Blue Phoenix

“An item which increases the amount of essence of the heavens and the earth that one can absorb while cultivating?” Ma Kong repeated the words as he was completely astonished. Cultivation was known to be the hardest part of training precisely because it could not be rushed. One needed to slowly absorb essence and then rotate it through their meridians while it slowly refined itself into qi.

Grinning, Hui Yue took the stone which looked like a normal stone, and he went in front of Ma Kong, “Sit down and get ready to meditate,” He instructed, and Ma Kong did as he was told, asking no questions just being curious. As soon as he sat down Hui Yue passed him the stone, and when it touched his skin, Ma Kong’s eyes opened in surprise. Although he had not started cultivating just yet, he could feel a suction force appear inside his dantian.

Everyone absorbed the essence of the heavens and the earth just by living and breathing, but this was in small amounts, and no one usually would notice it. Though after touching the stone it made it possible for him to sense a suction force forcefully dragging in the essence of the heavens and the earth. With shaking hands, Ma Kong placed the stone on his lap and slowly entered meditation. He was incapable of controlling his beating heart as he felt how the suction force increased to unimaginable heights. The energy absorption was so astonishing that even Ma Kong, a young man who had trained all the way to the Duke rank on his own, could feel a great amount of energy flooding into his body and surging through the meridians. Shortly after that it was finally refined into Qi then further refined into spiritual energy. Using this stone, Ma Kong could see himself reaching the King rank fairly quickly, and he looked at the stone agape as he stopped meditating. Contemplating for a short while, Ma Kong looked at Hui Yue and narrowed his eyes.

Having contemplated for some time, Ma Kong handed the stone back to Hui Yue and stood up. “Please wait here,” He said with a rushed voice. “I need to go find the Patriarch. I am positive that he will be interested in this stone. Don’t worry; I won’t let anyone from the family scam you,” He said as he rushed out the door and slammed it behind him. Seeing the perplexed expression on Ma Kong’s face Hui Yue chuckled slightly. He knew that the item was of great use to those who did not have their personal blue cloud to assist them.

Hui Yue did not have to wait long; ten minutes after Ma Kong left, he returned with a middle-aged man. Looking at this man, Hui Yue instantly recognized him as Ma Kong’s father, the family head. He had met him before back in Riluo City when he was helping them set up their insurance business. Seeing Hui Yue again, the older man nodded his head politely to greet their guest.

“I hear that you once more managed to stun my son with an item you brought with you,” He started with a polite voice as his eyes slipped to the stone in Hui Yue’s hand. His brows furrowed as he wondered what exactly this stone could do.

Unlike Ma Kong, his father was a King ranked expert. Although he had reached the rank of a King many years prior, he had not had the insight to progress to the ranks of an Emperor and instead, he dedicated himself fully to expanding his family than focus on his cultivation. Back when the battle for Riluo City occurred, this man had had the same strength he had now; however, Hui Yue had gone from being a meager cultivator with a lot of potential to a serious threat. Although Ma Kong’s father had been polite before, he was even more polite now. He was astonished to see that the young man whom he had seen just a few years prior had managed to become a King so fast.

“My son tells me that you have an item that sounds all too good to be true,” Ma Kong’s father said as he looked at Hui Yue with doubtful eyes, yet Hui Yue nodded his head. “Please take a seat and start to cultivate. Although this will be of limited use to someone such as yourself who has already reached the rank of a King and needs specific yin and yang energies, it should still be possible for you to sense the usefulness of the item.”, “ummm,” The father intoned before sitting down on the ground with his legs crossed and his hands resting in his lap.

Seeing that the man did not question Hui Yue, the younger man instantly went over and placed the stone into his hands. He noticed how the older man turned rigid as soon as the stone touched his skin. Although he was visibly shocked, he did not seem to stop cultivating because of it instead he cultivated for some time. All the while, Hui Yue and Ma Kong observed him both curious and thinking about what the older man would say when he stopped cultivating.

Half an hour had passed by the time the older man once more opened his eyes. Eyes filled with reverence and astonishment. Looking at the stone in his hands his thoughts were clearly in disarray, and both Hui Yue and Ma Kong were quiet. They allowed the older man to get ahold of his thoughts and reach a conclusion about what he wished to do with the item.

“This item,” He started as he placed the stone back on the table once more. “Do you plan to sell it at the auction?” He asked, yet before Hui Yue had the time to answer the older man continued, “I am willing to buy this stone from you for a very fair price. You are likely to get more in the auction, but I will still see if you can give us a discount on account of Ma Kong’s friendship.” The man said shamelessly, and Ma Kong felt his face grow red. He was uncomfortable with the position he was put in. Although he was Hui Yue’s friend, it was impossible for him to go against the patriarch. To directly oppose him in front of an outsider would be unacceptable.

Hui Yue was a little taken aback by what the family leader said, but he soon grinned widely. It was only natural for someone who dealt in such a business to try and get an item he wanted cheaper. There was nothing wrong with that. So using anything at his disposal, even his own son’s relationship was something he had not expected. This just goes to show how important an item it was. Ma Kong had been given the days free to ensure that the friendship between him and Hui Yue was not broken, but now they were willing to risk losing this friendship for the sake of a stone. Fortunately, Hui Yue was not willing to risk his friendship with Ma Kong over something as simple as a stone that increased cultivation speed when he had the blue cloud by his side. If his friends needed assistance, then he could assist them with the blue cloud as well. Keeping the stone was not useful for him, and so he wanted to sell it.

Any family within Muchuan City would do anything at their disposal to gain this stone. Hui Yue understood just how much such an item meant for a family which focused on cultivating, but even so, he nodded his head. “As long as we can agree on a price, I do not mind selling it to you instead of auctioning it off.” He agreed, but he did want a fair price to accept their offer. Even if he was not willing to risk his friendship with Ma Kong, he was not willing to let the family leader trample upon him. His eyes were sharp as he waited for the older man’s offer.

Looking at the stone multiple times, the family leader opened his mouth a few times but each time he clearly changed his opinion and quieted down again. It was obvious that he was struggling internally to come up with a price he was willing to pay, but also a price he knew Hui Yue would be willing to accept.

Finally after a few moments of internal struggles he looked at the stone with one last glance before he determinedly looked at Hui Yue, “I am willing to pay ten thousand spirit coins for the stone. I don’t think we can afford to go above that.” Hearing the sum of money, Hui Yue was completely shocked. He remembered how he had sold his martial art skill years before for two hundred and five spirit coins while the spiritual art had been sold for four hundred spirit coins. This was enough to easily live comfortably on, yet ten thousand spirit coins was an enormous amount of money. It was clear that this man assumed that Hui Yue had used it to reach the rank he was at.

Hui Yue did nothing to dispel his belief and instantly stuck out his hand, not wishing for the man to change his appearance. This caused a relieved expression to appear on the family leader’s face. An item like this which could be used by anyone while cultivating was so astonishing, so amazing, that he had dug deep in his pockets and almost exhausted all their liquid assets to purchase it. Still, even though he had done this, he still felt that he had made the right decision.

“Please wait here for a while, I need to go and get a golden memory stone to store the money in,” He said, and Hui Yue nodded his head in approval. It would be weird if he could find ten thousand spirit coins swiftly. While the family leader left, the stone was left on the table. An awkward silence descended on Ma Kong whose face was still red from shame. As soon as Hui Yue noticed he laughed out loud as he patted his friend on the shoulder, “It is not only for your sake,” He assured the embarrassed friend. “I want your family to back my faction, remember? To do so I need to give favors, and this is a great deal for both of us,” He assured the embarrassed friend who slowly returned to his usual color, but gratitude was still evident on his face. He finally understood what Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long meant when they said that they were training hard so that they could be of use to Hui Yue. Although Ma Kong was a friend, he was mainly close to the Rong twins, and, although he had done business with Hui Yue before, that was business which benefited both sides, yet now he understood how far Hui Yue was willing to go for the sake of their friendship.

Ma Kong said nothing, but deep within his heart, he saved a thought. A thought that he would do anything to assist Hui Yue in the future. His eyes were determined as he swore that he would talk with his father during the evening. He would ask his father to ensure that the Ma family, the Black Market Auction Houses, and the insurance part of the family would fully back Hui Yue.