Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Hearing this, Deng Wu, Sha Yun, and Wang Ju Long all looked at Hui Yue and the shock in their eyes quickly turned to regret. They all remembered the time they had spent at Cave’s End and how they managed to protect a few Laws. Unfortunately, it seemed that many others were in danger and they were unable to help them.

  “No need to worry too much about it now,” Hui Yue said soothingly as he started flipping his hand, withdrawing corpses from his storage stone and placing them one after another on the ground.

  Looking at them, he felt somewhat nauseous as there were some who died a clean death, but the majority were either missing half their body or smelling of burnt flesh, while others had their heads caved in. All this damage was inflicted by Hui Yue under the influence of the red mist.

  Seeing all the corpses, his friends felt uncomfortable unable to tell why he saved them and for what purpose he was lining them up in front of them.

  Having laid them all out, Hui Yue did a quick count and found that he managed to kill and store twenty-seven men. Looking at them for a moment, he heaved a heavy breath before he picked up one corpse and started to roam through their pockets looking for jewelry and items. He took every single storage stone he came across.

  Seeing Hui Yue acting the way he did, it suddenly dawned on the three friends that their storage stones were held and kept by some of the Dragon Corps members who were in the same carriage as them. If they had escaped then their storage stones would be lost forever.

  None of the friends wished for this to happen and without thinking all three quickly joined Hui Yue, picking up one storage stone after another.

  Although many corpses were laid out, it did not take the four friends long before they managed to pick up every single storage stone.. The burnt flesh along with the scent of blood spread throughout the unlit tunnel calling forth one monster after another who wanted that delicious smelling meat.

  While they were searching, Xu Piao and Xie Lan were waiting by their sides pushing back every beast who came too close, however, they still turned into a horde and the six friends quickly decided to withdraw. Finding all their storage stones they truly did not need to keep looking.

  Retreating back to the part of the tunnels which were lit, Hui Yue and his friends quickly found another tunnel that headed downwards.

  The side tunnels contained many small caves which were carved into the ground. These caves were either bandit lairs, or home to hordes of magical beasts. Currently Hui Yue wished to take over one of these lairs so that he could sit down and look through their spoils. Not to mention seeing if they were capable of finding anything of interest from the Dragon Corps’ items they obtained.

  The tunnel they chose to enter was filled with magical beasts, a sign that no bandits were around. This was because usually they made sure to clear out the beasts near their turf, however, one could never be too careful. Thus the six friends moved forward slowly killing one beast after another, and storing the beast corpses within their storage stones.

  Finally, after what felt like days of searching, the group managed to find a place where they could rest. As they entered the cave a loud howl could be heard, but when the beast got close enough to sense the aura of Xu Piao and Xie Lan, it wisely chose to escape; not betting its life for the sake of a simple cave.

  Having set up a campfire within the cave, Hui Yue sat down and tossed some of the storage stones to Xu Piao and Xie Lan. All of them quickly binded the stones with Qi strand before they opened them and looked into them.

  “Oh this one contains a thousand demon cores.” Xu Piao said surprised, “There is quite a lot of food as well, but he had no interesting weapons or scrolls.”

  “This one has almost no money only about seventy demon cores.” Sha Yun said while wrinkling her nose, “Oh wait!” She suddenly said as she waved her hands and three memory stones appeared out of nowhere. Placing the memory stones to her forehead a bright blue light shone within the cave. After a moment the snake-woman removed the first of the stones before she tried the second and third memory stone.

  “Don’t mind them,” She sighed, “They are just maps of the cave system. We already saw some similar to them back in Demon Dwelling Cave.”

  Hearing this, everyone who held their breath, hoping for interesting news, all sighed as they shook their heads. Mocking smiles could be seen before they continued to search through the stones.

  “It is here! I found it!” Deng Wu said excitedly as he found a storage stone containing multiple other storage stones. The ones on the ground were the stones which belonged to Deng Wu, Sha Yun, and Wang Ju Long.

  Giving the stones to their original owners, Hui Yue and the rest combined all the loot they gained. There were only around two hundred and twenty thousand demon cores, however that was plenty for the group to continue their travels.

  Apart from demon coins they found lots of food and wine, clearly these Dragon Corps members brought them along for their mission. Along with food and wine, Hui Yue found quite a few materials which were already refined, not to mention a large array of inscriptions. These were for their metal affinity cultivators to use.

  Some of the bags contained weapons while others contained jewelry. After looking all the things over, Hui Yue evenly split all the items between the six of them. All the inscription patterns went to Deng Wu who was thoroughly excited as he sat down. He looked through each and every one of the inscription patterns trying to determine which ability each of them activated.

  Chapter 181 - Spar with Me

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  Chapter 181: Spar with Me

  Having split up their spoils of war, Hui Yue sat down and started meditating. He was curious to see which changes took place in his body during the short time he was fully taken over by the red mist.

  At first glance, everything within his body looked the same way as it had before. No extraordinary meridians were broken through, he had not risen in rank and turned into a higher star Grandmaster, nor was the red cloud any larger than it had been before.

  In fact, the red cloud was incredibly docile considering its usual behavior, something which caused Hui Yue to look at it tentatively. He was not sure if this was the calm before the storm, or if it was actually exhausted after the fight earlier.

  Observing the red mist, Hui Yue slowly noticed a small black gemlike item hiding in the middle of the mist. This was a small black item he had seen many times before. It was, without a doubt, a demon core, or beast core as they called them aboveground.

  Seeing the demon core within the red mist, Hui Yue was taken aback, especially because the core was in no way special. It was a black core, something which showed that it was owned by a very mediocre demon beast. A beast which was not even the same strength as a Master ranked expert.

  Knowing the strength he possessed when he taken over, there was no way that he was inferior to other middle dantian cultivators. There had to be a reason for the demon core to be nothing more than a low grade one.

  ‘Don’t worry too much about it,’ Lan Feng commented with closed eyes as he was focused on refining Wu Wei. With the two of them sharing a soul, it was easy for the phoenix to feel anything Hui Yue felt, and the sudden confusion caused the bird to finally open his mouth.

  ‘The beast core appeared while you were fully taken over by the beast. I imagine that it will grow into a golden core if you are taken over by the beast for a long period of time.’ Being quiet for some time, Lan Feng added. ‘I suggest you don’t let the red mist free anytime soon. It is likely that you will harm your own friends when it takes over your body.’

  Hearing the warning Hui Yue nodded seriously. He understood perfectly well that he was incapable of controlling his body when the red mist was in control. He turned into a liability whenever he was affected by the mist, someone who would harm his friends he fought so hard to free.

  ‘Don’t be too downcast.’ Lan Feng continued, ‘It is a great trump card to have, not to mention that although the red mist was impossible for
Hui Yue to deal with on his own, as long as it did not grow much stronger, Hui Yue still had the blue cloud assisting him.

  The blue cloud was a cloud which he understood even less than the red mist. The red mist was easy to understand. It grew with every kill, and it fought to take control of his body. Having seen what he turned into, it was obviously some savage animal Hui Yue had been in a previous life; however, the blue cloud was so tranquil, so gentle, that he had no idea what or whom it could possibly have been. He had never heard about a human, or any other creature, with such a tranquil atmosphere.

  The wings were just as questionable. Did he gain wings because he had been a winged creature before? But if that was so, how come the wings were made of Wu Wei? The wings should be easier to use had they come from a beast.

  The green pearl was as easy to understand as the red mist. Hui Yue assumed that it came from someone who specialized in healing, however, whomever it was, his personality was simply horrible, as it rarely bothered showing its might.

  Thinking about all the different phenomena which were residing within his body, Hui Yue could not help but sigh deeply. They were all troublesome, yet at the same time useful. Where they came from and what they did was something which Hui Yue did not understand for now. All he could do was learn how to deal with them.

  Opening his eyes, Hui Yue saw that all his friends were busy doing their own things. Xie Lan was healing Xu Piao, Deng Wu was still focused solely upon the many inscriptions he had suddenly gotten his hands on, and Wang Ju Long was training with her staff; ripples of energy spreading out from each and every move she made showing just how powerful she had become.

  Sha Yun was not training like the others. Unlike humans, she was a magical beast, a demon beast who managed to break through the ranks of cultivation without too much effort. However, as a demon beast the percentage which she could merge with the earth was not something she could training like humans. It was an innate ability always at its maximum but never able to increase further.

  Sha Yun’s way of cultivating was to refine the essence of the heavens and the earth which allowed her to keep improving.

  For now though, she was not refining energy, instead she was sitting next to Hui Yue waiting for him to wake up from his meditation.

  Seeing him open his eyes, her mouth opened as though she was about to say something, but she quickly closed it again. Her face turning slightly red as she opened and closed her mouth, unable to say whatever it was she wanted to.

  Seeing Sha Yun like this, Hui Yue could not help but laugh dotingly at her as he patted her head before his face turned serious, “What’s wrong Yun?” He asked in a soft voice, “You know you can ask me anything, so there is no reason for you to be so embarrassed.”

  Hearing his words a wry smile appeared on Sha Yun’s face. She was well aware that Hui Yue would answer her question, however, what she was worried about was exactly that. The answer to her question.

  The question she wanted to ask was whether or not Hui Yue liked Wang Ju Long. Seeing their behavior it seemed as though he did, but he had not said anything so far. Thus the snake-woman kept hoping. However as she saw the hug he gave her when they reunited this caused Sha Yun’s heart to quail in despair and she felt that now she needed to know.

  The only downside was that although she wished to know, she was completely unable to ask the question. Her heartbeat rose, her heart felt as though it was stuck in her throat blocking the words she wanted to say. Eventually she just shook her head and walked away, finding a quiet corner in the small cave and sitting down. After which She started refining the essence of the heavens and the earth.

  Seeing the odd behavior of Sha Yun, Hui Yue was puzzled for some time before he shook his head and moved towards Wang Ju Long.

  The black-haired woman was so engaged in her work that she did not notice Hui Yue arriving. As she attacked with a slash using her staff it was blocked by the backside of a black dagger.

  “Let me spar with you for a bit,” Hui Yue asked curiously as he jumped in front of the woman. Wang Ju Long’s face instantly turned red as she remembered the embrace she was given earlier, but she quickly sent a sly smile and nodded to her friend.

  Hui Yue was excited to hear that she agreed to spar. He instantly started, his eyes glistening in excitement as he poured spiritual energy into his dagger and activated Velocity Flow rushing into the range of the woman in front of him.

  Wang Ju Long knew what he was about to do and a snicker appeared on her face. She swung her staff heavily above her head colliding against the dagger and causing Hui Yue to retreat slightly. A red hue appeared, however, this red hue was not caused by Hui Yue, but appeared from Wang Ju Long. A small weasel was apparent on top of her staff snickering at Hui Yue as the young man’s face was filled with laughter and excitement.

  Seeing that Wang Ju Long was using all her power, everyone within the cave quickly stopped whatever they were doing and instead watched the two youngsters who were fighting one another.

  Wang Ju Long’s staff was so swift that no one could see it unless they focused solely on the staff itself. To the naked eye the only thing visible was a shadow flickering here and there.

  Hui Yue felt astonished to see that she improved to such a degree. A happy and warm emotion appeared in his heart as he focused solely on the staff shadows in front of him, dodging one shadow after another. Hui Yue was moving so swiftly that they could only see him if they tried their best.

  Seeing that she was unable to deal with him the way she was currently fighting, Wang Ju Long accessed the small weasel with a thought. Within moments a heavy energy ripple spread out like a ring in water, everything it touched on its path was turned into dust. Not even Hui Yue dared take this frightening attack head on.

  Relying on Velocity Flow, Hui Yue backed up before he jumped high into the air. High above the energy ripple as he shot like an arrow towards the woman and the red glowing staff.

  Shooting forward with a speed so swift that the previous shadows seemed as though they were as slow as a turtle, Hui Yue arrived behind Wang Ju Long in less than a second. However, just as he expected to defeat her, his stomach was hit by the back of her staff. She had thrust the staff backwards and Hui Yue was once more forced to retreat.

  Retreating, both he and Wang Ju Long ended up standing in front of one another. Their weapons whirled around them, sounds of weapons clashing against each other rang throughout the silence of the cave.

  Their attacks gained in strength and their speed constantly increased. The staff was handled by Wang Ju Long with both hands, while Hui Yue only used his one handed weapon to counter, however the weapon he used was Black Blood fortified with his spiritual energy.

  Slash after slash, thrust after thrust, the two cultivators were locked in a standoff neither able to win but at the same time refusing to give up.

  Wang Ju Long was, in worse shape than Hui Yue. Although she had learnt how to control the amount of spiritual energy her staff consumed, it was impossible for her to keep up the fight for much longer. Her beautiful face starting to pale and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

  Seeing this, Hui Yue backed away once more while blocking the staff and went out of range. “I forfeit,” He said with a smile on his face as he looked at the panting woman in front of him, a gentle smile on his face.

  Looking at Hui Yue with gratitude in her eyes Wang Ju Long leaned against her staff catching her breath before she nodded towards the white-haired young man.

  “I lost,” She said with a quiet voice before sitting down and started to cultivate. It seemed as though she had made a breakthrough.

  Chapter 182 - Personal Insight

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  Chapter 182: Personal Insight

  It seems that her breakthrough did not raise her rank. However her body was shining with a green light which showed she gained some insights into her elemental affinity for Wood.

  Seeing this, a surge of happiness appeared in Hui Yue’s heart. The
more insights and breakthroughs they had, the stronger their group became. Despite all his cultivating recently, he still felt he was far from strong enough to be able to look after his friends. Due to this he wished for them to improve so that even when they reached the Dragon Core, none of them would be easy targets to pick on.

  Sha Yun was constantly improving even if she did nothing at all because, as a magical beast, as she grew older. This was something which made Hui Yue less worried about her.

  After Deng Wu spent time looking through the immense amount of new inscriptions he obtained he quickly found that they contained high ranked abilities, some of which even contained Wu Wei rather than spiritual energy.

  The way an inscription worked was that abilities were etched onto the parchment and with the help of spiritual energy merged with Metal, one would be capable of unleashing the attack from the parchments.

  Every inscriptions had various runes and looking at these runes was the way to determine what kind of attack they contained. The color of the runes determined which kind of elemental attack it was. A white rune would be a martial attack made from Qi, a silvery rune would mean it was a spiritual art attack with no elemental affinity, and a golden rune meant that it was an attack using Wu Wei.