Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Chapter 315: Jesting

  “I am not of mixed blood? Don’t jest your highness” Hui Yue asked as he looked at the third prince. He was greatly shocked by the question and for the first time, he truly looked at the prince in front of him. He had sworn to take his life for his friends, but Hui Yue had to admit that he had been looking down on the prince. He was seen as a genius, but his age when reaching the King rank was only a few years later than Hui Yue’s. The white-haired young man expected him to be a spoiled young heir, but there was more to this man.

  “I never said that you were not of mixed blood, but you are definitely not a half beast half human,” The prince said as his face showed curiosity, and his lips curled up into a smile. “If anything your beastly genes are so distant that they can hardly be the reason for your unusual appearance. I like you. Why don’t you come visit me soon, and we can see what the actual reason for your appearance is. Maybe it is even the same reason your two friends look the way they do especially the one who looks as peculiar as you.” The prince went quiet for some time as he looked at Hui Yue causing the younger man to be even more cautious than he had been before. Hui Yue’s eyes were fully focused on the third prince and his heart was beating rapidly. “The three of you are the most interesting people I have seen in a long time.”

  “We have to return to the castle now, but it was incredibly interesting to visit and see the Grand Marshall of the beast army. Tell me, did you trick them all, or do they know that you are a human who pretends to be a beast?”

  Hui Yue looked at the prince as a smile crept onto his face. He then shook his head. “There are things I cannot tell anyone, not even a prince,” He smiled and paused for some time. “I might visit you at some point if I have time,” He continued as he bowed to the second prince. “Thank you for visiting my humble mansion. I wish your highnesses the best in the future.” With this, the two princes nodded towards the bowing Hui Yue, Deng Wu, and Cai Jie before they left the banquet hall and entered the carriage which was waiting for the highnesses.

  Turning back towards the banquet hall, everyone was suddenly scattered talking about everything and nothing to the person closest to them. The previously incredibly quiet room had turned lively once more. Everyone acted like nothing much just happened. The random conversation quickly ended as the new discussion was about the man of the night, the white-haired young man whom they had all thought was a young man of mixed blood, a half human half beast, but now their royal prince said that he was not in fact not. If he was not a half beast then why did he look so different? It seemed that this phenomena was not limited to just Hui Yue, but also his affected the two friends by his side, or so the third prince thought. Both fear and awe were apparent in all the guests as they sneaked peeks at Hui Yue and his friends while discussing in low voices and with curious expressions.

  “Seems like this prince will be troublesome,” Hui Yue said with a sigh. “He is without a doubt a threat to all of us,” Hui Yue whispered to Cai Jie and Deng Wu by his side. “I need to take this far more serious than I have been,” He continued. “I guess I should say yes to his invitation.”

  Slowly the guests started to leave the mansion in small groups. Everyone was whispering and chatting with one another, and the gossip that Hui Yue was not a half beast was something that had taken everyone by surprise. Although the white-haired man had not agreed, no one dared doubt the greatest talent in the royal family. What no one could understand was what else could cause their strange appearances, and many theories came to the surface. Some believed that they were an entirely different species, neither human nor beast, but someone who came from across the sea, somewhere far away from their continent. Others thought they were of mixed blood far back in their heritage and that they had gained a few genes from these beasts into their bloodline. Others believed that they were cultivating rare cultivation methods. This theory was quite widespread. All three different looking men were incredibly young, yet all of them had an outstanding cultivation base. It was likely that these two things were connected.

  As the final person left the mansion, Hui Yue finally found a chair and sat down in it with a heavy sigh, “Gao Yan.” He called out and moments after his friend appeared with a large grin on his face. “I imagine that a lot of people will be coming by tomorrow to the Black Lion,” He started. “Many of them will be asking for information about me since I am a new arrival.” He said while scratching his chin for a moment contemplating what to do. “You should just sell all the information you have, apart from the aim of my group,” He said. “The more that is known about me and my new faction will help the nobles more easily join us. The only thing you cannot mention is our ultimate goal.”

  While Hui Yue spoke, Gao Yan was taken aback at the start as he had planned to blacklist any information about Hui Yue. He was supporting this man, so selling information about him was not something he wished to do, but now Hui Yue himself was telling him to do so. Hesitating for a moment, Gao Yan finally nodded his head, but he decided only to sell information which put Hui Yue in a positive light.

  “Let us settle in,” Hui Yue said without a second glance at the banquet hall. He and his friends left the room leaving it for the servants to clean and return it to how it had been originally. Walking to the floor where all the rooms were located everyone chose a random door. No one knew how different the rooms were, but no one truly cared either. The room Hui Yue chose was clean and practical. It consisted of three rooms, a bathroom, a bedroom, and a bigger room divided into a sitting room, library, and office. Looking around the room the young man nodded his head with satisfaction. After looking through the room for a bit, he went to the bathroom where he quickly washed. He then went to one of the windows, opened it and sat in the moonlight. It was in the middle of the night now, almost dawn, yet Hui Yue had no intention of wasting the final rays of moonlight, allowing for him to absorb the Yin energy.

  It was not only Hui Yue who was spending the final hours of the night to cultivate, Cai Jie, Xu Piao, and Deng Wu were all busy cultivating while Gao Yan was busy creating memory stones with information about Hui Yue. Memory stones he knew he would need the following morning when he went to work.

  Ma Kong was busy creating memory stones thanking all the guests for showing up alongside delegating the servants to clean up the mansion. Making sure that the mansion looked like it did before the party The mansion was quiet as everyone was busy doing their own things, and as the sun slowly rose in the sky, the servants finished cleaning. Gao Yan had left the mansion and was heading back to the Black Lion, and Ma Kong was on his way back to the Black Market Auction House where he went to ship out the memory stones. He also had to prepare for the many visitors they would have today questioning their allegiance with Hui Yue and the slew of issues that would entail.

  Neither Hui Yue, Xu Piao, Deng Wu, or Cai Jie had left their rooms yet as all of them were training studiously, and the last thing Ma Kong did before leaving was order the servants to cook breakfast and leave it on trays outside their doors. Although he knew that it was quite unlikely for the experts to open the door and eat the food, the young man felt better knowing they had breakfast, even if they chose to ignore it.

  The sun rose in the sky, and Hui Yue stopped absorbing the essence of the heavens and the earth after which he opened his door and smelled the delicious breakfast placed just outside. After eating he then left the house and entered the park behind the mansion.

  Entering the park, Hui Yue searched within himself and located the red beast core letting the red energy billow forth as he changed his body into that of the red wolf. From the storage stone around his neck, Hui Yue picked out wristbands, a shirt, and trousers which were weighed down with lead. As soon as he wore it, Hui Yue started running through the park. The speed with which he ran was outstanding, so swift in fact that none of the servants in the park could see anything other than a red flash followed by a strong wind.

  The majority of his day was spent running in the
park before Hui Yue returned to his human form. He then started doing other muscle training programs taught to him by Wan Qiao.

  The day after the banquet in the mansion was quiet, and none of them seemed to be disturbed at all by the turmoil which had appeared within the city. The many nobles were all sending servants to the Black Lion to get information about the newly arrived Hui Yue and company. Rumors about this young man were the talk of the town, not only by the nobles but also their servants and the many commoners. These servants who heard all the gossip about the white-haired young man who was seemingly not half a beast caused more and more of them to head to the Black Lion to gain or share information. Money was rolling in for Gao Yan, but the information they obtained was quite similar to what the rumors stated.

  The information from Gao Yan said that Hui Yue was indeed the Grand Marshall of the beast army of Shenyuan. It stated that he had rented a mansion in the upper-class district and that he lived together with Gao Yan of the Black Lion, Xu Piao, Deng Wu of the Deng family, Wang Ju Long of the Wang family, and Cai Jie, an unknown adventurer. Although Ma Kong did not reside at the mansion, the Ma family were backing the young man and had even taken it on themselves to host the grand banquet for the young man which introduced him to the city’s nobles.

  The information also contained the ranks of Hui Yue and all his friends; however, none of their elemental affinities were included. None of their pasts were included with the exception of Hui Yue’s Grand Marshall position, and nothing about their bloodlines were shared either.

  The fact that not even Gao Yan had much information about these young men living in the mansion was something which caused mystery to surround them, and many citizens went to the mansion to see if they could catch a glimpse of the mysterious strangers that had suddenly appeared throwing the capital into chaos. It was obvious that a new era in Muchuan City’s history had just begun.

  Chapter 316 - To the Castle

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  Chapter 316: To the Castle

  The following days were spent in peace and quiet within the mansion. Hui Yue decided to focus the next few days on cultivating, and he spent the daylight hours in the park doing exercises to look after his body and increase his external strength. His nights were spent cultivating within his room as he was bathed in the gentle moonlight. It was not only Hui Yue who was training hard, everyone in the mansion was focused on cultivating and improving their strength so that they could prove that even though they were a new faction, they were an outstanding group of cultivators. They were people not to be trifled with.

  “I should go visit the prince and see what he has to say,” Hui Yue mumbled to himself as he finished running through the park in his wolf form. He returned to his human shape and brought out a new robe which he quickly wore before heading back to the mansion. The surroundings in the park were so calm and relaxing, a complete contrast to the rest of Muchuan City. More than a few citizens came by the mansion to see if they could get a glimpse of either Hui Yue or the two other different looking young men, but everyone was disappointed as it seemed that the experts had barricaded themselves indoors. No one from the city had any real information about these three young men and with the extra mysterious air that Gao Yan added to what he sold, everyone was very curious about what and whom this person truly was.

  Arriving at the mansion, Hui Yue went to his room to get prepared to visit the third prince. He did not tell Cai Jie or Deng Wu he was leaving; instead, he silently left the mansion with no word to anyone. He headed towards the royal castle to take up the offer of the third prince to visit him. Currently, the prince should not know Hui Yue’s aim in forming a power base in Muchuan City, but he should be doing his very best to lure the young man in. To get Hui Yue to throw his support behind him and hopefully gain the upper hand against his two brothers when it came to who would become the next King of Taiyang.

  “It is obvious that things will not go the way he wants them to,” Hui Yue mumbled to himself as he moved towards the castle. Everyone he met on his way was staring at him unreservedly; their eyes could not be wrested away from him in the slightest. Although Hui Yue did not seem to care, he could not help but notice how he was being stared at by one person after another. The walk to the Royal Academy was longer than it was when he stayed at the Rong twins’ mansion but Hui Yue did not mind walking far. He once more decided not to use a carriage; instead, he exposed himself for all to see not at all caring that walking was something that surprised the ones who saw him.

  Reaching the castle, Hui Yue was astonished to see the guards bowing deeply to him. None blocked his way; instead, they offered to find a servant that could lead him to the chambers where the third prince resided. “It seems that everyone knows what happened during the banquet,” Hui Yue mused as he nodded his head thanking the guards for finding servants to lead the way. He had no clue how to find the third prince without help.

  ‘There is one thing that humans do far better than beasts, and that is gossip,’ Lan Feng said from deep within the dantian cave, but his words caused Hui Yue to chuckle. ‘I don’t agree,’ The younger man said. ‘When I lived in Shenyuan, beasts gossiped at least as much as humans do.’ He grinned and Lan Feng shrugged his shoulders. ‘They must have started gossiping in the four thousand years I’ve been away then,’ He said stubbornly, and although Hui Yue wished to continue the conversation, he saw a servant heading towards him as swiftly as his legs could carry him. Bowing to Hui Yue, the servant was gasping for air. His hands were resting on his thighs, and it took a brief moment before he could stand up once more and speak.

  “Your lordship, please follow me to his highness’s quarters,” The servant said breathlessly as he took the lead and showed Hui Yue the way. His speed was no longer rushed, but he walked with a pace which was comfortable for Hui Yue. It was clear that this young man who was leading the way was not a cultivator. His level of strength was incredibly low, and Hui Yue assumed that it was intentional because cultivators brought the risk of assassination closer. The only ones who were allowed to be cultivators were the guards as when one was together with a guard they would be on alert.

  Even in Hui Yue’s mansion, all the servants were experts of the lower dantian. Experts who had only achieved their level of cultivation from naturally absorbing the essence of the heavens and the earth throughout their normal lives, none of them had actively cultivated. There were schools in the commoner districts of the city where young men and women could show up and learn how to cultivate. It was usually children from the age of ten to the age of fifteen who were educated at these schools because at the age of fifteen they would start taking jobs as guards or mercenaries. A small handful of the experts would set out to travel the world and become adventurers in the hopes of leaving their mark on history.

  While Hui Yue was deep in thought about the guards and servants, he followed behind his guide. Suddenly the man in front of him stopped. They had moved through various parks, gardens, mansions, and halls. Right now they were standing in front of a mansion three times the size of Hui Yue’s newly purchased mansion. However the ground was far smaller, and there was not a massive park spread out behind it; instead, Hui Yue could see a small garden around the corner.

  The servant did nothing apart from bowing to Hui Yue before he scurried away, rushing to leave the location instantly. A frightened gaze was thrown over his shoulder as he glanced at Hui Yue. The white-haired young man finally realized that this young servant was completely terrified of him. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he shook his head and turned his focus towards the door in front of him. Breathing out deeply, he calmed himself then he took a few steps forward and knocked on the door.

  As soon as Hui Yue knocked, the door slowly opened, and an elderly man appeared behind the door. This elderly man bowed to Hui Yue, but his bow was only fractional, and he carried himself with an important air. Anyone who looked at him could tell that he was no ordinary person. He was most likely the personal butler of the prince
. The one in control of all the servants at this specific mansion.

  “His highness will be relieved to see that you took him up on his invitation,” The elderly man said with a trembling voice as he slowly extended his hand letting Hui Yue to enter the mansion first while he followed behind. The two moved through the mansion, and apart from the first sentence, Hui Yue and the butler did not share any words. They slowly went past one room after another until they entered into the back of the mansion. There they stepped into the garden that Hui Yue saw a tiny bit of earlier while standing outside the mansion. The garden was not as small as Hui Yue expected. It was a nice size, yet still far from being as massive as the park Hui Yue owned.

  The garden had neatly trimmed grass interspersed with stones giving it a relaxing atmosphere and tall trees that surrounded the garden giving it a lot of privacy. Looking around the garden with curiosity Hui Yue’s eyes landed on a small set of chairs and a table at the far end. Seated on one of the chairs was Shiu Ye, the third prince of the Taiyang Kingdom. The man was as majestic as he had been before. He was handsome with smooth skins as white as porcelain. His hair was neat, brushed, and tied up on top of his head much like it was at Hui Yue’s lavish banquet. He was not wearing a black robe this time, but instead a white robe with black edges and a snake-like pattern. He was at least as stunning to look at as he had been before, and on his lips, a smile could be seen. His eyes were radiant, and he was clearly excited about Hui Yue’s visit. As soon as the man saw him, he stood up and spread out his arms as though he was looking at a dear friend who was returning home after a long time apart.