Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  “Hui Yue, what can we do for you?” Ma Kong’s father asked curiously as he looked at Hui Yue slowly placing the memory stone he had in his hand on the table. “Once upon a time back in Riluo City I was invited to dine with the Ma family. At that time I met the manager of the Black Market Auction House of Riluo City, and he gifted me the dagger, Black Blood. It is the weapon I have used up until now,” He said. “This dagger has served me well throughout the years. It has been by my side while I struggled to survive these past few years, and it will always have a special place in my heart; however, now it is not suitable for me. It was forged for cultivators of the lower dantian, and now that I have reached the King level I need a more suitable weapon. I will obviously pay for it, but I cannot imagine a better place to find a weapon than here. I know that you might not have any available right now, but if you see a weapon I could use, please let me know.”

  Nodding Ma Kong’s father contemplated for some time, “To think that you used the dagger for as long as you have shows how much you valued our present year after year. Although we do not currently have any weapons suitable for you up for auction, we do have some stored in the family armory. Sometimes we purchase weapons and store them in our own armory, for the sake of our family. I will let little Kong take you to the armory, and you can pick whichever weapon you want,” He continued. “Consider it our present to you,” He smiled and waved his hand gesturing for Ma Kong and Hui Yue to leave. Feeling grateful Hui Yue did not know what to do to return the favor he was given, so he just smiled thankfully to both Ma family members.

  Following behind his friend Ma Kong, the two young men left the office and walked together through corridor after corridor. The feeling Hui Yue got was that they were heading deep underground, and the corridors changed from being beautifully adorned to raw stone walls. There were no longer any windows; instead, light came from torches that were placed on the walls. After walking a bit further, they reached a massive door made from heavywood. There was no adornment on the door. No carvings or symbols to show that it housed amazing treasures. Rummaging through his robe, Ma Kong finally found a set of cast iron keys. This was quite different from usual as most places were locked with memory stones, but these elaborate keys were clearly different. This was a door that if one tried to open the door by the use of a memory stone, it would be impossible. If one did this, a locking mechanism would activate and ensure that no one apart from the family head could enter until he unlocked it with his Qi.

  With the key in hand, Ma Kong stepped forward opening the door with a heavy click. He then pushed open the door. Creaking sounds resounded as the heavy door opened revealing a room inside. Hui Yue was incredibly curious about what Ma family treasury looked like. He took a few steps forward following close behind Ma Kong as he entered the room, and his mouth went dry as he saw the vast amount of treasures surrounding him. The room was large, with hundreds of shelves located within. On each shelf, various items were seen. Looking around, Hui Yue was completely incapable of knowing where to look. The torches on the walls and on the shelves made the gold glitter in the light of the flames. Silver shone brilliantly and jewels sparkled in the light. Jade cases were placed on shelves hiding their valuables inside.

  On the shelves, Hui Yue found boxes filled with less valuable herbs, jade cases containing rare herbs, and for the few heaven defying herbs present they were locked inside cases of pure gold. Looking at the herbs, Hui Yue suddenly remembered his time in the Dungeons of the Divine where he picked up one rare herb after another and placed them within a memory stone. He had used jade to store them, but it had already been at least a year since he last opened them; he suddenly felt curious about how his many rare herbs were doing with the treatment they had gotten.

  Walking around the treasury, Hui Yue saw many priceless items. Some of them had obvious uses, some were medicinal pills refined by an alchemist, some were weapons made from black iron, gold, silver, or normal iron, and all of them were engraved with inscriptions to increase their durability. Some of the weapons even had abilities engraved into them to allow for one to use the ability as long as the user had enough Qi.

  There was a part of the treasury which was filled with rare metals. It had large blocks of black iron at the bottom, and bars of silver and gold placed on top. Most of the metals were infused with spiritual energy to make them even stronger. Alongside these rare metals was jewels, all of which contained spiritual energy within. These jewels could be used in various ways. Jewels were created when a cluster of essence of heavens and the earth got trapped inside the earth or mountains. The essence would slowly and naturally get refined while the compression would form it into a jewel. The larger the jewels were, the more energy that had been compressed and refined by the earth. These jewels could be used in various ways. One way was to use them as a battery. One could absorb the energy of the jewels and use it to increase their own spiritual energy, but they could also be used in combination with weapons. When they were embedded in weapons, they could, with the help of inscriptions, be used to activate the skills inscribed into the armor or weapon. This would allow lower ranked experts to use abilities that they had inscribed on the weapons. Hui Yue, who had lived in Riluo City and studied at the Riluo City Royal Academy, had never seen these things before, yet here in the capital weaponry imbued with gems and inscriptions were everyday items. Things that families gave their talented youth allowing them some safety while fighting to become the strongest.

  While gems could be used in various ways, there were also beast cores. Beast cores were very similar except the raw power contained within was far more potent than the energy within gems. The beast core contained the entire cultivation base of the beast that had been slain, and these cores were often used to help one cultivate. They allowed for the cultivator to very slowly absorb and refine the mist energy within. But unlike gems, beast cores could not be used to activate inscriptions because the energy within was mist energy; a different type than the one trained by humans.

  Hui Yue did not look long at the beast cores as he had plenty of those. Walking through the treasury Hui Yue finally reached the very end, and here he found many weapons. Some were hanging on the wall, and others were placed on the shelves. Looking at them, Hui Yue felt his pulse rise and his eyes gleam with excitement. Moving closer, he saw so many different weapons that his head started spinning. Picking up a rod he saw Hui Yue observed it curiously. Fiddling around with it he saw that it was a long rod with an inscription engraved into it.

  “Be careful with that,” Ma Kong smiled as he saw what Hui Yue was looking at. “If you add your Qi or spiritual energy to this rod it will start to shoot out small fireballs which would travel a distance before exploding upon coming into contact with something. They can travel up to three hundred meters before exploding. As long as you have energy, these rods will keep shooting. I’m surprised you did not meet them in the war. The Siban Empire should have been using them.” Ma Kong said slightly confused, but Hui Yue just shook his head. It was possible that they had been used, but he had just not noticed them. Placing down the rod on the shelf once more, Hui Yue looked at maces, axes, staves, spears, and swords. Although he was curious about all the weapons, he looked at the swords more than any of the other weapon. Picking up one sword after another, he found that all of them were masterpieces. Many of them had inscriptions on them. One had an inscription for fire orb, another used ice cluster, and yet another had lightning spikes in it. But no matter which one of the weapons Hui Yue picked up, he had a lackluster feeling. Something was wrong with each of them. They were good but not what he was looking for, and after going through almost every weapon in the room, he could not help but feel disappointed.

  Looking around his eyes were drawn to a small stack of weapons on the floor. Some were rusty, and others were broken, but Hui Yue’s eyes were locked onto a rusty sword which was seemingly very ordinary. Looking at this sword, Hui Yue was suddenly reminded how he many years ago lived another life. He had
entered a shop where he found a phoenix hairpin. The feeling he had back then emerged from his heart as he looked at this rusty and seemingly old sword. Although it looked old the emotion it brought reminded him of when he had first seen the blue phoenix hairpin. There was something within Hui Yue which told him that if he did not take this sword now then he would regret it for the rest of his life. So without a second thought, his hand dove directly into the stack of old worn out swords and with the hand on the rusted hilt he dragged it towards himself.

  Chapter 321 - Sword of the Icy Tempest

  * * *

  Chapter 321: Sword of the Icy Tempest

  Dragging out the sword from the stack, Ma Kong was surprised that Hui Yue paid attention to what he and his family considered scrap metal. The only reason they were still within this treasury was because they were made from precious metals and some had jewels or inscriptions on them something which could be reused. But no one had gotten around to scrap them into useable items yet. Seeing that the young man did not take any of the many swords on the shelves but instead was looking at this old sword, the older friend was completely surprised. Even though he was surprised, he said nothing. He knew that Hui Yue never did anything without a reason, and therefore he stayed quiet and watched.

  Hui Yue felt something pulling him towards this sword. It had clearly been laying in this stack for countless years not being used and allowed to rust, yet something still called out to the young man. When they touched each other, a humming sound appeared from within both of them. The humming sound from within the sword caused small ripples of energy to be emitted outwards while the humming sound within Hui Yue caused a suction force to appear. This suction force was so strong that the ripples from the sword were swallowed up whole. The energy roamed through his body and refining itself into golden Wu Wei before it entered the upper dantian where it was stored. When the humming sound appeared it started out quiet and the ripples of energy along with the suction force were fairly weak, but as the sound persisted and got louder these phenomena increased in strength. Within moments the entire treasury was filled with a humming so loud that Ma Kong needed to hold his hands over his ears and closed his eyes shut.

  The humming sound caused the sword in Hui Yue’s hands to vibrate. The vibration resonated with the humming causing the rust to start falling of the sword. Though this didn’t remove all the rust nor make it useable again. The humming sound increased until it became so loud that even the shelves within the treasury started to shake from the shockwaves, and suddenly, with no explanation, the sound completely vanish. The pulses of energy stopped coming from the weapon and while the weapon became quiet, so did Hui Yue’s body. The sudden change made the young man stare with an open mouth at the sword in his hand as he was uncertain what to say or do.

  Ma Kong removed the hands from his ears and opened his eyes as he looked at Hui Yue. He was increasingly uncomfortable about the reaction his friend caused from the sword. It was not that he feared Hui Yue was robbing his family of a priceless treasure; instead, he was uneasy about how Hui Yue had resonated with the sword. It was as though the two belonged together, and something like that made no sense to him. A sword was but a tool, nothing with sentience, yet this sword seemed different. Shaking his head, Ma Kong decided not to think about it anymore. He would leave it to Hui Yue to deal with; it was simply too odd for him.

  After the humming had vanished and the weird feeling of absorbing energy from the sword subsided, Hui Yue looked at the still rusty sword. His hands roamed over the metal which was almost eaten away by rust, and his hands suddenly reached just above the hilt. Scratching the rust, he found that there were some words engraved on the sword. With some stubbornness and a rather large amount of time, Hui Yue finally managed to make out the words that had been engraved; Sword of the Icy Tempest.

  Mumbling for some time, Hui Yue assumed that the inscriptions that had been inscribed onto the sword had originally had something to do with an icy tempest, but he had no way to confirm this guess as the inscription on the blade had long since become nothing but rust on the face of the sword. Looking at this beaten up sword, Hui Yue wondered if there was a way to restore it. He decided that even if the chance was small, he had to try. Having felt the strength that surged out in waves from the sword he knew that it was anything but ordinary. Although it looked like trash, he would not look down on such strength. There had to be a way to salvage the sword within.

  Clearing his throat, Hui Yue said what they both already knew. “I will take this sword. I hope you do not feel like I am taking advantage of your family. If you want to charge me for it, I will gladly pay, and if you don’t want to part with it,” When he said these words a worried expression appeared on his face. “I will of course understand.” Although he wished to own this sword he was not willing to fight the Ma family for it. When it came down to it, they were the real owners of this sword.

  Shaking his head Ma Kong smiled to his good friend. “We have had this sword here countless years. It has been thrown into the stack of swords that cannot even be used they are so worn. Swords that will be scrapped and reused for other things. It only reacted this way because of you so it is natural that I will not stand in between of the one it truly wishes to be with,” He said. Although he was confused he felt that the sword had reacted this way almost like it had a soul within, but he decided to give up thinking about it too much as he feared he was losing his sanity. He could not imagine what kind of sword it truly was if it really did contain a soul. A weapon with a soul… Was that even possible?

  Leading the way out of the treasury, Ma Kong led Hui Yue back to the office they had departed from earlier. When they opened the door, the smiling Ma patriarch was standing inside. “I almost thought you got lost,” He joked as he looked at the two youngsters, yet his eyebrows suddenly frowned when his eyes landed on the sword Hui Yue had his hands on.

  The sword was around a meter and a half long. The hilt was a cross, and it was a very normal sword with no jewels or cores embedded in it. Looking at this rusty, plain sword, the family leader shook his head and could not understand the decision made by the young man. “Do not disgrace us,” He said in a serious voice. “I meant to give you a great weapon, not some trash that is hardly worth anything. You can choose whatever weapon you like. Please don’t have any reservations; let’s return to the treasury.” He said, “If people knew that we gifted such a worn down sword then I would for sure lose face!”

  “Please lead me to those who dare talk, and I will make them hold their tongue,” Hui Yue swore. “I wish to receive this weapon. It is everything I want. Please allow me to keep it.” Noticing that Hui Yue wasn’t joking, Ma Kong’s father frowned a bit but seeing the eager and honest expression on the young man’s face he made him unable to say anything. “Humph. It seems that you are easily made happy,” He said, and with his consent, Hui Yue bowed deeply to the older male while a brilliant smile shone on his face. “Run along then,” The family leader said smiling. “When boys get new toys they are usually quite impatient to play with them. I will not hold you here any longer. If you end up changing your mind, please come and find me and we can get you a proper weapon,” He sighed as he waved his hand and with a cheeky grin on his face, Hui Yue bowed once more before he left the office and rushed back to his own mansion. He was indeed eager to play with his new toy, as the family head had described it.

  Usually, Hui Yue would walk back to his own mansion but today he was eager to get back, and therefore he instantly hailed a carriage which made the ride back far swifter than it would have been otherwise. Paying the fare and a handsome tip, the young man almost jumped out the carriage as soon as they reached the mansion. He ran right through it until he arrived at the park behind the mansion.

  The park was large and although there were a few gardeners and servants currently in the garden it was no hard task to find an area completely devoid of people. The area he found was a small clearing framed by a few massive trees which also
blocked the sunlight. Soft grass grew between the trees, and a few large stones were scattered here and there.

  Sitting on one of these large stones with his legs crossed, Hui Yue slowly and gently placed the sword on the legs and stared at it with shining eyes. He did not know what he was expecting, but he expected something. Though he was soon quickly disappointed. The humming sound did not reappear, and there was no wave of energy like before. The feeling from within that he needed this sword did not return. All in all, nothing happened apart from birds singing in the sky and small rays of sunshine falling here and there from the treetops.

  Feeling slightly disappointed Hui Yue sighed as he looked at the sword in his lap, yet he refused to give up. From his storage stones he picked out tools he previously used to clean his dagger, and this time, he was going to use them to try and clean up the sword. Oil, cloth, and grinding stones were placed by his side as he was seated on a stone and with a very gentle hand, Hui Yue started to wet the cloth in the oil and gently rubbed the sword.

  At first, massive flakes of rust started to fall off of the sword, and the metal underneath was soon starting to appear in front of the patient young man. Some of the rust had embedded itself deeply within the weapon and was impossible to remove, while at other places it was easily removed. The sword hidden beneath was so slim that it was clear that most of the metal had been eroded by the rust.