Several tendrils had been burned off and charred from the body in seconds. The Nether Lamp Behemoth flailed wildly at Shen Yue. Several hundred tentacles launched at him. This kept Shen Yue moving easily enough.
*Bzzt!* Each time Shen Yue landed, he kicked immediately with his big toe leaving lightning jolts on the ground. A dodged tentacle would then hit the spot and become paralyzed for a few minutes.
A few would try to encircle him but would get burned away pretty quickly from the power of Fire Body. The others recovered enough and decided to try and help but that was shot down.
As several Scarlet Ghosts flooded the area again, they had a fight on their hands. A large gap seperated them from Shen Yue who looked to be doing fine.
*Schlick!* Having made it pass several tentacles, a large cut from the Thundergod Meteorite Sword marked the Behemoth.
Slipping around on a bit of lightning, Shen Yue attacked the broad back of the beast. He cut from the ground and jumped upward dragging the sword along. Every foot he used the flames to Burst forward. This allowed him to cut a large cut along its back to the middle of its large head.
*Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!* The various tentacles that tried to hit Shen Yue just hit the creature all across its head. It was basically injuring itself.
Stopping at the dangling angle on the head, he was about to cut it off but the Nether Lamp Behemoth fist came up to hit him in the face. Wanting to match might against might, he punched outward.
*Bam!* Shen Yue slid back a little. Only stopping because he stabbed the sword into its head quickly. The arm of the beast looked mangled.
'Cursed human!' The Nether Lamp Behemoth shouted mentally at Shen Yue. Its maw of tentacles shot out again but this time grabbing at the debris. It whipped them towards him in volleys. 'I will devour you whole!'
Seeing the debris heading towards him, Shen Yue just punched out wildly. The strength of his fists sending a bit of the debris back at the Nether Lamp Behemoth. While a large portion was turned to dust. The dust did nothing to his vision but made the field more sloppy.
"Hup!" Launching high into the sky and bursting forward directly at the mouth, Shen Yue forced himself into a spin. Making a Flame Drill of sorts. The countless tentacles hit against him but was repelled and burned. "Open wide!"
Directly entering the mouth of the beast, he Flared his flames up burning it from the inside. But the guts were pretty strong. Stabbing the Thunder God Meteorite Sword downward, the lightning-guided spirit energy disrupted the creature's ability to move and think.
*Clap!* Shen Yue clapped his hands together using Blazing Sun Flame Explosion. Like a geyser, a flame blast went up directly from his hands. Around his body, a wave of fire condensed then spread out in a wave.
*Sccreeee!* Nether Lamp Behemoth screeched loudly before it was burned into almost nothing from the inside out. Shen Yue had not taken into the fact of his drastic change in spirit energy on a completely disabled creature.
"Oops..." Shen Yue looked heartbroken. There was no meat left and he really wanted to see what could be gained from it. "I held back well enough I thought. Am I really that rusty? Or is it this place?" Slightly puzzled, he was brought back to reality with something landed on his head. "Ouch!"
The Angler Lamp of the beast hit him. It was quite large in fact. This would have to do really. Seeing the others still fighting another wave of the Scarlet Ghost, he joined the fray from the back end.
The sword tucked away, he relied back on his fist and legs.
'No it is not my control, it is this place. I don't remember anything like that happening in the series.' The more he fought the easy it was to adjust to the weird change in the air he felt. Then he rembered afterward smelling a weird scent. 'The blasted saliva has hallucinatory effects. But I didn't suffer from that. So did it mess with me on a neurological level without me noticing?'
As they killed wave after wave of Scarlet Ghosts, Shen Yue's other target had risen high past his Astral Sense but still aware of what was going down below. When he killed the Nether Lamp Behemoth, a hand momentarily reached down to grab him.
*Shine!* A golden light restricted it however. Forced to retreat the monstrosity of a Demon Beast made a note to remember Shen Yue's appearance.
.
So close-
.
After fighting forcefully for 3 days, the Scarlet Ghosts no longer showed up. Several members of the Divine Family and Huyan family were gravely injured.
So they took a half-day break to consolidate their gains.
Standing in front of the Stele, Shen Yue was disgusted that he could not interact with the spirit of Kong Ming fully. He wanted to take a strike at the spirit. He was warned not to consume it but nothing against beating it up a little.
It was petty and that was ok in his book. He wouldn't loose sleep over it.
But he was able to absorb the energy that resides in the Steele as well as pick up the residual presence of those who came to the place. Which allowed him to understand the Legend Rank more.
As well as Heavenly Laws. Huyan Lanruo was happy with her gift of the Angler Lamp. Consuming it along with some elixirs and a mutated Fox spirit that Shen Yue practice with, she was one happy camper.
"You ok?" Shen Xiu asked. She was the only one nearby as the others worked on stabilizing their cultivation some more. They were given the Demonic Spirits acquired from Ye Ziyun after the improvements to them. The little Scarlet Flaming Fox draped over her shoulders still looked tired. "For a moment, I couldn't feel your presence. It was odd."
"Yes, I am fine. Thanks for asking." Shen Yue waited to the others finished next to Zhu Xiangjun. He could feel her eyes rest on him subtly. He did not mind this of course, after all, she was not his aunt really. 'Hmm, a breakthrough for him. That is good.'
*Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fswoosh!* Swirls of intense flames swirled around Zhu Xiangjun. The reinforced Glass from Shen Yue pushed the young teen to the limit. He succeeded in stepping into the Gold Rank but the energy was to rampant to contain easily.
"Xiangjun focus!" Dian Rei shouted. She was getting ready to help him contain the energy but was stopped by a whisper in her ears. "Why!?" She shouted towards Shen Yue. "Just let me help control the energy! It won't hurt matters much!"
"He is my Disciple, the same as you and I say no." Shen Yue said firmly. His eyes slightly angry at the girl. "Give him more credit and keep quiet. This amount of pain is little compared to what awaits him."
Several blood vessels burst inside Zhu Xiangjian. But they would recover quickly thanks to the Star energy produced from the Glass. It did eat a good bit of his cultivation though. Which was fine considering by the looks of it, his body couldn't handle all that rough energy.
"Shen Xiu, will this really be ok?" Chen Linjian asked. Looking to her as a voice of reason in the group. But she just kept a watch on Zhu Xianjian steadily. "If he dies.."
*Boom!* A wave of soul force spread out in the area. Zhu Xiangjun had forcefully contained the power inside. Looking up with wild eyes, he stared at Shen Yue who raised a finger up and pointed it at him.
*Pew!* A condensed beam of fire shot towards Zhu Xiangjun's head. It knocked him onto his back but did not kill him. A flame mark appeared on his forehead swirling around. All across his body, fur started to appear. The Mutated Scarlet Flame Tiger started to show characteristics of dominance.
"Hmm, it can not take control of him but... he needs to train his mind more." Shen Yue muttered. "This will take a while. Well, more training moment anyway." Signaling two of the officers to pick him up, it was time to move on. "Dian Rei, since you are so distracted now, make sure you monitor his situation as we move."
"Yes sir." Dian Rei said quickly. She knew she was in trouble but she couldn't help it. Her emotions were on edge from all the fighting. As well as the others. 'As we fought, he only jumped in if a death blow was coming our way, he let us get swarmed and beaten, what is going on with master?'
Dian Rei was not the only one thinking this. The 15 officers understood this as just training but Chen Lianjian and his group just saw it as cruel. The Huyan guards were to exhausted to think of anything really.
'Need to keep pushing them, but how?' Shen Yue dug deep into his thoughts and rembered about the conditions of those under the Silver Winged Family. 'That will have to be the test, if they fail I will have to find better people to fight and maneuver with.'
His time in the Stele allowed him to think over how things ended previously in the Last Dimension. Strength and Power were the most important things. But people who would not give up were even more important. Those willing to go against the way of the World.
.
The village-
.
Half a day later, Ye Hong and Chen Linjian came back from recon. With Zhu Xianjian still out for the count, Chen Linjian picked up the slack.
"It is a pretty massive city with a lot going on. Are you sure we are going into this thing the right way?" Ye Hong was cautious about walking in with this many troops. Even after fighting all those Demon Spirits and the Scarlet Ghost, he did not like their odds at all. "We are down a fighter as well."
"Haaa, that is the purpose for this after all." Shen Yue sighed. "The risk when things go bad is expected. I am forging warriors and leaders for the future. Of course, the risk that some will die is possible. Again, that is the point. In the future, you must have the courage to go against enormous odds."
The words were for him just as much as them.
"I understand but.. I think we should rethink this." Ye Hong could sense the trouble ahead going at this rate. A large bunch of powerful fighters deep inside and Shen Yue who wanted to provoke people. "Maybe just sneak around instead."
"I think it is a smarter move as well." Shen Xiu voiced. "With the items we gathered so far and the few herbs we spotted in the forest as well, we are still ahead." She was the voice of reason and did not like how rattled Ye Hong was after scouting. A look at Chen Linjian and she was even more worried. 'What did they see in the city?'
"Haa, go back to the camp we set a few miles back and activate the Concealment Inscription Array." Shen Yue shook his head annoyed. If they did not put their lives on the line now then they would not be useful later on against the Demon Horde if things go wrong. Let alone those in the Abyss Prison. "I am going forward and those with the guts to move, come with."
All protests were silent with a wave of soul force pushing them back violently. Anger very evident on his face made them all shut up with any useless pleading.
Three officers walked forward with him. These three were the strongest with the largest spirit reserves. The others mostly stood back to provide safety for the others who looked really rattled.
A few birds flew around the area. These were the Demon Beasts called the Thunder Birds. The white-winged beast were pretty large with glowing horns on their heads. A few were marked to be killed later.
The horns had medicinal properties to them.
As the four moved, a Sound Seal was active on their clothing and armor. Each of them using the Metal Seed with Shen Yue's acting as a focus. The were still at the 1st level of the technique but it was better than nothing. With each step, they each felt the countless movements in the place.
Tens of thousands of people. A lot of them working away or to be precise, slaving away mining for ore.
A very outdated society especially after all that happened in the past. Workers were beaten for moving to slow despite keeping a decent pace Shen Yue thought. Another was getting whipped to death for slacking off somewhere by the sounds of the cries and yelling.
With each deeper pulse through the place, the officers turned more furious. It was that of righteous anger from the unnecessary beatings and cruelty they felt bounce back to them.
With Shen Yue using Astral Sense to help the pulses along, the 3 officers felt a bit of the strike against the prisoners.
"I can not stand this!" The 1st officer stated. He pulled a spear out of his storage ring and was about to attack. "We are here to gather people to take back with us, so let's do it now!" Before he charged in, the 2nd officer and the 3rd officer grabbed him. "Let me go damn it!"
"You did not receive the order to act, stay your hand." The 3rd officer said. He was only slightly more in control of himself. A look back at Shen Yue and he was not suprised he was still composed. "The Master is still moving causally, we should wait."
"Oh, the odds that she has come is nice." A young woman flew over with a few soldiers traveling at the ground level. She looked a little like an amazon but the white wings on her back made her look like a Heron from Fire Emblem Path Of Radiance also. Except she was not that gentle or kind if memory served him correctly. "The little princess."
*Tut!* The three officers popped to attention. The anger barely masked but not enough to cause an issue. This was their first meeting with people outside Glory City and so far it was bad.
"Who are you, people?" The woman landed in front of her guards supringsly, it was a bold move. Her bright green eyes looking them each over. The sword in her hand gripped tight once her eyes landed on Shen Yue. 'I can't tell how strong he is! But it has to be weaker than the three in front! They are at least Black Gold Rank!'
"I am the Patriarch of the Dark Moon Family, Shen Yue. They are officers in my family training." Shen Yue kept a smirk on his face while speaking. "Besides training, I am out gathering herbs for medical supplies while looking for recruits."
"Training?"
"Yes, is that so hard to believe little princess of the Silverwing Family. Well, descendent anyway." The shocked look on her face made Shen Yue smirk even more. "You are not the only ones who survived the event back in the past. The Wulan Empire made it better than most by the looks of it."
He looked over the place more as he pulled on the knowledge from what he knew of the surrounding as well as the knowledge obtained from refining the corpses of Orchid City Ruins.
"This young man is a doctor?" One of the guards looked hopeful. But a glare from the others and he piped down.
"You can speak the language of the Wulan Empire so well, where are you from exactly?"
"Outside of this place." Shen Yue responded back. He catches her eyeing his sword so he did the same to hers. The Flaming Snake had lached back onto the sword the moment Shen Yue placed it on his side after the fight really. "My sheath alone is better quality than your sword. I suggest you not think of crossing blows, it won't end well for you. Or has the Sikong Family developed rocks for brains?"
"Is that a threat?" The winged woman's wings spread a little. It was more of a flight response after seeing the flames in Shen Yue's eyes. "This is my home, you think you can walk in here and do as you please?!"
"Yes." Are you going to introduce yourself girlie?" Shen Yue was using Astral Sense to find as many people as he could. His big target was that of Duan Jian. But the blasted place had so much going on he was distracted a few times.
"I am Sikong Hongyue, the princess of the Silverwing Family. My father is the King!" Her wings fluttered a little as she was feeling stifled by the pressure exuded from Shen Yue.
Shen Yue raised his finger up into the air. He pointed it towards a tree in the distance and made the finger gun motion.
*Pew!* A concentrated beam of fire shot out. It arched a little but still hit the tree. The explosion was not heard from there location but the intense pressure was felt. The shot contained the strength of someone in the Legend Rank.
"If we can not do business, I will just go on my way." Shen Yue turned to leave. His guards bringing up the rear. "I am sure one of the other families wouldn't mind helping."
"Wait!" Hongyue screamed in a panic. She barely had her wits about her but did not want to make an enemy of someone so powerful. The hope that he expended a good bit of energy was all she was going off of.
"Yes?" Shen Yue looked back over his shoulder.
"We can do business! Just .. give me a moment!" Hongyue was willing to take a gamble and see where this would take them. 'If I can get him to help my father then he can deal with this stranger!'
After a little negotiation and talking over with her soldiers that was heard completely by Shen Yue and his guards, Hongyue escorts them to the palace.
Along the way, she kept looking back at Shen Yue as well as the officers who had no trouble keeping up with her at all. Physical strength was more dominant in most of the officers due to harsh upbringing combined with training.