Blue Phoenix

The days passed in a blur. Hui Yue was busy getting familiar with the dao of gravity and the two Ancestral Worldpower Skills that he had learned from merging with his memories.

Soon it was time for Hui Yue and his guard to move from the First Court of Hell. After being summoned by Yanluo, everyone gathered in the courtyard of King Qinguang.

Not long after they had gathered in the courtyard dots appeared on the horizon of the cloudless sky. These dots quickly grew in size until one was able to see that they were the dragons that had brought them here earlier.

These dragons were still as numerous as they had been before, but Yanluo made everyone mount one of the dragons, the largest of them all, together with him.

"I will join you," King Qinguang suddenly said as he mounted the same dragon casually, surprising everyone, even Yanluo.

"I haven't seen the late Chujiang's family. I am also curious about who will be the new Chujiang," he said casually as he shrugged his shoulders. He sat down with his legs crossed and arms resting in his lap showing no signs of leaving.

When he spoke about the new Chujiang, he was staring straight at Hui Yue. This caused the white-haired young man to scratch his head sheepishly and feel rather embarrassed. Even the others were shocked seeing this. Everyone had the same thought: ‘was he curious about Hui Yue?’

Yanluo did not care too much and just shrugged his shoulders, "Suit yourself," he said casually as the dragon took to the skies and quickly vanished from the sight of the city.

The landscape on their way towards the Second Court of Hell was similar to the view on the way to the First Court of Hell and nothing was new, so Hui Yue sat down to meditate.

It was not possible for him to train his daos nor was it possible for him to train the Ancestral Worldpower skills and so he decided to cultivate his soul and Ancestral Worldpower pool.

As he was seated on the back of the dragon, the blue cloud erupted from his body and appeared around him like a mist. The blue cloud absorbed the soul energy from the surrounding air at a rapid pace and allowed for him to consume it and convert it to Ancestral Worldpower fast.

The other experts on top of the dragon were also happy to see Hui Yue once more use this method to cultivate. Now the density of energy in their area was now much greater than normal. Everyone happily adjusted and started to cultivate within the mist, but King Qinguang, who had never seen it before, narrowed his eyes at the sight of it.

"To have such a forcefield at such young age, truly magnificent," he mumbled with a voice so low that only Yanluo heard it.

"It is a very strange forcefield," Yanluo muttered back. The two Kings of Hell were conversing while the others were busy cultivating. "He has so many secrets within his body that you would not believe it. Although I should not favor anyone, it is hard not to do so when this young man is present."

"I understand," King Qinguang nodded his head. "Even I am eager to convince him to join us. Had he not been a member of the Celestial Sword Sect I would have even offered to adopt him into my family! Though doing so now would just insult those old geezers. Especially now that rumor has it that Pei Tian is his father."

"Oh, they finally found out and let it be known?" Yanluo asked with a smirk, and King Qinguang was once more at a loss for words. Although no one had known about Hui Yue's background, it seemed that Yanluo knew all about this youngster.

"The three days after the trial I got all the information I could find about this Pei Yue. No one knows where he came from before he suddenly appeared at Skydragon Fortress and Pei Ze recognized him. His real name is also unknown. When we went to ask the City Lord of Skydragon Fortress it was clear that he had lost all memories of Pei Yue."

"Only the Celestial Sword Sect would dare to erase the memories of one of our City Lords within the Netherworld itself. My guess was that it was that old lady Pei Ziqi. She might seem mild-tempered and gentle, but the truth is that she is a vicious, violent woman who strikes fear into those who know her true personality."

King Qinguang shuddered as he remembered the sight of a woman who was willing to do anything and shoulder all kinds of pain for the sake of her clan.

The Celestial Sword Sect had always been a top sect, but this did not mean it was always peaceful. They would often fight with other sects, clans, and families and it was in those times of trouble that certain individuals stood out.

King Qinguang had once witnessed one such fight, and he still shivered when he thought back to what he had seen.

Seeing the shiver running down King Qinguang's spine, Yanluo chuckled slightly.

"She was indeed frightening, but if I remember correctly didn’t you try to woo her. You rushed to the battlefield because you were wooing her only to see her real temperament!"

"I am surprised that you never married afterwards though... Does Pei Ziqi still hold your heart?"

If any of the experts that were cultivating heard the two Kings of Hell having such a casual conversation they would be shocked, but even more than everyone else, Pei Ze and Hui Yue would be speechless. None of them would be able to imagine Pei Ziqi was the reincarnation of a demon of slaughter, nor would they ever imagine that there was romantic history between her and the first Judge of Hell, one of the most distinguished experts in the entire galaxy.

Unfortunately, none of the experts heard what they were speaking about as they were all greedily absorbing the soul energy.

The days flew past as everyone was quietly cultivating like this. While the youngsters were busy, Yanluo and King Qinguang chatted with one another. They were old friends that had been away from each other for a long period of time.

Although no one knew what the new trial was going to be like, they all knew that their strength had yet to be tested and that it would likely be at some point in time.

Everyone tensed up as they felt the dragon dive down towards the ground. Hui Yue withdrew his blue cloud, and everyone slowly awoke from their meditation. Yanluo and King Qinguang no longer spoke.

Suddenly someone muttered, "It took so long to get here, why did we not use the portals within the court?"

"If you want to leave your body behind then feel free to use the portal," Yanluo responded to the mutter casually. "They are only for souls, anyone else, even me, needs to fly the old-fashioned way."

The one who had spoken instantly shut up. His face filled with fright and Yanluo chuckled slightly as he once more looked in front of them. The dragons were descending from the sky, and in front of them, a bustling city appeared.

The sight was similar to the time they had arrived at the first court. As everyone was gazing down at the city, the dragons headed towards the palace that was located in the middle of the city.

The only difference between this city and the first Court of Hell was that the latter was located on top of a hill while this, the Second Court of Hell, was located deep in a valley with steep mountains rising up around the city on two of the sides.

The citizens of the city looked on with astonishment as they watched Yanluo and the dragons descend, but even so, nobody on the dragon’s back paid them any attention. Yanluo and King Qinguang's eyes were focused on the palace and the large group of people who had gathered in the courtyard.

This line-up seemed very different from the one that had met them in the First Court of Hell. Here were women and children as well as youngsters and the elderly. It was whole families that had gathered together instead of a group of demon guards with a king at the front.

As the dragons landed, they noticed a middle-aged woman who was dressed in mourning clothes and who had dark circles under her eyes. She seemed tired as she bowed deeply to Yanluo and King Qinguang.

"Madame Baozhai, I am glad to see that you are doing fine considering the situation," Yanluo said with a slight bow of his own. Even the arrogant King Qinguang bowed towards her, his face filled with grief as he looked at the woman in front of him.

"This is Madame Baozhai, the first wife of the late King Chujiang. Everyone here is his family, and I wish for all of you to meet them. The new King Chujiang will be looking after this family as if they were his own. I will not tolerate any kind of hostility towards this family or I will personally execute the new King and find someone else to take over the position."

Although Yanluo spoke with a casual voice, everyone felt a chill run down their spine as they heard the threat. This family was clearly important to Yanluo.

"I thank the Great King for his concern," Madame Baozhai said with a bow of her head before she sighed deeply and continued. "I will stay around long enough to ensure that my family is well looked after, after which I will take my own life and join my husband in the Yellow River."

Everyone could see the determination present on her face, and the longing that Hui Yue saw in her took him by surprise. It was clear that right now she was only living to ensure that her family would be treated with respect by the new king.

Her heart was filled with nothing but a will to reunite with the man she loved, and seeing this, Hui Yue's own heart began to ache as he thought back to Wang Ju Long and the sacrifice she had made for him. Had it not been because of his hope of being able to resurrect her, then he would have likely felt the same way. He probably would have wanted to end it all to be together with her.

As he thought about this, a pained expression appeared in his own eyes. An expression that mirrored her own was seen by Madame Baozhai when she glanced into his eyes; seeing this, her pain lifted slightly and she was deeply shocked.

While none of the other experts of the trial noticed anything amiss, both Yanluo and King Qinguang noticed that her pained expression suddenly had curiosity and confusion as well.

Everything had happened in but a second and hearing the words the Madame said, Yanluo sighed and shook his head. "You know as well as me that King Chujiang never wanted you to take your own life, but I will not stop you if that is your true wish. Still, wait until the new king has been found. Only when he has been found will it be possible to know the prospects of your family."

Madame Baozhai nodded her head solemnly and turned around, "Please follow me. I have prepared rooms for you all." She said politely, and she spread out her arms, "The rest of you, return to your chores."

As soon as her words were heard, every member of the late King Chujiang's family scattered to the wind. They left behind only the guests who had arrived on the dragons moments before.

"If you don't mind, please follow me," she repeated and showed them away from the courtyard.