Blue Phoenix

The week went by quickly. While waiting for the auction to start, Hui Yue was immersed in understanding and comprehending the dao of inferno while Huli was by his side. She constantly shielded him with Ancestral Worldpower so that the uncontrollable flame did not burn everything around them.

Soon it was the day for the auction to start, and Hui Yue woke from his meditation. He took a quick shower and changed his clothes as he felt that it was a good idea to take a break. The only thing he was thinking about was the dao of inferno. His mind was struggling against the chaotic energy which threatened to take over his mind, making him become one with the dao of inferno. He had to think about something different before he went insane from constantly studying the dao of inferno.

Hui Yue glanced out the window, and all he could think about was the loss of Wang Ju Long. Whenever he was not training he would see her smile in his mind; he would relive the last moments of her life and feel utterly powerless. He felt so useless as she was killed in front of him.

Seeing the pained expression on Hui Yue's face, Huli felt sadness deep within. She stepped forward reached out her hand and took Hui Yue's hand in her own before squeezing it gently.

Her sad expression was quickly hidden and replaced with a smile on her face. She hid her real emotions as she did not want to let Hui Yue see her sad as well. She did not want him to feel even more sadness from her side as well.

Feeling a warm hand squeezing him, Hui Yue returned to reality. The picture of Wang Ju Long vanished from his mind, but the pain in his heart was no less.

"Sorry," Hui Yue said with a sad smile on his face as he squeezed Huli's hand back. "Let us go and see what the city has to offer."

Nodding her head, Huli quickly led Hui Yue out of the inn, and together they entered the busy street.

Humans and beasts were walking side by side, traveled together, and in some places were split into groups. All the beasts were moving in human shape but many of them had either ears, tails, or other marks which made it clear to others that they were beasts. As for whether or not they intentionally displayed their beastly sides, Hui Yue did not know, but he was very curious about it.

"You can see that some group of beasts have a few humans amongst them? Watch out, just like humans can have beasts enslaved, beasts can also enslave humans." Huli whispered to Hui Yue, "there are many slave markets where you can buy both humans and beasts alike, but you can only become a slave if you have a slave bond on you."

"To become a slave, you have to have an extraordinary debt that you never paid. This could be money, materials or other things. As a rule of thumb never borrow anything from anyone, and never owe favors to people you don’t know," Huli warned Hui Yue who listened seriously to what was said while nodding his head. He could not afford to become someone's slave.

"Don't worry too much about these things," Huli said with a smile on her face and a squeeze of Hui Yue's hand. "I will kill anyone who wants to make you a slave, but it is always best to be careful."

Hui Yue did not doubt Huli and agreed with her. There was no reason for the two of them to even end up in such a situation.

"Where do you want to go?" Huli asked gently changing the subject from something she felt that Hui Yue disliked, to something different. "We still have a few hours before the auction starts so we can walk through town and see a few shops or just observe the different architecture in the city."

Hui Yue looked around him and contemplated. "I don't need to buy anything right now," he said. "But you have constantly been by my side every day, patiently waiting for me to finish my training, not to mention helping me with my chaotic inferno flames.”

"Why don't I take you out for dinner?" He asked with a gentle smile on his face. The two of them had never really had the time to just enjoy each other's company as they had always been busy doing training or running from one dangerous place after another, so now Hui Yue wished to reward Huli. But as he was not used to doing this sort of thing, all he could come up with was eating together with her.

Huli could easily guess Hui Yue's intentions, and she could feel his care behind his actions. As she felt this, her heart warmed and nodded her head. "Let’s go eat together!" She exclaimed. Grabbing Hui Yue's hand, she led the young man towards a restaurant just next to where they were standing.

Before entering the two looked at the menu that was hung on the wall outside and Hui Yue raised an eyebrow in surprise. Although it was relatively expensive to buy food here, he had quite a few Worldpower Stones to spend, and he could afford to buy Huli whatever she wanted to eat.

Together the two entered the restaurant. Looking around he found that many Gods had already entered, and the majority were stronger than Hui Yue. He could feel their aura was fiercer than his and the strength behind them was similar to what he could feel from Huli.

As they entered most people completely ignored them, but a good-looking young man came to seat them at a table and handed them the menu.

'How barbaric,' Lan Feng's voice sounded out from within Hui Yue when he saw that there was phoenix on the menu. Lan Feng had not spoken for a long time, causing Hui Yue to be surprised when he heard the bird’s voice. Hui Yue was not the only one who had been training hard, Lan Feng had also been fully focused on comprehending the dao, and for him, he was focused on the dao of ignition and the dao of flame. His gains were in no way smaller than Hui Yue's as he was born from flames and had been using them for thousands of years. His understanding of this dao was not small, and thus he had almost comprehended the full dao of flame.

'Don't worry, I won't order phoenix,' Hui Yue assured Lan Feng before he returned to the menu and finally decided on the eight-legged crocodile.

The eight-legged crocodile was a creature he had never heard of before, but after seeing the different names on the menu, he quickly decided that this was the safest choice.

Lan Feng, satisfied that Hui Yue had not chosen the phoenix, instantly returned to meditating on the dao. Hui Yue did not stop him, as the more insights Lan Feng had, the more Hui Yue's strength would soar. Their souls were merged and thus everything Lan Feng could control, Hui Yue could equally control. If Lan Feng managed to comprehend the entire dao of flame, then Hui Yue would be able to control two full dao paths. If he could then understand the dao of inferno, then his strength would soar. At that time he would be someone that others would have to watch out for.

Although Hui Yue knew this, he was realistic. It was possible that Lan Feng would fully comprehend the dao of ignition and the dao of flame before the trials began, but he highly doubted that he would be able to fully comprehend the dao of inferno by then. Still, he was not going to give up, and he would work his hardest.

"I wonder if I should order the phoenix," Huli said casually, and Hui Yue's face turned pale. "Please don't," he pleaded. "No phoenix for either of us or I fear that Lan Feng will be upset and refuse to cultivate."

Hearing the seriousness in Hui Yue’s voice, Huli just laughed. "Don't worry, I was joking," she giggled with a hand covering her mouth. She knew about Lan Feng and Hui Yue's relationship, and therefore she would never make it uncomfortable for Hui Yue. Though she still felt slightly jealous that this bird was so close to Hui Yue, so she wanted to tease him a little.

"Tell me about your life before we met," Hui Yue said with a smile as he looked at Huli. Huli looked straight back at him with a strange expression on her face.

"Okay..." She said with a small nod of her head. "I was born in a world on the outskirts of this galaxy. I was a simple black nine-tailed fox and lived my life in a forest where I slowly gained strength. Every day I would battle and fight other beasts, sometimes winning and other times losing. I would be injured every day struggling to survive in this terrible dog eat dog world."

"As the days went by I became stronger and as time went on, I would win more and more often. Soon I even had problems finding beasts that were at my level."

"One day I became a Saint ranked beast and took over the position as the king of the forest in my area. Life became quiet, and only occasionally would a few challengers appear, but other than that nothing else happened. Then one day the entire world was overrun by Gods."

"We had no idea about what was happening. There were so many Gods, and they were everywhere. They were searching every bit of land looking for something specific."

"It was during this time that I found a wounded God within my forest, and I don't know why but I took him home with me and nursed him back to health. "

"It turned out that he was the person they were all looking for. He had entered the world long ago, as he could no longer flee. Fortunately, no one was able to pinpoint his location because of some secret skill he had used. After finding him, I took him to my hidden cave and looked after him."

"He slowly became stronger and stronger until the day where he no longer needed me to look after him. At that time, I was sad, and I feared that I would be left alone, but contrary to what I thought, he stayed with me. He told me that he would wait for the day that I became a God and together the two of us would venture through the galaxy and even into the vast universe beyond it."

As Huli spoke her eyes shone with longing and it was clear that this was a very important memory for her. Hui Yue felt honored that she trusted him enough to tell him something so important.

"Becoming a God on my own… That was something I truly had no idea how to do. I did not know how to advance from the Saint rank to the God rank but after thousands of years I finally felt the currents of Ancestral Worldpower around me, and after another five hundred years I had finally become a God ranked cultivator."

"During all this time the Gods never left the world. They kept frantically searching, and just as I became a God, they found us. There were so many that the entire sky had turned black. Every single person which had appeared was there for the sake of killing my friend."

"That day, the ground was flooded with blood and even the sky turned red as the sun was crimson. My friend slayed every single God that showed up, but it was too late for him. While fighting, he was severely injured, but even still he seemed happy."

"I still remember how he fell into my arms and with his last words, he told me to live freely. He told me that one day he would return to me and until then I should wander the world, experience everything I could, and live life as a proud God. He told me to never succumb to others. He told me that the ones left behind should never give up on life. That the ones who were left behind had to live all that more brilliantly. It was true that I would cry from time to time when thinking about him, but I knew that for his sake I had to smile, smile to celebrate the love I once received.”