Blue Phoenix

The sun shone through the laced curtains, signaling the beginning of a new day. Usually Hui Yue would be up and about at this hour, yet today he was still sound asleep within the comfortable bed at the city inn.

Hui Yue had not been sleeping a lot during the last many weeks as each moment of rest was used on improving his cultivation, causing his body to be exhausted beyond words. Although he had gained much insight and many breakthroughs on this trip, it was important for him to now take the time needed to relax or his body would not be able to take it otherwise.

Small sounds of grumbling and murmur were escaping Hui Yue’s lips as he tried turning around, only to find that it was not possible, as if something held him back. The previously sleeping Hui Yue woke up swiftly only to find out that he truly could not move, yet the reason was nothing like what he had expected.

Around his waist was a long scaled rope tightly tied ensuring that Hui Yue could not move in slightest and behind him he felt a warm sensation of not being alone in the bed. The headache from last night was rapidly making its return as Hui Yue struggled against the tail which was currently restricting his movements.

As Hui Yue was thrashing around, Lan Feng was enjoying the sight and he was chuckling inside, throwing remarks such as: ‘Don’t you want to know whether or not you did it with her last night?’, ‘You sure you don’t want to hear what happened?’, ‘Want information on how to do it? I can help you use this opportune moment.’.

Hui Yue could not stop himself from rolling his eyes at the perverted bird who seemed quite set on having his fun with this scaled woman, yet annoyance was the only feeling which Hui Yue felt.

After thrashing around for awhile, Hui Yue finally managed to wake up Sha Yun. The snake-tail which was holding Hui Yue tightened itself as the beautiful woman stretched, slowly opening her eyes and greeting the new day. A fresh pink was spreading through her cheeks and an expression of complete satisfaction was draped upon her face as she had never slept better in her entire life.

A confused expression appeared on her before so satisfied face as she lifted her tail. Whatever it was she had wrapped it around was slightly heavier than what she had expected, and the confused expression quickly changed to a smile and surprise as she lifted Hui Yue around as if he was a bag of potatoes.

Hui Yue had long since given up trying to get free without wounding Sha Yun, so he allowed for the snake-woman to move him around, especially as he could feel how he was being handled with some sort of care.

“What did you just say?” The manager’s face paled as he heard what Hui Yue had said moments before. “The bathroom has been trashed.” Hui Yue said once more, his expression showing a carelessness unlike any the manager had ever seen before. Before the manager had the time to truly become angry, Hui Yue made a flicker of his hand after which a black coin was visible within his fingers.

Flicking the coin to the manager, Hui Yue said nonchalantly, “I believe this should cover the damage,” before he turned around and walked away, leaving the stunned manager behind.

The coin within his hand was black and round with a square hole in the middle. There were no engravings upon it, nor did it have any metals to counteract the black iron. Instead, a strong fluctuation of pure energy was emitted, causing the manager’s hand to feel slightly warm from just holding this important treasure.

“Such a rich young lord.” The manager mumbled to himself, utterly stunned as he tried to think of which families could have produced such a rich young lord. Although Hui Yue was famous within Riluo City, his fame was spread amongst the higher ranks of the society and almost no commoners nor ordinary shops knew much about him. They had only heard a rumour about a certain student from the Royal Academy being a student of the elusive expert that had visited the city almost a year prior. How could this simple manager have guessed?

There were still a few days until the academy started its second year of lectures and Hui Yue had planned on returning today, yet he was in no rush as he saw how Sha Yun once more enjoyed moving around the marketplace. He was shocked when he caught himself leaning back against a wall smiling happily while watching Sha Yun having fun, much like an owner would while their cat was playing with a new toy that they had bought.

A sigh escaped Hui Yue as he realised that his new friend, or pet, or whatever a magical beast could be considered, but either way, a weird fondness was appearing within his heart since he knew that this person would never be able to harm him. Having someone by his side whom he could trust one hundred percent obviously made him feel less on guard and allowed for him to be friendly without constant doubt or worry.

Hui Yue got somewhat annoyed because he realised that although he felt fond of Sha Yun, the reason he felt this way was not solely because of who she was, but also due to her being someone he could trust. This thought made him frown slightly. Did it mean that he did not truly care about her as a friend, or that he just thought of her like this because she had submitted to him?

While Hui Yue was pondering this question, he suddenly noticed someone moving towards him and the previous doubt was replaced as he smiled and greeted the Rong twins who made their way towards Hui Yue, followed by guards from the marketplace.

This particular market place belonged to the Deng family, and every time someone of high rank would traverse within its borders, the guards would usually follow them to provide safety and service. This was a custom which was used at many places, yet Hui Yue had not gained any favour upon entering as the Deng family knew how highly he valued his secrecy, and those who had seen him had chosen not to inform mere guards about his status.

“We are departing soon.” Rong Xing said smilingly while observing how Rong Ming had rushed next to Sha Yun, trying to assist her in choosing a bracelet. Rong Ming’s face was filled with excitement and a healthy blush was in his cheeks, reminding Hui Yue about the time when he had been courting him.

Those were memories which caused Hui Yue to cringe every time he thought about them, yet right now Hui Yue could not help but feel a little pity for Rong Ming. His first love turned out to be a boy while the next a magical beast.

Later that day, Hui Yue had once more borrowed a magical horse from the City Lord’s mansion and was leaving behind the tall walls of Riluo City, as he and the Rong twins made their way towards the academy.

The distance was one which could be travelled quickly, yet today they took their time, travelling at a leisurely pace as Sha Yun was turning her head right and left, looking everywhere with stunned eyes. The farmed lands and the barren lands were a sight much similar to the ones they had seen while travelling from the Magical Forest to Riluo City, yet at that time the group had hurried to make it in time before the city gates closed. As such today was the first day where she could slowly enjoy the sights and understand just how people outside the forest lived.

Riding next to Sha Yun was Rong Ming who constantly spoke and explained the various sights such as rice fields, watermills, and smaller villages. While the brother was busy with Sha Yun, Rong Xing and Hui Yue finally had the time to talk a little about what their plans were in the future.

The nationwide Royal Academy tournament was about to begin and Rong Xing wished to join. Having fought with her life on the line for three weeks within the Magical Forest, she had learned the value of fighting with others to gain insight in her own abilities.

“Hui Yue!” A voice called from behind, rousing the two youngsters from their conversation and causing them to turn back to see who was arriving. Behind them was a qilin, definitely a proud steed which carried about an air of haughtiness. Clearly this qilin was from the wild, not breed in captivity such as the ones the Rong twins rode.

Seated atop the qilin was Wang Ju Long and behind her was Wang Jingshen coupled with some other youngsters from the Wang family.

“I will catch up at the academy.” Wang Ju Long said to those behind her not allowing them to stay there, they all sighed as they whipped their creatures increasing their speed and rushing towards the academy.

Seeing that a new person had joined the group, Sha Yun had turned her attention towards this new person, yet as soon as their eyes met it seemed as though sparks were igniting.

Like a flash of light, Sha Yun appeared at the side of Hui Yue her tail rattling and a hiss escaping her lips as her eyes shone with a silvery light, glaring towards Wang Ju Long.

Wang Ju Long in turn snorted in disdain as she saw this shadow moving. Although she was quick, Wang Ju Long did not doubt that her Qi Lightning skill would be able to win again this odd human shaped beast.

Wang Ju Long was not dumb. It was easy to see that this female beast’s eyes were silvery, the sign of having undergone a beast pledge as such she was currently under the control of one of these three, and the way she was protecting Hui Yue made it obvious for the former to guess just who this snake-woman belonged to.

“Why did you go tame a worm?” Wang Ju Long asked with disdain evident within her eyes as she looked at the snake-woman she had called a worm in contempt.

At this point all the magical creatures had stopped moving, and they were all gathered in a group. Hui Yue was about to open his mouth to defend Sha Yun, but before he had the chance to do so, a loud growling sound appeared from within the snake-woman’s throat as she started slamming her tail into the ground, clearly getting ready to show who was the superior of the two of them. By instinct Sha Yun disliked Wang Ju Long and the other shared these feelings.

“You think a beast like you has the right to show off in front of me?” Wang Ju Long said in contempt, as she dismounted her qilin and ordered it to stay put, waiting for her.

Growling and hissing sounds kept emerging from the furious Sha Yun who was only holding herself back due to the fact that she had already guessed that Hui Yue was friendly with this rude person.

Hui Yue looked with disbelief at the scene which was unfolding in front of him, and he could not help but give an exasperating laughter before he shook his head.

“If the two of you wish to spar, then I will not stop you.” He said with a slight chuckle, “but none of you are to seriously injure the other. Sha Yun, Wang Ju Long is my friend, and likewise, Sha Yun is under my protection so I cannot let her get seriously hurt.”

Hearing this caused anger to raise in both participants, yet both of them nodded their heads solemnly as they agreed to the rules he had said. For them it was not important to beat the other. It was important to show that they were definitely the strongest.

‘This is good.’ Lan Feng said from the Qi cave. ‘I am curious to see just how strong Wang Ju Long has become.’