Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  He knew who had dealt with the Crusaders in Muchuan City, but he knew nothing about the Yueliang Province. It was clear that it was not Cai Jie, but who else would take their time to try and cripple the Crusaders and An He's undead soldiers?

  "Well, let’s not dwell on such depressing news." Xiao Ning finally said as he noticed that Hui Yue was deep in thought. "Although they vanished we cannot do anything about what happened, all we can do is wait for them to return. Since we are not the only place without Crusaders we are not such a dangerous situation."

  Hearing Xiao Ning's words the other three nodded their heads in agreement. Since Yueliang had lost Crusaders, then they were still both equal. None of them would go to war against the other because they both had limited strength. Still, both countries looked at Shenyuan with jealousy. The beasts had managed to take over half the entire continent, and they were now the strongest of the three powers in the continent. Their strength made it impossible for others to fight against them as they simply had too many Saints.

  Although both countries were jealous, and this jealousy was also present amongst Hui Yue’s friends, they said nothing as they knew that the success of the war against the Siban Empire was due to their friend seated by their side. In a way this made them feel even more reverence towards him. All four of them were uncertain if they would be able to lead all of those beasts to victory if they were in Hue Yue’s position.

  "Have you guys heard about the flying swords that the Black Market Auction House have been selling recently?" Ye Ling suddenly asked, changing the subject. The moment the words escaped his lips the eyes of the other three shone with excitement. Hui Yue just raised his eyes and with a flick of his hand four swords appear on the table.

  "Take these as presents from me to you." Hui Yue laughed as he sent a sword to each person, their eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

  "It is almost impossible to purchase a flying sword at the Black Market Auction House! How could you possibly attain so many swords and even gift them to us as though they were nothing?" Luo Qiang asked shocked. By his side Xiao Ning, Zhu Jun, and Ye Ling all looked stunned.

  "Since I gifted you these swords, obviously I want for you to have them." Hui Yue said seriously. "I am the person who made them, and these swords are of a much higher quality than the swords that you can buy at the Black Market Auction House. They were forged by me from a few high-grade materials." He explained. Although they were made from precious materials, they were not the highest grade he had; it was just a few high-grade ones, not top-graded metals. These swords were quite good, but not nearly as good as Hui Yue’s own.

  "You created them?!" Xiao Ning said shocked. He finally thought that he understood Hui Yue, yet now he knew that was completely wrong; he really could not see an end to Hui Yue’s strength.

  "I did indeed create them." Hui Yue said with a nod. "They are crafted from special material, so their strength is outstanding. You can use them for fighting as well as flying."

  "How can we possibly accept something so valuable? You already gave us plenty of things in the Grave of the Unknown, and now you once more want to gift us something so valuable. How can we take it?" Ye Ling was at a loss for what to do. He understood that they should accept the gift to give Hui Yue face; however, even though they ought to accept it, it was truly something immensely precious.

  "If you don’t want them, what should I do with these treasures I crafted specifically for you guys? If you do not accept them, then forget about the friendship between us. If you feel that you cannot accept it without payment, just consider it as owing me a favor. I will not rest easy if you do not accept these swords!" Hui Yue was serious, and the four Saints could feel this. Thus they all shook their heads but still accepted the swords.

  "Good." Hui Yue said with a smile on his face and a nod of his head. A few more hours were spent chatting with one another before the Saints finally started to show signs of leaving.

  As the final guest left, Hui Yue closed his eyes for a moment; he was in a good mood after catching up with his friend who he had traveled together with down a path of blood, death, and riches. Back then they all had been close to death, but they came out of it stronger. Thinking about these memories, Hui Yue felt excitement. Now he was once more focused solely on one thing: increasing his skills when it came to alchemy. He had to prevail over all the other alchemists at the annual alchemist’s contest and win the first place. He would offer the reward to Zhong Fai and then get Sha Yun back.

  Hui Yue had previously noticed that the Frozen General had a very obsessive interest in him. If he had a choice, he would prefer that the expert forgot everything about him. Unfortunately, he knew that would not happen.

  The guilt of not being able to help Sha Yun and letting her suffer once more gnawed at him. His eyes were blazing, full of confidence, as he rushed to his room and summoned his cauldron and a small mountain of various herbs.

  "Time to test these formulas." Hui Yue mumbled to himself as he closed his eyes and started to look through the many formulas he had in his mind. Some were from the Universe Box while others were from the Ma family.

  "Let’s start with the simplest pills." He mused to himself and found a simple pill formula which any second-ranked alchemist would be able to easily accomplish.

  Sitting down, he found the right medicinal herbs and refined them effortlessly. When he added a pearl to the cauldron, a perfect green pill appeared in front of him. Upon closer inspection, he found that not even the slightest bit of the medicinal aura had left the pill, none of the energy was wasted; it was perfectly concocted.

  ‘This seemed too easy...’ He thought with a sigh. Closing his eyes once more, he found a third-ranked alchemist pill formula and once more buried himself in trying to perfect the pill. However, it was almost as simple as the first one. The cauldron, although under the control of Hui Yue, seemed to fluctuate the heat within so that it fitted the right temperature to the right plant time and time again. This seemed to be why refining was so easy for him.

  "Third-ranked pills don’t require more than average attention." Hui Yue concluded after finishing the third-ranked alchemist pill. Time and time again he thought the same thing. He refined pills up to the seventh-rank, and at this rank, it was possible for him to perfect it after just one failed attempt. Eighth-ranked alchemist pills, however, was quite a bit harder. It was as though he had entered a completely new realm and just starting he could tell the difficulty of refining the pill had increased many times over. The Silvermoon's Pill which he had created before was without a doubt an eighth-ranked pill.

  In total, there were ten ranks for alchemists. The highest being the tenth rank corresponding to a master alchemist. Anyone above rank ten was a gGrandmaster aAlchemist. The amount of grandmaster alchemists in the entire Taiyang Kingdom could be counted on two hands, and inviting them to make pills for one was incredibly difficult.

  These Grandmasters were all either Emperors or Saints as the concocting of medicinal pills and pastes of such a high level required enormous supplies of internal energies to refine; these alchemists were constantly training their energies. Hui Yue had found that concocting pills and pastes was equal to a good fight. His body would hunger for energy making a pill and thus absorbed as much energy as it could from the surrounding world.

  "So my limit is the seventh rank," Hui Yue mumbled to himself as he paused. "I will gain the most from making seventh and sixth-ranked pills. While I gain less energy from creating sixth-ranked pills, I have a much higher chance of success. If I go for the best training, I will end up wasting a lot of materials, but my strength will soar."

  He was in quite a big dilemma. Although he had many herbs, the pills at the seventh level required an unimaginable amount of herbs for each pill and they were all increasingly rare.

  'I suggest you focus your efforts on concocting seventh-ranked pills.' Lan Feng said from within the lower dantian. 'You can go and trade some of your pills for more materials; although you
will waste quite a few materials this way, what you need is not to become a master alchemist, or even a grandmaster alchemist; you need to gain strength. So much strength that you can fight An He.' Lan Feng reminded his friend.

  'After one becomes a grandmaster alchemist you will have a terrifying status because you will be able to summon many high ranked experts to help you. At first, this was why I wanted you to become a grandmaster alchemist, but looking at your current friends, you are already able to create a small army of Saints who owe you favors. Although Saints can do nothing against An He and his guardians, they are likely to break through at some point. By then they can help defeat his guardians. This is a long-term investment, but I believe that it will be worth it. Spend your time increasing your personal strength. You and I need strength to be able to defeat An He who is a Crowned Sovereign.' Lan Feng said determinedly.

  'Strength it is then.' Hui Yue nodded. 'It is good to be an alchemist but even better if I can become a God soon. But before that happens I need to become a Saint. Let us see how many pills I can refine with the plants and materials I have." His eyes were determined, and he did not waste any more time. Looking over the many formulas in his mind, he started concocting a pill called Evergreen's Blossom. This was a pill which allowed for one to become fully merged with the wood element. This was the most prestigious pill formula that the Ma family had, and it was a pill few were capable of actually concocting.

  Chapter 417 - Candy Apple

  * * *

  Chapter 417: Candy Apple

  The days passed by quietly as Hui Yue spent all his time in his room refining medicinal pills. The only time he left his room was when he needed to visit the Black Market Auction House or the Alchemist Guild to trade his pills for other formulas or ingredients.

  Although Hui Yue wished to support the Ma family’s auction house as much as he could, he knew that they had almost emptied their treasury of herbs to obtain the flying swords he made. Even for the Ma family, they could only buy so many herbs from mercenaries entering the city. The herbs Hui Yue needed now were no longer easily attainable. The plants he needed were increasingly rare and very hard to come by.

  This was the reason why Hui Yue had to visit both places to get his materials.

  At first, Hui Yue was nervous that someone would comment on a second-ranked alchemist trading medicinal pills of the seventh rank but he soon found that the Alchemist Guild asked no questions. Whether it was about buying pills or selling materials, no questions were asked. This made everything much easier for Hui Yue.

  While Hui Yue spent every day refining medicine he found that his strength was constantly growing. His internal energy felt much more profound than it had before, and it had noticeably increased.

  A smile played on Hui Yue's lips as he clenched his hand and felt the raw strength surge through his body. His decision to focus on increasing his strength had without a doubt been the right one.

  'Tomorrow the annual pill auction will begin. Another two days after the start of the auction the alchemist’s contest will begin as well. I suppose I have trained enough for the contest,' Hui Yue told Lan Feng while at the same time trying to convince himself that he was proficient enough in pill concocting. Not knowing the strength of his opponents was enough to make him feel worried.

  'Are you going to sell some of your pills at the auction?' Lan Feng asked curiously, but Hui Yue just shook his head. 'All the pills I possess are pills of the seventh rank. Although they are high ranked this is the annual pill auction. Many grandmasters have saved all their pills from throughout the year and will be auctioning them off. I have no wish to compete with them, and the ones purchasing the pills are here for those esteemed grandmasters’ pills, not for simple seventh-ranked pills like mine. Holding and selling them in a few weeks will reel in a much larger profit as everyone will sell now in the hope of getting a good price, which will exhaust the market.

  Hearing what Hui Yue said, Lan Feng was stumped for words. He couldn’t find any fault in his young friend’s words, and his methods were quite crafty. This caused a smile to spread on Lan Feng's face. 'Brilliant!' He exclaimed after some time, 'simply brilliant!'

  'So what do you plan to do during the annual pill auction?' Lan Feng asked curiously, but Hui Yue just shrugged.

  'I guess I should take Ju Long, Lao, and Jo for a trip to town. We can look around with everyone. I have been neglecting them because of my training.' Hui Yue answered casually. Since he had finished studying pill refining and felt he was ready for the contest, he was not rushed for time nor did he have anything specific that he needed to do. All he needed to do now was waiting the day of the much-anticipated alchemist contest. The contest where he would show the world that he was the best and youngest upcoming alchemist.

  Leaving the room, Hui Yue quickly found the children and Wang Ju Long in the garden where the three of them were cultivating together. Looking at the three, Hui Yue was greatly shocked. Although Lao had just reached the King rank, he was already a two star King ranked expert. His rate of advancement was simply unparalleled.

  Wang Ju Long was now a nine star King and was close to breaking into the Emperor realm. She still possessed some of the golden pills which Hui Yue had given her, but she had not used them yet as she was waiting for the opportune moment. She wished to reach her bottleneck first before using the pills to breakthrough. She knew that she could always get more pills from Hui Yue, but she felt that he was already spoiling her enough. She wanted to work hard for her own cultivation rather than accept everything from Hui Yue.

  Hui Yue understood Wang Ju Long's mind, and he also respected her wish to cultivate on her own. Because of this, he focused on his own and his children’s cultivation much more. Lao and Jo truly mattered a lot to Hui Yue, more than the two children could guess, and when Hui Yue saw the two children together with his lover, an undescribable warmth spread through his body. Sitting down, he decided to observe his loved ones cultivating together while waiting for them to finish.

  It took roughly two hours before Wang Ju Long was the first to wake up from her meditation. As she opened her eyes, she was a bit perplexed to see Hui Yue who had shut himself inside his room for such a long time. A warm smile spread on Wang Ju Long's face, and she instantly moved towards him, sitting by his side.

  As soon as Wang Ju Long sat down, Hui Yue took her hand in his. The two sat there, hand in hand, and observed the two children who were giving their best to cultivate. Neither of the two spoke a word; words were not needed. Instead, Wang Ju Long gently leaned against Hui Yue and a satisfied sigh escaped her lips. Although she knew that Hui Yue needed to train and work hard, she was the happiest when he was by her side.

  Wang Ju Long was not the only one who enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere. Hui Yue, who had been filled with determination to improve his skills enough to save Sha Yun, needed this time to let his worries go and unwind. This helped him relax and enjoy the scenery.

  As the sun set, Lao and Jo started moving slightly and after a short while the two awoke from their meditation. Both looked around rather stumped as they saw Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long, leaning against each other. They were holding hands and smiling while observing the two of them.

  Both Jo and Lao felt their faces turn crimson from the sudden attention, but their reaction just caused Hui Yue to laugh out loud.

  "Jo and Lao come here." He said while waving his hand and the two children instantly followed his order. Although they were slightly embarrassed, they both looked at Hui Yue as the absolute authority in their lives. No matter what he said, Lao would follow him with a raised head and straight back. Even if he said that they were to walk through the Netherworld and back, Lao would follow Hui Yue as far as he could.

  "Tomorrow the pill auction will start. It will be a whole week in this wonderful city dedicated to the alchemists and their pills. In a few days, there will be the annual alchemy contest, or tournament, that I will be participating in to make sure that Aunt Yun returns." Hui Yue said
seriously, and Lao nodded his head, still waiting for what Hui Yue wanted him to do.

  "The two of you are incredibly talented, and I think you deserve to have fun for at least a day." Hui Yue said kindly. "Tomorrow the four of us will go to pill auction. I might be able to get my hands on some of the herbs I have wanted for some time," Hui Yue said smiling brightly. He had wanted to craft a few eighth-ranked pills. Although he could craft pills with the materials he had obtained from the grave his heart hurt thinking of all the materials he would end up wasting while refining these high-grade pills. He did not want to use materials from another world in a pill unless he was sure it would be a success. Because of this, he traded a high amount of pills for an eighth-ranked formula from the guild. Unfortunately, it required a golden root that was at least hundred years old, and that was something he did not currently have.

  Hui Yue had been trying to get ahold of the right herbs for some time, but neither the guild nor the auction house had enough of these herbs to satisfy Hui Yue’s need when creating the eighth-ranked pills. The reason was simple; everyone knew that the annual pill auction was coming and therefore many alchemists were going to be spending a lot of money for the right materials.