Blue Phoenix

The sun slowly rose in the sky, and it got closer and closer to the appointed time where the Grand Marshall was set to appear. Hui Yue was standing in the front row watching the battles which slowly stopped at the arena. As soon as a fight ended, Emperor experts appeared and led the fighting men out of the arena to ensure that no one else entered and started a new sparring match.

At first, when Hui Yue arrived, it was possible to end up close to the arena and have a great view of what was happening, but that was no longer possible now. Plenty of guards had arrived, so many that the grounds were like an ocean of cultivators. Looking around the arena, all the battles had finished, but despite this, it was still getting more and more crowded as all the commanders moved towards the arena. Although the arena was massive, these seven to eight hundred experts standing around made it feel incredibly crowded. Even so, in front of them, a small podium had been placed. This podium was meant for Grand Marshall Hui Yue.

Soon the sun reached its peak, and Hui Yue started making his way towards one of the stairs leading to the arena, but every time he inched closer he heard comments such as, “You idiot, you can’t enter the arena now. Can’t you see all the experts?” “Don’t push, just stand back and enjoy the show,” “Idiot, you think you are worth even a glance from these experts?”

Although all the comments were incredibly hostile, Hui Yue paid them no heed. He continued his trek towards the stairs, and his movement in the audience quickly caught the eyes of the Emperors. Their faces were filled with smiles as they looked at the young man making his way towards the arena. Although some of the commanders were still uncertain about their feelings for this young man, they all respected him. Although they respected him and they all would follow his orders, they still felt as though he was both too young and too weak to truly put strength behind his words.

Hui Yue reached the rank he had now due to his knowledge about the Art of War. Although he did tell Wan Qiao about being reincarnated, he never mentioned the Art of War before. When the subject of his reincarnation came up, they had not been thinking about war, so naturally he didn’t think about it. Later on, when she mentioned the war, Hui Yue did talk about the Art of War; however, he did not say how he knew about this book and she never asked. By the time he needed to come up with an excuse for Lord Pan, it seemed that Wan Qiao believed him as well. That or she was an excellent actress. Hui Yue decided that it did not matter either way. What mattered now was if he could convince everyone that the Art of War was the key to victory.

He had paused in the middle of moving towards the stairs. His eyes had become vacant as he was submerged in thought, but moments after his eyes steeled and his fists clenched as he moved to the stairs. His movement was still causing hostile comments to rain down upon him, but the young man ignored them as he stepped onto the first step of the stairs.

“Hah, that kid needs to learn his limits! He will be knocked flying by those Emperors. Dying is too easy a way out for someone that arrogant!”

“Haha, who does he think he is? A useless early stage King, who would allow him to stand on a stage together with this many experts of our forest?”

Snickering the whole audience watched him as they were greatly interested in how this young man was going to be punished, all of them feeling gleeful. Knowing that everyone was looking at him with such hostility, Hui Yue could do nothing but sigh. He climbed another step and was still not stopped by these experts. Step after step, the tension was getting so thick that one could cut it with a knife, everyone was unexpectedly holding their breath. They did not understand what was going on, nor when this young man was going to be hauled off.

Finally, Hui Yue stepped onto to the arena floor, and as he did everyone leaned forward. Now had to be the final moment for him to be punished, but a collective gasp of air could be heard as the commanders on stage made no sign of removing him, instead they all bowed their heads slightly and made space for him to move towards the podium.

Reaching the podium everyone in the audience were filled with surprise, shock, and disbelief. Their murmurs were heard throughout the surrounding areas. A few broken sentences could be heard as well. “What is he doing up there?” “Who is this person?” “Why is he such a weak looking guy?” “Is this for real?”

The questions rained down upon the young man as Hui Yue stood on the podium and cleared his throat. This action caused the many experts to become quiet and look at the young man in front of them, incredulously. The young man who was supposedly weaker than them and at the same time far younger. Some of the experts recognized him from the training grounds while others had never seen him before.

“Good day,” Hui Yue said with a loud, clear voice, a voice so loud that it could be heard from every corner of the surrounding area, every single expert heard his voice crystal clear. All of them focused on him, some narrowed their eyes filled with disbelief, others had eyes widened from shock. No one seemed to truly listen to what he was saying.

“I am Hui Yue; the one who has been granted the rank of Grand Marshall,” Once more his voice boomed out as every word was heard by these experts, but they had a hard time truly understanding what he was saying.

Seeing that no one was truly listening to him, Hui Yue sighed once again as he said nothing but just looked at the many experts in front of him. Thinking for some time, he wondered how to make them all interested in what he was saying, or at least make them forget the rank of Hui Yue so that they could function properly. Suddenly an idea came to mind.

“I am here on behalf of your lords,” His voice once more sounded out. As soon as lords were mentioned, it was as though the many cultivators in front of Hui Yue suddenly woke up from their trance. Their eyes all open and they straightened their backs.

“The lords have all decided for me to become the Grand Marshall of this war. Although I might not be as strong as you. Although I might not be a veteran when it comes to duels, and I am too young to truly understand the honor of a cultivator, despite this there is one thing I know a good deal about, and that is War!”

“What we are setting out to do is not a tournament, we are not going to find the strongest amongst the cultivators. This is not a sparring match against another kingdom; we are going to war! A war which will be filled with blood, desperation, and death! In a war you do not have only one opponent to battle, you use all your strength to kill anything which comes your way who is not your allies.”

“If you want to gain fame for your lord then you have to win this war!”

“We will form forty armies. Each army is going to be controlled by your Lords! So if one army fails well, that would be a tremendous loss to your lord. Survive for your own sake, but more importantly, survive so that your lord can gain face!”

“I need each and every one of you to gather into forty groups. Gather in groups of your respective lords!” Hui Yue finally yelled out after which he just stood there, looking at the many experts and crossing his arms over his chest. Impatience was visible in his eyes as he was staring at the many cultivators in front of him. His finger tapping on his arm showing his impatience

Seeing his impatience the experts behind him felt a sudden danger, and the ten thousand man commanders instantly jumped off the stage and positioned themselves in a large line. The ten commanders formed the start of forty straight lines in front of them, forty lines with ten thousand experts on each line. Looking at all the cultivators in front of him, Hui Yue felt excited and a smile appeared on his face.

“These forty armies will be given individual tasks,” Hui Yue continued, “But before that, I need every single one of you to become a part of a five man group. Create a five man group and listen to what your commanders teach you. I will need to remake some arrangements and tactics.”

Finishing this, Hui Yue stepped off the podium and moved towards the stair once more. He knew that the commanders would be better suited for the job of convincing these experts about the benefits of working in groups.

Leaving the arena, Hui Yue had a smile on his face as he saw how the many guards were being made into groups of five by their commanders. The faces of these commanders were stern and serious as they looked at the many experts below their command. Although they had never commanded anyone before, it came to them naturally as they repeated Hui Yue’s words from the day before. His words which convinced them that although they were cultivators, this was not their forte and they had to behave like soldiers. Here and there the commanders had stern looks on their faces as they were explaining exactly why this was important to the lower ranked experts. Seeing this, Hui Yue could not help but feel satisfied.

Once more, the man moved through the tent camp, but this time, it felt completely different. The first time, Hui Yue’s surroundings were filled with people rushing back and forth, yet now it was completely empty. The tents were all standing there, swaying in the wind but no one was close by to see it.

Hui Yue once more made his way through the city gates and entered the bustling city. Everything was the same as it had been in the morning, and a feeling of expectation and excitement filled the air making it feel as though a festival was going on.

Making his way to the castle, Hui Yue greeted the guards and servants he came across on his way back to his room, but the closer he got to his room, the more Saints started appearing. One after another, they all wished to know how the speech had gone. All of them asked questions about his performance and the way he was greeted.

Hui Yue knew that he could not just rush through these encounters, and once again sighed internally he smiled on the outside. He told one Saint after another about the experiences he went through that morning. Repeating it again and again Hui Yue slowly made his way towards the door behind which was his sanctum. When he finally reached his room, Hui Yue clutched the handle with trembling hands before he rushed inside. Finally relieved that he did not have to explain what had happened one more time.

The reason that these experts were so curious was quite simple. The day before they were capable of overhearing what happened at the meeting with the commanders and this genius in front of them; however, this time they had not been able to follow it. Although they were experts, so many experts like them hiding together would definitely be noticed, and it would be undignifying if they were noticed. But now that Hui Yue appeared, it was a simple matter to just ask him how it went.