Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  "Not bad!" Wei praised through gritted teeth as his Ancestral Worldpower flowed out and once more formed a barrier around him. The impact caused sparks to fly everywhere as Hui Yue’s sharp claws came into contact with it. The sound of an explosion boomed as both Hui Yue and Wei were shot backward and landed heavily against the walls of the room.

  Hissing in pain, Hui Yue slowly stood back up. Although it was as hard to break Hui Yue's defense as it was to break a mountain, he still felt pain and almost coughed up blood from the impact.

  Wei was not much better off as his defense was equal to Hui Yue's. Not because of him having a defense like a mountain but because he was an Immortal of Creation, but even so he too felt pain from the impact and being slammed hard against the wall of the room.

  The entire room trembled and the wall had cracks spreading on it. Hui Yue and Wei were both stunned as they saw this and looked at each other rather ashamed about the fact that they had broken the chamber. They had never expected that the meditation room, which seemed to be able to contain the many different daos they used, could not control the impact from their fight and thus they had no other choice other than to stop their match before they completely destroyed the room.

  "Seems like we should stop," Wei said with a wry smile on his face as he started touching his back making sure that his clothes had not broken in the clash just now. Hui Yue, who also understood that they could not continue their fight in the room, slowly returned to his human shape and wrapped a new cloak around himself.

  "Although we had to stop, I feel like I got something out of it anyway," he said honestly while flashing a grin at the guard by his side.

  "You have plenty of tricks, that is for sure," Wei agreed with a pained expression on his face. It had been a very long time since he last felt pain and just now the pain from being slammed into the wall of the meditation room lingered in his body.

  "You are quite strong; your dao of gravity is amazing at restraining the enemy, and your wolf form increases your strength tremendously. Although there is still a gap between you and a peak Primordial Immortal if we are only gauging the strength you have already displayed. I am sure you have even more hidden techniques you haven't used, and even I will am unable to say if you will last."

  Pausing for a moment, Wei scratched his head in embarrassment and smiled slightly, "I do hope you win," he finally said. "I think you will be a good judge and I would be quite proud to say that I know you personally."

  "If you do become a judge then I will ask to be placed in your service," he said seriously, and Hui Yue felt warm at heart when he heard his words. "Thank you; it means a lot to me."

  Although Wei was there to be his guard, Hui Yue saw him more like a friend than anything else.

  As the two of them sat down and started discussing the short sparring match they just had a knock was suddenly heard on the door. When they opened it, a timid young woman was standing outside.

  She dared not look at either Hui Yue or Wei as she fidgeted around with her hands. Finally, after a few seconds, she opened her mouth to talk, but stuttered, "Myy my lord, Kking Yanluo has ordered to move you to another room tthat has a meditation room that isn’t cracking." Pausing and twisting her hands, she continued after a bit, "He also said that you should not destroy any more rooms for now and that he believes in you."

  The more she spoke, the lower her voice became and at the end both Hui Yue and Wei had to lean forward to be able to catch the words that escaped her lips.

  Hui Yue and Wei straightened their backs, and both looked rather embarrassed as they remembered that they were here as guests, yet even so, they had destroyed a meditation room and disturbed Yanluo. Both of them sheepishly scratched the back of their heads as they realized this.

  "We are very sorry," Hui Yue said with a slight smile on his face before he gestured for Wei to follow behind him. The two were ready to leave yet when they tried to do so, the woman just stayed where she was. Her head was bowed and her hands were still fidgeting in front of her.

  They stood like this for some time before Hui Yue cleared his throat. "Um... We should get going," he said with a friendly smile on his face causing the girl to jump at the sound of his voice, and like a frightened mouse, she turned to leave the room and lead them to a room a few doors down.

  "This will be your new room. Please enjoy your stay here in the Second Court of Hell!"

  Having said this, she pushed open the door and then turned straight away and quickly fled.

  Stunned Hui Yue and Wei looked at one another before they both started chuckling. The poor demon girl had been so frightened that she had no courage to even look at them.

  Shaking their heads, both Hui Yue and Wei entered the room and looked around. It was similar to the room they had had before, and there was also an adjoined room here for Wei.

  Settling in, they quickly closed the door and found a pair of chairs where they continued their discussion about the fight. They talked about how Hui Yue could improve and the things he should not do.

  It was calming speaking with someone about fighting, and both Hui Yue and Wei were so engrossed in their conversation that they forgot the embarrassing fact that they had broken a meditation room.

  "It is such a shame that we are stuck here in these rooms," Hui Yue finally sighed as he looked out the windows. "I am sure that this palace has plenty of rooms where we can practice our skills and spar with one another, but we are not allowed to leave the room. And we have to stay here for two weeks with no real way to train our fighting skills."

  Hui Yue was usually not one to complain, but this tournament was incredibly important to him. He could not help but feel that it was a waste that he could not spar more with his guard, but Wei just shook his head, "It might work for you, but the others do not have anyone to spar against."

  "Everyone here, except yourself and the two others from the two major clans, will end up in Diyu. If we beat them by mistake, we will suffer later in our career. Considering all of us guards are Immortals of Creation, it is almost impossible for us to lose therefore it is not something people would volunteer to do."

  "How petty," Hui Yue sighed. "It should be an honor to fight with the guards, and it is natural that we will get beaten considering you are all stronger than us. Just because of such a reason, we should not make it hard on you in the future."

  The two men both sighed and sat there in silence for a short while before Hui Yue's eyes gleamed. "It will be quite some time before the experts gather for the tournament, so I better spend the time improving myself."

  "Should I focus on increasing my Ancestral Worldpower pool, or should I start comprehending another dao?" Hui Yue was unsure for some time but Wei shook his head, "You already know quite a few daos and getting another dao is never a bad idea, but in your case, it might not be a great help considering all the daos you have comprehended are split between the major daos. You are no closer right now to comprehending a major dao than anyone who has comprehended one dao alone."

  "But even so, having an extra dao is always a lifesaver. I would not be against you comprehending another dao. Of course, you will not be able to fully comprehend it in a short while, but you should still be able to gain some insights you could use while fighting."

  "On the other hand, accumulating Ancestral Worldpower is always a good idea since it allows for you to grow stronger. Every attack is filled with more force the more Ancestral Worldpower you have, and you can fight for longer periods of time the more you have. However, this is also a sticky situation since you have the dao of devouring. You can just absorb the energy in the air around you and directly turn it into your own energy, not to mention that you are capable of stealing the energy of your opponent."

  "So, what I mean to say is that it does not really matter which one you pick. Both have benefits so either way, you will increase your strength."

  "But keep in mind that there is not really a lot that will happen. You are a God now, the amount of time you hav
e until the tournament starts is too short; you will not gain much during this time."

  "Why don't I tell you a secret," Hui Yue suddenly said with a grin on his face as he looked into the air in front of him. "You know, I was born as a mortal and had to train every day assiduously to increase my strength. I am now a Primordial Immortal, and not a new God anymore so how old do you think I am?"

  Hearing the question Wei was taken aback for a moment, but he furrowed his brows after some time and looked at Hui Yue. "You were born a mortal? But your father is Pei Tian? So your mother was mortal?"

  Hui Yue just nodded his head, not going into details about it, but Wei seemed surprised to hear this. "Shocking!" He said, but then he shook his head.

  "Your talent is immeasurable, and you broke the assessment orb which means that your cultivation speed should be quite outstanding."

  "I guess you are just shy of two hundred and fifty years old? I mean you are a part of the younger generation so you cannot be much older than that."

  Hearing this, Hui Yue laughed before shaking his head. He raised one hand and displayed all five fingers, "I am not even fifty years old yet!" He exclaimed, and his words caused Wei's already wide eyes to turn much bigger, and he stuttered in surprise, "Fifty years since you became a God?!"

  Hui Yue shook his head, "Not even fifty years since I was born."

  Chapter 581 - Unnatural Emotions

  * * *

  Chapter 581: Unnatural Emotions

  Wei was astounded. No matter what Hui Yue had said, he had expected Hui Yue to just be a young generation member because of him having become a God rather recently, yet here he was, not even fifty years of age, and he was already a Primordial Immortal. Even for those born as Gods, this speed was simply too fast.

  "I guess your unmeasurable talent is not just for show," he finally managed to say with a shake of his head, feeling slightly deflated.

  Wei was rather proud of his own talent which was eight rings, almost nine, but compared to Hui Yue he felt like trash. "At least everyone is trash compared to you," he said trying to comfort himself, and he did not notice the surprise and complicated expression Hui Yue had when his words were said.

  "Anyway, what I wanted to point out was that although it might seem like a short amount of time, even such a short amount of time is quite long for me."

  What Hui Yue did not add was that even he was unaware of just how swiftly he cultivated due to him having merged with the memories of the celestial wings.

  Every time he merged with a new memory his talent would rise. Although in his previous life he was not a genius, he still had an above average talent. This talent had been added to Hui Yue's own.

  Having this increase, no one knew how quickly Hui Yue's body absorbed energy, nor how fast he could comprehend the daos now.

  Contemplating for awhile, Hui Yue looked at a Pill of Clarity that he had in his hand. Should he focus on the dao of gale, or some other minor dao of the wind, or should he refine more souls and increase his Ancestral Worldpower pool?

  Either way was good, but he could not come to a decision, he was uncertain about which choice to make because he feared that if he took one and failed, he would have wanted to take the other.

  Gritting his teeth, Hui Yue shook his head, "I will not lose!" he said as his fist was clenched so hard that it trembled and a few drops of blood dripped to the floor.

  Wei had regained his mind and looked worriedly at Hui Yue. From the time they had met the first time, Wei had not doubted that Hui Yue wanted to become the next judge more than anything else, but as for why he was so determined, he really did not know.

  He understood that it was not his place to ask about something so personal, but he was really curious and also slightly worried about Hui Yue. This was not entirely pure determination and belief in his ability there was also desperation mixed in, a heart-rendering desperation. Seeing this Wei wished that no matter what, Hui Yue would not become so desperate that he ended up trading his life for this dream of his. Although Hui Yue had many hidden tricks up his sleeve, Wei had a hard time believing that this young man would emerge victorious.

  Hui Yue soon returned to normal, and a smile appeared on his face. He turned around completely ignoring the pain in his palm which had been cut deeply into by his nails. Looking at Wei, he just chuckled, "I don't know what to choose, so I guess I will try eenie meanie miney moe." He chuckled. In one hand he summoned Ancestral Worldpower, and in the other, he had a Pill of Clarity.

  Placing both hands on his back, he started tossing the Ancestral Worldpower from one hand to another and the pill of clarity in the free hand before he closed the hands once more and reached them out in front of him. A smile was on his face as he beckoned for Wei to pick one of the two.

  "What are you doing?" Wei asked confused. He had no soulforce, so he was not capable of telling what was hidden within the two hands, all he could do was guess.

  "Pick one of the two. In one hand there is Ancestral Worldpower, and in the other, there is a Pill of Clarity. The one you pick is the one I will cultivate. I would do eenie meanie miney moe, but I know which one it ends with so that would be unfair."

  The brilliant smile on Hui Yue's face was in strong contrast to the desperate expression he had shown earlier.

  Thinking like this, Wei suddenly frowned as he looked at the hands of Hui Yue with great interest because now there were no traces of the blood left.

  "Okay, I pick the hand that was just bleeding." He said seriously, mainly because he wanted to check out the wound which was now mysteriously gone. He had not felt Hui Yue use any Ancestral Worldpower, nor had he felt any kind of soulforce or any other energy that could have healed him; it seemed to have just vanished!

  What could have made his wound close on its own? Wei was unsure and very intrigued. He finally started to understand that Hui Yue might have many secrets that he had still not used.

  What had happened was naturally the green pearl. It was filled with all the lifeforce that Hui Yue had absorbed, alongside his own lifeforce, and when he had wounded himself, if he did not actively ensure that the wound stayed open then it would passively use his lifeforce to heal him. It was in no way as temperamental as it used to be before merging with him.

  Hui Yue looked at Wei strangely, "bleeding?" he asked confused before he looked at his two hands before he started laughing. "Ah, you mean that small cut? It has long since closed do not worry, just pick a hand and I’ll know how I should cultivate."

  Hui Yue was not acting happy; he was genuinely happy when he was with Wei. There was something about this guard that made him feel calm, but mainly he knew that Wang Ju Long had sacrificed her life to ensure that he would keep smiling, that he kept living, and he would ensure that her sacrifice was not in vain.

  "Okay, I still pick the hand you wounded," Wei said once more, but instead of discussing it, Hui Yue just shrugged his shoulders and opened his hand. Inside was a small round pill which was the Pill of Clarity.

  "That answers that question I guess," Hui Yue said lightly before he stretched his body and smiled at Wei. "I'll be going into seclusion for a week’s time. We'll see how long the pill lasts."

  Wei felt that something was wrong, but he was incapable of putting his finger on exactly what it was. The sudden change in emotions was shocking, and even now when he seemed so happy and carefree, there was something about him which made Wei feel worried, yet he said nothing. He just nodded his head. He wanted to ask something but hesitated for a moment then closed his mouth soon after.

  Hui Yue left the room with a chuckle as he saw the strange expression on Wei's face before he entered the meditation room where the smile quickly faded, and he closed his eyes as he sighed.

  "I am trying to smile, trying to be happy. I will do my very best to do as you want me to do. At least I feel comfortable around Wei, but I must have made him uncomfortable just now."

  The reason Hui Yue had been so out of character was because a sudden fear had ov
erwhelmed him. He had been filled with the fear of whether or not he would be able to win this trial successfully, and thinking about this, his grief had taken over.

  He did not want to worry Wei and had instantly become cheerful to hide his previous emotions, unfortunately, it made him seem even more suspicious.

  "Oh well… At least I found out what the next thing to focus on will be!" he sighed to himself.

  When Hui Yue was alone, he was not the cheerful and happy person. All he could think about was Wang Ju Long's sacrifice and his unyielding love for her. He felt his heart being stabbed over and over again, but this was a pain he did not wish to share with anyone else.