After getting to know each other, the three immortals discussed various matters including how they got down here and what they should do. Chen Wentian answered their questions very vaguely, much to their dissatisfaction. He repeatedly used the Martial Brilliance Continent and the Virtuous Order of Chunzhen as an excuse.
He was always stingy with his secrets. These two didn't need to know that he didn't have a very good relationship with the order. They also didn't need to know about Little Carrot or his void bee queen. Even if they could take a few guesses that were close to the truth, he wasn't going to admit to anything.
"Tch, so stingy, I thought we were friends." Shi Shi muttered.
Chen Wentian replied expressionlessly, "You offered to be my friend. I don't think I did the same."
Shi Shi snorted and turned to the other person, "Old Qiu, have you recovered yet?"
Qiu Chuyi put on an act of wincing and groaning as he tested his injuries, "Not bad, my strength has returned close to twenty percent. I won't be a burden at least."
Shi Shi nodded, "I am good enough to fight a few rounds with that water demon. I think we should head out. It's been around two hours since the attack. The demons should have left already."
"I agree. But how do we get out of here?" Qiu Chuyi asked.
Both of them turned toward Chen Wentian as if they expected him to do everything for them. Since he was the one that saved them, maybe he should be benevolent until the end. Unfortunately for them, he had no such intentions.
"What?" He asked and shrugged, "I'm not the one with a digging ability."
He said nothing else and sat there like a statue. The three immortals stared at each other for a while before Qiu Chuyi finally let out an exaggerated sigh.
"Fine, fine. Follow me." Qiu Chuyi said as his hands transformed into furry paws with huge claws.
Chen Wentian smiled to give some encouragement, "Be careful, Brother Qiu. Don't exert yourself too much!"
Qiu Chuyi cursed a few times as he began digging a narrow tunnel that when straight up. His progress was fast and after a few minutes, he had already reached the surface. He looked around for a good place to break out and dug into the basement of a large mansion within Everblade City.
The three immortals tumbled out and finally left the underground world. They didn't know what to expect but they were met with a human figure who was covered in blood and gore.
Seeing them appear, that person who seemed like a woman let out a demonic howl, "KaahhHH!"
But as it made to lunge at them, Qiu Chuyi's claws swept out and sliced them into several pieces.
"Heavens! What is going on?" He exclaimed.
The three immortals went up to the ground level and peered outside. What met them was utter chaos and scenes of bloodshed that surpassed their imagination. The people in the mansion and also the entire city seemed to have gone insane. Everyone was fighting each other, clawing and biting as if possessed by a demonic spirit. Young and old included, these crazed people formed into packs and roamed the city, devouring every living thing in their path.
Those that still held onto sanity defended themselves using their sword arts. They chopped their neighbors, friends, and families into pieces before eventually succumbing to the sheer numbers. It was brutal beyond words. It was hell. Chen Wentian had experienced it once before. It was the handiwork of that cruel demoness, Qin Shui'er.
"This..." Qiu Chuyi muttered in total shock.
"These demons. I'll kill them all!" Shi Shi said in a furious whisper.
She was about to charge out but Chen Wentian grabbed her arm and held her back, "Hold on, what are you doing?"
"Let go!" She insisted.
She obviously wanted to help the remaining humans and save the city but the other two were reluctant.
"We should be careful. I don't sense any immortal auras but the demons could have laid more traps. Maybe they were still somewhere waiting for us!" Qiu Chuyi said.
"That's possible!" Chen Wentian said, nodding his head.
"You two..." Shi Shi furiously pushed Chen Wentian away, "Are impossible! Are you two immortals or turtle bastards? Haven't you sensed it already? The teleportation array has been destroyed. Those two demons won't be dumb enough to stick around. With the array gone, the neighboring cities have probably discovered something amiss and alerted the association. I estimate that in another half-hour to an hour, our backup will finally arrive. But who knows how many innocent people will die in that time if we just it be. So, I'm going!"
With that, she blasted off into the air, destroying half of the mansion in the process.
Qiu Chuyi frowned and didn't make a move. He held a hand to his chest and faked a few painful coughs. "You should go help her and an eye on her. I'm too weak to keep up with you two right now."
Chen Wentian suppressed a laugh. This fellow surnamed Qiu was quite shameless. But Chen Wentian already knew that it was safe so he flew off after Shi Shi. The demons had long since retreated. They weren't anywhere close to this province.
Immortal Phoenix Legend Shi Shi's figure streaked across the gloomy city, leaving a trail of purple flames. Every now and then, she would swoop down and unleash blasts of powerful flame from her palms. Other times, she would directly charge through a street packed with demonized human puppets. Each attack turned entire groups of enemies into ash. Without waiting to hear the cheers and cries of gratitude from the survivors, she would zoom off toward the next spot that needed her help.
Chen Wentian followed behind her with a curious expression. He shot a few fireballs here and there but his main focus was on her. He didn't expect her to utilize flame arts that were so profound. He had assumed that her moniker of Phoenix Legend was an exaggeration, much like what others thought of him as the Blue Dragon.
Instead, he could feel a unique aura from her purple flames. Others probably couldn't tell but he could because he had the physique of the divine blue dragon and the senses of one as well. He could identify a faint but familiar aura within those flames. It was unmistakable. It was the aura of a divine beast.
Could it actually be a phoenix's power, a divine beast that was on the same level as dragons?
He couldn't tell what species of phoenix it was but based on her name, it probably couldn't be anything else. He followed closely behind her and sniffed the flames she left behind. It didn't seem to be a complete inheritance. There was only a small trace of a divine beast's aura. Maybe she was holding back like he often did but he wasn't so sure. Divine beasts didn't hand over their divine powers to humans so easily. It was impossible except for unique circumstances.
But then again, this Eastern Sanmu Subcontinent had a suspiciously high concentration of divine beasts. He hadn't noticed it before but now he couldn't ignore it anymore. There was the baby blue dragon that had escaped calamity only to succumb to its wounds. There was Jasmine's mother who had left her daughter here for some reason. There was the remnant soul of the shining dragon that was hidden within the Eastern Light Clan. Now there was even an attractive, middle-aged lady wielding phoenix flames. It was really mind-boggling.
"Your flames are quite nice. Like a hot summer breeze. Can you teach it to me?" Chen Wentian teased, deciding to test her.
"Screw you." Shi Shi retorted and blasted another group of demonized puppets into smithereens. "Or are you admitting that your blue flames suck? Immortal Blue Dragon?"
Her manner of speech had changed noticeably after she declared she would be his friend. It was far less formal, almost as if they were old drinking buddies or something. Her personality was quite straightforward compared to some women who liked to be coy and restrained.
"My flames are quite good too. Do you want to learn it? I can teach you." He spoke some more nonsense.
Shi Shi laughed, "Maybe I will take you up on your offer. Since you've already said it, then you shouldn't take it back, or else you aren't a man."
Chen Wentian also laughed, "Regardless if my words are reliable or not, how would you know if I am a man or not?"
Shi Shi paused her flames and glanced at him with a curious expression, "Are you sure? Back in the cave, you molested me for so long and yet you still didn't find the courage to actually do it. So tell me, are you a man or not?"
---
Thank you to all my patrons!
Support me and read ahead by 60 or even 120 chapters!
p atreon.com/kigreenwriting
Join my discord for updates, delays, and my ramblings :)
d iscord.gg/dY5UApw