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 shining 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 shining 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.
This is the northern most area of the Abyss Corridor, almost reaching the northern borders of Aslan. It will be the territories of the wind county, the Indus Empire, if one heads further north. There is not one that dares set foot in another county’s land, let alone a place of extreme north where countless terrifying and mysterious soul beasts lurk.
Continuous dense coniferous forests fill the horizon. Every leave has been covered in frost and resembles a needle. Countless ancient trees like pillars of ice fill the s.p.a.ce between the heavens and earth. The frost is their outer layer. Not a single bit of green can be seen. The bitter winter season has arrived two months prior and the countless blizzards howl through the s.p.a.ce between the trees. Snowflakes like goose feathers blurring everything in sight. 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.
From the sound, it is two people. Their paces are light and fast, as if advancing forth at an unbelievable speed.
“We’re reaching the borders of the Abyss Corridor. Any more north and we’ll be out of Aslan. Are you sure it is here? A high-leveled soul beast like Tong Que* should be in the center of the Abyss Corridor.” In the dead silence, a young man’s voice pipes up.
“Just follow me. Don’t you even trust my judgment? Don’t forget what my gift is, hehe~” A young girl’s voice moves in the air like silk.
A young boy and girl appear in the morning light of the pale whiteness of the forest. Moving towards the furthest end of the snow-filled forest at an unbelievable speed, their dainty figures resemble two streaks of lightning in the snow.
“Lord Qi La, we are almost at the northern border of the Abyss Corridor. Are you sure Tong Que will be at such a border lining place?” Lu Jue stands at the entrance of the large forest of ice. Looking at the blizzard at its brink, he narrows his eyes and asks. Speckles of snow dot his brows, making him look like a statue of a G.o.d covered in ice and snow.
“This is the Northern Forest, the most extreme north of the Abyss Corridor and also in the entire territory of Aslan. Actually, if you move towards the north more and reach the land of the wind county, there’s less blizzard and coldness. The unchanging snow throughout the entire year and the heavy blizzards are largely due to this being the habitat of Tong Que. It is one of the most rare soul beasts in Aslan. It can create wind and snow over a large expanse of land. To a soul master located in the territories of Aslan where we battle with the elements of water, it is an exceptional soul beast. As the wind and snow are also environments within the element of water, this also allows us to form an array quickly.”
“But isn’t our gift the ability to form an array at any location? Won’t soul beasts like this be meaningless to us?”
“I ask for you to capture Tong Que as your soul beast not to battle the n.o.ble lords in the territories of Aslan. It’s meaning is not to allow you to create an array easily but to change the nature of your surroundings so that you can prevent the Wind Lords or Earth Lords from creating arrays easily in the air or soil. In a world of ice and snow, Water Lords will be able to overwhelm them much easier. This means that Wind Lords and Earth Lords will need much more effort in attempting to defeat us in a territory of the water elements.”
“I understand now……” Lu Jue glances at Qi La’s face that is decorated with the frost. In his eyes is the reflection of the snowflakes flying in the air.
“And this is only one of the abilities that Tong Que possess. Do you know what it’s calling is known as? Its loud and clear calls are also known as the “Horn of Ares”. As a soul master possessing Tong Que, this calling will result in the soul master’s return circuit impacting the Lord’s Seal, allowing the soul powers of both the soul beast and soul master to multiply tremendously instantly. Although it is only temporary, in a battle where each second counts, it is extremely valuable.”
Qi La tightens his robes around his body and paces quickly into the wind and snow covered forest quickly with Lu Jue by his side.
The young girl looks at the scattered pieces of corpse around them and a innocent but evil smile appears on her face. Her eyes are large and bright, looking like liquid amber. She is around the age of eleven or twelve, standing right on the line of being a youth and woman. Her body is still thin and long, without the curves of a mature woman. Her dainty b.r.e.a.s.t.s are just starting to swell like exquisite flower buds. Yet there is an air of maturity on her face, a charming look within her eyes and these are bound to arouse a man’s most primal desire. In addition, coupled with her undeveloped thin physique and pale and tender skin, they further evoke a sinful desire.
The young girl wipes the congealed blood on her hand lightly with a clear piece of ice. The ice melts into water, washing away the stains on her hand. Drop by drop the b.l.o.o.d.y water drips onto the snowy ground, resemble jewel after jewel.
A young boy who looks a year or two younger than her is currently leaning against a tree, the skull from a gigantic soul beast under his foot. The six large eyeb.a.l.l.s on its forehead has been gauged out and scattered on the ground. The youth looks at the purple blood on his hand and the dozens of corpses of soul beasts surrounding him. An unruly and perverse smile appears on his innocent and adorable face.
“Sigh, so troublesome.” The young girl suddenly lifts her head towards a certain direction. A smile forms on her face. “They’re here again.” Her black pupils have lost their colour completely, leaving behind a murky white swirl like that of a blizzard.
“What is here gain?” The youth lifts his head and looks at her with his innocent eyes full of evil.
“Of course,” The young girl suddenly pushes herself aside, the place her foot has been stepping is now covered with countless forearms with the diameter of tree trunks; her moves are as light as a ghost as she grabs towards the ground, “Something that wants to die is here!”
After a large explosion sounded, the young girl pulled a large beast resembling something between a spider and scorpion from the ground. The monster struggles as it emits ear-piercing shrieks, yet the young girl’s expression is carefree and sweet, as if she’s a normal girl who is taking a stroll in a flower garden while holding a cage with a songbird inside it.
She twists herself around and with a flick of her wrist; the monster is hurled towards a large trunk of a tree instantaneously. The sound of bones breaking can be heard as the monster howls as if it’s a wild beast from the depths of h.e.l.l. “Between the third and fourth leg on the left of its chest. That’s where the soul’s seal is located.” The young girl pats away the snow on her hand as she says lightly to the young boy.
The young girl moves slowly towards the young boy. Lifting her head and gazing towards a random direction, her blurred gaze is unsettling. After a moment, her pupils clear up. Raising a hand, she covers her mouth with it as she giggles, “Yes, the surrounding is clean now.”
“Then let’s wait for Tong Que.” The youth leans against the trunk of the tree. The acc.u.mulated snow atop the large trees fell from the impact of the monster. At this moment, from the height of the cloud cover, they are falling to the ground loudly. The young boy and girl are shrouded in this goose feather-like snow. They resemble two angels of destruction from the heavens.
“Eh?” The young girl suddenly raises her head as her pupils turn a murky white, as if employing countless dense fog and blizzard, “Seems like a powerful person has arrived……oh now, it’s a powerful person and an unbelievably powerful monster……”
The youth stands up and moves nearer to the girl slowly.
“But it’s okay. They’re still far. By the time they get here, it’s probably two or three hours later.” The girl’s pupils regain their shine and emit a treacherous gleam like jewels.
The boy glances at the girl before his lips c.o.c.k up into a smirk: “Two to three hours? To be able to sense their soul powers from such a distance away, you are that terrifying monster.”
The young girl raises her hand again and covers the corners of her mouth. She blushes before mumbling shyly, “How can you say something like that?” Looking straight at the boy with her illuminating pupils, “Aren’t you also a monster just like me?”
The snow falls faster and heavier. Ten meters away and the vision is clouded by goose feather-like snow.
The heavy snow falls and stops. There is no law or order.
Lu Jue walks slightly behind Qi La as he glances at him from time to time. After so many years, he himself is no longer a young boy but a man. Yet Qi La is identical to when he met him in the desert, his frost-like features have not aged a single bit. His beautiful appearance is still otherworldly.
As Lu Jue stares dazedly at Qi La, Qi La stops. Lu Jue collides with Qi La’s back and his face flushes immediately.
“It’s here.” Qi La gazes into the distance.
“Tong Que?” Lu Jue attempts to cover his mishap as he asks calmly.
“Yes. We will head over there now. You catch up with my speed.” Qi La replies without turning.
“Then……don’t raise it too high, if not I can’t catch up……” Lu Jue’s face flushes again.
Qi La’s frost-like expression melts and he is unable to resist the rare smile appearing on his face. As if a scarlet flower blooming in the valley of wind and frost, its beauty is like a dream. Lu Jue is so stunned that he forgets to speak.
“I will wait for you, don’t worry.” Qi La glances at Lu Jue as he smiles lightly.
Lu Jue nods. His entire body is covered with the golden patterns of the return circuit immediately. Lu Jue turns to look at Qi La. His skin is still pale and he hasn’t even employed much of his soul powers. His silhouette twists a few times in the air before disappearing completely.
Lu Jue sighs. He has always been aware of the gap between him and Qi La. With a loud pop, he disappears into the blizzard as he catches up with Qi La.
Lit. *Electric Fox
Lit. *Bronze Sparrow