Blue Phoenix Chapter 5 - Lynx

The lynx quickly retreated as though it was capable of feeling the danger which the blue and yellow flames contained. Both flames radiated an intense energy, an energy which promised to take the lives of whomever they touched, a promise to devour anything until only ashes remained.

Seeing how the lynx retreated, Hui Yue instantly understood that the beast in front of him was not just a beast. It was not a creature which lived purely on instincts. Instead, it was a beast which had an intelligence equal to that of man. Its cat-like eyes were with knowledge.

Seeing this, Hui Yue became even more vigilant as he held the two flames, one in each hand. He then threw them into the air, and both of them hovered behind the body. Smaller fireballs were produced from within, and they were starting to swirl around Hui Yue’s body. As time went by more and more fire orbs were created, and the lynx retreated further and further away. Looking at Hui Yue, the lynx sneered at him before it turned around to leave. However, Hui Yue refused to let it go so easily and threw a bigger than normal fire orb towards the lynx. It seemed to move as fast as light, and quickly a ring of fire encompassed the two blocking the escape of the lynx. It trapped both man and beast inside; no one could escape before one, or the other had been killed.

Seeing this the lynx no longer attempted to escape; instead, it decided to fight. Turning around its eyes gleamed in the flames, its fur standing on end and it’s mouth opened in a sneer. The lynx understood that fighting at a distance was not a good idea considering that the fire orbs that the man controlled were best for long range combat. The lynx decided to fight close up, but every time it threw itself forwards, Hui Yue would dodge to the side or backward. Hui Yue did everything in his power not to fight close up as he understood that the lynx’s claws could not be allowed to touch him.

Every time the large lynx charged forward, Hui Yue felt a chill run down his spine along with cold sweat on his forehead. The lynx was intelligent and much larger than Hui Yue himself. Its attack speed was so swift that Hui Yue had to use Velocity Flow to its limits to avoid the sharp claws which caused ripples of energy to spread out.

Neither the beast nor Hui Yue had the advantage. The lynx was incredibly swift as it dodged the fire orbs. The orbs which were being made caused the fire ring to soar in strength. The trees close by started to burn, but no fur on the lynx had been touched by the fire, just as Hu Yue had not been touched by the claws.

Seeing that they were getting nowhere and that both man and beast were just wasting away their energy, Hui Yue retreated all the way to the blazing flame ring which surrounded them. As he did, he withdrew his two flames which were currently resting behind him, and a savage smile appeared on his face.

Hui Yue had long since decided that he was going to battle on his own, not relying on either Lan Feng nor the nine mysterious energies within his body. He breathed heavily before he once more withdrew the dagger from his storage stone.

Originally, he planned to rely on distance to use his flames, both the blue flame and the merged earth and metal flame. These two flames should be capable of dealing with the beast. Unfortunately, although they were capable of dealing with the beast, it was of no help because the speed with which the beast moved was simply far too swift. Looking at it now, Hui Yue understood how lucky he had been to entrap the beast beforehand within the circle of flames.

Wielding the black dagger in his hand, the young man made a rapid dash towards his opponent. A move which both surprised and pleased the giant lynx in front of him. Just as Hui Yue was about to reach the lynx, Hui Yue changed his direction and rushed to the side of the beast, dodging under the paw which swiped towards him with a force that would have killed him right on the spot.

Although the force was great, Hui Yue knew that with great danger came possibilities as well. As the lynx, although still able to move, had just exposed its entire side to Hui Yue. He did not wait for a better opportunity and thrust the dagger into its tough skin. The blade cut through and entered the flesh within.

The wound was not deep enough to be considered fatal, but in spite of that, it was still a wound which caused the lynx to let out an agonizing scream as blood gushed from its side. Using its mist-like energy to stop the bleeding, the lynx now looked far more agonized than before. Its eyes now filled with hate and anger.

Although the beast had intelligence much similar to humans it also still had its beastly instincts. Since the lynx was not completely overwhelmed by its beastly instincts, it was clear that the urge to kill Hui Yue awoke something deep inside the beast. Something which Hui Yue noticed instantly.

Running away once more, Hui Yue kicked up small rocks from the forest floor like a barrage towards the lynx. He constantly forced it to either keep moving or to take the hits head on. Being injured already caused the beast not to wish to take on any further damage and it avoided every stone. Hui Yue’s retreating attacks caused the lynx to be incapable of advancing. Its entire focus was given to avoiding these stones which came raining down upon him.

Suddenly a crackling sound was heard. Looking at the lynx, Hui Yue was easily able to see the difference from before. Previously the lynx’s body was filled with beautiful golden fur with a silver line down its spine. However, right now pitch-black mist surrounded its body and it no longer avoided the stones. One stone after another was blown to pieces as they came into contact with the shield around the beast. Hui Yue could not help but be astonished at the strength of the lynx’s defense that it now possessed. But he noticed that now the beast was no longer as swift as it had been before. It was evident that using this energy to protect itself; it was impossible for it to use the same energy to move about swiftly. Having this shield around him, the lynx no longer needed its speed as it could take the majority of the damage head-on.

With a roar, the lynx shot forward towards the dagger-wielding young man. Its mouth open, ready to bite down upon the young man. Its claws were fully exposed sweeping towards the unprotected parts of Hui Yue’s body.

Seeing the teeth and the claws coming towards him, Hui Yue knew it was impossible for him to avoid both. His hand clenched around the dagger where he infused every bit of his spiritual energy. He swiftly avoided the claws, but as soon as he narrowly dodged the claws, the lynx’s teeth sunk deep into his shoulder. A crunching sound was heard as his shoulder blade shattered from the sheer pressure of the strong jaws.

Blood welled up in his mouth, and his eyes turned red, but Hui Yue suppressed the red mist. Instead, he lifted his still-functional arm and wielded Black Blood with his full strength as he thrust the dagger into the forehead of the lynx, right between the eyes.

At first, his speed was slow. He felt the dagger penetrate through countless layers of crystal before it reached the soft fur and skin. As soon as the dagger passed through the crystal layer, the protective layer of the beast, the dagger no longer struggled and easily entered the skull.

The fierce red eyes of the magical beast slowly turned dim as all light left them, its soul lost to the Netherworld.

Looking at the beast, Hui Yue slowly made his way towards a tree where he fell down. He was currently very injured, so he had no intention of removing the flaming ring around the location he was in right now. The flame had kept the lynx inside, but it also kept every other beast outside. This was something which was crucial for Hui Yue currently as his right shoulder was completely shattered.

Looking at the wound Hui Yue could not help but hiss in pain, and after waiting a few minutes, he took a pill. He hoped that the green pearl within his body would help him out. However, seeing that it was not, with a sigh, the strongest healing medicinal pill Hui Yue possessed ended up within his mouth.

As soon as the pill was eaten, something strange happened within. Usually, the energy would enter the dantian after which it would merge with his qi and move through the Dai Mai meridian to the place within his body where the wound was. But as soon as the energy entered his dantian cave, it did not merge with the qi spiral. Instead, it was all sucked into the cave in which the green pearl resided. Seeing this, Hui Yue was completely taken aback, his eyes round and his anger rising.

Hui Yue was severely injured, and he needed help from either a healer or a medicinal pill. He had a healer within his body who refused to heal him. When he used medicinal pills, the green pearl was consuming the energy which was meant to heal him.

This had never happened before. Hui Yue assumed that this was because he had never used strong medicinal pills before. Instead, he usually took the less effective pills but in greater quantity. Just as he expected, the green pearl showed no interest in these pills, and after eating them, Hui Yue crossed his legs and started to control the qi in his body. He controlled it enough to make it move through the body and arrive at the shoulder where it ever so slowly started to repair the crushed bone and tissue.

Seated like this, Hui Yue waited for a couple of days. During these days, he ended up eating twenty-nine low-grade medicinal pills to heal his shoulder. Although it had now been healed, the bone was still not strong enough to allow Hui Yue to participate in any battles.

During the days Hui Yue stayed within the fire ring, he made the ring smaller in diameter, but taller ensuring that no beasts would be interested in jumping inside to see what was hiding within.

Hui Yue lived off the meat the Lynx provided. He had long since taken the magical core from within the beast’s skull.

Another ten days passed where Hui Yue took another ten medicinal pills. He spent the days cultivating and practicing physical exercises for the sake of healing his arm enough to once more be able to fight.

Standing up straight, Hui Yue cracked his neck and rolled his shoulder. A satisfied smile was on his face as he waved his hand and the flames died out. Hui Yue expected that many beasts would be waiting for the flames to disappear. However, as the flames vanished, only a few beasts were visible. As soon as they saw Hui Yue, all of them turned tail and ran away as quickly as they could.

Although Hui Yue had just managed to survive a serious battle, he proceeded to close his eyes and scan the area. He was once again looking for other beasts of similar strength that he could battle against.