Blue Phoenix

Having slept, Hui Yue awoke not knowing what time it was. He was once more in Youdu where a deep red light illuminated the days and nights.

No matter what time it was, the red light illuminated the city that never slept. Hui Yue was a little disorientated as he awoke, but he felt much better than before.

He sat down with his legs crossed and started meditating. He had not had the time to familiarize himself with his new strength or his major dao of earth.

Now that he sat down, he had the time to calmly go through and review the daos and insights he had learned from the red gem. He could feel the Ancestral Worldpower pulsating within his body, and the dao was ever-present around him.

The world was now much clearer than it was before. He could see further than before, and it was as if there had been a cover over his eyes all this time. All colors were more vibrant, the sounds were clearer, and his ability to hear things further away had also been strengthened. All his senses had been heightened, and his soul had grown much stronger.

Hui Yue’s only problem was that now that he had comprehended the dao of earth, all other daos seemed much more distant to him than they had been before. It was clear that it would take quite a long time for him to comprehend the final daos of the wind, but even so, he was not going to give up.

Lan Feng, who had some of his soul merged with Hui Yue’s and who could draw on the major dao of earth as well, also realized that his ability to sense the fire daos had drastically diminished. Although not as seriously as Hui Yue, he could still feel the change.

This let the two of them understand why it was rare to hear about experts who had successfully comprehended more than one major dao.

Realizing this, Hui Yue also started to understand just how powerful Yanluo truly was. It was clear that he had comprehended more than one major dao, and he had done so without relying on his previous lives, unlike Hui Yue.

‘Well don’t sweat it,’ Lan Feng said with a surprisingly positive attitude. ‘Although you managed to become an Immortal of Creation by merging with the mountain, and although you have gained access to a major dao, you were so close to comprehending the major dao of the wind that you only need a single push to finish comprehending it.’

‘When it is like this, it is also obvious that you will succeed, though it will take you much more time to do so than it would have otherwise.’

‘Although this is the case, can you really complain about it?’ The bird continued. ‘You comprehended a major dao in such a short amount of time just because you merged with the red gem. I will also soon have comprehended the major dao of fire, and by then we will have three major daos to rely on.’

‘Even if we are not as strong as that abnormality, Yanluo, we are still going to be stronger than the majority of all experts and should be able to wander the galaxy without too much trouble.’

Everything Lan Feng said made sense to Hui Yue, and he nodded his head. He opened his mind and felt how he was surrounded by the major dao of earth. He could feel how he was one with it, and although it was a new dao to him, it felt as if it had been a part of him for countless years already.

Having merged with the mountain, he felt much calmer than he had before. But deep within he also felt a longing, a longing to return to the Brilliant Moon Mountain Range and see the mountains he had left behind so many ages ago. The longing was so strong that Hui Yue could not help but acknowledge it.

“When everything has been settled, then I need to see the countless worlds,” Hui Yue said out loud to no one in particular.

“I will see the world from where the blue monk lived his peaceful life. I will see the world where the red wolf hunted. I will see the tribes where the green pearl lived. I wish to see where I lived in all my previous lives. Although thousands of years have gone by, maybe I can recognize something.”

“The only part of me who has already seen where they came from is the Celestial Wings, and to be back where they came from has truly given me a second home. I feel at home in the Celestial Sword Sect, but deep within, I also know that there are other parts of me which wish to return home. I long to see what has become of the worlds I used to live in.”

‘I will follow you,’ Lan Feng said with a smile on his face. ‘When I get my own body, I will still follow you. You and I have unfinished business with An He. Until this is finished, we will be together. Also, we need to find the last two descendants. They were sealed and locked away much like me and Little Dragon. Little Dragon is already a God much like Deng Wu, so he will get his own body whenever you create one for me, but we don’t know what happened to Fierce Tiger and Grumpy Turtle.’

“Fierce Tiger and Grumpy Turtle?” Hui Yue asked shocked, but Lan Feng just shrugged his shoulders. ‘We are all descendants of the Four Divine Beasts. We were given nicknames for our personality though I never much liked the name they gave me.’ He continued, and Hui Yue, who had never heard about this nickname, patiently waited for the bird to continue, but he just ruffled his feathers and said nothing else.

“Maybe Yanluo knows where we can find them,” Hui Yue said, and Lan Feng nodded his head. ‘It’s possible,’ he agreed.

‘Yanluo is an abnormality. He seems to know everything! But while I was able to kill and resurrect you and me, they are unable to do such a thing,’ Lan Feng warned.

‘I gave up all my possible future lives as a phoenix to do what I did, but they are not phoenixes, and thus, they do not possess such an ability.’

‘We were able to help Little Dragon enter Deng Wu because we had the blood of his father the Azure Dragon assisting him, but when Fierce Tiger and Grumpy Turtle were sent away, they never had the chance to get their hands on the blood of their fathers. Therefore, they were unable to merge with the bodies of other humans.’

‘As such, the only thing I can imagine is that they have tried their best to keep quiet for as long as possible. They have been in hiding not allowing for anyone to know that they are sealed within a foreign object. It seems like they can only wait and hope for the object to be broken eventually.’

‘If this were to ever happen then their souls would be free, and they could flee, but if they are not careful, they might end up dead. It’s dangerous to wander around in such a state,’ Lan Feng continued with pained eyes.

‘Although I was never a great friend of the tiger or the turtle, I do consider them my brothers. I truly hope that they are still alive somewhere and that we can rescue them.’

Hui Yue could feel how heartfelt his words were, and he said nothing, just nodded his head.

The two sat still for some time, saying nothing. Hui Yue examined his body and felt that it was incredibly durable. His body alone had become much more powerful than it was previously. The energy that flowed through every cell of his body was purer now, and there was a lot more of it.

The Ancestral Worldpower pool within his core was no longer a small lake but had turned into a raging sea that was constantly on the verge of overflowing.

Closing his eyes, Hui Yue reached out for the daos of wind surrounding him. He had to focus for quite some time before he was able to finally find the dao he had been comprehending before, but now that he had found it, it slowly but steadily entered his mind. It allowed for him to comprehend and meditate on the wonders that the dao contained.

Hui Yue sunk into a state of meditation, and Lan Feng did the same. Both man and phoenix gave it their all to comprehend the daos as they both understood how important it was for them to have enough strength to protect themselves.

Suddenly, knocking sounds could be heard at the door, and Hui Yue who had been deep in meditation opened his eyes. A brilliant ray of light shone out from them as he had just gained a new understanding of certain aspects of the wind, but he had not been able to fully meditate on it, and so sadly it was a failure.

He would have to once more reach the same state of mind as before and then contemplate on the same subject to find the answer, but even so, he was not mad.

While he was interrupted, Lan Feng continued to happily engage in cultivation as Hui Yue went and opened the door.

Outside stood a maid. She was wearing the black uniform like every other maid, but she seemed younger than most. Her face was childlike and her demeanor rather cheeky.

A great smile was on her face as she looked at Hui Yue. Her arms were crossed as she just stared at Hui Yue. At first, Hui Yue expected her to say something, but she just stood there, arms crossed staring at Hui Yue and then suddenly she started giggling.

“Can I help you with anything?” Hui Yue finally asked perplexed, unsure of what was going on. The girl who had been giggling away finally nodded her head.

“I was sent to fetch you,” she said with a youthful voice. Her behavior was not that of a respectful maid, nor was she a demon like all the other maids Hui Yue had seen in the mansion.

But this was Yanluo’s mansion. It was clear that no intruders would be able to enter, yet, still, he was puzzled as he nodded his head and slowly followed behind the young girl.

Hui Yue did not speak as they moved through the mansion but the girl just kept looking at him and giggling.

“I heard that you have a phoenix friend,” she finally said while covering her small mouth with a hand, trying to hide yet another giggle, and Hui Yue who was surprised by her words looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

“I do indeed have a phoenix friend,” he said with a smile. “My best friend and brother is a phoenix, why?”

“Well, father always tells me that phoenixes are the most magnificent species in the galaxy,” she said. “But they are so rare! I only ever met father and myself!” She continued, and by now Hui Yue was confused… This girl was a phoenix?

Probing her cultivation base, he could see that she was a Primordial Immortal and a rather young one at that, but he saw no signs of her being a phoenix. Still, were phoenixes really as rare as she said? He remembered seeing them on a menu long ago in a restaurant, but perhaps they were not genuine phoenixes? Hui Yue was confused but decided to let it be. If she said they were rare, then she was likely to be correct.

“You can’t tell anyone that I told you,” she continued to say while her smile suddenly vanished. “Father will get mad if others know about me, but he was so happy when he told me about you, so I just had to meet you!” she continued and jumped forward and swung out her arms while smiling at him.

“Father told me that your phoenix friend actually performed the ultimate sacrifice to save you and that in return he has been trapped inside of you. One day, I hope I can find someone whom I love and then make such a sacrifice too. Then I can be together with the one I love for eternity!”

Hui Yue smiled at the small girl and patted her head, “I don’t think that is a good idea.” He said to her as he squatted down on the ground so that his eyes were even with hers. “If you sacrifice yourself for someone else, that someone will just be incredibly lonely without you. Even if you can share the same body, that person will miss you a lot. Instead, you should become strong. So strong that no one will ever hurt the ones you love, and then you can live for eternity together.”