Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  "What I want to know is what everyone’s strengths are." Hui Yue sighed, "In the future, I will only go adventuring if my friends are by my side therefore I will share the medicinal pills I got in the grave with everyone. This should be enough to bring everyone to the Emperor rank, then we can all experience the world together." Hui Yue continued, and his words caused them all to still; their eyes widened in shock and their hearts clenched with excitement. The Emperor rank? They all had confidence in reaching it; however, it would be a long while before then.

  With these pills, though, the time could be cut much shorter, and they would now be of use to Hui Yue. Hui Yue stood up and with a flick of his hand a mountain of golden pills appeared in the middle of the table. Hui Yue would have placed them in storage stones, but every time he purchased one the Universe Box would consume them. Even up until now, Hui Yue was unsure why the spirit wanted such low ranked treasures.

  With a wisp of spiritual energy, he quickly split the pills into piles before he placed them in front of each person. They quickly accepted the pills and stored them away.

  "Although you will soon be Emperors, I have never paid attention to your strengths after I returned from the Siban Empire." Hui Yue said while shaking his head. "Are you working on the same specialization as before? Are you going studying something new? Fighting solely using Wu Wei, or have you found some ancient art you cultivate now? We are all brothers, and we should make an Oath of Blood so that no one could put the others in danger. But we need to know everyone’s strength for the future and to have each other's back." Hui Yue continued, and without waiting, his nail grew sharp, and he cut his finger, watching blood drip out.

  "I, Hui Yue, swear that I will never mention to others what is said in this room today. I also swear that I will never let my friends experience dangers on their own should I have the ability to assist them. Should I not comply with this oath then let me feel the karmic flames of the Netherworld." Hui Yue swore seriously as a drop of blood that dripped from his finger turned golden then evaporated into thin air. The oath had been accepted.

  It was not only Hui Yue who did this but everyone at the table, without hesitation, swore the same oath before they once more sat down. It was clear that the ties between them had grown increasingly stronger. Even the newcomers like Xu Piao and Cai Jie had sworn the same oath and now felt like a part of the group.

  "I will start," Wang Ju Long volunteered as she looked lovingly at Hui Yue. "My main focus is healing. Even after opening my upper dantian I have managed to keep walking down the road of a healer. I can currently be considered a master healer. My teacher is unable to teach me anything more and has been unable to for a while now. Due to this, I started to once more focus on my skills as a poison master." She said calmly. "I am not yet a poison master, but very close to that level. I am quite skilled at making poisons, and antidotes."

  "Whereas most poison masters control insects, I am much better at controlling flowers and plants. All my plants are poisonous but some more than others." She continued, "Many of my poison techniques employ the use of Wu Wei. While I can fight normally with Wu Wei, I only do so as a backup to my poison and staff skills."

  Everyone quickly understood that Wang Ju Long's strength was far stronger than they had expected. Even Hui Yue was unaware that she had reached the rank of master in the healing arts and was almost strong enough to be considered a poison master.

  "Although you strength is great, you might not to overcome all your foes own your own," Hui Yue said while nodding his head. "However you will never be alone again. I will forever be by your side and so will our friends. I will shield you and protect you while I know that you and your poisons will have my back." Hui Yue smiled at her, and Wang Ju Long bashfully lowered her eyes. Deep inside she was happy, but she was still having a hard time showing the changes in their relationship to everyone.

  Her bashful expression made everyone within the dining hall laugh gently, and the mood slowly changed for the better.

  "Let me explain how I have progressed then." Deng Wu said with a smile on his face as he stood up. "Firstly, I have an ability which allows me to become a peerless Emperor ranked genius. I can’t fully explain how this ability works, but all you need to know is that I can unleash this power from time to time." Deng Wu started by explaining the strength he had gotten from Little Dragon. "When I use this ability I rely on common Wu Wei attacks as I cannot control my soul shadows due to the sudden increase in power."

  "When I usually fight though I use my skills in necromancy. Hui Yue came across some information which he gave to me about the Crusaders, something which has helped me immensely in my experiments. I should soon be strong enough to become a puppeteer," He smirked, but it was clear that no one present understood what he meant by the term puppeteer.

  "Haha, look at your faces," Deng Wu grinned as he shook his head. "I coined the term puppeteer, so of course, you don’t know what it means. When I heard that the Crusaders’ corpses were actually being controlled, I learned that someone could use bodies as puppets. They could make them move according to their wishes. To do so, the requirement is to be able to split your mind, and I have been training such an art for a while. I can currently only control one puppet, but soon, I will be able to control more. The first is always the hardest." He sighed as he shook his head, and Hui Yue completely understand what he meant. He too had struggled to control the soul copy he had formed.

  "My strength is hard to explain," Hui Yue said with a sigh. "As you already know, I have a Saint ranked expert within my body whose power I can unleash from time to time. I also have the blood and core of a magical beast in my lower dantian, allowing me to transform into a beast if needed. This is why I was able to become the Grand Marshall. I have the power of the blue cloud which allows me to overpower other experts and digest their energy. I also have the ability to control lifeforce and use it while fighting, and also to heal and extend lives." Hui Yue stated.

  "I recently created a technique to merge some of my energies together and create a type of black energy much stronger than anything I have ever experienced before. Due to all these strange energies, I stopped focusing on my elemental affinities for a time, however, after learning Earth Tremor, I have started using my elemental affinities again. I guess I don't really have any specific specializations. Recently I have come across an amazing branch of techniques called Wu Wei martial arts. I will share them with you when I find suitable abilities for you."

  Pausing a moment, Hui Yue contemplated what else he could explain while everyone was quiet just listening to the person they would give their lives for. They knew Hui Yue was incredibly strong, but exactly how strong he was, no one knew.

  "I use Wu Wei martial arts as well," Cai Jie suddenly spoke. "These arts are what have made it possible for me to slay the Crusaders." Pausing for a moment, Cai Jie looked over everyone present as if thinking deeply about something. "I am not from this plane. I am from another world out in the void." He began, and his words caused everyone to hold their breath in shock. Only Hui Yue had known about this beforehand. "Where I am from the energy is different than here, and so are the elements. Although all energy becomes the same upon reaching the God rank, the energies below that level are native to their different worlds. My strength comes from the Light, and the always radiant sun and the shining stars. I use Qi, spiritual energy, and Wu Wei but I cultivate them in a different way than the people of this plane."

  Chapter 398 - Alien

  * * *

  Chapter 398: An Alien

  Silence spread throughout the entire dining hall. No one said anything while Cai Jie and Hui Yue shared a glance, both interested in seeing how their friends would react to the truth.

  "You... You are not from this world?" Rong Xing asked breathlessly, her eyes glistening with interest and her heart beating rapidly. Ma Kong, Deng Wu, Rong Ming, and Gao Yan had eyes equally filled with reverence and curiosity.

  These experts knew that there were other wor
lds out in the void. Everyone, even children knew that when you died, your soul descended into the Netherworld where you would wander aimlessly until the day one forgot all their previous memories, then one would be reborn.

  But that was the Netherworld. Everyone knew about the Netherworld, but they had never heard about the other millions of worlds out there. There was no one who could explain what it was like and these experts finally found someone from another world. They clearly had many questions they wanted to ask.

  "You say that cultivation is different, please explain how you cultivate!" Rong Xing continued questioning with great curiosity. She was a scientist; she spent all her time improving and creating martial and spiritual arts, and to learn about how other beings cultivated was pure bliss.

  "Whereas you guys gain your energy from the heavens and the earth, I gain my energy from the stars and the sun. I absorb the rays of sunlight or the cascading starlight. Both of these have a special kind of energy; the sun has Yang energy while the moon and stars have Yin energy."

  "It is important that one balances these two energies from when they first start cultivating. At the very start, before they are balanced the energy is refined into Qi. When the energies are balanced, it becomes spiritual energy, and when this balanced energy is capable of merging with the world, one unlocks their upper dantian and becomes capable of using Wu Wei."

  "It is very different from this world. Here, you do not care about Yin and Yang energy until you reach the upper dantian and as soon as you have merged with the world, you become a God. This is because this world is more suitable for cultivators. Everyone here unconsciously absorbs the energy since it is all around you. Being constantly bathed in energy, it becomes much easier to cultivate that from where I am from. Although here it is easier to cultivate, shockingly enough, this world has a worse martial arts heritage than mine, and the Wu Wei arts do not even exist here." Cai Jie continued.

  "Does this mean that you already became one with the world?" Rong Xing asked, her eyes wide and her throat dry. It was a level so hard to reach that she was shocked to know that the man in front of her had actually reached such a level. Cultivating was definitely much more complex were Cai Jie came from. However, they were clearly also much stronger than the average cultivator from this world.

  "I was before," Cai Jie nodded. "However after my cultivation base was injured I ended up in this world. Since I had already opened my upper dantian, I now cultivate similarly to the rest of you. It is quite faster than my old way for sure, and I have a great balance of Yin and Yang energy already as I have already become one with the world. Now, all I need to become a God once more is just to focus on cultivating energy. I need a lot of energy and when I get it, I will once more become a God."

  "Well, in that case, enjoy the golden pearls I've given you. They are far more potent than any other pills I have ever seen. They should at least allow you to reach the Emperor rank. If you are lucky it might even take you all the way to the Saint rank," Hui Yue laughed, and the moment he said this the eyes of all his friends turned red as they realized just how valuable these pills they had been gifted were.

  "I have never chosen a specific path," Rong Xing suddenly took over explaining her current strength. "When I reached the middle dantian, I was still studying at the Royal Academy and I was still focused on the studying and improving the most common spiritual arts. When I reached the upper dantian, if I were to fight, I would just fight with Wu Wei, simple but overpowering. Most of my time is spent experimenting with and inventing new martial arts and spiritual arts for the Royal Academy. I have not really been trained to fight, nor have I yet found a path of cultivation that suits me."

  There was disappointment in her voice as she spoke, and Rong Ming nodded his head. Clearly, he too was in the same boat as her. He did not need to say anything; everyone was aware that they were in the same position, and thus the next person to speak was Ma Kong.

  "I am the same," he sighed. "I used to focus on my cultivation, but I have become more and more busy dealing with the family business to the point that I have let my cultivation slack. I also have not found a path to walk yet, so I just fight normally with Wu Wei. Currently, I have no time to cultivate as it is taken up managing our business."

  "My strength is similar. I never found a path for myself, but now my only path is the path of cultivation," Xu Piao said seriously. "I do not cultivate to fight, only for the sake of becoming even stronger, becoming a God and finding the love of my life."

  "I have found a path for myself." Gao Yan finally said as the last person within the room to explain his explain his strength. "My path is that of a shadow. I am capable of merging with the shadows. I came across this ability which allows for my shadow to move on its own. The things that are said near my shadows can be heard easily by me. The things my shadow sees, I can see as well. My shadow is my strongest ability; I am a shadow walker, and although I only control one shadow now, I will be able to control more soon. My shadows control is limited by my strength, but now that I can reach the rank of Emperor, thanks to your great benevolence, I will be capable of controlling more shadows, and therefore more information."

  "A shadow walker, huh?" Hui Yue was surprised. He had never heard of shadow walkers before, but he really liked the idea. Everyone had their own extreme abilities.

  Waving his hand, four memory stones suddenly appeared within his hand. Placing one after another to his forehead blue lights shone in the dining room in rapid succession before Hui Yue tossed these stones to Rong Ming, Rong Xing, Ma Kong and Xu Piao.

  "This is the first Wu Wei art that I learned," Hui Yue said with a smile. "The attack is terrifyingly powerful so make sure to be at a safe location when practicing it. Even your first attempt is likely to be more destructive than you can imagine. Make sure to learn how to fight." Hui Yue said then stressed one last thing. "I never again want to feel as powerless as I do now when it comes to Sha Yun."

  The serious expression on Hui Yue's face made everyone understand just how severe a blow it was to him that Sha Yun was missing. He was willing to use everything at his disposal and all his strength to ensure that none of his friends would ever suffer. He was not going to lose anyone.

  "Don't worry, with these pills you have given us, I will dedicate one of my shadows fully to search for Sha Yun. It will not rest before she has been found. I cannot believe that she is dead since no trace of her body was found."

  "I fear that she might have been taken because of me," Hui Yue sighed. He was not dumb; he knew that he had made many enemies through the years and that they might have taken the opportunity to strike back at him; however, if they truly wished for him to be filled with grief they would make sure that Hui Yue knew they had kidnapped her. Were they perhaps afraid of letting him know, or did they have some agenda which Hui Yue did not understand? The most fearsome of all was the fact that Hui Yue was unaware of their motives. When he did not know who he was dealing with, or what kind of experiences she was going through, his heart was shivering with worry.

  No one said anything about the comment Hui Yue made. They were all quite certain that he was correct. She had been gone for so long, and she had still not returned. This meant that she could not return even if she wanted to. She was already bound to Hui Yue, and the relationship could only be broken with the death of one of them. She had never insulted anyone, and she had never caused trouble. Kidnapping her could only have something to do with Hui Yue.

  "Thank you for search for her, no matter what make sure to tell me when you know something," Hui Yue smiled to Gao Yan. He understood how hard it would be for Gao Yan to search twenty-four hours a day, but he also knew that the friend would never promise to look for her if he was not serious about it.

  "Thank you all for coming today. I need everyone to improve your combat ability. You are all my friends, and I will not allow for anything to happen to you. You are the ones I will go to when I need assistance, and you are the ones I will rely on when needed.
Therefore, I need you all to be strong. We will get through this together!"

  Hearing his words, their blood started boiling. They knew Hui Yue was strong and although they all wished to support him, they feared that they were not strong enough. Now it seemed that Hui Yue was not willing to leave any of them behind. They were a group that would stay together forever.

  "We will save her!" Deng Wu finally said, and everyone nodded their heads. Where the mood had been somber at the beginning of the meal, it was now was hopeful. Everyone was filled with the belief that they could save Sha Yun. They would find her, save her, and bring her home.

  Everyone was talking with one another about their different paths of cultivation. Since some of them were still searching for their own personal path, talking with others about their paths allowed for them to get a better understanding of themselves and their respective goals for the future.

  The evening grew long, and the many friends kept discussing cultivation, medicinal pills, Sha Yun's destiny, the Wu Wei arts, and many other subjects. It was not before the sun had risen into the sky that the friends finally started to reluctantly depart. What they had spoken about that night was something they all secretly held in their hearts, but they also knew that they would never again mention it. It was a secret they all shared with one another.