Blue Phoenix

Everyone was staring at the stage dumbfounded. What was this blue cloud and how did it manage to consume this expert’s energy.

It did not feel like a dao attack nor an Ancestral Worldpower skill either. No matter how they looked at it, they did not understand this odd skill. No one else besides Yanluo knew what kind of power this young man had used.

Not staying behind, Hui Yue stepped off the stage and moved back to his original spot next to Pei Ze with a wry smile on his lips.

The friends of the fallen youngster all rushed up to the stage to carry him down. He had no energy left in his body and would need at least a few days to restore his Ancestral Worldpower back to how it was before; he would not even feel the slightest drawback from their fight.

Hui Yue had chosen the blue cloud for a few reasons. First, it was the fastest way to defeat his opponent. Secondly, it was very mysterious. No one would be able to tell what exactly happened as the energy belonged to the blue monk, someone who had been dead for eons already, and lastly, he had wanted to absorb his energy. He wanted to raise his own strength while fighting these experts that challenged him.

The ones who previously had thought that Hui Yue was an easy target now looked at him with terror in their eyes and the ones who had already been told not to challenge him felt grateful to their elders for stopping them. Only a few very strong cultivators looked at Hui Yue with an urge to fight blazing in their eyes.

Although many experts were more than willing to fight Hui Yue, none of them challenged him. They understood that since he could absorb energy as effortlessly as he had, then he would definitely have other high-level skills. The only real question they were thinking about was how many heaven-defying skills was he able to use?

As the second person appeared on the stage his face was filled with uncertainty as to who he should challenge and with a long glance towards Hui Yue he finally chose someone from a minor sect.

A couple of matches took place in rapid succession, and Hui Yue was astonished as he saw what the formation that Yanluo created was capable of. No matter which wounds one sustained they would be healed by the formation after the fight ended. That was everyone apart from Hui Yue's target as he was not actually wounded, but just had his Ancestral Worldpower pool completely drained.

As the night progressed, Yanluo finally left his throne and started to mingle with the elders of the various sects. Although Hui Yue was eager to chat with him, he was not silly enough to interrupt when he was speaking with others, and because of this, he could do nothing but wait patiently for Yanluo to come speak with him. After seeing the shock on Yanluo's face, Hui Yue was confident that the God of Hell also wished to speak with him.

"I challenge Pei Yue!" A voice suddenly cut through the banquet hall, and Hui Yue, who had been thinking about Yanluo and not the sparring matches taking place was rather surprised. Looking at the top of the stage was another young genius, but although he was a bit stronger than the previous opponent, he was not someone that met his eyes.

Sighing, Hui Yue headed to the stage, and his steps were neither rushed nor slow.

"Although you managed to shock us all previously I doubt you can pull the same trick too many times, something that overpowered is likely to be able to only be used once! I bet you used it just to scare us!" The expert said, and many of the younger generation nodded their heads. What this young man said made perfect sense.

"I am much stronger than your previous opponent; prepare to lose!!" The man exclaimed as he jumped towards Hui Yue who was still as calm as always.

"Done yet?" He asked casually, but his casual question enraged the expert in front of him all the more, and as a result, he forced all the Ancestral Worldpower he had into his first attack. This attack was clearly an Ancestral Worldpower skill and not an actual dao causing Hui Yue to just shake his head. He sighed as the blue cloud erupted from his body surging out like a celestial cloud from the heavens as it surrounded the advancing expert, covering him completely.

What had happened previously repeated itself. The figure within the cloud shook uncontrollably as all his energy was sucked out of his body before he collapsed to the ground. Afterwards, the blue cloud released him and retreated into Hui Yue's body.

By now the banquet hall was completely silent. No matter how the elders or the younger members observed this blue energy, none of them were able to gain any insights into its nature. Since they did not know what it was, no one could determine how many times Hui Yue could use it, what else this cloud could do, and what the limits of its power were. So far it had easily made two geniuses succumb to its overwhelming power. As for how many more times it could do so before it ran out if it even did... No one knew this answer. The lack of knowledge about Hui Yue’s skills made people uncomfortable.

While Hui Yue's opponents were being drained of energy, Hui Yue's body was bursting with energy; his skin was almost radiating from the excess energy he had absorbed, and his body and soul were working hard on trying to refine it.

Some of the more skilled elders saw this change in him and narrowed their eyes as they tried to find connections between this blue cloud and the dao of devouring, but no matter how they looked it did not feel like an attack relying on this dao. Also, it wasn't any Ancestral Worldpower skill they had ever seen. If anything it seemed like some esoteric force they had never seen, but one should know that getting force power was incredibly rare, so rare that not even many elders possessed this ability.

Hui Yue went down from the stage and as he did the friends of the fallen comrade jumped onto the stage to pick up the weakened expert and carried him of the stage where he was placed on the ground before the elders of this sect turned to leave.

"No need to leave just yet," Yanluo's voice sounded out as he went towards the weakened expert. He placed a hand on his head, and a flash appeared as the weakened expert felt his body explode with energy. His drained Ancestral Worldpower pool was flooded with energy from Yanluo.

As soon as he helped this weakened expert regain his energy, Yanluo went towards the second person who had been drained and did the same to him. A light flashed, and his body was filled with energy once more.

Yanluo left the two experts and walked towards Hui Yue. Seeing the God of Hell walk towards him, Hui Yue was excited. It was finally time for him to converse with this legendary figure and hear about whether or not he could save Wang Ju Long.

No one stopped Yanluo, but everyone followed him with their eyes. Everyone was curious about what he had to say to Hui Yue. Everyone seemed to understand that there was something extraordinary about this young man and if they could get some secrets from their conversation then all the better.

"Hello young one," Yanluo smiled at Hui Yue who cupped his hands and bowed to the King of Hell. Now that he was close by, Hui Yue could feel an enormous pressure pushing down on him, but even so he forced himself to stay standing and didn’t move an inch from this frightening pressure.

"Pei Yue greets the King of Hell," Hui Yue said politely as his face was completely neutral not showing any emotions whatsoever. Although Hui Yue wished to ask about the resurrection of Wang Ju Long, he understood that right now he was the focus attention, and under such situation was it really possible to ask?

"Don't worry, I have shielded the surrounding so no one will hear what we talk about," Yanluo said calmly as he looked at everyone present, and looking at them Hui Yue saw that many faces were filled with frowns and confusion.

"Tell me, why was a human like you resurrected by a phoenix? Only by being resurrected by a phoenix is it possible to connect the memories of previous lives with your current life. Phoenixes can only resurrect a human once in their life, and when they do so, they give up their own ability to resurrect. No phoenix is willing to do so unless they love the human more than their own life, and one can not force a phoenix to do so. Strangely enough, I see no phoenix around you. Has your benefactor already died?"

Seeing Hui Yue's shocked expression, Yanluo chuckled, "I guess that the phoenix is still living just not here. It seems like you were unaware of your friend’s massive sacrifice for you."

Hui Yue nodded his head solemnly, "It is true that I was unaware of this," he said honestly. "But even so, I am glad that my friend sacrificed his future life for my sake. How come you know about this secret? I imagine that the phoenixes would do anything in their power to hide such information," Hui Yue asked curiously, but Yanluo just smiled and shook his head. "I will let you ask me one question, are you sure you wish for this to be it?"

Hearing that he could ask a question Hui Yue quickly shook his head. "I have a friend who was killed and turned into a soul shadow," he quickly asked the question which did matter to him. "I wish to resurrect her, what should I do?"

Hearing the question, Yanluo pondered for a short while about what to do. "She can be saved," Yanluo started by saying, and hearing this, Hui Yue's heart skipped a beat. There was truly hope for her to be revived!

"If you become the Judge of Hell not only will I tell you how to resurrect her, I will also help you with the most challenging part," Yanluo said with a cheeky smile on his face. "Although it seems like it would be hard to overcome this trial, I can see that you already have nine lives at your disposal. You also seem to have other secrets that even I cannot see through. I even sense the familiar feeling of the Nirvana Phoenix Flame on your body."

As Yanluo said this, a slight hint of curiosity appeared in his eyes, but fortunately, there was no greed mixed in. If he had felt any desire towards Hui Yue's Nirvana Phoenix Flame, then Hui Yue would already be dead!

But right now Hui Yue did not care about how Yanluo could sense his phoenix flame, nor did he rejoice at the fact that he held no greed towards this peculiar flame, all that resounded within Hui Yue's mind was the words Yanluo had just said: she can be saved!

His previously calm eyes turned determined, and his casual expression turned tense. Hui Yue who had not wished to become the Judge of Hell before now knew that there was no turning back. He had to become the Judge of Hell or he would die trying. There was no middle ground, no way of giving up; to resurrect Wang Ju Long he would go all the way and give it his all. She would be saved! He thought as his eyes fiercely shone with fighting spirit.