious was the Cave of the Sacred Families. It was obviously the middle of the four tunnels, meaning close to the middle castle which Lan Feng had told him about previously.

Could these tunnels perhaps be leading towards an entrance to the bodies of the four divine beasts? Thinking a bit about it, Hui Yue knew that it was impossible for him to know before they actually reached that place and instead he considered his other question.

“Can you tell me about the Dragon Corps?” He asked after some hesitation. Thinking it through, this was an important question. Whether he wanted to or not, he had already started a feud against them, and Hui Yue believed in knowing one’s enemies.

“The Dragon Corps are the ones who oversee and control the Azure Dragon Trail. Everyone who wishes to join them are welcome, however the missions you are given will be befitting of your rank.”

“Every cave within the Azure Dragon Trail has to pay a tax to the Dragon Corps each year to ensure safety and order. In return every cave will be under their protection and they will station guards in all cities. This did not matter for Cave’s End, since they were so far away and no one there understood cultivation. To be honest no one really cares about Cave’s End.”

“The Dragon Corps has common soldier ranks for all cultivators below Master rank and for those who never manage to pass the Master rank at a decent age. Grandmasters usually get promoted to captains and get control over a ten-man team which they will do certain missions with. Above the Grandmaster is the Duke ranked senior captains who also control ten-man teams but sometimes do higher ranked missions.”

“Apart from the ten-man teams are five man teams. Some of these teams are five Grandmaster ranked experts together, while others contain King ranked experts. These teams are the special task forces and they usually only get used for really important missions.”

Having heard the information about the Dragon Corps, Hui Yue nodded his head once more as he leaned back in his chair, his brows furrowed as he was in deep thought. Xu Piao was completely quiet, allowing for the guest to think as much as he needed to.

“For my last answer I would like information about life within these caves. Information about people’s lifestyles, lines of work, and the economy would be great.”

Xu Piao nodded his head before he once more started explaining the world he was currently living within.

“Living within these caves has been my entire life so far, I have dreamt of another world, but I always knew it was just a dream. Most people live their entire life within the cave in which they were born. There are all sorts of jobs available, however most young men will spend a part of their life working as a mercenary to try and earn some quick cash. Those who don’t make it will then become farmers, carpenters, merchants. Anything really.”

“The currency within these tunnels is called demon coins and they are created from magical beast cores. At a one core to one coin ratio. Some cultivators with the affinity of Metal are capable of producing two coins from one core, however they are very sought after and as such incredibly rare. Usually they end up within the capital working for the many banks.”

“The tunnels are often a place where mercenaries will enter in groups as they harvest medicinal herbs or hunt down demonic beasts. Demonic beasts sell for a noticeable amount of money, even while dead and their cores are always worth at least one demon coin each.”

“Living within these caves is quite easy. The city does not have many rowdy crowds because the Dragon Corps deals with them. The only bad thing is that it is not that easy to be granted access to the next cave as they are very hard to enter. The price gets more and more extravagant, not to mention the cultivation levels needed to get safely through the tunnels linking the caves together.”

Having heard what Xu Piao said, Hui Yue nodded his head. It seemed as though life underground was exactly the same as it was above ground and for some reason, that caused relief to flood over Hui Yue. As to how they would enter the next cave, Hui Yue was not too worried about that just yet.

“As you might have guessed, it would be best not to tell anyone that we came from above,” Hui Yue said with a sheepish smile on his face causing Xu Piao to snort.

Although the young man seemed naïve and innocent it was obvious that he was planning something, and even Xu Piao knew that he would benefit the most from staying on the good side of these who had appeared out of nowhere.

“Well I would suggest that we sign the four of you up to become part of the Mercenary Guild,” Xu Piao said with a big smile, as he pressed a memory stone and within moments the heavywood door opened and the woman from before arrived.

“Xie Lan, go fetch me four golden mercenary badges,” As soon as the woman had opened the door, the order was given and she bowed slightly before she left once more, closing the door behind her.

“These badges will give you discounts everywhere within the city,” Xu Piao said proudly. Hui Yue was not dumb and he knew that they were given quite some face for instantly receiving the golden badges, yet he said nothing about it, just nodded his head.

Being a member of the Mercenary Guild comes with multiple benefits,” The young man continued,

“Firstly, you will not have to pay for a hotel room, but you will get your own courtyard within our area to stay at.”

“Secondly you will have access to the blackboard where citizens and the Dragon Corps put up requests for items or smaller missions they are looking for someone to undertake. Usually this is where most of the mercenaries find jobs.”

Hui Yue rose an eyebrow at that information and made a mental note to visit the blackboard later. Right now they seriously needed money and it was obvious that the easiest way to get it was by being employed somehow.

It was still possible for him to sell some of the many items he had gotten from all the magic beasts they had killed on their trip, however this thought alone made Hui Yue sad and when he heard about an alternative, hope filled his eyes.

Looking at the young boy in front of him, Xu Piao felt grief as he thought that the reason Hui Yue looked so hopeful was because he truly was poor and the older man decided to help them financially at the start. The memory stone he had been given was a priceless object within the underground world along with the information of the world outside.

The wooden door opened once again and Xie Lan stepped inside, within her hands were four golden emblems, each one of them containing a mark at the top carved out saying ‘Golden Mercenary Guild Member’.

“Don’t be shy!” Xu Piao said with a happy voice, as he stood up from his chair and opened his arms wide, the smile on his face filled with excitement. “Come now, take an emblem each and make sure to bind it to you with your Qi and then I will make sure to show you around the Mercenaries Guild. Oh yeah, you might want to wear those black cloaks again.”