Blue Phoenix Chapter 4 – The Children

“We’ll camp here until there is no more spiritual energy within the pond,” Hui Yue relayed the orders from Lan Feng, and no one questioned him. Instead, they stayed in the spiritual spring for a long period of time until it felt like their bodies were bursting with energy.

Sha Yun was the first to leave the pond, after which she instantly entered meditation to assist refining the spiritual energy into the type of energy used for magical beasts. This allowed for it to merge with the other energy she had within her beast core.

Wang Ju Long was the next person who left the pond, and her very first move was to get dressed. Afterwards, she, too, sat down and meditated, assisting her qi spiral and the spiritual energy sea within her to refine the sudden influx of spiritual energy.

Another hour after, both Hui Yue and Deng Wu left the spiritual pond and sat down to refine the energy they had absorbed. Although there was still an immense amount of energy left in the pond, the color was far more transparent now compared to the thick silver it was previously.

This evening no one went out to hunt, instead, they all lived off rations they had packed in advance. No one spent energy on setting up tents either. Hui Yue only started a small fire by using his elemental affinity.

The four youngsters were all completely focused on refining the spiritual energy they had obtained. The first day Hui Yue managed to refine enough spiritual energy for him to reach the fourth star of the Master rank while Deng Wu managed to reach the ninth star. Wang Ju Long broke into the third star, and Sha Yun was also around the third star with her beastly cultivation base.

The night was spent using various spiritual arts to merge the new spiritual energy into the old, and then cultivate in an attempt to balance the sudden boost in strength. The following morning once more saw four naked youths floating within the pond that gave off a silvery hue.

The same events transpired for four days straight before they finally absorbed the last drop of spiritual energy. There were no more breakthroughs after the first night, despite this all of the youngsters, apart from Deng Wu, were now at the peak of their star and ready to break through at any moment.

After the final drop of spiritual energy was soaked up, Hui Yue stayed still for a long time contemplating their options. He was very curious about the village which Lan Feng mentioned, but although he was curious, he also knew that right now his spiritual energy was quite unstable after having been increased such a significant amount within such a short time.

Making his decision Hui Yue nodded to his friends, and they all followed behind him being as quiet as possible. On their way towards the Dungeons of the Divine, they were able to play and chat with each other while traveling, but their situation was different now.

Hui Yue was unaware what kind of creatures lived within the forest they were entering, nor did he know if there were any humans around who would be enemies. If there were humans around these areas, it was quite likely that Hui Yue and his friends had just robbed them of their greatest treasure by soaking within the spiritual spring. No one would be kind to them for doing that.

Looking towards the road which Lan Feng said led to the village, Hui Yue shook his head and went the other way. He found a small stream which brought water to the pond and decided to follow it.

There was one thing which Hui Yue learned from Lan Feng that he stressed the most, and that was to be on guard. Hui Yue had friends with him whom he could rely on, yet the four of them were only Master ranked cultivators, and their ability to survive was mediocre at best.

Now that they had gained more strength, if it was not integrated into their spiritual energy sea correctly, then it was likely to cause a backlash and injure them instead of supporting them. Following the small stream, Hui Yue saw a clearing up ahead. This caused him to stop in his tracks, and he gestured for the others to stop as well.

Smoke rose from the clearing, and Hui Yue felt his hair stand on end as he looked around. Although there were no movements, he had the feeling that they were being watched. Hui Yue lifted his hands up above his head as he cleared his throat while looking at the forest with vigilance.

“Come out,” Hui Yue called with a gentle voice. “We have no intention of harming you.”

Having said that rustling could be heard, but unexpectedly it was not a horde of fierce warriors, nor was it a dangerous wild magical beast. Instead, it was a little boy who could not be much older than seven, yet his eyes seemed to hold time itself within them. They were completely black with thousands of glittering stars inside. A chill ran down Hui Yue’s spine as he noticed his peculiar eyes.

“What are you doing in my forest?” the young child asked. His voice sounded mature with no hint of threat or enmity, only pure curiosity.

Looking at the child, although he seemed innocent Hui Yue had a hard time shaking off the feeling of danger that lurked within his heart. He showed the utmost respect as he answered the question. “We are travelers from the outside. We are currently looking for a quiet place where we can stabilize our cultivation.”

Looking at Hui Yue with a quizzical expression, the young boy stepped closer as he asked, “What is this outside? Is it a new village? I don’t know a village named Outside. Is it a new one? Are the four of you the only humans there? That girl looks weird. Why does she have a tail? Is it a place with humans like her?”

Hearing so many questions, Hui Yue could not help but laugh a little. He squatted down so that he was eye to eye with the young child that seemed human, but yet oddly not.

“The outside is a vast place with no ceiling over the sun, no walls to hold you in. It is the place where you can wander day in and day out, yet never see the end of the road,” each word Hui Yue spoke caused the black starry eyes to grow larger and larger, causing the child to pant in excitement.

“Come home with me!” he said jubilantly. “I want to know more about this outside place.” Following the young child, Hui Yue and the rest were dragged the opposite way from where Lan Feng said the village would be. It seemed as though even this world beneath the ground had changed throughout the many years it had been left alone.

Following the child, the four friends were led through the forest. They were stunned as they saw how the trees, although seemingly the same as the ones up on the surface, were different from what they were used to. Some of these trees even seemed as though they had a will of their own. Their branches moved away making space for the child and his guests to travel through.

Hui Yue was shocked to find that the clearing, which he had seen earlier, was no longer just ahead of him, but instead, a mirage confusing anyone who looked upon it. Despite this, he followed the young child without asking any questions.

Their journey through the pathway which opened up by the trees went on for only a few minutes before Hui Yue and the rest ended up within a clearing where a small wooden cabin was.

The cabin was made of very high-quality wood, nothing like the shack which Hui Yue lived in for ten years. Even the village elder’s house would seem rundown next to this beautiful cabin.

This house was built with wood from the forest, and a chimney could be seen on its roof. Smoke was coming out, making Hui Yue furrow his brow confused about who would live with this star-child.

Getting closer, the door opened and a small girl exited the house. This little girl was around the same age as the boy, and her eyes were the exact opposite of the boy’s. A bright golden light shone from within.

“Xingye!” the girl called happily as she saw the boy arriving. The smile on her small face grew larger as she saw that he brought friends. Her little body was jumping up and down from sheer excitement.

“Xiaji!” the boy called back, and upon hearing his voice, three other children appeared behind the first; two boys and one girl.

The young boy who invited Hui Yue and the others was shocked when he saw the children, but he also felt a sense of relief as no adults were near.

Arriving at the cabin, the children all came up to the boy and he patted their heads while saying their names.

Qiuji was the little girl. Her eyes shone with a hazel brown color. Her hair and even her skin were also brown.

Dongji was one of the boys, and he seemed even paler than Hui Yue. His hair was as white as the older boy’s and he had ice-blue eyes. Looking at him, one would think that Hui Yue and Dongji were brothers.

The last boy was very energetic. He had green eyes and golden hair. His name was Tanhuang.

“Tell us about the outside!”

“Do all humans look as weird as you do?”

“Will we also grow a tail one day?”

“Why are your eyes not shining?”

The questions flooded in as soon as Xingye introduced the four newcomers, and a tranquil atmosphere descended over the small cabin.

Hui Yue sat down, and the children instantly gathered around him. “May we stay here a few days?” he asked politely, and the children all nodded their heads with such force it caused laughter to escape from all the older ones present.

“I’ll tell you about the world outside,” Deng Wu said as he, too, sat down. His words caused all the children who had previously grouped up around Hui Yue to move to Deng Wu instantly.

A smile appeared on his face as he started describing with elaborate words the world which he came from.

“You feel familiar,” Xingye suddenly said as he sat next to Deng Wu. “It’s something I have not felt for thousands of years.”

The words greatly shocked everyone present as none of them expected the small child to be vastly older than all of them, yet suddenly his starry eyes shone with excitement as all the children looked at Deng Wu with great admiration.

“Father is that you?” Dongji suddenly asked, his icy eyes gleaming with excitement.

“It feels like father!” Xingye agreed and within seconds all the children were sniffing Deng Wu, touching him, and hugging him. Tears started sprouting within their eyes as happiness seemed to fill them all.

“Father finally returned to us!” Xiaji exclaimed and threw herself into Deng Wu’s embrace like a lost child finally finding his father.

Seated with four children in his arms, Deng Wu was genuinely shocked, and his face was filling with dread. The whole scene was so unexpected yet, knowing Deng Wu and his womanizing ways no one seemed more suitable for the situation than he did.

Laughter suddenly rang through the clearing, as Wang Ju Long no longer could hold back. Her bright voice broke the stunned silence, causing the others to laugh together with her. Laughter which contained both shock and confusion.

‘Oh right,’ Lan Feng finally spoke from within the dantian cave after having been silent for days on end. ‘The seasons were supposed to live in this part of the dungeon. I see Xingye here, but I wonder what happened to Sun. She should be here to look after the kids.’