Blue Phoenix Chapter 84 – Syncing Elemental Affinities

Hui Yue stood within the rear garden, his clothes tattered and his hair disheveled as he panted heavily. There was no blood on his skin, nor were there any wounds. Although the young man looked to be in a sorry state, excitement was evident in his eyes, and a smile was sprouting on his face.

“Yun, you are simply amazing!” Hui Yue exclaimed, as he sat down and instantly closed his eyes in a meditational position. Then he went through the entire sparring match in which they had just participated.

Sha Yun usually refused to spar against Hui Yue as she could not bring herself to injure Hui Yue seriously. Nevertheless, Hui Yue kept asking for her help. Due to Hui Yue’s persistence, the snake-woman eventually gave in and decided to help him.

Standing in front of each other, Hui Yue was only allowed to use the Earthen Spikes, in which he had become much more proficient. Although Hui Yue was still unable to summon the spears to a suitable size without incantations, he noticed that his affinity with earth had improved.

Hui Yue discovered another surprising development. Upon perfecting his Earthen Spikes, he was able to perform any earthen creation, as his affinity would allow for the earth to act according to his desires.

Knowing that unlike martial arts skills, Hui Yue had only to perfect one of each elemental affinity, then he would be able to mold those elements perfectly in the future. This was one of the reasons higher-ranked cultivators were much more deadly. Not only did they have the strength and a higher cultivation base, but as they managed to sync perfectly with their affinity, they were in an entirely different league than others of the same rank who had not perfected their affinities.

Hui Yue had perfected his Fire Spark because he had trained in it relentlessly in the past. His tireless training coupled with Lan Feng’s spiritual power along with their shared soul helped him perfect the fire elemental affinity faster than a normal cultivator would. Hui Yue was now working hard on the earth elemental affinity.

At the start, Hui Yue had managed to produce small Earthen Spikes, but they had already grown to be just over a meter tall now. Sha Yun had been born with a synced affinity with earth. She had never even heard about incantations before she met Hui Yue.

Her earthen spears would grow up to four meters tall and two meters in diameter when they were maxed out, yet she was able to twist the earth in every way she could want. Her ability to create things from the soil was smooth and graceful like watching a dance.

Next to Sha Yun, Hui Yue could not help but feel slightly inferior. Although his attack would grow to the same size, he still needed the incantation, which required a few moments to mumble. Waiting, or hesitating for a moment within a fight was enough for Hui Yue to be annihilated if he was fighting against a veteran fighter.

As Hui Yue spent more and more time practicing the earth spiritual arts, he felt a great change within his body and the surrounding world. He was no longer just Hui Yue. He had become one with the ground, with the soil, and with the energy which flowed from the earth.

Seated on the ground, Hui Yue felt as though something broke through. Underneath him the earth started to ripple with energy, slowly transforming as though it was obeying Hui Yue’s summons. The white-haired boy, however, kept his eyes closed. A slight wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows, as sweat started to appear on his body.

During the sparring match against Sha Yun, Hui Yue felt something different than when he was practicing on his own. He had observed the snake-woman throughout. The way she treated earth was very much akin to how Hui Yue treated his qi and spiritual energy. Both were a part of him, as they lived within. Hui Yue seemed to have gained enlightenment because as soon as the match ended, he created a mental projection, and then entered the spiritual energy sea.

Within the spiritual energy sea, Hui Yue was seated in a meditational position with the yellow flame floating slightly above his two hands as he focused his entire being on this flame alone. This flame was in no way different from the red flame which Hui Yue had already perfected, yet there was a different feel about it.

Hui Yue was trying to merge his consciousness with the flame of earth. Sweat was trickling down his skin as the rumbling around his body grew larger and more profound. It eventually settled into the pattern of a five-point star.

As Sha Yun stood next to Hui Yue, her eyes were alert. She did not interrupt; instead, she stood guard. The snake-woman’s main offense was her control over earth. How could she not know that currently, Hui Yue was forcing a perfect elemental affinity?

Forcing an affinity to merge with the soul was a risky move. It could easily backfire if the cultivator did not take precaution, or if the elemental affinity had not already been thoroughly trained. Sha Yun had no intention of stopping Hui Yue. She felt that the young man would be capable of accomplishing everything he wanted.

The five-point star suddenly erupted with soil. All of it had turned to mud before it covered Hui Yue, creating what looked like a statue of mud, not even the face was left out.

Hui Yue could not help but feel amazed as he felt this sudden happening. He also was secretly thrilled. Earth was responding to him. Everything went dark, even the inside of Hui Yue’s dantian caves. No light shone through.

Hui Yue lay in this black but very gentle world for an unknown amount of time before the picture of growing plants appeared in his eyes. The small plants quickly grew into large bushes and trees, towering above while their roots were firmly fastened within the rich soil. A chuckle escaped Hui Yue as he felt as if he was a child once more, laying in his mother’s embrace. The white-haired boy did not resist although he knew that this was not his birth mother, instead, it was mother earth.

Hui Yue was taken on a long journey through the world of earthen power. He saw how the earth became eroded at some beaches, but also how other beaches were growing in size. He saw how mountains sprouted from the underground, and even how islands were created from magma.

Finally, Hui Yue saw how the fields allowed seeds to grow. He finally understood that to live one needed the earth. The earth was everywhere. The earth was created by the element earth, giving the practitioners with that affinity immense strength, should they be capable of unlocking it. Hui Yue suddenly knew that once he became one with the earth, he would always have a part of this history within him. He would become a part of the earth itself.

Ever so slowly, the soil which encased Hui Yue started to crumble. After a few minutes, Hui Yue was once again free. He opened his eyes and shock resounded within his soul. The world had changed as to how he saw it before.

Every time Hui Yue took a step he was capable of feeling the ripples of energy which the earth released into the world. He could feel every tree and living creature within a hundred meters. Every movement which occurred on the soil was easily felt by Hui Yue, as though they were made on his very body.

A great smile appeared on the white-haired boy’s face, as he realized that it had been a success. Hui Yue managed to force a perfect symbiosis with earth, yet this feeling was vastly different compared to when he was dealing with fire.

Furrowing his brows, Hui Yue was about to once more sit down in meditation when he felt, through the earth, that more guests had arrived in front of his mansion.

Slightly disappointed, Hui Yue stood up. As soon as he made a move, Sha Yun opened her eyes and followed him into the mansion, heading for the mansion gate.

Opening the gate, Hui Yue saw that the Rong twins were visiting him once more. Their previously lively eyes were now filled with exhaustion and worry. A tinge of sadness appeared in Hui Yue’s heart yet he had no intention of joining either faction.

“Come in,” Hui Yue said, as he invited the two to enter before he quickly went down to the kitchen to order a few snacks.

“You look tired,” Hui Yue commented, as he handed two cups of warm tea to the twins before he sat down in a chair and looked at them expectedly.

Things within Riluo City had changed vastly over the past year which Hui Yue had spent to reach the second star of the Master rank along with finally syncing with his earth elemental affinity.

The first half of the year things had been calm on the surface, yet ripples of shock had resonated throughout the entire underground. The Wang and Deng families were actively recruiting forces and families desperately.

At first, the opposing faction knew nothing at all. All of Rong Liang's faction were busy with the massive steam engine which he produced. The incredible increase in mining allowed for wealth unlike any seen within Riluo City. They managed to mine one magical crystal after another, and export them to the other major cities.

Unfortunately, the smaller families within the city noticed the change in the factions. The tension slowly grew impossible not to notice. The family-owned marketplaces started only to allow those of their own faction to purchase items in their stalls. Eventually, they completely refused even to allow the other faction entrance.

This went so far that these family-owned marketplaces even refused to allow in citizens who had no alignment to either faction. These were citizens, commoners, who lived lives wherein the noble families and their factions meant absolutely nothing in these commoners’ everyday lives.

The atmosphere within Riluo City turned tense, and no one wished to walk about leisurely any longer. No one knew what was happening, and what could cause this sudden hostility which was shown between the two factions. It was obvious that something big was going on and this caused them to feel nervous.

This situation caused the Rong family to be placed in a tough position. They had no idea what the opposing faction was planning, yet it was obvious to everyone that they were planning something. The Rong twins graduated from the academy, and the past year they had been working hard for the Rong family and learning how to manage their businesses. Half a year ago the two of them had done everything in their power to try and understand what was happening. But not even Gao Yan, the master of the whispers, had managed to obtain any information on the subject.

Looking at Hui Yue, Rong Xing sighed heavily. She cared deeply for this youth who had been her friend for multiple years. He had turned into a younger brother for her. Because they were so close, Rong Xing knew a lot about how Hui Yue’s mind worked. This was also why she knew that Hui Yue had no intention of joining either side. And if he did join one faction side over the other, he would be put in a position where he would have to choose among his friends.

Despite his neutrality, the Rong twins continued to visit the younger man as they felt that within his home was the only place left in Riluo City where there was tranquillity. This tranquillity calmed, nurtured, and refreshed their weary minds before they once more had to return to the stressful situation within the City Lord’s mansion and within the walls of Riluo City itself.

Hui Yue’s home was the only place where the Rong twins could still return to the familiar feelings of companionship and safety which they had experienced year after year at the academy. This was the one place that still felt like home. Hui Yue had managed to stay unaffected by the entire situation between the factions. All the friends would gather here from time to time to replenish their energy.