Blue Phoenix Chapter 21 – The Path I Take

Getting ready to walk through the gate back to Cave’s End was something which took longer than expected.

Hui Yue knew that killing the members of the Dragon Corps was something which they could not afford to let people know about. Instead, he ensured that everyone wore the capes which hid their appearance and cultivation base.

“I am really sorry Yun,” Hui Yue said for the third time that day, as he patted the head of his scaled friend. “We cannot let them recognize us, and you are fairly recognizable.”

Hearing this, Sha Yun could do nothing but nod her head depressingly as she stayed behind.She waited patiently by the gate along with the oversized plant. Wang Ju Long knew that the plant was as recognizable as Sha Yun.

As Hui Yue knocked on the door, the new group consisted of four people all covered with black cloaks that did not allow for even a strand of hair to be seen.

The guards were utterly shocked as they opened the gate and saw four humans walk out.

At first, they assumed that this was Hui Yue and his party which had returned. However after thinking things through they knew that this could not be so. They had a snake-woman in their party, and none of these individuals seemed to have a tail.

Walking through the gates, Hui Yue did not walk back to Cave’s End City. Instead, he led his party along the cave wall, walking roundabout. This route would take longer but it also increased their chances of not being recognized.

After looking at the backs of the disappearing experts, a grunt was heard in the silence before one of the guards instantly put down his spear and shield and then rushed towards the town center. He was running to give a report about the newly arrived cultivators within the cave.

As she traveled through the familiar surroundings, Sun’s face was filled with complex emotions as she was in one sense happy to return to her home. At the same time, she felt despair about the prospects for her future.

Hui Yue understood her emotions. He also understood that the Dragon Corps weren’t likely to have had gentle intentions. While considering that, no guilt was evident on the face of the white-haired boy.

Seeing the determination within Hui Yue’s eyes, Sun smiled slightly before she started to speak.

“Long ago when this was nothing but an abyss, the four divine beasts arrived together hoping to find a place to settle down,” she started her story. Her voice was melodious and gentle as it swept across the three people who were walking her back home.

“Upon creating this land, the divine beasts used the five elements to create the current plane. The laws of the earth, metal, fire, wood, and water are the oldest of us laws.” She paused a short while before continuing. “Those five are so strong that even now, everything born into this world is affected by those laws. You call it affinity. The truth is that as soon as a life is born into this world, that life is born from the law of life, which in turn is born from the laws of the elements. Each person originates from these elements. By looking at one's affinity, one can see which element gave birth to that person.”

Hearing this, Hui Yue stopped in his tracks. He looked at Sun with curiosity in his ice-blue eyes. The previous enlightenment gave Hui Yue understanding as to what the laws were. However, he was aware that everything he knew was purely the basics.

Now, this law, Sun, was explaining some of the things which had swirled around within his mind for a long time. That included the elements.

Although Hui Yue understood that every person had an elemental affinity he was unaware of why they had this affinity. What caused them to gain such strong powers?

The answer had been simple. To be born into this world, one followed the laws of life and the laws of death.

These two laws were like the law Sun, which had been birthed after the elements, created by the divine beast from the ancient laws.

“The laws are organized like this,” Sun explained. She saw an expression of hungering-for-more-knowledge within Hui Yue’s eyes. “You have the ancient laws which are the five elements: earth, metal, fire, wood, and water. These five elements were created from the divine beasts themselves - directly from their bodies.

After the ancient laws come the primal laws; we were created by the divine beasts. However unlike the ancient laws, we were not created from their own bodies; instead, we were created from the elements themselves.”

“After us primal laws are the fundamental laws. There are many of those. The seasons you met before are all fundamental laws. These laws were also created by the divine beasts. This time they were birthed by the primal laws rather than the elements.

“To be born in this world means that you originate from our forefathers, the four divine beasts. The land was crafted from their bodies, and everyone who lives here lives a life given to them from the forefathers.”

Upon hearing this brought some clarity to Hui Yue. At the same time, it also perplexed him whenever he thought about the five elemental flames within him. Had he been granted life from all five elements? How could that be?

A sudden thought appeared within Hui Yue’s mind. When Lan Feng described the laws, he had mentioned the forefathers. This was slightly confusing as Hui Yue knew that the ‘forefathers’ referred to the four divine beasts. Lan Feng would usually refer to them as father or the divine beasts. However, when Hui Yue raised the question, all he received was a sad smile from Sun and silence from both Lan Feng and Little Dragon.

Little Dragon had in general been incredibly quiet the entire time they had been within the dungeons, and so had Lan Feng. This caused Hui Yue to wonder whether or not their real purpose here was to train, or if the two divine beasts had something else planned.

Sighing deeply, Hui Yue pushed the thoughts away as he knew that no matter how much he asked, Lan Feng would never answer and neither would Little Dragon.

Sun had already given them some incredibly important information about the laws, and Hui Yue did not wish to sound greedy.

It did not take long for the group to enter the forest, which ran all the way around the fields. They quickly made their way back to the clearing where they had left the seasons behind previously.

The rest of the trip was quiet. No one spoke a word; instead, they were contemplating what Sun had said. Although this new knowledge was not enough to gain another enlightenment on the topic, leading to a breakthrough, it still allowed for Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long to gain a fundamental understanding of the laws, while it broadened Hui Yue’s basic understanding considerably.

The world was vast and filled with many things which Hui Yue knew nothing about. His travels were for the sake of improving his strength, but also tempering his personality and growing his knowledge.

Hui Yue was a person who was living a second lifetime. During his first life, he had been a young man who had never faced hardships. Having been reborn into a world where strength was all that mattered, Hui Yue fought hard to adjust. Even so, he had ended up feeling superior due to the help he gained from Lan Feng.

The first time in his lives when he realized that he was truly not the biggest genius around was during his duel against Wang Ju Long. This sparked a desire in the young man, a desire to become the strongest.

Looking back, Hui Yue was now considered a young man, but in spite of that, he was still younger than he had been in his previous life. This made him aware of just how different the current world was. In his old world he would be considered a mass murderer, but here was a world where strength was coveted.

An absent-minded expression was evident on Hui Yue’s face as he spent the time reminiscing about his past. As soon as Hui Yue thought about the many life and death experiences he had gone through, blood was roiling within his body, excitement growing deep within. Hui Yue wanted these battles. He wished to test himself. He wished to improve. He wished to stand at the pinnacle, to be an expert who carved his name into the heavens, and who engraved his name in the earth.

Sun had said that her path had been decided for her upon birth; however, Hui Yue was not a law. He was a human with the right to pick his own road in life. While listening to Sun, Hui Yue finally understood. He could become whatever he wished to be. Everything depended on him. While others might not cut it, he would go the distance.

Determination filled Hui Yue’s face. His icy eyes were burning from within with an undying flame, and a confident smirk appeared on his face. If he wanted to be strong, all he had to do was cultivate. If he wanted to be the strongest, he just had to cultivate far more than anyone else.

Feeling the change in Hui Yue’s soul, a small smile appeared on Lan Feng’s face as he was resting inside the dantian cave. The phoenix had long since understood Hui Yue’s personality.

Hui Yue had been enticed by Lan Feng just after his rebirth, enticed to become strong for the sake of reuniting with Li Fen. But as time went on, the phoenix noticed how Hui Yue’s soul would scream in excitement with each life-threatening situation; how he would bury himself in cultivation whenever he had a moment of spare time.

This boy was clearly born to become a cultivator. Having Sun say a few words to make him understand was what Lan Feng had planned. This caused the phoenix great happiness. He felt how Hui Yue’s soul was bursting with energy and excitement as Hui Yue finally found the road which he wanted to tread.

While thinking, Hui Yue and the others arrived at the pond that previously was filled with spiritual energy the first time they were here; now though it was just a normal pond.

A thought suddenly appeared. Hui Yue went to the cave wall looking everywhere, however, no matter how much he searched it was impossible for him to find the area through which they had arrived.

‘Lan Feng,’ he mentally sent a message to the phoenix, ‘these dungeons. There is a way out, right?’

‘Of course!’ the phoenix answered carelessly. ‘As soon as you reach the middle we can exit through one of the other four tunnels. Personally, I’d love to go home to see what is happening, but we will decide where to go when we actually manage to reach the middle chamber.’

‘Oh, by the way,’ he continued. ‘This is your practice so don’t expect me to help you out. I need to refine my powers for when we reach the end.’

Hearing this, Hui Yue could not help but snort with discontent. The phoenix had done his very best to say absolutely nothing ever since they entered this underground world.

Just as Hui Yue was about to answer, sounds could be heard throughout the forest. The four travelers suddenly found themselves surrounded by a group of guards dressed in red uniforms.

“Stop! In the name of Cave’s End’s City Lord. Do not move even a little!” one of the men in front yelled out. His face was filled with indignation and annoyance, as he looked at the four cloaked men in front of him.

Frowning Hui Yue turned away from the cave wall and looked at the man who was speaking. Annoyance was evident in his eyes; however, they were firmly hidden beneath the sealing cloak, which kept everything hidden.

As soon as his ice-blue eyes locked onto the speaking man, he was unable to hold back his laughter. He remembered the man as the one who had invited them to the City Lord’s mansion in the first place.

A mistake had clearly occurred. These cloaks made it look as though the user had no cultivation base. However, these men apparently believed that Hui Yue and his friends were without cultivation bases and were just looking down on the four.