by Tinalynge
As the warm summer ended it became time for the national tournament at the main branch of the Royal Academy, but Hui Yue had politely declined joining as he felt his cultivation base was lacking.
That was his official reason, while in truth, Hui Yue did not have any intention of standing out on a national stage just yet. Although he was becoming famous within Riluo City, it was only one of the many cities within the Taiyang Kingdom and boasting was very common when a new genius child emerged. Unfortunately there were as many geniuses as there were clouds in the skies.
The Rong twins and Gao Yan were all picked for the national tournament, and they all did well during the battles, yet Hui Yue enjoyed his time at the academy to train, feeling no sense of jealousy when he saw their prizes.
The excitement from the tournament lasted all winter and with it came snow and the colder temperatures but soon the snow melted and spring returned. Years came and years passed while Hui Yue was focused on cultivating his Qi, hoping to break into the master rank.
Deng Wu had broken into the Master rank at the tender age of sixteen and he had shocked the entire Riluo City with this feat. His elemental affinity had turned out to be Metal and Earth, and although he was unable to become an alchemist he was still practicing hard to become an inscriber.
This astonishing event had caused the entire city to celebrate for a whole week as they saw the birth of a genius above the usual. A genius who might possibly manage to break into the ranks of a Saint.
Although geniuses were as abundant as clouds in the skies, geniuses which had the ability to ascent into the ranks of a Saint were limited. It was indeed something worth celebrating.
After a year, at the age of seventeen, the next to break through had been Gao Yan. This shocked everyone as they all knew his cultivation base had been shattered, and he was seen as another peerless genius of the younger generation.
Having these two geniuses quickly caused everyone within Riluo City to forget everything about Hui Yue, and even Wang Ju Long was slightly forgotten as the other two young men had broken into the Master rank.
Ma Kong and the Rong twins were still at the final ninth star of the Practitioner rank, and so was Hui Yue, the young boy who had just turned fifteen years old.
Although Hui Yue had reached the ninth star of the Practitioner rank it was not commonly known within Riluo City, and Hui Yue’s fame from years before had slowly turned numb as the extreme expert never appeared again.
A fierce wind was blowing through the empty streets of Riluo City. Everything was dark and a blanket of stars and the moon was shining over these narrow alleyways. This allowed only the bare minimum of light to shine down onto the dirty roads which during the daytime would be bustling with life, but were currently deserted.
Usually the houses would have light shining through their windows, lightning up the grim outside for the few passer-bys, yet nothing was alit this evening, nor had it been for the last month as horrendous things started to happen within Riluo City.
A month prior, seven corpses had been found within one of the poorer areas, none of the corpses had been complete, instead they had been massacred. Some of their heads had been severed while others had lost limbs. Looking at the area it was obvious that this had been a one-sided match, and it could be considered a slaughter rather than an actual battle.
This was not the only time it had happened. A week later something similar happened in another area of Riluo City, yet this time it was ten men who had been slaughtered. The men who had died were all mercenaries or guards who had come from middle class or low class families. All of them worked hard during day, but no one knew the reason they were killed.
The City Lord’s mansion set more guards out at night to catch the culprit, but no one was found. The City Lord also tried to interrogate the families who had lost fathers or sons, yet no one seemed to know what they had been doing out that late. No one was able to shed light on the case.
These problem had caused Riluo City to become on guard. No one knew if the one who walked next to them was a murderer, or even why these groups of people were slaughtered together. Especially in the poorer areas which were shaken by the events, and everyone would stay inside as soon as the sun set past the horizon.
This night was one such night and a shadow was suddenly visible within the darkness, walking away from a closed door and down an alleyway with quiet steps. His figure was hidden within the shadows and he managed to evade the city guards which were patrolling the area.
The moon emerged from behind a cloud and at that very moment it was possible to see the entire street illuminated by the soft silvery light.
The shadow was a young man. His hair seemed to be white, yet it was stained with black streaks and dots which were constantly running down like waterdrops in rain. The young man’s face was beautiful but ice-cold. A stern expression was evident on his face and determination shone within his eyes. Within the slim hand was a pearl white sword which had been created by a very pure Qi, but even the Qi was dripping with a thick red liquid.
Chapter 68 - Assassins
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Chapter 68: Assassins
Behind the shadow an uproar was taking place as yet another group of corpses had been found. This time it was twelve bodies, all dismembered like the previous ones. A shiver ran through the group of guards who found these corpses as the cuts were simply too clean.
The young man hid himself in the shadows, as he made his way back to an inn in which he had left his companion, and he slipped unseen through the door and made his way upstairs.
“Hui Yue!” Sha Yun exclaimed with shock when she saw the blood stained clothes, in bright contrast to the white skin and hair, a worried expression appeared on her beautiful face before it twisted in anger, growling sounds emerging from the throat.
A small smile appeared on Hui Yue’s face as he waved a hand calmly before moving to the bathroom. Moments later the sound of running water could be heard, as Hui Yue cleaned the blood off his body and clothes.
Watching this, Sha Yun entered the bathroom where she picked up the clothes and went to a sink to clean them more thoroughly than what Hui Yue had done. He then poured a few buckets of water over his head. Sending a gratified smile to Sha Yun, Hui Yue stripped of the rest of his clothes, before he sunk into the warm tub which was filled with water and he allowed for his tired muscles to relax.
“They appeared again today?” Sha Yun asked, her voice still containing a hint of anger. Hui Yue nodded his tired head, as he thought back to what had happened that day.
The Deng family was one of the few families within Riluo City who had not forgotten about Hui Yue, and his estimated potential, which had cause them to often invite him to join them for meals.
Yesterday was a day just like that. Hui Yue had followed Deng Wu from the academy, and had partook in yet another feast. Everyone within the Deng family had been thrilled ever since Deng Wu’s potential had been exposed, and they had gained tremendous face from all noble families of the city. Even some families from other cities had shown their generosity by sending a gift when the city was celebrating.
A sigh escaped Hui Yue’s lips as he leaned back within the warm water as his tired muscles were all crying in delight from the gentle touch. He had long since gotten used to Sha Yun never leaving him unless he ordered her to, and right now she was extra cautious due to the people who were constantly appearing in front of Hui Yue.
During these gatherings, Hui Yue always ensured to book the specific room where he and Sha Yun had stayed the first night, and Hui Yue always ordered Sha Yun to wait for him in these rooms, while he went to dine with the Deng family. Although the Deng family treated him well, that friendliness was not shown to Sha Yun who they treated as a mere magical beast.
This was one thing which neither Hui Yue nor Sha Yun enjoyed, and since the first time that happened, Sha Yun had always been waiting at the inn for Hui Yue’s return.
This meal was just like any other
where Hui Yue was seated next to Deng Wu and although they spoke with other elders and members of the family, Hui Yue mainly spoke with Deng Wu. Everything the two conversed about was being monitored, yet the two friends had no problem talking about their everyday life. Sometimes they would speak about magical beasts, other times they would speak about their plans at the academy. No matter who heard their conversation, everyone would know that there was no deeper meaning than a chat between friends.
As usual Hui Yue had joined Deng Wu at his courtyard afterwards to share a drink, and finally they were capable of talking about matters which were truly important for the two, matters about how the city was faring or which rumours they needed to be aware of, coupled with what incidents that had occurred lately. Hui Yue especially had a lot to say, and this particular evening, the subject was on those cloaked men who would gather within the city, hunting down Hui Yue.
This secret was one whom Hui Yue had told no one, but Deng Wu about as he was quite certain it had something to do with the crusaders which he had not seen for a couple of years and the threat that his secret might have been exposed was always there.
After that year where Hui Yue had met them at his parent’s village, Hui Yue had tried to convince his family and the entire village to move to a closer location towards the city, yet no one had agreed. They had smiled at the young white-haired man and told him that no matter what, they wished to stay where they were, as it was home. They lived and they died within their village.
Hui Yue had been unable to do anything about it, but a constant worry had been growing this year, day by day and his current goal in becoming strong was to be able to protect those whom he valued in this life, those whom he cared about.
Having spoken with Deng Wu, it was now midnight when Hui Yue finally left the Deng family compound, and as his foot left the house he instantly sensed that someone was following him. A sigh escaped his lips as he slowly moved further and further away from the upper class areas of town and towards the poorest areas where he could deal with his followers without anyone noticing.
The chilly winter night was tightly embracing Hui Yue, caused the young man to look like an ice emperor. A white robe was hanging tightly around the young man’s body, created from the most stunning water-silk created by the watermills belonging to the Deng Family.
Step by step had taken them to a deserted alleyway where Hui Yue finally turned around. His back was now facing the wall, protecting him from an ambush and his sky-blue eyes were alert, showing no traces of mercy.
Qi was roaming through Hui Yue’s meridians, activating specific points and gathering within his right hand, extending itself and quickly taking the shape of a sword. A sword shining with celestial radiance within the dead of night.
As Hui Yue stood there, back against the wall and Qi sword within his hand, small wings appeared on his feet fluttering and waiting patiently for Hui Yue to activate Velocity Flow.
One shadow after another appeared in front of Hui Yue. These shadows were all people, dressed in black hooded cloaks. These men were, however, nothing like the crusaders, instead it was cultivators who worked as either guards or mercenaries during daytime and as assassins during nighttime.
One assassin after another appeared in front of Hui Yue, gathering into a group, twelve men stood there, side by side, ready to pounce at the one person in white. Disdain appeared within Hui Yue’s eyes as he noticed that the majority of these assassins were Practitioner ranked while only one of them was a Master ranked cultivator.
Although Hui Yue truly knew nothing about these assassins, he had long since guessed that they had something to do with the crusaders, or the man who controlled the crusaders but nothing had been said.
At first he had tried torturing the men, yet he could get nothing from them. A few had tried to speak, but as soon as they did the blood within their body started boiling, killing the cultivators within moments. A sneer could be seen on Hui Yue’s face, because of the anger he felt when he saw that they had sworn a blood oath.
Recently, Hui Yue had completely stopped trying to interrogate the victims, as the mess left by the blood oath was several times worse than the mess left behind by Hui Yue personally killing them.
The assassins were waiting silently, taking all the time in the world to try and surround Hui Yue. It was obvious that these men had never tried to kill in this way before, and they had gotten compliant due to their sheer advantage in numbers. No one considered the fact that so far everyone else who had attempted to kill this boy had died.
Hui Yue sneered in anger and a merciless ice-cold expression appeared on his face, much like a mask. Hui Yue’s figure flashed as he charged towards the nearest person. Within less than a second, Hui Yue had managed to lift his sword in one gliding motion and behead the man in front of him.
These assassins posed absolutely no threat to Hui Yue, yet the young man showed no mercy as he created a copy with Velocity Flow and both original and copy had no intention of allowing anyone who attempted to kill him to roam free.
After years and years of hard work, Hui Yue had finally managed to gain insight into the copy aspect of the Velocity Flow and his skill had evolved, now creating a complete clone of himself. A clone which would react solely based on the original’s thoughts.
His clone was currently busy sweeping across the area, a Qi sword was evident within its hand and blood was spraying all over the place. With a deep sigh, Hui Yue had observed this recklessness, and he left all the lower dantian cultivators to his clone to deal with, while he himself focused his attention on the Master ranked cultivator.
The Qi sword within his hands had been perfected long ago, and the sword itself was attached to his arm, making Hui Yue feel as though it was an extension of his arm rather than a weapon.
Rushing towards his opponent, Hui Yue did a vertical slice, hoping to cut the opponent into two, only to find that the Qi sword was unable to cut deeper than a few centimetres because of the yellow light being emitted from the person, causing Hui Yue to swear slightly.
The man in front of Hui Yue was using his elemental affinity for wood and making a spiritual energy shield around his body to protect himself. Normally, it should have been impossible for Hui Yue, a mere Practitioner, to beat the man, yet his Qi sword had managed to penetrate the guard though only a few centimetres this caused a frown to appeared on his handsome and merciless face.
Circling around the Master ranked cultivator, Hui Yue managed to keep his distance and be slightly ahead of the attacks which were pouring at him.
The ground was constantly changing. Boulders appeared from the steady ground and were thrown at Hui Yue, earthen spikes were appearing from underground, and walls suddenly appeared in an attempt to either injure or block the nimble young man.
Hui Yue could no longer afford to look down on his opponents, and he sent an order to his clone for both of them to attack the Master ranked cultivator from opposite sides. Avoiding the Earth attacks and at the same time attacking with the Qi sword required his full attention.
Running in and then backing out, the entire situation turned into a dance where Hui Yue would use his speed to enter the range of the Master ranked cultivator, inflicting a stab or a slash which in turn used up more spiritual energy, before he made a swift retreat. Each attack caused Hui Yue to use his Qi, and his Qi pool was rapidly depleting, but it was worth it seeing that the man in front of him was having issues as well.
Finally, the yellow lustre was gone from the Master ranked cultivator’s body and Hui Yue moved as swiftly as the wind, arriving next to the cultivator and this time the white shining sword sliced through his neck, separating the head from the rest of the body.
The fight had taken time and Hui Yue instantly left the area with not as much as a glance behind him. He was hiding in the shadows as he made his way back to the inn where Sha Yun was waiting.
Chapter 69 - Is it a Test?
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Chapter 69 – Is it a Test?
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Leaving the bath, Hui Yue’s usually pale skin was now a healthy rose colour after being seated within the warm water for such an extended amount of time. The fight against a Master ranked cultivator had caused him no injuries, yet his body was thoroughly worn out as he had needed to use all his Qi to finish it the way he did.
It would, without a doubt, have been possible for Hui Yue to have exterminated the other cultivator much sooner, yet to do so Hui Yue would need to rely on Lan Feng’s spiritual energy rather than his own pure Qi.
Leaving the bathroom, a satisfied sigh could be heard escaping the young man, as his muscles felt tired but smooth, and he steered straight for the large bed within the bedroom. Looking at this large bed, Hui Yue did not even have the time to remember his first night where he had been kept within Sha Yun’s tail and instead he instantly allowed the familiar black feeling of sleep to overwhelm and drag him to another dreamless night.
