Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  “Little Huli,” The soul fragment’s voice was incredible gentle as it said the fox’s name. The moment the voice spoke the long ears of the fox piqued, a gentle purr could be felt running through its body as Hui Yue held it to his heart.

  “Little Huli, the boy who holds you now has a new contract with you,” The voice said speaking to the fox as though it could understand everything that was said.

  As soon as the words were said, the fox turned slightly and looked directly at Hui Yue. Seeing the fox peering at him he had the odd feeling that she could completely see through him, but it also seemed that the fox liked what it saw as it nestled closer to Hui Yue. Although the soul fragment said that the little fox had a contract with Hui Yue, there was nothing that connected the two. If a contract had appeared, it only affected the fox itself.

  “Her name is Little Huli. She is as old as I am, so don’t treat her like a pup. She will be of great assistance to you and is a great companion to have by your side. I am almost jealous; seems like she likes you far better than she liked me the first time we met,” The voice continued jokingly. It was clear that this soul fragments enjoyed speaking with Hui Yue. It had clearly been alone for a very long time, and now that there was a human by his side the soul fragments had become very talkative.

  ‘Quickly gather these treasures.’ Lan Feng said from within the dantian cave. ‘The green pearl seems to have understood the general situation, but all she does is glare at me so there seems to be no rush in dealing with her. Letting her cool off first will be for the best.’

  Nodding his head, Hui Yue once more looked at the monument in front of him. Bowing to it, he turned his back and moved towards the final corner of the platform.

  While bowing, Little Huli in his arms was very uncomfortable with the sudden squeeze; therefore she slipped out of his embrace and climbed onto his shoulder. Here she stood proudly as she observed everything happening around the two of them.

  ‘You are quite lucky,’ Lan Feng said slightly hesitant. ‘The beast cannot speak to you, but I have the feeling that she is not as simple as she seems. When she sensed my aura, she did not become fearful or humble but instead seemed happy. She is not scared of me at all.’

  Slightly puzzled Hui Yue pondered on it for a second then made a mental note to think more about this later. He was not in a position to do anything about it right now, and so he moved towards the final corner.

  Reaching it did not take long, but when he did he was very confused. In front of him was a small box, around the same size as the universe box, however, it looked nothing like it.

  The box was crafted from a golden metal, but whether or not it truly was gold, Hui Yue did not know. The sides were heavily adorned with carvings of a beautiful lady who was dancing, and it depicted her various poses on the different sides.

  Picking up the box he looked at it before returning to the monument in the center of the platform. Although he was incredibly tempted to open the box and see what was inside of it, he did not do so. He instead waited to hear if it was safe to open it.

  “This item is truly outstanding, try opening it,” The voice said, and Hui Yue opened it. The moment he lifted the lid a golden lady sprung into the air, and a soft, gentle melody started to spread through the air.

  The moment the music started, Hui Yue felt his mind turn foggy, his body became sluggish, and his train of thoughts almost stopped. His heart started to beat slower and slower, and eventually he fell to the ground.

  While Hui Yue collapsed, a mist appeared in front of the monument. A mist which soon took the shape of an elderly man with a greedy expression on his face.

  “Sorry my little successor,” He said with a snicker on his face. “I am not willing to die just yet. This music box is without a doubt my most treasured item as it can weaken the soul of anyone who hears it.”

  “Now your soul will be weak enough for me to take over your body. I like that you are not an old expert but a talented young genius. It is time for my second spring and to become a renowned person in this world! I need to gain strength to get revenge on those who killed me!”

  Hui Yue was not paying attention to the voice or anything he said as his soul was under enormous pressure. He used everything within his body to try and suppress the blackness which was appearing around him.

  “Just a few moments more and I will be able to take over your body,” The soul fragment said impatiently with a sinister smile. Moments after Hui Yue, who had collapsed on the floor, opened his eyes and stood up as though nothing was suppressing him at all.

  “This body is not for you to take,” A different voice sound from Hui Yue’s mouth, a voice filled with haughtiness. The voice clearly belonged to Lan Feng who had taken over the body. Although he was slightly affected by the music box, it was nothing like how Hui Yue was affected.

  The moment Lan Feng appeared, Little Huli started purring far louder than she had been before and she jumped to the ground in front of him. Her fur was standing on end as she bared her teeth at the old man created from the soul fragment.

  Seeing Little Huli baring her fangs at him, the dead expert was genuinely shocked. They had gone through hell and back together yet now the beast had completely turned against him.

  Not only that, the music box he had been absolutely confident in was suddenly incapable of suppressing this person in front of him causing him to suddenly feel fearful.

  This dead expert was not even fearful when he had been mortally wounded. He had known about the music box, and he understood that it was possible for him to come back to life. By making a massive grave, it would undoubtedly be found someday, and when it was noticed, the top experts of the world would gather together. By making traps, he could get rid of the lower ranked experts and only the elite was able to appear in the innermost section of his grave. As long as it was an elite who arrived, then the dead expert would be satisfied.

  Unfortunately, the one who had shown up was not a usual expert but one who had multiple souls. Although Hui Yue was indeed affected by the music box, he was currently capable of fighting it as his soul had been strengthened by the merger with the wolf and the monk, not to mention the souls he had absorbed back in the war where his attack had wiped out a small army.

  Fighting the darkness, it soon turned to a twilight color and after a few more moments the darkness completely vanished as Hui Yue once more had his soul under control. The music box kept playing but unlike before the sweet and comforting sound only caused Hui Yue to feel relaxed; it no longer had the ability to threaten his soul.

  “I see, so being your successor was nothing more than finding a host for your damaged soul,” Hui Yue said while he cracked his neck and looked at the mist in front of the monument.

  “You are nothing more than a fragment of a long dead soul. Although your soul has been able to stay here, your strength has long since dissipated into thin air. You are no threat to me, but I have no interest in fighting you either. Having you stay in this grave for the rest of your life is fine with me.” Hui Yue said as he grabbed the music box and closed it. Placing it in a storage stone, he looked at the mist whose eyes was filled with disbelief and grief.

  “I’ll take this as compensation for trying to trick me,” He said before he turned around. Little Huli jumped from the ground and landed on Hui Yue’s shoulder where she rolled herself around his neck. She started purring while Hui Yue stepped down the stairs.

  Hui Yue had been at the top of the stairs for a few hours and this whole time his friends had been pacing back and forth at the foot of the stairs. When they saw Hui Yue descend, they were filled with relief. It was clear that they had heard nothing the soul fragment had said.

  “I paid respect to the owner of this grave,” Hui Yue said explaining why he had been away for some time. However, he did not explain what happened. He gestured for the friends to follow him as they reached a door leading out of the room. In total there were four doors. Two doors were closed, and two were open. One door i
n east, one in west, one in a north and one in the south. The one in the south and the one in the east had both been opened already. The south door was the entrance to the chamber, the one they had gone through when arriving at the chamber. Whereas the door to the east led to the treasury where the other group of experts were at.

  Thinking for some time, Hui Yue looked at the west and north doors before he made a decision. “Xiao Ning you take the three other guys and enter the north door, and I’ll take the west door. When we finish gathering the treasures, we will share the loot equally between all of us. This way we can get a lot of treasures without fearing that other groups will take them instead.”

  Hearing the words ‘share the loot equally’ their hearts once more filled with gratitude. They gladly rushed towards the north entrance instantly opening the door and entering the darkness.

  Looking at his friends vanishing into the darkness, Hui Yue stood still for a short while. Although he was busy gathering treasures, he took a quick glance into his lower dantian.

  The green pearl had turned into a woman, and she was seated in the cave where the green pearl was originally located. The Wu Wei wings were shining brightly, and the red gemstone in the final open cave was glistening as if sunlight was reflecting off it. These many lives in his body were truly challenging but also a great benefit to him.

  Sighing, Hui Yue withdrew his consciousness from the lower dantian and started moving to the west door. Reaching the door, he opened it and stepped into the darkness.

  Chapter 376 - Gathering the Treasures

  * * *

  Chapter 376: Gathering the Treasures

  Opening the west door, Hui Yue found that the chamber in front of him was pitch black. Taking out a few light stones from his storage stone, he tossed three into the room while keeping one in his hand.

  Looking at the now dimly lit room, Hui Yue saw that there were mountains of various kind of items within. Stepping inside he suddenly felt a wave of energy rushing towards him as spears and arrows made from some energy Hui Yue could not determine shot towards him rapidly.

  Although this energy was powerful, Hui Yue had stronger energy within his body, and he poured out his Wu Wei, mimicking Xiao Ning and creating a shield in front of him. He poured out layer upon layer of Wu Wei fortifying each other forming a barrier.

  As soon as the barrier was formed, the first arrow reached Hui Yue and with a resounding boom, the barrier shook as arrows and spears struck heavily against it. Although the barrier flickered, Hui Yue keep pour Wu Wei kept pouring out mending the shield.

  The rain of arrows and spears lasted for half an hour. Although it seemed like a long time it was not a real challenge for Hui Yue as he had plenty of Wu Wei.

  As soon as the rain of arrows and spears subsided, Hui Yue stepped into the treasury where mountains of various treasures waited for him. A mountain of red pills was the first to disappear into his storage stone. Followed by a mountain of white pills, then golden pills. All of them were stored away for safekeeping.

  Another pile of treasure caught Hui Yue’s attention. It was a pile of jade cases and bottles, and upon closer inspection, he found that these were all medicinal herbs. Even Hui Yue could not suppress his delight and slight greed that appeared in his heart before he also put these magnificent herbs and plants away for safekeeping.

  Walking through the room, Hui Yue obtained various potions and pills he had never seen before. He found precious metals and weapons forged from these metals. He found a furnace used for forging and a cauldron used for refining pills.

  “I’m sure Cou Ling will find this furnace interesting,” He mumbled as he swept across the entire room. Quickly he had stored away everything that was visible, but he had a feeling that something else was present within the room, something that the owner of the grave had hidden very well.

  Looking at every inch of the room he finally noticed an inscription pattern inscribed on the top of the chamber, but no matter what he did he could not break it.

  Suddenly a quiet squeak could be heard, and the small fox on his shoulder stood up on its hind legs while its front paw touched the inscription pattern above. With a few whistles from the fox, the inscription started to light up.

  As soon as the inscription lit up, the lines that formed it started moving around like snakes until the pattern untangled and vanished in all directions.

  As the snakes-like patterns of the inscription vanished, the chamber started rumbling. In the middle, a stone pillar rose from the ground. On this stone pillar was one thing, a small jade vial. Within was something which looked like three drops of blood.

  There were no signs about what this blood was, nor where it came from, but considering the effort put into hiding it, Hui Yue could only assume that it was truly valuable.

  Grabbing the vial, Hui Yue placed it in his storage stone before glancing one last time across the room. There was nothing more of interest, so he instantly decided to turn around and leave.

  Leaving the chamber, he saw that Xiao Ning and the three other experts were all awaiting his arrival. Not only them, but also the group who had first entered the grave were now standing there watching Hui Yue and his group of people.

  This other group only consisted of three Saints, but all three were Saints of the third star. Their strength was superior, yet they all looked at Xiao Ning with worry. Had he not been there, then the group would have instantly attacked but since he was there his presence caused them to grieve.

  They worried even more so when they saw Hui Yue. These Saints had been at the Heaven’s door when Hui Yue displayed his might, and although he was currently nothing more than an Emperor his genuine strength was proven to be equal to this mighty Saint, Xiao Ning, by his side.

  Had they considered fighting previously every thought on that subject disappeared when they saw Hui Yue. They were relieved when Hui Yue showed no signs of attacking them, no signs of trying to take their treasures. Everyone seemed to agree just to be satisfied with what they had.

  “I need to cultivate for a day or two,” Hui Yue whispered to his friends that were standing by his side. “I’ll need you four to guard me. If anything happens, or if you encounter trouble, just wake me up. The breakthrough I am undergoing won’t fail just because I get woken up so don’t take any risks,” Hui Yue stressed to his friends while the five of them moved into the room where Hui Yue had gathered treasures earlier.

  Sitting on the floor, Hui Yue took a deep breath before he closed his eyes and moved his consciousness to his lower dantian.

  “Good day, I am Hui Yue. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” He said kindly to the woman in his dantian cave. The woman was as beautiful as Wan Qiao. However, her beauty was completely different. She was tall and slim, and her skin was dark as chocolate. Her body was clad in a green robe, and her eyes were as green as a lush forest. Deep within her eyes hostility was evident.

  “I know you are Hui Yue too,” Hui Yue continued, not caring about the hostility he saw. “We are the same person, you just happen to be me from a previous life. I know you are aware of what happened with the wolf and the monk. We all merged together.” He explained.

  ‘Telling her all this most likely won’t do any good,’ He thought to himself with a sigh. ‘But I can’t just forcefully absorb her, now can I?’ He questioned himself but was shocked to find that he could forcefully absorb her. If she did not want to be absorbed then, he had no other option.

  “You want me to become one with you, but what do I gain from it?” She asked the hostility in her voice very clear. There was no way she wanted herself to become nothing more than a memory from the past.

  “You will not disappear.” Hui Yue said slowly. “You become a part of me. You will live on as me. I change every time I merge with a memory, and those memories are what creates you. You will always live as a part of me.” Hui Yue said truthfully.

  The memories were a part of him, and they had changed him from what he used to be into what he now was. Mergi
ng with his old memories had changed him. His soul had been tempered every time, and he knew it would happen once again.

  Hui Yue was worried. Although he was painfully aware of how the memories increased his strength time and time again, he was also conscious that every time he merged with a memory, his personality would change. His soul would transform, and he would not longer be who he was.

  If he were to merge with all nine previous lives, then what would happen to him? Would there be anything left of his former self or would he have vanished long before? Would he become insane from having his soul changed over and over again? These thoughts always went through Hui Yue’s mind, but the young man was stubborn. He needed the strength from these memories to stand a chance against An He.

  Looking at the dark lady in front of him, Hui Yue’s eyes turned more serious than they had ever before. His expression caused the woman to take a step back, and doubt showed on her face.