Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Almost laughing, Hui Yue stopped in his tracks as he felt no reason to mistreat any of Wan Qiao’s men, injuring even one of them, especially for no reason, could easily make the woman turn against him.

  Looking at the guards, Hui Yue contemplated for a moment before he opened his mouth. “I’ll wait here, but one of you go and inform Wan Qiao that Lan Feng has arrived. Lan Feng and Hui Yue.”

  Having said the words, Hui Yue just stood there waiting for one of them to start moving. While he did this, his heart was pounding hard as he feared what was going to happen to him, but having already told the guards to go he could no longer turn around. Whether his beating heart was due to Lan Feng’s fear or Hui Yue’s expectation, neither man nor beast were capable of guessing.

  Seeing that the young man just stood there, showing no signs of making problems for the two guards they both heaved a heavy sigh of relief. They then exchanged gazes and one of the two instantly rushed inside the castle, rushing towards the room where the mistress of Shenyuan was reading various reports.

  The guard rushed into the castle and as he saw a massive iron door he slowed down before he came to a halt right in front of the door. Standing still for some time he caught his breath and knocked gently before a voice called for him to enter.

  Entering through the door, the guard looked at the woman in front of him. She was a stunning beauty, her hair was a cascade of gold; so golden that it seemed to have been created from sunshine itself. The beautiful curls framed her face which enhanced her golden-hazel brown eyes.

  Looking at the stunning beauty in front of him, the guard felt his heart beating rapidly, and his eyes were unable to look away from the woman. It was as though she drew everyone’s glances towards her.

  “Milady, there is an expert outside the gates who wishes to speak with you,” He said breathlessly, she was indeed a breathtaking beauty. “He introduced himself as Lan Feng and Hui Yue.”

  The woman who was focused completely on the paperwork in front of her suddenly paused what she was doing and a chill filled the room. The temperature dropped drastically.

  “What did you just say?” The woman asked, her voice low and each word was said incredibly slowly. Every word caused a shiver to run down the spine of the guard who was still within the room. Clearing his throat and with a low voice he repeated what he said earlier, “An expert is waiting for you outside, he introduced himself as Lan Feng and Hui Yue.”

  Hearing the repeated words, Wan Qiao went quiet for some time. Her eyes were closed and her head rested in her hands. It seemed as though she had an internal struggle, but after some time she lifted her head and sighed deeply.

  “Invite him inside. Lead him towards my private rooms this is our first reunion in many years,” She said and stood up after which she went towards her private rooms. The only place within the castle she knew that there were no spies or memory stones watching her every move.

  The guard was astonished to hear that they were acquaintances and he rushed back to the gate where the young man was still waiting to be allowed entrance. Seeing him, the guard who had shown respect before, showed even more respect now. He bowed to the young man and gestured for him to follow, which Hui Yue did with a shrug of his shoulders.

  Although he seemed carefree on the outside, both Lan Feng and Hui Yue were observing everything with vigilance. They were constantly on guard for traps or ambushes. Both were aware that this only had at most a fifty percent chance of working.

  Unfortunately, when it had that high a chance of succeeding it had an equally high chance of failing. Something which neither man nor bird wished to think about currently. Following behind the guard they entered the beautiful stone castle. Hui Yue, who had studied history in his old life, could not help but admire the structure of the castle comparing it to the medieval castles from his old world.

  Thinking about his old world it was impossible not to feel slight nostalgia, he could not help but wonder how his parents were doing, alongside Li Fen. Thinking about this he knew that many years had passed. His parents would be old by now and Li Fen too would have grown up to become an adult. Hopefully an adult with a family of her own.

  Thinking about Li Fen, Hui Yue found that he did not feel anything else but a desire to wish her the best in life. Many years had passed and Hui Yue was no longer the one who had lived in the old world. Here he had learned cultivation. He found new friends and he had changed. Through his many experiences he had changed. He had been at death’s door a few times, but because he shared his body with Lan Feng they got through it. Lan Feng, a bird who although haughty and perverted was now truly his best friend. Their relationship was what had changed him the most.

  Reminiscing about his old world and how he had changed, he arrived in front of a wooden door. This door had elaborate carvings of the Vermillion Bird. A masterpiece definitely created by a master artisan.

  “I will take my leave,” The guard said and bowed towards Hui Yue who felt sweat cover his palms. His heart started beating even more rapidly than before. Thinking to himself that it was now or never, the young man lifted his hand and the sounds of knocking could be heard throughout the corridor.

  “Enter!” A fairly deep but entrancing voice sounded out. Hui Yue opened the door, curious to see who this Wan Qiao was. Entering the room, Hui Yue looked at the woman and just as he looked at her his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

  Looking at the woman in front of him, this was not the first time he had seen her. Back when he was ten years old he had sold a medicinal pill to a woman who paid him a handsome price. This woman had been the most beautiful woman Hui Yue had ever seen. She had etched herself into his memory, so much so that now when she was standing in front of him he could recognise her instantly.

  Seeing the shocked expression on Hui Yue’s face, a smile appeared on the face of the beautiful woman. She walked towards him a gentle smile evident on her face.

  Striking like a hawk, so swift that Hui Yue had no ability to stop her, a flat hand landed on his cheek. The slap sent him flying into the wall, and his head was knocked silly. Everything was blurry for his eyes and blood was trickling down his head from the impact. Blood was also welling up within his mouth. Had she intended to be truly vicious then the slap would have killed him.

  Standing up, and waiting for his sight to return to normal, Hui Yue looked at the woman in front of him with a questioning look. Last time he had seen her she had been incredibly friendly towards him, however, now she was definitely not friendly. Could it be that she did not notice him last time? Hui Yue simply did not know.

  Just as Hui Yue’s eyes returned to normal he saw that another slap was coming his way, and he instantly jumped backwards lifting his arms in defense.

  “Wait! Wait!” He yelled, “Let’s talk about this!”

  “The time for talking has long since passed,” The woman growled and once more a slap knocked him flying through the room and colliding against another wall.

  Chapter 207 - Wan Qiao

  * * *

  Chapter 207: Wan Qiao

  Tumbling into the wall, Hui Yue groaned in pain as his head once more made contact with the stonewall. There was no blood this time, however, the pain was still severe and everything spun around him making it impossible to see anything.

  Right as Hui Yue was about to swear over his bad luck, he suddenly felt a gentle and warm energy move from his dantian cave. The green pearl was rotating around itself and the energy which was stored within slowly made its way outside. It entered his meridians and then flowed into the body itself where it reached his head. Right in front of Wan Qiao, the blood which fell from the wound on his head, alongside his internal injuries from being tossed into a stonewall quickly healed themselves only leaving behind blood on his snow-white hair.

  The blurriness and dizziness slowly vanished as the green pearl healed his body, and he finally stood up, wondering whether or not to try and escape or just let the woman vent her pent up anger, and see what happe
ned afterwards. It was obvious that she had no intention of killing him because he was still alive, however, the treatment he had experienced so far was anything but comfortable.

  “Humph,” The woman looked at the wounds which healed themselves and she was actually truly astonished. To heal a wound one needed to use spiritual energy and imbue it with their elemental affinity, however, this healing used no spiritual energy at all. Any display of energy would create energy ripples but none appeared when the healing occurred, showing that this man had some secrets hidden within his body.

  “You boy, what was your name again?” She asked as she allowed her body to fall down into a comfortable chair which was within the room, her eyes fixated on Hui Yue.

  “I’m Hui Yue,” He answered honestly as he looked at the woman. Although he had been mistreated he dared not, in any way, show disrespect. This woman was truly strong, so strong that she could kill him with but a thought. She was most likely even stronger than that Zhong Fai he had met within the Dragon Core.

  “Hui Yue. Tell me about how you ended up sharing your body with this disgusting bird inside of you.” Wan Qiao said as she waved towards the chairs in front of her, and Hui Yue quickly took a seat.

  “I am from another plane,” He began. “A plane unlike this one where there is no cultivation of martial arts nor is there inner energies. The plane I came from, we called it Earth.” Hui Yue started telling about where he was from and Wan Qiao listened to the words with great interest.

  “In this world what mattered was knowledge. The more knowledgeable you were the better you would do in society. Killing was strongly frowned upon and physical strength got you nowhere.”

  “I lived in this world for twenty four years,” Hui Yue’s tale was bringing great interest to Wang Qiao and her eyes were round, filled with amazement. Although she was strong she had never been to another world before. She was, after all, no God.

  “When I was twenty four years old I saw a shop selling ancient chinese antiques, and one of these items was a beautiful hairpin with a blue phoenix on top.”

  “This hairpin turned out to contain the soul of Lan Feng, and after he managed to kill me and impale my heart then two of us were forcefully reincarnated into this world which appeared to be his home plane.”

  Having heard the brief explanation of his background story Wan Qiao had raised an eyebrow as she heard neither hate nor regret in the young man’s voice. It was as though he was completely content with his past, and living in the now that was created by the phoenix within.

  “Tell me how you ended up here then,” She continued, “Your strength is far from enough to enter Shenyuan the natural way.”

  Hearing her say that Hui Yue nodded, and he somewhat regretted having entered Shenyuan at all. If he had more time, he would definitely have entered either the Siban Empire or the Yueliang Province. These were both easily traveled through compared to Shenyuan, the country which was known for being impossible to leave upon entry.

  “Some things happened back in Riluo City and some of my friends were banished while I on the other hand needed to go into hiding for some time. Considering that we needed training we all entered into the Dungeons of the Divine. Various things happened, someone called Zhong Fai happened, to be more precise and we had to split up. My friends went back above ground while I went through the Vermillion Bird Tunnels and ended up within Shenyuan,”

  The woman was stunned when she heard that the young man and Lan Feng had met Zhong Fai. She was not like Lan Feng, she knew everything which happened in the entire plane; she was, after all, one of the top powers in this plane.

  “I see, so the mess with the Dragon Corps was done by you and Lan Feng? I see that the annoying little bird is still filled with mischief.” Wan Qiao’s smile grew larger as though she found it entertaining though after a bit her face filled with a frown.

  “You say that Zhong Fai appeared, but you are still alive and definitely not a part of his Frozen Brigade. That’s peculiar.”

  “The Frozen Brigade?” Hui Yue asked curiously. He remembered the domain which Zhong Fai unleashed; an ability which made the world freeze over and made the humans within freeze alongside the world. It was the most terrifying ability he ever experienced, and he felt a great deal of dread whenever he thought about the young man Zhong Fai.

  “I don’t know what he wanted from me,” Hui Yue said honestly with a sigh. “He helped me escape from the Dragon Core, but refused to let me travel with my friends and said he’d kill anyone I befriended within the Dungeons of the Divine.”

  Hearing this she could not help but raise an eyebrow. The Frozen General was not known for helping other people out, especially not if it required him to do something serious, and destroying the Dragon Corps was quite a serious act.

  Hui Yue was barely strong enough to be considered a genius of the younger generation. His cultivation speed was astonishing and his actual combat experience were far more impressive than other youngsters his age, however, considering the many people who assisted him, and the fact that he uses the purest of Qi, he was, rank-wise, not considered to be at the top of the younger generation. For the Frozen General to be this interested it proved that he knew of some secrets the younger man possessed.

  Knowing that the Frozen General was interested in this young man, Wan Qiao suddenly felt her own interest pique. Before, the young man had been nothing more than a container for Lan Feng, however, now she started paying attention to the man himself.

  “Stay here for a while,” She said with a decisive voice. It was clear that arguments were not welcome. “I’ll help train you. Your physical strength is definitely weak. Any of my guards, even those ranked lower than you, would be able to hand your a** back to you in a physical combat. That is something we need to get sorted. Secondly, you need to speed up your cultivation. Being an expert is no dance on rose petals; you need to work hard!”

  Hearing her words Hui Yue was at a loss for why she so suddenly changed her opinion. However, hearing her say that she would assist him in training was something so good that he was incapable of declining it.

  “I first arrived here wanting to request that you would help me leave Shenyuan,” Hui Yue started, but before she had the chance to decline he continued. “Your offer is far better than what I could have wished for before, but right now my friends are worried about whether or not I am even alive. Help me send out a letter to my friends and I would be glad to stay here and train under your guidance.”

  “Humph,” The woman snorted at him but after thinking for a moment she nodded her head. If she truly wished to teach him it was better that he was not preoccupied and worried for his friends back in another country.

  “Write them a letter tonight. I’ll get it sent out tomorrow, and you better be ready to take on my training starting tomorrow. If you ask Lan Feng, I am sure he will tell you what it is like.” A cruel smile appeared on her face and a shiver ran through Hui Yue’s body. It was obvious that this training was going to be training from hell, but in spite of that, Hui Yue was still excited. He was eager to get stronger and this was something he could only do if he trained hard.

  Just as he thought he was free, Wan Qiao suddenly stood up. Her brows furrowed as she leaned against the young man.

  “Boy, why do you smell like a magical beast?” She asked, her voice dangerously low and so sharp that it felt like it could cut through anything. “This is definitely not the smell of Lan Feng. Boy, are you trying to trick me? Are you really not a magical beast?”

  Hearing her words, Hui Yue was torn for some time. Lan Feng had long since said that he should never lie to Wan Qiao; that he should value his life even more than he valued his secrets.

  “I am not sure how to explain it,” Hui Yue finally said with a deep sigh, “No matter how I explain it, it will sound silly.”

  “Try me,” She said, somewhat puzzled as to what the young man meant.

  “Inside of me are various energy sources. One of them is a beast co
re of some unknown beast. I have relied on this energy for a long time and it has grown stronger and stronger the more I’ve used it. Unfortunately, I am unable to control it so recently I’ve refused to use this power.”

  “You have various energy sources within you?” She asked completely dumbstruck. Her face was filled with disbelief. The confusion on her face was enough to cause Lan Feng to feel a strange sort of satisfaction that the woman could be surprised.

  “It is hard to explain. It is like each energy has its own cave within my body.” Hui Yue was not sure how to explain the energies within him. This only led to him starting to get confused himself.

  Seeing his confusion Wan Qiao placed a hand on each of his shoulders and closed her eyes. Golden light belonging to her entered through his veins and entered his meridians, forced their way forward into his lower dantian where it shone brightly. This allowed for the woman to thoroughly examine his body.

  Being filled with foreign energy like this was in no way a comfortable feeling for Hui Yue. It felt as though it was attacking his body by forcing its way through the narrow meridians and entering his dantian.