Blue Phoenix Chapter 37 - Compensation

While Cou Ling was mesmerized by the ability Hui Yue showed, the other four experts were anything but thrilled. Two of them were entangled by the mist wolves, and although they found a way to get rid of the wolves it was quite difficult. It required the experts to insert wu wei into the wolves and then use it to blow them up from the inside. Although the mist energy was capable of regenerating from the damage it suffered, it was incapable of regenerating if it had been completely blown apart.

Seeing that the two experts had found a way to destroy the mist wolves, an ice-cold gleam appeared in Hui Yue’s eyes, and with spiritual energy flowing into the sword ice shards appeared once more. These ice shards attacked the two experts he was currently fighting.

Neither of these experts dared to look down as these shards shot out from the sword, and while taking advantage of their retreat, Hui Yue activated Velocity Flow to its limits. He sped through the battleground as though he was teleporting. Shock filled the hearts of all the cultivators as they watched, incapable of determining what was real and what was just an afterimage.

As the expert in front of him was protecting himself with wu wei around his body, Hui Yue smiled sinisterly as he used all his frightening momentum and both hands to stab the sword into the throat of the expert.

Although the expert had sensed someone behind him, he was currently still retreating from the ice shards, and it was simply impossible for him to do anything to avoid the stab. Moments later blood gushed out of the wound as the sword was withdrawn, and yet another King ranked expert collapsed to the ground; his eyes were devoid of any life, and his limbs were destined never to move again.

Seeing that not only did the Duke ranked experts die at the hand of Hui Yue, even a King ranked expert had easily been killed as well, but the eyes of the three remaining experts all also turned increasingly alert. Although there was rage, hidden deep within fear had also emerged.

The three remaining experts all retreated together and made a triangle around their young master, all of them were feeling dread deep within.

“We apologize for having insulted you. I hope we can end the battle here,” one of the Kings said as he looked at Hui Yue. His entire body was as taut as a bowstring, ready to defend his master should Hui Yue attack.

“We will overlook the guards you have slain as long as you agree to end it here,” another King ranked expert said, and he was as careful as the first, but just as his words had been said, a sour expression appeared on the young master’s face.

“I told you all to kill him! Kill him this instant! You have the benefit of numbers, and he needs to be killed for all the deaths he caused!” the young man yelled out, and complicated feelings could be seen in the eyes of the experts still alive.

“Please excuse our young master,” the third and final King said with a slight bow to Hui Yue. “We did not expect to meet such a strong person at the altar, but our goal is not to fight you, only to try and forge a weapon. Please excuse our lord.”

“Haha,” Hui Yue could not help but laugh as he heard the experts in front of him. “You all believe that just because you say sorry everything will be fine? You started this battle, if you wish to end it and keep your petty lives, you better pay up a hefty sum. I’m not in the mood to be played the fool by someone. Not even a young master from the Yueliang Province.”

Hearing his words the faces of the three Kings turned increasingly sour but at the same time, they knew that they had started the fight. It was only natural for them to have to compensate him somehow.

Looking at one another for some time, one of the Kings picked out a golden memory stone and tossed it to Hui Yue who caught it in his red wolf paw. Inserting a bit of his consciousness into the stone, he noticed that it contained twenty-four spirit coins. This caused a smile to appear on his face. Cupping his hands to the three experts and the young master he turned around and got ready to leave.

Although he had turned his back to the experts, he still kept Velocity Flow active in case they decided they really couldn’t part with their money, but nothing happened. The three Kings did nothing to attack him, and although their young master was yelling and screaming, none of them moved an inch.

Moving to the stone where Cou Ling and Fang Wei were waiting, Hui Yue stayed in his beast shape as he gently helped both of them to stand up. With a long furry arm, he made both of them walk in front of him so that he could deal with any surprise attacks.

The three had a tense atmosphere around them as all of them expected a sneak attack, but when they left the group of experts behind nothing happened. After leaving, Hui Yue finally relaxed a little; however, he did not change his appearance until after they had left the desolate landscape behind.

As they reached a beautiful forest with a stream running through it, Hui Yue went to the stream to wash. The water which flowed through his red fur dyed the water red as coagulated blood slowly vanished from him.

Finally, he finished washing, and with no extra thoughts, he transformed back to his human shape then roamed through his storage stone to find a new set of clothes. The old ones had been completely destroyed when he transformed.

As Hui Yue bathed Cou Ling watched him curiously as she did not understand whether this young man was a human or a beast, but her cheeks flushed dark red the moment she saw Hui Yue transformed back to normal without any clothes on.

Cou Ling was around ten years older than Hui Yue, but her appearance did not seem much older than Hui Yue, and anyone looking at her would guess that she was around twenty-five years of age. This was due to the age she reached the King rank at. Scolding herself, Cou Ling could not understand how she, a woman who had lived far longer than this young man, could be so embarrassed by looking at his naked body. It was, after all, not the first time she had seen a man naked.

Hui Yue was too busy getting the robe on his body to look at the spiritual blacksmith and see the reaction his brazen actions had caused. He was just focused on how much cleaner he felt now as he stretched his body. Seeing the wariness from Hui Yue, Cou Ling decided that the three of them should stop for the day and return to the city the following day. Although Hui Yue had not used all his strength to defeat the experts, he had used quite a bit, and because of this, he did not disagree with the woman.

Instead, he sat down, closed his eyes, and crossed his legs as he slowly started to cultivate and restore all the energy within his body. While he was solely focused on training Cou Ling sent a long glance his way before she ordered Fang Wei to watch over him. Relying on her own strength Cou Ling was more than capable of catching some low-ranked magical beasts that could serve as their dinner for the night.

“I wonder if he can eat magical beasts,” she mumbled to herself as she made her way through the forest. “I mean he is clearly some kind of magical beast. Eating another one would be considered cannibalism I guess?” her thoughts were confused, but Hui Yue had eaten magical beasts before. “Perhaps I should just avoid wolf meat,” she continued her mumbling. After a brief silence, she nodded her head, “Yes, definitely no wolf meat.”

While Cou Ling was busy looking for meat, Fang Wei was observing Hui Yue. He was a seventeen year old young man, and looking at Hui Yue he understood that this young man was not much older than himself, yet his maturity was on an entirely different level. His cultivation was in a completely different realm. The young man was completely astonished by Hui Yue, and he could not take his eyes away from the outstanding young man.

“Our worlds are different,” he mumbled to himself as he stood up. Deep within he wished that he, too, would one day be as strong as Hui Yue; that he would one day be a hero who could defeat twenty Dukes and six Kings all by himself, that he would become a supreme expert. Though, thinking this a chuckle escaped his lips as he stood up and started collecting small branches to build a fire. “What am I thinking,” he grinned to himself. “Although I am around his age, my life is different. I am destined to become a spiritual blacksmith, and although I might not be able to become a hero, I will do my best in life,” he said with a determined nod. Instead of feeling jealous that Hui Yue had such strength, he felt gifted that he was allowed to be close to an expert who would one day shake the world and gain a reputation that could rival the Frozen General. Fang Wei did not doubt that Hui Yue would become that strong.

The afternoon went by swiftly, and after approximately an hour, Cou Ling returned with a Dragon-Scaled Deer. This was, fortunately, the first beast she had encountered, and although the battle had dragged out a little, she had been stubborn and finally managed to smash its head with her hammer. Although the Dragon-Scaled Deer had a formidable defense, it had no way of standing against her hammer.

Returning to camp, she saw that Hui Yue was still focused on training and that Fang Wei had started a small campfire. With an approving nod towards her trainee, Cou Ling then started to clean the deer before she placed it on top of the fire, roasting it. The meat would need at least a couple of hours before it was finished and Cou Ling assumed that this time frame would suit Hui Yue as well. Although he still had energy left, he had used up quite a bit of his energy in the fight just now. It only made sense that his body needed time to recover.

It took another hour before the eyes of Hui Yue slowly opened, and he looked at the delicious meat that was being roasted in front of him. “Oh my, to think that you have cooked food for us. I feel like you are spoiling me, especially since I hired you as a blacksmith, not a guide.”

Hearing the words a red hue spread on Cou Ling’s face but she quickly turned away and looked at the deer instead. She pretended that she had not heard what he said. Hui Yue was a King ranked expert, and his senses were keen. It was simple for him to notice the red hue on Cou Ling’s face, and a wry smile appeared on his lips. He would gladly become friends with this spiritual blacksmith, but anything more was, sadly, something he could not give. “I better tell her that I am already taken...” he mumbled to himself, but said nothing out loud. He needed the right moment.

After a short while he accepted the meat which had been made by Cou Ling, and with a comfortable silence, the three experts ate the food that had been prepared as they slowly conversed about what they had experienced these few days they were together.