Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Purchasing the mansion required a hundred spirit coins, which was an astronomical price for such a building, and also the reason why it had not been sold despite being on the market for such a long time.

  Although Hui Yue had earned a lot of coins when he sold the skills back in his first year within Riluo City, he had spent more than half of them on medicinal pills, and now he was spending a lot on a home, yet to Hui Yue it was worth every single coin that he spent.

  His income had been increasing steadily, but even though he did get a good amount of money from the Deng Family and their watermills, it was still only around twenty to twenty-four spirit coins. Hui Yue easily used at least fifty spirit coins a year on medicinal pills for his friends and himself.

  It would have been more financially stable had he received money from the insurance company as well. Even still Hui Yue never regretted giving the money to his village and his family. It allowed for his father to spend more time at home repairing their old shack and spoiling Hui Yue’s little brother as well as encouraging him to cultivate. Hui Yue highly valued his family which included his new little brother Hui Lei. Hui Yue wished them all the best.

  The mansion which he was buying was big enough to allow for his entire village to move in, despite this Hui Yue already knew that they would not leave their home and come live with him. Still the doors were always open for the villagers whenever they happened to be in town, so that they had somewhere to rest up.

  Although the villagers gained quite a bit of coin from the insurance, all these were used to improve the standard of living within the village, and although every villager was helping out it was still something which required both time and money.

  Every youngster within the village was now training according to certain cultivation techniques, allowing the younger generation to become cultivators, all of them were inspired by Hui Yue who seemed so much more accomplished than their parents.

  Having purchased the mansion, Hui Yue received the house’s key stone, and he returned to the academy with a feeling of nostalgia. The many events which had transpired at the academy kept appearing in his mind.

  The time when he just entered the academy and sparred with Wang Ju Long. Finding out that Wang Ju Long was a girl. Meeting Deng Wu, Gao Yan, and Ma Kong. The many doubts he had about his new friends and the fact that he finally came to trust them. Hui Yue also remembered Li Shing, the first person he killed.

  Thinking back on this, Hui Yue could not help but chuckle slightly. Back then, killing left him with an uncomfortable feeling, yet he steeled his determination and went through with it. Since then he had killed many humans and magical beasts, either while he was fighting for survival against assassins, or hunting beasts for their cores.

  A smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face as he knew that although he was now leaving the academy, he would still live within Riluo City and the friends he made would be friends for a lifetime.

  Unlike the others, Hui Yue was not graduating, instead he was dropping out. He had not achieved Master rank, nor was he twenty years of age, and therefore the academy considered him leaving as dropping out.

  To drop out, Hui Yue was required to go meet with the Academy Chairman and hand in his student emblem, giving back everything he had gotten from the academy previously.

  For Hui Yue, this was not a problem. Unlike the majority of the students, Hui Yue had never participated in lectures as the books from the library had always been there for him to read. He had not borrowed any martial art skills since Fire Spark which he returned years ago. The reason being that Lan Feng looked down upon the variety that was available at the academy and their quality was far inferior to what Len Feng knew.

  Had this been years ago, then Hui Yue would have feared being in front of the Academy Chairman, as he feared that Lan Feng might be noticed, yet after Lan Feng absorbed the energy from the Divine Flower, not to mention the amount of spiritual energy he had refined during the passing years, Lan Feng was now only detectable by experts stronger than Lan Feng, himself.

  The one thing Hui Yue felt depressed about leaving behind was his courtyard. He had spent the majority of his last five years inside that courtyard, and he had especially grown fond of that big tree which was located to the side, shading him from both sunshine and rain, allowing for the young Hui Yue to cultivate in peace.

  Moving out of the academy, Hui Yue looked back once more, remembering how he had entered the place with nothing but an expectation of being able to buy medicinal pills, and now he was leaving after having gained friends for a lifetime, along with a cultivation base which both he and Lan Feng were satisfied with.

  As soon as Hui Yue left the academy he no longer spent any time lamenting about the past and instead asked Gao Yan to meet him at his new home. Upon arriving, Gao Yan’s jaw had dropped so far that if it dropped any more, Hui Yue would be worried whether or not it was still attached to the joints.

  “What an awesome house!” He exclaimed excitedly as he looked at the mansion which Hui Yue now was the proud owner of. A grin appeared on Hui Yue’s face as he nodded his head slightly, agreeing with Gao Yan. He too found his new home amazing.

  “I need your help.” Hui Yue said as he led Gao Yan into the kitchen where he had cooked some food for the two of them. Sha Yun was busy running around and familiarizing herself with each room and the gardens.

  “I need you to find someone who will work here. I need servants to look after the mansion, a chef to cook food because, god help me, I refuse to eat another dish cooked by Sha Yun, and I also need a messenger boy.” Hui Yue listed the men he needed and Gao Yan nodded his head each time. For him such a task was nothing hard, and he instantly went about interviewing everyone whom he would consider hiring for Hui Yue.

  Seeing that Hui Yue had a new home, the Rong twins both felt that it was important for him to hold a housewarming party. Although it had only been few days since their birthday party both were ready for yet another party and no matter what Hui Yue tried to say, it was impossible for him to convince them otherwise. Both Rong twins were laughing happily as they left the mansion for the evening.

  Following his guests to the door, Hui Yue froze slightly as his eyes locked onto a bearded man whom he instantly recognized. The assassin was obviously capable of following his trail, and Hui Yue felt a shiver run down his spine. The previous assumption that whomever sent these assassins did not wish for his death, suddenly vanished. This man truly wanted Hui Yue dead.

  Looking at the man a cold and merciless light shone within Hui Yue’s eyes, as he took out a memory stone into which he left a message, which he then threw to the bearded man.

  Catching the stone, the bearded assassin seemed slightly stunned, yet he quickly glanced at the memory stone and a smile appeared on his face as he got an invitation to his housewarming party.

  Chapter 76 - Eeny Meeny Miny Moe

  * * *

  Chapter 76: Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe

  Hui Yue was seated within his chambers as he looked at the robes in front of him, trying to pick the right one for the occasion. Usually he would just wear whatever he felt like, however today he had been told by Rong Xing to do something special with his appearance to stun everyone present.

  Looking at his wardrobe Hui Yue sighed deeply. He had tied his long white hair up with a blue leather band and was currently deciding between a blue robe with white embroidery, or a white robe with blue embroidery. For him it did not matter which he chose, but he knew that Rong Xing would notice whatever he was wearing and she would be disappointed if it was not up to her standards.

  ‘Why not just pick one at random?’ Lan Feng asked with a sigh. The phoenix had long since given up on voicing his opinion on clothes, as Hui Yue would most certainly completely ignore him.

  ‘You’re right.’ Hui Yue finally sighed, surprising the phoenix until he saw Hui Yue closing his eyes and pointing at the robes in turn while saying, ‘eeny meeny miny moe, catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers let him go,
eeny meeny miny moe.’

  ‘Okay, It’ll be this one.’ Hui Yue finally said, as he picked up a blue celestial robe and quickly wrapped it around his body before he swept out the door. Outside the door was a hallway with an open view of the courtyard, and Hui Yue leaned against the railing looking down.

  The welcoming party which was hosted by Hui Yue was centered in the courtyard where servants were rushing around lining up tables with refreshments and drinks. Hui Yue had once more recruited Gao Yan to assist him as he had no clue how to set up a party, but fortunately enough for him, Gao Yan had friends who had planned bigger parties before, and they were now getting ready for the guests to arrive.

  Hui Yue had hired ten servants to work in his mansion full time, but today he had hired another ninety to work as servants. He had hired one chef to cook his food, yet today another four had been needed to cook the extensive amount of snacks which were needed.

  Hui Yue did not normally have any guards protecting his mansion, but today a force of fifty men were now patrolling outside to ensure that the party would go on without any fights between the rivalling factions.

  Not to mention the guards were also insurance, considering Hui Yue invited a certain person. Every guard was at least Master ranked while a few others were Grandmasters.

  Although these guards had been a lot more expensive to hire than ordinary guards it was still a decision which Hui Yue considered important and he knew he had made the right choice. His life was worth more than his spirit coins after all.

  The reason Hui Yue invited this assassin was because Hui Yue had the impression that he was not just someone who lacked money and turned to the despicable trade. Hui Yue was certain that this man had certain status within Riluo City and by inviting him to his party it was likely that someone would recognize him. In that case Hui Yue would be able to gain some information about this mysterious person.

  Although Hui Yue planned this, he did not know whether or not the assassin would actually attend the party. Considering his ability to follow Hui Yue, the white-haired boy assumed that his plan might be fairly obvious. But although he might see through the plan there was still the possibility of the assassin underestimated Hui Yue.

  If Hui Yue was being underestimated and the assassin were to show up at the party, then the white-haired boy could possibly gain a lot of information, yet even if he did not show up, then Hui Yue would have lost nothing. Actually he would know that the assassin did not underestimate him.

  Looking down at the busy servants and his friends, Hui Yue smiled as he descended the stairs and walked towards the Rong twins.

  While Gao Yan had been tasked with providing the manpower behind the party, the Rong twins were tasked with the invitations. Up until this moment, Hui Yue still had no idea who was invited, nor did he really care.

  Neither Deng Wu nor Ma Kong had been asked to assist in planning the event. Ma Kong was busy being introduced to his work in the Ma family as he was graduating from the Royal Academy, and Deng Wu was busy doing something Hui Yue did not know about.

  The last few weeks, Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long both had been very busy with their families, and neither wished to go into details as to what was happening. The only thing which Hui Yue was told was that he would know eventually and that it did not have anything to do with him.

  Hearing such vague replies caused Hui Yue to become slightly alert, yet now was not the time for him to start doubting his friends, as he was very busy dealing with the assassination attacks which he had to suffer through so often.

  As Hui Yue walked down the stairs, Rong Xing noticed him and he heaved a big sigh of relief when he saw the approving nod she gave him. It seemed as though his handy eeny, meeny, miny, moe had truly helped him avoid disaster this time.

  Everyone present was dressed in their finest garments, even the servants had all been given matching uniforms to wear. All of this was done to help establish Hui Yue within the higher ranks of nobles in Riluo City.

  Hui Yue was no noble. He had no background that could stand firm for him and everything around him was surrounded by mystery. This was a young boy who four years’ prior had been guessed to be the disciple of an esteemed expert yet no one had been able to confirm this.

  Hui Yue had then gone on to shock the entire city with his performance in the first academy tournament he participated in, yet every tournament since then he had only shown mediocre skills resulting in him only ranking in the top eight once.

  As time started to dull the impression of that first year, the citizens within Riluo City all came to the conclusion that Hui Yue was just lucky the first year. Sweeping through the easy opponents and then had a lucky break in the final. They now believed that Hui Yue was not truly as extravagant as it had seemed back then.

  As for his master, well no one had seen the esteemed expert since she burned down the Shen family compound and most had assumed that she had long since left town when she achieved her goal of selling the skills, which she brought with her.

  This was partly one of the reasons that Hui Yue stayed as low profile as possible. He had indeed gone all out the first year, yet since then he was perfectly aware of how strong he was compared to the other students within the academy, and he saw no reason to go all out.

  He was sparring against Wang Ju Long daily and although their relationship had gotten much better than the first time they sparred, there was still a rivalry going on between the two. Neither would back down.

  At first Wang Ju Long was the loser of all their bouts, yet as she started to cultivate according to Hui Yue’s cultivation technique, Wang Ju Long found that she was now many times stronger than she had been before. Not to mention the benefit the skills which Hui Yue had gifted her had brought her.

  Sparring against Wang Ju Long had turned into a stalemate as the two were seemingly evenly matched, and their current record was at fifty-two wins to Hui Yue and forty-six wins to Wang Ju Long.

  They had both long since stopped sparring against Deng Wu, as he would wave his hand and use his spiritual affinity to capture the opponent, then sit down and read a book until the other forfeited.

  In this world there were many different types of ways to do battle. Hui Yue had embarked upon the road of strength and agility to directly confront his opponents and their attacks, while Deng Wu had gone the way of a control fighter. As he feared for his face anytime a true battle begun, he quickly started learning skills which allowed for him to trap and immobilize others.

  Thinking back on all those battles, Hui Yue could not help but grin, but this grin quickly got replaced by a polite expression as he noticed the first guests were arriving.

  The first set of guests were the Ma family lead by Ma Kong and the manager from the Black Market Auction House. The two of them went straight for Hui Yue where they handed over two storage stones.

  “Congratulations on your new home.” The manager said with a gentle smile on his face. Although Hui Yue’s fame had long since fallen when it came to his battle prowess that was one thing which did not matter to the Ma family. For the Ma family, Hui Yue was a genius who had given them a great opportunity, and Hui Yue could only thank them for their unchanging attitude towards him.

  Putting the stones aside, Hui Yue thanked the delegation before they moved into the room. Servants were walking towards them with drinks and food, and the Rong twins quickly made their way to the group of guests to start gossiping.

  Glancing around, Hui Yue tried to locate Sha Yun, as he knew she adored gifts, yet anywhere he looked he could not find a snaketail that would betraying her location. Chuckling slightly, Hui Yue moved to the water fountain in the middle of the courtyard where he relaxed while enjoying the sounds of the water dripping, just like music.

  Hui Yue did not have a lot of time to enjoy the sound of the water as the next delegation arrived, this time it was another merchant family, and just like the Ma family, they gifted a few storage stones with unknown content.

  As soon as this seco
nd delegation arrived, a whole flood of people seemed to appear and Hui Yue greeted one family after another, clasping hands as a symbol of thanks because they had taken time out of their busy schedules to make an appearance.

  Group after group arrived and suddenly Hui Yue’s eyes became alert, as he noticed a man who was making his way into the mansion. A smile was evident on his bearded face and a merciless look flashed through his eyes.

  The bearded man moved through the courtyard as though he was a shadow. No one stopped him on his way in, and it was as if no one saw him enter. Hui Yue furrowed his brows as he wondered if the man came for the sake of killing him, yet he quickly dismissed this notion.

  Looking at this bearded man it was obvious that he did not underestimate Hui Yue, and his visit today was of another reason than their previous meeting. Moving closer and closer, Hui Yue forced himself to keep the sinister killing intent inside him in check, yet it was not completely possible, and small parts of mist kept slipping out from the grasp of the blue cloud.