Blue Phoenix

“What the f*ck was that?!” Zhou Long slammed his fist into the table, his eyes flashed with anger and his previously friendly features were nowhere to be seen.

In front of him were five men, the five men who had previously won the tournament. “But sir,” The leader opened his mouth, an indignant expression on his face, “He was a necromancer. If we allowed for him to touch us we would have died.”

“Then die!” Zhou Long continued, anger clearly evident by his expression. “I said you could kill the others, but touching the white-haired boy was not permitted! We received a message from headquarters that he is sacred! That he is needed by one of the great generals!”

The more Zhou Long thought about it the angrier he became. He planned it perfectly. He had ordered the group to kill some of Hui Yue’s companions, but that elemental flame would have seriously injured the man he was supposed to protect.

A sigh escaped Zhou Long as he closed his eyes pinching the back of his nose. Sitting still for a moment, the five men in front of him were all quiet none of them daring to move even the slightest, let alone speak.

“Don’t mess up when we go for the Demon Dwelling Beast. I was told to get rid of his followers and make sure he stays in the Dragon Corps until his lordship, the Frozen General, comes to collect him. If you mess this up, it is your lives which are on the line.”

Having said that, Zhou Long waved his hand dismissively and without waiting for further instructions the group of five rushed out the door leaving Zhou Long alone within the office.

Opening his eyes, Zhou Long sighed once more as he picked up a memory stone from his desk and placed it to his forehead. A light shone as he put it to his forehead and pictures of Hui Yue appeared along with a written message, ‘Stranger with unknown origins. If a group of four appears in your cave, make sure to check their background. If the group contains this man make sure to guide him to headquarters. Killing his companions will give an increased reward.’

Looking out the window, Zhou Long had a small smile on his face as he stood up and walked out from within his office while whistling a cheerful song.

….

Hui Yue was seated in meditation as he suddenly felt danger appearing right by his side.His eyes shot open, only to see that Zhou Long was seated by his side with a friendly smile on his face as if he did not notice the frantic expression on Hui Yue’s face.

Narrowing his eyes, Hui Yue was once more convinced that Zhou Long truly had no intention of harming him, still his friendliness was in some ways even more terrifying than those with open enmity. Enmity was something which could spring from nothing, but friendliness was something one usually had to earn first.

“You made a good decision at the tournament,” Zhou Long said with a big smile on his face “That elemental flame was definitely a nasty ability, if you had not stepped off the stage, who knows what would have happened. But those soul shadow wolves were definitely quite impressive in their own right!”

Listening to Zhou Long, Hui Yue could not help but feel that something was definitely not right, but he said nothing as he listened only to the words of the man from the Dragon Corps.

Zhou Long was dangerous. He was definitely stronger than both Xie Lan and Xu Piao. In many ways his strength was similar to Lan Feng, and although Hui Yue knew it was unlikely that Zhou Long was as strong as Lan Feng, he could not be far behind.

Lan Feng was Hui Yue’s hidden trump card. He was the strength Hui Yue would never display if he had his way, and it was also the reason that he dared to follow Zhou Long towards the Demon Dwelling Beast.

Should the worst happen, then he would have to rely on Lan Feng and Deng Wu on Little Dragon. If the four of them worked together, then it was highly likely that they could get rid of Zhou Long, however it was only his assessment. It relied on how much Wu Wei Lan Feng had managed to refine and the phoenix completely refused to answer any questions which Hui Yue asked.

In general Lan Feng was not talking to Hui Yue unless it was important. For the most part he sat down in a deep trance within the dantian cave, a golden light emitted from his soul as he withdrew both spiritual energy from the spiritual energy sea and Qi from the Qi swirl.

With an sigh, Hui Yue put a smile on his face as he looked at Zhou Long, but he vigilantly kept his senses at an all-time high.

“No reason to be so worried,” Zhou Long said as he looked at Hui Yue. His face was all smiles and even an apologetic expression was evident on his face. His eyes genuinely curious as he observed Hui Yue waking up from his deep meditation.

“Let me tell you a secret,” Zhou Long continued, “The masked men were actually my men, but they were not supposed to have used that elemental flame. That is an attack which is reserved for life-threatening situations and considering you had not killed anyone before, I was certain that you would not have killed my men either. I thoroughly scolded them and they apologized deeply!”

Hui Yue laughed a friendly quiet laugh, “Do not worry,” he assured Zhou Long, “It was our defeat. In the end your men were stronger than us, they deserved to win.”

Hearing Hui Yue taking it lightly, a genuine smile appeared on Zhou Long’s face and gratitude was seen in his eyes. It was obvious that the older man had feared that Hui Yue would go against him, or no longer wanting to join the team when they went to slay the Demon Dwelling Beast.

Worrying about that Zhou Long could not help but ask him, “You are still interested in joining us for the hunt later on right?”. A small worry could be seen within his eyes, and Hui Yue was once more assured that this man wished to build a friendship with him, but once again no reason was apparent causing even more doubt to arise within Hui Yue’s heart. Something odd was going on for sure.

“We will gladly join the hunt,” Hui Yue said smiling and a slight excitement shining in his eyes, “My friends are looking forward to this hunt. It is quite astonishing that we were so lucky as to arrive in this cave just as the legendary beast which the cave is named for is about to wake up.”

“If you don’t mind, I would like to invite Guild Master Xu Piao and his attendant Xie Lan? We are good friends and it would truly be wonderful to have more people helping.” Hui Yue continued speaking, his face not revealing even the slightest bit of hesitation nor worry.

Seeing that Hui Yue wished to bring the Guild Master Zhou Long was slightly taken aback, but he quickly collected his thoughts and both him and Hui Yue were smiling at each other. One trying his best to be friendly while the other tried his best to gain even the slightest hint as to what Zhou Long was up to.

“Of course it would be our honor to have the Guild Master and his attendant join us,” Zhou Long said after a few moments of consideration, “Both are experts of the upper dantian, they will be a great asset to our hunt.”

Hearing the answer, Hui Yue breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that Zhou Long had hesitated,just for a slight moment, this was enough to see that Xu Piao had not informed Zhou Long about him causing his suspicions to be raised even more.

Smiling at each other Zhou Long finally stood up and with a polite nod walked towards the exit , leaving behind a contemplating Hui Yue.

….

Zhong Fai was seated within the frozen castle, a rare smile was evident upon his face. In front of him was a crusader who was kowtowing.

The crusader arrived earlier, bringing with him a memory stone which was the reason for Zhong Fai’s good mood. Placing the memory stone on his forehead, he once more saw the recording of Hui Yue’s appearance being revealed during the tournament.

The smile on Zhong Fai’s face grew larger as he once more watched the recording, completely ignoring the man on the ground.

Only one crusader had returned, while the others were still stuck within the underground world. Ensuring that every cave got the memo had taken a lot more time than expected. Despite this Zhong Fai did not care how much his followers had to rush about, as long as he got what he wanted there was nothing else he cared about. His year long hunt had finally come to an end.

Musing to himself laughter rung out through the quiet frozen castle as Zhong Fai placed the memory stone within his pocket, dismissing the crusader who had been kowtowing the whole time.

….

The next few days went by in a flash as Hui Yue and his friends spent all their time preparing for the hunt. Xu Piao was no longer residing within the Guild Master’s office, instead he spent the majority of his time in the same courtyard as Hui Yue and his friends.

Seeing Xu Piao and Xie Lan sparring against each other, Hui Yue understood perfectly well the sheer gap in power between them. Wu Wei was like nothing else he knew. It did not rely on the elements nor did it rely on Qi. It fully relied on the balance one found and their ability to merge with the world.

The profoundness contained in Wu Wei was not something Hui Yue spent a lot of time looking into because he himself had no way of producing the energy. Instead he focused on analyzing the spiritual energy that filled up his spiritual energy sea.

Knowing that Xu Piao and Zhou Long had nothing to do with each other, Hui Yue was doing his best to befriend Xu Piao, just as he did everything to befriend Hui Yue. Their friendship was built on mutual understanding.

While Xu Piao was befriending Hui Yue for the sake of perhaps one day entering the outside world, Hui Yue befriended the former for the sake of having two King ranked experts protecting his back. Should Zhou Long suddenly change his opinion and no longer wished to be so friendly.

Xie Lan was the only one within the courtyard who was unhappy with the way things were progressing. At first she had felt as if she had let Xu Piao down, since he had lent her to ensure their win, but in the end she did absolutely nothing for their sake.

This feeling of letting down her master was one she had a hard time swallowing, and every time she looked at Hui Yue she was reminded of her failure, causing the beautiful girl to constantly frown.

Xu Piao had long since told her that it was fine that they did not win, especially since it seemed as though Hui Yue was not bothered at all. Although he wanted to win first place he was fine with second, as their residence and food were paid by the Mercenary Guild, money was no longer an issue for the group.

Although winning did not matter to Hui Yue. He did spend his beast cores to buy weapons and hopefully the rest of their fortune would last them until they once again were in a tunnel.

Another thing which made Hui Yue more complacent was the fact that he was going to assist the Dragon Corps in getting rid of the demon. A beast so great that the entire cave was named after it was surely enormous and filled with treasures. Even if the Dragon Corps took its beast core, Hui Yue was certain that they would get their share of bones, meat, and fur. Maybe even some horns or feathers. Believing so, wealth was currently no issue for Hui Yue and his friends.