Blue Phoenix

Hui Yue and his friends waited for what seemed like a couple of hours before the woman returned. She brought with her a large stack of papers and a friendly smile was on her face.

“Dear esteemed guests,” She started and her voice caused Hui Yue to be slightly apprehensive. Why was she being this friendly to someone who did not belong to the Dragon Corps? However, before he had the time to think about it, the woman continued, “Perhaps I can convince you to stay within our Dragon Corps compound. We have a luxurious small residence with a courtyard where you will fit in perfectly. You are welcome to stay for as long as you are within our magnificent city.”

“Not only that,” She continued her face smiling brightly as she gave one benefit after another which stunned the group of cultivators. “Finally, if you chose to stay here then you will be given an A rank clearance and allowed to experience the Dragon Core in any way you wish.”

Hearing that they were even willing to give them an A rank clearance shocked all six of them. They already understood how important a B rank clearance had been to them, however, now it could be raised to A rank.

Thinking about this a gentle smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face. He nodded his head, contrary to what his friends believed he would do.

Hui Yue was not lured by the prospects rewards, nor did he want the A rank clearance to tour the Dragon Core, instead, he remembered the promise he made with Lan Feng. A promise to see what was happening to all the Laws who had been abducted by the Dragon Corps; something which seemed to have been going on for years now.

Hui Yue, for good reasons, could not tell his friends why he suddenly chose to stay at the Dragon Corps’ headquarters, but, fortunately, none of them asked. Everyone just accepted the decision he made.

As soon as Hui Yue nodded his head, it seemed as though everything happened at once. The group was instantly brought to a big house in a quiet area. The house was big enough to be occupied by over hundred men, however, only six people entered through the guarded doors something which caused Hui Yue to chuckle slightly.

As soon as they had entered the house another servant appeared who changed their B ranked emblem to an A ranked emblem. This took less than a minute, however, the usage of this A ranked emblem was enough for Hui Yue to feel truly excited. As long as he possessed this emblem he had access to almost anywhere, and his goal of finding the Laws was no longer far away.

As the woman and the servants left the house, everyone looked towards Hui Yue waiting for an explanation. Their original plan was to hand in the mission and find a way to escape the dungeons, a way to return to the world above.

“Relax,” Hui Yue said while he laughed, “With this A ranked emblem we should be able to quickly find the exit,” He explained while he took the time to look around. “Not only the exit, with this emblem we should be able to figure out what is happening with these Laws.”

“The laws have been around since the dungeon was created by the four divine beasts. It is only natural that they matter to Lan Feng,” He continued. Xu Piao and Xie Lan were both confused as to why the expert who had a merged soul with Hui Yue cared about some laws; however, they said nothing as their opinion did not matter too much anyways.

“He wants us to find and determine what is happening with the Laws,” A golden gleam appeared in his ice-blue eyes and his lips curled upwards in a grin. He continued, “He has allowed us to act as we see fit, use any means necessary, and should a battle occur then he has promised me I can use all the Wu Wei he has been painstakingly refining during our time here within the Dungeons of the Divine.”

Seeing the smile on Hui Yue’s face, along with hearing the words the young man said, all his friends could not help but heave a heavy sigh of relief before they all started smiling as well.

“We might have the upper hand because everyone will underestimate us, but I am unable to say exactly how much battle prowess I can provide; so we should think of other means to achieve our goals besides brute force if possible,” Hui Yue said his face finally serious.

“For now, let’s rest a few days to recover from traveling. Then we can start looking through the entire area for any leads. Afterwards, we can look for the exit,” Hui Yue said as he finished looking around.

Having said what he wanted to say, Hui Yue spoke no more, instead, he picked a room within the massive residence and sat down in meditation. He allowed himself to become one with his surroundings, to feel the essence through the heavens and the earth, and to start refining it into Qi and spiritual energy.

Watching Hui Yue, his friends did the same, and after only a short moment the entire house was as quiet as it was before they had arrived. No sounds could be heard, but energy ripples kept flooding outward from the house displaying that someone truly was within.

….

“I have been ordered to exterminate the friends of this white-haired boy,” A voice sounded out from beneath a cloak. The man who spoke seemed to be ancient, his body crooked and his voice low and hoarse.

“Commander, I understand your position,” He said once more before he turned around and started leaving the room. “I understand your position, but I am on a mission and no one will stop me from completing it,” He muttered as he walked out and closed the door behind him.

Sighing deeply, the commander could do nothing but look at the man as he closed the door and walked away.

Outside the room, his crooked back suddenly seemed to untwist itself. The previous feeling of being ancient vanished and instead a feeling of power emanated forth.

A cloak was covering the man, however, had he taken it off then a face with a scar would have appeared. Showing that this was the exact same assassin that previously attempted to clear out the soldiers in the caravan heading for the Thousand Rivers’ academy.

By his side a small cat moved its tail, meowing as it looked at its master. Dashing stripes could be seen all over its body and it looked nothing like the monster which had followed the man previously.

Paying the cat no attention, Scarface made his way through the various routes and grounds of the Dragon Corp’s headquarters before he finally arrived next to a house which seemed to be his destination.

This house was the one at which Hui Yue and his friends were currently resting, meditating, and allowing for ripples of energy to flow out.

Looking at the gate, his face twisted in annoyance as he saw the vigilant guards by the entrance, not to mention the patrolling guards who were constantly on the lookout in the residential area.

Seeing the patrols, Scarface moved swiftly like he belonged within the residential area, and he managed to reach the back of the building without anyone paying close attention to him.

The walls surrounding the place were five metres tall. So tall that humans would normally have a rough time making it over. But the little cat by his side soon changed into the large beast from before, a beast who was easily capable of jumping past the walls into the perimeter of the house. Even with Scarface on its back, it jumped with ease.

Landing on the grass no sounds could be heard, and the tiger once more shrunk in size turning into an adorable kitten. Scarface slowly crept closer and closer towards the house, deeply satisfied as he felt the rippling energy.

For him, it was beneficial if the group was focused on cultivating. The more focused they were, the more they would become one with the elements around them; making them less able to notice him approaching.

The house was massive, big enough to house hundreds of people at once, which also meant that there were entrances into the house from all sides.

Abusing this, Scarface could not help but chuckle at his own luck as he noticed that the whole staff section of the castle was completely empty.

Usually, when new resident entered houses such as this, multiple servants would be bustling around doing their very best to accommodate the guests. Here though not one servant was visible. Clearly the group decided not to accept any servants and just had them bring food three times a day.

Thinking about this, Scarface could do nothing to stop the smile which was creeping onto his face as he slowly made his way further and further into the house. The kitten following behind him.

Scarface was as quiet as a mouse while walking around the residence. His eyes steeled on finding the weakest friends first. He was aware that just one sound would expose him, so a sneak attack was his only option.

At the same time, he knew that he had to be careful. Although he was strong, even incredibly strong for someone his rank, he also knew that if the two King ranked experts fought against him he would be done for. Even if he relied on his kitten to help.

Everyone who had heard about Scarface was certain that he was a King ranked expert. He had previously killed King ranked experts and he was highly valued within the Dragon Corps, however, this was not the truth. The truth was that Scarface was only a Duke ranked expert. An expert who was capable of fighting others at his level or even above his rank. He had managed to get rid of King ranked experts before with the use of clever tactics, ambushes, and decisive attacks; something most were unaware of.

He knew that if he ran into one of the King ranked experts without being prepared, it would end in his own death. Despite all of that, he still kept advancing within the house until he finally made his way towards the corridor where the group of people were currently cultivating.

Sensing all the people, Scarface smirked as he positioned himself in one of the shadows of the corridor. The cat was on his shoulder and both of them were completely silent, merged with the shadows and impossible to sense.

Waiting like this, one moment took another, minutes went by and now he had spent an hour lying in wait.

Most people would wait for maybe a few moments before growing tired, whereas this man was used to waiting. As time went by the smirk on his face grew larger and larger. He was more excited and thrilled the longer he waited, and eventually one of the doors opened and a youngster stepped out.

At first, his face was filled with extreme bliss and expectations, however, as he noticed whom the person was, his face grew ugly to behold.

In front of him was none other than Hui Yue, the white-haired young man who was moving towards his location. Scarface now had a hard choice to make.

His first option was killing Hui Yue which would make him fail his mission; so such a thing was not possible.

Secondly, he could wait and do nothing. Wait and hope that the younger man was incapable of sensing him, incapable of locating him.

Lastly, there was the option of attacking. He could render the young man unconscious; however, he needed to be certain of his power. If he used too much force the man would die, and if he used too little he would not manage to knock him unconscious then he would alert the others.

Gritting his teeth, Scarface watched the white-haired young man draw closer. He needed to make a decision fast.