“I wonder how many enemies there are, or even how the battle"s going…”
Bai Yunfei sat by himself in his room to stare out from the window where the rest of the clan was battling. He was one of the few that weren"t strong enough to be deemed battle-ready and thus had little idea of what was going on. All he knew was that the earth and even the skies themselves seemed to be shaking something fierce with a tremendous amount of power. He was pretty far away and still he could feel the ground beneath him shake. Each time it did, Bai Yunfei felt like his heart would skip a beat as well.
At first, Bai Yunfei thought he was simply "terrified".
The longer he thought about it, though, the more Bai Yunfei felt differently.
This wasn"t "fear" he was feeling…but excitement?!
The blood within his body seemed to be boiling with jubilation. A mysterious feeling was pounding from within his chest as if begging to be released. Could it be…was this the feeling of thirst? A thirst for blood and a desire to do battle?! Was this some kind of bloodthirst for those from the Soul Refining School?!
Furthermore, Bai Yunfei was thirsting to join the fray with the other Soul Kings! He wanted to be a part of the fight amongst the most powerful! How could he not be surprised by such a desire?
“Is this what they call "instinct"? Does…does this mean that I was capable of fighting people like them before I lost my memories and strength?!” Bai Yunfei clenched his fist in suspicion.
“Eh?!”
A clamor outside the room he was in snapped him from his thoughts.
Five different people had suddenly entered the repository he was standing guard over.
“Elder Cheng?” Bai Yunfei blinked. He recognized the man standing in the back; this was the elder that had been severely injured just a few days ago, elder Cheng!
The five were already in front of Bai Yunfei now. Strangely enough, elder Cheng had no longer that same kindly face Bai Yunfei had always a.s.sociated him with. “The battle is not progressing well, we"ll be retrieving the pills!” He growled harshly before Bai Yunfei could even speak.
“Ah…oh! Ye—yes…”
It took a second for Bai Yunfei to respond, but he turned around without delay to head deeper into the pill repository.
Not a single word was spoken as they walked. Elder Cheng followed behind Bai Yunfei, and he could feel the eyes of the pointy-chinned elder stare down his back. It felt almost cold enough to freeze water…
Bai Yunfei came to a stop by the doors to where the pills were stored. Seeing that it was ajar, Bai Yunfei turned around, “Elder Yu isn"t here right now, elder Cheng. I, unfortunately, don"t know which pills you might want, so when elder Yu returns…”
“That won"t be necessary, I"ll take them out myself!”
The pill repository hadn"t any security measures. It simply wasn"t necessary when everyone in the clan was like family to one another. Why would they need something like that? Furthermore, there wasn"t anywhere to go but the city. Anyone with the idea of stealing any pills would be caught swiftly and without much trouble.
If anything, the only preventative measure to be had would be personnel like Bai Yunfei or elder Yu. In a time like this, however, elder Yu was gone to take part in the battlefield. There weren"t even any Soul Exalts left in this place to greet people.
In other words, Bai Yunfei was the only person here…
The four people with elder Cheng sprung into the room immediately after they entered. They hadn"t even waited for elder Cheng to give them the go-ahead before looking around the place with unrestrained glee.
And that was what made Bai Yunfei suspicious. As unprotected as the pill repository was, there were still protocols everyone in the clan needed to follow. Not even clansmen were allowed unsanctioned entry into this place. The way these four were acting…Bai Yunfei couldn"t say he had a good feeling about it.
“Elder Cheng…” He began to speak. It was best to ask to clear the air in times like these…
“Quiet!!”
The last person to enter the room—a short and stoutly middle-aged man—brandished his right hand to send a purplish-black beam of light into Bai Yunfei"s chest!
“Bang!!”
The beam of light sent Bai Yunfei soaring. He crashed through several cabinets before coming to a stop in a corner of the room. Behind him, the wall that stopped his backward momentum cracked and broke into several pieces of wood!
The middle-aged man brought his hand back as easily as if he had just swatted away a mere gnat. “Haha!” he roared in laughter. “That was ridiculously easy! Who knew the Alchemy School"s pills would be this easy to access!”
“Cease your talking and retrieve the pills at once.” A gray-haired elder rebuked, “carry on to the other repositories once this one is cleared out!”
“Yes, elder Ceng!”
Responded the three men. Immediately, they leaped to a nearby wall and struck it down to reveal the cabinets behind them. The cabinets all opened up to further reveal all sorts of differently shaped and sized bottles.
Eyes glittering, the three began to collect all of those bottles at once!
Elder Cheng didn"t even seem to bat an eye at the violent methods the three men were using to collect the pills. All there was to be seen was a flash of red light in his eyes as he stood with a bow behind the fourth person!
“The pills of the Alchemy School…I highly doubt their best pills will be stored in this place, but these pills will still be very valuable. As long as we have these pills, our school will become the strongest!”
The pointy-chinned elder stood there with a slight smile on his face. He was an Early-stage Soul King, but not even that could stop the faintest of smiles from showing. Just like the short man had said, this elder didn"t expect to be able to get all these pills so easily!
“Eh?!”
Something s.h.i.+fting underneath the rubble of wood and clay over in the corner of the room caught his attention. Something was moving there….
The elder sent his soulsense outwards. The Soul Warrior that had been struck earlier was…alive still!
“Rustle…rustle…”
Planks of wood tumbled to the ground as Bai Yunfei stirred from underneath. He popped out from the pile with his right hand placed over the spot where he had been struck. Face flushed red, he stared incredulously at the five people in front of him.
The man who hit him was Late-stage Soul Exalt. His attack might"ve been with hardly any effort, but the power behind it was still definitely enough to kill a Soul Warrior. Fortunately, the armor Bai Yunfei wore was just strong enough to absorb the brunt of the damage and leave Bai Yunfei alive, albeit injured. Even now, Bai Yunfei was having a hard time standing.
“You"re alive?!” The man blinked twice in surprise. “Impossible!”
“What"s…what"s going on here?!”
Just as surprised as the one who a.s.saulted him, Bai Yunfei had to take a second to register the sight in front of him. It was utterly inconceivable!
Not only did the ones elder Cheng bring in try to kill him, but they were also "destroying" the repository!
Bai Yunfei didn"t understand how or even why they were doing this, but one thing was for certain.
These people were enemies!
“A…alert! Somebo—”
Breathing in, Bai Yunfei opened his mouth to let out a cry of warning.
But…he was up against Soul Exalts and Soul Kings, did he even stand a chance in calling out for help?!
“Silence!” The pointy-chinned elder barked. A wave of energy pulsated out from his body and shot forth to slam into Bai Yunfei!
A soul attack!