Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  "Before we begin I would like to invite everyone to impart their own formation to the stage to reinforce it as much as possible," the Old Weasel said with a smile. Afterwards every elder stepped forward to view and reinforce the stage’s formation.

  Countless seals flashed through the air, and different seals started forming different formations one after another. All of these formations were defensive, stationary formations but not one of them was the same as the other formations being formed or already present.

  Hui Yue recognized the one that Pei Bai had used. It was clearly the same as the formation that was protecting the Celestial Sword Sect, yet when he looked closer at it, he saw that there were slight differences between the two formations.

  Soon every one of them had fortified the stage and the actual display begun. Every elder gave it their all, and the students all stood underneath the stage. Some were barely breathing because they were filled with so much excitement as they watched everything that happened on stage.

  Everyone understood just how important this opportunity was for them and even Gao Li was not arrogant, but instead, he was rather quiet as he observed the fights on stage with a serious expression on his face.

  These elders were indeed amazing. Their display was in no way disappointing, and the formations they displayed varied from ten seals to nine hundred seals each. All the formations were followed by spectacular summons of creatures and natural phenomena.

  Some called forth natural disasters; others summoned primordial beasts. Some copied ancient legends and others imitated epic Overlords. There was no shortage of what these formations could do, but although they were all spectacular, Hui Yue soon understood that they were spectacular because of the number of seals needed to control them. Even if he went up against them with his three suns, his suns would be instantly shattered apart.

  One after another these elders displayed their prowess, and soon the top ten were found. There were fewer Elders than youngsters and thus it did not take as long for them to decide on a top ten, but the final two had still not been decided.

  Watching the stage, Hui Yue could not help but clench his hands as he looked at Pei Bai with expectation. Pei Bai had been a truly talented genius when it came to formations, but not many such geniuses were born in the Celestial Sword Sect, so he had had to live with this shame time and time again during the Formation Master's debate from their sect doing poorly. When he was young the older generation did poorly, now that he became older it was always the younger generation that had had issues at performing well at the debate.

  Now Hui Yue had won face for Pei Bai, and he saw a carefree expression on the Elder's face. This was an expression he had not seen during the time they had trained together. It was clear that he was so satisfied that he truly did not care about his own performance. He was so proud that to him being second was okay.

  "Old man, do your best!" Hui Yue suddenly yelled out, but at the same time Gao Li also yelled, "Don't lose face for our Heavenly Dragon Gate!"

  The two geniuses looked at one another, but instead of jumping at each other's throat, a knowing smile spread on their lips. They no longer had any enmity against the other. They had dealt with it on stage, and now it could be said that they understood the other much better.

  Their battle had ended for now, but who was to say that in the future these two would not become like the Old Weasel and Pei Bai?

  Thinking like this, both of them wished for their own elder to do good and prove that their sect was indeed the best when it came to formations!

  Chapter 633 - True Battle

  * * *

  Chapter 633: True Battle

  Pei Bai looked at the Old Weasel with a grin on his face. He felt liberated as he remembered how Hui Yue had won the Formation Master's debate for the younger generation. He no longer felt that he was the only one who was shouldering the fate of the Celestial Sword Sect's fame.

  Feeling liberated, Pei Bai was calm and not the least bit tense. He only focused on the fight in front of him, and it was relaxing for him.

  He waved his hand, and over nine hundred seals appeared around him shining brightly like small flowers.

  "Should I go all out from the very start?" he mumbled to himself but shook his head. Although it was possible for him to increase the amount of seals he could control all the way up to a thousand seals, this was one of his secret techniques that not many knew. Displaying it would undoubtedly allow him to win, but he would also show some thing he would prefer to keep a secret.

  Pei Bai was not Hui Yue. Pei Bai only used formations to fight. He knew some daos and could fight a little, but if he had to fight for his life, formations were what he would rely on.

  As the many seals swirled around Pei Bai, the Old Weasel did not wait and also released his seals. All of them were in the shape of small pearls, and they shone brightly in the dim light of the Heavenly Dragon Gate's World.

  "Haha, you Old Weasel you better try your best!" Pei Bai declared as five hundred seals sprung to life and formed an array. Soulforce poured into it and it quickly took shape.

  This five hundred seals formation was simply outstanding. Hui Yue knew it as the Nether Tempest, one of the more dangerous formations of the Celestial Sword Sect.

  But Pei Bai was not done. While he created this Nether Tempest, the weather of the entire stage started raging. The winds blew fiercely, and in the wind, thousands of small wind blades were hidden.

  Larger wind blades were being formed as a ten seal Wind Blade formation was created. This caused twenty larger wind blades to appear in the strong tempest. Ten of them surrounded Pei Bai and made a defensive array around him while ten others loomed above the head of the Old Weasel who was shocked that Pei Bai had gone straight for a five hundred seal formation.

  "Damn, savage!" The weasel yelled out as he felt how the wind was pulling him in and how the wind blades were whirling around him threatening to cut him but not doing so yet.

  "Why not pretend we are like the younger generation and actually have a real match? We could display our formations time and time again and find a winner that way, but why not spice it up and finally let go? Let’s fight like we used to!"

  Pei Bai had let go of all the things holding him back. His robes fluttered domineeringly in the wind together with his long black hair. His youthful face was filled with a big, excited grin.

  The Old Weasel looked at Pei Bai with shock at first, but his eyes became focused after a few seconds. His mouth curled up into a grin, and suddenly the over nine hundred seals around his body started flashing and creating formations.

  "Bring it on!" the Old Weasel yelled as he relentlessly poured his soulforce into the formations. Snow fell from the sky and laid gently on the ground. The snow that had fallen started gathering like snakes on the ground and coiled towards Pei Bai who used wind blades to slash them to pieces.

  Every time a snow snake had been slashed, it would reattach itself to another thick layer of snow that continuously fell from the heavens above, and Pei Bai felt how he was being pushed back.

  These snow formations were truly dreadful. If one did not control a strong fire formation to melt the snow, then it would be almost impossible to defeat these Snow Snakes.

  "Haha, this is brilliant!" Pei Bai exclaimed suddenly as an intense heat rose alongside four suns while the big wind blades he had formed before disappeared.

  Unlike Hui Yue's four suns, these were many times bigger. They instantly flew into the sky rather than staying around Pei Bai to protect him.

  As they flew into the air, every bit of snow that came anywhere near them melted and instantly turned to water. Soon the entire stage was filled with a torrential rain which blew around everywhere from the tempest.

  Neither Pei Bai nor the Old Weasel had moved an inch since the battle started, but their faces had turned more and more energetic. Their eyes shone clearer and clearer, and their lips could not help but curl into smiles.

  They were giving it their b
est. They were fighting one another as equals and feeling invigorated. Anyone who watched the battle felt their spirits roused. They felt their soulforce stir and watched these two masters battle with all their focus in the hopes of gaining even a little enlightenment.

  At first Hui Yue and Gao Li wanted their respective elder to win and gain honor for themselves and their sects, but after seeing this start of the battle, both of them had long since given up on those thoughts. Instead, they were fully immersed in watching this fight.

  Everyone benefitted from watching this kind of battle, but no one benefitted more than these two geniuses. They were familiar with the two elders and their fighting methods so to see them fight giving it their all... This was something neither of them had ever seen before.

  This was because although Gao Li had participated in other Formation Master's debates, these two had never fought as they were now. Usually, they would display one formation at a time and continue in such a manner. This was a way to fully display their formations, but the formation's true might could only be seen in such a fight as this one.

  For Gao Li and Hui Yue, it was as if a cover had been pulled away from their eyes; they suddenly understood that formations could be used in ways they had never expected before.

  Some formations could support other formations and increase their ability to deal damage. To use a formation to increase the power of another formation, this was truly creative methods!

  This was obvious to see in how Pei Bai had used the Nether Tempest formation and the Wind Blades together. The Nether Tempest did create around a thousand wind blades hidden within the tempest, but when he then created the Wind Blades formation, a simple ten seal formation, which was boosted to unbelievable heights from the change in the weather that the Nether Tempest formation had brought with it.

  It was the same with the Old Weasel. He had made it snow to constantly repair his snow snakes ensuring that he could gain the upper hand against Pei Bai and his wind formations.

  If Pei Bai had not learned the Ten Suns formation, it was likely that he would have lost to the Old Weasel already. This was not a display of formations, but a direct battle and Pei Bai truly had been disadvantaged in this aspect.

  However, this was no longer the case. Although he had not been able to create more than four suns, these four suns were enough to suppress the Old Weasel, and he was forced to dispel the snowing formations and the snow snakes that he had summoned previously.

  "Let it be water then!" the old weasel roared out as his soulforce gushed out of his body in waves that entered the compressed seals. The seals burst forward with a shining light as a six hundred seals formation appeared.

  A sea was created by the formation and the waves crashed towards a calm Pei Bai who stood completely still.

  Pei Bai raised an arm, and the four suns rose even further into the air to ensure that they did not get drowned by the wave. As the wave approached the tempest with the thousand small wind blades it suddenly acted up.

  The tempest which had filled the entire stage suddenly shrunk and covered only Pei Bai. His entire body was covered with wind and wind blades, and it carried him into the air. In but a few moments he stood on top of the cyclone.

  The waves came crashing down, and the cyclone started shaking. The thousands of wind blades cut through the water and helped the cyclone sustain its position but only just barely.

  "Is that all you have?!" Pei Bai taunted while laughing madly, his arms crossed over his chest, and the Old Weasel could not help but smile and shake his head.

  "This is indeed harder than a normal debate," he said regrettably. "It has been so long since I last had a true fight, I have forgotten that my body almost cannot handle it."

  Although he said this, the Old Weasel had a great smile on his face, and he shook his head. "I am not going to show you any of my best moves. This is as far as I will go therefore let’s end today's match; I concede."

  Hearing this, everyone suddenly breathed out. The fight had been extremely brief. Only a few minutes had passed, but every minute had been so intense that even Hui Yue felt that his head was exploding from all the new, important information he had learned.

  The old weasel was exhausted, but even so, he still did his best to serve as the host of the event. He smiled gently at everyone as he adjusted the clothes on his body and spread his arms, "This was indeed a shocking turn of events. I am sure you have all benefitted greatly from watching our fight. Even though the debates have come to an end, there is no reason to rush to leave our Heavenly Dragon Gate's World. Return to your courtyards and meditate on the enlightenment you have gained. When you feel ready to leave, we will gladly say goodbye. Until then let us do our best to learn from one another!"

  "Also, let me congratulate the Celestial Sword Sect for winning first place in both the young and the elder generation Formation Master's debate."

  The old man was clearly not bitter with his loss. If anything he felt that he had gained much and he was filled with eagerness to improve so that in their next fight, he would be able to do much better.

  "We have grown old, old man," Pei Bai sighed as he looked at the Old Weasel and shook his head, "But if you ever wish to train again, you and your young genius are welcome to come to our Celestial Sword Sect as many times as you wish. There might also be a chance for a few more sparring matches now that we are already here; I am sure we would all benefit from them."

  Hearing this, everyone present was shocked, but then suddenly they exclaimed in surprise. It was true that they were here so why only fight for the debate? Why not try to improve their performance and understanding by training with other experts?

  Even Hui Yue, Gao Li, and the old expert were shocked by Pei Bai's suggestion but moments after Hui Yue and Gao Li looked at one another. Smiles spread on their faces, and they quickly nodded to one another. They rushed to the stage where Pei Bai and the Old Weasel had just fought. Seeing such a magnificent display of the formations arts caused them to want to fight themselves!

  The fight ended like the first one, Hui Yue won, but his victory was less assured than it had been previously. Gao Li had started out with the Flight of the Valkyrie and used a Spacelock formation to stun Hui Yue, interrupting him when he tried to summon his Ten Suns.

  Still, both were filled with happiness as the fight ended. Pei Bai and Hui Yue returned to their courtyard to digest the things they had learned and comprehended during the fights.

  Days went by where Pei Bai and the Old Weasel would fight time and time again, and every time they finished, Hui Yue and Gao Li would fight. Slowly everyone apart from the Celestial Sword Sect had left the Heavenly Dragon Gate's World, but even so, Hui Yue and Gao Li lingered behind.

  Chapter 634 - Pill of Clarity Returns

  * * *

  Chapter 634: Pill of Clarity Returns

  Pei Bai and Hui Yue stayed at the pagoda in Dragon's Peak for a full month dueling day after day and discussing night after night. During this time they formed a great friendship with the other sect.

  Although Gao Li was unable to deal with Hui Yue and his Ten Suns formation, he still became more and more ferocious in their fights. Now, he would, without a doubt, be a headache for anyone who did not have such a violent fire formation under their control.

  While the two were busy understanding formations and increasing their understanding of how to best use these formations in combat, Pei Bai and the Old Weasel were constantly switching between winning and losing against the other. Their strength was simply too similar.

  During this month, Gao Li had started learning other formations than just snow-related ones. He had seen from the Old Weasel that if his snow melted, then it would be a good idea to be proficient in water formations that could also fight fire formations.

  Although Gao Li had started learning these formations, he had not managed to gain mastery over them just yet. For this reason, he could struggle for longer, but he could still not defeat Hui Yue.

  Finally
, the day arrived when they could no longer linger around in the Heavenly Dragon Gate's World, and it was about time for Hui Yue and Pei Bai to return to the Celestial Sword Sect.

  "I will visit you," Gao Li promised as he already thought of Hui Yue as one of his good friends. A friend who might not value the same things as Hui Yue, but they were both interested in the formation arts and were able to have heated discussions and friendly battles.

  "I look forward to seeing you," Hui Yue nodded and said seriously. He had benefited greatly from the many battles with Gao Li and watching the fights between their teachers.

  He had also managed to compress a full thirty-seven seals during the month, and his speed of advancement had shocked both Gao Li, the Weasel, and Pei Bai.

  Hui Yue was aware that the reason he was still doing as well as he was, was because of his soul being incredibly powerful and having an outstanding amount of soulforce.