Riding Huang Fei

Huang Fei led Lu Mingfei into the carriage. It rolled forward, joining the steady stream of traffic on the street.

Lu Mingfei lifted the curtain and watched Spirit Hall recede into the distance. He glanced at the bustle along both sides of the street, and everything suddenly felt unreal.

Just an hour ago, he had been waiting on the training ground to go Soul Hunting in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Now he was sitting, freshly scrubbed, in a carriage bound for Dragon Valley.

Things had changed too quickly.

Lu Mingfei let the curtain fall and looked at Huang Fei, who sat opposite him with her eyes closed. "Lady Huang Fei, how strong are the Soul Beasts in Dragon Valley?"

Without opening her eyes, Huang Fei answered evenly:

"The weakest in Dragon Valley are Hundred-Year Soul Beasts. Thousand-Year Soul Beasts travel in packs, and there are plenty of ten-thousand-year ones too.

If you're lucky, you'll find an isolated thousand-year lesser dragon. If you're unlucky and run into a ten-thousand-year dragon beast, you won't be coming back."

Lu Mingfei swallowed. "Then... did His Holiness the Pope say what kind of dragon beast I'm supposed to hunt?"

Huang Fei finally opened her eyes and glanced at him, a hint of amusement in her violet gaze.

"His Holiness the Pope only said to find a dragon-type Soul Beast suited to you. We'll decide on the exact kind when we get there.

Dragon Valley has all sorts of Soul Beasts: fire dragons, ice dragons, poison dragons, earth dragons, wyverns...

Each kind of Soul Ring will grant you a different Soul Skill.

You'll have to pick the one in Dragon Valley that best suits your Martial Soul. That's a judgment you must make yourself."

Lu Mingfei nodded thoughtfully.

The carriage followed the main road southeast.

The scenery shifted from towns to fields, then from fields to rolling mountains.

Dragon Valley lay deep within the territory of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, several days from Spirit Hall's base.

That gave him a few days to think carefully about what kind of First Soul Ring he needed.

Lu Mingfei leaned against the carriage wall and closed his eyes.

The new power inside him was still surging. The changes wrought by the Whale Rubber and soul pill were only now beginning to take full effect.

His bones, meridians, and muscles were growing tougher and stronger at a slow but steady pace.

On the back of Lu Mingfei's right hand, the Black Dragon King tattoo rested silently.

Deep within the nearly invisible silver-white lines, something seemed to be waiting patiently. Waiting for the blood and fire of Dragon Valley. Waiting for that moment to arrive...

About the time it took an incense stick to burn after the carriage left Spirit Hall, Huang Fei suddenly opened her eyes and raised a hand for the driver to stop.

"Get out."

She lifted the curtain and jumped down in one brisk motion.

Baffled, Lu Mingfei climbed out after her and looked around.

They were well away from town. Open grassland stretched on both sides of the road, dark mountains rose in the distance, and a clear blue sky hung overhead. There wasn't another person in sight.

He was about to ask why she had stopped when Huang Fei walked into an open patch beside the road. With her back to him, she slowly raised both hands.

"It would take days to reach Dragon Valley by carriage. Too slow."

Huang Fei's voice was perfectly calm.

"And looking as clueless as you do, you'd only embarrass Spirit Hall once we got there.

I'll give you a ride and show you something worth seeing."

Before Lu Mingfei could work out what she meant, a vast surge of violet Soul Power erupted from Huang Fei.

Violet light shot skyward and blossomed like a colossal firework, staining half the sky a glorious purple.

Huang Fei's form changed rapidly within the glow.

Her body rose and unfurled. Her arms became wings, while violet light condensed into countless dazzling feathers that covered her from head to toe.

Seven Soul Rings rose beneath Huang Fei.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.

The seventh Soul Ring flashed.

In the next instant, an immense, magnificent purple Phoenix stood before Lu Mingfei.

The Purple Phoenix was several yards long. Its outstretched wings blotted out the sun, and every feather gleamed as though carved from pure amethyst.

Its head was held high, its eyes cold and commanding. A faint aura of violet flame surrounded it.

The flames gave off no heat, yet their pressure made his very soul tremble.

Martial Soul Avatar.

Lu Mingfei's mouth fell open in an O. He stood rooted to the spot.

He had read about Martial Soul Avatars in novels, but reading about one and seeing one with his own eyes were entirely different things.

Faced with an actual Phoenix-shaped Martial Soul Avatar, the sight and the instinctive shock of its presence emptied his mind. He even forgot to breathe.

The Purple Phoenix lowered its head slightly and looked at him. Bird or not, Lu Mingfei could plainly read Huang Fei's familiar impatience in its eyes: What are you standing there for, kid?

"Lady Huang Fei!"

Lu Mingfei's voice came out stiff.

The Purple Phoenix gave a low call, as if in reply.

Then she turned slightly and bent one enormous leg before him, making it clear that he should climb aboard.

Lu Mingfei stared at the leg, thicker than his waist, then looked up at the Phoenix's massive body. He swallowed several times.

He had barely ridden a bicycle, and now he was supposed to ride a Phoenix?

A Phoenix that was also his direct superior!

But he did not hesitate for long.

Huang Fei never wasted time. If she said they needed to hurry, they needed to hurry.

Gritting his teeth, Lu Mingfei scrambled onto the Purple Phoenix's back. He found a relatively flat spot amid the warm, smooth feathers, lay low, and gripped a thick tuft of plumage with both hands.

The Purple Phoenix raised her head and let out a clear cry. It soared into the heavens like celestial music, piercing the silence of the grassland.

Then her wings beat, sending a powerful gust across the ground that rolled the grass beneath them.

The Purple Phoenix launched herself skyward like a streak of violet lightning.

A tremendous force pressed Lu Mingfei flat against her back. Wind roared past, setting his ears ringing.

He clenched his eyes shut and held tight to the feathers.

He clung to the Phoenix's back like a gecko, buffeted by the rushing wind.

After a few breaths, the Purple Phoenix settled into a steady speed, and Lu Mingfei cautiously opened his eyes.

One look, and his mouth fell open again.

The earth spread out below him like an enormous painting. Mountains, rivers, towns, and fields all lay in view, tiny and far away.

White clouds drifted past, close enough to touch, like soft tufts of cotton.

Above him, the blue sky was brilliantly clear and deep.