Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  ‘Nice story,’ An amused voice said in the back of Hui Yue’s mind, and the white-haired boy almost grimaced when he heard the irony from within the voice. Lan Feng had done much to pretend that he was not present whenever they were close to Wan Qiao; however, this one time even he was astonished by the acting skills and was unable to not comment.

  ‘What do you think will happen?’ Hui Yue tentatively asked the friend of his who was sitting comfortably within his dantian cave.

  ‘Well, Wan Qiao always gets what she wants. I don’t think you should try fighting her idea of a war, but if you can make it safe so that the magical beasts gets more ground, then I would prefer that. Just do everything in your power to fight the countries where we know no one from. I would personally suggest the Siban Empire.’

  ‘We know Li Meilin from Siban,’ Hui Yue pointed out with a wry smile on his face causing the blue phoenix to snort in contempt. ‘They have sent delegations which seemingly are here for the sake of communicating with us, but what they do is enslaving our citizens. They think that because they have power they can do anything they wish, I do not like them.’

  ‘Looking at the locations, we have to either go for the Siban Empire or the Taiyang Kingdom.’ Lan Feng continued. ‘Although we don’t know many in the Taiyang Kingdom you still have your family there alongside the families of your friends. Going to war against Taiyang will become messy, so for them use your ability to go against Siban. Yes, we will be fighting innocent humans, but they started by trying to enslave innocent beasts.’

  Lan Feng was very clear about this and Hui Yue could only agree. Although he was against seeing innocent humans dying, he had to chose between one country or another. Wan Qiao was already convinced that she wanted a war, now all Hui Yue could do was try to plan this war so that the least amount of casualties appeared from both sides. At the same time convince them all that the Taiyang kingdom was not the place they wished to go to fight.

  Lord Pan listened to the entire tale with widened eyes and an expression of amazement. Neither he nor Wan Qiao doubted the young man once. Usually, neither of these two were this naive; however, none of them had ever heard about Master Sun. From the small bit they had seen of The Art of War was enough to make both of them understand that this man, whom no one on the Divine Beast’s continent had heard about, was someone who arrived from another world. He had to be a deity to travel from one world to another. Even Saints like the lady and the lord in front of Hui Yue were very respectful when the opposing side was a deity.

  “It is our luck that this young man met such an esteemed expert when he was a child,” Lord Pan finally sighed in praise. “I heard that there are thirteen chapters to this Art of War book,” He continued, “It will take a few days before all the lords arrive with their guards by then it would be great if you managed to have the entire book written out. It would be a significant help to convince the less assured lords about participating in a war. Especially if we have a way to battle An He. If we can keep him under control, then we have absolutely nothing to fear.”

  Once more An He was mentioned, and once more Hui Yue tried to speak, but neither Wan Qiao nor Lord Pan listened to the words spoken by the young man.

  “Child, what did you say your name was?” Lord Pan suddenly asked as he looked directly at the young man. At first, he had truly not paid attention to this young man as he doubted such a youth truly had anything to teach the older generation but listening to the story made him instantly change his opinion.

  “My name is Hui Yue,” Hui Yue answered, neither incredibly courteously nor rude in any way. Hui Yue spoke to the lord in the same way he would speak to his friends.

  Lord Pan paid no attention to the way he was being spoken to. Instead, he nodded his head and memorized the name so that he would never again make the mistake of not paying any attention to this particular boy just because of his age.

  “Good good,” The lord nodded his head, “I am Pan Long from the Firewing Mountains,” The man said, “I am a Blood-Maned Hawk. As for whether or not you are truly a human or a beast, I will give you the benefit of doubt, but you are most certainly one of the most fascinating creatures I have ever come across. The aura of a Saint ranked beast mixed with the scent of a wolf alongside spiritual energy swirling around you like a human. Looking at you, I understand why Wan Qiao finally decided to take action.” A smile appeared on the man’s face as he accepted the fact that Hui Yue was not going to tell him what exactly he was.

  “I would like you to finish writing the entire Art of War before the council meeting with all the Lords of the Forest. It is not going to be easy to make them all follow suit and become interested in a war against the humans. Many of these lords enjoy their comfortable life in their castles and mansions. Getting them to accepting a war needs to prove that we will be able to win without wasting a lot of lives. Your Art of War is indeed exactly what we need.” Lord Pan kept praising The Art of War, and Hui Yue felt at the same time both hopeless and hopeful. It would be great if the beasts got more ground, but he was not sure if a war was truly needed.

  Remembering the words Lan Feng told him, Hui Yue nodded his head in understanding. He too understood that he had to write the entire Art of War either way.

  “Lord, Lady,” He said rising from his chair, and bowing to the two experts in front of him, “If I am to finish the Art of War in time I will have to excuse myself. I will need to return to my chamber to finish my writings.”

  Hearing the words both Wan Qiao and Pan Long nodded their heads in acceptance, and Hui Yue turned around leaving the library only to be greeted by the same two guards outside the door. It was obvious that these two guards were to escort him back to his chamber, and with none of the three men speaking they all made their way back to the room from which they had picked him up in the first place.

  Chapter 228 - A Bridge Between Two Worlds

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  Chapter 228: A Bridge Between Two Worlds

  As the guards led Hui Yue back to his chamber, none of the three spoke. It was obvious that the two guards were curious as to why Hui Yue was summoned, but neither of them asked, and Hui Yue did not say anything.

  As he returned to his chamber, a nod was given to the two guards and without a word, he stepped inside his room. Usually, he would have gone to his bed and started to cultivate, but instead, he moved towards the desk and sat down.

  ‘Don’t worry too much about this war,’ Lan Feng said with a concerned voice. He could feel the enormous pressure onto Hui Yue’s shoulders, and he wished to help the young man feel better.

  ‘Wan Qiao is strong, and she has so many experts within Shenyuan it was only a question of time before she jumped into this war headlessly. Now we can use it to strengthen our bodies, improve our cultivation, and also become slightly better at planning battles and surviving in the most dangerous environments.’

  Hearing this, Hui Yue could not help but nod. The phoenix was telling the truth. It was indeed obvious that Wan Qiao was very decisive in wanting war. That the war happened sooner than she originally planned because Hui Yue appeared was something which neither of them could do anything about.

  Being quiet for some time, Hui Yue took up the pen and with beautiful calligraphy he wrote down thirteen terms.

  The Calculations or Laying Plans

  The Challenge

  The Plan of Attack

  Position

  Directing

  Illusion and Reality

  Engaging the Force

  The Nine Variations

  Moving the Force

  Situational Positioning

  The Nine Situations

  The Fiery Attacks

  The Use of Intelligence.

  Looking at these thirteen chapters, Hui Yue contemplated for a moment before he wrote very quick explanations for all the thirteen chapters. If he did not manage to finish writing the entire book, then he would at least have a swift explanation, and he would be capable of explaining it better when
the time for the conclave arrived.

  The Calculations had already been completed, and Hui Yue had rewritten it as ‘Laying Plans’. These were things one needed to know before one decided whether or not they were capable of partaking in a war against their opponents.

  The Challenge was a very brief explanation about all the dangers of war. It warned about some of the most basic parts of engaging in war, and Hui Yue, upon writing down this chapter knew that it would be one of the best chapters; one of the most useful ones considering that the beasts had no experience in warfare.

  The Plan of Attack, the third chapter, was focused on how to attack where to attack and where not to attack. The attacking army needed to be focused upon not destroying the land or grounds they were coming to. The dream of Shenyuan was to take over the world; however, if they destroyed the lands, the cities, and the people then all they would gain was a deserted, desolate landscape. Was this what they wished for? Hui Yue did not know if the beasts wished to exterminate the humans within their newly acquired lands or coexist peacefully with them.

  Hui Yue stayed awake all night. His eyes were focused, and his mind was busy remembering everything from the Art of War from long ago. He spent the time thinking and bringing it up in his memory, rewriting it here in a world so far away from the one Master Sun had lived in.

  Hui Yue was secluded in his room for days, and he never once left the chair in which he sat while he wrote paper after paper on The Art of War. He was in a trance, his eyes fixed only on the paper in front of him, and his memories from his old life, memories about this book, flooded his mind.

  Being in this trance, Hui Yue noticed nothing about how the day started and how it ended. He did not notice that he never moved from the chair. He had become a bridge between these two lives of his.

  Having been focused completely on the writing, Hui Yue was not aware of how his body was absorbing the essence of the heavens and the earth, and only after laying down the pen, did he feel an increase in his strength. An increase so tremendous that even Hui Yue was greatly astonished and taken aback.

  He had previously reached the ninth star or the Duke rank; however, this time, his cultivation base soared to the sky once more. It rose all the way to the peak of the ninth star, leaving him incredibly close to breaking through into the ranks of a King. His eyes gleamed in excitement, and his body was flooded with strong energies. His mood greatly improved compared to how it had been before.

  Just as Hui Yue noticed the increase in his strength, he finished the final chapter of The Art of War, and although he tried to reenter the trance-like experience he had before, it turned out to be impossible. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed he could not will himself to enter the trance-like state he was just in, and after spending a whole hour trying, the young man finally gave up with a sigh.

  Day in and day out Hui Yue had been busy building a bridge between the two worlds. This was not a natural remembering or reminiscing about the past. It was him returning to whom he had been back then, and to make a bridge like this evidently had significant benefits for the young man.

  Although Hui Yue knew that the time from the ninth star Duke to the first star King rank was only one star, this one star required an incredible amount of hard work and countless days cultivating.

  Standing up from the chair on which he had been seated for days, Hui Yue yawned deeply as he stretched his arms and tried to call his sore body to action. Seeing that he had still not been picked up, Hui Yue stood still within the room indecisive for some time. At one point he wished to go to the training ground and try out his new strength with the battles that were constantly ongoing.

  Hui Yue, having reached the ninth star was now a late stage Duke. Now when Hui Yue transforms he should be a late stage King, something which filled him with excitement. Previously, he had been an early stage King, and even then he had been capable of beating any King he fought against. Was it then possible that Hui Yue, transformed, was capable of defeating an Emperor?

  As soon as the thought appeared in Hui Yue’s mind, the young man laughed at himself with a mocking voice. What was an Emperor ranked expert? They were so close to the peak that only Saints and deities were above them. Although King ranked experts were strong, and it was rare for an early-stage King to defeat Kings of a higher rank, but it was far more probable than for a late stage king to defeat an Emperor. The difference was like day and night, as vast as the heavens and the earth. It was simply impossible for a King to defeat an Emperor.

  Still, although Hui Yue was incapable of dealing with Emperors, his strength as a King was unrivaled, and Hui Yue, even in human form, was capable of defeating the majority of the King ranked beasts. Their mist energy was strong and able to rival Wu Wei; however, Hui Yue had mist energy of a King ranked expert, even if he was in his human body. For him, the beastly part of him was now as big as his human side.

  Walking to the window Hui Yue looked out and saw that the training grounds were filled with people, every arena was occupied as guards from various places were fighting one another. Hui Yue shook his head a few times before he decided to leave the room because he too needed to train a little.

  Previously Hui Yue had never truly trained his body before; however, since he entered the capital and met Wan Qiao, his focus had been on his physical training, and now that he no longer trained physically due to the many foreign guards around, Hui Yue could not help but become restless. His body was filled with energy which needed to be used, however, using it had not been possible since he had not been confident about his strength compared to these guards.

  Now things were different, and Hui Yue left the room with decisive steps as he moved towards the training grounds. Today he was wearing a black set of training clothes, a short robe, and pants with small leather shoes on his feet.

  Arriving at the training grounds, Hui Yue was astonished as he looked around. It looked like a sea of humans. All of them struggling to get anywhere, elbows were used to push their way through. Some of the beasts, the ones with wings, transformed into beasts and were flying in the sky. This made not only the ground but also the heavens above filled with beasts struggling to see the battles in the arenas, to participate in battles, or to just get out of the sea of human-beasts.

  That was until Hui Yue appeared. The young man was not wearing the clothes of any of the guards, and his black clothes stood out like a sore thumb, but the young man didn’t show any attention towards the many cultivators. The cultivators around were all seemingly wary about this young man.

  Looking around, Hui Yue went towards an arena where he noticed a king ranked expert had just been defeated, and as he made his way over there, the others slowly withdrew. They allowed for the white-haired young man to move as he pleased.

  Hui Yue did nothing to mask his cultivation, and this caused great confusion amongst the other guards. His aura was that of a Duke ranked human, but his scent was clearly that of a magical beast. Not just one magical beast, but there were the auras of two of them.

  Trying to guess what this young man truly was they all came to the conclusion that he was an expert hiding his strength, or just liked to confuse others about what he truly was. Seeing how they all paid attention to him a wry smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face as he moved towards the arena where he would always fight against the castle guards.

  Within the arena was a tall man who was clearly a late stage King. A King, who knew how to battle against others. A large scar was present on his face. His eyes were narrowed, and his red pupils were anything but happy as they looked at Hui Yue.

  “Kid, this is no place for you to play around,” He said with a harsh voice. “If you go into this arena, I will battle you with all my strength and looking at how frail you are pretty boy, you are likely to die within moments.”

  Hearing the words, annoyance appeared on Hui Yue’s face. He knew that he used to have an effeminate face and that he now was quite androgynous. This was not something which truly annoyed Hui Yue,
but hearing how this man used it as an argument to say that he could not battle, Hui Yue looked at him with serious eyes. While walking neither fast nor slow he make his way to the arena where he jumped up and landed on the stone surface.

  “Thank you for your warning,” Hui Yue said slowly his every word heard by everyone who was looking forward to the battle in front of them. “Although you warned me, I cannot help but want to see just how skilled you are at fighting.”

  Chapter 229 - Battle of the Guards

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  Chapter 229: Battle of the Guards

  “Thank you for your warning,” Hui Yue said slowly, his every word heard by everyone who was watching the battle. “Although you warned me, I cannot help but want to see just how skilled you are at fighting.”

  Hearing the white-haired young man speak with such arrogance the expression on the tall cultivator’s face turned dark, and his eyes started to light with anger. Seeing this Hui Yue allowed for an eyebrow to be raised in surprise. The tall man had been incredibly rude towards him; however, when he was treated in the same way, his anger flared up. Hui Yue hated people who were willing to give harsh words, willing to bully others, but they were incapable of handling others doing the same.