Blue Phoenix

Hui Yue and Cai Jie were both excited as they spoke with one another about starting a faction. Neither of them could contain the large grins that were evident on their faces. Just as they were about to start talking about the details of their faction a large bell could be heard ringing throughout the premises. It was a dinner bell, calling the lords and ladies to the dinner hall where the food would be served shortly. Looking at one another with beating hearts, the two smiled as they rushed towards the very same dinner hall that they had fled earlier that evening.

This time things were different. All his friends were already seated, and the seat at the end, meant for the host, was empty waiting for Hui Yue to sit down. While Deng Wu was seated at his right side, the left was empty clearly intended for Cai Jie. Hui Yue seeing that his friends took this much consideration towards a man they still had not been introduced to made his heart shake with gratitude. Nodding politely to all of them, Hui Yue was grateful to see that Ma Kong made it to their house once more again, something that would make everything much simpler.

“Thank you for letting us stay here,” Hui Yue started as he smiled to his friends. All of them waited patiently to hear what he had to say. They wanted to see how much he had changed. They wanted to know if they could help in any way. The fact that Hui Yue started speaking proved that he was now ready to introduce his friend alongside telling them what he had planned. “This young man is Cai Jie,” He started the introduction, and then he came to a standstill. He wished to describe the young man but truthfully Hui Yue knew nothing about him. He felt like he could trust him, that he was a brother in arms, but he truly knew nothing about him. Frowning for a moment before he continued, Hui Yue decided just to make a brief introduction, “I met him while I was fighting in the Siban capital. He did me a great favor by taking care of a group of Crusaders. We found that we have the same goals and decided to work together to achieve them.”

“Returning to everyone, I had no actual goal apart from gaining strength so that we can deal with the guy who banished Lan Feng from his body, but when I returned I heard about the problems we have with the third prince. What he did is inexcusable. To kill not only the able-bodied men but also both the elderly and children, to slaughter people who had already been given their freedom, that I will not accept. I will deal with him while I am here, and because of that I will needing everyone’s strength.” He paused for a moment as he looked at Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long. Both of them had determined expressions on their faces, but gratitude could be seen in their eyes, gratitude and hope.

“At first, I wanted to join the City Lord’s faction and make the City Lord support whom I wished to support, but after thinking it over for some time, I came upon a much better idea. I think it is time for this capital to gain one more faction. I will be the leader of this faction, and I will see if it is possible for us to work with the City Lord. It would be preferable to have him back our faction.” His words caused everyone to be short of breath. No one expected that Hui Yue was willing to put himself forward in such an obvious way.

“To become a faction of strength we will use various means. First of all, I need everyone to know that I am the Grand Marshall of the beast army. For reasons I am now a half beast, and I was finally able to return after finishing some things with the beasts. Now I wish to be close to my dear friends while I spend my time cultivating and increasing in strength. My strength alone is not enough to start a faction so I will need everyone’s help.” He continued and looked at those around him, “Gao Yan, I need you and your information network to officially take part in our faction. Ma Kong, I need your auction house to support us. Do you think it’s possible to make your family’s Black Market Auction House part of my faction, or will they continue to side with Zhan Weishen?”

A smile appeared on Ma Kong’s face as he looked at Hui Yue with an amused expression. “It was some years ago now, but you once came to my family with the business model of life insurance. This was something we considered for a long time, but when we finally started implementing it, we found that it was a great success. Particularly for guards, soldiers, and mercenaries. Although we still manage an auction house, the primary business for our family is insurance. When my family was informed that you returned to the capital, they emptied my schedule and said that my main job is to ensure that you and I keep our friendship. If I tell them that you wish to start your own faction, I guarantee my family will back you.”

Hui Yue smiled satisfied as he heard his words. He then looked to Gao Yan and that man nodded with a broad grin on his face. “Anything you need, I will help you with if I have it,” He said with a relieved expression on his face. He felt that he owed his life to Hui Yue. To be a part of his faction was something he would without a doubt do.

“I am sorry, although we wish to be part of your faction, we cannot,” Rong Xing said with a sad voice. “We are from the Rong family. The Rong family are the City Lords of Riluo City, and our family is only loyal to one faction, and that is the King’s. We cannot be a part of your faction, sorry.”

Hearing his words, Hui Yue would be lying if he said that he was not slightly disappointed, but he understood that they truly had no say in the matter how much they wanted to change the facts. Because of this he just nodded with a small smile on his face. “We are in; there is no reason to question that,” Deng Wu said with determination. “Although I might not be very famous in the capital, I am still quite strong. Merging with Little Dragon caused quite a few changes to my body and mind, not to mention my latent talent which has soared through the roof. I should be able to support you quite well.” He promised and although Wang Ju Long said nothing she nodded her head in the background. She was quite famous in all the infirmaries in town, and she was known as an ice queen who specialized in poisons.

“Sounds good,” Hui Yue said with a smile. “Well I will start building our faction tomorrow, but now, let’s eat all this delicious food that has been made for us,” He said smilingly. Everyone started to eat while chatting about what had transpired during the long time they had not seen each other. What they all really wished to hear about was Hui Yue’s adventures.

The following day, Hui Yue was in a great mood as he sat down in the small library alone. Hui Yue contemplated the issue for some time. Since he was about to start his own faction, he could not stay in the house belonging to the Rong twins. Had they been part of his faction then it would be fine, but they were loyal only to the king which meant that staying here would be impossible. The Rong twin’s integrity would be questioned, and Hui Yue would be assumed to support the King.

By his side was Cai Jie, who was reading various books and paying no attention to Hui Yue, who found his storage stones. Within he found all his beast cores, items of interest, and gold coins. He wished to purchase his own mansion somewhere in the capital, and he needed a mansion about the size of the one the Rong twins owned. Looking through his bags, he found multiple items which he could sell for a fortune mostly beast cores, some materials, and some inscriptions that he could put up for sale. Although on their own these things would not sell for much, but with the amounts that Hui Yue had managed to collect over the years they added up.

“I am going to go and meet Ma Kong,” Hui Yue stated as he stood up. As he looked at Cai Jie, he expected the young man to follow him, but he seemed to be fully focused on the book he had found on the shelf. This caused Hui Yue to shrug as he turned around and left the room heading towards the Black Market Auction House within the capital, the auction house belonging to the Ma family.

The city was bustling as one would expect of a capital, but even so, Hui Yue could tell that a few experts were following him. These experts were all either Dukes or Kings, and Hui Yue had to admit that it had been hard to detect them at first. They were not following him closely moving only when he did. They were moving around him, entering shops, leaving shops, stopping at stalls, purchasing items, chatting with friends, and being incredibly casual. Were it not because Lan Feng kept an eye out for them, then Hui Yue would not have noticed them.

Secondly, he started noticing the thieves in town along with the beggars and servants. All of them were observing him with unhidden curiosity. None of the thieves were stupid enough to try anything when it came to Hui Yue as it seemed they knew who he was; instead, some even greeted him with a nod. Their interest in him was the complete opposite of those high-class experts who were tailing him.

“How silly,” He chuckled to himself as he finally reached the auction house. As soon as the guards saw him, they greeted him politely and moments after a servant appeared. The servant bowed deeply and led Hui Yue to a room where he brought wine and grapes after which he excused himself. After waiting for a moment, he heard someone rushing towards him. He grinned when he saw a flustered Ma Kong enter through the door. The moment he saw Hui Yue he heaved a heavy sigh and fell into a chair.

“You could have warned me that you would come visit today,” He laughed as he picked himself up and poured a glass of wine, “They told me one of our patrons needed to see me; you have no idea how worried I was!” He grinned as he drank the wine causing Hui Yue to grin in return. To be considered a patron of this auction house was a great honor.

“I need your assistance already,” Hui Yue sighed as he picked up one storage stone after another and placed them on the table. “I have a surplus of materials I need to sell. I don’t need to get retail price for them; I just want someone who buys in bulk. Who would you suggest that I do business with?” He asked. He knew that this was an auction house, and although they worked with items they specialized in high-grade treasures and materials, not the things Hui Yue wanted to sell right now. Thinking for a moment, Hui Yue brought out one more stone and from inside he took out a massive stone which he placed in front of Ma Kong, “I also want to sell this item,” He said as he saw Ma Kong’s confused expression. “It is a stone which increases the essence of the heavens and the earth that one can absorb while cultivating,” He explained. He had bought it back in the Dungeons of the Divine, and he only used it briefly, but now it was not of great value to him as he had the blue cloud at his disposal. Selling it he knew that most would consider it a priceless treasure, but now what he needed was not a stone which gave him more essence, but coins to assist him in politics.