Chapter 123
Chu Yueli nodded her head as she sway that alluring body of hers next to him. "Hnn, my sister was my source of inspiration. I wanted us to be a duo like we used to but now the gap between me and her was getting larger by the minute."
Yun Che nodded while rising an eyebrow. "So, you're not after recognition from the sect?"
She slowly lowering her head before she spoke"I am…. But at the same time, I wanted to be stronger so I can stand by my sister's side rather than standing behind her."
"For years, my sister left me and the others behind so she could pursue her cultivation. But recently, her strength just jumped multiple realms. I was shocked when she revealed her true strength to me back in my sect." She continued.
"What is he current strength?" Yun Che decided to asked her even though he knew the answer. He wanted Chu Yueli to open up to him instead of being suspicious. Right now, she wasn't aware of his true ident.i.ty.
"She's…currently in the Eight Level of the Emperor Profound Realm. Way stronger than our sect master." She answered without hesitation.
"She's already in that level? d.a.m.n, she's fast." He spoke in his heart. He expected her broken through to the peak of Emperor Profound Realm before they arrived in the Imperial City. But, there's one thing bothering him. This was supposed to be a secret between the Chu sisters. Why is she telling him all of this? He never expected Chu Yueli's trust level to him is that high and moreover, he's a man. A sworn enemy of her sect. Sort of.
He suddenly stopped walking before staring at her with his intimidating yellow eyes. "Yueli, why are you telling me all of this? We only knew each other yesterday and I am man. I thought your sect didn't trust men." It's not like he wanted her to keep quiet but he didn't want her to be an easy woman who easily gave her trust to others. Moreover, she's the master of his wife and his image of her was quite high whether it came from the novel or from his own perception.
Chu Yueli suddenly went quiet. She really doesn't know why she told him all of this. It just naturally came from her mouth like she was speaking to a friend. She slowly spoke "I don't know. It's just I had this feeling in my heart. The truth is I really don't trust men at all but for some reason I could trust you. I just don't know why. Is it because you saved me twice? Is it because you used your secret skill to save my life? "She really reflects on her action and her trust this time was well put. Moreover, she gave a though when she was invited to the city's treasury to select treasures as a gift but the moment Mihawk declined the offer and left. She subconsciously followed his footsteps. Makes her wonder why did she gave up the opportunity to gain treasures and simply followed him out of the arena.
Yun Che looked at her with curious eyes. Looks like that simple gesture he showed her really caused a big ripple within her heart. It was just a small warning in the arena but that small warning changed the outcome of her match. Moreover, he just used his 'Status Recovery Skill' on her. To him, it was just a once a day skill that he sometimes used for fun but to her, it was a heaven defying skill that the whole world world flipped itself over after knowing its powerful effect.
He merely walked before replying "*sigh… It was just a simple skill. Anyway, Is your sister really that strong? She could easily control the entire sect is she wants to."
She almost wanted to puke blood as that miraculous healing skill that saved her life was being called as a 'simple skill'. She really thought he was sacrificing his life force or his cultivation to save her. Instead of making this bizarre speculation, she shook her head before she spoke "She hid her strength so the sect won't treat her like a valuable object. She did say that she always wanted to live freely without the shackles of the sect. She revealed this to me as I am her sister but to be honest. It made me feel depressed."
"Why is that?"
"For years I am trying to follow her footstep and try to catch up to her but each pa.s.sing day, her strength grew and the gap between us was getting further away. Our dream of becoming the ultimate duo is nothing more than a distant memory."
Then, Chu Yueli had a slight smile on her face radiating her beauty further. "Recently, she was calmer and warmer compared when she left the sect to pursue her breakthrough. I was shocked as she wasn't as cold as before and I could approach her easily. I was really glad I get to experience the bonding between us sisters once more. We finally able to talk on a lot of things together after so many years. Usually, she only spoke a few words but now, she told me almost everything. I was never lonely as I was." She speaks between smiles. He never knew the changes in Little Fairy really had a powerful effect on Chu Yueli.
"Almost everything?" Yun Che tilted his head at the same time hoping that Little Fairy didn't tell her everything about their adventures. She might thought the real him used some kind of evil charm to bewitched her. Not to mention that particular man is standing right beside her.
"Hnn, elder sister had a fortuitous encounter when she went out last time. She said she met a senior who purified her profound energy by saving her life. Her purified energy was much stronger than our own cold energy. She was also bestowed some kind of powerful arts and even the forbidden arts were paled in comparison on what she had learn. It's a miracle she was able to learn such arts and it sometimes makes me envy of her because of her luck."
Yun Che smirks internally as she subconsciously giving him credit. Not directly but at least its something. "What about you? I am sure you're lucky enough to meet that 'senior'."
She turned her head towards him and spoke "Me? It's impossible. She met that senior when she was severely injured. I am not sure I will meet that senior in my lifetime. I am not that lucky."
Yun Che simply kept quiet as he spoke in his heart. "Lucky? You survived a dual ultimate a.s.sault from the strongest elders and it takes more than luck to survived that. Moreover, your ice heart shattered when you were defeated and the 'Status Recovery Skill' restored back your former self. I am sure you'll be shocked in a few hours when those energies finished purifying itself. Besides, you already met that him."
However, he smirks a little when she said certain things about this 'senior'. "Is that senior really strong?"
"Hnn, that senior also helped her breakthrough into her current level as well as giving her a lot of cultivation materials. That senior also taught her several skills that my mind was unable to comprehend. Some of those skills were only tailored to her. She couldn't teach those skills to me even if she wanted to. She even gave me some of it in exchange I kept everything a secret. That's when…."
"When?"
She pulls a deep breath and spoke "I broke through several levels. Jumped from the Fifth Level of Sky Profound Realm into the Peak in an instant. She also taught me a powerful evasion skill from the senior. You saw that skill in the arena right? She was the one taught it to me."
He nodded in agreement as Table Hopper skill was a universal skill that anyone can learn. But, she was able to grasp it the moment she broken through was enough to impress him. It took Little Fairy almost a few days to grasp the basic but she only needed a day or two. "Hnn, extremely precision type evasion skill. From what I can see, it requires you to dodge at the very last minute to temporarily gain distance between you and your opponent. Useful in avoiding pinch type situation. If you have such skill in your a.r.s.enal, why didn't you use the skill before?"
"I.... I used every bit of my energy to cast a forbidden move. In the hand, I got everything handed back to me. I really am weak." She lowers her head remembering that painful experience. She remembers that if Mihawk wasn't there, she would lost her life and no one will know that she's now dead. What pains her the most that her sister would blame herself because of her death.
"Not quite…"
"Eh?" She suddenly rise her head and meet his eyes.
He pat her head like a brother consoling his sister as he spoke "You survived. That's all that matters. If you really loved your sister, survive this and go back to her."
Suprisingly, she did not resist his sudden touch but her face went full red. "Hnn, I will…."
"If you wanted recognition, you could reveal your strength to the sect."
She regained her composure as she was kind of disappointed he didn't even bat an eyelid on what he just did to her. "If I did that, I am nothing more than a valuable object. I wanted to follow my sister's footstep so…."
"You left without her knowing…."
"Hnnn, I heard rumors of the Moon Empress's tomb being unearth and calling all cultivators with my strength so I just left without thinking it through…. I wanted to pursue an edge so I could stand beside her. Ever since my disciple's training was supervised by our sect master, I am nothing more than a cast aside."
"Disciple?"
"Hnn, my sect recruited a special genius from Floating Cloud City two years ago. I was the one training her with my sect's profound arts until…... she was discovered to have possessed a Heavenly G.o.d Spiritual Veins and her cultivation steadily improved. Since then, our sect master took her under her wings and our relations.h.i.+p ended just like that. I never considered my disciple's view towards me. I even took her away on her wedding night. I never knew it felt empty." After shattering her ice heart, she took a moment and thought on her action on that night but she didn't knew the reason Xia Qingyue left that night.
Moreover, she asked her a lot about her husband especially the ma.s.sive events that attract the whole continent into their empire back then because she felt almost similar energy came from the wedding and that particular event. But, Xia Qingyue didn't even gave any remarks and focused on her cultivation. She was disappointed as she couldn't relate or find anything about her disciples's husband and he went missing for almost two years now. She heard some rumors where a man named Yun Che caused ruckus in the New Moon City. A man who destroyed pillars of the seven sect single handed alongside a black clothed woman. Then, she also heard that the same man returned back to the Floating Cloud City and caused another ruckus but by the time she got there. There was nothing of his trace and disappeared once more.
Yun Che just kept his mouth shut as she told him about her reasons for leaving her sister and sect quietly. She really wanted to stand beside her sister so that's why she braved herself into pursuing the legend of the Moon Empress. From her story, she left the sect the moment her breakthrough was complete. The requirement for entering the tomb was sufficient but her training wasn't even complete. She had to do it as she thought that she finally has an edge to stand by her. He also knew that Xia Qingyue wasn't with her anymore because of his wedding gift to his wife back then. But, he never expected she was separated from her master because of that. "I am sure she is grateful to you. She might look tough but I am sure she wanted to thank you for everything that you've done for her. Everything she gained now is because of you."
Despite only knowing Xia Qingyue for a day, he knew and understand more about her than anyone else in the world. She might look cold and heartless but she's actually the one caring for others more than herself. She seeks ways for him to restore his cultivation as well as protecting him by leaving days after their wedding night. Probably when he first came into this world, he was kind of thinking about her bad side rather than her good side. But, at that time. He wanted her to leave so she could cultivate rather than relying on him. He wasn't as strong as his current self back then.
"How do you know?"
"I am just saying." He slowly walked along the familiar temple while Chu Yueli followed him. She looked at the swordsman back for a while now. This man understands her completely rather than shooting her with sarcastic remarks or keep quiet all the time like the others. She didn't understand why he bothers saving her. He could just let her die but now, she couldn't understand his every action.
Yun Che had familiar feelings as he walks the hallway of the tomb. The Moon Empress really built the tomb based on the Apple of Eden. So it means, she had seen how the design and era of the Isu race. But, the thing is how is she able to accessed them? The apple doesn't show any memories as it was simply as a device or a recording disk for the Isu to transmit their messages. But for her to build this kind of temple complete with the markings, materials and mechanism means she might have something in that head of hers. A human cultivator singles handedly building an Isu temple or vault without any help was enough to cause doubts within him.
They had to stop for a rest at one of the pillars and Chu Yueli decided to explore and observe the temple grounds carefully. Ever since he won as the final victor in the arena, the energy seems to powered the rest of the halls with aqua lights and there's no need for him to use his modified kido as a light anymore. Seeing the strange markings, Chu Yueli was curious every step of the way. She's been eyeing on one pillars at the time since they started walking as well as observing the markings on it. She did spoke to him about those strange alien markings and patterns on the pillars as she never seen them before but Yun Che merely shrugged his shoulders as he really didn't want to tell her about the origin of those markings. To think that this tomb was built by the Moon Empress. She got the time and skills as well as powers if she managed to create a tomb of this wonder. As Chu Yueli was exploring the nearby area, Yun Che stood near one of the pillars while Jasmine floats around him at the same time observing for any abnormality in the temple.
Ever since she gazed on the apple, she's been thinking how it actually works and its purpose among mortals especially humans. For an ordinary mortal have the powers to enslave cultivators was enough to tempt any humans to abused its powers. She was wondering what would happen if she was the one possessed it but Yun Che did warn her about the after effects of the apple. Tempting or pleasurable it might be, it would only cause more harm than good. She was also wondering whether she could use its powers to regain what she once lost but it was nothing more than a device of temptation. Because of it, the Moon Empress lost her family, friends as well as her home.
After seeing its effect through her memories, she abandons the thoughts of utilizing the apple's powers and focused on training Yun Che to her cause. The apple might be tempting but she wasn't dumb enough to use it for her own selfishness. When the time comes, his powers will be strong to counter those from up there and she'll be there to reap the fruits of her labor.
Speaking of his abilities, one thing crossed her mind. Yun Che once explained to her that when mortals died, the souls are reincarnated to the afterlife and they are chosen to become Soul Reapers. They can turn mortals into s.h.i.+nigami but their powers will not be as strong or as powerful as normal s.h.i.+nigami. A normal s.h.i.+nigami can overpower a human s.h.i.+nigami by a large margin. It's like wearing a costume instead of having a real power. In order
Once drawn, that's where Zanpakuto is created. Because of the system, Yun Che's body possessed the capabilities of wielding multiple Zanpakuto in his body but he did say that not all Zanpakuto were 'interesting' enough to be wield. The ones he had right now were considered the best of the best. She wonders why he discard almost every Zanpakuto rewarded to him and he merely shrugs them as boring.
However, she wasn't ready to abandon her current powers so she could start all over. Every three or four months, a major realm of her cultivation recovered but she was used to not using her powers to help him. She hated the fact that he never needed her help or could help him in the real world. While she quietly guides him, he was having fun cultivating in the outside world.
Deep down, she wanted to learn how to have fun as well. He did say that she must be ready to discard everything and transform into a new person. It means she would have a new soul, new cultivation method, she will be helped by the system but most of all, she will have a new ident.i.ty and she can roam the real world as she pleased.
But…. All of them had its price. She must forsake everything and start anew. It means she must discard the very thing that was given to her, her skills, Star G.o.d Bloodline as well as her cultivation. She's not the same as Yun Che who can merge his body and soul powers together allowing him to utilized bloodline skills. It was either her Star G.o.d Powers or s.h.i.+nigami powers.
"You've been quiet. Is everything okay?" Yun Che suddenly sounded in Jasmine's mind.
Jasmine immediately regained her composure before she was back to her haughty self. "I am fine. You idiot. Can't you see I am perfectly fine?"
"Jasmine, I know someone is not okay when I see one. You can lie all you want but that energy of yours can't do the same."
"*Sigh, there's no escaping your sight. Sometimes, you looked like you can pry other's secret before they even noticed them."
"I've been with you for almost two years now. I know you like the back of my hand. As for your origin, that depends on you whether you wanted to tell me or not."
"I don't know. Seeing the apple back then, relying on supreme powers sometimes caused more harm than good. I was thinking on what would happen if I used the Apple up there? My origin isn't as simple as you imagined." As she spoke, he remembered reading about her origins in the system's database as well as the original novel. He was hoping Jasmine didn't give in to the apple's temptation. It's true that she could use it to solve her problems but for how long? If she solved her problems, another shall arise. That's why the apple can only be used if the situation requires. The realm up there is not as simple as that if she used the Apple or other Pieces of Eden up there. She'll just make herself a living target up there unless she had the powers to protect the devices.
He nodded and replied "I know the Realm of the G.o.ds isn't as simple as that. Everyone has their own side of the story."
"For the past two years, being with you and Retsu as well as the spirits opened up more of my feelings. You taught me the value of a friends and family. The spirits, you, Retsu and even those newly added phoenix and dragon making me feel like I have a family. I never though they treated me like a sister. A person of my origin is bad enough to consider me as one of them. I felt like the more I get attached to you, I will be devastated if I lost all of it one day. The same feeling when those days happened." Jasmine always watched them from the inner world.
Despite everything that's happening around them, Yun Che and the others never stopped smiling. His and Retsu's origin might be worse than hers but they always had a genuine smile rather than a force one. Retsu might not remember anything but Yun Che did told her a glimpse of her past. What impressed her the most was instead of fooling around with it, Retsu shrugged it off as she wanted to enjoy her new life rather than sulking in the old one. The same as her idiot disciple. She always thought that she was the strongest one among them but comparing her to them is like comparing the heavens and earth.
He shrugged all of those thoughts and simply said "You don't have to worry about it. We'll protect you with our powers. Besides, those girls will be devastated if you gone missing one day especially those little rascals. They really treated you like a big sister huh?"
"Hnnn, parting with them will be the last thing I had on my mind. At first, I only wanted to used you to recover my cultivation."
"Harsh…." He sounded sarcastically.
"I am not finish you idiot! Anyway, the more I observed you and others. The more enjoyable this life could be. I always focused on vengeance and I never knew the joy or fun in cultivating. Seeing you so happy for each level you gained makes me wonder those feelings really felt."
"You know? You've already felt the first step."
"I did?"
"I can see that you're really keen on learning new things. I only taught you a few skills and now you are eager to learn every skill I taught the others. Remember the day I taught you how to use your Haki and utilizing them? You mastered them well and it's the first time I've seen you really enjoy something you learn. Moreover, you were pestering me into teaching you how use Eagle Vision. That alone proves you really enjoy learning new things after all. Before, you learned haki exist. Today, you learn that you can manipulate haki into your organs. Imagine what you learn tomorrow." Yun Che's words really did spark an interest in her. She had all the skills from the beginning and she never actually felt a sense of accomplishment. Just maybe, she'll try to gain those feelings once more.
"But those skills are much more heaven defying than those skills from up there. If they get a whiff of it, they will spend everything just to dissect you. Besides, I never knew I was interested in learning something new."
then, his voice suddenly sound happy as he spoke "That's the feeling Jasmine, the feelings of learning something new. The feeling of leveling up and utilizing the skills. That's the joy of cultivating. It might be hard to restart back at the bottom but you'll get the hang of it. Remember the time I fought the dragon instead of running away?"
"Yeah, you could just s.n.a.t.c.h the fire bead and run away. I would say that's stupid of you." She grunted at that time. Back then, she was really vulnerable and resort to that white demon to rescue her. She might not acknowledge such a rescue but that thing really saved her life.
But, Yun Che simply replied "But, where's the fun in that? The feeling of fighting a stronger opponent and loot the experiences. It might be dumb but it's worth the risk. It boosts my level as well as gaining something to start Retsu's cultivation. Running away sometimes isn't the solution. If you had the capabilities to face it, then face it."
Jasmine was taken aback. In this world, mortals sometimes run away when situation's getting to dire. However, this idiot never runs away. Even when he's badly hurt or being overpowered. He just keeps on fighting and it wasn't a desperate, a winning or a losing fight. It was a fight to gain levels. "Is leveling up is really that fun?"
"Of course it is. You can get stronger by defeating opponents aside from cultivating for years."
Hearing those words, Jasmine went quiet. She never knew the joys and feelings of cultivation. Her abilities, powers and skills were all transferred as well as given to her.
She might be fifteen years old right now but she never knew the joys of cultivating. "I can gain this ability as well?"
"As for the current you. I am sorry to say that the system won't accept you like this unless… you're ready to discard everything and join our ranks though." Yun Che understand the heaviness of his words. It means Jasmine must discard her current skills, abilities and cultivation so the system can reset her soul thus transforming her into a Soul Reaper just like Kurosaki Ichigo rebirth session. It means she must go through the process of hollowfication as well so she can discover her powers but knowing Jasmine, she wouldn't discard her cultivation because those powers belong to someone important to her.
"….."
"Only if you're ready, Jasmine. I wouldn't ask you to throw something of that important away. The day you gave me your true name is the day I will train you to become a s.h.i.+nigami. Well to be honest, I couldn't wait to become your master actually."
"Hmph, this princess would strangle herself before letting you become this princess's master." She shrugged him off floating to a nearby pillar.
"Worth a shot I guess." He shrugged his shoulders before walking to the front.
He wondered why they didn't find any more of those scheming elders along the way but Chu Yueli did told him that she encountered similar hallway as him including the altar and the pedestal but she didn't find anything on it. If what he thought was true, those elders from before probably encountered the same thing and fighting among themselves to determine the final winner. However, none of them will expect the arena seems to have a loophole that they can carry more if they healed their opponents but knowing them, they probably gone for the kill instead.
As they were walking along the illuminated hallway, they finally arrived in a ma.s.sive hall which shocks both Jasmine and Chu Yueli. The hall was much different than the other halls. In the middle seems to have four broken pillars. At the end of the hall, there seems to be a ma.s.sive triangular doorway which leads to another room. By the looks of it, the triangular gateway looks like it was leading to somewhere important. One more thing that is new to the women where hexagonal shape stones carved on the ceiling and even as floors. The thing is those hexagonal shape stones were s.h.i.+ny and some of it had dull colors. Although some of them were damaged, it was still give the aura of a futuristic look.
Jasmine suddenly spoke while observing the hallway once more. "To be honest, I never seen designs like this. Most people would build tombs out of stones, earth and probably wood. Some would even build castles on top of a hill but this tomb, I feel like I am stepping into another realm. This markings and patterns really does bear similarities when that apple was showing those strange markings in an instant. If my mind and soul still function like a normal cultivator, I've pa.s.sed out by those markings alone."
Then, she continued "You said that designs like this is common among the Isu race isn't it."
Yun Che simply replied "Yeah, they built temples to store their research across the world in my original home. Temples like this houses secrets they tried to hide from being reached by humans. However, just remember that the Moon Empress built this vault as a tomb."
Jasmine nodded before they proceeding on entering the ma.s.sive triangular vault doorway and the sight was too majestic to behold. The first thing they saw was a ma.s.sive three sided pyramid floating above what seems to be a stage underneath it. But, that ma.s.sive pyramid seems to be suspended in midair without having any supporting pillar. Looking from a distance, this place really looks like an arena with statues on top of the ma.s.sive stair like structures as well as the stage was surrounded by water. Seeing a pyramid suspended in mid-air, he thought on how such things even possible. Then again, this is the cultivation world where sometimes logic is thrown directly outside the window.
Yun Che however was observing the structural and construction method of the hall. To be honest, this place is really like one of the temples back in his world. Almost similar. They descended under the stairs like stones until they reached the central part of the ma.s.sive hall. The three sided pyramid just floats and slowly rotated above them while they observed the hall to look for similar clues. Looking at the distance, they can also see two more triangular doorways leading what most probably towards the remaining elders. Aside from them and those two missing elders, only six of them are left and they most probably fighting among each other and two of them will emerged later.
If he were to guess, the Apple maybe stored inside that pyramid and he could slice it clean and retrieved it. However, he had a feeling that floating pyramid's function is much more different than it looks. So maybe that thing is probably carrying a different purpose compared to what he was thinking about so he decided to explore the area more just to see whether his hunch was correct. If it doesn't, there's always a plan B right?
"Incredible, to be able to witness the wonder of this tomb. I never knew people of the ancient era able to perform such feat." This time it was Chu Yueli's turn to express her amazement.
"No, by the looks of it. Looks like this tomb was built by the Moon Empress herself."
"Eh, how?"
"Imagine, she left behind a disciple but none of the Empire's records seen any one of those symbols carved in the pillars. There's no markings recorded in the history of the Empire."
"But, she left behind a disciple. She was bound to know something about it?"
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"No, her cultivation back then probably not enough to match the Moon Empress. Just remember, she was a Sovereign and a powerful monarch that established the Blue Wind Empire. Giving her strength and capabilities as a sovereign. I can see she was able to create this kind of temple."
"But, these designs, markings as well patterns carved on the pillars. I've never seen or heard about them before. She even built those kind of energy path back the arena. It's like her capabilities is far more advanced than any other places that I've been."
"I don't know Yueli. It's better for us to see what happens next."
They started to wonder the inner areas of the hall to find whatever clues they could find. The place was really roughed up after thousands of years. It's like there's been a grand battle inside this temple but they were the first ones who arrived here so who was the one roughed up the halls?
Yun Che shook himself from his thought before arriving near one of the statues in the temple. It seems that the Moon Empress built statues of her in the inner hall. The statues were similar with the statues in the ruins of the old temple beneath Xiao Clan's training ground where the statue of the Moon Empress was pointing her palm towards somewhere. However, the statues were not arranged properly and he as a former gamer could see something was way off with the arrangement.
Seeing that Yun Che was keen on observing the statues, Jasmine suddenly spoke "Do you think these statues hold some sort of significance?"
"I don't know. Now that you mentioned it, the statues' positions seem to be off for some reason. Let me try something." He tried pus.h.i.+ng the statues and it started to move with ease. So he arranged them properly and pointed the palms of the statues towards the pyramid.
Click...
A sound was heard as he managed to arranged the statues' position and suddenly aqua lights started to flow all over the statues before shooting off light beams from its palm towers the floating pyramid. Chu Yueli was exploring the other end suddenly had her eyes on the pyramid as well. The lights produced from the palms of the statues arrived on one of the pyramid's sides and suddenly it stopped rotating.
"So, I was right." He jumped from the statues area and proceed on towards's Chu Yueli's side of the grand hall. He suddenly spoke "Yueli, arrange the Moon Empress's statues and pointed their palms towards the pyramid."
Chu Yueli observed the arrangement's effect before nodding towards him and arranged the statues. As expected, the arrangement produced beams of light before making its way towards the other side of the pyramid. The beams of aqua lights stopped the pyramid from rotating and it seems that one of the side was still incomplete. When they tried to complete the pyramid, Yun Che suddenly had bad feelings all of a sudden. He observed the aqua lights movement as he thought about the wonders that the Moon Empress create to protect her tomb. "To think that she created a puzzle to unlock the secrets of that floating pyramid."
Jasmine floated beside him also thinking about the same thing. "Well, there's no denying it. Whatever is hidden in this tomb she really wanted to keep it away."
"Still, why do I have a bad feeling all of a sudden?"
"Me too, lets complete the puzzle to see what else the tomb left in store for us." He jumped alongside Chu Yueli towards the final side of the statues. All of the statues seems intact but one of them kind of had its palm severed from its hand. So Yun Che simply activated his phoenix flames and restored the statue temporarily but his action was unable to escape Chu Yueli's eyes.
"You….you have flame profound energy? I thought you only cultivated the way of the sword?" She observed the flames from his hand and those flames weren't ordinary. It was clearly scarlet and it felt hotter than ordinary flames those Burning Heaven Clan had.
"I was bored. So I cultivated other things as well. Why? Is it not necessary for cultivation?"
Chu Yueli was speechless. He cultivated those skills because he was bored? "A swordsman with scarlet flames. But, he never used that flame in the previous battle. This means he didn't even bother to use all of his skills. Dracule Mihawk, how strong are you? Is your cultivation really at the peak of Sky Profound Realm?"
As soon as the statue was fixed, the beams shot from its hands and arrived at the last side of the pyramid. But nothing was happening....
Suddenly...
Click….click…click….
Suddenly, clicking sounds were heard in the floating pyramid as it suddenly glows with the same aqua lights before covering the whole pyramid. With that it shot a light straight from underneath it to the central part of the stage. All of a sudden…..
Click…
A pedestal slowly emerged from the ground standing proud on the stage. Chu Yueli was curious as the same type of pedestal suddenly emerged from the ground. It also shows the same thing as before that is nothing was on it. She suddenly turned her eyes towards Mihawk who had no indifferent expression than he was before. It seems that he discovered something the moment he placed his hand on top of the pedestal but she didn't see anything on it.
She did give it a thought when his mind suddenly wandered in front of the previous pedestal. "Can he see something that she wasn't able to? What secrets that this tomb hides?" She also thought that the Empress's sarcophagus is probably hidden somewhere in this grand hall but they solved the puzzle and all it gave them was a single pedestal, with nothing on it.
She decided to keep quiet while let Mihawk do his thing. If she was right about him can see something she could not. Then, whatever secrets it has. She will never know about it. Deep down, she really wanted him to give her his trust unless whatever he saw isn't really that important or someone like her doesn't have the strength to shoulder the knowledge about it.
"Another pedestal?" Jasmine suddenly comments. Moreover, she didn't even see anything on top of it even though this is the final hall.
"Yes, her third and final message. This is the end of the line but there's still no Apple or even her sarcophagus. Did she hide it somewhere outside the tomb?"
"Or somewhere inside this tomb. Anyway, we will know once we pressed our hands on it." But, as soon as they walked up to the pedestal. A voice suddenly sounded in the distant.
"Halt, whoever you are. The treasure belongs to the Xiao Clan. We were the first who found this tomb and it is our right to claim it."
"Xiao Clan? We agreed to split the treasure among us and you decided to withhold that agreement." Yun Che and the others turned their head towards the source and they saw two figures suddenly emerged from the triangular doorway in the distance. It seems that the champion from each path had been chosen. Looking closer, one of them is the elder from the Xiao Clan that escort them before and the other was that guy named Lang Long. It seems that he was stronger than he looks if he was able to defeat three peak Sky Profound Realm elders. By the looks of it, both of them looked really torn up probably because of an all-out battle with other elder ranks.
The Xiao clan elder from before suddenly spoke "You….Why are you here? Where is my brother?" He was the only one fighting the other three while using the formation as a suppression field. He was quick witted when the elders tried to ambush him and he was able to kill all the remaining elders before proceeding her. The alliance only works if they wanted to kill Mihawk and Li Yue but since it came to this. There's no helping for them to going back to their primal instinct.
"Hmph, do you ignore the fact that I didn't know that you two scheming Xiao Clan has the counter for that formation? So I aimed at steal it from him the moment he used it on the arena. Looks like you managed to betray the others but I managed to sense him before he managed to betray us. So I used the formation to kill them."
"You killed him? You dare kill my brother? Looks like you really wanted to offend the Xiao Clan?"
"Hmph, its not the matter of offending no more. The moment I killed you, no one will know the truth about this place." As they were looking at each other, they heard a familiar voice and that voice also is the voice they never wanted to hear as long as they live.
"You weaklings again." They turned their eyes and their mortal enemies, Mihawk and Li Yue. But Li Yue's look was quite different and they never knew she was a silver haired beauty. Moreover, those robes of her is famous enough for them to recognized it. They never expected their female opponents hailed from the strongest sect in the Empire.
"Dracule Mihawk?!? And you… looked somehow familiar… Li Yue?!? You two still alive?!? You…!!! You killed them?" They were shock to see they survived the a.s.sault of the other elders and they were surprised to see two of them were here since there were only three triangular doors. It means they managed to bypa.s.s the tomb by allowing two cultivators to advance.
"Hmph, pitiful weaklings. Don't bother using this weak formation against me. You might consider this as treasure but it is nothing but trash in my eyes." Yun Che suddenly pulled a ripped part of the Xiao Clan's formation before burning it off with his flames shocking the Xiao Clan elder. He did keep some of it as provocation for them later.
"You dare call me a weakling?!?" The Xiao Clan elder suddenly roared.
"To tell you the truth, I am. Or What are you going to do about it?" The remaining Xiao Clan elder remains rooted on the spot. He lost his brother in this tomb and only two of them against two of them. With Li Yue's ident.i.ty revealed as the disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard. There's no way for them to match her one on one.
Suddenly, Lang Long regained his sinister smile and spoke "You two have the treasures of this tomb right? I suggest you two hand over the treasures before I am forced to use my final trump card."
Jasmine sweat dropped as the man still wanted to be a man after being cornered like this. "What is the matter with that guy? You can take all them back then and he still wanted to act tough?"
"What if we refuse?"
"You…. Then I will use this." He suddenly revealed a familiar looking black pill on his palm.
The Xiao Clan elder turned his head towards him and slowly widen his eyes. "No wonder it was missing. It was you who took it all along." The said pill was actually the Wu clan pill that was slapped away by Chu Yueli in the arena before to prevent that jacka.s.s from transforming himself. He heard from one of the elders of that clan back then that this pill is actually their latest product and it was still unstable.
"Now, hand over the treasures before I will use the pill and end your sorry existence."
"You…" Chu Yueli was about to step forward but Yun Che simply raised his hand stopping her.
"Mihawk….."
Yun Che didn't actually stop her from doing something stupid but he actually had another thing in mind.
"Fine…. Use it." His words actually cause Chu Yueli to snapped her eyes on him. He actually wanted that elder to use that sinister pill? Is he really that mad?
But what she saw on his face was not an expression of provocation. He looks like he is…
"Is he smiling?" She murmured under her breath. The truth is Yun Che was curious about the pill the moment he laid eyes upon it in the arena but he wasn't going to let Chu Yueli face such as sinister thing so he warned her. However, now that this is the fight of a lifetime as well as to satisfy his curiosity and he decided to provoke elder Lang Long to use the pill instead.
Elder Lang Long suddenly burst out laughing as his provocation. He wanted to scare him off using the pill but didn't expect for the swordsman to ask him to use it. "Haha… if you really wanted to die. I won't bother using this precious pill I got from the arena and just simply kill you. Or you're too scared and suddenly lost your mind."
"Like I said, use it. If that pill is exactly what they say about it. Feel free to use it."
Lang Long almost lose his cool as he continued to trick him. "You….I am not bluffing… I will use it….." But Mihawk remain indifferent and still smiling there while asking him to use it. As for Lang Long, he didn't even know to effects of the pill. He wondered why the Wu Clan treated this pill as sacred. It was only a testing pill but he couldn't help it by feeling ma.s.sive powers contained in that pill.
"If you use it, it'll be the point of no return. Are you sure this is what you want?" The remaining elder from the Xiao Clan almost given up the moment he heard the monstrous swordsman was able to counter their treasured formation. He took and given to all of the elders for them to use it on that swordsman and that black clothed woman. Moreover, he even prepared another plan to counter the formation's effect
"I don't care. The two of them will be able to match us and we will be the ones in disadvantage if we take them on. I decided to use this pill. I don't know what and how the Wu clan made this pill but for the sake of ending their lives. I am going to risk it." Then, with a swift motion. He tossed the sinister pill into his mouth causing everyone to be on their guard.
Seeing the pill when into his mouth, Chu Yueli remain on guard as she spoke "What are we going to do?"
Yun Che immediately gave her orders to stay away from the central stage. "Go up over the statues and watch from there. Make sure to disrupt one of the statue to cancel the light."
"But…" She looked at him worriedly.
"Go… I'll deal with this." Yun Che looked at her with his intimidating yellow eyes and Chu Yueli reluctantly complied. She followed his order and remove one of the statue thus cancelling the lights pointed at one of the pyramid's side. Suddenly the pedestal underneath it slowly descends back under the stage.
Chu Yueli understood now as he wanted to protect that pedestal until the fight was over. She heard about these pills from him that it increased the cultivation and powers at the same time transforming them into hideous creatures. She made a lifesaving decision back then to slapped the pill away from the Wu Clan elder but she was quite shocked when she actually seen its effect.
Lang Long's body suddenly transforming into something ma.s.sive than his current self. What shocks them is his head started to grow large horns as he screamed for agony when the process really expands his muscles. When the transformation was complete, what emerge from the smoke was a pair of red eyes with hairy legs and arms. The rest of them widen their eyes as a giant half man half bull was roaring across the hall in intimidation. Seeing the rage in its eyes, there were no sign of human control. Only pure instinct or rage.
Last time, his opponent transformed into an orc but now "d.a.m.n, he transformed into a Minotaur."
Not just a Minotaur but a twenty feet tall Minotaur. Then, it suddenly moves itself into one of the ma.s.sive statue of the Moon Empress and pulled the stone weapon from its hands with ease. In coincidence, the ma.s.sive Minotaur pulls a stone axe from its arms before roaring itself in intimidation and provocation once more.
ROOOARRR
s.h.i.+ng…!!!! Seeing the half man half bull was suddenly grew large and enrage he immediately drew Yoru from his back as he spoke with a sinister smile as well. He didn't even feel intimidated but he actually grew excited.
" Finally, a proper fight."