Chapter 9.1 (1/2)
Chapter 9: The Corroders (Part 1)
The heavy coldness solidifies not only the air but also all sound.
Apart from the intermittent sharp ghost-like shrieks of the howling wind,
the large expanse of forest is deadly silent.
The endless acc.u.mulation of snow resembles clouds from the heavenly realm,
enveloping the ground.
The fast paced footsteps are getting louder.
[Twelve Years Ago]
[West of Aslan Empire – Abyss Corridor]
The dusting of stars is like white jewels in the pitch-darkness of the night sky.
The night sky is thin and high, brought about by the slightly chilly wind of autumn. The entire universe is limitless.
The pristine gleam of the stars and full moon shrouds the Abyss Corridor in an atmosphere of illusion.
Only the occasional rushed rustling disturbs the silence of the night. What one can see among the dimness of the trees are the golden shadows like that of lightning.
In the large and dense forest is countless Dian Hu that are lying low but will take action when the time is right.
Lu Jue crouches in the night like a young and agile black cheetah. His fingers are caressing the ground carefully, like the light and tender touches of a man grazing his fingers over a young woman’s skin.
His eyes are downcast; his thick yet soft lashes covering his pupils that are as wide and blue as the ocean. His lips are pursed slightly due to nervousness. Surrounding him are countless short flashes of gold light, appearing and disappearing instantly in the thick blackness of the night. He suddenly lifts his head. His lean yet strong fingers are entangled with a few strands of white electric flow. After a few moments of buzzing, they dive into the ground following his fingers, as if thin lightning piercing into the ground.
Buzz------
A loud and sharp sound tears into the wind. A glowing silver array suddenly rotates onto the surface of the ground. Countless cyclones dash and surge from the ground, rustling Lu Jue’s black battle rob. Yet within the next second, the infinite howls disappeared. As if everything has been drowned by the waves, there is no sound; even the leaves on the trees no longer rustle with the wind. Everything is in slow motion like the seaweed at the bottom of the ocean…… Between the sharp tree branches, countless number of golden Dian Hu* reveals their true nature. Those golden shadows that had been as quick as lightning bolts before slowed down and seem to be soaring slowly among the branches……Their eyes are like round and wet ambers, their pelts white and smooth, their claws are small but sharp, their fluffed tails are about a foot long, and the golden lightning bolts that envelope their entire body……
“Start engulfing them……” A magnetic male voice sounds from the darkness behind Lu Jue.
Lu Jue blinks and focuses before standing. Bending at his waist and arching his back, a burst of gold light emits from his skin, the golden patterns wrapped causes him to resemble hollow porcelain. A loud start rings in the air as a ghoul-like silhouette of silver mist and shadow struggles out from Lu Jue’s broad and toned back. In an instant, this separates into countless thin airwaves of silver, surging towards each Dian Hu before wrapped around them like the tentacles of a jellyfish……
A hint of a smile appears on Lu Jue’s youthful face. Just as he holds himself up for the last stage of engulfing, he feels numbness at the soles of his feet as if he has been electrocuted. Lu Jue looks down and sees that the array he formed has broken in many places. Almost immediately, the Dian Hu that have been moving slowly shrugged off the later of white airflow that hugged them tightly. Resuming their lightning speed, hundreds of them that had been lying low pierce towards the stiff Lu Jue. The sharp pain begins in the depths of his body and shoots to the surface, tearing Lu Jue’s consciousness apart instantaneously. The last thing he sees are the golden bolts that are swarming towards him.
When Lu Jue regains consciousness, it is already the wee hours of morning. The dew has solidified on the ground and the coldness of mid-Autumn seeps through his bones. In this sharp chilliness, the senses on all parts of his body return to him. Lu Jue opens his eyes to find himself lying on the ground with a long black robe made of woven down and silk. Qi La sits beside him with his gaze towards the night sky. The sky is the dark blue of ink right before the dawn breaks. The rays of light gradually pull apart the silent darkness, eating away the large patch of black. Light slowly appears at the horizon. The remnants of the light from the stars sprinkle on Qi La’s beautifully handsome face. At this very moment, Qi La’s face is as beautiful as a miracle. However, in Lu Jue’s heart, Qi La’s existence has always been akin to a G.o.d, to him, he never thought that Lu Jue is a mortal of the earth. When Qi La had found him in the barren desert the year he was twelve, he had been on the brink of death cladded in rags. At that moment, Qi La had appeared untainted by dust and radiated a fleeting beauty, as if an oasis.
From then on, Lu Jue became Qi La’s disciple. He will follow him to the ends of the world. Together they’ve been to the barren lands of the extreme North, even to the borders of the wind county, the Indus Empire. They escape from the jaws of ma.s.sive soul beasts that had been in existence since the ancient times; they’ve always been to the Earth Empire’s underground spring in the southern ground county in search of the Diamond Duckweed that has miraculous healing properties. Lu Jue has grown from a naïve youth to the most respected Top Disciple in the hearts of Gelanerte today. He no longer remembers himself in his youth, yet Qi La’s appearance has been constant throughout these years, beautifully handsome and charismatic, as if he will never age. Sometimes when he looks at his reflection on the surface of a lake, he sees a strong man with none of his childish looks remaining.
Lu Jue struggles to sit up. On the ground is a large golden array that is slowly rotating. Within the boundaries of this array, hundreds upon hundreds of pure-white Dian Hu are suspended in the air. As if they are in a place where time has stopped, including the leaves and dust in the air, they all seem to be like a suspended galaxy in s.p.a.ce, immobile. The strong golden glare reflected from the ground to Qi La’s face makes him resemble a G.o.d even more.
Lu Jue flips and sits up. Taking off the black robe decorated with phoenix feathers off his body, he gently places it onto Qi La’s body. He then lowers his head in respect and kneels before him.
“Did you know that the Dian Hu almost tore your soul apart just now?” Qi La’sv voice is calm yet tender, as if dew seeped in cold water, carrying a haunting effect. His lips are pink and soft like a flower petal.
“I apologise. I was careless.” Lu Jue kneels on the ground. The small wounds that had been made by the golden flashes on his shoulders and face are healing slowly.
“When every soul master is capturing their soul beast, the rule they always adhere to is that they can only release their soul when the soul beast is on the brink of death, heavily injured or when their soul powers are at their lowest so that they can engulf them. The process of doing so is extremely dangerous and in the history of Aslan, countless soul masters have been engulfed instead. As a disciple, how can you be so conceited that you released your soul so carelessly before even gauging the level of soul powers of the soul beasts?”
“It is my fault. However, Lord Qi La, may I ask a question?” Lu Jue’s profound gaze settles on Qi La. After seeing him nod, Lu Jue says, “Why did you ask me to capture a soul beast like Dian Hu? In the territories of Aslan, especially in the Abyss Corridor we are situated in now, there are countless other high-leveled soul beasts, why not let me capture them?”
Qi La turns to look at Lu Ju. Seeing the young and handsome man before him, he realized that time has pa.s.sed by so quickly that Lu Jue is no longer the wild youth he found in the desert. He is now tall and handsome; a disciple that many young girls find attractive. Even among the female soul masters, when in private, refer to him as the most handsome disciple on the land of Aslan. His broad yet firm body holds a lightning like strength and aura. Under the graving of time, his stardust-like features now have an aggressive masculine beauty like that of a ruler.
Qi La reaches over and caresses his temples before saying: “Lu Jue, the abilities of soul masters are as such – one is the soul master’s own soul powers, the other is that of their soul beast. Yet these two are not independent of each other, instead, they are fused together and one will affect the other. You inherited my soul’s return circuit and this decided your gift, which is the control of s.p.a.ce and time. Dian Hu is a type of soul beast that, despite their soul powers not being on par with the large monstrosities, yet their speed is much faster than most soul beasts excluding the four ancient ones. Dian Hu are the fastest soul beasts I’ve discovered so far. In addition, on the territories of Aslan, they’re the few soul beasts with ‘multiple’ as their unit. If you’re able to capture them to be your soul beast, then you will not have one, but an army of them. Also, they are amazing at regenerating and multiplying, which means that as long as the last of them has not been destroyed, then they’d be able to regenerate at a fast speed and regroup into the army.” Qi La’s fingers smooth across Lu Jue’s thick brows. “This is why I hope that you can capture them and make them your First Soul Beast.”
Lu Jue nods, “I apologise, my lord, I have let you down.”
“It’s alright. You can capture Dian Hu next time. This army of them isn’t the largest. In the depths of the Abyss Corridor, there are even more that live in the same habitat.”
Qi La stands and drapes his robe over his body before glancing briefly at the sky. The few stars that had been s.h.i.+ning on the horizon disappeared from the sky as if submerged by thick ink.
“It’s awake……let’s set off……” Qi La’s face is shrouded in the darkness, leaving behind only the prominent profile.
“What has awaken……?” Lu Jue stands and asks Qi La.
“Tong Que. That is the Second Soul Beast I want you to capture. Let’s go.” Qi La reaches out a hand and rests his pale fingers lightly onto a tree trunk. Countless silver silk threads start wrapping themselves around the trunk densely like a spider web, interweaving into a s.h.i.+ning web, after a moment, a chess piece has been created.
Lu Jue moves over to the trunk. Before raising his hand to touch the chess piece, he suddenly remembers something and turns to ask Qi La: “My lord, I haven’t seen the Shu Hai, Zang He brothers these past few days. What have they been doing?”
“The two of them left a few days ago for the surrounding waters of Rennes. A message from Tiange said that the Sixth Lord, Xiliuer, disappeared around that area and hence the brothers went in search of him.”
Lu Jue nods. “Xiliuer is known as the Immortal Lord, and if he’s on the surrounding waters of Rennes, there shouldn’t be much of an accident, right?”
Qi La’s eyes narrow and he says nothing. After a while, he turns to look at Lu Jue: “First, take care of what you need to. As this generation’s highest ranking disciple, the Disciple of Heaven, your are definitely not good at controlling your soul powers. Even the Disciple of Earth, Zang He, and the Disciple of the Sea, Shu Hai, control theirs better than you, let alone compared to me. You should at least match up to the highest “Heaven” status of your name.”
Lu Jue kneels again. “I will remember this firmly. I will do my best in hopes that one day, I will be the Top Lord above all just like you.”
Qi La looks down at the handsome yet humble Lu Jue. With a low voice, he says, “It is not hope. It is a must that you will overtake me as a Top Lord and become the new pinnacle of soul bending in Aslan.”
[West of Aslan Empire – Abyss Corridor – Northern Forest]
Looking ahead, the ma.s.sive forest is covered with heavy layers of acc.u.mulated snow.