Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  “Don’t struggle; I won’t harm you,” A voice sounded out in the room. A voice Hui Yue instantly recognized as the voice of heaven-defying expert who made this tomb. Feeling sour, he couldn’t help but mumble. “Right, as if you’d tell me otherwise.” But the low mumble caused laughter to ring throughout the chamber, “Yes, you are correct little friend; I really would not tell you otherwise but this time you can believe me. I am the strongest soul imprint within this grave, and I am connected to every other soul imprint which has been triggered. I know you were the one who passed the trial that tests one’s speed and was teleported to Heaven’s door. I know you were there when I spoke from Heaven’s door, and I’ve seen you take treasure after treasure using your ingenuity and quite a few different techniques. I am quite curious about you who would at a glance seem to be the weakest of all in this part of my grave, but despite that you have given me the most shock out of everyone.”

  “I am really not all that interesting,” Hui Yue said full of regret as he thought of the possible outcomes to this situation.

  “The group which was here before did very well,” The voice suddenly changed subjects. “But they did not try to step on the stairs leading to my grave; instead, they headed directly to the treasury.”

  “Haha, please don’t look so dejected. It was just one of many such treasuries. You on the other hand actually have the decency to show your face to the almighty me, and as a result, I have a special gift for you.”

  ‘Do I really want this gift?’ Hui Yue though doubtfully as one foot moved in front of the other, slowly moving up the stairs at a pace he could no longer control. The conversation between whatever was at the top of the stairs and him was heard throughout the entire room. Below, the eyes of the four experts he had left behind showed uncertainty about what to do.

  “It’ll be okay,” Xiao Ning said in a low voice to the three experts by his side. “This youngster has a strength that we cannot understand; I am certain he will be all right.” As for whether or not this assurance was for his own sake, or for the others, no one really knew as even Xiao Ning, himself, was uncertain, yet his eyes were glued to the figure ascending the stairs.

  No one spoke after Hui Yue asked whether or not he wanted the gift but even so he still kept moving forward. Finally, he reached the top, and as he did, he sucked in a large breath of air.

  The platform he was standing on was a created from pure white jade. In the middle of this platform, which seemed to be hundred times hundred meters, was a beautiful monument and a stone tomb. The monument was a large statue of what seemed to be an elderly man, clearly the owner of this grave.

  As soon as he reached the top of the platform the energy which had forced him forward completely disappeared, but even still as soon as he reached the top, Hui Yue moved towards the monument as though he was in a trance. He then fell to his knees in front of it praying for the owner of the grave. Although he was uncertain about the soul imprint, he still felt that since he was here, he had to show at least the most basic kind of respect. He had after all benefitted greatly while being within this expert’s grave.

  The voice which had been talking with Hui Yue went quiet for some time, and it stayed quiet for all whole time Hui Yue was kneeling in front of the grave. As the minutes passed along he finally once more stood up and with a nod to the monument and the grave, he finally started looking around at the large platform he had arrived at.

  “I did not expect you to show common courtesy,” The voice said, surprise evident within his voice, but he seemed pleased by Hui Yue’s actions.

  “Even if your traps made it difficult for all of us to gain the treasures here, we have after all benefitted,” Hui Yue said. “It would be terrible to not show any respect.”

  “The other group showed no respect,” The voice commented in a neutral voice, it did not sound unhappy about this, it was merely a statement. “I like you even better now. You are bold. Quite the daredevil; I’m still shocked that you walked into that room that had no energy presence back in the outer grave, and then how you have managed to make it all the way here. You are obviously not a simple Emperor.”

  “Thank you for the compliments,” Hui Yue said with a cheerful voice. He had an inkling that this soul imprint was not capable of controlling any powers, it was simply an imprint of the soul; a part of that supreme expert’s soul that was left behind in this world to speak with the ones who appeared.

  “I have four precious treasures here,” The voice continued. “One in each corner. Take them. Afterwards take the door to the east. It is another treasury; one I think you will like very much.” The voice continued.

  “For you to be this nice to me, what do you want in return?” Hui Yue asked tentatively. He was not comfortable with the sudden friendliness.

  “I said it before, I am forced to give my treasure to others,” The voice reminded him. “Since this is the case, I might as well chose who to give them to. Since you actually showed me some respect, I will pick you as my successor.”

  “So you would have chosen anyone who came here and bowed with respect?” Hui Yue asked dumbfounded and was once again rewarded with hearty laughter. “Yes.” The voice said. “I am already dead; I wouldn’t care if I passed on my most revered things to a murderer if they were the ones showing me respect. But, I have decided on you so don’t worry about who else I could have chosen! Now go to the lower left corner and pick up the box that is there then come back to me, and I’ll help you open it.”

  Being told this, Hui Yue did not waste any time chatting with the soul imprint; instead, he went to the corner excited to see what lay inside.

  Chapter 374 - Successor

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  Chapter 374: Successor

  Moving to the corner of the platform, Hui Yue found a small wooden box. This wooden box seemed incredibly ordinary. It had a few carvings of herbs and flowers, and the size of the box fit perfectly in his palm.

  The box was tiny but the moment he picked it up, all the energy in the surrounding area become turbulent, but moments later it stilled. This caused Hui Yue to wonder if the sudden change in energy ripples really happened.

  Deciding not to think more about it, Hui Yue shook his head and moved back to the tomb where the soul imprint resided. “Ah, I see that you found the box. Well not that it was hard to find mind you,” The voice of the long dead God said the moment Hui Yue reached the monument. Hui Yue was once again surprised to hear the voice sounding friendly and even a bit excited.

  “You previously obtained two pill formulas,” The voice said. “Those two formulas are not the best ones I’ve made. I’ve created countless pill formulas many which are even better than what you have seen. All of them are stored within this universe box. Open it, and you will obtain a great many medicinal herbs and formulas.”

  “The box works quite similarly to your storage stones, yet it is somewhat different. Storage stones are created by nature with a bit of assistance from a cultivator while universe boxes are fully created by cultivators. You might fall in love with this box as it can hold an entire universe. You no longer need to have multiple storage stones on your body.”

  “Open the box and insert some internal energy into it. It does not matter if it is your Qi, spiritual energy, or Wu Wei any will work. Afterwards you will be the owner of the box until you die.”

  Hui Yue was excited. He had already felt grateful about the two formulas he had obtained earlier, but now he was getting even more! Not only did he obtain formulas, he also was given the herbs needed to craft them. Although the medicinal herbs would run out eventually, he had gotten more than a thousand times the flowers he had acquired before, and he was deeply shocked and excited. He could not help but feel grateful to the greedy group who went straight to the treasury instead of paying their respects. All in all, Hui Yue’s luck was excellent.

  Doing what he was told, he poured a thread of Qi into the box, and suddenly information flooded his mind. Information about which items were
where in the box. With but a thought an item was summoned from the box into Hui Yue’s hand. He pulled out a scroll;, a scroll he could not help but open.

  At the top the formula’s name was soulbound, and as he looked closer at the formula he felt cold sweat appear on his forehead.

  “The pill had the ability to bind one soul to yourself, thereby forcing the owner of the soul to become your lifelong servant. The master could terminate the soulbounded person’s life with a thought by consuming the servant’s soul. This type of pill required blood essence from both the servant and master.”

  Hui Yue read out loud what the pill he had casually taken out could do, and the thought alone was enough to bring him great fear.

  “Don’t stay too focused on something as simple as that. Go to the next corner and see what is awaiting you there.” The voice of the owner sounded out once more, and Hui Yue forcefully wrested his focus from the attractive scroll in his hands. With great care did he once more store it in the box before he placed the box in a storage stone and headed towards the next corner of the massive platform.

  At the corner was a ball of light. The ball was constantly emanating ripples of energy and these ripples were like waves. The closer to the light ball one was, the smaller the ripples, yet the further away the larger they grew until eventually, they crashed into nothingness causing the energy to dissipate into the heavens and the earth.

  Covering his body in Wu Wei, Hui Yue finally moved through the waves. It required a lot of energy and strength to move through the first wave, and every time he was hit by another wave of energy the stress he was under lessened drastically. The first wave pushed him back five steps, the second wave four steps, the third wave third steps, and so on until he finally reached the ball of light.

  Lan Feng had said nothing this whole time, and Hui Yue was certain that the bird within his lower dantian was as clueless as he was about what this light orb was.

  Reaching out his hand, he felt a comfortable warmth. A warmth which spread throughout his entire body, and while holding it in his hand he felt the green pearl in his lower dantian slowly start to stir. It was like a flower hungering for sunshine.

  The moment the light ball touched his hand, rays of light shone through his body. All of them headed for his lower dantian where the green pearl greedily absorbed one ray after another. The green pearl grew, and Hui Yue felt how the green pearl slowly became more and more sentient. Although it had previously shown a personality, it never felt as though it was a person; however, now emotions were starting to bubble within the green pearl. Slowly a green mist started swirling around the green pearl.

  While Hui Yue held the light ball, it slowly became smaller and smaller while the green pearl grew larger and larger.

  “Hey stop standing still! Come here so I can tell you what this awesome gift does!” A voice suddenly sounded through the chamber and with a sigh, Hui Yue headed back to the monument curious what the light orb was. Perhaps this soul imprint knew what the light orb was for.

  “Wait!” The voice called out, surprise hidden within. “Are you truly able to digest this energy directly?!” He asked confused as he looked at Hui Yue and the constantly dwindling orb of light in his hand.

  “This orb has managed to heal me countless of times,” The voice said. “Although it will get smaller and smaller it has saved my life time and time again. If only it had been enough to save me one last time, then I would still be alive. Unfortunately, it was not enough to save me one last time.” He lamented, sounding somewhat depressed.

  “But why are you absorbing it now?” He asked quizzically. “It should only diminish like this if someone was seriously injured but you don’t seem injured at all. Don’t tell me you actually know what this item is and that you can use it correctly?” He seemed shocked to even consider the option, but it was impossible for Hui Yue to know what his facial expression would have looked like. All he could hear was the emotions contained inside his voice, but he felt that he owed this expert quite a bit, and even if he was simply a soul imprint, Hui Yue wished to show him respect.

  “I am not sure why, but my body is absorbing the energy,” He said slowly while observing the green mist which was boiling around within its cave. The pearl was showing signs of cracking. Looking at this, Hui Yue’s heartbeat sped up as he hoped that this was a sign of the pearl turning into memories. If she became memories and they merged then Hui Yue would be able to control her healing abilities. Controlling it was something he had been waiting for for a long time. He often felt that the green pearl was too stingy. It wouldn’t heal him all the time, but if he learned how to use it then he would be far better off.

  The light orb in his hand was almost as small as a fist now, and the rays kept infiltrating Hui Yue’s body, pouring itself into the green pearl. Both the soul imprint and Hui Yue were completely quiet as they observed the light ball waiting for it to fully vanish.

  As the final ray entered Hui Yue’s body the green pearl continued to roll around within its cave, but he did not have the time to fully focus on this as he still had two more corners awaiting his arrival. Two corners with more treasures that the expert had decided were suitable for him to pick up.

  “Well done, I hope the light orb was of some use to you,” The soul imprint said slowly and with a bit of hesitation and confusion in its voice. “Go to the third corner and find what is waiting for you there. You have shown me respect, so you are my successor. It is only natural that I pass on my most valuable treasures to you,” The Soul Imprint said once again, and the words sounded so magnanimous and lofty. The voice almost caused Hui Yue to laugh, but knowing how much assistance he was getting from this dead old man, he decided to respect him. Truthfully, he did respect this man. Having created a tomb like this, especially while he was dying, was quite a feat.

  Hui Yue moved to the third corner when an explosion happened within his lower body causing him to convulse as blood sprayed from his mouth. Instantly entering his body, he soon found that the green pearl had exploded and from the green mist a breathtakingly beautiful woman had appeared.

  ‘Don’t bother with her for now,’ Lan Feng’s voice appeared in the head of Hui Yue. ‘She needs some time to fully understand what has happened. While she focuses on what is going on, you should gather these treasures. They are going to be the cornerstones of your new strength.’

  Nodding his head Hui Yue wiped the blood from his lips before he moved to the corner. This time, he found a small animal covered with black threads. After looking at it, he noticed a seal on its chest, seemingly branded into the chest of the beast.

  Looking closer, Hui Yue found that this beast was a small fox around thirty centimeters long. Its fur was black, but the tip of its tail was white along with its white paws and ears.

  Picking up the beast Hui Yue’s eyes widened in shock as he noticed that the beast had a heartbeat, and it was breathing slowly. Pressing the beast against his chest, Hui Yue rushed back to the tombstone to hear more about this tiny fox.

  “This is a Midnight Fox,” The Soul Imprint said. “The beast followed me through thousands of years, traveled to many worlds with me, and fought by my side until the end.”

  “The final thing I did was seal her here so that she would not wither and die by my side, but have the chance of one day meeting my successor. I wanted to give her the chance to once more fight by the side of someone she respects. Please drop three drops of blood on the seal in her chest, and she will open her eyes once more to see the world she left behind all those years ago.”

  “She is the second most important thing in my life. The final treasure is the most important item and something I would only give to my successor. To obtain it you need to swear that you will never abuse it.” The soul imprint suddenly turned somber as the words spoken shocked Hui Yue who had been focused on the tiny fox. Hearing about the final treasure, his curiosity was sparked. Just what could be so amazing that an expert as highly ranked as this God treated it with such res
pect?

  Chapter 375 - Music Box

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  Chapter 375: Music Box

  Hui Yue moved back to the monument uncertain what to do. Should he awaken the small black and white fox that he held in his hands, or should he move towards the final corner of the platform and see what this great treasure was?

  “No rush, no rush,” The voice said while laughing, “I already picked you as my successor; I will not allow anyone else to enter my final resting place before we have finished what we are doing. Wake up Little Huli and see if she likes you,” The voice made the decision for Hui Yue, and he nodded his head. He was in no rush.

  Biting his finger, blood flowed down as he moved his hand to the seal on the little fox’s chest. As soon as the blood came into contact with the seal, the blood started flowing through the black threads that were entangled around the fox’s body.

  As more blood entered the seal, the chains loosened, and the slow, steady heartbeat sped up beating more rapidly, and more natural. The seal on the fox’s chest slowly started to fade and as soon as the chains were completely gone the seal had faded completely as well. Her cute little round eyes opened, and her eyes shone silvery in the light that lit up the grave.