Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  “You seem to be carrying a large amount of cash in your student emblem,” the young elder pointed out, “we usually welcome students like you to have a look at a much more refined variety of medicinal pills.”

  Hui Yue felt a chill run down his spine as he heard about the elder knowing that he had inserted a spirit coin into his student emblem, and suddenly he was grateful for the fact that he did not fall for temptation and added a couple of spirit coins instead.

  The knowledge that the student emblems were currently supervised by the academy made Hui Yue feel slightly uncomfortable and somewhat made him wary about the emblem. He made a mental note as to discuss it with Lan Feng when the bird was feeling better.

  Having done that, Hui Yue decided that he needed the high ranked medicinal pills and he followed the young elder into the back room.

  As soon as Hui Yue entered, his nostrils were assaulted by a much stronger scent than ever before. It was obvious that the pills in here were much more potent than the others. Not only was the scent stronger, the sizes were bigger and the colours much brighter.

  Some of these pills were carrying the same names as the ones in the other room. However, these had a much brighter colour and stronger scent, making Hui Yue understand that these versions were of a higher refinement than the previous room.

  Together with the pills from the other room was one pill which allured Hui Yue with a sweet and tempting scent, causing Hui Yue to move towards it.

  The outside of the pill was green and so shiny that it seemed as if it had been polished. The pill was called the Qi Congregating Pill and the description said that it would absorb a portion of essence from heaven and earth and create it into a mass of Qi equal to the Qi of the cultivator. The higher quality of the Qi, the less Qi is created from each pill.

  These pills were without a doubt the highest rank pill which Hui Yue could find within the store, and he felt that he really needed this pill.

  “Senior, do you have more of these pills?” Hui Yue asked with big eyes as he pointed towards the Qi Congregating Pill that was on display.

  “We do,” the elder said satisfied, “but they are expensive.”

  These pills were what was used as payment to the teachers who worked at the Royal Academy and currently they were being sold for hundred gold each. This price was above the market price, and the elder was perfectly aware of this, but he did not care. The money went towards the royal family anyway.

  “I’ll take as many as I can buy for one spirit coin,” Hui Yue said with glistening eyes, and those eyes grew in size as he saw how the elder brought back ten small jade cases, each holding one of the Qi Congregating Pills.

  The elder made a beckoning gesture with his hand, causing the student emblem to fly from Hui Yue’s hip into the elder’s hand and he pressed a finger at the top, after which the spirit coin was withdrawn from the emblem. After withdrawing the coin, the emblem and the ten pill cases were returned to Hui Yue , and he quickly bowed deeply before rushing back towards his courtyard.

  Although Hui Yue wished for nothing more than to instantly digest one of the Qi Congregating pills within his hands, he sat down under a tree in his courtyard and forced himself to enter his mind and create a mental projection of himself after which he moved towards the dantian cave.

  Hui Yue had felt some changes within his body since yesterday and he wished to know exactly which kind of changes they were before he tried to ingest a medicinal pill.

  At first Hui Yue saw no changes. However, suddenly he noticed a small strand of blue light which was connected between the mental Projection of Hui Yue and the medicating Lan Feng. The strand of blue light was embedded within the two soul projections’ hearts, causing Hui Yue to furrow his brow slightly as he had never seen anything like it before.

  Hui Yue was worried as he saw how Lan Feng was still unmoving. The strand of light was dimmed in the end which was embedded within Lan Feng’s heart, and bright at the end connected to Hui Yue.

  No matter which way Hui Yue looked at this odd phenomenon, he was completely unable to understand what it was and why it had suddenly appeared. Out of answers, Hui Yue decided to try to investigate it, and he allowed for his consciousness within the mental projection to probe at this unknown strand of light.

  As soon as the consciousness came into contact with the strand of light, all the energy within the Qi cave fluctuated while the Qi spiral itself started swirling around at an insane speed. Shock filled Hui Yue as he felt how some of his energy released itself from the Qi spiral and merged into the blue strand of light.

  As soon as it had entered the strand of light, Hui Yue lost all contact with the energy, but although he could no longer sense it, he could still see how it was slowly making it’s way towards the exhausted phoenix.

  The energy which moved through the strand of light slowly allowed for the dimmed side of Lan Feng’s side to light up slightly, and in turn his complexion looked slightly better.

  This reaction was one which Hui Yue had never expected, but more than shock, he felt mirth, and he instantly gathered more of the excess energy within the Qi cave which he pushed into the strand of light and observed, as it floated towards Lan Feng who got better and better from each portion of mental energy sent towards him.

  After a few hours of constantly replenishing his energy, followed by feeding it to Lan Feng, the phoenix finally opened his eyes and looked down on the strand of blue light with a shocked expression on his face

  ‘Soul Fusion?’ He exclaimed, astounded.

  Chapter 24 - Transforming Weapons

  * * *

  Chapter 24: Transforming Weapons

  ‘Soul Fusion?’ Hui Yue echoed, while his mental projection frowned slightly. It was obvious that Hui Yue’s and Lan Feng’s souls were already merged together, so hearing the surprise Lan Feng had exclaimed caused a slight worry to creep up in his heart.

  ‘Soul fusion and entwined souls are not the same,’ Lan Feng said as an answer to Hui Yue’s thoughts, causing his eyes to widen in shock.

  ‘When we made a soul contracts our souls got wrapped around each other like a knot, unable to be untied unless we achieve our aims. We can sense the mood of the other and the senses of the soul since our souls exist whilst pressed together, but when we are done, our souls will go each their way, unable to ever feel these emotions again.’ Lan Feng explained what Hui Yue already knew. The Phoenix had previously explained the soul contract and its usages.

  ‘A soul fusion is different,’ Lan Feng sighed, and Hui Yue started to wonder if this was what brought about the change inside him recently. ‘A soul fusion literally merges a part of our souls. Even when our goals have been achieved, and our souls are split from each other, we will keep this link. A slim part of my soul has merged into you and a part of your soul has merged into me. I have more of your soul than you have of mine since you just used your mental energy to replenish me.’

  Hearing this surprised Hui Yue beyond words. His mental state was disrupted and his mental avatar started becoming transparent as no focus was around for its upkeep. Only one thing went through Hui Yue’s head–

  ‘So you are saying that I will never be rid of you?’ He asked Lan Feng with horror in his voice, causing indignation to stir on the blue boy’s facial expression. ‘Sorry,’ Hui Yue laughingly said afterwards, ‘I’m shocked. How did this happen?’

  Lan Feng could asseverate the apology’s credibility, which in some way did not help his feelings, but he still decided to answer his abrasive friend.

  ‘We had our auras merged for so long, combined with me forcefully possessing our body must have been the trigger. Though it could only happen because we have a soul contract. Our souls were already so close and now they have fused together. This is actually a little miraculous!’ Lan Feng said with excitement, as he thought about it.

  ‘Miracle, how?’ Hui Yue inquired, still slightly apprehensive about the thought of always bringing a part of Lan Feng with him wherever he went, n
ot to mention a part of his soul would forever be stuck within Lan Feng.

  ‘Well. You will be able to use some of my power now that you have a portion of my soul. At least, you should be able to use my affinities to create much better skills than the pitiful Fire Spark you used before.’

  ‘Will I be able to use spiritual arts?’ Hui Yue asked with great interest and his eyes started glistening with excitement, only to be turned down by Lan Feng,

  ‘In theory, yes. But you will not be able to. Even if you can use my elemental affinities you are unable to refine Qi into Spiritual energy. You can only do that after unlocking the middle dantian.’

  Lan Feng fell silent in thought, and Hui Yue could sense the pensiveness. It was as if a barrier had been erupted between the two of them warning Hui Yue not to communicate. He could almost make out thoughts swirling within Lan Feng’s mind with his naked eye, and sometimes fragments of the thoughts bled over into Hui Yue’s head, allowing him to infer that Lan Feng was currently probing his memory for any clues to soul fusion.

  ‘There is a way,’ Lan Feng said, as he opened his eyes slowly and the invisible barrier between the two ebbed away. ‘When a soul fusion has been established, it is possible to steal power from your fusion partner. If I were to refine spiritual power, you will be able to use it.’ At first, Hui Yue had been incredibly excited, but after being told of the procedure to its execution, disappointment washed over him like a splash of cold water.

  ‘But you can’t refine much spiritual power at a time,’ Hui Yue sighed dejectedly as he gazed at the blue thread of light between the two.

  ‘That is true,’ Lan Feng said, ‘but you won’t need a lot for it to be doing severe damage to your peers.’

  Hui Yue, once again, found his interest spurred on, as he saw a way to be able to beat stronger opponents such as Wang Ju Long.

  ‘Imagine Fire Spark if you were to infuse it with just a bit of spiritual energy,’ Lan Feng said, as a smile appeared on his face.

  Hui Yue, too, felt a smile spread. The Fire Spark used by Lan Feng had been far from perfect. If Hui Yue were to practice hard, and had the ability to borrow Lan Feng’s spiritual power, creating a fire bomb with a power exceeding that should not prove an impossible task.

  ‘I don’t know much about soul fusions, so I will suggest you to sit down and search your body thoroughly before you start consuming those incredibly delicious-smelling medicinal pills in your pocket.’ Lan Feng said, and Hui Yue could not help laughing. After ten years of constantly living together with this odd bird-boy, Hui Yue had to admit that his presence had grown on him – in fact, it might be a good thing that they were to never truly part

  Hui Yue did as he had been told and his mental projection sat down in the middle of the Qi spiral to begin meditating.

  Slowly the mental projection started to turn transparent as the Qi spiral moved frantically, and eventually the projection was completely gone. Hui Yue had injected his mental projection into the Qi strands, and he could feel how the Qi was bursting with power and seeking to break out of the spiral.

  One thread of Qi was allowed to break free and it shot out from the Qi cave at a high speed. It entered directly into a yang meridian around the stomach area, where Hui Yue noticed his meridians had grown in width.

  Having his meridians grow was most likely the result of Lan Feng’s high quality spiritual energy pulsing through them, back when he released his miniature sun-sized Fire Spark. Having enlarged meridians was a major boon, as it allowed for more Qi to flow through their channels at a time.

  Hui Yue’s scalp turned numb from the anticipation and glee, as he directed his consciousness further through the deep reaches of his body. Upon reaching the end of the twelve open meridians, he saw an opening towards a thirteenth vessel that had collapsed inwards, and how the spiritual energy had resulted in the end of the meridian being caved in.

  He instantly willed for more Qi threads towards this part, but he did not instantly charge at the entrance to force it open. Instead, he slowly allowed the Qi threads to dig their way into the newfound meridian, and ultimately the entrance was completely unsealed, allowing the Qi to enter and travel at a snail’s pace through the previously unknown tunnel.

  This meridian was the Chong Mai meridian, also known as the penetrating meridian. Its purpose was to further the Qi access from the meridian into the blood vessels and even into the organs. This allowed for a cultivator to use Qi as an internal shield within the body, and in the same breath allow the Qi to strengthen the organs and blood itself.

  ‘Brat, this is awesome!’ Lan Feng’s voice resounded from deep within the Qi cave. ‘To be able to unlock the Chong Mai meridian while still being in the student rank is really rare, and it will give you a head start amongst all the other cultivators of your generation.’

  Hui Yue himself was filled with as much excitement as Lan Feng, and he pushed back his consciousness to the Qi cave, where he recreated his mental projection and left the synchronisation with the Qi spiral, which in turn slowed down remarkably.

  ‘So what do I do now?’ Hui Yue asked, slightly dazed. It seemed as though the disaster from the previous night had turned into a blessing in disguise. Not only had he achieved soul fusion with Lan Feng, his meridians had grown in size and he had even unlocked the Chong Mai meridian to boot.

  Not to mention the many pills waiting for his consumption, Hui Yue felt as if there were so many treasures happening within his body and did not know what to focus on.

  ‘I would suggest that you start with taking one of these lovely medicinal pills, and after absorbing all the Qi from the pill into the Qi spiral, you will go and train the high ranked martial art attack skill that I am going to give you. When you have used all of your Qi on training you will enter meditation and refine more Qi until you have restored the Qi spiral to its usual shape and then you will force the Qi into your Chong Mai meridian, from which you will start fortifying your internal organs and dissolve as much Qi as possible within the blood. When you run out of Qi, you will once again meditate until your Qi spiral has filled to usual size before you take a new medicinal pill and repeat the same actions.’

  Hui Yue listened to Lan Feng and felt his heart leap when he heard the phoenix was finally ready to provide him with a high ranked martial art skill.

  ‘You are not to practice Fire Spark before I have refined at least some spiritual essence for you to practice with,’ Lan Feng said sternly, to which Hui Yue nodded in approval.

  Hui Yue dissolved his mental projection and woke up, seated below the tree in his backyard. The majority of the day had already come to pass, and the sun was climbing down beneath the mountain tops.

  Hui Yue sighed, but although he was tempted to ingest a medicinal pill already, he was perfectly aware that stressing it would only bring detrimental effects and he did not fancy the idea.

  The schedule Lan Feng had planned for Hui Yue was structured in a way that allowed Hui Yue to stabilize the Qi he would gain from the pills by both fortifying his organs but also, at the same time, practicing a martial art attack skill. Doing this should stabilize the Qi enough for him to be able to consume another pill within a short timeframe. However, Hui Yue knew that he should not expect eating a pill every day. The fortification was supposed to be incredibly hard, and mastering a new martial art skill was no simple endeavor, either.

  Still a smile appeared on the small boy’s face as he left his courtyard, moving towards the canteen. The following day would be the time for him to start his cultivation for real.

  Hui Yue had been unable to sleep all night, as he was filled with excitement about finally trying out a medicinal pill, not to mention learning a new martial art skill, and eventually he had to give up on sleep, opting to instead sit down on top of his bed while meditating deeply.

  Hui Yue had since long ago noticed that the student’s emblem was not as simple as it seemed, and every time he was within his courtyard, he would stow it away underneath his pillow,
which in turn caused great distress amongst the elders who wished to see the genius train.

  As soon as the first birds started singing in the sky, Hui Yue’s eyes shut open and an excited smile appeared on his face. Grabbing his jacket, he jumped out the house and placed himself in the wet grass which was below the tree in his courtyard.

  Hui Yue completely ignored how the dew soaked his clothes, but it was finally time for him to try out one of the pills that he had never tried before.

  A green jade case appeared within his hands, and as if trembling slightly, Hui Yue slowly opened the lid, allowing the heavenly herb-like scent to swiftly rise in and suffuse the air.

  A greedy smile appeared on his face as his hand quickly grasped the pill and tossed it into his mouth.

  As soon as the pill got in contact with the saliva, the hard shell instantly melted, releasing waves of profound sweetness within Hui Yue’s mouth, and, before long, the entire pill turned into a liquid that quickly slid down Hui Yue’s throat.