Blue Phoenix

Erased

Hui Yue looked at the unconscious Shan Ping and realized that the older boy had died because of his attack.

What shocked Hui Yue the most was not the fact that he had killed a person for the first time in in either of his lives nor was it his current lack of emotions. Instead, he was surprised at how effective the attack had been against Shan Ping compared to how useless it was against Wang Ju Long.

For the first time in ten years, Hui Yue actually understood exactly what Lan Feng had meant when he said that one’s foundation was incredibly important. He felt gratitude towards the feathered bird boy inside him for teaching him a cultivation method that gave him such a strong foundation.

‘Well it’s about time you started to appreciate me,’ Lan Feng said with a dry voice from within. ‘Though, don’t kill off that fat boy just yet. He is alive, although he is pretty banged up.’

‘Oh?’ Hui Yue said, but he did not care too much about the answer. Killing wasn't something to become too upset over, but Hui Yue had no intention of becoming a mass-murderer. He had long since understood that it was impossible to get through his current life without killing other people, and as a result, he had made a few rules for himself.

Anyone who attacked him, he would fight without mercy. Hui Yue would only fight those who came for him, or in some way interfered with his goals. He had no intention of destroying families or exacting revenge.

Hui Yue snapped back to the present and looked around uncaringly. A low murmur spread throughout the hall, and the students stared at him with terrified eyes; it was as if what they saw was a demon descended from the heavens.

Those who previously doubted the rumor of Hui Yue beating Wang Ju Long in a duel were now certain that it was true. Before they had looked at Hui Yue with astonishment for being matched up to Wang Ju Long; now they reconsidered it. Wang Ju Long had to be outstanding even to survive a fight against Hui Yue who could knock out Shan Ping in one hit.

All the students standing on the same side as Hui Yue quickly moved to the other side fearing for their safety. Hui Yue sighed while looking at them, but made no move to change their opinion of him. Although the gossip and the glares were annoying, they were still much better than having students hanging around him constantly, possibly disturbing his training.

Throughout the entire exchange, Wang Ju Long had stood with his arms crossed over his chest, watching both Hui Yue and Shan Ping with disdain. Wang Ju Long was aware of his strength. He usually practiced against the Disciple ranked guard trainees at home. He felt quite insulted that this mere nine star Student ranked boy assumed that he could beat someone he, Wang Ju Long, had tied against.

Although Wang Ju Long hated Hui Yue, he hated him because he could not beat him. As a genius from the Wang family, he did not care what the commoners gossiped about. He did not care about their feelings as all of them were trash that he could get rid of with but a wave of his hand. Only weak cultivators such as his older brother would care about public opinion. But his gaze never once left Hui Yue.

Shan Ping had insulted him which was why Wang Ju Long did nothing to warn him. Instead, he sacrificed Shan Ping so he might once again observe the high-ranked martial arts skill that Hui Yue practiced. As Shan Ping lay unconscious on the floor, Wang Ju Long stepped past him and moved towards a calmer area within the hall, waiting for the teacher to arrive while ignoring the chatter that was going on from within the hall.

They didn’t have long to wait before a teacher appeared at the door. At first, he had a great smile on his face, but it quickly vanished as his eyes rested on the body that was sprawled upon the floor.

This teacher knew Shan Ping well. He had been teaching the first year students for the last ten years. Shan Ping had redone his classes twice. He was aware that Shan Ping was two years above the rest of the students, and currently, his cultivation was ranked the highest. Only two students should be capable of beating him. They were Wang Ju Long and Hui Yue.

The teacher furrowed his brows as he looked at the two students in question. Neither looked as if they had been in a fight. Both had a bored expression on their face while observing the teacher.

The teacher sighed deeply before he picked up his teacher’s emblem and lifted it into the air. Every student emblem from within the room lit up with the same silvery light that Hui Yue had seen before. He could not help but raise an eyebrow in surprise of the new development.

As soon as the student emblems had gathered enough light, a beam shot from the emblems towards the teacher’s emblem where they disappeared within, and the student emblems returned to their usual appearance.

The teacher lifted his teacher’s emblem towards his forehead and closed his eyes before the silvery light once again appeared on the emblem, seemingly shooting rays of light into the head of the teacher.

A few minutes passed in silence while all students were observing the teacher with keen interest. It was apparent that he was watching a recording of what had just transpired. As he opened his eyes slowly, traces of the silvery light were still evident within.

The teacher sighed heavily and looked at the unconscious Shan Ping before he sent a small thread of qi into the teacher’s emblem and informed the Royal Academy infirmary about a patient.

Hui Yue had been observing the whole scene with intense interest. He knew it was possible that the teacher would blame him for this outcome. He was quite certain that he had broken no rules, and was completely calm when his eyes met the teacher’s eyes.

Annoyance was clear within the teacher’s eyes, but below the annoyance was some level of fear. Hui Yue was a student that he had never heard about. He had arrived out of nowhere together with the Rong twins, and his talent had allowed him to get a top courtyard even though he was only at the fifth star Student rank. If anything, he had just made the cut, but something had to be hidden within.

The recording had shown that his qi was without a doubt the purest that this teacher had ever seen before. The martial arts skill was unlike anything he had ever heard about. “You,” he said while pointing his finger at Hui Yue, “student Hui Yue, do you realize your mistake?” he asked with great anger. Shan Ping would only have caused problems for Hui Yue in cases of him doing something to discredit Wang Ju Long.

“I have done nothing wrong, teacher,” Hui Yue said seriously while looking at the teacher with big and innocent eyes as if he was a naïve child who was being wrongly accused.

“Look at Shan Ping,” the teacher insisted. “He did not fall to the ground on his own.”

“That is true,” Hui Yue mused. “But you saw the recording, all I did was defend myself.”

“It was far too fierce to be considered defending oneself,” the teacher insisted. Although Shan Ping obviously was the one at fault, it had been for the sake of Wang Ju Long. Wang Ju Long was the genius from the Wang family. Anyone who insulted him would have great troubles from the elder Wang while being at the academy. That included the teachers.

“Teacher, you must have seen that all I used was a low-ranked martial arts skill. I am only a five star Student ranked cultivator while classmate Shan Ping is a nine star Student ranked cultivator. How was I to know that he could not take one hit of my weakest martial arts attack skill? When I dueled against Wang Ju Long previously, I was unable to even leave a mark on his skin,” Hui Yue insisted with his big eyes and naïve face.

The teacher sucked in a deep breath. At first, he was certain that he had heard wrong. The reality was pointing out that what Hui Yue said was the truth. The Royal Academy had only been open for a few days. Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long had already clashed against each other. It seemed that this year would not allow the teacher any rest.

Even if he wished to blame this incident on Hui Yue, everything the white-haired boy had said was correct. It was indeed the lower-ranked martial arts skill Raging Strike that Hui Yue had been using. It should not have been possible to deal that amount of damage to the opponent who was four stars above him in strength.

A sigh escaped his lips before he looked at the door noticing a woman entering. She was dressed in a white robe and in her hand was a small bag. She hurried towards Shan Ping on the ground and kneeled down next to him while quickly observing him. She paid absolutely no attention to anyone else within the room, not even the teacher.

After a quick examination, she opened her bag, and a variety of scents quickly spread within the hall. A small pill was picked out. She quickly crushed it within her hand before the dust was spread all over Shan Ping’s unconscious body. As the dust landed on the body, the body slowly started levitating. When he was levitating a meter above the ground, the woman swiftly pushed him out of the hall.

‘That was your first time seeing a medicinal pill,’ Lan Feng told the gaping Hui Yue. Hui Yue quickly regained his senses, smoothing his facial expression back to one of indifference.

‘Will it heal him?’ Hui Yue asked curiously as he still gazed towards the doorway where the woman had pushed Shan Ping through.

‘No, that pill was obviously created for the sake of allowing someone to levitate. I think it will allow the user to fly for a brief amount of time if they were to eat it. Since he is unconscious, this was the only way to apply it,’ Lan Feng explained. Hui Yue nodded his head before he returned his gaze to the teacher who had been looking at the woman and Shan Ping as well.

“In accordance with the rules, Hui Yue is allowed to defend himself. Shan Ping will not be punished further as his injuries will keep him in the infirmary this next month.”

With this comment, the teacher turned around and entered a room before gesturing to the students also to enter. The room was shaped like an amphitheater with seats located in a circle around a scene in the middle where the teacher was sitting at a small table.

The teacher used this time to report the fight to all the other teachers at the Riluo City Royal Academy through the teacher’s emblem.

Usually, a recording such as this was not something they would share with each other. However, this teacher was worried after seeing the pure quality of qi that Hui Yue possessed together with the martial arts movement skill.

He wished to use this recording to see if any of the other teachers were able to explain anything about this unknown person who had appeared out of nowhere. Although all the teachers were incredibly interested, none of them were able to provide any information.

When they tried to pry into Hui Yue’s personal papers all they found was a decree written by Lord Rong Liang saying that his past was erased and that he currently belonged to the Rong family.

Having an erased past meant that it was illegal to investigate into that past. Those who did so would be sent to court where they would be judged by the laws of the kingdom. An erased past was a privilege that the Royal Family had given every City Lord as a way to recruit experts who wished for a new start. As long as the expert was not wanted by the government, then anyone could become an expert with an erased past if a person could convince the City Lord that they were worth it.  

“Today we will focus on the guidelines that are to be followed here at the Royal Academy,” the teacher said, causing every student to calm down and quietly listen to his words. “My name is Li Yuan, and I will be the one who will be in charge of your class.”

Teacher Li Yuan could already feel his heart sink just thinking that this year he must look after both Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long. Usually, any teacher would be thrilled to have two geniuses in their class. It was something else entirely when those two geniuses were enemies.

A sigh escaped Teacher Li Yuan’s lips, and he looked at the two young boys. “The school year is split into two semesters. Each semester you will choose one subject to study. Tomorrow’s lesson will focus on the different topics you may choose from. However, some subjects are only open to those who have the talent to study them.”

Hui Yue felt some curiosity towards these various topics. He liked the idea of focusing on one specific class at a time. For now, he could do nothing about his curiosity as the subjects would not be revealed until the following day.

“This Royal Academy is sponsored by the Royal Family. They wish to provide the country’s younger generation of cultivators with the best opportunities. These opportunities include the martial arts skills that we have gathered in the Martial Arts Skill Hall. Together with providing martial arts skills and qi cultivation methods, we will have the Pill Distribution Day once a month.”

The mention of Pill Distribution Day caused almost all students within the class to hold their breath and look at teacher Li Yuan with glistening eyes. Even Lan Feng and Hui Yue felt excitement within their shared soul as they looked towards their instructor.

Teacher Li Yuan felt a brief feeling of satisfaction upon seeing the expressions of his students, especially when he noticed that both Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long were engrossed in his words. Although both came from noble backgrounds, medicinal pills were a major influence in bringing the noble sons to the academy.

“The Medicinal Pill Outlet will hand out a medicinal pill to the student cultivators at our academy each full moon. The strength of the medicinal pill depends on the rank of your cultivation. Sometimes a particular cultivator might be granted an extra pill as a reward for impressive progress. The Medicinal Pill Outlet will open after the next full moon, and it will be possible to buy extra pills there at any time.” Hui Yue slightly narrowed his eyes. The next full moon was three days away so it would not be too long before he would receive his first medicinal pill.

The teacher was quiet for quite some time allowing the students to chat among themselves. He was acutely aware of how tempting the medicinal pills were as he worked at the academy for the sake of the medicinal pills he was rewarded with.

Hui Yue was sitting in back of the students, and he overheard small bits of their conversations. It would seem that many of the more impoverished families had their children sell their medicinal pill in order to support the family. Having children who made it into the Royal Academy could be considered a way to supplement their income. Although cultivation would be much slower without the medicinal pill, it would still be possible for them to maintain a decent cultivation.

As the students finally calmed down a little, Li Yuan continued, “Students at our academy are allowed to leave the academy at any time. No rule states that you may not visit your family to gain additional cultivation resources or martial arts skills.”

Although some students such as Wang Ju Long would most likely use the trips to gain extra resources, the majority of the students would travel to Riluo City to sell their pills for their families. The Royal Academy was perfectly aware of this as they considered the medicinal pills to be an acceptable investment. This consideration was due to the substantial number of cultivators who joined the Royal Army upon graduating.

“Once a year we encourage our students to leave the academy to engage in field training,” Li Yuan continued while looking around. “Some of you will follow your families into one of the Magical Forests, while others of you will work together with your family guards for a period of time. Those of you without suitable placement for field practice will be offered a spot in the Royal Army.”

Hui Yue nodded as he had expected this. He had heard about this a long time ago when he first met Rong Ming. Due to this, he knew that the school put a lot of value into the student’s practice outside of the school. Although the majority of these students were thanks to Lord Rong Liang’s martial arts schools within the city, he could not help but feel a slight admiration towards the Royal Family for inducting cultivators at such a young age. Li Yuan kept talking about the specific rules of the school as well as which buildings were used for what. Meanwhile, Hui Yue slipped into deep thought as these rules were incredibly boring to him.

Hui Yue knew that the Rong twins would most likely offer to have him join them in their Magical Forest trip next year. However, he was uncertain how much he should accept from the Rong family as they had been treating him specially for quite some time. Hui Yue knew that Rong Xing and Rong Ming held no hostility towards him. However, Lord Rong Liang was a City Lord. It was obvious that he was used to scheming and manipulating people. As such, Hui Yue didn’t want to accept too much from him without the knowledge of what Lord Rong Liang expected in return.

Hui Yue had no wish to rely on Lord Rong Liang for his future. He also knew that his family was unable to help him with his cultivation. None of them had cultivated above the Student rank, and their income was already incredibly low. Asking them to purchase medicinal pills was something that Hui Yue would never do as it would be asking them to sell their land. Hui Yue decided that he could only rely on himself and Lan Feng. This was because they would be able to gain strength without having to owe anything to family or friends.

Hui Yue knew that while it was one thing to say that they would rely on themselves, it was another thing actually to go through with it. He also understood that the most important thing to have was money. It didn’t matter if it was in this world or his old one, money was the thing that made the impossible possible. As such, Hui Yue needed a way to earn money.

The first thing that flashed into Hui Yue’s mind was remembering the looks of greed and desire that had appeared on Gao Yan’s, Deng Wu’s, and Ma Kong’s faces when they heard about the martial arts skills he had found within the Magical Forest. It seemed that martial arts skills would be an excellent way to earn money, however, selling those high-ranked martial arts skills had some downsides that caused Hui Yue to become unsure. Having fought Wang Ju Long, Hui Yue was now aware of how important and powerful those high-ranked martial arts skills that Lan Feng had given him were. If he were to sell skills of that ranking, he would be unable to control who would buy them. If they ended up in the hands of the Wang family or the Deng family, he would most likely be creating more trouble for himself.

‘Why don’t you just ask me?’ Lan Feng’s smug voice appeared within Hui Yue’s concentrating mind, causing the white-haired boy to be slightly startled. ‘Do you have a solution?’ he curiously asked and sighed internally when he noticed how Lan Feng puffed up his feathers and looked very self-assured.

‘I am Lan Feng! The legendary blue phoenix! Of course, I have a solution,’ he said with his usual haughty attitude. Hui Yue did not say anything and just observed the feathered bird boy waiting for him to continue.

‘I have a wide array of martial arts skills and even spiritual arts skills. I even have some skills that you would be unable to comprehend, but those I will not share with anyone. Of my limitless supply of martial and spiritual skills, some of them are quite useless. They might have very high rank, and their potential is almost unlimited; however, a few of them were tailor-made to the creator, so no one else is capable of activating them. Others were created so quickly that they have become unstable. The cultivators within this city will not be able to see whether or not they are useful and will buy them as they will believe that some of their cultivators might be able actually to activate them one day.’

Hui Yue furrowed his brows after hearing this. Although it seemed promising, they were relying on the fact that the families did not happen to have anyone who would be able to activate the skills. ‘Don’t worry,’ Lan Feng said quietly. ‘Even if they do manage to learn the skill, they will need years upon years to actually perfect it. By then you will be gone from here.’ Hui Yue snorted upon hearing this. Lan Feng was definitely a person who only cared about himself and a very few other people. Everyone else could die for all he cared.

Although this plan had some loose ends, Hui Yue knew that this was possibly the best way they had to earn money quickly. Hopefully, there would be no one around who would know how to activate the skills in question. ‘Okay,’ he finally agreed with a sigh. ‘After this class let’s go to the library. I need to check on a few things before we start planning how to do this.’