Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  "This world is one of the few worlds in the galaxy which has exclusive herbs, and that is because of its unique environment."

  "Many come here to search for these herbs, and due to these herbs, the world is actually very rich! But although it is rich, how can it compare to our Celestial Sword Sect?" Pei Bai laughed as he shook his head.

  "Even so, do not look down on the Heavenly Dragon Gate. They are aiming to become stronger than they are now. They are always wanting to take over the spot as one of the highest ranked sects in the galaxy."

  "But you do not need to worry about this now," Pei Bai laughed again. "All you need to worry about is to do your very best at the Formation Master's debate. It will begin in a few days so let us rush to the location they have prepared!"

  Chapter 625 - Dragon's Peak

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  Chater 625: Dragon's Peak

  The place they arrived at within the Heavenly Dragon Gate’s World was a barren land. There was nothing but fields filled with snow as far as the eye could see, and there were no trees or other plants in the fields. There were not even traces of animals; it was the most desolate place Hui Yue had ever seen.

  Although they were in the middle of nowhere, Pei Bai knew exactly where they were. He started flying towards the eastern horizon at a speed that was neither too fast nor too slow.

  Pei Bai and Hui Yue were surrounded by a hundred guards, and Huli was nestled comfortably in Hui Yue's arms, so the entire trip had been peaceful. Now that they had arrived at their destined world, Hui Yue could not imagine that anything would go wrong.

  It did not take them long to leave behind the barren, desolate snow fields behind and arrive at a more populated area. They saw multiple beasts and mortal villages on their way.

  To be a mortal in this kind of environment, one truly had to be very hardy. There was no way to farm like one normally would here. There was no way to get food other than hunting beasts or selling snow herbs at the markets. Every type of grain or other items needed to be brought to this world from the outside.

  Still, this world was one of the richest worlds in the entire galaxy exactly because of the herbs that grew in this world, and even these poor mortals were capable of living a decent life, albeit one surrounded by the cold, harsh environment.

  "We will need to travel for a few days to reach the location," Pei Bai said as the group continued their advance, and Hui Yue nodded his head.

  The group did not rest; they flew forward hour after hour and day after day. They came across immortal cities, mortal kingdoms, and fields filled with rare herbs. They passed taigas, lone mountains, mountain ranges, and deep valleys.

  Everything they saw was white. Snow covered the entire world, and soon, Hui Yue saw that the lands he had previously seen as barren were actually not. There were many animals hiding within the snow, many plants masked by the white world. Everything was white on these animals even their fur and scales.

  "We are almost there," Pei Bai suddenly said as Hui Yue was busy looking at a small animal in the snow. It looked like a fanged rabbit with a scaled tail. He had never before seen or heard of such an animal, and he was astounded when he saw it, so astounded that he almost missed what Pei Bai was telling him.

  Raising his head and looking in the distance, he saw a massive lone mountain rising to the heavens. It seemed endless as it was at least ten thousand meters wide and the entire peak was hidden in the clouds above.

  "Like the Celestial Sword Sect has the City of Endless Clouds this Heavenly Dragon Gate also has a place where they entertain outsiders and deal with everything that has to do with the sect and the outside world."

  Hui Yue nodded his head as he looked at the mountain with great interest. Most cities were placed on flat ground with big walls surrounding them, but this city was built on the mountain side. Even the trees had been removed to make space for buildings. Marketplaces were carved into the mountainside, and some bigger markets were also inside hollowed out caves in the mountain.

  Reaching the foot of the mountain, Hui Yue, Pei Bai, Huli, and the guards all entered through a tightly guarded gate, and as soon as they did, Pei Bai turned to look at the guards.

  "This time you can all spend doing what you want. I will contact you when the debate is over. Do not get into fights; this city’s rules are the same as the City of Endless Clouds, fighting is forbidden."

  Throwing a bag to the leader of the group, Pei Bai gestured for Hui Yue and Huli to follow him. The bag contained Worldpower Stones that would pay for their stay at this mountainside city.

  "This city is known as the Heavenly Gate, the same name as the mountain itself. This mountain is the highest point within the entire Heavenly Dragon Gate's World; it is even bigger than the mountains of the main sect."

  "Regarding size, this city is bigger than the City of Endless Clouds because of the sheer size of the mountain, but it is not as populated. It has a branch of the black marketplace as well, and if you have time, you should go and buy some materials. Because of these special herbs, many valuable things are for sale in this world, and you should buy some of the herbs here. You can sell them for much more in the City of Endless Clouds if you have no use for them yourself."

  "Elder Bai, I am an alchemist alongside being a formation master," Hui Yue said with a smile on his face, "I haven't spent much time on alchemy since I became a God but I believe that I will need the herbs later. I will definitely make sure to enter the black marketplace later on and buy some herbs!"

  Pei Bai was at first surprised to hear that Hui Yue was an alchemist as well but he quickly laughed at his lack of foresight. Hui Yue had great talent in formations, but did that necessarily mean that it was his only outstanding point? He had shocked so many experts over and over again, being an alchemist was truly not all that shocking.

  "I hate this mountain," Pei Bai complained as he moved further and further up the mountaintop, his feet moving one step at a time, but each step covered a whole kilometer. He was not rushing, but he was not going slow either.

  "This mountain is quite tall and getting to the Dragon's Peak, the Heavenly Dragon Gate’s pagoda, takes quite a long time. As you could probably guess from its name, it is at the very peak of the mountain."

  Truthfully the walk towards the peak was not slow, but this mountain was exceptionally big, and it would take at least a couple of hours to reach the peak, even if they had walked at a rather fast pace.

  Reaching the peak, Hui Yue saw a pagoda that looked very similar to the pagoda in the City of Endless Clouds; the pagoda was not taller nor shorter than the one in City of Endless Clouds, but completely identical!

  "Everyone of the major sects has a pagoda that looks the same," Pei Bai explained. "By having them similar, we are not going to fight each other by seeing who can make the tallest pagoda, who can adorn it specially and so on."

  "By making them similar, we avoid conflicts, so since long ago, they have looked the same. Anyway, let us not waste more time, let’s go and size up the competition."

  Hui Yue just nodded his head as he squeezed Huli’s arm. He would be lying if he said that he was not slightly nervous and curious as to who this talented formation expert of the Heavenly Dragon Gate was. He wanted to know if there was a chance that he could defeat him.

  Just as they were about to enter the pagoda, a group of Immortals of Creation ended up surrounding them their faces were menacing and their auras threatening.

  "Who do you think you are? Trying to enter our Dragon's Peak just like this? It is currently an important time with guests from all over coming to our sect. Who are you to think you can enter?"

  Pei Bai sighed and seemed as if he was used to people being ignorant in front of him. He flipped his hand, and a token appeared in his palm. On this token was a big star and next to the star was the emblem of the Celestial Sword Sect, a set of celestial wings with a sword in between.

  Looking at this emblem for some time, Hui Yue frowned. The Celestial Sword Sect… Why was th
e sect named as such? The sect member were descendants of the Great Roc, and he had never before heard about a celestial sword, but here it was, in their name.

  "I should ask Pei Bai or father later," Hui Yue mumbled to himself, but he quickly placed it in the back of his mind. Right now, the most important thing was the Formation Master's debate.

  "I see, you are the delegation from the Celestial Sword Sect," the guard said as he saw the token, but his face showed no respect, in fact, he looked rather gloating as he observed Hui Yue.

  Seeing this expression and his lack of respect Hui Yue frowned but said nothing. Displaying his strength was the way to prove that he was not one to be looked down upon, and the only way to make them understand would be to simply defeat all of the experts in the competition.

  "The sects usually bring more than one member of the younger generation with them when they come to the Formation Master's debate, but I decided to put all my expectations on you alone. The other youngsters are simply not talented enough and would just have brought shame to us."

  Pei Bai was unhappy as he remembered the many previous debates. Although the Celestial Sword Sect was one of the strongest sects in the galaxy, they had always ranked at the bottom in these debates, but this year things were different! This year they had Hui Yue!

  Ignoring the guards, Pei Bai and Hui Yue walked into the pagoda. On the inside was a counter with a young lady who saw that Hui Yue and Pei Bai appeared.

  "Young masters are here for the Formation Master's debate?" she asked shocked as she looked at the two of them. It was natural to be surprised since one of them had to be a Formation Master, yet both of them looked rather young, and thus it was hard to imagine that one of them really was such a mighty figure.

  This woman paid much more respect to Hui Yue and Pei Bai than the others had done, and she personally stood up and guided them to the seventh floor.

  This floor was one massive room, and a lot of experts had already appeared. At least thirty were already there, amongst which seven were Formation Masters, and the rest were formation apprentices.

  "Introducing Pei Bai and Pei Yue of the Celestial Sword Sect," the woman's voice resounded through the room before she bowed and returned to the counter on the first floor.

  "Pei Bai! To think you would show up again after the disgrace of last time. Although you are one of the most talented Formation Masters in the galaxy, your sects younger generation just happens to not have a lot of Formation Masters. Where did you find this poor lad? He was not with you last time; he couldn’t be below even a hundred seals, could he?"

  The voice of a Formation Master came closer and closer as an elderly man stepped forward and looked at Pei Bai without any kind of friendly emotions on his face. He sent a glance to Hui Yue but ended up sneering.

  It was clear that he did not put Hui Yue in his eyes, but surprisingly enough, neither Pei Bai nor Hui Yue seemed to care. Pei Bai picked his ear and shrugged his shoulders; a complete carefree expression was present on his face before he took Hui Yue to one of the walls and observed the rest of the room.

  "Don't care about what anyone says. Just defeat them all one after another and bring fame to the Celestial Sword Sect!" Pei Bai smiled a sinister smile. It was clear that the last debate had truly gone horribly for him.

  Chapter 626 - Arrival at the Debate

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  Chapter 626: Arrival at the Debate

  Hui Yue smiled at Pei Bai's words. He was truly going to give it his all, but he was worried that perhaps he had not prepared enough. It seemed that all the other sects had two or three youngsters with them, but the Celestial Sword Sect had bet everything on him, someone who had not even gone through a full year of studying formations.

  "Young man, you seem new. Could you perhaps introduce yourself? I did not know that there was a young man like yourself within the Celestial Sword Sect."

  The speaker was an old man from the Heavenly Dragon Gate, and he was genuinely curious. He was a Formation Master, but even so, he kept abreast of rumors in the outside world. He had heard before about a young man who had created waves in both Diyu and the Celestial Sword Sect World, and he could not help but wonder if this person was the one.

  "I am Pei Yue," Hui Yue introduced himself with the name that the patriarch had given him. "I am indeed a new member of the Celestial Sword Sect."

  "You are the Second King of Hell?!" someone from the side exclaimed, unable to pretend that he did not eavesdrop on the conversation. These youngsters were all members of the younger generation, and they all knew that the one known as Pei Yue was the strongest when it came to pure strength amongst them. He was a King of Hell, and now he had shown up at their Formation Master’s debate. Was he some multitalented monster that could do anything?

  "That is me," Hui Yue nodded his head. There was no reason to try and hide his background as everyone would know about it sooner or later, but he still wanted to remain humble. "I was lucky in the trials and emerged victorious."

  Everyone sucked in a big breath of air. Hui Yue had been an ordinary expert before, but now he was someone they all, even the Formation Masters, acknowledged as a real threat.

  "Do forgive me for being rude," a gentle and amused voice suddenly sounded from the corner of the room, and everyone turned to look at the one who was speaking.

  "That is the genius of the Heavenly Dragon Gate," Pei Bai mumbled by Hui Yue's side who nodded his head slightly to show he had heard what was said. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the speaking youth.

  "Although you are an esteemed guest, could it be that you have been chosen to show off?" he asked in a jokingly manner, his words causing Hui Yue and Huli to both feel rage inside, but Hui Yue restrained his anger and held Huli back.

  "I am sorry I do not understand what you mean," Hui Yue said in a cold voice which showed no respect, but everyone understood why he was so cold. This genius had indeed gone a bit too far with his words.

  "What I mean is that the Celestial Sword Sect has been doing badly in the Formation Master's debate the last couple times. Could it be that they have given up and simply wish to awe us with your prestige? Giving up by bringing someone who only knows brute strength into this sacred debate?"

  Hearing his words Hui Yue snorted, "You think that I am here because we have given up on the debate?" he asked slowly before he suddenly started laughing out loud, surprising everyone present.

  "You are known to be a genius, are you feeling threatened? You are supposed to be the host yet you are slandering your guests in front of so many people. Is this how the Heavenly Dragon Gate receives guests?"

  Hui Yue's voice contained mockery, and he shook his head, "Whether or not I know formations, you could have kept your mouth shut and seen for yourself when it was time for the debate to begin. Have you not considered that I might be a skilled formation apprentice and that you would end up looking stupid by speaking out like this?"

  Every word was direct and harsh, but no one could say anything against him. It was indeed the Heavenly Dragon Gate who had started it, and what made it even worse was that they were the hosts. His actions were in now way proper.

  The old weasel felt sweat appear on his forehead. Hui Yue was not someone easily insulted. Although the Celestial Sword Sect had been doing badly in the Formation Master's debates recently, they were still no pushovers, and even worse, he was also backed by Diyu! Diyu was the strongest and most mysterious of all the sects, and to be backed by both of them it was clear that he was not someone they could afford to make their enemy.

  "Ah, sorry to have offended you. I just couldn’t believe that you would be talented in both cultivation, dao comprehension, and formations. Such a talent is simply peerless and impossible to come across. Are you sure that you are a member of the younger generation? You look just like your elder Pei Bai over there?"

  As he spoke, the smile on his face vanished and was replaced by a frosty expression instead. It was clear that he felt some enmity towards Hui Y
ue, but Hui Yue was not able to say what had transpired between them to cause such hate to flourish.

  The old man from the Heavenly Dragon Gate, the man who was referred to as the old weasel, noticed what was going on too late. He was unsure of how to mediate between the two sides as things were now.

  It was clear that Hui Yue had not felt any hostility against the youth from the Heavenly Dragon's Gate at the very start, but as things had developed, it would be weird if he were to just step back. He had repeatedly been insulted by this genius, and there had not been any reason for it.

  Looking at the old weasel, Hui Yue sighed and prepared to take a step back. However, he was sure that he wanted to have the final say and opened his mouth, "I understand that you are threatened. It is not easy to be a genius, but have some faith in your own skills rather than blaming me for your inability."