Blue Phoenix

“You dare laugh at us?” The leader let out the full power of his Practitioner rank cultivation base, attempting to set up a menacing air to forcefully suppress the four invaders.

Complex expressions appeared on the faces of Hui Yue, Deng Wu, and Wang Ju Long. All of them had disbelieving smiles spread across their faces as they stared at the ones who dared to be so preposterous in front of them.

At the same time, slight annoyance also appeared as they all expected to smoothly return Sun to her cabin where the seasons were waiting for her.

Sighing deeply, Hui Yue deactivated the inscriptions on his cloak, infusing it with his spiritual energy before releasing the aura of his cultivation base.

Although Hui Yue was only a Master ranked expert, his spiritual energy was far superior to any other Master and even Grandmasters were not his match. How could these inferior guards handle the pressure?

Looking at the leader Hui Yue chuckled slightly. The previously arrogant expression changed to one filled with fear and looking closely one could see how his pants were getting wet around the crotch area.

“Who are you to stand against I, The King of the Forest?!” Hui Yue slightly altered his voice and the voice thundered out, booming in the minds of the guards present.

Shocked the guards felt how cold sweat was gushing down their bodies, a few of them felt a warm liquid trickling down their pants. Every one of them had their minds reeling in fear as they cowered in front of this dangerous person.

“The… The King of the forest?” The guard captain asked with a meek voice. “There… there are no kings in Cave’s End. Only the City Lord’s commands!” The guard tried his best to stay brave but in spite of that, his legs were trembling from the sudden pressure he felt and his voice stuttered.

Laughing slightly on the inside, Hui Yue allowed for a small fragment of the red mist within his dantian cave to surface. Instantly the entire surrounding area was as cold as a mid winter night and uncontrollable fear flooded the minds of the poor guards who already were at their wits end.

Three of the guards fell to their knees, kowtowing in front of the cloaked figure. Even the leader was shaking, his knees threatening to collapse underneath him, his tears flowing unstoppably and mixed with mucus from his nose.

Seeing the guards scared witless, Hui Yue quickly returned the red mist back to the dantian cave where it was looked after by the blue cloud. He also retracted his spiritual energy, reactivating the inscriptions on his black cloak.

All guards were shocked as the previous overwhelming and frightening aura that had completely vanished, turned into nothingness, which in its own way was even more frightening than before.

Hui Yue and his black cloaked friends waited patiently for the guards to regain their senses, amusement evident on Hui Yue’s face. Although he had no wish to bully the weak, these guards had simply been too arrogant while expecting that he would not fight back.

“We apologize, great King of the Forest!” One of the guards said with a trembling voice. His face was as pale as new fallen snow, his eyes wide open filled with unspilled tears while his lips were trembling together with the voice.

“Heed my words!” Hui Yue’s voice was still changed slightly and by using his Earth affinity, he managed to make the ground tremble as soon as the words left his mouth. This caused the guard’s minds to reel and their eyes to spin.

“Travel back to your City Lord,” The word was almost spat out, the cloaked figure clearly not feeling any kind of respect towards their most esteemed lord. “Inform him that I, The King of the Forest, has returned to my humble abode. Should he, or his men, ever venture into my forest then I will kill without hesitation!”

Looking at the guards, a foul smell started to appear and Hui Yue frowned his nose. This was without a doubt good enough to scare them away and keep them from ever returning to the depth of the forest. “Now Scram!”

The last words once more caused the poor guards to feel the world roiling around them, in fear they scrambled to their legs and rushed away. A satisfied expression showed on Hui Yue’s face.

According to his expectations, these guards would now rush back to the City Lord’s mansion and tell him about their encounter. The City Lord would either be terrified and instantly keep his citizens away from the forest, or he would gather a strong force and set out, ready to decimate this so called King of the Forest.

Should the City Lord stay hidden inside his city then Hui Yue had achieved what he had in mind. However should the City Lord rouse his armies then Hui Yue would show that he had been serious when he said that anyone who stepped into the forests would die.

The reason Hui Yue became this determined was due to the way he saw the Dragon Corps treat Sun. She was a law, and she was clearly something they wanted badly. Who knew what would happen with the seasons if they were spotted by the City Lord’s men?

This was a question which Hui Yue did not need an answer to. All he wanted was to know that when he once more stepped through the gateway into the tunnels, then he would not have to worry about the friendly laws he had met.

….

“Milord!” A steward came rushing in through the entrance to the hall. His feet were moving the fastest they could without him tripping and falling flat on the stone floor, however his face was filled with utter shock.

“Milord!” He called out once more, “The guards returned milord, however, they claim to have met a monster!”

Hearing this, the City Lord furrowed his brows, as he looked at the man rushing to him. “A monster?” He asked before a hearty laughter escaped his lips. “Do you think that they met a low ranked magical beast?” He asked, a faint mocking was evident within his voice, “I heard that a few of them should still live within the depth of the forest.”

Seeing his master in such a great mood, the steward fidgeted a little before he finally opened his mouth again, “Milord, I am afraid that this was no magical beast,” His voice was low and the City Lord was only capable of hearing it because he was a high ranked expert, higher than the average citizen.

“Milord, the only thing they will say is do not offend the King of the Forest. Their minds seem to have been lost.” The more he said the lower the voice became and at the end it was merely a whisper which was barely discernable.

Although this was but a whisper it was enough to thoroughly enrage the City Lord. Who dared calling themselves a king within his Cave’s End?! His eyes were bloodshot with anger and the cup in his hand crumbled to pieces as the grip tightened.

“Take me to the guards!” His voice boomed out with anger, as he said these words the steward fearing for his life, as he was the messenger of bad news, bowed over and over again before he backed out the room; he slowly led the lord towards the infirmary where those guards were being kept.

Walking through the door, the City Lord’s frown turned into a furrow of his nose as the smell was simply horrid. Still, his anger was not easily dissipated and he stepped through the door. Entering the room only to see his most trusted and highest ranked experts laying in a pool of tears and mucus.

Anger flashed within his eyes, as he wondered what could have caused his men to sully themselves, however, even the many wood affinity cultivators who were running around seemed to be completely at a loss for what to do.

As soon as the City Lord stepped through the door, the previously busy room instantly turned silent, no one moved around to wash the guards or scout their bodies for injuries. The only sounds which could still be heard came from those three guards, which were sobbing in low voices.

Looking around, the lord found only one man, the captain of the guards who seemed to have just one shred of sanity left. However that shred of sanity was something he held on to for dear life.

“He’s nothing like you think.” He kept repeating, and upon seeing the City Lord the captain rushed towards him and kowtowed on the floor as words started streaming from his mouth.

“Milord, we followed the cloaked men and caught up with them. Upon meeting them they had no cultivation base whatsoever.” The man was frantic and the words gushed out from his mouth like a waterfall giving the City Lord no chance to stop him. “A man stepped forward and called himself the King of the Forest. Of course we laughed at him and told him that there were no kings within this cave, only the City Lord and his commands. The man got mad, very mad. He ended up making the world thunder and spin, the ground tremble from his anger. My lord, his cultivation base is definitely no weaker than yours. If I may say so, he was definitely much stronger, not to mention the three followers, who were all like him, clad in black hiding their strength.”

As soon as the man finished speaking he collapsed on the ground, foam appearing in his mouth as his body was spasming. It took only moments before he was declared dead.

Seeing his trusted guard driven to such a state, the City Lord felt anger burning within his very core, however he did not act irrationally. Instead he left the stinking room and moved towards his own home to take a bath.

“You there!” He called to a steward who was standing close by. As soon as the man noticed the City Lord, respectful bows were shown to him. “Summon the elders for a meeting, I will be there shortly.”

….

While the City Lord prepared for a meeting, Hui Yue was walking through the forest where he had walked days before together with Xingye and he quickly recognised the way. The trip took mere minutes as Sun too rushed along, speeding up the entire group as sunshine shone through the black cloak enveloping the surroundings in a soft golden light.

“Mother!” A voice called in the distance, and within moments everyone gathered up next to the four cloaked people.

As soon as Hui Yue recognized Xingye, he stopped in his tracks and removed the cloak he was wearing. Seeing Hui Yue doing so, his friends quickly followed suit and soon a reunion was taking place.

“Where is the miss with the funny tail?” Xingye asked Hui Yue and the white haired boy sent a sad smile to the smaller one. “I couldn’t bring her. She is guarding the tunnels and waiting for us.” A small hint of guilt struck Hui Yue but he quickly shook his head. The decision he made might have been rushed, however he still stood by it.

If they were recognized it would be impossible for them to continue on their journey safely. It was not only for his sake but also for Sha Yun and the others.

Determination appeared in his eyes once more as he made one more decision. They would stay within the clearing for one week to see whether or not the City Lord planned on making a move. If he did, Hui Yue would retaliate exactly as he said he would, however, if they did not, then Hui Yue would leave this place and move on, with one thing less to worry about.