Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  Finally, they could no longer hold in their curiosity, and an elder cleared his throat, "Excuse me, Lord Patriarch, will this young woman become our daughter-in-law?" he asked in a roundabout way.

  Everyone knew that the patriarch had already accepted her when he accepted the leather bag, but for them to directly ask what it contained was something they couldn’t do.

  "Miss Huli will have an official engagement ceremony with Pei Yue in a few days," the patriarch said as he slowly closed the leather bag and rose from the chair.

  "Since Pei Yue is building a family he will be given a valley where Miss Huli can live. Pei Yue is to stay living together with his father; we cannot have the two of them sharing a home before they are married. If something should happen and the engagement breaks, then there is no way that we can accept them having a child with one another."

  The patriarch was very strict when it came to the rule about no descendants being born outside of the sect, but he was already looking very favorably at Huli as he allowed her to live within the sect before they had even married.

  "Pei Wu I will let you deal with the transfer of Huli from the guardian sect to the inner sect. I will also let you find a suitable valley. The valley should not be too small; I assume that our dear Pei Yue will bring other wives home with him eventually and his family will flourish. Might as well give him a decent sized valley from the start."

  Pei Wu was the elder in charge of administrative tasks within the sect, and to be asked to take care of this personally, one could see just how important it was for the patriarch that the task was done correctly.

  Another thing which pointed towards this dowry being insanely alluring was the fact that Huli was offered a decent size valley, even though it was only her living there for now.

  The bigger the valley, the more respect the family gained from the other families. By giving her a decent sized valley, it was clear that he wanted to show that her rank was not low. This coupled with her cultivation base and the fact that she was the fiance of a third generation descendant of the Great Roc altogether would give her immense status in the sect.

  "Well then, let’s get to it shall we?" the patriarch sighed as he waved his hand. A table which had been standing at the site suddenly flew in front of him. He placed it on the ground after which he placed the leather bag on top of it.

  "I know you are all curious about this dowry, and I can say for certain that it is the most outstanding dowry we have ever seen before."

  The patriarch reached into the bag and took out around ten thousand small stones. These stones were all dark blue with what seemed to be a black mist within them.

  "There are ten thousand soul stones!" he started, and everyone sucked in a cold breath of air. The only ones who were not impressed were Hui Yue and Huli.

  Hui Yue was unimpressed because he had no idea what soul stones were, but even if he did, he knew Huli. She would never give away much of her wealth. If she had given away ten thousand, it meant she had at least a million.

  The next thing he took out were jade vials, and as he opened them, medicinal pills fell out. The Alchemist God had crafted all of them, they knew this because his symbol had been placed on them to prove their origin.

  When they saw this, the ones who had already been shocked, now had their eyes popping out of their heads. Their hearts leaped in their chest, and all of them were gobsmacked unable to say anything. There were at least a thousand pills created by the Alchemist God on the table!

  One had to know that just one pill created by the Alchemist God was incredibly rare, but having a thousand of them in one go was the same as if meat pies were falling from the sky.

  As if this were not enough, the patriarch reached into the bag once more and took out three scrolls. These scrolls each contained an Ancestral Worldpower Skill.

  Each of these three things were already more than plenty to marry into the sect. The Celestial Sword Sect would even marry a cripple into the family for just one of these three, but here Huli was, giving all three to be allowed to marry Hui Yue.

  "You said my dowry had to suit his talent, so honestly I feel that it is still somewhat lacking, but it is all I could take out," Huli said apologetically, but Hui Yue knew she was bluffing.

  Everyone had already gone numb to the surprises brought by Huli, and no one, not even the ones who opposed Hui Yue, wanted to oppose this marriage. Getting all of these things from the dowry would be of enormous benefit to the sect.

  Having so many pills created by the Alchemist God meant that this young woman had some sort of connection with him even though he had gone missing for many years and no one knew if he was still alive. If he had a relationship with this woman, this would be an amazing chance!

  No matter how they looked at it, having Hui Yue marry Huli was of great benefit to the Celestial Sword Sect, and every elder gave their blessing. Many even placed Huli in the same position as Hui Yue in their hearts. She was stronger than him and had many redeeming qualities. She had brought so much wealth to their sect for something as little as a marriage, and she even brought connections that they could benefit from later on.

  "Everyone, we seem to have reached an agreement. We are done for the day. Miss Huli follow Elder Pei Wu to be settled in the inner sect and Pei Yue you can follow along. Dear brother, you better prepare an engagement ceremony, your only son is getting engaged! I expect it to be grand!"

  Hearing his words everyone knew that it was a dismissal, so they started flooding out of the hall, back into the sect. The patriarch had not told them not to talk about the dowry given by Huli, and thus everyone was discussing it with traces of shock in their voices.

  Hui Yue and Huli found elder Pei Wu who was supposed to deal with settling Huli in the sect.

  Huli held Hui Yue's hand as they moved. She was not nestled against his side as she usually did, but she still refused to let go of him completely.

  Outside of the main hall, many disciples of the Celestial Sword Sect's inner sect had gathered in curiosity wondering what had happened inside. They had heard the name of someone unfamiliar being introduced, and whenever someone unfamiliar was brought into the family, it meant changes to the entire sect.

  Everyone noticed Hui Yue straight away. He was a shooting star within the sect, and everyone would notice him wherever he went with his dazzling appearance. Now they noticed that someone was holding his hand, and this someone was an otherworldly beauty.

  She was not a pure fairy-like beauty, but instead a mature, alluring beauty which would make men go wild for her and women jealous. She had an aura of power about her, and everyone, men and women alike, were stunned the moment they saw her.

  This woman clearly had some connection with Hui Yue, but these inner sect disciples had a poor relationship with Hui Yue. They had no way of asking who she was. Instead, they all made a mental note to ask their elders a few questions about her.

  Hui Yue and Huli paid no attention to the many stares they were receiving. They simply followed Pei Wu to the administrative building where he quickly wrote a letter. In it, he explained that Huli was to be engaged with a member of the Celestial Sword Sect's inner sect and that she was moving to the inner sect. He quickly sealed the letter then found a clerk telling him to hand it to the leader of the guardian sect that Huli had belonged to.

  Having finished notifying them, the elder quickly found a map and started looking through the many valleys that were located within the inner sect’s mountain range. He found many smaller ones on the outskirts, but he had understood the patriarch's message and quickly skipped past them.

  "We do not have any medium-sized valleys available, but we do have a central valley that is quite decently sized available. It used to belong to a family of the fifth generation, but his entire lineage has thinned so much that they had to migrate to a smaller valley not long ago."

  Personally, this elder felt that it was a waste to give such a large valley to one person, and even Huli and Hui Yue thought the same, b
ut no one said anything. The patriarch had made his decision, and the rest of them wanted to keep the peace, so they just followed his orders.

  "This valley will belong to the family of Pei Yue, third generation descendant of the Great Roc. Father Pei Tian, mother unknown."

  The elder was speaking out loud while he wrote on a piece of paper which he placed on the map. Sighing, he felt relief for finally having finished the task he was entrusted with by the patriarch, and he found another clerk who could lead them towards their new valley.

  "In the future, I will have to enter the Formation Palace again. I need to become a strong formation apprentice before it is time for the Formation Master’s debate. Feel free to do whatever you want in the meantime, just don't cause trouble," Hui Yue smiled, but Huli shook her head. "I'll accompany you," She said decisively with a smile. She had finally gotten into the sect; there was no way she was going to leave Hui Yue's side.

  As Hui Yue and Huli entered the valley, rumors of Huli and Hui Yue's engagement spread through the sect like wildfire, and at the same time, people seemed to understand that her dowry was special.

  Everyone was shocked that Hui Yue, the young genius, was suddenly engaged, but even more so when they heard that Huli had given over the biggest dowry the Celestial Sword Sect had ever seen. Even more astonishing was when they were told which valley Hui Yue and his fiance had been given. Lastly, when most saw Huli and her strength, everyone was simply numb. This was all too much. She was simply too much of an alluring beauty and too powerful!

  Chapter 621 - Killing the Assassin

  * * *

  Chapter 621: Killing the Assassin

  While everyone was focused on Huli and her dowry, Pei Ziqi had not forgotten about the assassin, and when Hui Yue and all the other elders had left, she stayed behind to converse with the patriarch about the problem.

  "Kill him," was the patriarch's only order as he looked at the bound assassin. "Make sure that his soul is shattered so that he will never again cause trouble for us, the Celestial Sword Sect."

  Pei Ziqi looked at the patriarch surprised for a moment but then nodded her head. She said no more, but it was clear that the order had confused her.

  Seeing the young-looking woman acting like this, the patriarch sighed, "You want to know why I would allow him to die an easy death instead of trying to make him tell us who is behind this?" he asked as if he had read Pei Ziqi's mind.

  Startled, the woman nodded her head. She had indeed wondered why they did not try to dig deeper into who had done this. They could even try to search his soul and get clues as to who had sent him.

  "It’s simple," the patriarch said with a sigh. "This person is a demon. Even if someone from our sect wished to attack, they would not have used a demon. It has to be someone else, perhaps someone from Diyu who wishes to get rid of the new Judge of Hell."

  "Someone who is so blatantly going against Yanluo will have been incredibly careful," he continued. "We can try and soul search him, but the chances of finding anything are minuscule, and using the Soulsearch formation is quite taxing. Only Pei Bai is capable of doing so, and right now he is fully focused on Hui Yue's advancement for the Formation Master's debate."

  "But Lord Patriarch, if someone is trying to kill Pei Yue, then we are in a bad situation. He is one of our geniuses, losing him will not only cause friction between Diyu and the Celestial Sword Sect, but it will also affect our future accomplishments!"

  Hearing this, the patriarch chuckled, "I know, but first they have to kill our little Pei Yue. He has some abilities he has still not displayed, and he has that frightening fox by his side. If my guess is correct, then she is at least as strong as myself... With such a guardian by his side, do you think that he is so easily killed?"

  "Whoever wants him dead will send more assassins in the future, some might be stronger than this one, however, no matter how strong they are, they will never be as strong as his fiance. Such an expert will not step in unless it is of enormous benefit. Although Pei Yue is in possession of quite a few very nice treasures, experts of our caliber know that killing him would provoke the ire of Yanluo, the strongest expert in the galaxy. Nobody at our level is stupid enough to provoke that monster."

  Pei Ziqi was shocked. She understood that the patriarch was not wrong, but to simply not care just because a strong God was protecting him seemed a little too carefree.

  Still, although she was shocked, she was not about to say anything. The patriarch had made his decision, and she would respect it. Although she was strong, she would follow her patriarch’s commands.

  As Pei Ziqi got ready to leave, she picked up the bound assassin and left the main hall. She then moved towards a lonely mountaintop.

  This mountaintop was a forbidden area in the inner sect. It contained the sect's detention facility, but it also had multiple beasts living here as well. Pei Ziqi did not waste any time as she broke the neck of the bound demon, and afterwards, she gripped his soul as it tried to flee. She then shattered it after which she threw the body to one of the beasts who merrily accepted the snack.

  While every elder had forgotten all about this shadowy assassin in the midst of all the astonishment from the dowry that Huli presented, Hui Yue had not forgotten about him. Hui Yue was certain that since Pei Ziqi had brought the assassin, he would end up dead. He was not worried. Entering the mountain range, his fate was already sealed.

  Instead, he was currently happily introducing Huli to his father. Pei Tian was smiling brightly as he looked at Huli. He was ecstatic that his son had managed to find such an amazing woman.

  "I need to return to the Formation Palace," Hui Yue said as he looked at the setting sun. He had been given a day to deal with his friends in the City of Endless Clouds, but many things had happened today instead. Despite everything that had occurred, Hui Yue did not try to come up with excuses for staying away from training. After talking with his father, he went straight to the Formation Palace with Huli in tow. It was clear that she was going to follow him wherever he went from now on.

  "Oh, the rich fiance!" Pei Bai's voice resounded through the hall of the Formation Palace as Hui Yue and Huli went through the front door.

  Pei Bei looked at Huli with polite curiosity, but his main focus was still on Hui Yue. "I found this amazing manual which describes formations very well, why don't you try and read through it?" Pei Bai asked as he handed it over to Hui Yue.

  "While I was looking through my formations I also found these four which rely on eighty or fewer seals. All of them have a fire nature which will benefit you greatly!"

  "I also found one that works with your dao of devouring, and I found five formations that can be increased in power with your dao of the sword."

  Pei Bai had completely forgotten about Huli and passed the formations one after another over to Hui Yue as he introduced them. Glancing at them briefly, Hui Yue found that all of them could greatly benefit him, and normally if he wanted them, he would have had to pay a significant amount of Worldpower Stones or contribution points.

  Because of this Formation Master's debate, Hui Yue understood that he was receiving special guidance from this elder and he was very grateful for it. He made up his mind to do his very best in the debate to win honor for the sect which did not spare any resources for his comprehension of formations.

  Huli looked at Hui Yue as they moved through corridor after corridor and room after room until they finally reached the rooms that Hui Yue had been using.

  "You will stay here for the next month. In a month we can go visit everyone in the City of Endless Clouds again, but for now, you should focus on cultivation!" Pei Bai was not going to tell him that he could not meet his friends, but he knew that every day counted when it came to increasing his comprehension of the Formations.

  Hui Yue, having already planned this with Pei Bai, nodded his head. "Huli will stay by my side while I train," he told the young-looking elder who just shrugged his shoulders, clearly not really caring either way. He
then left Hui Yue to study the many formations he had given him moments before.

  Seeing Hui Yue so focused on the formations, Huli knew that now would not be a good time to interrupt Hui Yue, so instead, she transformed into a small black fox. She moved to the bed where she curled up into a small ball and started relaxing.

  Although it looked as if she was asleep, her eyes never once closed. They were staring at Hui Yue while keeping an eye out for everything that was happening around them.

  The days continued like before. Hui Yue did not leave the Formation Palace, all he did was compress seals, practice various formations, and practice his control over multiple formations at once.

  His training was varied as he practiced many formations at the same time and he was constantly learning new formations which he merged with his daos.

  As a Formation Master one’s skills in formations did not have much to do with one's cultivation level or comprehension of the dao, but being able to use one’s daos to boost the power of formations did indeed make them quite formidable.