Blue Phoenix

The return to Muchuan City was smooth, and no problems occurred. The three experts traveled together at a steady pace, neither rushed nor took their time on the return trip. During their trip Cou Ling and Fang Wei both asked Hui Yue countless questions about what it was like to be a high ranked expert at such a young age, and although the majority of the questions caused Hui Yue to laugh, he still answered them to the best of his ability.

Reaching Cou Ling’s smithy, Hui Yue waved his hand and was about to leave when Cou Ling suddenly spoke, “Wait for a second,” She said as she looked down, her fingers fidgeting with a memory stone. “I heard that you are currently looking for people to support you within this city of ours…” She continued hesitantly as her eyes raised from the ground to look at Hui Yue questioningly.

Hui Yue was taken aback, but he showed none of his feelings on the surface as he nodded his head quizzically at the woman. “I do indeed need friends here in town. I currently have a few, but I need more to improve my strength and help my word carry more power.”

Deep inside, Hui Yue’s heart started beating rapidly as he hoped that Cou Ling was bringing up the subject for the sake of helping him in the future. Having the best spiritual blacksmith in Muchuan City supporting him would definitely help his words carry far more authority.

“Why did you make a faction of your own?” Cou Ling asked curiously as she timidly looked at Hui Yue, uncertain whether or not the young man in front of her would answer her question. Even though she wanted to know, she was not surprised when she saw the young man shake his head apologetically. “I have some things I need to deal with in the capital, and I can only do so if my word carries enough strength.” He said apologetically, and Cou Ling nodded her head absentmindedly.

A tranquil atmosphere developed between the three acquaintances, and it was a comfortable silence that none of them felt like breaking, but after some time, Hui Yue decided that it was time to leave. Nodding to Cou Ling, he felt slightly disappointed that she had not decided to assist him, but he had been gone for some time and needed to return to the mansion to hear what had happened while he had been away.

“If possible, I would like to support you in the future if you wouldn’t mind.” She said with a quiet voice as she looked at him. Her entire being was hesitant but when hearing the words a great smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face.

“I’ve already told you that I cannot go into detail about the goals of our group. Are you sure that staying by my side is what you want to do?” He asked gently as he turned back and looked at the spiritual blacksmith behind him. A gentle smile was present on his lips; a smile which caused Cou Ling’s legs to almost melt. A red hue appeared on her face, and even her ears burned as she mumbled with a low voice, “Seeing you fight and your strength, I am sure that following you will be a good decision. Even if I don’t know what you seek to accomplish, it does not matter much. Zhan Weisheng’s aim is to improve the conditions we work under. Although that is great, it has been years since anything has changed and I feel like by following you there might be mutual benefits.” She continued. The red hue had subsided, and her eyes were clear and direct as she looked at Hui Yue. She made her decision, and she was not going to change it.

A gentle smile slowly spread on Hui Yue’s lips, and he nodded his head. “I would be more than honored to have the assistance of the most skilled spiritual blacksmith in town.” He said, and deep inside he was cheering loudly; he needed someone as skilled as this woman to support him. Up till now everyone who supported him were just his friends, yet this woman was someone whom he had no former relationship with and after only a few days, she was already willing to support him. This was something which greatly satisfied Hui Yue.

“I need to return now and see if anything happened while I was out,” Hui Yue said enthusiastically to the young woman. “I will come back soon to talk about what your support means to me. I do not expect your support me without giving you anything in return, but I need to speak with the Ma family first.”

Hearing this Cou Ling nodded her head, and without saying anything more, she looked at the young man who turned his back before he slowly left the smithy, not looking back even once.

Seeing the back of the young man disappear, the woman heaved a heavy sigh as she had mixed emotions stirring within. On one hand, she was happy that the young man had left because her feelings were impossible to control when he was around, but although she was happy he had left, she had also felt pain in her chest as she watched him leave her with no words whatsoever.

Fang Wei, who noticed the complex emotions on Cou Ling’s face, said nothing but a grin appeared on his lips as he silently left the from of the shop and rushed into the smithy. He brought the fire to life which was a process that took quite some time. He knew that now when Cou Ling was distracted by her thoughts and emotions the way for her to avoid her feelings was to focus her full attention on forging.

While Cou Ling and Fang Wei focused solely on their job, Hui Yue was happily returning to his mansion to hear if he had missed out on anything in the days he had been gone.

He felt that the last few days had been incredibly beneficial to him. He had managed to get his sword restored to even better than original condition. He had managed to practice fighting with his sword against the arrogant young master Jing and his men, and not only this, he had managed to get the best spiritual blacksmith in town on his side. No one would be able to say that this was not a couple of usefully spent days.

The guards were polite and bowed deeply the moment their employer appeared, none of them saying anything. Moving slowly he entered the house only to see that it was completely empty. The only living thing within sight was a maid who came walking down the stairs with her arms full of laundry.

Sighing, Hui Yue wondered where everyone was, but he came to the conclusion that they most likely were in their rooms cultivating, out dealing with their own issues, or simply was busy elsewhere.

The first thing Hui Yue did was to rush towards Cai Jie’s room. Although he did not assume that the young man was home, he still wanted to find out. As he arrived at the room, his suspicions were confirmed.

Seeing this all Hui Yue did was shrugging his shoulders before he rushed to Xu Piao’s room and saw that the older man was inside. The moment he saw Hui Yue a smile formed on his lips, and he instantly stopped cultivating. Xu Piao was incredibly grateful towards Hui Yue for giving meaning to his life once more, giving him a goal in life to once more be together with his beloved. Because of this, he had sworn to help Hui Yue with anything he might need help with in the future.

“Do you need any help?” He asked the moment he saw Hui Yue. Although he spent all his time cultivating, Xu Piao knew that this newfound hope came from Hui Yue, and as a result, he was always willing to do anything for this friend of his. Even if it meant traveling to hell and back.

“I am looking for someone who can tell me what has happened these past few days I’ve been gone,” Hui Yue sighed as he looked around but although Xu Piao heard the request all he could do was shake his head.

“I have been within my room for a week straight now. I’m afraid I know even less than you of what has been going on.”

“Yeah don’t worry about it,” Hui Yue said as he waved his hand at Xu Piao. “Be careful, though,” He continued with a warning, “You need to ensure that you balance your Yin and Yang energies perfectly. If you have too much Yang, it will be impossible for you to advance to the next rank, and eventually, it will halt your cultivation and force you to stay at the rank you are now.”

This was the reason why even Hui Yue did not spend all his time training. If he did, his energies would be unbalanced which would make it much harder for him to advance. He was definitely not willing to do this so during the day his body would naturally absorb and refine Yang energy, yet it was done at a slower pace than if he was cultivating, and during the night he would cultivate with his full focus on absorbing as much Yin energy as was possible. Although he was a genius for having already reached the King rank, Hui Yue was far from satisfied. Having met creatures such as Wan Qiao and the Frozen General, he knew just how weak he really was and how much he need to train.

“I know,” Xu Piao replied with a pained expression on his face. “Although I wish I could cultivate all the time, I’m aware that this is impossible. I will not jeopardize my chance to advance don’t worry. Soon I will become an Emperor.” Hearing this, a smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face as he said his goodbyes and left the room. Hesitating slightly, Hui Yue went to another room and knocked on the door.

This door was one he had visited countless times the last week, yet no matter how many times he visited, not even once had it opened. By now he was wondering if the person whom this room belonged to would ever return. Once again nothing but silence could be heard, and a sigh escaped Hui Yue’s lips as he turned around and to leave.

Just as he turned around, he heard a clicking sound and the door slowly opened. It revealed an outstandingly beautiful snake-woman. Her body was as alluring as ever, and her eyes mesmerizing and bright. Looking at this woman, even someone like Hui Yue could not help but swallow his saliva in astonishment.

His daze did not last long as a giant grin appeared on his face. “Sha Yun!” He called out excitedly, “Where have you been? I have been so insanely worried about you. Are you okay? Have you found new friends? Is it because of me?” Questions rained down on the snake-woman who was standing there completely at a loss about which question she should answer first, but looking at the young man in front of her, and seeing the excited expression on his face, a warmth spread through her body and a gentle smile appeared on her lips.

“Come inside,” She offered as she moved to the side, and Hui Yue quickly slipped into the room curious about what exactly his good friend had been doing these last many weeks.