Blue Phoenix

As soon as the blood oath had been finished, Gao Yan moved to a corner of the courtyard where he could start cultivating once again.

Hui Yue had seen that the cultivating methods that had been taught to him by Lan Feng were very different from the ones which were currently used in this day and age on the continent.

At first Hui Yue had learned that to cultivate his hands had to form the bird’s seal. In the beginning Hui Yue thought that this was purely for the sake of Lan Feng since he was a bird, but the last few years Hui Yue had learned that these hand signs were able to connect the cultivator to the twelve zodiacs and allow for their cultivation to pick up in speed.

Hui Yue had found it rather funny when he realised that the hand seal of the bird had connected him to the rooster, which in turn caused Hui Yue think that Lan Feng truly was a chicken.

Although the cultivation method which relied on the rooster was not the strongest of all methods, it was by far the best for Hui Yue as his soul was connected to Lan Feng.

The different cultivation techniques that Lan Feng owned relied on the twelve zodiacs and one could connect to the zodiacs in different ways. The stronger the connection the cultivator had with the zodiac the more efficient that cultivation technique would be.

Currently Hui Yue’s soul was connected to Lan Feng, who in turn was the descendant of the Vermillion Bird; the sovereign of all birds. This caused the compatibility between Hui Yue and the Rooster cultivation technique to be strengthened by unbelievable heights.

The cultivation method which Hui Yue had passed along to Gao Yan was connected to the zodiac of the Dog, and although it was not able to give the results Hui Yue had achieved, it was by far above the cultivation methods which relied on the earth and heaven’s alone while ignoring the zodiacs.

Hui Yue also sat down in meditation for a while. While meditating he was communicating with Lan Feng to find the most beneficial attacks for each of his friends present.

‘To think you actually told them,’ Lan Feng said as he was considering which skills to give. At first Lan Feng had shown great disagreement with Hui Yue’s decision about just giving away these skills, nevertheless he agreed after realizing how worried Hui Yue had been when Gao Yan was bleeding to death, while he himself could do nothing to help.

Hui Yue was not a person who considered himself to be fair, nor did he particularly care about this world. In this world, however, there were a few people who had treated him with great care and attention.

Hui Yue was a person who would return the kindness he had received and now was the time to stand by that belief. Having heard the truth, it had obviously caused the others to feel slightly hesitant, but they realised that Hui Yue had shared his biggest secret with them. He had laid everything bare without requiring anything in return. It was only natural for them to swear a blood oath.

‘I got it!’ Lan Feng said with excitement as he slowly merged with their shared body and Hui Yue settled down, within the dantian cave as a mental projection.

“You there,” Lan Feng said through Hui Yue’s mouth causing all those present to jolt in surprise. Lan Feng was currently pointing at Rong Ming, and the young twin slowly stepped toward the boy-turned-Saint Beast.

Once again the flash of light appeared as Lan Feng withdrew a strand of light containing a high ranked martial art skill, which he then placed on Rong Ming’s forehead.

“This is Slashing Qi. It is a low King ranked martial art attack skill. It allows you to solidify Qi into a blade which moves according to your desire and slashes through any defence. It is not the blade of a sword, but a blade of Qi. You cannot hold it, but it moves at your command.”

Every word Lan Feng said caused the others to pant slightly and their eyes shone with excitement. This was, without a doubt, a rare high ranked martial art skill which did not have any tough requirements for the cultivator to overcome.

Rong Ming, who had learned the skill, was shocked as the knowledge was flooding into his mind, it was as though the floodgates had been left ajar while the flood swept through, spreading through his meridians and finally resting in the Qi cave. The skill felt so familiar to Rong Ming; he was completely engrossed in his own world as he moved to a quiet place in the courtyard where he immediately started to train.

The next was Rong Xing. She received the Floating Qi Fan, this was a fan that Rong Xing could move by thought. If her Qi was of high enough quality she could use the fan as a means of gliding through the air. Floating Qi Fan was also a low King ranked martial art attack skill.

Ma Kong looked at Rong Xing as she moved towards another empty place in the courtyard, her eyes deep in thought as she analysed the imprints and Qi-patterns of the martial art skill.

The next skill was given to Ma Kong. It was a middle king ranked martial art attack skill which went by the name of Exploding Qi Flowers. Just as the name suggested it allowed for Ma Kong to create flowers from his Qi strands, and these flowers could be thrown, after which they would explode with a thought. It was a skill with the most potential out of all the skills which had been given out so far, yet Hui Yue felt that it truly fit Ma Kong the most.

One has to remember that, although Hui Yue is teaching these skills to his friends, the skills were still kept within Lan Feng’s head and he would easily be capable of passing them on to Hui Yue should he need them in the future.

As soon as Ma Kong had received the skill, his expression was filled with astonishment after which a certain amount of stubbornness appeared, and he moved toward the only corner that was left in the courtyard. Here, he closed his eyes and sat down in meditation as he decided to thoroughly analyse it before he attempted to create any flowers.

“Then it is just the two of us,” Deng Wu said with a smile as he observed the four focused youths who were practicing their individual skills. Hui Yue nodded in reply, but said nothing as his eyes were focused on Gao Yan. A chill flashed through his eyes causing Deng Wu to feel a shiver go down his spine. He did not wish to be Li Shing, but even Deng Wu felt as though the older boy deserved the punishment which was due to him.

Currently Lan Feng was back within the dantian cave, and Hui Yue back in his body.

‘I already gave Little Dragon’s friend the attack which most suited him,’ Lan Feng said while thinking, and Hui Yue nodded. Deng Wu already had a skill so giving him another was not that important, nevertheless it seemed as though Lan Feng did not agree.

‘I might not have trusted this guy at the start, but since Little Dragon accepted him then he cannot be bad,’ the blue phoenix reasoned. ‘Let us see if he is capable of learning Qi Guard. He has an attack so let’s give him a defensive skill this time.’

Hui Yue nodded in agreement. He too felt as if Deng Wu was trustworthy, albeit slightly dramatic and hard to see through.

‘This time you teach him Qi Guard,’ Lan Feng said while yawning. ‘It is quite exhausting to transfer knowledge from the mind. You have already perfected Qi Guard so it is fine if he learns from you.’

Hearing this Hui Yue slightly raised an eyebrow before he waved Deng Wu closer.

“I have a skill for you,” he said and closed his eyes, “but you are learning it from me rather than Lan Feng.”

Hearing this caused Deng Wu to become awestruck. Lan Feng would only allow Hui Yue to train the best skills, Little Dragon had spent a very long time telling Deng Wu about Lan Feng’s perfectionism and stubbornness. This showed that the skill Deng Wu was about to learn was nothing to joke about.

Hui Yue grumbled slightly as he scurried through his brain looking for all information he had about Qi Guard. All this information gathered into a ball of light, which Hui Yue slowly withdrew from his forehead.

This ball was larger than the ones Lan Feng provided as Hui Yue was unable to perfectly separate the Qi Guard Attack Skill from his knowledge about the skill.

Gaining the knowledge, on the other hand, was a benefit for Deng Wu; it would make training easier, however it would also end up causing Deng Wu to train the skill the exact same way Hui Yue had which in turn narrowed down the possibilities of evolving the skill.

“Qi Guard?” Deng Wu said, shocked, as he finally completely understood the skill which Hui Yue had been using to defend against Wang Ju Long’s Qi Lightning.

Deng Wu was awestruck as he understood the skill, but even more so when he realised that this skill had been perfected by a person who had lived for a mere ten years.

Deng Wu, unlike the others, did not immediately start training, instead he observed the others for a while before he finally started practicing his Dancing Qi Pillar, the skill he had previously been given by Hui Yue. Deng Wu had heard from Hui Yue how important it was, for Lan Feng, to perfect one skill before he could start practicing another and the older boy had decided to follow suit.

Having laid everything bare in front of his friends caused Hui Yue to feel alleviation. Hui Yue had owed the Rong twins for when he was younger, and everyone within the courtyard were people who Hui Yue trusted hundred percent.

Looking at Deng Wu practicing caused a smile to appear on Hui Yue’s face before he too submerged himself in practicing Transforming Weapons, the sword version.

The six youths remained within the courtyard the entire time, only once did the gate open, which was when Lord Rong Liang showed up to see Gao Yan’s injuries.

Lord Rong Liang’s expression was stern, and he had required the academy to start investigating whether or not the damage could be considered an accident, yet Gao Yan stopped him.

Within the day, Gao Yan had already managed to reach the second star of the Student rank, and his current quality was slightly better than it had been before. Gao Yan was quick to understand that although he had lost his cultivation base this new cultivation technique would allow him much better future prospects.

Upon seeing Gao Yan’s current cultivation base Lord Rong Liang was fairly shocked and asked multiple questions, yet no matter how much he asked Gao Yan refused to answer. Eventually Rong Liang could do nothing but shake his head and leave the courtyard allowing for the six youngsters to return to their training.

Finally the day arrived and it was time for Hui Yue to fight once again. The semi-finals consisted of the fights between Hui Yue and a commoner who had won in group 3, while Li Shing was up against Wang Ju Long.

A complicated feeling was finding its way into Hui Yue’s heart. Everything he had done this entire tournament was for the sake of his fight against Wang Ju Long, but the current enmity between Hui Yue and Li Shing was something that, by far, outweighed his feelings of rivalry.

Hui Yue did not value his personal pride as something more important than gaining revenge for a friend. Still, Wang Ju Long was not weak. She may be a woman, but her achievements were, without a doubt, nothing to laugh at.

Looking at Wang Ju Long, Hui Yue noticed that she too was looking at him, while walking in his direction.

“Win,” she said as she reached Hui Yue. “Win your fight, and I will be waiting for you in the finals. Scum who seriously wound their school mates deserve no respect.”

Within her brown eyes he saw determination and coldness and Hui Yue nodded in reply. Even Wang Ju Long was willing to take revenge for Gao Yan. In that case Hui Yue had nothing to worry about.

As Hui Yue went onto the stage he saw that his opponent was a commoner; one of Gao Yan’s followers. Hui Yue’s opponent’s face was twisted from rage and hate, yet the emotions were clearly not aimed towards Hui Yue, but Li Shing who was standing just next to the arena.

“I Forfeit!” the young man yelled into the air, shocking everyone present. As he was on his way down the stairs he walked by Hui Yue and placed a hand on his shoulder before he whispered, “If Li Shing gets to the finals make sure that he does not walk down this stage ever again.”