Blue Phoenix

As the energy he devoured reached the core of his body the dragon’s blood essence which was within reacted. It merged with the blood essence and formed a light red ball of dragon energy which kept increasing in size in his core. The more of the dragon's white Qi that Hui Yue swallowed, the more blood essence was able to merge with the energy and the bigger the light red ball became.

This ball hovered within Hui Yue's core and showed no signs of fighting or struggling against Hui Yue; it just sat there growing.

Although Hui Yue was absorbing the energy that the dragon was releasing, it was impossible for him to absorb all of it, and all the dragon’s leftover energy went towards strengthening his vital points.

After Huli started to participate in the battle, the dragon had been pushed backwards, and it no longer had the power to advance, but even so, it refused to retreat back into the underground prison. Currently, it was a fight of attrition; the one with the most energy would win.

Hui Yue felt that the energy within his body was going rampant. It was impossible for him to keep controlling it despite his devouring force and the fact that he was refining it as fast as he could. Because of this, it was impossible for him to continue fighting while subduing the raging energy in his body. His body felt like it was on the verge of being ripped apart from the massive amounts of energy he was absorbing.

Hui Yue went as far as to try and get Lan Feng to help him control the energy, but even with the strength of both people’s mind combined, it was impossible for them to keep the energy under control. This showed just how powerful and domineering this dragon was! The energy which did not even contain the soul of the beast was so hard to subdue that not even the majestic blue phoenix and Hui Yue working together could quickly defeat it.

Seeing no other option Hui Yue stopped absorbing the dragon’s energy and dispelled his devouring technique, but even so, this did nothing to stop the terrifying energy already in his body. His entire body was bathed in sweat and pain was evident on his face. He had been too greedy in his absorption of such high-quality energy, and now he had to figure out a way to refine this energy and merge it with his own.

“Sit down and meditate,” Huli said reassuringly as her attacks rained down upon the dragon. “I will hold the line and protect us. If something goes wrong, I'll make sure to awaken you so that you can transfer us. I won’t risk our lives!”

Hui Yue had been slightly hesitant. He considered just taking Huli and leaving now, but she was not willing to leave just yet.

Hearing what Huli said, Hui Yue nodded his head. If Huli said that she could handle it, then Hui Yue trusted her, and without further ado, he sat down and closed his eyes on top of the building they were standing on. When he sat down, both he and Lan Feng fully focused on refining the rampaging energy. Neither of them were willing to give up this great treasure of dragon energy.

Huli, noticing Hui Yue enter meditation, looked at the dragon with cold eyes. "I will not let you interrupt him!" She said solemnly as she summoned forth a different kind of wind blade.

Previously they had just been small and around fifty centimeters long, but now she summoned a wind blade which was a full ten meters in length. Gritting her teeth, Huli thought that this wind blade should be able to damage to the dragon some.

It seemed that the dragon sensed the danger this attack would pose and focused all its energy to free itself from the underground prison that was still stubbornly holding it.

Spending all his energy on releasing himself, it did not take too long before he was completely free. The long coiling white dragon shot to the sky, and a loud roar resounded throughout the entire Skydragon Fortress.

Of the experts who had stayed behind, everyone was scared witless and tried to escape, but this dragon just looked at them, and they were petrified where they stood.

"This isn’t good..." Huli mumbled, but even so, she refused to move away from Hui Yue's side. Even when the dragon looked down on the many human and beast cultivators below, it was obvious it didn’t know the word compassion. It was clear that it would spend its first bit of freedom destroying all of Skydragon Fortress before leaving.

Looking at the dragon, Huli knew that this beast was far stronger than herself and even if she wished to defeat it, it would not be possible. She felt dejected as she looked at this beast in the sky, but even so, she placed herself in front of Hui Yue. Even if she could not kill the beast, she would make him pay an extravagant price. In the end, she would risk her life to ensure that the oversized snake did not touch a hair on Hui Yue's head.

The dragon looked at Hui Yue and Huli. Although it wished to kill everyone present, the reason it had been injured so badly was due to Hui Yue and Huli participating in the fight. Had they not been there, then it would have been able to destroy the entire Skydragon Fortress without much pain, however, now in return for its freedom, it had needed to allow one attack after another to rain down upon it. Currently, more than a few scales were broken making its blood flow freely and revealing the flesh beneath. It needed to kill and eat the two experts who ruined its well-crafted plans.

Gripping the two swords, Huli raised her head and her eyes locked onto the eyes of the dragon. She had not fought seriously before, but now there was no way she could keep playing around. She would need to use her true power, and suddenly the two small swords were stored into her storage treasure after which her body started changing.

Hui Yue had never before seen Huli in her true form; he had only seen her as a cute small fox with a tail and as a human, yet now it was neither of these forms that Huli took. Instead, she took the shape of a large beast; a fox that was at least twenty meters tall and thirty-five meters long.

She no longer had only one tail, but nine! Her beautiful eyes turned red as she stared at the dragon in front of her.

Silence enveloped the entire city. Nine-tailed foxes were incredibly rare, and even more so a black nine-tailed fox causing many to look at Hui Yue with gazes filled with jealousy. Sadly it was impossible to snatch away a beast that had already undergone a beast contract or had a slave seal implemented in their bodies unless the owner or master agreed. But they were positive that this young man would never agree to trade this fox for anything.

Killing him was also a no go. They noticed that the only creature present who even had a chance to stand against the dragon was this fox, and if they touched her master, it was likely she would kill everyone around her. No one wished to risk that.

Since it was like this everyone decided to just stay back and let whatever was meant to happen, happen.

Some fled while others stayed around to watch the battle between Huli and the dragon unfold. This was sure to be a battle of epic proportions and just seeing experts of such caliber fighting would help one gain insights into the daos they used, that is as long as they didn’t die in the aftershocks of their attacks. While these Gods watched, the many guards of Skydragon Fortress continued to pour one attack after another down on the dragon in the hopes of their energy using up some of his own to defend against them. If they could wear him down even a little, then Huli might have a chance. This was the hope they all held onto.

While everyone was busy with the dragon, Hui Yue had completely sealed himself away from the outside world. His only focus was on the light red energy orb which was floating within his body. He felt how his body was getting continually getting strengthened. His defenses had risen drastically, and his speed of absorbing energies was also increasing, but most importantly he could feel the aura of a real dragon had appeared within his body.

Hui Yue was unaware what exactly this energy could do for him. He knew that it had greatly strengthened his body and that it had given him the aura of a true dragon, but as for what that meant, he had no idea. Even so, Hui Yue could guess that it was something amazing and that he had truly gained greatly from absorbing the blood and beast essence from the dragon. With a fevered expression, Hui Yue could not help but dream about how it would be if he could get some of the beast and blood essence of the Azure Dragon’s real body which was deep within the Divine Beast World. Just how strong would he become then? Just what strange changes would occur to him if he got even more of the dragon’s blood and beast essence to feed this small orb within him.

Just as Hui Yue was about to check which other changes had occurred, he felt something bump into him causing him to open his eyes only to see the sight he did not wish to see.

Right in front of him, Huli was on the ground in a pool of blood. There was blood all over her black fur and wounds were cut and scraped into every single inch of her body.

The dragon in the sky was roaring in victory as it got ready to attack one last time and squash all life out of Huli, however, when Hui Yue saw this everything went black. The black figure from within his core acted on its own as black energy erupted from Hui Yue's body and laid itself like a blanket around himself and Huli causing them to vanish moments after.

The dragon, which had attacked, was surprised to see the two vanish into thin air, yet he did not panic. Behind him, he felt movement, and when he turned around, he was shocked to see that Hui Yue was standing there with a wounded woman in his arms.

Waving his hand, the wounded body of Huli was put in the Universe Box where it was safe while Hui Yue stared down the dragon.

His usually blue eyes had turned completely black, and the air around his being was turned black with small specks of light.

The black energy cloaked Hui Yue once more, and he vanished just as he had before, only to arrive right behind the dragon.

He was no longer unarmed but had the Sword of the Icy Tempest in hand as he thrust out. His attack managed to injure the dragon quite badly with a cut to the back of the dragon. Before the dragon realized what had happened, Hui Yue had cloaked himself with the black energy once more and vanished into thin air again.

Seeing this puny human vanish once more, the dragon lost its patience and roared to the sky as it twisted and turned to see if it could locate Hui Yue, but he was as good as gone.

Hui Yue was not aware of how he was fighting, but he felt that something had taken over his body. His entire world was filled with the dao of space, and he was comprehending it at an astonishing speed.

Hui Yue kept appearing and disappearing. Every time he managed to wound the dragon slightly until he finally stood high up in the air and looked at the dragon with a disgusted look on his face.

"You dare call yourself a dragon, yet only amount to this much?" He mocked, and his words resounded throughout the entire city. "Come, kill me, a mere human." He continued to taunt the dragon, and finally, it located him and soared straight for Hui Yue.

"Dumb beast," Hui Yue sighed as he lifted the swords in his hands. The beast increased his speed, and Hui Yue just looked at it with apathy before he dragged down his sword creating a massive gap in the fabric of space.

The dragon was too close and was not capable of stopping in time, and thus its body flew straight through the gap after which Hui Yue clenched his hand, and the gap closed again. Just like that the dragon was no longer present within the Netherworld but had been sent to a far away galaxy instead.

Silence descended upon the entire city as they saw how simply Hui Yue had dealt with this beast and they instantly made a note to themselves to not anger this expert.

Hui Yue suddenly felt weak as the force which had overtaken him vanished, but now was not the time to show such weakness.

'Lean on me,' Lan Feng said, and suddenly Hui Yue felt how his body became invigorated, and he suddenly had more energy than before. Sharing a soul with the phoenix was beneficial in situations like this.

Looking around, Hui Yue was planning on leaving when a strong, burly man appeared in front of him, staring at him without hiding his curiosity.

"I am the City Lord of Skydragon Fortress. Why don't you come visit me for a banquet to celebrate you saving us from the dragon?" He asked, and Hui Yue considered it for a moment, and he could not help but frown. ‘Why had this City Lord done absolutely nothing during the entire battle? He should be at least as strong as Huli,’ thought Hui Yue.

"I am sorry," he said after thinking for a bit. "I have a wounded friend I need to treat, but as soon as she is feeling better then I would love to come visit," he said with a slight bow towards the City Lord and then took his leave. He had quickly left as he felt that something was wrong.