Blue Phoenix

Hui Yue, feeling better after the conversation with Lan Feng, collected his thoughts once more and looked around him. He found that the marketplaces surrounding him were filled with commoners, and although some people looked at him with hostile eyes assuming that he was a bast*rd of mixed blood, no one said anything to him. Seeing the various people walking about, he felt a sense of belonging to the city he had lived in for so long.

Sighing deeply, he slowly walked through town moving towards the smithy belonging to Cou Ling. He needed to speak with her before he left.

Cou Ling was a person he had not expected to build a friendship with, however, after having gone through forging the Sword of the Icy Tempest together alongside traveling to the Grave of the Unknown, Hui Yue would be lying if he said that he did not care about her. She was like the sister he never had.

Moving to the smithy, he arrived fairly soon, and unlike usual, he did not fly into the courtyard but went into the store.

Many various weapons and armors were displayed in the shop. Most of them were pitch black, and all of them emitted an outstanding aura. They were clearly all forged on the new forge that Hui Yue had given her and these weapons and armors, which were stronger than any other weapons in the whole plane, were selling like hot cakes.

The entire shop was filled to the brim with people from all backgrounds; everyone from mercenaries to lords and ladies not to mention servants and merchants. Everyone was looking over the many weapons and armors on display. Some were deciding which ones to buy while others just looked longing for the day they would have enough money to purchase such outstanding treasures.

Hui Yue, entering the shop was instantly noticed by Fang Wei. The young man behind the counter instantly stopped serving the person in front of him and headed towards Hui Yue, bowing deeply in front of him.

"Hui Yue! Ling is out in the smithy; please go meet her!" He said excitedly, and as his words not silent, everyone heard them. While some knew who this Hui Yue was and sent a glance his way, others were startled that someone received such treatment.

The person whom Fang Wei had been serving was one of the people who did not know Hui Yue, and looking at this white-haired young man, he clearly saw that he was of mixed blood. He was someone who held nothing more than contempt for such an inferior race, yet before he said anything, he noticed the many strange glances and curiosity from some of the other people in the shop and wisely chose to hold his tongue rather than rant at the shop keeper. After all, he was here as a customer, and he wouldn’t gain anything from yelling at him. Fang Wei had the option of refusing to sell to anyone he disliked, and if he insulted his friend, even a mixed blood, he was likely not to be able to buy the item that he wanted.

Hui Yue nodded to Fang Wei and rustled the younger man's hair before he left through the door at the back of the shop entering the courtyard.

In front of him was the smithy and regular sounds of hammering could be heard. One hong after another sounded out as the hammer repeatedly landed on the piece of metal she was forging.

The sound was repetitive, but also in an odd way calming. Hui Yue paused before entering the smithy, wondering if he should wait for Cou Ling to finish what she was doing. Unfortunately, right now he did now have the luxury of time. He had a whole list of people he needed to speak with today, and Cou Ling was only the second person. Speaking with her as soon as possible was important.

Entering the smithy, a smile was on Hui Yue's lips, and he soon found the hardworking woman swinging away with her hammer. The rhythmic hammering rang out beautifully from the hard metal.

"Sorry to bother miss," Hui Yue said in a playful voice and his sentence caused Cou Ling to look up.

At first, she had been slightly annoyed by the fact that someone had interrupted her, but after noticing that it was Hui Yue, her face filled with a smile. She laughed as she placed the metal in a bucket of water.

"Yue!" She called out wiping her forehead with a cloth that was laying on the side of the anvil. "What brings you here?" She asked curiously. Although she and Hui Yue were friends, they usually only met when they needed something from one another.

Hui Yue's smile turned slightly sad as he looked at the woman in front of him and sighed deeply. "Sadly, I will be leaving Muchuan City very soon." He said directly. "I don't know how long I will be gone, nor do I know if it will be weeks or years before I can return. I know that many people would relish the chance to hurt me any way they can, and while I am gone to do this, they might go after my friends." He continued to speak, not pausing in the slightest, nor allowing Cou Ling to say anything, but her face had turned slightly pale and dispirited.

"I have spoken with the princess, and she will help ensure your safety. Even if I am gone, no one should be able to cause trouble for you."

Hearing his words, Cou Ling felt grateful, but she could not help but laugh a little, a sad laugh that is.

"Silly boy." She said as she shook her head. "Although I am your friend, I am also the best spiritual blacksmith in the entire world. Even Saints need weapons so even if they seek out your friends they probably would not come for me." She said with certainty.

Hui Yue knew that she was correct, but he also knew that although she was highly sought after, there was probably still some people in the city who did not care about such matters. Some people were simply irrational and didn’t care about others. He could not afford to let his friends be in danger, and thus he had asked the princess to look after Cou Ling as well.

"Will you be ok... on your trip?" Cou Ling asked worriedly, and Hui Yue could only smile tenderly at her. He showed a dazzling smile which was filled with excitement.

"To advance as a cultivator is always a dangerous path. I have walked this path all my life, and I will keep walking it. The trip I am about to make will most likely be the most dangerous I have ever embarked on, even the Grave of the Unknown is probably more easily traversed than the area I head to. But, with risk comes great benefits. If I truly manage to get what I am seeking, then I will benefit immensely." Hui Yue did not go into details about where he was going, but he also did not hide the difficulty of his trip.

"It is because of this, that I am unsure how long I will be gone." He continued and shook his head. "Although this is not going to be very easy, it is definitely worth it. I am bringing people with me this time; I will no longer go alone. With my friends, I don't think I can go wrong.

Hearing his words, Cou Ling was slightly calmed down but deep inside she still felt traces of worry. She too valued Hui Yue as a dear friend. He had given her so many benefits: the forge that allowed her to excel at her craft was also a gift from Hui Yue. Even when they met, he had allowed her to create a weapon made from Nine Heaven’s Devouring Blood Metal which was of great benefit to her. He had given her shop flying swords and enough wealth to last the rest of her life. She felt like she owed him a lot and that she had not even started to pay him back.

"I have something for you." She finally said after suppressing her emotions, and she slowly went deeper into the smithy.

At the far back was an unassuming wooden coffin, and when Cou Ling opened the coffin, Hui Yue saw a small black light shine out. Reaching down, she picked up a bundle of weapons. All of them had an aura that was by no means inferior to the aura of Hui Yue's Sword of the Icy Tempest. However, their auras were completely different. While the aura of the Sword of the Icy Tempest was icy cold and so sharp that when it was unleashed an enemy would feel as though thousand of needles were piercing their skin, these had a heavy aura filled with menacing energies. Even Hui Yue was breathless when he looked at them.

"When I first started using this forge you gave me, the energies were simply too potent. I was incapable of controlling it as I can now, and the weapons I made were simply too terrifying to sell. I need to give them blood regularly, or their energy will increase, driving anyone closeby mad."

"There is no way that I could sell these weapons, and they have truly caused me some issues. Buying blood is a rather sticky issue, and I was nauseated every single time I had to feed them. Your friends, on the other hand, are always fighting and for them to share blood with these weapons, I am sure that they will get something useful from them."

Hui Yue nodded his head. He had created some weapons and armor for his friends just recently but compared to the aura of these weapons, his were truly lacking.

Interested, Hui Yue went to the weapons and picked up a random one. The moment the weapon was in his hand, he felt a chilling cold enter his body and a bloodlust spread over him. Suddenly, he could feel a connection with the sword.

"I think it is time to give some blood to them." Cou Ling said hesitantly by his side and rustled to find some blood in her coffin; however, before she found it, she saw Hui Yue slice open his own arm and allow for the blood within to pour over the sword. This was something he often did with the Sword of the Icy Tempest as it was forged from Nine Heaven's Blood Devouring Metal and further such metal was further refined through the absorption of blood. Feeding blood to a weapon was in no way a difficult thing.

The moment the blood was absorbed, the sword’s killing intent and bloodlust diminished drastically, but was replaced by a feeling that the sword had become part of him. This sword was not better than the Sword of the Icy Tempest, but it was in no way inferior either. Looking at Cou Ling, who was pouring blood all over the other weapons, Hui Yue felt great gratefulness.

'These swords are sentient treasures!' Lan Feng said astonished. 'Unlike the weapons you create, these have a soul! Although they are only at the most primitive level, and the souls within are nothing more than mere instincts, if they are treated well and absorb enough blood then these weapons have the possibility of becoming divine treasures!'

Lan Feng was excited, and so was Hui Yue. If he inscribed a few runes on them, then they would become even stronger than they were now, and giving his friends sentient treasures would increase their chance of survival by a large margin.

"Please take them off my hands. Although they are wonderful treasures, and probably impossible to create again, I am not skilled enough to possess them." Cou Ling said causing Hui Yue to nod. Reaching out his palm, he sucked every sword into the Universe Box.

"Since you wish to give them to me, I will accept your gift. Thank you." He said, and the moment he accepted them Cou Ling felt a little better. "You gave me so much, giving back some of it is the least I can do." She laughed and felt that she had at least paid him back a little. Although she could never pay back what she owed him, at least a small bit was better than none.

"Thank you, I need to get going." Hui Yue said regretfully and patted the woman's hair. "I'll come visit you when I return, but it might be years from now." He sighed.

Hui Yue was not dumb. Although the Formation of Life was capable of making him a God, it was something that would take time. Cultivation could not be rushed, and thus he did not expect to return anytime soon. Smiling sadly at his good friend, Hui Yue found his flying sword and went to the courtyard. With a final glance at his good friend, he took to the sky and rushed towards the next person on his list of people to say goodbye to.