Blue Phoenix

Just like last time a servant arrived the moment Hui Yue entered the castle grounds and led him towards the third prince. Hui Yue was easy to spot in a crowd, and the third prince had instructed all the guards and servants to welcome him as they would any important guest. No matter what the third prince was doing, he ordered that Hui Yue be led to him.

The third prince was in no way dumb. He knew perfectly well that Hui Yue, although new to Muchuan City, had an enormous backer, the magical beasts and not just any beast horde but the massive horde that reigned in Shenyuan.

Befriending this Grand Marshall could help him avoid a situation like the one that befell the Siban empire but even more so, having his support was likely to push him over the edge and let him become the next king of Taiyang.

Hui Yue was clear about what opportunities he brought to the third prince. Although he was anything but happy about helping the third prince, he had to use his charm to get some information from the man. Currently having a relationship where they could benefit from each other was something Hui Yue needed. He understood the meaning of keeping one’s friends close but one’s enemies closer.

This time, they did not walk to the mansion or the garden where he had met him previously, no, this time, the servant brought him to the actual main castle; the castle where the king lived, and everything which had to deal with the kingdom was decided. Knowing that they were going there, Hui Yue held his breath in the hopes that he would overhear something interesting. Even if the third prince was not willing to tell him anything, who could blame him for using his enhanced hearing to hear a thing or two.

Hui Yue expected that the main castle would be filled with people, servants, guards, ministers, commoners people of all types working together to forge a kingdom and solve problems. Unfortunately, though, he was completely surprised to see everything empty, he did not even see any servants roaming about as they moved towards the innermost areas of the castle.

The further into the castle they moved, the more elaborate the decorations became. Ministers appeared here and there but as soon as they saw the servant leading Hui Yue all of them rushed away from them. Their heads turned towards the ground their eyes not daring to even touch the stranger that was walking through the empty corridors.

These ministers were all important figures in the kingdom, and all of them had a high position, yet they seemed as frightened as a mouse. None of them showed their usual arrogance. Seeing this, Hui Yue was confused. What was it that the royal family was doing to cause such a reaction from everyone?

After reaching the innermost area of the castle, the servant went straight to the core of the castle. He headed to the throne room; the room where the king of the Taiyang Kingdom discussed state affairs alongside top secret information. It was very rare that outsiders were allowed within the throne room unless they were important delegations for other countries.

Even though this was the place where top secret information was being discussed, the servant showed no hesitation as he went straight to the massive door made from heavywood which was carved with minutely detailed dragons upon it and knock hard on the door.

Silence descended on the corridor while Hui Yue stood still and waited for whatever happened. Soon the door creaked as it was pulled open. Looking within the throne room, Hui Yue instantly located the third prince. By his side were two other young men, one of them Hui Yue instantly recognized from when he had visited Hui Yue’s banquet, the other looked fairly similar and he assumed that he was the last of the princes, the first prince, whom he had never seen before.

These three princes stood at one side of the massive throne room, and the other group of around ten elderly men, clearly ministers, were fiercely discussing something of importance. On the throne sat a bored-looking older man who observed the two groups with an apathetic expression on his face. It was as though he did not care at all about the topic at hand.

By the king’s side was a woman who made Hui Yue suck in a deep breath. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen before. Her black, long hair glistened under the glow of the light stones embedded in the wall behind her. Her eyes were like those of a phoenix; they were completely black like the moonless midnight sky. They were fathomlessly deep, and when she looked at you, it seemed as if she could see all the way down to your very soul.

Seated on a small throne by the king’s side, and her body was leaning to the side exposing her incredibly narrow waist. A waist so narrow that Hui Yue could easily put his arms around her with plenty of room to spare, and her skin was as white as porcelain. Looking at this woman, although Wang Ju Long was pretty, he understood that they were in completely different realms. This woman appeared like she was an angel who had descended from the heavens.

Although Hui Yue was deeply shocked by the beauty of the kingdom’s only princess, he did not show any of this on his face his face; instead, he glanced around the entire room before his eyes landed on the third prince. By now Hui Yue had become extremely adept at controlling his emotions and expressions. He had seen so much already that seeing something that could cause him to show a surprised expression on his face was indeed very rare.

As Hui Yue stepped forward into the hall, everyone stopped their discussions and turned to look at whoever it was that interrupted their session, but as soon as the young man was revealed behind the door, the expression on everyone’s faces changed becoming as different as night and day.

The apathetic expression on the king’s face lit up, and he rose a little in his chair as a smile played on his lips. “I would like to hear some of his stories!” He mumbled to himself just loud enough for the princess to hear what was said. Nodding her head she completely agreed as she too wanted to hear the story of how this young man managed to convince the beasts to let him led them to war, not to mention how he had overrun a whole empire.

The king was not the only one who had a positive expression on his face; the third prince too broke into a great smile and with a nod to his two brothers he strode towards Hui Yue as though he was seeing an old friend of his.

“Hui Yue, it is such a great thing to see you here today!” He exclaimed as he opened his arms and gestured for the young man to follow him. A complicated expression appeared on his face before he hurriedly followed behind the man whom he desperately wanted to kill.

Every set of eyes were glued to Hui Yue, and he felt quite uncomfortable. While he was glancing around and assessing his surroundings, he noticed the interest in the king’s eyes.

Clearing his throat, he stopped in his tracks. “Thank you, your highness, but it seems that you are currently busy with your brothers discussing an important matter. I do not want to disturb you, and If I am allowed, I would like to go pay your royal father a visit to show my respect to his royal highness.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the eyes of the king lit up. A smile appeared on his bearded face, and he quickly nodded his head leaving no time for the third prince to answer. “It would be our pleasure!” The king said enthusiastically. With a bow towards the prince, Hui Yue instantly moved towards the king. A servant immediately appeared with a chair that he placed near the throne.

Before seating himself, Hui Yue bowed deeply to the king and the princess after which he glanced at the massive room and noticed that the ministers and princes once more were preoccupied with their discussions.

“My young friend, there are so many things I have wanted to talk with you about. If you tell Us honestly what happened on your exciting adventures, then We will gladly answer any question you might have about our kingdom.”

Hearing this a smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face, and he nodded his head, “I am here to enlighten his highness, any question that he might have will gladly be answered by me.”

“In that case, We will not beat around the bush, please tell Us how you managed to survive within Shenyuan. Every person We have sent, even mixed blooded experts, were slain as soon as they entered. None of them ever returned with any information for Us.”

“I must say that Shenyuan is a placed filled with beasts. All the beasts within are magical beasts and they all have a respectable amount of strength; however, although there is only magical beasts, many of these beasts have a human form and they live much like we do here in the Taiyang Kingdom.”

“When I first entered Shenyuan, I was fortunate that I did not run into any strong beasts along the way at least not before I found a small village where I got some information about the land I was forced into.” He continued, and every word he said was swallowed whole by the king. He leaned forward in his chair as his eyes glistened with excitement and interest. Shenyuan was a place of legends, something no one knew about, but everyone was interested in.

“Within Shenyuan there are many villages and cities, and in total there are sixty-four major cities. Each major city within Shenyuan is controlled by a Saint.” When Hui Yue said this, the shock in the king’s eyes grew greatly. He nervously licked his lips as he cleared his throat, “Sixty-four Saints?” He asked with a low voice, and even the princess by his side had a frown on her face.

Seeing their reactions Hui Yue chuckled, “There are more Saints within Shenyuan than these sixty-four Saints; however, they are not as strong as the experts who each control their own regions. I was lucky that I got taken under the wing of one of these Saints who then spent her time training me. In return for the training she taught me, I taught her human warfare and my knowledge related to this field is the reason the beasts appointed me to be their Grand Marshal.”

Nodding his head, the king scratched his chin while looking at the young man by his side. A big and gentle smile was evident on the young man’s face. It was as though he was gentle and calm, yet a dangerous atmosphere hung around him; an atmosphere which reminded the king of the one time he had met the Frozen General. Something unexplainable made the king shiver slightly.

“I was wondering if you could perhaps tell me what is going on within the kingdom recently?” Hui Yue asked as he looked over the throne room once more, his eyes resting on the ministers and the princes. They were clearly busy doing something, but it obviously something no one was allowed to know. Looking at Hui Yue with a long glance the king sighed, “Although We are supposed to keep it quiet I don’t think that telling you will be a bad thing,” He said as he too glanced out over everyone who were discussing this very topic.

“We had some guards who were out on a mission when they stumbled across a massive opening in the ground, and as they entered they found a large inscription protecting a cave that had been buried under the ground. As for what this place really is, none of us know, but from the strength of the inscription it is likely to hold something of value within. We believe that it contains a great many treasures. We are currently discussing whether or not we will be able to enter this cave on our own or if we need to invite other families. However if we are to invite others we will have to fight them for the treasures within. If you want to, you should be able to tag along as well. Perhaps you will be lucky. After all, from the inscriptions and what we heard about the location, We assume that this is a grave of some unknown expert. This could very well be the grave of a peak Saint ranked expert, and if that were the case, then there really would be more treasures than one could count. We have chosen to name this place the Grave of the Unknown.