Blue Phoenix

The auras that he could feel within Diyu were all overwhelming. Feeling them, Hui Yue furrowed his brows in deep thought. It was a good thing that they had all gathered, but this also meant that the final battle was much closer than he had expected.

Entering Diyu, Hui Yue and his friends headed straight for the Black Palace. Although the Black Palace was usually closed off for outsiders, it had been open in this desperate time for all of the superior cultivators that were needed for the war.

“Halt!” a guard called out when he saw this large entourage make their way through the gates, and his eyes showed slight traces of disdain when he noticed that some of the experts present were even weaker than him.

He was a Yanluo Guard, who had been in the guard for thousands of years already. He had comprehended three major daos, and not everyone in Hui Yue’s group had reached this level just yet. As a result, this expert felt himself superior and did not believe that they had the right to enter.

“This place is only open for the upper echelons of the cultivation world!” the guard said with a loud voice, causing all who were near to look over with curious expressions.

It was not every day this happened, but it did happen quite often as experts would overestimate themselves and wish to enter the Black Palace. Now such a large group had come and decided to attempt to enter, but sadly they were doing nothing more than slapping their own faces, and this was something others would love to see.

Sensing that the guard was doing what he could to cause Hui Yue and the others to lose face, Hui Yue’s eyes grew cold. He did not care too much about face, but he was not willing to let others trample over him just for their amusement.

“I am Pei Yue, an honorable Judge of Hell and a friend of Yanluo” Hui Yue exclaimed with a loud voice that shook the walls of the Black Palace. Everyone in the entire area of Youdu heard the voice, and many were even more curious as they came out to see what was going on.

The guard finally realized that he had made a mistake. This man dared to mention Yanluo’s name with such a loud voice without even calling him King Yanluo. This showed that the two of them were either good friends or that he had a strength far beyond what he had ever expected.

Not only this, he dared to claim that he was a Judge of Hell. It would be a great shame to not be able to recognize one of his own judges, but no matter how much he scoured his memory he could not remember ever seeing a picture of the newest judge. He had never shown much interest in him, and thus never asked for a portrait.

If one of them truly had the power to back up his words, then it was not impossible to bring the weaker cultivators with them. Thinking this, the previously self-assured guard ducked his head low.

However, since he had already started this, he had no choice but to finish. When one was riding the back of a tiger, they could not just jump off halfway. This was precisely such a situation, and he cleared his voice.

“You might claim to be a King of Hell, but you cannot just enter this castle with such brazen behavior!”

He started feeling better about himself again. “That’s right, you might be friends with King Yanluo, but that does not entitle you to look down on us guards who are working very hard here in front of the Black Palace!”

“You might be able to get in due to your connections, but you are a group of close to thirty people. Do you honestly believe that your qualifications are so outstanding that you can bring all of them in?”

“I would suggest you leave here this instant, find an inn and settle all the weaker cultivators in and then return here alone. Then I will allow for you to leave your name and we will inform King Yanluo that a friend has come to see him!”

“When the Kings of Hell arrive, are you going to block their group as well?” Hui Yue asked, confused. He was certain that the guards should have known about him so why was he making this so difficult for him?

“I would never block one of our esteemed kings! They are the judges of all, and they are also the ones whom we rely on when it comes keeping order in Diyu.”

“I thought so… Then why are you blocking me?” Hui Yue cocked his head to the side, crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the guard with a confused but patient look in his eyes.

“You are not one of our judges!” the guard blurted out before thinking about what he was saying.

“We all know who the judges are and their auras are unmistakable. I have never seen you or sensed your aura before; it is a big crime to claim that you are a Judge of Hell!”

“My name is Pei Yue! I am the honorary Judge of Hell! I am the only member belonging to both Diyu and the Celestial Sword Sect! Now get out of my way!”

This was the second time that he had identified himself as Pei Yue and the guard was starting to feel really worried.

The face of the Yanluo Guard alternated between ashen pale and so red that it could be dripping blood. Even though he wished to not believe him, it was really too brazen to appear in front of the Black Palace and claim to be a judge if one wasn’t.

No one would dare to claim that they were Pei Yue with such a loud voice unless it was correct, and the guard started feeling a throbbing headache.

Before he had the chance to say anything more, a voice came drifting from the background, “Mister, you are back!” the voice was clearly from Yanluo’s daughter.

“Come with me fast, and bring your friends. Daddy said he did not believe that you had gotten so strong so fast, but the proof is now right in front of him.”

She turned to look at Lan Feng, winked at him and said, “The silly bird has gotten his own body it seems. I would like to talk a lot more with you later!”

After hearing this, Lan Feng felt strangely awkward. Xiao She on his side pinched his waist hard, and he could do nothing but endure the pain. He understood that this was the punishment for being given attention by another woman, although this other woman looked like a child and acted very spoiled.

The truth was that she was older than Hui Yue. She had kept her youthful appearance, and she had also kept her youthful behavior, but she was in truth a cunning monster.

The guard said nothing anymore. He hoped that Hui Yue and his friends would vanish without an extra word to him, and although Hui Yue had been displeased with him, all he did was glance at the guard a final time before he gestured for all his friends to follow him. They all followed behind Yanluo’s daughter into the Black Palace.

Everyone within the Black Palace were extraordinary cultivators. The majority of them had comprehended a heavenly dao, and there were even a few half-step Overlords.

The ones who had not comprehended a heavenly dao had comprehended five or six major daos, and although this was an astonishing and outrageous feat, they were the weakest ones here.

Everyone present had a sensitive soul, and the majority of these old monsters had soulforce as they were born in the older generations.

They had all sensed the commotion that had happened outside the doors of the Black Palace and had followed it with curiosity. They had all heard about Hui Yue before. They knew he was this current generations strongest cultivator back when Diyu was looking for a new Judge of Hell, and they knew that back then he had not even comprehended a major dao.

Now Hui Yue appeared again in Diyu. With him was an entire entourage of experts, and although some of them were weak, these old monsters in the Black Palace could instantly detect that three of them had comprehended a heavenly dao.

They knew that Yanluo had been praising Hui Yue time and time again for his intellect, his strengths, and his ability to comprehend the daos, but none of them had thought it possible that a child could grow so much in hundred years.

Even Yanluo who had been praising Hui Yue time and time again was so shocked that he could barely speak when he noticed Hui Yue’s sudden new found strength.

Hui Yue, on the other hand, did not feel that something was amiss. He had understood that he had gained this strength because he had a close affinity with life.

Just like Wang Ju Long had died before and thus had a close understanding and affinity with the heavenly dao of death, Hui Yue had many lives inside himself.

He was no longer just one person, but an amalgamation of the different lives he had merged with, creating who he was today.

This had given him an affinity with life, and this affinity had made the heavenly dao of life swirl around him for a long time, waiting for the right moment to be comprehended.

Hui Yue and his friends were led through the entire Black Palace before they reached a garden behind the palace itself. This garden was filled with many treasured herbs and plants, all of which had a hint of dread to them.

There were corpse grass, blood ginseng, nightmare gowns, which was a flower, and even multiple phantom moonflowers.

These herbs would make anyone salivate, especially alchemist, and even Hui Yue felt his eyes turn red from greed.

“Don’t even think about it,” the girl that was leading them laughed out loud. “Uncle Yama will never allow anyone to rob his precious garden. When there was peace in the galaxy, all he did was tend to this garden, and when peace is restored, I bet he will return to become a gardener.”

Hui Yue smiled a wry smile and rubbed his nose slightly awkward. He knew he could not just take these flowers, but they were truly tempting.

They continued through the garden for a good half hour before they finally reached a pavilion. This pavilion was filled to the brim with experts, and when Hui Yue looked at them, he even saw some familiar faces.

His father and two uncles were there, the elder from the western region was there, and even the elderly man from the eastern region was present.

“We are gathering everyone who is fighting for the side of humanity,” Yanluo said as he appeared from behind a pillar. “All the hidden supreme experts and public ones are going to gather here.”

“Truth is that you were actually not strong enough to be considered a part of this group,” Yanluo said with a sigh. “This is why I did not contact you, but who would have imagined that you would show up on your own, bringing two other experts that had comprehended a heavenly dao.”

“This is a magnificent boost to our strength!” Yanluo smiled as he patted Hui Yue on the shoulder. “We will begin a feast soon, go around and get used to everyone here. We are all fighting for humanity so we should know one another. These are the men that will have your back in the main war.”