Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  "What happened?" She asked with a weak voice to Deng Wu who was beside her helping her sit up. Although he knew that there was a chance of her turning against them, in his heart he refused to acknowledge it.

  No one answered Rong Xing's question at first. Everyone was filled with pain as they remembered the events that had occurred earlier, but they also knew that they had to tell her the truth. She deserved to know exactly what had happened so that she could make her own decisions.

  "Your father killed Ju Long." Hui Yue said with a low voice. There was no killing intent left in this voice, only an immense amount of tiredness and emotions. "He killed her and made her into a soul shadow. The attack was intended to hit me, but she shielded me. She is now sealed within this bottle,"

  "Your father fled this place while Ming was pleading with me to let him go. When he vanished, he took Ming with him. As for why he took your brother, I do not know, and for what will happen to Ming I know even less." Hui Yue sighed and gave a quick rundown of exactly what had happened from the moment he had appeared within Muchuan City until the moment that Rong Xing had woken up.

  Having heard everything Rong Xing's lips trembled and her face was deathly pale, and her eyes filled with disbelief.

  "I knew nothing of this!" She exclaimed, and there was a slight bit of fear in her voice, and Hui Yue just nodded his head and waved his hand.

  "I know." He said emotionally as he gently gave the bottle with Ju Long to Huli. "I do not blame neither you nor Ming for anything, to me both of you will forever be my good brother and sister." Hui Yue sighed.

  "You, however, need to make a choice. You can either join us to defeat An He and your father with the goal of returning Rong Ming to us, or you can support your father. If you choose to stay with us, I will help you become a God and let you travel with us to challenge An He and finally bring peace and prosperity to this world."

  "Or your other option is to support your father and thereby also support An He. Your brother might end up making this choice now that your father has taken him. If you choose to support your own family, I will not blame you. But you should know that I will cut all ties to you." Hui Yue's words were harsh, but they were not unreasonable.

  "I will allow you to keep living in the Divine Beast World as a normal citizen. As long as you do not go against me, I will not act against you, but I will also not assist you in gaining strength either."

  "If one day your father comes to pick you up, then I will fight him. If one day you become a God, I will also fight you. I cannot afford to let An He gain another God ranked cultivator under his command."

  Rong Xing's face was pale and turned even paler as she heard Hui Yue's words. She did not answer straight away but closed her eyes as a small tear escaped the corner of her eye.

  No one rushed her, and silence enveloped the entire room as everyone patiently waited for her to make a decision. This decision was not easy for her. Her brother had been taken away by her father and would likely join his cause. Not only that, but this was her father! A man she had admired and looked up to all her life. A man who had taught her how to behave and how to grow to be a fine woman. But behind him was An He, and Rong Xing knew that she would never approve of An He no matter how much she tried.

  On the other hand was Hui Yue. Someone she considered her younger brother and also someone she felt she owed even more than her life to.

  After a long time, she opened her eyes, and a determination could be seen within. "I will help you fight An He, but I will not fight against my family." She said determinedly. "I am unable to harm him, but I cannot help him either. An He, on the other hand, is a man that I cannot agree with, and I wish for this world to be free of him and his influence."

  Rong Xing had made her decision, and there was no changing it. This decision came straight from her heart, and she was certain that this was the best solution.

  Everyone was surprised as they heard her decision, but deep inside they were excited. Although Rong Xing would not fight against her own father, she would still be on their side and could be considered an ally. Hui Yue slowly nodded his head.

  "That's fine. I can kill your father on my own." He said casually, and his casual words shook the hearts of everyone present, especially Rong Xing's, but she also understood that there was no way to avoid this. Her father had chosen to support An He and had even killed Wang Ju Long. There was nothing but death for him in Hui Yue's eyes.

  "Wu." Hui Yue called out, and Deng Wu, who was unable to hide the relief on his face as he felt that he would not have to go against Rong Xing at any point, instantly turned to look at him. The smile vanished as his eyes landed on the bottle.

  "Please tell everyone about what we encountered on our trip." Hui Yue said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair. He was not in the mood to detail their long journey and arduous trials they had been through.

  Deng Wu, clearly understanding his emotions, nodded his head and stood up. He cleared his throat but did not instantly start telling the story of what they had gone through.

  "It is not that I do not trust you." Deng Wu started with a seriousness in his eyes that was rare for this joking youngster. "But I need everyone within this room to swear a blood oath that what they hear will never be spoken of to anyone else. What they hear cannot be shared with outsiders, and I also need you all to swear your allegiance towards Yue."

  Everyone was stunned, but after a bit of time, they nodded their heads. The first to step up was Rong Xing, and with determination shining in her eyes she cut her finger and allowed for her blood to spill.

  "I, Rong Xing, swear on my blood that I will forever be loyal to Hui Yue as long as he does not order me to kill or participate in the killing of my father, Rong Liang. I swear that I will never mention any information given to me about Hui Yue, or his friends, to outsiders and should I break this oath, let my blood be boiled within my body."

  Hearing this oath, everyone nodded their heads. They stood up one after another swearing a blood oath, even Huli swore a blood oath of loyalty to Hui Yue and when they had finished Deng Wu nodded his head in approval.

  "Thank you." Deng Wu said from his heart. Even he swore an oath of loyalty to Hui Yue to prove that he was no different from the others, and afterwards, he picked up a chair and sat down in the middle of the library, looking at everyone present. He took in a deep breath and started speaking.

  He began with their departure from Muchuan City and how they met the Laws. How they entered the Central Palace and avoided the guards of the different dungeons below.

  He talked about the trials one after another and explained everything that had happened. He went into details about every challenge and the danger and rewards they had gained from these challenges and answered any questions that were asked.

  Deng Wu did not stop explaining their trip as the trial came to an end. He continued to explain what Hui Yue had told them about his experiences within the Vermilion Bird's inheritance trial.

  After this, he described how they had destroyed the roofs of the capitals in the Dungeons of the Divine and afterward he told how they had saved the Laws.

  Deng Wu was not in a hurry to tell everything that had happened, and he even went as far as to explain what the Laws were, how they were created, and their history. Everything the Gods had told them was shared. There was no reason to hold anything back as no one here would go out and say what they heard.

  After the rescue of the Laws, Deng Wu spoke about how they had gone to Hui Yue's home, and he talked about all the changes which had happened to the village. He told how Hui Yue helped his family become stronger and helped all of them refine their bodies.

  After this, he continued to explain about their trip to visit Old Snake and their trip to Snow Dragon Mountain. That fiery location that did not match the name of the mountain range at all.

  He explained how Huli had created a pocket dimension and made one layer of protection after another around the Formation of Life, and he explained how
Hui Yue had merged the world with his soul. He finished off by telling about how they went to visit the Frozen General and his story before they returned to Muchuan City. Without knowing it, the entire evening and night had gone by while Deng Wu had been constantly speaking, and his words had left everyone speechless. Silence descended over the room as everyone digested what had been said.

  Chapter 502 - Together

  * * *

  Chapter 502: Together

  Having listened for a full evening and night, everyone had a lot of information to digest, and no one spoke for a long time.

  Looking around, Hui Yue frowned. "Where is Xu Piao?" He asked confused. When he had called out the Saints his friend had not appeared and even now he had not appeared.

  Deng Wu, just now noticing that he was missing, shrugged. He had arrived with Hui Yue and was unable to guess. Next to him, Rong Xing said nothing. She just sat in her chair, clenching her hands tight seemingly lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes were downcast and her mouth kept moving as if she was speaking, yet no sounds could be heard.

  Xiao Ning also just looked around and shook his head. "We haven't seen him for a long time." He said with a sigh. "He never really showed himself at the start as he always trained and cultivated on his own waiting for you to return with the power to allow him to reunite with the woman he loves." He said with a doubtful voice. "One day he just vanished. He didn’t leave a note behind and said nothing; he just disappeared without a trace."

  "We don't even know when that was really." Xiao Ning continued apologetically. "He was the only resident left in the Hui mansion, and the rest of us did not visit him often. He rarely came out to see the servants either so asking them provided no other answer than the fact that one day his chambers were just empty."

  Hui Yue frowned upon hearing this. Had Xu Piao lost his patience with Hui Yue and started searching for alternative ways to become a God, or what had happened? It was hard to say, but now that he was gone, there was nothing Hui Yue could do about it. It did not seem as if there was a crime behind his disappearance or someone forced him to leave, and thus Hui Yue decided just to leave it be. If he came across Xu Piao later, he would like to hear what had happened, but he was not in a position to pay attention to what everyone was doing. He had far more important matters to attend to.

  Hui Yue led his consciousness into the Universe Box and looked around. It was as if he was standing in a never-ending galaxy. He could see the red realm floating in the distance, taking up such a small region of space within this storage treasure that he truly understood why it was an immortal treasure.

  "What can I do for you today?" The treasure's spirit asked with a dry and rather annoyed voice, but the emotions within were completely ignored by Hui Yue. He had experienced too much these last couple of days; he needed to get answers so that he could plan what to do in the next few days.

  "You once said that you could contain the entire universe if I were strong enough." He started by reminding the spirit of his own words, but that did not seem to phase the spirit at all. Instead, it just made him nod his head. He had indeed said such words, and he stood by them. No one besides himself knew exactly how amazing a treasure he was.

  "I want to store this entire world within the Universe Box and bring it with me. For a world such as this, how long will it take me to gain enough strength to do so?" The urgency within Hui Yue's voice was obvious, and it made the spirit listen to him. He had been inside the Universe Box this whole time and did not know what had transpired in the outside world. He was unaware of the fact that Hui Yue had lost a loved one, and he was even more unaware of the fact that he had been battling a God ranked cultivator. If he felt like observing what was happening outside, he could easily do so, but normally he didn’t care about the events in the outside world.

  "With your current strength, and considering how great I am, it is not difficult for you to store the Divine Beast World here. We can do it in three days, but removing it from the Universe Box will, however, take a bit more time. When it is stored here, you can visit the world as often as you wish and you can send people here as you wish. The world will be completely in your control. It is like bringing your home away with you."

  Hui Yue felt excited. The fact that he could already bring the world with him meant that he did not have to wait long. "Thank you." Hui Yue said from his heart as he bowed to the spirit. Right now he truly was grateful, and his actions startled the spirit quite badly, but he also understood that something had happened.

  "We will store the world tomorrow, and I will set out on my journey." Hui Yue said before he vanished and returned to his body.

  As he opened his eyes, everyone was looking at him. Everyone was waiting to hear what decision he had made. Hui Yue was the leader of their group, and therefore it was only natural that he decided what they were to do.

  "I need to go to the Netherworld." Hui Yue said slowly. "I need to speak with Yanluo, the ruler of hell, and hear how I can resurrect Ju Long. I will move this world into my Universe Box and carry it with me."

  "I know I swore that I would not go without you." Hui Yue continued as he remembered the oath they had taken when he had come back from the Grave of the Unknown. "But I am unable to wait for you all to become Gods before setting out. It will take many years, and I fear that my heart will die if I wait that long."

  "I will visit the Divine Beast World often as I will be bringing it with me, but I won't take anyone to explore the vast universe until they are Gods. We will walk a dangerous path in the future, and I cannot keep you safe if you do not have at least the strength of a God."

  "We will set out tomorrow, and I will be taking Huli with me." Hui Yue said with determination. No matter what they were thinking, they understood that there was no way they could change his mind.

  The rest of the night was busy. Hui Yue ordered all his friends to look after the Hui mansion as that is where they would be living. He gifted them various medicinal pills to help those who were still not Saints breakthrough to the Saint level. Ma Kong, Gao Yan, and Rong Xing were still King ranked experts. They had a long way to go before they could become Gods.

  The atmosphere within the mansion was tense, but everyone soon relaxed. Ma Kong had contemplated for some time before he went to Hui Yue's side.

  "Yue... Although I wish to support you, it is not my fate to become a God and fight for the world I live within. I have enough dealing with the other auction houses and merchant families out there, and my family cannot manage without me. I do wish to support you, but I can't join you in this." He sighed, and Hui Yue, who had already guessed it would end like this nodded his head. "Return home and take care of your family. If you were to force yourself to become a God, then you would very likely end up dead from a lack of combat experience."

  Hui Yue did not wish to see any of his friends die, and he understood that Ma Kong had never been one to go out and fight. What suited him was to live a normal life amongst mortals. He had never aimed for immortality in the first place.

  Gao Yan scratched his head and stepped forward as well. "I wish to say the same." He sighed. "I want to help, but I fear I will be more trouble than help. I am not suitable for combat any longer, I am now a person who sits behind a desk, and that is where I belong. If there is anything you need from the Divine Beast World, then I will do everything in my power to assist you, but if it concerns the galaxy or outside worlds, I am afraid I am not the person to turn to."

  Hearing that two of his friends had backed out, Hui Yue did not feel disappointed but relieved. This meant that those two would at least live simple lives without the constant threat of danger. They would have a peaceful life that didn’t have them traveling from one death trap to another and constantly experiencing life and death battles.

  Not just this, these two men had not been in a real fight for a very long time. They were not suited for the life of following him and the others to the heavens above, but when Hui Yue looked at Rong Xing, he saw a determinat
ion in her eyes. "I will not leave the Hui mansion." She said with a stern voice. "I am currently the weakest but one day I too will become a God, and then I will join you in your fight against An He."

  It was clear that she blamed all of her father's behavior on An He. He had been lured into becoming a General, of that Rong Xing was sure. It was also An He's fault that Hui Yue now wanted to kill Rong Liang.

  It went without saying that Lao, Jo, and Deng Wu were going to follow Hui Yue and Sha Yun even more so. Seeing Rong Xing was also on their side, these experts felt a certain nostalgia.

  "I will follow you!" Ye Ling was the first to call out of the four Saints that Hui Yue had met in the Grave of the Unknown. "You have already done so much for me, you allowed me to become a true expert, and you have taught me about life. Although you are younger than me, following you has so far been the best decision of my life. I will continue to follow you, even if it means treading a dangerous path that may claim my life in the future."