Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Hui Yue sent his consciousness inside the Universe Box to see how many Worldpower Stones he had and was surprised to see that there was still more than fifty million. This was a rather high amount and enough to make him considerably rich.

  Hui Yue usually did not care much about wealth, but if he were to experience being in a city, then it was best to have some money on hand. He was tempted to visit the auction house, however, before he did that, he had to visit Wei.

  Wei had been placed in one of the Celestial Sword Sect's guardian sects. This sect was located just outside of the City of Endless Clouds.

  In this guardian sect, Wei had no tasks, and he was treated like an esteemed guest. He often had nothing to do so he spent most of his time within the City of Endless Clouds, and he was lucky enough to have been given an emblem that allowed him access to the Black Marketplace.

  Because he strolled around the city almost every day, he knew the city well. As a member of Yanluo's personal guard his salary was rather high, and although he never cared much about it before, he finally started enjoying the easy life after entering this city. He started spending the money he had saved up through countless years.

  He would do things like visit restaurants and try out their delicacies as many of these were extraordinary magical beasts which increased one’s Ancestral Worldpower pool. He would spend money to visit meditation rooms and train for a while, and he would even visit the dao gardens. The most secretive place within the entire City of Endless Clouds.

  Hui Yue had spoken with Wei through the communication orb, and they had agreed to meet up at the pagoda that was towering in the middle of town. Wei had said that this was the best place to meet up as one could simply not miss it, and as Hui Yue entered the city, he had to agree.

  The tower was so tall that Hui Yue had to bend his neck back to just see the top. This pagoda was the headquarters for the Celestial Sword Sect within the City of Endless Clouds.

  It contained many things, from rooms for the sect members that needed some place to stay to offices for officials that dealt with everything that had to do with the sect and interactions with the outside world.

  The Black Marketplace had their biggest market in this world within the city as well. Where the sky above the City of the Endless Clouds belonged to the Celestial Sword Sect, the ground beneath the city belonged to the Black Marketplace.

  There was a whole city beneath this city, but this place was closed off to others. Only a select few were aware of its existence, but Hui Yue, who had been at a Black Marketplace before, could easily determine that this was a massive organization. He knew that because they had such a massive market under the city, they had to be absolutely massive.

  "Pei Yue! Over here!" Wei called out, and Hui Yue turned to see Wei leaning against the massive pagoda, a great smile on his face. He was still wearing his Yanluo Guard uniform, but he had a casual air about him. He no longer seemed as uptight as he had been before.

  "How are things going with you?" Hui Yue asked as he headed towards his friend, but Wei just smiled and shook his head. "We can't just stand here in the middle of everything and talk," he laughed. "Come with me to one of my favorite dining places, and we will have a good talk!"

  Hui Yue just laughed and followed. He knew that calling out for Pei Ziqi would be pointless, the woman would not show herself after having merged with the shadows, and thus, he was not polite enough to invite her to join them. The only thing he did was follow Wei.

  "There are a lot of great restaurants within this city," Wei spoke as they walked. He introduced all his favorite places and what they each excelled in, but although he talked about many different places, he had chosen to go to the one which served the rarest magical beasts.

  He had chosen this place not only because these beasts were rare, but mainly because such rare beasts were very good at raising one's strength. Directly consuming their meat was a great way to get stronger.

  As they reached the restaurant, Hui Yue noticed that it was not as he had expected. The place had many rooms, and when one entered, they would get a room of their own. They did not sit in an open room with other guests like most places. It seemed that here, everyone had their own privacy, and he secretly approved of this. It made talking much easier.

  "So tell me, how are the ones in the sect treating you?"

  This was the first question that was asked the moment Hui Yue sat down, and he looked a little awkward as he answered. "I am currently pretty disliked because I caused the death of an inner sect guard," he said straightforwardly, and Wei instantly looked at him confused.

  "My hearing must be bad," he said after a second. "I could swear you said you caused the death of an inner sect guard? They are all Immortals of Creation... Killing one is nearly impossible!"

  "Well, you see, things happened," Hui Yue shrugged his shoulders as he explained what had happened.

  Chapter 611 - Arrival of the Gods

  * * *

  Chapter 611: Arrival of the Gods

  "That is quite an unexpected situation," Wei said as he scratched his chin, unsure of what else he could say. Only Hui Yue was capable of causing such a ruckus from a single fight.

  "Why do they even make challenges like these?" Wei suddenly asked confused. It did not make much sense that they had such missions free to choose, was it not just giving free contribution points to the stronger members of the sect?

  "It is exactly as you think," Hui Yue laughed as he saw the confusion on Wei's face. "The stronger one is, the more one needs contribution points. However, it is not viable to leave the sect for a long time for missions. Also if every sect member left the sect for missions, the inner sect would no longer be safe as all the high ranked members would be out doing missions. Not to mention that there is likely not enough missions for everyone."

  "Because of this, the sect is giving the higher ranked members a chance to get their hands on some contribution points every week by challenging an Immortal of Creation."

  "I see," Wei did not seem convinced by the fact that the members of the sect were gifted contribution points, but he did not mind it very much. Sect matters were for Hui Yue to deal with.

  "How are you doing?" Hui Yue asked, but Wei just shook his head and sighed. "I am doing great. I have a lifestyle where I barely need to do anything for anyone. Until you become an Immortal of Creation and we leave this sect my life will be very free. I can do anything I want in the city."

  Hui Yue laughed as well, the two of them looked at one another, both pretty happy with how their lives were right now.

  "When we leave the sect I will be bringing a rather large group of experts with me," Hui Yue finally said after a bit of time, and Wei nodded his head.

  "Before leaving, Yanluo told me that you have some treasure on you which allows for you to carry some friends with you. How many people are with you right now?" he asked, and Hui Yue was surprised that Yanluo had said as much.

  "I have eleven Gods ranked experts," he said after counting for some time. "There are ten beasts, nine of whom have been together for four thousand years and Huli who has been by my side for a long time."

  "Apart from these ten beasts, there is a human friend of mine, Cai Jie."

  "Apart from these, where some are Immortals of Creation and others are Primordial Immortals, I also have mortal friends who will be traveling with us," Hui Yue continued and raised his hand as he started to count.

  "We have quite a lot of people who will be joining us. I have quite a few friends who are trying to break into the God rank right now."

  Wei frowned for some time and looked at Hui Yue as if he were a little confused. "Although they are trying to become God ranked experts, they are currently not strong enough to travel with us... What is your plan for them?"

  Hui Yue contemplated for some time, and then he understood that Wei was correct. His friends needed to become stronger if they wanted to survive in the vast galaxy.

  Contemplating for some time, Wei finally de
cided on what to do, "You could use your power as an inner sect member to have your friends enter the guardian sects. When they enter the guardian sects, they will have to fight hard for resources, but their strength will advance many times faster than it is now while they are in your spatial treasure."

  Hui Yue heard this and nodded his head. It made sense. Having his friends join a sect was indeed the best option right now, and with Hui Yue's protection, they would have decent lives.

  "Wait a second," he said. Moments after he vanished from the room, shocking Wei quite badly. It did not take long before Hui Yue returned, but now he was not alone, by his side were eleven God ranked cultivators.

  Huli's aura was sharp and gave Wei a feeling of fear when he looked at her. A similar, but much weaker, feeling was also felt from the one Hui Yue introduced as Cai Jie.

  The other Gods did not seem too threatening. There was no harsh aura’s coming from them, no menacing air or intimidating expressions on their faces. If anything, they looked slightly stumped and surprised as they looked around the room.

  As Wei sought them out, he noticed that of these eleven Gods, six were already Immortals of Creation. The first two needed no explanation, but as for when and how the other four had managed to become Immortals of Creation, Hui Yue truly had no idea.

  If Wei had known that they only knew one dao each, he would have been incapable of holding back his laughter. Although it was possible for experts to reach the Immortal of Creation rank by only following one dao, it was simply so rare it was considered impossible. The reason for this was because everyone that cultivated focused on seeking the dao as it was ultimately what proved one’s strength and what determined one's ability to survive.

  "Okay." Hui Yue spoke up, and everyone quieted down. They all sat down in the incredibly crowded room. While most were busy looking at Hui Yue, Xiao She, the snake-woman, started eating the food that was placed in the middle of the table, not caring about anything else.

  Seeing this, Hui Yue had a wry smile on his face. This woman was truly hard to control, but considering that she was Lan Feng's beloved, he knew that she would be hard to deal with. Just look at how outrageous Lan Feng was! If his woman was not as difficult as him, then something was wrong.

  Hui Yue shook his head and ignored her before he looked at the Gods again. "I called you all out because I want you to join one of the guardian sects of my Celestial Sword Sect," he explained.

  "I think now there is no reason for everyone to stay within the Divine Beast World and do nothing. It’s time to step foot into the galaxy and start standing on a bigger stage! You all will need to improve at a rapid pace and to do so we are going to change your environment."

  Hui Yue smiled, he was very excited. He wished to bring Huli with him to the inner sect already but to do that he had to marry her. Although Hui Yue knew that one day they would marry, now was not the time. He refused to marry anyone as long as Wang Ju Long was in such a state.

  Instead, he waved his hand. A leather bag appeared in his hands which he threw to her. "Here are one million Worldpower Stones for each of you," he explained as he threw a bag to each of the other Gods.

  "Don't expect that I can keep giving you Worldpower Stones," he warned them. "But this should be enough to allow you to increase your cultivation and build a foundation."

  Then he waved his hand, and a pill shot out and flew to everyone except Huli. "This is a Pill of Clarity. Eat it when you are comprehending an important dao, and it will help you with your comprehension."

  After giving them the Worldpower Stones and the pill, he did not give them anything else. "Follow me to the Celestial Sword Sect's main office within this City of Endless Clouds," he said as he stood up. The food on the table had been cleaned completely by Xiao She, and there was no reason for them to stay at the restaurant any longer.

  As they left the room, the waiter who had been tending to them was staring at the entourage with wide eyes full of shock. He could swear that only two had entered, but now thirteen left. How was such a thing even possible?

  Hui Yue took a small bag of Worldpower Stones and placed it in the hands of the waiter after which he placed a finger on his lips and winked at the waiter. Although this person had originally wanted to tell his boss about the sudden influx of experts, he instantly changed his mind. He had been gifted a very heavy bag of stones, which could easily be over two hundred Worldpower Stones. This was simply meat pies falling from the skies for a mere waiter like him. If he could curry favor with this expert, then that would be for the best.

  The group left the restaurant and headed towards the massive pagoda that towered high above every other building in the City of Endless Clouds. No matter where one was within the city, this pagoda would be visible in the sky above. It had become the landmark of this city. Many came from far away to see this pagoda, and many had the dream of one day standing at the top and looking out at the city that spread out below it. Rumor had it that one could see to the end of the Celestial Sword World from the top. However, Hui Yue doubted that this was true.

  As they reached the tower, Hui Yue stepped in front of the others as a group of guards blocked the way.

  "No entrance for outside members," they said sternly, but Hui Yue flashed the emblem from the inner sect, and the guards instantly became many times more polite. These guards were not inner sect guards but from one of the many guardian sects. Thus they venerated inner sect members.

  "Young Master, you can enter, however, your companions have to stay outside," the guards said politely, and Hui Yue just shrugged his shoulders.

  "Huli, Wei, Jie, look after the others and make sure no one starts trouble. I'll be back soon," he said as his eyes landed on Xiao She. For some reason, he had a premonition that they might have trouble doing as he said.

  Shaking his head, he told himself that it would be fine, and Hui Yue hurried into the massive pagoda in front of them. The sooner he entered, the sooner he could finish his business and come out.

  The pagoda was large. It was truly a massive building with many rooms on each floor, and the first floor was no exception.

  As Hui Yue entered, he saw that on the right was a desk with a young woman seated behind it. The moment she saw Hui Yue her eyes sparked to life, and she sat up straight.

  "Welcome young master," she said politely. Her voice was very gentle and filled with curiosity, "What can I do for you?" she asked.

  "I have eleven experts I want to join the guardian sects," Hui Yue said straightforwardly. He honestly had no idea who to ask about such a request and the woman just nodded her head in understanding.

  "Eleven experts, ok. I will find the forms, and then we will go outside and have them join the sects. Since you are a member of the Celestial Sword Sect's inner sect, you are allowed to add anyone you wish to the guardian sects.

  "I see," Hui Yue sighed with relief as he knew that as the years went by more and more people would be joining him in the Celestial Sword Sect's World and by extension joining the guardian sects as well.

  Time would make his group much stronger, all they needed was time to develop.

  Chapter 612 - Deng Wu's Assignment

  * * *

  Chapter 612: Deng Wu's Assignment

  The process of joining a guardian sect could be either incredibly hard or very easy. If an inner sect member recommended someone, then it would be very easy to get into a guardian sect. This was one of the benefits of being an inner sect member.

  If one had no connections to the inner sect, but still wished to enter the guardian sects then one would need above average talent. The guardian sects prided themselves on their strength, and once a year they would hold a tournament to determine which of them were the strongest.

  The stronger the expert, the more likely they would be accepted into a sect that was highly ranked. This was the best way to scout talent as usually the higher ranked the sect was, the more rules they had for the joining experts.

  Because of the various r
ules, the group of eleven experts was split up amongst the guardian sects, but the majority had ended up in lower ranked sects. Only Huli and Cai Jie were allowed into the two highest ranked sects, with Huli entering the strongest sect of all.

  "This map will show you to your sects," the woman who had filled in their forms said as she handed them a copy of the form they had just finished. On this form, it said who had recommended them, their personal information, and their rank.

  "The sects will provide you with food and housing, the only thing you will need to pay for is extra cultivation resources. They can be bought with contribution points or Worldpower Stones; it is the same system the inner sect uses to give resources to their disciples."

  Hui Yue nodded his head. The only people who fully understood what the woman was talking about were Hui Yue and Wei, the people who had already seen the system in question.