Blue Phoenix

"Again!” Hui Yue roared as he was slammed hard into his opponent's chest and retreated three steps backwards. In front of him was an energy clone of himself and in his hands was a copy of Icy Tempest.

Having just been forced to retreat, Hui Yue’s call caused all the others to jump forward. Each person rushed at their own copies as their attacks rained down on them. Some used the fire attribute attacks they had learned by depending on Ancestral Worldpower while others relied more on their other strengths. Deng Wu was fully immersed in purple flames as his soul shadows flew out from within his scrolls. They attacked time and time again, only to meet the same advance in front of him. The two kept battling each other, and eventually their shadows slowly tired and retreated back into their scrolls. Neither side was able to gain the upper hand.

Sha Yun was like a demon. Her silvery eyes shone in the reflection of the lava which flowed from her hands, and although it could not harm her, it was incapable of harming her energy clone either.

Fighting like this, one on one, no side had an advantage, but no side was disadvantaged either; however, looking at the overall battle it was clear that both sides would just exhaust their energy and neither would win.

“Retreat.” Hui Yue said with a tired voice and together the group retreated, some less willing than others. “We have two options.” Hui Yue said with a decisive voice, and his words caused everyone to look at him surprised.

“First we can fight as a group. Together we will fight against them and win by relying on our teamwork which should not be too difficult. If we all go after one person at a time, we should be able to get rid of at least a few experts in a short amount of time. If we do this, we can easily pass. This Trial of Teamwork is really not too challenging for us.” Hui Yue explained, causing the others to nod their heads. Even the bull approved of what was said but what came next surprised not only the bull but also his group of friends.

“Though we have another option. Although we can fight as a group, and quickly get through this Trial of Teamwork, we can also choose to keep fighting one on one. This way we will be able to hone our skills and refine the control over our new powers. We will not pass the trial this way, but we will be able to increase our strength by quite a bit. Fighting ourselves is the most suitable opponent we will ever find, and such a chance is something we can't pass up. I think we should take the time to improve our skills and fighting prowess against someone who will force us to improve. If in the next trial we have to fight but took the time to first hone our skills here, then it will be many time times easier on us. If there are truly no more fighting trials, then we still have not lost out on anything.”

Hearing this, everyone unconsciously nodded their heads. Although they knew that this would mean even more time spent here, this was not necessarily a bad thing if it meant they could improve their skills. They had already left Muchuan City for a long time, and even if it took them a few months more then so be it. It was like Hui Yue said, it was truly hard to find an opponent as perfect as these clones. Thinking back to the trial that had been created by the black turtle, the bull was moved. Back then he said that while this was a challenge of a group’s teamwork, it was also a way of tempering themselves. Only now did the bull understand what the divine master had meant. It was not always the right path to rush through the trials. Although both ways could be considered correct, one would give much more, but it also required time.

“Who cares how long it takes!” Deng Wu said enthusiastically. “What we need is to temper our bodies. We need to become much stronger than we were before! Otherwise whenever we become Gods even if we have the strength, if we do not have the ability to back it up, then what will it be worth?”

Hearing his words, all the others started nodding their heads in agreement. From that moment onwards the group stayed within the mountain range where they fought their energy clones day in and day out. They only took a break when they needed to restore their energy or tend to their wounds.

The energy clones acted quite strange. Although this was the Trial of Teamwork, their shadows didn’t use any whatsoever. Whenever someone went forward alone to challenge their energy clone, only their clone would move to attack.

The results of their fights were as one would expect. Half the battles were ties while the rest were split fifty-fifty both ways. Every time they won against their clones they would retreat and start recuperating, which was exactly what Hui Yue and his friends did when they needed to. Having been within this mountain range for a good three months now, their improvements in strength were easy to see; however, despite this, they were still not able to get the better of their energy clones. This was because every time they understood something, gained new insights, or gained better control over their attacks their clones also gained the same insights making the fights increasingly intense.

All the fights at the start had just been short skirmishes, but now they were long endurance fights that pushed everyone to their limits. Sometimes they were fights of attribution, other times they were fights filled with magnificent attacks causing powerful energy waves to surge outwards from each and every collision.

Sighing, Hui Yue and his energy clone finished another epic battle causing both sides to be completely drained of energy, therefore, Hui Yue sat down on the ground to restore his energy. The longer they were here, the fewer wounds that were inflicted on their bodies as they became much better at reacting to the situations in battle.

Jo and Lao, who did not have much actual combat experience, had truly surprised Hui Yue as he saw how much more proficient in fighting they were. They now had no useless movements at all. Every move was made with confidence and purpose. Every one of their moves was like the flowing rivers and streams; they seemed as natural as the flow of water.

Jo was no less magnificent than Lao, and both of them showcased their abilities to the utmost as they continuously fought their copies.

Looking at all his companions, Hui Yue could not help but smile. During these arduous months of fighting, everyone had gained many insights into how they fought, and they had become much more humble after losing as many times as they had. The entire process had tempered their minds. It had removed all their haughtiness and instead replaced it with caution and vigilance. Neither he nor his friends dared look down on any enemy again because they understood that even if they were to use their full power, the opponent could always have an attack just as strong.

“Retreat!” Hui Yue called out, and the moment his voice sounded in the crisp air everyone retreated. They separated themselves from their copies and stopped the current fight they were in.

“You better have something good to tell us.” Deng Wu scowled jokingly, “I was winning this battle, and it would have put me in the lead if I had won!”

Hearing this, Hui Yue chuckled but shook his head. “I know you want to win against him, but I think it is about time for us to move on to the next trial. We have been here for three months already, and it proves that we have truly managed to improve a lot!”

“We cannot keep on delaying our task of finishing this trial, so I suggest that we get ready to attack. We will be in the formation with Cai Jie and me at the front. Behind us, Lao and Jo will cover the sides with Wang Ju Long in the middle, and at the back will be Deng Wu and Sha Yun.”

“Ju Long, you just need to use your energy to heal us. That is your single task, heal anyone who gets a wound and buff us with your water abilities.”

“Cai Jie and I will focus on attacking and taking all the damage. Also, we will focus our attacks on one person. When we attack, everyone must use their strongest abilities to kill them. Grouping up against them and taking them down one after another is our only way to win this fight. We are much stronger than we entered this trial, but it is not only us who gained strength. Every one of our energy clones are at least as strong as we are.”

“Our first target will be Ju Long’s energy clone. We cannot allow for her to heal any of her comrades. After Ju Long, we will go for Jo and Lao. Although they are not the ones doing the most damage, they can create quite some trouble for us. After those two are dealt with, we will take down Deng Wu followed by Sha Yun.”

“Although Deng Wu has soul shadows and Sha Yun has magma, neither of those should be too big of a threat to us, but we need them out of the way before we can focus on Jie’s and my shadows.”

Hearing Hui Yue’s orders, everyone nodded their heads. Their expressions were not elated or too excited. All of them were filled with determination, and a grim expression was evident on their faces. It was clear that they had fought these clones for so long none of them felt that victory was certain. If they truly wished to clinch victory, then they would have to fight with all their might.

With grim expressions, and with energy roaming all throughout their bodies, Hui Yue’s group stepped forward. During these three months they would watch everyone's fights every time they needed to restore their energy and therefore they had a great understanding of each other’s strength and weakness.

“Attack!” Hui Yue called out, but without rushing he and Cai Jie took a few steps forward with their swords drawn.

Hui Yue had the Sword of the Icy Tempest in one hand and his blood draining sword from Cou Ling in the other. Cai Jie had two blood draining swords at the ready, and the two skillfully blocked any attack that was aimed at their group.

Behind them, they could feel the air fluctuating with energy waves from the attacks that were being unleashed. Right after the battle started, soul shadows were summoned by Deng Wu; however, they did not directly attack Wang Ju Long’s energy clone but instead blocked the other Deng Wu’s soul shadows.

“We cannot afford to lose! Give it all you have and show them just how outstanding our teamwork has become!” Hui Yue encouraged as the attacks from Jo and Lao rained down upon Wang Ju Long’s energy clone which made it impossible for her to cast any abilities. Her energy had rushed out from her body and formed a protective barrier around her but even still, with the collective attacks of everyone raining down on her cracks could be seen in the barrier. Everyone was filled with determination as they started using stronger and stronger abilities while still conserving as much strength as possible. It was important to defeat Wang Ju Long’s energy clone soon, so they would have enough energy to defeat the rest of the group!