Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Sighing deeply, Hui Yue felt a headache coming. Wan Qiao looked at him with dazzling eyes and her lips curved upwards in a grateful smile.

  “I knew you would be much better at this than I am,” She said laughingly, “So what do we need to do first?” She asked, completely opposite to what Hui Yue expected. It seemed as though she had been playing around with the thought of starting a war for a long time. However, she was, after all, a magical beast. She was not used to planning and preparing everything beforehand.

  Sighing deeply, Hui Yue decided that he might as well help this woman. By assisting her he would have some power to protect the people he knew in the Taiyang Kingdom, and at the same time give the beasts the freedom they truly wished to have.

  “First, gather all the Lords of the Forest,” Hui Yue said with a sigh, “We need to have a meeting and as soon as possible. First off, we need to find out if they are even interested in participating in a war. Secondly, we need to know about their fiefdoms. I need to know how many guards and soldiers they each have. I need to know what possibilities they have for provisions, where their fiefdoms are located and how far a journey they will need before they can meet up with the main army; which I assume would be your guards and soldiers here in the capital.”

  “We also need to know what exactly these lords wish for when they talk about freedom. Do they want to expand Shenyuan? Do they want to cohabit in the world with the humans? I really don’t know what they want, and all I can do is speak with them.”

  Hearing the many words flooding from Hui Yue’s mouth, Wan Qiao was ecstatic. She had long since decided on the idea of starting a war, but in her world, the only way she had planned on waging war was by bringing the many saints and crushing the other three kingdom’s Saints. This would leave them barred of their strength and allow for the beasts to take over everything. This could in some way work; however, it was highly unlikely that it would help the lower ranked beasts who were to enter the countries ruled by humans. These humans could easily kidnap and force the human-beasts into beast contracts as the lords were incapable of being everywhere at the same time.

  Sighing once more, Hui Yue shook his head as he wondered what would be the most beneficial solution. “Wan Qiao, I’ll expect you to invite all the Lords of the Forest, and get them to arrive as soon as possible,” He said as he slowly rose to his legs. “Until they arrive I will be focused on my training. Please try not to give me any more major shocks, or I am afraid I won’t be able to handle it,” He sighed as he slightly bowed and slowly left the room. After Hui Yue left Wan Qiao excitedly ran around preparing to send for the Lords of the Forest, summoning them to her castle.

  While Wan Qiao was filled with energy and gratefulness for the words she heard Hui Yue say, alongside the happiness from seeing the young man participating in the war preparations. This was exactly as she had hoped. As a magical beast scheming was not her forte, nor was she any good at the practical parts of war. For her, strength was the only thing which mattered. If she had strength, she had everything she needed which in situations like these, proved to be flawed.

  Hui Yue, on the other hand, was not feeling energetic about the whole situation; instead, he was feeling shocked and uncertain about to how to proceed. He had multiple military strategies floating around within his mind, but for him to find the best he needed to know exactly what it was that these beasts were looking for.

  Having been in Shenyuan for quite some time, Hui Yue found that he still did not understand the world of the beasts. He had not noticed that these beasts were hungering for freedom. While thinking about it, he realized that there were not any ordinary beasts in Shenyuan, which in turn was the reason why the magical beasts had to turn on each other for food.

  For Hui Yue, there was nothing unusual about this. When he lived in Riluo City and went to the magical forest where his parents lived, many magical beasts prayed on one another, especially on beasts of low intelligence such as hogs, rabbits, birds, and deer. For him, it was natural for magical beasts to hunt other magical beasts, but from what he heard Wan Qiao say, it was not usual. Now it was so bad that the intelligent beasts hunted other intelligent beasts something that caused the One-Horned Jasmine Eagle great pain.

  Hui Yue could somewhat understand the dilemma the eagle was in and he did wish to assist, however, he was not certain how he could help. Deciding not to think anymore about the war right now, Hui Yue returned to his room where he sat down and started to cultivate. He never once missed his nights of cultivating and refining the essence of the heavens and the earth. His eyes closed and his soul was once more tranquil as it absorbed the essence, and slowly allowed for it to be refined to the purest Qi. Afterwords it was refined further into spiritual energy.

  The night went by and the following day Hui Yue awoke early in the morning. Without paying any heed to the war situation, he went to the training grounds where he started his training schedule that Wan Qiao made for him. Every day he could feel his body gaining strength, and while his body gained strength, it also managed to handle the internal energies much better. The spiritual energy acted much swifter than it had before, and more of it could be used at a time. It was truly shocking how much of a difference it made to train his body as well as his mind.

  At first, Hui Yue noticed nothing different. He was running in the fields as he had been doing daily, but suddenly he saw that things were not how they usually were. Usually, many guards would be on the field when he arrived. After finishing his training, Hui Yue would request help from some of these guards to spar with them. This helped him refining his battle prowess;, however, today no guards were visible on the field. It was as though they had all been called away. Seeing this, Hui Yue could not help but frown, and wonder whether or not this had something to do with the conversation the two had the day before.

  It turned out that this was the case. Wan Qiao had sent many of her guards out as delegations to call in the sixty-four Lords of the Forest. Each and every one of these lords were of great importance to Shenyuan, and they all deserved respect. This was why the delegations needed to be numerous and bring gifts to show Wan Qiao’s goodwill. Although she was rumored to be the strongest within the forest, even she would not be capable of fighting the other sixty-four lords on her own.

  Hearing the way Wan Qiao decided to deal with it, Hui Yue could only nod in approval. Although he had found that the One-Horned Jasmine Eagle was very bad at planning ahead, she at least understood the right way of inviting people to her capital.

  Although many guards were sent out for the delegations, there were still many guards left within the capital; however, Hui Yue had not seen them because Wan Qiao ordered them to patrol the city and the surrounding grounds.

  When the lords arrived, they would, without a doubt, bring their personal guards with them. It was Wan Qiao’s responsibility that none of these guards caused trouble within her territory.

  These Lords of the Forest were all high profile experts. Experts every citizen within Shenyuan looked up to, and this was the first time in millennia where someone called for a meeting of all these experts. Having all these Saints coming together at one place was a prestigious and risky idea. Despite the risks, Wan Qiao instantly sent her guards to invite these experts as soon as Hui Yue suggested it. Her action showed not even the slightest hesitation.

  Sighing deeply, the young man knew that there was no longer any turning back. The only thing he could do was use the knowledge he had acquired during his previous lifetime, and keep the Taiyang Kingdom safe; thus keeping his friends and their families far from this war of beasts and humans.

  Thinking this, Hui Yue renewed his determination, and while training he started to remember the thirteen chapters from the Art of War amongst other Roman and Greek war tactics that could be of use for the war he was about to start.

  Hissing slightly as he knew that there was no turning back, the young man who never prayed for once started to pray. He prayed to whichever god was overseeing hi
m, that this man, An He, had no interest in keeping the world clear of magical beasts. If he was waiting for the war and decided to participate, then Hui Yue feared that no matter what he did his small books of warfare alongside his previous knowledge would be worth nothing. In the face ultimate power, tactics were useless.

  Chapter 225 - The Art of War

  * * *

  Chapter 225: The Art of War

  Having finished his training, Hui Yue went back to his room from the training fields. For once there had been no guards around for him to battle, but even if there had been some Hui Yue did not have the time to fight them today. What he needed to do was to write down something from his memories. He needed to write down the Art of War.

  Sitting in his room he racked his mind trying to remember the contents of the book.

  “Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.” The first sentence came to him easily, but as for the rest it was very vague. Gritting his teeth he almost felt like hitting himself hard. It had been many years since he lived his old life, and even then it had been years since he wrote the book report.

  Without remembering the right words, Hui Yue wrote down what he could remember, and in front of him, words started to appear. Finally, after some time, the first chapter of the Art of War was almost entirely written down.

  The first chapter was Laying Plans. It was about preparing for war, and this was the chapter he needed to write before the Lords of the Forest arrived in the capital. He needed to have this ready to show off.

  “It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety, or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”

  “The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberations. These five ways are to be used to calculate your strength and comparing them with the enemy to see who has the advantage in the war. These five constant factors are firstly the Moral Law, secondly the Heaven, third the Earth, fourth the Commander, and fifth the Method and discipline.”

  “The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.” Thinking about this part, Hui Yue was satisfied. He had previously seen how the beasts were willing to die for Wan Qiao, however, whether or not the other lords had as much loyalty was something he needed to find out.

  “Heavens signify night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.” These were indeed things he needed to take into consideration. Things which he could not determine until he talked with the other lords.

  “Earth is the distances, great and small; danger and security: open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.”

  “The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness.”

  “Methods and discipline are to be understood as the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.”

  Remembering all five main parts, Hui Yue recalled the majority of the first chapter out of thirteen, and he heaved a heavy sigh of relief as the final letter was written onto the paper in front of him. If the many Lords of the Forest truly wished to wage war against the humans, then Hui Yue would stress the importance of ensuring that they followed the right preparations.

  He knew that the lords had no way of knowing about the Art of War, just as he knew Wan Qiao was unaware of how to wage war.

  What all this meant was that he needed to see which one of the monarchs were the most renowned? Which countries had benefits from the heavens and earth? Which side had the most rigorous discipline. Which army was the strongest? Which side had the best-trained officers?

  While looking over these points, it should be possible for him to determine which side would be victorious; however, there was one last thing that he could not factor into his considerations, and that was An He. He was an unpredictable factor that would make all his planning useless when determining who would be the victor.

  Sighing deeply, Hui Yue felt uncomfortable. It was as though this massive figure, An He was constantly looming above. To be honest, Hui Yue did not feel as though he truly needed to be using the Art of War as his side had many Saints and a whole army of beasts. Beasts were known to be stronger than humans of the same rank, and all the guards were King ranked or above. This army was an army any country on the continent would fear, and would dread having to face.

  Suddenly a loud cheer could be heard outside, and Hui Yue stood up, curious about what it was. He left the room and walked until he reached the castle entrance were a group of guards were standing. All of whom bowed towards a small man who was small and fat. This man was at most a meter and a half; his waist was almost as much as his height. His face had a small white beard, and he was bald. This man at first made Hui Yue stare with an open mouth because of his odd appearance; however, he soon understood that this man was not to be underestimated.

  Around this man were multiple guards. Some of these guards were the ones Hui Yue was used to seeing. These were guards belonging to Wan Qiao and the capital while other guards were dressed in blue suits. All of them were quiet and stood respectfully behind the small bald man.

  Energy ripples left the elderly man with each move he made, and his body was filled with strength. Looking at this man, Hui Yue finally understood that he had seen the very first Lord of the Forest apart from Lan Feng. This man seemed to really enjoy food, but his eyes were filled with intelligence. The man lifted his head and gazed straight at Hui Yue as he ignored the guards around him, both the ones which belonged to the capital and the ones belonging to himself.

  “You there,” He said, his clear and commanding voice rang throughout the castle courtyard, and his eyes were locked on Hui Yue.

  “I have never seen you around here. Is it you who made Wan Qiao summon us all? What is going on. Don’t tell me you have been giving her ideas about this so called war.” He continued, his face was slightly sour, and his voice filled with strength. Being on the opposing side of this man, Hui Yue felt strong pulsating energies crashing towards him which were clearly not friendly.

  Had Hui Yue been alone, then he would have been crushed under the pressure from this man; however, he was not alone and as soon as the strong man appeared he and Lan Feng switched. The two men were now two Saint ranked experts facing off against one another, small explosions could be heard as their auras collided in mid-air.

  “You are not bad, kid,” The bald man finally said as he retracted his aura. As soon as he did Lan Feng handed control of the body back to Hui Yue. The moment the two switched an eyebrow rose on the face of the bald man, a knowing smirk appeared on his lips.

  “So younggun, why don’t you take me to see that beauty, Wan Qiao?” He asked, suddenly friendly towards the young man. His face sprouting a large smile and his attitude completely changed. Seeing the difference, Hui Yue was somewhat unnerved, but he still nodded politely and bowed deeply towards the man. “This way please,” He said politely and led the small man towards the private chambers of Wan Qiao.

  Hui Yue knew that the woman liked to spend her time in her private chambers rather than at the office, due to this Hui Yue led the man straight to her chambers, wondering whether or not this was a good thing. However, he was not in the mood to fight against a Saint he did not know. All the drama could be dealt with by Wan Qiao. It was her idea which caused all of these Saints to make their way to her city.

  Arriving at the door, Hui Yue knocked gently and soon after a voice called out, “Enter,” it said, clearly preoccupied, something which made Hui Yue curious.

  As he opened the door, he waited for the expert to enter in first. He then followed behind, only to see that Wan Qiao was reading some papers which seemed incredibly familiar. Staring agape, he soon found that the papers she was reading were the documents he h
ad finished moments before he heard the sound of the guards in the courtyard.

  As for how they had managed to enter Wan Qiao’s private room, Hui Yue had no idea. He could not help but feel astonished by seeing his documents there, and at the same time, a shiver ran through his body. Was Wan Qiao keeping him under surveillance?

  Wan Qiao looked at him with a beaming smile, seemingly not finding it odd that she had his work within her hands, instead, she waved them. The smile on her face was growing larger.

  “Hui Yue this is amazing!” She said, her face filled with a smile and her eyes looking at him as though he was a genius. “Who would have know that you were such a specialist when it came to warfare. And you even say that there are thirteen chapters. This Master Sun is very skilled! How come I never heard about it before?” Wan Qiao was filled with excitement, and her demeanor towards Hui Yue changed tremendously as though she no longer looked at him as a subject but instead an equal.