Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Seeing how the Lynx retreated, Hui Yue instantly understood that the beast in front of him was not just a beast. It was not a creature which lived purely on instincts, instead, it was a beast which had an intelligence equal to that of man; its cat-like eyes were with knowledge.

  Seeing this, Hui Yue became even more vigilant as he held the two flames, one in each hand. He then threw them into the air, and both of them hovered behind the body. Smaller fireballs were produced from within and they starting to swirl around Hui Yue’s body. As time went by more and more Fire Orbs were created and the lynx retreated further and further away. Looking at Hui Yue, the lynx sneered at him before it turned around to leave, however, Hui Yue refused to let it go so easily and threw a bigger than normal Fire Orbs towards the lynx. It seemed to move as fast as light and quickly a ring of fire encompassed the two blocking the escape of the lynx. It trapped both man and beast inside, no one could escape before one or the other had been killed.

  Seeing this the lynx no longer attempted to escape, instead, it decided to fight. Turning around its eyes gleamed in the flames, its fur standing on end and it’s mouth opened in a sneer. The lynx understood that fighting at a distance was not a good idea considering that the Fire Orbs that the man controlled were best for long range combat. The lynx decided to fight close up but every time he threw himself forwards, Hui Yue would dodge to the side or backwards. Hui Yue did everything in his power to not fight close up as he understood that the lynx’s claws could not be allowed to touch him.

  Every time the large lynx charged forward, Hui Yue felt a chill run down his spine along with cold sweat on his forehead. The lynx was intelligent and much larger than Hui Yue himself, and its attack speed was so swift that Hui Yue had to use Velocity Flow to its limits to avoid the sharp claws which caused ripples of energy to spread out.

  Neither the beast nor Hui Yue had the advantage. The Lynx was incredibly swift as it dodged the Fire Orbs. The orbs which were being made caused the fire ring to soar in strength. The trees close by started to burn, but no fur on the lynx had been touched by the fire just as Hu Yue had not been touched by the claws.

  Seeing that they were getting nowhere and that both man and beast were just wasting away their energy, Hui Yue retreated all the way to the blazing flame ring which surrounded them. As he did, he withdrew his two flames which was currently resting behind him, and a savage smile appeared on his face.

  Hui Yue had long since decided that he was going to battle on his own, not relying on either Lan Feng nor the nine mysterious energies within his body. He breathed heavily before he once more withdrew the dagger from his storage stone.

  Originally, his plan was to rely on distance to use his flames, both the blue flame and the merged Earth and Metal flame. These two flames should be capable of dealing with the beast, unfortunately, although they were capable of dealing with the beast, it was of no help because the speed with which the beast moved was simply far too swift. Looking at it now, Hui Yue understood how lucky he had been to entrap the beast beforehand within the circle of flames.

  Wielding the black dagger in his hand, the young man made a rapid dash towards his opponent. A move which both surprised and pleased the giant lynx in front of him. Just as Hui Yue was about to reach the lynx he changed his direction and rushed to the side of the beast, dodging under the paw which swiped towards him with a force that would kill him right on the spot.

  Although the force was great, Hui Yue knew that with great danger came possibilities as well. As the lynx although still able to move had just exposed its entire side to Hui Yue who did not wait for a better opportunity and thrust the dagger into its tough skin. The blade cut through and entering the flesh within.

  The wound was not deep enough to be considered fatal, but in spite of that, it was still a wound which caused the lynx to let out an agonizing scream as blood gushed from its side. Using its mist-like energy to stop the bleeding, the lynx now looked far more agonized than before, its eyes now filled with hate and anger.

  Although the beast had intelligence much similar to humans it also still had its beastly instincts. Although the lynx was not completely overwhelmed by its beastly instincts, it was clear that the urge to kill Hui Yue awoke something deep inside the beast. Something which Hui Yue noticed instantly.

  Running away once more, Hui Yue kicked up small rocks from the forest floor like a barrage towards the lynx. He constantly forced it to either keep moving or to take the hits head on. Being injured already caused the beast to not wish to take any damage and he avoided every stone. Hui Yue retreating attacks caused the lynx to be incapable of advancing. Its entire focus was given to avoid these stones which came raining down upon him.

  Suddenly a crackling sound was heard and looking at the lynx, Hui Yue was easily able to see the difference from before. Previously the lynx’s body was filled with beautiful golden fur, golden fur with a silver line down its spine; however, right now the pitch black mist surrounded its body and he no longer avoided the stones. One after another was blown to pieces as they came into contact with the shield around the beast. Hui Yue could not help but be astonished at the strength of the lynx’s defense it now possessed. But he noticed that now the beast was no longer as swift at it had been before. It was obvious that using this energy to protect himself, it was impossible for him to use the same energy to move about swiftly. Having this shield around him, the lynx no longer needed his speed as he could take the majority of the damage head on.

  With a roar, the lynx shot forward towards the dagger wielding young man. Its mouth open ready to bite down upon the young man, and its claws fully exposed sweeping towards the unprotected parts of Hui Yue’s body.

  Seeing the teeth and the claw coming towards him, Hui Yue knew it was impossible for him to avoid both. His hand clenched around the dagger where he infused every bit of his spiritual energy, and he swiftly avoided the claws, but as soon as he narrowly dodged the claws , the lynx’s teeth sunk deep into his shoulder. A crunching sound was heard as his shoulder blade shattered from the sheer pressure of the strong jaws.

  Blood welled up within his mouth and his eyes turned red, but Hui Yue suppressed the red mist. Instead he lifted his still functional arm and wielded Black Blood and with his full strength as he thrust the dagger into the forehead of the lynx, right between the eyes.

  At first his speed was slow; he felt as the dagger penetrated through countless layers of crystal before it reached the soft fur and skin. As soon as the dagger passed through the crystal layer, the protective layer of the beast, the dagger no longer struggled and easily entered the skull.

  The fierce red eyes of the magical beast slowly turned dim as all light left them, the soul lost to the Netherworld.

  Looking at the beast, Hui Yue slowly made his way towards a tree where he fell down. He was currently very injured so he had no intention of removing the flaming ring around the location he was in right now. The flame had kept the lynx inside, but it also kept every other beast outside, something which was crucial for Hui Yue currently as his right shoulder was completely shattered.

  Looking at the wound Hui Yue could not help but hiss in pain, and after waiting a few minutes he took a pill. He hoped that the green pearl within his body would help him out, however, seeing that it would not, with a sigh, the strongest healing medicinal pill Hui Yue possessed ended up within his mouth.

  As soon as the pill was eaten something strange happened within. Usually the energy should enter the dantian after which it would merge with his Qi and move through the Dai Mei meridian to the place within his body where the wound was. But as soon as the energy entered his dantian cave, it did not merge with the Qi spiral, instead, it was all sucked into the cave in which the green pearl resided. Seeing this, Hui Yue was completely taken aback, his eyes round and his anger rising.

  Hui Yue was severely injured and he needed help from either a healer, or a medicinal pill. He had a healer within his body who refused to heal him, and when he
used medicinal pills, the green pearl was consuming the energy which was meant to heal him.

  This had never happened before. Hui Yue assumed that this was due to the fact that he had never used strong medicinal pills before, instead, he normally took the less effective pills but in greater quantity. Just as he expected, the green pearl showed no interest in these pills, and after eating them Hui Yue crossed his legs and started to control the Qi in his body. Controlling it enough to make it move through the body and arrive at the shoulder where it ever so slowly started to repair the crushed bone and tissue.

  Seated like this, Hui Yue waited for a couple of days. During these days he ended up eating twenty nine low grade medicinal pills to heal his shoulder. Although it had now been healed, the bone was still not strong enough to allow Hui Yue to participate in any battles.

  The days Hui Yue stayed within the fire ring he made it smaller in diameter, but taller ensuring that no beasts would be interested in jumping inside to see what was hiding within.

  Hui Yue lived off the meat the Lynx provided and he had long since taken the magical core from within the beast’s skull.

  Another ten days passed where Hui Yue took another ten medicinal pills. He spent the days cultivating and practicing physical exercises for the sake of healing his arm enough to once more be able to fight.

  Standing up straight, Hui Yue cracked his neck and rolled his shoulder. A satisfied smile was on his face as he waved his hand and the flames died out. Hui Yue expected that many beasts would be waiting for the flames to disappear, however, as the flames vanished only a few beasts were visible. As soon as they saw Hui Yue all of them turned tail and ran away as quick as they could.

  Hui Yue just managed to survive a serious battle, but he proceeded to close his eyes and scan the area. He was looking for other beasts of similar strength that he could battle against.

  Chapter 204 - Through the Wilderness

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  Chapter 204: Through the Wilderness

  Hui Yue fought one battle after another and as the time went by his ability to kill the beasts improved drastically. At first, he got wounded in every battle, and the green pearl helped him a few times while the rest of the times relied fully on his lesser efficient medicinal pills, something he quickly ran out of.

  His previously perfect skin was now filled with scars and wounds, one looking fiercer than the other. Every day was filled with battles against the various beasts, and he soon he managed to equally fight against half of the King ranked beasts he came across.

  The other half were dealt with by Lan Feng and Hui Yue’s combined effort. Traveling through the wilderness, the beasts were gradually turning stronger and stronger, however, Hui Yue’s personal strength was far from strong enough to battle against the high ranked experts that now appeared. Eventually, Hui Yue passed over control of the body to Lan Feng

  Having changed who was in control of the body fewer fights broke out. This was something Hui Yue preferred as neither he nor the phoenix wished to use their Wu Wei which was painstakingly refined.

  While Hui Yue was in the dantian cave he spent his time cultivating. Having entered Shenyuan he finally understood just how weak he truly was. Previously he had been certain that he would not die because Lan Feng was on his side, however, after having met Zhong Fai, Lan Feng and Hui Yue were awakened. They understand that it had been four thousand years since Lan Feng resided within this world. Four thousand years was a very long time, so long so that everything had changed and nothing seemed the same.

  They both understood that their strength was inferior to true experts. Neither Hui Yue nor Lan Feng allowed for any time to be wasted any longer, both of them using every waking hour of the day to focus on either training their strength while battling beasts or sitting down and cultivating their inner energies.

  Having Lan Feng controlling his body was of great benefit to Hui Yue. He managed to reach the ninth star of the Grandmaster Rank in the time it took for Lan Feng to travel through the wilderness towards the city which was known as the capital of Wan Qiao’s territory.

  The closer to the city Hui Yue came, the more the landscape changed. He traveled through many villages much like the first one he entered. Roads had been created in the wilderness, roads which took them towards the major cities.

  The further into the core of Shenyuan one went the more beasts that were seen with a semi-human shape; being human but still having beastly features. Seeing these beasts, Hui Yue was reminded of the figure Lan Feng’s soul had taken. The human shape with the celestial blue feathers which covered his entire body.

  Another thing which changed the closer one went towards the core areas of the wilderness was the strength of the beasts around them.

  The beasts who took human form were clearly not using the mist-like energy which the beasts were using, instead, they were using Qi, spiritual energy, and Wu Wei. This was a great shock to Hui Yue the first time he fought against a human formed King ranked expert.

  Lan Feng refused to comment on when or how a magical beast would manage to take human shape. He even refused to tell how the energy could change from mist-like energy into the same energies that humans used. The only thing he said was that Hui Yue could ask his nanny when they met. It was obvious that the phoenix was still sulking about their only option of asking her for help.

  Although Lan Feng was sulking he was still in control of the body and he still moved towards the inner regions, the city which they had been told about. He too was aware that this was their only way out, and although it seemed risky and dangerous they had no other choice.

  ‘You are already a Saint,’ Hui Yue said curiously, ‘How come you are so afraid of her? Is she a God perhaps?’ The question caused Lan Feng to snort but he did not answer right away, instead, he took some time to think it through.

  ‘Although I’m a Saint, I am not a Saint of the ninth star. She is, though. I also assume that this Zhong Fai was of the nine star level. Both of them are superior to me when it comes to power, and even though it pains me to admit it, I am unable to do even the smallest thing to resist them.’

  Lan Feng’s voice sounded both depressed and indignant as he continued to focus solely on a group of travelers who stopped on the road in front of him.

  Frowning slightly, Lan Feng felt as though something was amiss. He stopped before reaching them. Both Hui Yue and himself kept their vigilance at the highest level because something around the group in front made both man and bird feel their hair stand on end. Stopping they started to observe the group, only to see that they too were observing a lonely man who had no travel companions.

  This group consisted of seven men. Some of them were wearing fine clothes from expensive materials while others wore simple clothes made from durable but inexpensive materials. Their weapons were similarly of various quality and material. Their eyes were narrowed and their faces unshaven.

  Looking at these men, Lan Feng and Hui Yue instantly understood that they were not travellers who were lost, or taking a break, instead, they were bandits; bandits who attacked any group of travelers they came by.

  Realizing this both Lan Feng and Hui Yue sighed deeply. They had already come across multiple bandit groups on their way, and all these groups either retreated as soon as they felt the Saint ranked aura, or they lost their lives in a swift and painless exchange of blows.

  The group in front of them seemed formidable. There were three King ranked experts and one Emperor while the rest were Dukes. As to why such experts stooped so low as to become thieves and bandits, Hui Yue had no idea. He thought about it and realized he had absolutely no interest in why it happened.

  Lan Feng did what he had done many other times where they met enemies and released his aura, however, since this group had one Emperor and three Kings, the Duke ranked experts were unaware that Lan Feng had the aura of a Saint. All they felt was an overwhelming pressure which clashed against them, but they had in their group three King ranked experts and one Emperor. Th
ey had never seen anyone as strong as their own experts and they instantly started throwing insults towards Lan Feng.

  The faces of the King ranked experts and the Emperor turned increasingly sour as the four of them looked at Lan Feng with coldness in their eyes. They decided that it was time for them to go all out. They had the advantage in numbers and they had never before met an actual Saint ranked expert.

  Their logic was flawed in at least one place. They had never met or truly understood the power of a Saint, and by the time the four of them drew their weapons and charged at Lan Feng, a beautiful golden light shone forth. A light followed by the metallic scent of blood. A gurgling sound was heard as the four experts all had their heads severed and blood flooded from their necks.

  Lan Feng was against using his Wu Wei, however, he was also against losing. So using the minimum amount of force he managed to defeat the entire group of bandits.

  As the many Duke ranked experts saw how their friends of a much higher rank than them died so easily, none of them stayed behind. All of them ran away as swiftly as their legs could carry them.