Chapter 72: Strings Of Light.

Another two hours had passed since they had started driving toward the sect. They were still around two hundred miles away from their destination. Jake had fallen asleep. He was laying across the three seats in the back of the car. Haru was laying back in his seat with the window all the way open.

They were now driving down a long stretch of road surrounded by trees on either side. The only other thing in sight was the convoy they were following behind. There had been no cars taking the same route as them since they left the city so the roads were silent. The radio was now turned down but still playing music so it wouldn't wake Jake up. Haru put his hand out of the window and began to feel the wind pass through his fingers. "This is nice." He said. Cui's ears perked up.

"It is? I thought kids your age would usually be complaining about how boring long drives like this are." She responded.

"I wonder where you heard that. I quite like nature to be honest." Haru said and then closed his eyes.

"Is that so?" Cui asked and then looked over to Haru. She smiled as she saw his eyes closed. "Sleep well." She whispered. But she was wrong. Haru wasn't sleeping.

"Hey, Phoenix. I've been meaning to ask you. What is your name? I can't just keep calling you Phoenix." Haru said as the giant white bird surrounded by golden flames flew over his head. It landed before him. Its flames were now strong enough that Haru felt a burning sensation when he was close by.

"Name? I don't have one. My mother died before she could name me. How about you give me one?" Its voice was deep and carried power as he spoke. That was when Haru noticed it's size was not the only thing that had changed. It now had five long golden feathers on the back of its head. And its talons had also turned to the same golden hue.

"Woah, What happened? Did you evolve or something you are so much different than last time I saw you. Even your voice has changed. You sound like a man." Haru asked. Was this even the same beast that had awakened in his bloodline?

"I think so. I'm not really too sure but my body acts on instinct. When I ate that little fire chicken I absorbed its soul. It took me a few days to absorb it. But then all of these changes happened to me at once. I also felt like my power has increased substantially. And I am a man!" his voice boomed out once again.

"What's was that noise?!" Lao's voice boomed back toward the Phoenix. Haru turned around to see Lao's humongous body taking up space in his soul ocean. The phoenix had grown quite a lot in the past few days but Lao always surprised Haru every time he saw him. From his head to the tip of his tail he was longer than even a world record setting skyscraper. Lao looked down at the Phoenix.

"What happened to you?" Lao asked sounding concerned for his safety.

The Phoenix snapped back "Mind your own business. You big lizard." There was a hint of hatred in his voice. Now if you don't mind. The human was just about to give me a name." He said and then looked down at Haru.

"It seems you took on the attitude of that other bird when you absorbed its soul. Let me fix that for you." Lao said and then a large boom rang out as his tail struck the Phoenix in the side of the head like a whip. He let out a small squeak and then went completely silent as he passed out instantly.

"Lao. Was that really necessary?" Haru asked more shocked than anything. He hadn't seen Lao hit anything before. He wasn't even sure that he could fight given the fact his body was so large. But the speed of which he had moved was fast enough that Haru didn't see a thing. He just heard the sound and then saw his tail next to the head of the Phoenix.

"Necessary? If you want the bird to stay loyal to you, you will have to punish him when he acts out of line. If not then it will be unruly. Phoenixes are extremely proud creatures by nature. Even more so than us dragons. If you don't keep them in check they will claim ownership of everything they are strong enough to take." Lao told Haru.

"We had an issue with Phoenixes in the higher realm one time. The took over some human domains and began to force the humans to worship them as gods. Naturally, we had to decrease their numbers a little bit so we could keep track of them. I think when he saw me he felt the pain of his ancestors." Lao began to think. He did a telltale sign when he was lost in thought. He would look away and then nod his head up and down like he was confirming things.

"Hm… I have no idea about his transformation though. Usually, Phoenixes don't grow as fast as this one is doing right now. Even Heavenly Phoenixes don't evolve. It must be something to do with it being a king. Did it inherit special powers from its family? That is the only thing I can think of." Lao also had no clue what was going on with the phoenix.

Haru couldn't help but start to imagine all of the things Lao had seen once again. Dragons fighting against Phoenixes. That seems like something right out of a fairy tale. He had come to accept that what Lao and Li jun had told him was all true but he still couldn't imagine that a world were all the adventures they both went on existed.

A few seconds went by before the rustling of feathers brought them both out of deep thought. "What?… Happened?" The Phoenix spoke. "Who knows? One second you were fine and then the next you were sleeping like a baby." Lao mocked him. The Phoenix claimed back at him.

"Anyway. I was just about to give you a name." Haru said taking the tension away from them both.

"Really? A name!?" He seemed excited about it, The attitude adjustment technique Lao had used seemed to work wonders. The Phoenix was back to Its usual self.

"What about the name Kun?" Haru asked suddenly.

"Wow, That was fast," Lao said.

The Phoenix looked at Lao and then back at Haru "Kun? What does that mean?" He asked.

"Well, It just kind of came into my head. You have a lot of mysteries surrounding you just like the universe so I thought it would be a good fit for you." Haru told him.

Ever since Lao had sung him the song eternal wisdom he had been able to think a lot faster than he did before. It helped with making choices although sometimes it muddled up his head since he would think many different things at the same time it would take a person to make a single thought. It was a double sided sword. It was good for making decisions but in a life a death situation it could cost him his life.

The Phoenix looked at Haru for a few minutes. "Well, I don't hate it. I guess you can call me Kun then." He said and then suddenly a blinding golden light shot out of the phoenixes body.It formed what seemed to be a string of light.

Haru was confused for a moment before he felt a burning sensation in his head. It was like someone was holding a blowtorch to his head. He thought he would never feel the pain of being burnt again since his bloodline fused with Kun's but he was wrong the whole time. This pain was much worse than anything he had felt so far.

Even Lao didn't know what to think of it. "Haru? Are you okay? What's happening? Wait… What is that?" He asked as Haru threw his head backwards and another string of golden light emerged from the centre of his head. It shot out towards the other string of light.

They both stopped suddenly before they touched each other. Then the one connecting to the Phoenix Slowly formed a spiral shape. It then started to wrap its self around the light connected to Haru. It was the probably one of the strangest things Lao had seen. He had seen many things but. Two different species such as a human and a Phoenix both going through the same process? This was unheard of.

It must be something to do with the Phoenix. It was another unknown thing about this particular Phoenix. Lao was starting to question if it was even a Heavenly Phoenix. He had never heard of something like this happening even with their species.

The light show went on for only a few seconds but that felt like an eternity for both Haru and Kun since the pain was unbearable. It finally died down. Haru had completely vanished from Lao's sight. He was left alone looking at the Phoenix in utter confusion. Kun seemed fine. It was almost like nothing had happened. "What was that?" Kun asked Lao. Lao had no answer for him.

Haru's body shook as he opened his eyes. He was sweating slightly. Cui looked over to him. "Bad dream?" She asked. Haru was just as confused as Lao and the Phoenix. What happened? He thought and then looked at Cui.

"Oh, Yeah. I was being chased by a crazy homeless man with a knife." He came up with a story of the first thing that popped into his head.

"A homeless man with a knife? That is terrifying." Cui laughed.

Haru looked around. Jake was still sleeping. "How long was I asleep?" He asked.

"Oh, Not long at all. Maybe half an hour?" She said and then looked back at the road. Haru looked out of the window to his left. They were still surrounded by thick trees. When out of the corner of his eye he spotted a sudden flash of light shoot out from the forest.