Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Wan Qiao was surprised for another reason than the expert. She had already heard about the green pearl from Hui Yue, but she had never expected that this greedy green pearl was willing to help Hui Yue with something as simple some minor flesh wounds. Hui Yue himself was also quite surprised by the healing, but since the monk had changed his demeanor to become more calm, although he was surprised, he showed nothing of it on his expression. More than surprise, he was grateful as he now understood that all these phenomena within his dantian had their own personalities.

  Standing up, Hui Yue looked at the two lords with a sigh he seemed like a parent looking at two unruly children. “I’ll be back when I’ve changed clothes,” He said with a sigh, “Please stop quarreling before then. I’ll need to speak with both of you.”

  Having said that, Hui Yue turned around and went towards his own room, leaving behind two stunned experts who felt slightly embarrassed by their actions. Walking forward, Wan Qiao reached down her hand to help the Saint stand up.

  “We better move to the library then,” She said a little lost. She was both curious to hear what Hui Yue had to say, but also a little embarrassed by once more showing her violent side to the young man.

  Chapter 257 - Going to War

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  Chapter 257: Going to War

  Moving towards the library neither of the two said anything, neither Wan Qiao nor the male lord. Seeing them moving away together was an odd sight for every one of the servants standing around them. To see their exalted lords behaving so docile was odd. The fact they both gave the young man face showed just how important Hui Yue was to the Lords of the Forest, and this, in turn, caused the servants to also look at him with great reverence.

  Hui Yue paid no attention to the many servants around him, but he had a frown on his face as he saw how his clothes had been torn to pieces by the wooden door. That alone showed just how much force Wan Qiao put behind her attack. For her to attack another lord like this, it was obvious that she had been seriously annoyed with the other man.

  Having heard some of their conversation, Hui Yue instantly understood that the man, Lord Chen, was unhappy with the task of staying behind in Shenyuan. He wished to have a part in the war, and he had only gotten more upset when he learned that Wan Qiao was participating.

  Thinking about it, Hui Yue knew that it was a great risk to have Wan Qiao participate in the war. If An He decided to remove the beasts, then it would not matter whether Wan Qiao was there or not. According to what Hui Yue was told, An He was the strongest being on the entire plane. He was the only one capable of defeating everyone present.

  “He must be a god,” Hui Yue mumbled to himself as his eyes turned cold. The man had been an emperor four thousand years ago, but thinking about his power when even peak Saints like Wan Qiao and the Frozen General were useless against him, the man had to be a god. Otherwise, there was simply no way to explain how they could not defeat him.

  Thinking about this, Hui Yue felt slightly demotivated. His aim was to defeat An He, someone who thought even peak stage Saints, people every other Saint looked up to, were nothing but ants. The Saints which could kill the current Hui Yue with nothing but a thought. Thinking about this, Hui Yue could not help but feel sorely aware of his own incompetence; however, while he was slightly demotivated for a moment, those emotions were quickly removed by a burning eagerness to improve. His eyes turned firm, and a smile sprouted on his face as he straightened his back and looked out his window.

  “So what if he is a god?” He said with a smile on his face. “He has already had a four thousand year head start. It would be weird if he were not stronger than me. But no matter what, I will definitely catch up; I will defeat him.” He mumbled to himself, and his previous unconfident self was completely gone. Instead, he riled himself up and made himself eager to start cultivating once more. Currently, he was only a King, but at the same time, he was nothing more than a youngster. He was no more than seventeen years of age, yet he had already unlocked his upper dantian. Even if An He was a god, he had four thousand years of practice, and Hui Yue with the assistance of Lan Feng had no doubt in his heart that within four thousand years, he too would have easily become a god.

  “No reason to consider this now,” Hui Yue sighed, as he quickly undressed and from within his storage stone picked up another set of fine fabrics, a celestial blue robe with white embroidered borders and snow white undergarments. Wearing these clothes, Hui Yue truly looked like a celestial being, someone who had descended from the heavens.

  Having changed his clothes, Hui Yue quickly skimmed through the papers on his desk and he soon found the paper he was looking for. Piece after piece of information about Lord Chen entered Hui Yue’s mind.

  “Hmm, so he is an Armored Spectral Bear. No wonder he wishes to participate in the war,” Hui Yue mumbled to himself once more. Everything he read was that this man was filled with pride of being a spectral beast, one of the more rare races, and he clearly wished to use his battle prowess in the war. Considering for some time, Hui Yue wanted to see just how forceful a spectral bear was; however, he knew that he could not remove all of the strong fighters from Shenyuan. Someone as strong as Lord Chen would be needed to defend against the Taiyang Kingdom, who were likely to sent delegations as soon as they heard about the beasts attacking the Siban Empire.

  Having pondered for some time, Hui Yue left the room and went towards the library where he knew the two lords were waiting for him, and with a deep sigh he finally decided what to do. He had indeed been tempted to bring Lord Chen with him as the man was a strong combatant, however if he were to remove more experts from Shenyuan, no one would know if they would be fine. The Taiyang Kingdom was likely to use the fact that Shenyuan was at war to take over the jungle they all conveted.

  Being firm was the only way, and as he opened the door to the library, he saw Wan Qiao and Lord Chen both seated in two chairs, eagerly waiting for him. Their eyes were filled with brightness as the young man stepped into the room.

  “Good day,” He greeted as he nodded towards the two experts. Without rushing, he moved towards the third chair and casually sat down. He poured himself a cup of tea and drank it with pleasure while both Wan Qiao and Lord Chen were looking at him with eagerness, waiting to hear what he had to tell them.

  After Hui Yue had merged with the monk, he was no longer worried about taking things one step at a time. He slowly drank the tea in his hands before he started to pay attention to the two lords in front of him.

  “Lord Chen,” He spoke to the lord who was the reason for this entire mess. Although this lord did not wish to follow Hui Yue’s orders, Wan Qiao should not have started a fight with him over it. Fighting was completely useless because no matter whether or not the Armored Spectral Bear was willing, he never would be allowed into the group that was to enter Siban. At least not unless he could convince Hui Yue to take him with them. A deal with Wan Qiao was useless, the only one who could decide who went and who stayed was Hui Yue.

  “Lord Chen,” Hui Yue repeated as he finally finished drinking. It seemed that the beast lord had not heard him the first time. As he mentioned the name of the lord once more, he also put down the cup and lifted his head to look at the lord. “I understand why you wish to come with me to Siban,” He began, “Unfortunately, I really need you here in Shenyuan,”

  “No, please listen to me!” Lord Chen broke in, not allowing for Hui Yue to finish speaking, “I am a very strong beast. Taking me with you to fight will be of better use than having me staying here doing nothing apart from watching all these pacifists who do not want us to go to war.”

  “I think you misunderstand,” Hui Yue said with a smile. As he spoke, Lord Chen instantly stopped speaking and instead waited to hear what the young man had to say. There was not one of the lords who did not put Hui Yue in the same category as themselves. Although he was not as strong as them and each and every one could get rid of him with a wave of their hands, they all respected Hui Yue a
great deal. So much so, in fact, that they gave him the same respect, and sometimes even more than they paid the other lords.

  “I need people who are capable of fighting to stay in Shenyuan because we are likely to be attacked when we go to war.” Hearing this, the sour expression on Lord Chen’s face turned less sour, and his eyes seemed to brighten. The man was now fully listening to everything Hui Yue was saying.

  “When it is known to the entire world that we are going for the Siban Empire, the other kingdoms will expect that we have left Shenyuan empty. That we left it defenseless, and as they expect this, they will take their armies and try to take over our forest. If we do not leave anyone who knows how to fight, then who will deal with the army that will enter Shenyuan?”

  The more Hui Yue spoke, the brighter the lord’s face became, and he soon sprouted a great smile on his face. His eyes were no longer filled with displeasure but instead filled with excitement.

  “So you are saying that we are likely to be attacked? This is something that I had never thought about. It sounds as though I should stay here to protect our lands!” Having said this aloud, rowdy laughter escaped the lips of the now very satisfied lord, “No one can do anything to my Shenyuan as long as I am here to defend it!” He said proudly and stood up. “Since this is the case, I will go and ensure that all my brothers who are staying here with me know that we need to defend our lands!” He said before he left the library leaving behind both Wan Qiao and Hui Yue.

  Hui Yue was calm and once more started drinking his tea. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the warm liquid slowly making its way through his entire body relaxing him in a way which only a brief break with a cup of tea could give him.

  “Well done,” Wan Qiao finally said after some time. Her eyes were filled with astonishment as she saw how easily Hui Yue had deterred Lord Chen.

  “I tried to convince him before,” She said, “I told him that you had already given everyone their tasks and that we could not change it. I told him that it was not about who died for what cause, but he refused to listen. He became so serious that he started hitting me. How was I able to just leave him be? Anyone who tried to hit me is asking for a beating,” Wan Qiao continued, doing her very best to make Hui Yue understand the situation they had been in before. She was, after all, quite embarrassed by the show she had put on earlier when she destroyed her door, and it split into thousands of pieces. Each of those pieces either grazing Hui Yue’s body or impaling the handsome young man cutting him up quite badly.

  “What is done is done,” Hui Yue said while laughing as he too understood that Wan Qiao was doing what she could to explain what had happened. “I actually sought you out previously to tell you that we will soon be ready to head out.,” Hui Yue said with a smile on his face.

  “We have enough gold and provisions. In two days we will go to war.” He said. As he spoke his eyes turned bright, and his lips curled upwards in a smile. Hearing his words, Wan Qiao was the same. Her eyes turned bright with excitement and the smile on her lips was a response to Hui Yue’s. The two, beast and human, were seated next to one another both drinking tea and neither saying anything. Smiles were playing on their lips, and both were thinking about what had just been said. Two more days and they would start moving towards the Siban Empire.

  Chapter 258 - Towards Siban Empire

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  Chapter 258: Towards Siban Empire

  The two days went by in a flash. As soon as Hui Yue left the library, he personally visited every single lord and informed them about the same things he told Wan Qiao. They now had the capital and the provisions needed to commence with the war, and the army had been ready for about a week. There was no longer any reason for the army to wait while the Saints spent time packing their items. The army started to pack up the military camp outside the city.

  Some groups started moving back towards their homes because they would not be participating in the war, and as their lords left the castle, the guards followed behind. After two days had gone by, the only ones left were the four hundred thousand experts whom Hui Yue had trained previously. These four hundred thousand beasts were Shenyuan’s army.

  The tents had been packed into storage stones, and everything which made up the army camp was nowhere in sight. The only thing left behind was long lines of soldiers standing side by side in formation, ready to set out. The group got ready to travel on the largest road within Shenyuan, and as Hui Yue saw the army, pride swelled within his heart.

  “Lords!” He called out with a voice filled with authority. Moments after the forty Saints stood in a line in front of him. Some of them had smiles on their faces while others had stern expressions. Some were excited while others seemed timid. Looking at the many faces, Hui Yue nodded to them and slowly the forty of them turned their back to the army. As they saw Hui Yue’s nod of approval, the smiling expressions grew slightly larger, and the stern looking experts became less stern. The experts stayed on the line which was somewhat similar to the one of the soldiers behind them.

  Hui Yue looked out over the army in front of him, and as he looked at them, a smile played on his lips.

  “Everyone listen up!” He yelled, his voice booming in the crisp morning air and sounding from the first soldier in line all the way to the experts at the back. “We will now venture to the borders of Siban Empire. This empire has time and time again sent one delegation after another into our borders their humans have mistreated us time and time again, but no longer!”

  “Shenyuan has had enough of hiding within our own borders. We have suffered through millenniums hiding as though we were afraid, but we are not afraid! We will show the world that the beasts are still here! We will let them know that we once controlled the entire continent and although we are not going to take it all back, we will once more stand tall! We will leave the forests of Shenyuan to allow for our children and the generations to come to once more live in freedom! Our war is a war against oppression!”

  For every word Hui Yue said the beasts felt their excitement climbing. Some had goosebumps listening to his words while others had tears in their eyes. Every beast was touched, and it was impossible for them to not push out their chests and feel important. They were the beasts who fought for freedom!

  “We will not all survive, but we will fight to the end. We are proud beasts! Beasts who fight with claws and teeth as well as weapons. We do know not if we will meet an army superior to us, but no matter what we encounter, we will fight! There is no such thing as retreat in our army!”

  “I cannot promise you victory, but I can promise you that if you all fight as I have taught you, then we stand a great chance! Fight in your groups; support each other and watch your teammates backs! Fight for your survival and fight for our freedom!”

  Hui Yue went quiet and as his eyes swept across the army they also rested on the Saints. His eyes met forty pairs of eyes which all stared at him dumbfounded. Some were riled up, much like the soldiers, unshed tears in their eyes. Others were smiling, showing their sharp teeth as the speech made them feel their killing intent starting to roil, but regardless everyone was eager to start fighting as soon as possible.

  Next to Hui Yue was a guide with all the maps. This guide was a Ghost-Clawed Owl. A creature which usually was awake only at night. His eyesight and memory were so keen that he could remember every part of the forest by heart. He had traveled everywhere, and he was the one who would lead the army to the borders of Shenyuan.

  With one last glance at the Saints and the soldiers, Hui Yue raised his arm high with his hand clenched tightly in a fist. His voice cut through the air once more, “Follow me! We are going to war!”

  Roaring sounds could be heard from all the beasts. Every beast roared and screeched. The uproar made everyone within the city wonder what was happening. The tall city walls trembled from the shockwaves coming from so many beasts screaming out at the same time.

  Seeing this, Hui Yue nodded his head. He turned his back to the soldiers as he sat on
e foot ahead of the other and slowly moved towards the road next to the city wall. By his side was the Ghost-Clawed Owl and right behind him the Saints. The soldiers also started moving and suddenly the morning air was filled with sounds of movements. The four hundred thousand beasts started moving, slowly and orderly towards the road that Hui Yue decided.

  This army was far swifter than any other army Hui Yue had ever heard about. Everyone was a magical beast, and they all knew how to move swiftly through the landscape. The Ghost-Clawed Owl was swift in his movements, and his eyes already knew the entire way they were headed. As they started moving, he transformed into an owl and flew forward like a dart. Everyone followed suit with no trouble whatsoever.

  The army consisted of experts of the King rank and above. They all had speed as one of their strengths and, although the army was not moving at top speed, the speed with which they moved through the landscape was astonishing. Within the day, they had already covered a seventh of the way to the Siban Empire.