Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  They all walked behind their master, and as they looked around they sent one glare after another at the other customers within the marketplace, while any females below a certain age were being taken advantage of by the experts. Seeing this, Hui Yue’s blue eyes turned dark. Dark like the sky before a storm.

  Standing still, Hui Yue waited for the young master to notice him, and sure enough, only moments later the young master looked at the white-haired young man in front of him. “It’s you!!” He yelled out. His eyes instantly turned red, and his hand trembled from anger.

  “This time, kill him! Don’t let him get away! He killed all my men! He even dared to steal from our Jing family! Such a filthy mixed blooded bastard actually dares to challenge me!” He yelled out, and the entire marketplace turned silent before everyone turned around to look at what was happening.

  Sighing, Hui Yue looked at the many experts in front of him, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. “It is a shame you are all men,” He mumbled as the blue cloud started roiling around him.

  The ten kings who stepped forward all felt an ominous presence inside of the blue cloud, and none of them had ever heard about this blue energy before; but although there were quite a few signs they were not his match, the ten experts decided to attack him anyways. It was, after all, one against ten.

  Snorting at their decision, Hui Yue released the blue cloud which turned to long strings of blue energy. As soon as the energy touched the cultivators, they would stop their advance and fall to the ground. Hui Yue was now devouring the energy which they had spend years upon years cultivating. Soon all ten experts had collapsed to the ground. Some had fallen several meters away from Hui Yue while others were only a few centimeters away, yet none of them had managed to successfully touch even the corners of his clothes.

  The entire marketplace turned silent. No one dared to say even the slightest word. Everyone was staring at Hui Yue, the handsome mixed blooded creature in front of them. He used energy they had never heard about, and this skill was without a doubt the most outstanding they had ever seen. To subdue ten King ranked experts with ease was not something even an Emperor could do.

  The young master of the Jing family was just standing alone. His face was ashen, and his mouth was opening and closing as though he wished to say something but was incapable of doing so. Hui Yue took one step towards the young master, and as he tried to back away, he fell straight on his butt. His eyes were filled with horror as he looked at Hui Yue as though he was a monster.

  “I-I am the heir to the Jing fam-family!” He cried out. “If you ki-kill me, our family’s Saint will kill you in return,” He yelled out. A sinister smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face. “I have seen you two times, and both times you have ordered your men to attack me. Even if I leave you be, you will make the Saint come after me. Why should I let you live, knowing this?” He asked. His voice was slow but loud enough for everyone to hear.

  Moments after a sword appeared from his storage stone. A sword which the young master instantly recognized. Only a soft sound of the sword unsheathing could be heard followed by a small plopping sound. Soon after red blood dyed the streets of the marketplace. Like a shadow Hui Yue moved through the ten experts, and soon their heads too landed on the ground. Looking at the men he had slain a decisive expression was visible on his face. Letting them live when they twice had tried to take his life was not possible.

  Without lingering, the young man left the marketplace leaving behind the eleven corpses on the ground. The eerie silence and the stench of blood quickly made everyone look at the back of the departing figure.

  The battle had been swift, and no techniques were exchanged; instead, it had been a complete slaughter. By the time the marketplace guards reached the location all they saw was the eleven executed members of the Jing family.

  Soon after, the city erupted in disbelief. The ones who had witnessed what happened sold memory stones with the recording of the battle if one could even call it that.

  Currently the city was filled with every kind of experts, martial families, factions, and noble families from all over the world. These individuals knew that it was best to be aware of the strength of others and they all purchased memory stones to see just what this white-haired man was capable of.

  It was not long before everyone knew that this man was not just skilled at fighting. He was also the Grand Marshall of the beast army which had utterly destroyed the Siban Empire.

  Amongst some of the mercenaries and families which had rushed to Muchuan City were also noble families from what used to be the Siban Empire, and these families were anything but happy when they heard that he was presently within the same city as them. Many of them started dreaming about how to kill him, but they did not have the courage to do so. As they remembered the horde of beasts they had seen in the capital alongside the rest of the country, they did not wish to have such a massive horde coming after their family for the sake of revenge.

  It did not take long before everyone knew that Hui Yue had an enormous backing, and the more they learned about the young man, the more astonished they became. Tales of the Battle of Riluo City slowly made their way to the capital and together with these tales came countless numbers of untrue rumors about his Saint ranked tutor, and his own ability to use a Saint ranked attack. Even others talked about how he really controlled the beasts behind the scenes.

  As rumors started to float around Muchuan City, Hui Yue found that he had more and more guests visiting his mansion day after day. He ended up spending three days just greeting visitors. He eventually decided that the final two days before the raid he would no longer receive any guests.

  Hui Yue was perfectly well aware of all the rumors which were going around. Gao Yan made sure to come by once a day and give him new information, but he also knew that he could do nothing about it.

  The days went by swiftly and before he knew it, the day of the raid appeared. Hui Yue slowly exhaled as he opened his eyes. He had spent the night absorbing Yin energy, and his body was swallowing it whole like a weed getting water for the first time in a week. He had managed to balance his energy quite well previously; however, using the blue cloud against ten male cultivators had thoroughly destroyed the fine balance he had worked so hard to achieve. With a sigh, he knew he had to start all over again rebuilding the balance.

  Still, this was the simplest way to deal with the ten King experts in a split second. Hui Yue hoped that he might come across herbs which contained Yin energy, or perhaps even medicinal pills with Yin energy stored inside.

  For now, though he could not use the monk’s ability on men unless absolutely necessary. Although he gained strength, it took him much longer to balance his energies afterwards. It would increase the time it took him to become one with the world and thereby ascend to the realms of the Gods. Unfortunately, one could tell how difficult it was to become one with the world around them and balance Yin and Yang perfectly by looking at Lan Feng. He had spent thousands of years but he was still incapable of maintaining a perfect balance, and as such he never managed to become a God.

  Not just Lan Feng but also Wan Qiao and the Frozen General who were also at the very peak of the Saint rank, yet none of them had been capable of breaking through.

  “I can’t afford to spend this much time advancing,” Hui Yue said to himself as he left his mansion. “I need to find Yin energy one way or another. Even if I have to steal it from someone; I will do it!” He mumbled to himself before he headed down the street towards the gathering point at the royal family’s castle.

  Everyone who had been personally invited by the royal family would meet up at the castle grounds usually used to training guards. They would be the first to depart Muchuan City while as soon as they left through the crowded streets all the uninvited people who intended to follow behind also got ready. A feeling of excitement spread through the whole city. Everyone was eager to start the raid, but no one dared move before the royal family had taken the first step.

&n
bsp; Chapter 342 - Setting Out

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  Chapter 342: Setting Out

  Arriving at the castle grounds, Hui Yue saw that everywhere he looked experts were waiting in small groups. Some groups had Emperors as their strongest participating member while others had Kings. Looking around, he saw no Saints; however, he remembered the conversation he had overheard while being at the mansion. All the Saints of the Taiyang Kingdom had been roused for the sake of raiding this Grave of the Unknown.

  It was not only the Taiyang Kingdom who had Saints but also experts from the Yueliang Province as well as families in both kingdoms who possessed Saints ranked experts. These families were few, but when all of them gathered together, they really didn’t seem like just a few.

  The families who possessed Saint ranked experts were the last to arrive at the castle’s grounds, and as they did everyone who stood in their path wisely parted. They opened up space for them to walk so they didn’t have to maneuver through the crowds like everyone else had done.

  Finally, the royal family of the Taiyang Kingdom appeared and by their side was seventeen Saint ranked experts. All of these experts were the cream of the crop. They had been Saints for thousands of years, and they knew just how important they were to the kingdom. It was possible for the Saints to veto a decision made by the King; therefore, they were also very important when it came to deciding the heir.

  Behind the Taiyang Kingdom’s cultivators appeared another group of people. These were people Hui Yue had never seen before. They moved with the same kind of grace and attitude that the royal family processed, and he quickly guessed that they were the delegation sent by Yueliang Province.

  The entire castle grounds had become silent as the two groups of Saints appeared. Even the families who had a Saint amongst their midst turned quiet. They knew that their family’s strength was nothing compared to the strength these two kingdoms possessed.

  The king took a few steps forward and his eyes glistened with excitement. “Everyone!” He called out as his voice strengthened with Qi could be heard over the entire area. “The Grave of the Unknown is quite a distance away, but please follow behind us. We will take you all to the place where it is. Everyone should already know this, but to anyone who wants to enter there is a chance you will never return. It is a grave and therefore it will be filled with traps, inscriptions, and death at every corner. You cannot blame anyone if this place turns into your final resting place.” He said in a strict voice.

  Everyone waited to hear what else he had to say, but the King was finished. While everyone was still thinking about what he said someone brought over a beautiful qilin that he mounted. All the experts mounted various magical beasts, but Hui Yue couldn’t hold back his smiled. Part of his daily training was to run, and now that he had no weights holding him down, he was definitely able to keep up with the various beasts. It might not look as graceful, but considering Hui Yue brought no one to look after his mount, the beast would just end up becoming a nuisance. Besides, the young man did not care about what others thought.

  Hui Yue was not eager to be in the front of the parade; instead, he stayed in the middle. He was amongst families who had King and Emperor ranked experts as their most influential members. No one seemed to notice this young King ranked expert who joined the fray.

  Although the royal family was riding mounts, they traveled at a slow speed as they made their way through the narrow city streets. Everywhere they went, citizens were watching them through their windows, and voices were constantly cheering for and encouraging the entourage they saw traveling towards the grave. Everyone knew that from the people leaving the city not would return; everyone knew how dangerous this place was.

  Hui Yue was surprised to see that no groups had gathered and waited to leave together with the royal entourage. But as soon as they left the city, he understood why. The ground outside the city gates was filled with people. It was so packed that it was impossible to see the ground beneath them. Had Hui Yue been flying above, it would look like an ants nest had been disturbed.

  This was, however, not the first thing his eyes landed upon. Great shock was evident when he saw someone he recognized. Her snake-like shape and alluring curves caused every man near her to stare agape. They were bewitched and mesmerized by her tiny waist whenever it moved, her beautiful eyes, and beauty.

  Seeing Sha Yun amongst the many people who were going to follow the royal entourage, Hui Yue could not help but worry, though he knew that he had no right to tell her not to go.

  She was together with a mixed group of cultivators. All of whom were clearly either mixed blooded or fully fledged magical beasts in their human form. Seeing that the group was rather large and that there was an Emperor present, Hui Yue calmed down a little.

  Unfortunately, it soon proved that this was not the only surprise waiting for him. After moving further from the city, his eyes landed on a woman he could recognize anywhere. She was stunningly beautiful, and her aloof expression and lack of emotion made her seem even more attractive.

  She was wearing a white robe with a cauldron embroiled upon it. She was together with a large group of people who were also wearing white robes clearly from the same fraction.

  The cauldron was the symbol of healers, and although not all of them were alchemists, they all have the ability to heal. Knowing that she was with healers, Hui Yue heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

  No one would kill healers. Healers were present for the good of everyone; they were ready to heal the ones who experienced bad luck and sustained injuries.

  As he kept moving through the many people heading to the tomb, Hui Yue soon found Gao Yan together with the Ma Family where Ma Kong also was present. Seeing them together, Hui Yue could only shake his head and laugh. Now It had become that he expected all his friends to be here. After looking through the people he could see, he found that neither Xu Piao, the Rong twins, nor Deng Wu were anywhere nearby; however, so many people were present that it was impossible for Hui Yue to see everyone. That he had recognized as many as he had was already an incredible feat.

  Knowing the allure of this grave, Hui Yue could only sigh as he hoped that his friends took enough precautions and put their lives first. Treasure was only good if you were still alive.

  Deciding to not think too much about his friends who chose to join the raid, he decided to just follow the flow of humans which had turned into a long snake-like creature heading towards the Grave of the Unknown. A grave only the royal family knew the position of. Thus they led the horde of humans, and no one dared to rush ahead of them. They kept a slow pace, so no one was left behind. Everyone slowly made their way forwards, and as the day came to a close, the royal family finally made the snake of people halt. Tents were being set up, and suddenly stalls appeared everywhere.

  It seemed that not only had fighters had followed the royal family, but many merchants had done the same. Stalls selling food were spread throughout the campground as well as blacksmiths, inscriptors, and mercenaries looking for work. Even some of the mercenaries and adventurers set up stalls where they sold treasures they had acquired from previous trips to various magical forests or mountains. Beast cores were especially numerous at the makeshift stalls.

  Hui Yue knew that he was going to spend the night on his own bathing in moonlight as he needed to absorb all the Yin energy he could. Due to this, he was not in any hurry to stop walking around this makeshift marketplace.

  While walking through the makeshift marketplace, Hui Yue felt at ease. Many of the cultivators around here were not from Muchuan City, and most were unaware of who Hui Yue was. Although they had heard about the white-haired Grand Marshall of the beast army, none of them would believe that the young man walking around the marketplace was truly him. To the many mercenaries from different cities and countries, to the many merchants and even many to nobles, Hui Yue was nothing more than a young man of mixed blood.

  Looking at all the items, he soon reached the stalls belonging to the
spiritual blacksmiths and a smile adorned his face as he noticed a person he recognized.

  Ten meters in front of him was a shabby-looking stall, yet the items on display brought in a whole crowd; many mercenaries and young masters were looking at items that were for sale. Dealing with all these customers was the young man Fang Wei. Cou Ling was nowhere to be seen at first, but as he drew closer to the stall, he noticed she was laying on the ground behind the stall observing what was happening but not helping to sell anything.

  Grinning, Hui Yue went behind the stall. “How can you let poor Fang Wei deal with all those customers alone? Don’t you think he will be swallowed whole by those scary mercenaries?” He laughed, and as his voice drifted into the ears of Cou Ling, a red hue appeared on her cheeks as she instantly sat up, looking indignantly at Hui Yue.

  “You cheap b****rd,” She mumbled as she looked at the young man she had not seen for half a year. “Although I often meet with the Ma family, I still expected to see you around from time to time,” She said. “I mean I did decide to help you, but when I went to your mansion, I was turned away because you were too busy training they said.”