Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Wang Ju Long was a proud child having grown up being told that he was the future of his family. It was obvious that he could not stand the person in front of him who had taken away his well-deserved attention. The only way to satisfy his raging hate was to utterly defeat this trash and let the world know which one of the two was the superior cultivator!

  While Wang Ju Long was thinking these malicious thoughts, Hui Yue stood in front of him with a face as calm as a forest lake and a gentle smile on his lips. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that his smile did not reach his blue eyes that contained a coldness unrecognizable in a ten year old child.

  ‘You are on your own,’ Lan Feng warned slightly, ‘I won’t help you unless it seems like he will seriously injure you or cripple your cultivation. You need to learn for yourself.’ With that, Lan Feng slowly drifted down into the Qi Cave where he focused his attention towards the fight that was about to break out.

  Hui Yue let out a slight breath and felt grateful towards Lan Feng. It had been far too long since he last fought, but he was fairly confident whenever he thought about the martial arts skills that he had spent the last years practicing to perfection.

  “The rules are simple,” Deng Wu said, as he took the job as a judge. He was also from one of the Great Hundred Names, and although he might be slightly bias towards Hui Yue, he was definitely less bias than Wang Jingshen.

  “You are not allowed to kill your opponent. This is just an exchange of pointers, and injuries are to be expected, however, if you are too overbearing, then I will personally ensure that the Academy Chief knows of it.”

  Having said that, he nodded to the two youngsters before moving to the edge of the arena where Rong Xing was standing. He was obviously looking to be praised for being serious. Hui Yue narrowed his eyes while observing the black-haired young man as he felt Deng Wu was a bigger threat than Wang Ju Long.

  Hui Yue did not have the chance to keep his focus on Deng Wu for long. Suddenly, he felt an incredible pressure appear opposite him and gather at Wang Ju Long’s hand. At first, a small breeze was moving towards him, but it quickly grew in strength until it had gathered into a huge tempest that was swirling around the top of Wang Ju Long’s open palm. The tempest was constantly growing in size and rose far into the sky as the wind increased, trying to drag anything close by into the vortex.

  Hui Yue narrowed his eyes as he noticed that within the tempest were flashes of light. The light was small lightning bolts that were created by Qi, and seeing this, he could not help but shudder involuntarily. Although his Qi was not as white as Hui Yue’s, it was definitely of a superior quality. Not only was the quality superb, but Wang Ju Long clearly had more refined Qi than Hui Yue did.

  “He’s using the Qi lightning skill from the start?” Rong Xing whispered with big eyes and a slightly trembling voice as she watched the scene in front of her unfold. It was obvious that the others were just as worried as they mumbled incoherently to one another.

  “Deng Wu, you have to stop them!” Rong Xing said in a scared voice as she looked towards the black-haired youth, however, to her surprise he just smiled back at her.

  “Don’t worry yet. Let’s trust younger brother Hui Yue and see if he can perform miracles.” Deng Wu was not dumb; he knew exactly how dangerous Qi lightning was. It was a low Duke ranked attack martial arts skill, and the Wang family considered it one of their greatest treasures. The skill did not only have a high rank and fierce attack power, but it also required the cultivator to have very pure Qi to be able to utilize it. Deng Wu himself was slightly surprised to see that Wang Ju Long was already able to use it.

  Deng Wu smiled as he returned his gaze towards the young white-haired boy in front of him. He understood why the others were worried. Clearly, they had not noticed anything different about Hui Yue, nor would they be able to notice anything for a long time. However, he had seen it from the start.

  Five years ago when Deng Wu was to enter the Royal Academy he had been gifted a family heirloom as a reward. This heirloom had many uses, one of which was to disguise his own cultivation. Another was to see through any disguise of others. Therefore, as soon as he had met Hui Yue, he had noticed the Saint ranked divine beast that was hiding within Hui Yue’s Qi Cave. Deng Wu was aware of how important this information was, but he was more curious as for how a ten year old child had managed to capture such a strong beast. So, for now, Deng Wu had no intention of telling anyone about this rarity and would closely observe Hui Yue’s actions. His smile grew larger while looking at Hui Yue, and his eyes glistened with a mysterious light that Rong Xing had never seen before.

  Hui Yue gritted his teeth and understood that he had underestimated Wang Ju Long. It was obvious that he was using a high-ranked martial arts skill. This skill’s rank was not much different from his own Velocity Flow and Qi Guard, however Hui Yue was betting that Wang Ju Long had not perfected his use of the skill yet. He quickly activated his lower Duke ranked defensive martial arts skill, Qi Guard.

  As soon as he called out the skill, he created a few hand seals with thin strands of Qi quickly starting to flow out from his Qi Cave through specific patterns within the meridians before Hui Yue’s entire skin started glowing faintly with a pearl-white luster.

  Together with Qi Guard, Hui Yue also activated Velocity Flow and focused on getting behind Wang Ju Long. Hui Yue left behind an afterimage, and he kept moving quickly while staying behind Wang Ju Long so that he would not materialize and make his current plan fail.

  Hui Yue did not have to wait for long. Wang Ju Long’s wind tempest with Qi lightning had grown to the largest size that he was currently able to control. After fully unleashing his skill, Wang Ju Long looked at the boy in front of him with disdain. Wang Ju Long could not help but think that this kid was too naive to be standing there, waiting for his attack to land.

  “Don’t blame me for any injury you suffer!” Wang Ju Long roared as he launched three Qi lightning bolts out of the vortex. They shot out much quicker than Hui Yue expected, and even his Velocity Flow would have problems escaping from all of these bolts. This was turning into a bigger problem than he had first anticipated.

  The three bolts of Qi lightning all slammed into the small boy, and smoke started to rise from where the attack landed. At first, Wang Jingshen and his thugs had been full of cheers and laughter, but they quickly quieted, filled with disbelief. Everyone present was shocked, and even Deng Wu had narrowed his eyes as he had never seen a martial arts skill like this before.

  Rong Xing and Rong Ming were both completely stunned. They were aware of Hui Yue’s background and knew that he had no way to obtain a high-ranked martial arts skill. However, it was obvious that he was currently using one. They could not help but be intrigued as to how he had gained it.

  Hui Yue was not planning on taking it easy on Wang Ju Long. He attacked as soon as the Qi lightning slammed into his afterimage. Quickly he activated his low practitioner ranked attack martial arts skill, Raging Strike, that he had been taught by Rong Ming, and suddenly, his fist was covered in a pure white luster. The Qi covering his fist was filled with an oppressive force.

  Although Wang Ju Long was prideful, he had been trained from a very young age. His family often made him spar against their family guard from which he had gained a certain amount of live combat experience. Feeling the overbearing feeling coming from Hui Yue’s perfect Qi, Wang Ju Long quickly turned around and with his white Qi gathered around his forearm, he blocked the strike.

  Hui Yue had been relying on the Velocity Flow’s insane movement speed to increase the power of Raging Strike, however, Raging Strike was, after all, a lower tier skill, and it was not able to break through Wang Ju Long’s defense.

  Without a second thought, Hui Yue activated his high disciple ranked attack, Shattering Kick, and swung his leg hard against Wang Ju Long’s waist.

  Wang Ju Long had shown quite the skill by being able to block his previous blow with his Qi, however the Qi he was using was not a de
fensive martial arts skill, and he was unable to cover his entire body at once causing him to be flung away by the kick.

  Hui Yue felt a certain amount of satisfaction when he felt his kick cause a few of his ribs to break. But he didn’t have time to celebrate the slight victory as another four Qi lightning bolts shot towards him with incredible speed.

  Cursing, Hui Yue tried to gain momentum by using Velocity Flow, but he was unable to avoid all the lightning bolts and was forced to take one of them head on.

  Wang Ju Long landed on the ground with a sinister expression visible on his face as he saw how one of his bolts struck Hui Yue’s shoulder. He knew how devastating the damage was from just one lightning bolt, and a smirk appeared on his face, together with loud cheers and insults erupting from Wang Jingshen’s thugs.

  Unlike Wang Jingshen’s group, Rong Xing and Rong Ming were incredibly worried. Although Hui Yue had shocked them once with Velocity Flow, they had never expected the small child to have other secrets, but they were surprised yet again as they continued to focus their eyes upon Hui Yue.

  As soon as the Qi lightning bolt hit Hui Yue’s shoulder, the faint white glow that had been covering his body during the fight suddenly condensed. It quickly became much thicker and shone with a pearly-white brilliance, and it managed to defend against the lightning bolt before it returned into the faint glow from before.

  Although his Qi Guard had managed to protect Hui Yue from serious injury, he was still sent flying, and his shoulder became numb as a result. Feeling that his shoulder was just numb, Hui Yue let out a relieved sigh. He quickly noticed that the Qi Guard had consumed an incredible amount of Qi to block the attack just now, and with the current amount of Qi he had, he would only be able to block about two more attacks at most.

  Wang Ju Long was unaware of this fact. All he saw was that his most powerful attack had no effect on Hui Yue, and his insides were burned with rage. He quickly stood up and once again focused on the vortex in his hand before he shot another four Qi lightning bolts towards Hui Yue.

  The distance between the two was far greater this time as both had been knocked away, and Hui Yue utilized Velocity Flow to narrowly escape and closed the gap between them. He decided to maximize his efforts and invested more of his sparse Qi into creating a copy that would attack Wang Ju Long together with him while activating the shattering kick once again.

  Wang Ju Long used yet another set of Qi lightning bolts, to attack the two bodies that were rapidly gaining on him. As soon as one hit the copy, it vanished giving him enough time to block the shattering kick.

  Hui Yue on the other hand, used the opportunity to retreat, ensuring that he would not get hit by yet another Qi lightning bolt as he knew that his Qi would quickly run out if he were hit again. After the exchange, both boys stood in the arena a certain distance apart. Wang Ju Long’s tempest had been reduced by half, and the amount of Qi lightning left had also been halved from the original number. Hui Yue could feel that he had spent a little more than half of his Qi. His Qi Guard alone had used a third of his total Qi to defend against that one Qi lightning bolt, which showed just how terrifying an attack it was. This clearly showed that the inheritance one received from just living in a Great Hundred Names family was indeed amazing.

  After their exchange, Wang Ju Long was filled with even more hatred for Hui Yue, and there was nothing he wanted more than to kill this unknown child in front of him. But his Qi lightning technique had not had any lasting effects on Hui Yue. Instead, he was quickly exhausting his Qi pool with the many repeated attacks.

  Hui Yue, on the other hand, was on the defensive. He had a smaller Qi pool than Wang Ju Long, and the previous attack showed him just how dangerous it would be if he relaxed even a little. Now both cultivators were standing still, staring at each other. Neither felt like giving in when suddenly clapping sounded out.

  “Well done!” Deng Wu said with a big smile on his face and with eyes containing a mischievous glint. “You both did incredibly well during this exchange of pointers. Although you both sustained slight injuries, you managed to hold back and not seriously injure the other. This is not often seen!” Deng Wu said praising both of them, and he made it seems as if this were the actual outcome. Although the comment caused Wang Ju Long to grind his teeth hard against each other and his eyes to flash violently with anger, he was unable to say anything else because it was against the rules to intentionally injure other students.

  Unknowingly, Hui Yue somewhat shared Wang Ju Long’s feelings. He was incredibly disappointed with himself. He was aware that Wang Ju Long had a higher rank than himself, if only by three stars, and Hui Yue had to use more martial arts skills than Wang Ju Long. Although he had the skills to escape from much stronger opponents, it was still very dissatisfying that he could not defeat his opponent.

  “Young Lord Wang Ju Long, thank you so much for this exchange of pointers. It has really taught me a lot,” Hui Yue said with a gentle smile on his face and a grateful expression in his eyes. However inside he swore to train tirelessly to increase his rank and perfect the Qi Guard so that Lan Feng would teach him an attack style martial arts skill.

  ‘Let’s see how the next fight goes,’ he thought determinedly as coldness once again flashed within his sky-blue eyes, causing the smile on Deng Wu’s face to increase slightly.

  Chapter 11 - You Tricked Me?!

  * * *

  Chapter 11: You Tricked Me?!

  Every person present clearly understood that although the results were recorded as a draw, Hui Yue had the upper hand at the end. Not only was he able to avoid and block Wang Ju Long’s most powerful attack, but he also managed to break two ribs of his opponent while only receiving a numb shoulder.

  Even though no other students had been present at the arena for the fight, it was quickly known throughout the entire academy that the two geniuses from the new year had fought each other. Although officially it had ended in a draw, Hui Yue was mentioned as the winner.

  This was definitely due to Gao Yan and his commoners spreading the word and causing the duel to be well known. Although Gao Yan was unable to directly take revenge upon the Wang family, he did not shy away from using his friends to exact vengeance in another way. Nobles cared too much about how others perceived them, so making them lose face was very satisfying.

  The first couple of days were free from classes as the students got used to their new surroundings. Hui Yue spent this time sitting down with the group of people he now belonged to. Hui Yue determined that now was the time for him to behave more maturely. Although he had been hiding his real personality for quite some time, he did not want to keep hiding it forever.

  “I need some help,” Hui Yue said with a serious voice looking at the five seniors that were sitting in his new home.

  “I am not a noble person, which I am sure you have already guessed,” he started, “so I am not used to all these internal battles. I understand that the Rong family and the Wang family don’t respect each other, but what is actually going on?”

  At first, the house was silent while the older kids looked at Hui Yue with complicated expressions. None of them felt as if this subject was something they should talk about with such a young child. He had asked for the information for himself, looking at them with eyes that were completely clear yet showed a depth of knowledge and understanding that did not suit his age.

  “The Wang family used to be the ones who controlled Riluo City,” Deng Wu finally said, then looked at the others. “We might as well tell him what is going on. I think we should not underestimate him. I have a feeling that he is hiding a monster within those innocent blue eyes,” he said while looking straight at Hui Yue. Deng Wu’s words caused the latter to feel his veins freeze over.

  The way he intentionally phrased the sentence clearly showed Hui Yue that Deng Wu clearly knew. Deng Wu knew about Lan Feng or at least had a very good idea about him. Hui Yue could feel how his body was frozen from the shock and even Lan Feng was kept quiet. H
e knew that Deng Wu was observing him, so Hui Yue forced himself to stay calm and not allow any of the emotional turmoil from within to surface. His eyes stayed as clear and calm as a cloudless summer sky.

  Deng Wu was impressed by the level of control that Hui Yue showed as he just smiled happily, “The Wang family has a long history, and they were put in charge of Riluo City right after the Black Age. Unfortunately, they were quite bad at managing the economy, and eventually, they went bankrupt and had to step down. They went from being the leading power to becoming a secondary power of the city, and they have a hard time accepting it.”

  “After regaining financial stability, they are now trying to take back the position of City Lord they view as theirs. Unfortunately for them, Lord Rong Liang and his family have always done a great job, so it is not as easy as they might have hoped.” Ma Kong took over, “The nobles have been split into two factions. One is the Great Hundred Names families and their followers, and the other faction is Lord Rong Liang and his followers.”

  Hearing this, Hui Yue threw a quick glance at Deng Wu. This young man was becoming more and more mysterious the more he learned about him. Hui Yue felt unable to trust him the same way he did the others. He decided to drop the subject for now, and try to pry some information out of the others later on.