Blue Phoenix

No one could hear the conversation between Hui Yue and Yanluo, but everyone could see the change in Hui Yue. He went from being a docile house cat to a tiger ready to pounce.

While Hui Yue looked dangerous, Yanluo had a slight smile on his face and looked rather satisfied. As for what was said beneath the sound barrier, no one knew, but everyone greatly wished to know.

Hui Yue’s aura had changed massively, and now he was like a drawn sword. He seemed ready to cut down anyone in his way not caring if any died or who he might insult doing so. This was the kind of aura he was currently giving off, and while everyone watching was completely bewildered, Hui Yue knew that to resurrect Wang Ju Long he would turn the galaxy upside down if he had to.

"Well, good luck," Yanluo said with a nod to Hui Yue, and just as elegantly as he arrived, he vanished into the distance to speak with some other elders. Although he was not arrogant there was no need for him to speak with the younger generation, they simply did not hold the right to converse with the King of Hell.

As Hui Yue was left alone a new aura emanated outwards from this mysterious youth. This threatening aura made even Pei Ze uncomfortable, and he was unable to guess what Yanluo could have said to make this young man have such a murderous aura and such determined eyes.

The head elder Pei Ziqi walked towards Hui Yue and looked at him curiously. It was clear that she too considered asking him what they had spoken about, but now was not the time. Therefore Pei Ziqi could do nothing but hold in her curiosity.

The rest of the night went by painlessly. No one challenged Hui Yue any longer; everyone looked at him with a bit of fear in their eyes except the young peerless geniuses who wanted to fight him but had been told not to by their elders. Especially the young man from the Nightcrawler Sect greatly wished to fight Hui Yue, but he also understood that with his status as the strongest he could not just randomly challenge people.

If he won, it would be considered him bullying the weak, and if he lost it would be considered a great shame and his position as the strongest would be stripped away from him. Either situation would be bad for his reputation, and therefore, he understood why his elders had told him not to do battle. Although he understood it, he still really wanted to fight Hui Yue. This young man was the first individual of the younger generation that made his blood boil, and his hands sweat in anticipation and slight fear.

Hui Yue noticed the anticipation within the eyes of this Nightcrawler Sect's strongest member, but Hui Yue did not care about him at all. A bout with the younger generation was not what Hui Yue wanted, no, he wanted to become the Judge of Hell and these little power struggles meant nothing to him.

The rest of the banquet was filled with many sparring matches that everyone watched. In the end, only three members of the Celestial Sword Sect were challenged, and out of these three, only one was lost.

Everyone who challenged the Celestial Sword Sect came from the Nightcrawlers Sect. It was clear that these two sects had quite the tension between them.

As the last match finished, one group after another started to depart the banquet hall. The banquet had lasted for a good five hours before everyone started leaving. When they left the outside looked the same as it had done when they had arrived. The red sun was still casting its eerie light down on the dark city; stalls were being set up and packed down everywhere as life was bustling within the city.

Walking through town back to the Celestial Sword Sect, everyone was quiet. Many of the people who had looked down on Hui Yue at the start were now rather frightful of him. They were currently starting to think about the reasons why exactly he had been allowed to live. What secrets did he possess that made him so valuable that even sect rules could be broken for his sake?

Returning to the Celestial Sword Sect, Hui Yue quickly bid his farewells without waiting for the head elders to ask him questions. If possible Hui Yue did not want to lie to these head elders, but at the same time, he did not want to tell them about the situation with Wang Ju Long.

Returning to his room, Hui Yue got Huli out from within the Universe Box and told her everything that had happened that night. When she heard about the possibility of resurrecting Wang Ju Long, her face was filled with a great smile. She felt happy in her heart for Hui Yue. At first, when she had met Wang Ju Long, Huli had not cared much for her. She was one of Hui Yue's women, but nothing more.

It was not until she saw Wang Ju Long selflessly sacrifice herself for Hui Yue that Huli felt connected with Wang Ju Long, it was not before then she understood that the emotions they shared were similar and that Wang Ju Long was not just a woman but also her sister.

Hui Yue and Huli spent many hours chatting with one another before a few knocks were heard on the door and Pei Ze entered.

"The start of the trial is almost here; I hope you are ready. No one knows what the trial is about, but I got some information about the Courts of Hell if you want to hear about them," Pei Ze said, and Hui Yue quickly nodded his head. He needed all the information he could get.

"When someone dies they go to the First Court of Hell which is controlled by King Qinguang. Here in the first court King Qinguang and his officials conduct trials, and each prisoner is judged according to their deeds in their past life."

"The good are separated from the evil, and the King and his officials find the appropriate rewards or punishments. The punishments are then carried out in the various courts."

"Those who were virtuous in their past life will be lead over the Golden Bridge on their way to the Plains of Despair."

"Those whose past good deeds outweighs their crimes will be sent to the Silver Bridge on their way to the Plains of Despair."

"Those who were evil doers in their past life will be sent to repent before the Mirror of Retribution and then taken to a subsequent Court of Hell."

"The Second Court of Hell is currently uncontrolled. This is the one where King Chujiang used to reign, but now he has passed away. Chujiang is the title though so if you were to become the next King of Hell that would also become your name."

"This second court is for those who inflict physical injury; it is for the robbers and the corrupted."

"If you physically injury many people your punishment is to be thrown into a volcanic pit until your soul is on the brink of destruction. If you were a robber or a corrupt person, you will be frozen in a block of ice. If you stole, you are thrown into a pool of blood and drowned.

"In these Courts of Hell, the evil souls suffer unspeakable torture until their souls are on the brink of destruction, after which they are sent to the Plains of Despair."

"In the Third Court of Hell which is ruled by King Songdi there are two kinds of punishments."

"For ungratefulness, disrespect to the elders, or escaping from prison one would have their heart cut out. If they were drug addicts, traffickers, tomb raiders, or urged people into crime their punishment is to be tied to red hot copper pillars and burned to death."

"The Fourth Court of Hell is ruled by King Wuguan, and it also has two kinds of punishments."

"For the miserly or avaricious they are pounded by a stone mallet, but if you showed disobedience to your family or siblings, the punishment is to be ground by a large stone."

"The Fifth Court of Hell is ruled by King Yanluo! Yes, Yanluo actually controls one of the courts, the fifth court. Here there is only one punishment for the evildoers who gets sent to this court, and that is to be thrown onto a hill of knives. But there is one more thing within his court which is called the Viewing Home Tower."

"This is a tower where evil souls get to see how their actions caused their family and friends to suffer throughout their life."

"The Sixth Court of Hell is ruled by King Piencheng. He has another two punishments. The first is to be thrown onto a tree of knives; the second is to have their body sawn into two parts."

"The Seventh Court of Hell is ruled by King Taishan. There are also two punishments for evil souls in this court. One is to have their tongue ripped out of their mouth, and the other is to be thrown into a wok of boiling oil."

"The Eighth Court of Hell is ruled by King Dushi."

"Here the two punishments are to have their organs and intestines pulled out and to have their body dismembered."

"The Ninth Court of Hell is ruled by King Pingdeng. Here one’s punishment is to have their arms and head chopped off."

"The Tenth Court of Hell is run by King Zhuanlun. He is in control of the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Pavilion of Forgetfulness."

"This is where everyone arrives after having served their sentences. They will get taken to the Pavilion of Forgetfulness where they will be given a drink which will help them forget their memories while wandering the Plains of Despair."

Everything that Hui Yue had heard so far turned out to be wrong. He had never expected that the courts were like this, but he could not help but feel that these punishments were all rather severe for the sins that had been committed. But he just nodded his head. Now he had a true understanding of what exactly the Ten Courts of Hell were and what they did. He also now knew exactly which judge it was that had to be replaced.

"Thank you for sharing this information with me," Hui Yue said honestly to Pei Ze who just smiled and shook his hand. "I guess you really want to become the new Judge of Hell. Your sudden talk with Yanluo and your change in attitude towards the trials, I just hope that he offered you something great if you manage to actually succeed as the King of Hell; it will not be easy."

Hui Yue looked at Pei Ze, but he quickly understood that although this young man was bringing up the subject, he was not asking any more questions about how, why, or what he had spoken to Yanluo about.

Pei Ze stayed for a short while before leaving and after he left no one interrupted Hui Yue for a long period as Hui Yue cultivated on his own.

As the days went by Hui Yue was quietly cultivating increasing his strength until it was finally time for the trials to begin.

Exiting his chamber, he found that elder Ziqi was standing outside looking rather undecided, but when she saw Hui Yue, she just shook her head. She greeted him and gestured for him to follow her. Seeing this, Hui Yue understood that it was for the best to do as he was told, and he followed behind her. While walking behind this powerful elder, he was thinking up different ways of avoiding the questions he was sure they would ask about him and Yanluo.