Riluo City (Blue Phoenix Book 1) (95 page)

Hui Yue was trying to merge his consciousness with the Flame of Earth, and sweat was trickling down his skin as the rumbling around his body grew larger and more profound until it eventually settled in the pattern of a five pointed star.

Sha Yun was standing next to Hui Yue and her eyes were alert, yet she did not interrupt, instead she stood guard. The snake-woman’s main offense was her control over Earth, how could she not know that currently Hui Yue was forcing a perfect elemental affinity?

Forcing an affinity to merge with the soul was a very risky move, it could easily backfire if the cultivator did not take caution, or if the elemental affinity had not already been thoroughly trained. Sha Yun had no intention of stopping Hui Yue, as she felt that the young man would be capable of accomplishing everything he wanted.

The five pointed star suddenly erupted with soil and all of it turned to mud before it all covered Hui Yue, creating what looked like a statue of mud, not even the face was left out.

Hui Yue could not help but feel shocked as he felt the sudden opportunity, yet he also felt secretly thrilled. Earth was responding to him. Everything went dark, even the inside of Hui Yue’s dantian caves. No light could shine through.

Hui Yue was laying in this black but very gentle world for an unknown amount of time before the picture of growing plants appeared in his eyes. The small plants quickly grew into large bushes and trees, towering above while their roots were firmly fastened within the comfortable soil.

A chuckle escaped Hui Yue as he felt as if he was a child once more, laying in his mother’s embrace, and the white-haired boy did not resist although he knew that this was not his real mother, instead it was mother earth.

Hui Yue was taken for a long journey through the world of earthen power. He saw how the earth got corroded at some beaches, but also how other beaches were growing in size. He saw how mountains sprouted from the underground, and even how islands were created from magma.

Finally, Hui Yue saw how the fields allowed for seeds to grow, and he finally understood that to live one needed the earth, and the earth was everywhere, the earth was created by the element Earth, giving the practitioners with that affinity an immense strength, should they be capable of unlocking it. Hui Yue suddenly knew that once he became one with the earth, he would always have a part of this history within him. He would become a part of the earth itself.

Ever so slowly, the soil which encased Hui Yue started to crumble, and after a few minutes Hui Yue was once more free. He opened his eyes and shock instantly appeared within his soul. The world had changed from how he saw it before.

Every time Hui Yue took a step he was capable of feeling the ripples of energy which the earth was releasing into the world. He could feel every tree and living creature within a hundred metres, every movement which occurred on the soil was easily felt by Hui Yue, as though they were made on his very body.

A great smile appeared on the white-haired boy’s face, as he realised that it had been a success. Hui Yue managed to force a perfect symbiosis with Earth, yet the feeling was vastly different compared to when he was dealing with  Fire.

Furrowing his brows, Hui Yue was about to once more sit down in meditation when he felt, through the earth, that more guests had arrived in front of his mansion.

Slightly disappointed, Hui Yue stood up and as soon as he made a move, Sha Yun opened her eyes and followed him into the mansion, heading for the mansion gate.

Opening the gate, Hui Yue saw that the Rong twins were visiting him once more, and their previously lively eyes were now filled with exhaustion and worry. A tinge of sadness appeared in Hui Yue’s heart yet he had no intention of joining either faction.

“Come in,” Hui Yue said, as he allowed for the two to enter before he quickly went down to the kitchen to order a few snacks.

“You look tired,” Hui Yue commented, as he handed two cups of warm tea to the twins before he sat down in a chair and looked at them expectedly.

Things within Riluo City had changed vastly over the past year which Hui Yue had spent to reach the second star of the Master rank along with finally syncing with his Earth elemental affinity.

The first half of the year things had been calm on the surface, yet ripples of shock had resonated throughout the entire underground, as the Wang and Deng families were actively recruiting forces and families desperately.

At first the opposing faction knew nothing at all, as all of them were busy with the massive steam engine which Rong Liang produced and the incredible increase in mining which allowed for wealth unlike any other seen within Riluo City. Because they managed to mine one magical crystal after another, and export them to the other major cities.

Unfortunately, the smaller families within the city noticed the change in the factions and the tension slowly grew impossible not to notice. The family-owned marketplaces started to only allow those of their own factions to purchase items in their stalls, and eventually they completely refused to even allow the other faction entrance.

This went so far that at some point they even refused allowing in citizens who had no alignment, these were citizens who were commoners, and who had lived a life where the noble families meant absolutely nothing in their everyday life.

The atmosphere within Riluo City turned tense and no one wished to walk about leisurely any longer. No one knew exactly what was happening, and what could cause this sudden hostility which was shown between the two factions, but it was obvious that something big was happening and this caused them to feel nervous.

This situation caused the Rong family to become in a tough position. They had no idea what the opposing faction was planning, yet it was obvious to everyone that they were planning something. The Rong twins graduated from the academy, and the past year they had been working hard for the Rong family and learning how to manage business. Half a year ago the two of them did everything in their power to try and understand what was happening, but not even had Gao Yan, the Master of the Whispers, managed to obtain any information at all on the subject.

Looking at Hui Yue, Rong Xing sighed heavily. She cared deeply for the small child who had been her friends for multiple years, and he had turned into a younger brother for her. Because they were so close Rong Xing knew a lot about how Hui Yue’s mind worked and this was also why she knew that Hui Yue had no intention of joining either side. As if he did he would be put in a position where he would have to choose amongst his friends.

Despite his neutrality, the Rong twins kept visiting the younger man as they felt that within his home was the only place left in Riluo City where there was tranquillity. A tranquillity which nurtured their tired minds, before they once more had to return to the stressful situation within the City Lord’s Mansion.

Hui Yue’s home was the only place where the Rong twins could still return to the feelings which they had experienced year after year at the academy. This was the one place that still felt like home, as Hui Yue had managed to stay unaffected by the entire situation between the factions, and all the friends would gather here from time to time to replenish their energy.

Chapter 85 - Friends

Having guests like this had become more usual compared to before, and Hui Yue could not help but feel sorry for the Rong twins and the entire Rong faction. Although all of them had been on guard, they had been on guard against the Deng and Wang families for half a month with absolutely no information had been gained as to what the two families were up to.

Within a few weeks, the Rong twins would have to leave Riluo City and travel to the main branch of the Royal Academy, where they would be studying for years before they would be capable of returning home. To leave when the situation was like this was simply impossible.

“Everything will be fine,” Hui Yue said tenderly, as he stroked the older girls head, but Rong Xing had tears within her eyes as she thought of their current situation. Things had gone from bad to worse, as the Wang and Deng families had managed to lure over the majority of the families within Riluo City, yet no one knew exactly what their plans consisted of.

“They are going to attack us,” Rong Xing said with an ugly expression on her face, as the tears flowed from her beautiful eyes. “They are going to fight with father and try to become the City Lord, but the royal family hasn’t and won’t approved of it. Why would they even consider this an option?”

“Everything will turn out just fine,” Hui Yue calmly said, “Your father is a very strong man so no one will start a fight with him intentionally.” He continued, as Sha Yun brought another cup of calming tea which she gave to the crying girl.

Sha Yun was very possessive and although she would do her best to keep Hui Yue away from Wang Ju Long, the snake-woman felt happy every time she was together with Rong Xing. Sha Yun remembered how the older woman had slapped Hui Yue, when she thought that he had forced her into a beast contract.

Rong Xing was like their second mother. She clearly loved everyone within the group in her own way, yet she was not a woman who would be moved by love. To her, Hui Yue was like a smaller brother whom she had seen grow up, and as soon as Sha Yun joined the group, Rong Xing had also taken her under her wing.

The entire group knew that Wang Ju Long was a girl. A long time ago, when she followed Hui Yue around she had eventually joined the main group and spent her time with all of them. At that point, Hui Yue told Wang Ju Long the same thing he told the others; that he was sharing his body with an esteemed expert, and that was her leverage when it came to secrets.

But to Rong Xing, Wang Ju Long never became like a younger sister, instead she felt more like a younger brother, and this had caused the female twin to place the majority of her parental love onto Sha Yun.

On the other hand, although Rong Xing spoiled Sha Yun and spent as much time with her as possible, she also had many arguments with her about her habit of playing with the boys whom she found around the city or the academy.

Eventually, Rong Xing needed to threaten her using Hui Yue, before Sha Yun settled down, a little.

“Do you truly wish to be a burden?” She said harshly, shocking Sha Yun deeply. “Flirting leads to mating and mating leads to babies. Do you really think that Hui Yue is capable of keeping you around if you get small snake-babies?”

Hearing that gave Sha Yun a great shock, and she quickly put a hold on her romantic behaviour. She now spent much more time at home with Hui Yue, causing the two to chat more than they had done in quite a long time.

“Thank you for today,” Rong Xing said quietly, as her tears finally stopped falling and a tired expression appeared on her face once more as though she would collapse any moment from fatigue.

Hui Yue knew that both Rong Xing and Rong Ming had been training frantically during their breaks from dealing with their official duties and neither of them had gotten any proper sleep recently, causing Hui Yue to look at them with a small smile.

“Why don’t you sleep here for a bit?” Hui Yue asked. He had expected that the tired woman would refuse, yet instead she silently nodded her head. Although she was desperate to get back, she knew that her body was at its very limits.She hoped that if she rested within the tranquil atmosphere of Hui Yue’s home, then perhaps she could sleep for longer than she usually did these days.

Rong Ming was as tired as Rong Xing, yet he had the benefits of a stronger body so he could stand it better, yet Hui Yue could not help but laugh as he saw his very first friend swaying in the air as he was close to falling asleep.

Within moments, Hui Yue had gotten servants to prepare two guest rooms and after less than half an hour, the two twins each had a room where they passed out from fatigue, falling into a deep dreamless sleep.

Leaning back a wry smile was evident on Hui Yue’s face, as he clenched his fist and felt how the earth beneath him reacted to his gesture. The feeling of controlling the earth was many times more exquisite than he had ever expected, but now that the Rong twins were asleep, Hui Yue wished to go and understand why it felt so differently from Fire. As though he had not perfectly synced himself with his Fire elemental affinity.

‘You have perfected your use of Fire,’ Lan Feng’s voice suddenly sounded within Hui Yue’s mind. ‘Perfecting means that you can use skills without incantations, yet Fire is still only a tool to you. Your affinity with fire is great, but you are not synced with it. Fire has not become a part of you, it is not yet a part of your soul.’