Blue Phoenix

Hui Yue was still hesitant as he picked up one of the golden medicinal pills. He had a handful of these pills and from within strong energy undulations could be felt. Swallowing his saliva, Hui Yue sighed deeply. “Here goes,” He mumbled as he popped the medicinal pill into his mouth.

Xiao Ning sitting near him was surprised to see how many medicinal pills this young man had but he was even more shocked by the bravery he showed in consuming one; a pill that it seemed like he did not know what it would do to him.

Little did Xiao Ning know that Hui Yue was at least as worried as he was, however, he trusted Lan Feng. When the phoenix said that the pills were of benefit to him, He didn’t hesitate to take it. Even if Lan Feng told him to jump from a cliff into the abyss below, as long as Lan Feng said it would make him stronger, Hui Yue would do it.

As soon as the golden pill entered his mouth, it melted on his tongue and his body jolted. Wave after wave of energy surged through his body forcing itself into his meridians and flooding through every vein.

This energy was unlike any Hui Yue had felt before. It was white like Qi, but it was strong as Wu Wei. The energy soon started to rotate through his meridians and slowly the white energy turned golden before it eventually entered into his Wu Wei core in the upper dantian.

As one wave of energy entered the Wu Wei core, more and more waves surged and went through his veins. His entire body was being fortified by the many waves of energy that forced themselves through his body. Every time it went through an internal organ or a blood vessel some of the energy was left behind and merged with the tissue strengthening the body to an incredible degree.

Although his body was strengthened, this strength was nothing compared to the energy Hui Yue felt in his body. Soon a splitting headache caused him to close his eyes. The energy within him was simply far too strong, and he felt as though he was a balloon with too much air. One that could burst at any time.

His Wu Wei core showed cracks on its surface and the more cracks that appeared, the more pain Hui Yue was in. He sat down in a lotus position as he popped the medicinal pill into his mouth; he had his legs crossed, and his hands in his lap with his eyes closed. Though while most in this position were serene and calm, Hui Yue was currently not at all peaceful. He had a frown on his face and sweat was pouring to the ground as small grunts could be heard in the silent chamber.

The energy undulations which appeared from Hui Yue were so strong that even the two experts at the other end of the room could faintly feel it. Everyone’s eyes were focused on the young man who was clearly struggling to deal with the massive amount of energy which had entered his body. Even Xiao Ning was jealous of the medicinal pill which managed to produce such an incredible amount of energy, however, even so, he did not even attempt to steal any of the pills Hui Yue had neatly laid in front of him. Instead, he observed the other group of experts and with a snort he threw some of his Wu Wei into the air.

The Wu Wei that he threw into the air took the shape of a large barrier of golden light. Sitting down Xiao Ning started cultivating, and as he did, the barrier around him and Hui Yue increased in power. The more he cultivated, the stronger the barrier became.

Although Xiao Ning did this for the sake of protecting Hui Yue, the younger man had not noticed the gesture as he was fully focused on mending his fracturing Wu Wei core. Every time a crack appeared, Wu Wei poured out from the core and was used as glue to slowly healfixerase the crack. Unfortunately, it seemed that he was fighting a losing battle as the cracks were appearing quicker than his Wu Wei was able to fix them.

Hui Yue’s energy was becoming more and more unstable as the energy from the pill was still pouring into his body and refining itself into Wu Wei. This instability made it even more volatile and with gritted teeth, Hui Yue was turning frantic as he rushed to looked after one crack after another.

Soon Hui Yue understood that although he was trying to just keep his Wu Wei core intact, it was actually growing every time he healed the cracks. Due to this, his core was soon filled to the brim.

‘This might be a good thing,’ Lan Feng said tentatively. ‘Either you will break through into the realms of an Emperor, or your upper dantian will completely shatter. Though if it does shatter, we will have to give up any notion of ever fighting An He,” He continued with a sigh, and his words caused a cold shiver to run through Hui Yue’s spine. His eyes suddenly steeled and his lips tightened. Luck was not the only thing he needed; determination was something he needed just as much as, and Hui Yue was fully determined to get the best of this turbulent energy.

Working even faster than before, Hui Yue quickly dealt with every crack as soon as it appeared. After a bit, the expanding core started to gradually slow down. Hui Yue could feel an abundant energy within his body, an amount which he had never experienced before.

A bang resounded in his mind, and the Wu Wei core seemed to change from before. It had grown greatly in size, and where it was previously filled with energy, it was now almost empty. This was the massive difference between the King rank and Emperor rank. To think that Hui Yue had broken through, excitement was seen on both Hui Yue’s and Lan Feng’s faces. They were now Emperor ranked experts; they were now one step closer to their goal.

Feeling the volatile energy throughout the entire chamber suddenly calm down, everyone was shocked. While Xiao Ning was excited, the two other experts had very sour expressions on their faces. Enmity had already been sown between themselves and Hui Yue. The Grand Marshall of the beast army becoming stronger meant that they were in a worse position than they had been before.

Opening his eyes a golden flame was within, however it soon died out, and Hui Yue noticed the defense that had been placed above and around him. He felt gratitude towards Xiao Ning for going out of his way to protect him, even though the two of them did not owe each other anything.

To reward this expert, Hui Yue picked up one of the golden pills and tossed it to the older man who instantly opened his eyes and grabbed it out of reflex. When he saw what it was, his eyes were filled with shock and happiness. It was hard to gain Wu Wei, and even harder to balance one’s Yin and Yang energies; however, the energy gained from these pills was perfectly balanced, it did not lean towards either of the energies. Such a pill was priceless. These pills were indeed priceless, and Lan Feng was very unhappy with Hui Yue giving one away, but in this situation Hui Yue ignored him. Building a good relationship with Xiao Ning was worth one of the pills.

Sighing heavily, Hui Yue looked at the pills in front of him. The handful of golden pills had diminished by two leaving five pills. The four purple pills were the next ones which gained his attention. Sighing deeply, Hui Yue sat down in the shielded area and closed his eyes. His body was at its peak, it could not be stronger or more resilient than it was now, but he still took time to relax a moment. He made sure that his adrenaline had subsided and his body was good to go.

After waiting a few hours, he no longer had the signs of fatigue and was staring intently at the purple pills. Sighing he picked up one of them, and while trying to forget about the pain he had just gone through, he tossed the pill in his mouth.

Energy once more appeared in his mouth as the pill slowly disintegrated, but the energy was completely different from the energies he had felt before. The energy did not enter his meridians, nor did it become refined. What happened was that the energy entered his body itself. This energy steadily entered his body, fortifying every single bit of the body itself.

Much like the previous pill it was impossible for Hui Yue to control the energy he gained from the pill. Though thankfully this energy was a lot more subtle than the previous energy. It did not try to overwhelm his body, all it did was enter and strengthen his bones, organs, and vessels.

While he was absorbing the energy, his entire body shone with a purple hue and continuously emitted cracking sounds as if his bones were being broken. Though this was not the case, instead the medicinal pill had forced his bones to grow making the young Hui Yue even taller than he was been before. His muscles were becoming more prominent and much stronger.

Opening his eyes, this time a purple flame could be seen in his eyes before dying out, and purple smoke left his mouth as soon as he opened it.

As he looked around he saw that the barrier was still present around him and Xiao Ning. The older man was currently shining with a golden hue as strong energy waves came from him. It was clear that he was absorbing the medicinal pill he had been given by Hui Yue.

Behind them, the two experts were filled with sour expressions. They had opened all the storage stones they obtained yet the number of pills they had in front of them were few. So few in fact that they did not know how to share them between themselves. Their greed almost made them fight each other for the only golden medicinal pill they obtained.

Although they had only gotten one of the golden pills, they had managed to get their hands on quite a few purple pills. To their disappointment none of the red or white pills were present in small pile of pills.

Hui Yue looked at them for a short while before shaking his head. He put them out of his mind, not thinking about them any longer. Now that his personal strength had risen to the Emperor rank it was obvious that he was far stronger than before, especially if he merged with Lan Feng’s power. Those two experts were now easy to beat, not to mention that he had Xiao Ning by his side; the Shield of Taiyang.

Wresting his eyes away from the two Saints who were venomously glaring at him, he once more looked at the pills in front of him. Putting aside the white pills, Hui Yue was in no mood to try them. They were the pills which consisted of Yin energy and they were as valuable as the golden pills because they helped him balance his energies.

Looking at the pills that remained, the only ones he were still unaware of were the red pills. Looking at them he assumed that they were Yang energy pills; however, he was uncertain. After calming himself and sitting in the lotus position, he popped a medicinal pill into his mouth.

This medicinal pill was far different from what he had expected, and soon energy flooded his body once more. However this was not Yang energy, nor was it Yin energy; it was something else entirely.