Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  As he had succeeded in reaching mastery with his soulforce to the level that he could materialize it. Hui Yue instantly stood up from the room and went straight to the meditation room.

  As he entered the meditation room, he slowly took a deep breath and closed his eyes before he released his soulforce.

  Although his eyes were closed everything he could sense everything before him, and it was even much clearer than if his eyes had been open.

  Focusing on his soulforce, he slowly started molding it into different shapes. The first shape he formed was a ball. Although this ball would not be of much use during attacks, it was the easiest shape to make. He just wanted to test and see how difficult it was before forming things much more challenging.

  To his surprise, he found that soulforce was quite different from other energies he had used, but it worked somewhat like the blue cloud. It worked in such a way that as soon as Hui Yue thought of something, then his soulforce would react to it.

  He soon created arrows, swords, and even barriers with ease causing a smile to appear on his face.

  His strength had increased, and he added another attacking technique to his arsenal of skills. This meant that he had one more trick up his sleeve now and that even though his Ancestral Worldpower pool was considered small, he had other energies that could assist him.

  "When I merged with the memories of my past self from the Celestial Sword Sect, I did not learn any additional daos, but I did get access to the bloodline of the great roc!" Hui Yue mused to himself as he finished controlling his soulforce and felt proficient with its uses.

  "I never took the time to look over it, but let’s see what it does."

  "I already have a drop of blood of the Vermilion Bird meaning that all birds submit to me, my affinity with fire and fire daos is better than it would be otherwise but I really don't know what the bloodline of the great roc does."

  Pondering for a moment, Hui Yue reached out to the wings in his core and summoned them forth. As he did, he suddenly felt a change in his body. It was as if the wind surrounding him was now a part of his body. It felt as if every single wisp of wind surrounding him was one with him. The wind was a part of him, and he was a part of the wind.

  "This level of control over the wind is like the control over flames that the Vermilion Bird has, but it is at least a hundred times more powerful. Not only do I feel the wind, and can effortlessly merge with it, I also feel the dao of wind as well. I wonder why my previous life did not cultivate this dao!"

  But no matter how Hui Yue thought about it, this sudden feeling was not something that he had experienced before. Not even in his previous life.

  'Perhaps your bloodline had not awakened in your previous life,' Lan Feng commented casually. 'Although I had control over blue flames before, my bloodline did not awaken until just now. So I think it is likely that he had not activated his bloodline.'

  'Now that you merged with his memories, something must have triggered his bloodline. Now it is active, and you can feel the connection between the bloodline and the wind.'

  'I don't know much about bloodlines, but I understand that they seem to have something to do with specific elements. My bloodline has to do with fire, you have the fire bloodline, albeit rather weakly, but you also have the powerful bloodline of the great roc!'

  Hui Yue nodded his head in agreement. What the phoenix said made perfect sense. Hui Yue did not know much about bloodlines, and he had no idea what to expect from them, but he had benefitted from the previous one when he understood the dao of inferno. The only reason he could comprehend the dao at such a speed was due to his affinity with fire.

  Now he also had a strong affinity with wind, and he felt that this would be a great benefit to him. Not only would it increase his speed, but it would also help him mask and hide attacks by using the wind.

  Merging his swordlight with the wind would make it so that everywhere the wind was, his sword could also be, everywhere the wind was, Hui Yue could also be. Since it was like this, he would be able to move much faster. If he mastered this skill, it would seem like he was teleporting. As long as he had Ancestral Worldpower, he would be able to flee from almost any enemy as long as they were outside where the wind was blowing freely.

  Being inside the meditation room there was not a lot of wind, and thus Hui Yue could only come up with tactics and not actually test them out. When he exited the room, he found that the guard was waiting for him.

  "You spent quite some time in there. There are only four hours left before the next trial commences, had you not come out within the next two hours then I would have been forced to interrupt you," he said apologetically, but he also understood that to Hui Yue the most important thing was to become the new Judge of Hell. As for why that was so important to this young man, he really had no idea.

  "Thank you," Hui Yue said. "Let’s go to the next test's location," he continued. Since the test was going to start soon, then he might as well get there early. Hearing this, the guard nodded his head and led the way.

  Walking through the palace grounds, they didn’t talk. Both of them just kept on walking until they reached a big pavilion.

  Outside the pavilion was a long line of souls; all of whom looked rather worried as demons kept them calm and in line.

  Very slowly this queue was moving forward, but as they moved no one seemed to exit the building. It was as if it swallowed everyone up whole.

  Moving towards this building Hui Yue was quite curious about what their next trial would be. Were they to judge someone? Would they be judged themselves? It was hard to say, but it was clear that this pavilion with many souls waiting outside was their destination.

  As they entered, Hui Yue saw that Pei Ze, Pei Feng, and the youth from the Nightcrawler Sect had already arrived. Not only them, but also the man who had previously looked at Hui Yue with great enmity was also there, but he did not even give Hui Yue a glance. It was as if he did not notice Hui Yue’s existence.

  Hui Yue did not pay too much attention to the ones who had already arrived. Instead, he looked at the inside of the building with curiosity.

  As he looked around, he found that the entire ceiling was painted with various images of the Ten Courts of Hell. He recognized the many punishments and the cities he had read about earlier.

  The building had a podium where a round mirror around two meters tall was placed. Each person in the queue moved towards the mirror and looked into it. Some turned pale while others smiled.

  Next to the mirror was a group of teleportation arrays. One was golden, another was silver, and the rest were black. There were a total of ten teleportation portals present.

  The mirror was the mirror of retribution, a mirror that showed the sins of a person's previous life. When one had witnessed their sins, a demon would measure one's sins and virtuous actions. If one had been virtuous in their previous life, then they would be sent to the golden teleportation array. This array would send them to the best part of the Plains of Despair, a place called the Gardens of Perpetual Peace.

  Those who had sinned in life but done more good than bad would be sent through the silver teleportation array to the Plains of Despair, and finally, the rest of the teleportation arrays would send them to their respective Courts of Hell.

  'I wonder what will happen here,' Lan Feng voiced Hui Yue's worries. 'You have the memories of all your previous lives, so if you have to face the mirror of retribution for all of them then you will be in quite a bad spot,' the phoenix continued, and Hui Yue could only agree. He felt quite the headache coming his way as he worried about this trial.

  It was not only Hui Yue who looked worried about the trial, but the hateful man was also sweating slightly. Pei Feng, thought, had a rather peculiar expression on his face.

  Four hours went by in a flash, and soon the doors were closed to the building. A set of demons stood outside ensuring that no one would be able to enter while the trial was ongoing.

  Yanluo and King Qinguang came st
rolling inside the building at a leisurely pace, both were chatting together, and smiles were on their faces.

  "Welcome to the third trial to become the Judge of Hell." Yanluo gladly welcomed them all. "As you might have guessed, this trial is very simple. You will stand in front of the Mirror of Retribution which will look through your life and decide whether or not you’re able to become the Judge of Hell. Only those who have not sinned too much are entitled to judge others."

  "Murder is acceptable as long as you killed in self-defense while slaughtering people, torture, abuse and the like will mean failure to pass the trail."

  "This is a review of your current life you are living now and not any of your previous lives, so do not worry too much about what you have no control over," Yanluo continued, and Hui Yue heaved a heavy sigh of relief. It was clear that this message was for him. Hearing Yanluo say this, Hui Yue steeled his resolve. Although he wasn’t the most virtuous person, he did not consider himself a bad person either. Therefore, in the end, he was not too worried about what the mirror would say about him; he was ready for the third trial.

  Chapter 573 - Sins

  * * *

  Chapter 573: Sins

  Looking at the mirror, Hui Yue was still pretty worried about this trial he was about to undergo. Although he had consumed souls, this could not be considered a severe sin as everyone within Diyu consumed souls, even if they were unwilling. This was because the air in Diyu was filled with soul energy.

  He had been filial and caring. He had only fought those who schemed against him, and although he had killed more than a few people, each person he killed deserved their fate.

  If this were also about his other lives, then he would have been quite worried. The red wolf had killed numerous people, and some of them had even been innocent. He had slaughtered his way through the world he lived in and had been a real tyrant towards anyone who had tried to enter his territory.

  The blue monk had, on the other hand, been incredibly virtuous. He never had any money because he always donated it to the poor and needy. He never killed anyone and only defeated his opponents, and he would stay away from life’s temptations. Maybe his life was enough to outweigh the misdeeds done by the red wolf.

  The life of the green witch and the celestial wings were quite ordinary in comparison. They had both sinned and been filial and virtuous at times throughout their lives, and so their generosity and fidelity towards their family and friends made up for with their misdeeds.

  Were it not for the red wolf and his unknown memories then Hui Yue would not be too worried.

  However, Yanluo had already promised that this would not count his previous lives, yet Hui Yue was still hesitant. These previous lives had already merged with him, and it was impossible to get rid of them. They had integrated themselves with his body and mind; they had changed him and made him a mixture of both his current life and previous ones. How was it possible to separate who he was when all his memories affected him in such a way?

  Although he felt better after hearing Yanluo's words, he was still hesitant and unsure of what to expect.

  But just as the trial began, he found that he was not the first to go up. Also thinking about it he realized that he did not know the names of the other participants, and seeing how this trial was set up, it did not seem as if he would learn their names.

  The first person was gestured to move forward, and he did. His name was not mentioned, and confused Hui Yue thought this. Was this to ensure the safety of the members or what other reason could there be for Yanluo to keep everyone’s names a secret.

  Sighing, Hui Yue decided not to focus on this and instead looked at the man who was walking towards the mirror of retribution with curiosity.

  The man stepped in front of the mirror, and his face was filled with worry as his body trembled slightly as he looked into the mirror.

  Everyone who was standing down beneath the mirror stared intently at it only to see a gentle light envelope the man.

  Blurry shapes within the mirror seemed to be constantly flashing, but it was impossible for the ones who were watching to see just exactly what the mirror was displaying.

  The man was in front of the mirror no longer than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, but when the light subsided, the man seemed listless as if he had been through a rather shocking and uncomfortable ordeal.

  "Failed. You have sinned far too much. You are not fit to judge the souls of others."

  Yanluo's carefree voice sounded throughout the room, and the man nodded his head before he was led by a guard out of the building. It was clear that as soon as someone was deemed unworthy, they would instantly be thrown out. They would have to travel on their own back to Youdu and through the city back into the Netherworld. Even the youngsters from the younger generation of the prominent sects would only be given the courtesy of a guard to lead them back to Youdu.

  The spectators all became more worried when they saw that the first person had already been eliminated and their palms turned sweaty. Their heads numbed as the next person staggered forward with uncertainty written on his face.

  Everyone was worried. How bad was it for one to be considered a sinner? Was it enough to have done good deeds that could outweigh their sins or were they not allowed to have sinned in the first place?

  Everyone present felt the pressure as they stared at the person who was now standing in front of the mirror. Blurred figures appeared once more, and the person turned paler by the second, but he was seemingly in a worse position than the previous person. When the mirror once more turned back to normal, the person wiped the sweat of his forehead with trembling arms, but he still dared not take as much as a breath before Yanluo spoke.

  "You pass, barely" the king of hell spoke out, and his words caused the person in front of the mirror to heave a heavy sigh of relief. He went weak at the knees, and he wobbled back to the group of experts and the relief on his face was obvious.

  The next person went up, and the same thing happened once again. Blurred figures appeared, and the expert in question turned pale and weak before the verdict was given.

  After a bit of time, Hui Yue noticed that about one out of four would pass, but considering that they were Gods, Hui Yue was rather astonished at the high rate of success. Becoming a God was no easy task, and many needed to do underhanded things to become so powerful, that one out of four was considered virtuous enough to judge others was truly shocking.

  Soon it was time for the young man with an enmity against Hui Yue to step forward. He looked at the mirror and shook his head. "I don't need to take this trial," he said with a dry voice. "I know I will not pass."

  Having said this, he turned around and looked straight at Hui Yue; his eyes were filled with venomous, murderous intent. "Next time we meet, I will kill you!" He spat out before he left through the door that the failed experts had used. He walked neither too fast nor too slow; he strode out with dignity. Seeing this, everyone was shocked especially Hui Yue.

  'You know him?' Lan Feng asked curiously, but Hui Yue just shook his head. He truly had no recollection of this person.

  The next person to be tested was Pei Feng, and his face was rather serious and downcast. He kept imagining all the things he had done throughout his life and all the people he had indirectly caused to die, including some of his own family members. He understood that he was most likely not going to pass. His path to get his exalted position within the Celestial Sword Sect was simply not a clean one.

  Still, he did not have the courage to stand up and give up like the man before him. He did not feel like admitting to the wrongs he had done, so he stood in front of the mirror. His face quickly turned pale, and his trembling legs struggled to hold him up. Sweat poured from his body like a waterfall and his clothes were soon drenched in sweat.

  Of all the people tested, Pei Feng had stood in front of the mirror the longest, and he became increasingly weak as time went by.

  When the mirror finally turned blank ag
ain, Yanluo's voice sounded straight afterward, "Failed." Hearing this, Pei Feng had no other choice than to leave like all the other failed contestants.

  Although Hui Yue had been focused on Pei Feng, he noticed the hand of Pei Ze was clenched tightly, and a tinge of hope appeared in his eyes.

  Although Pei Ze might also end up failing this round, he still would have lasted longer than Pei Feng, and this was something for him to be proud of. He also believed that it would cause his standing in the sect to rise slightly.

  Before Hui Yue, there were still ten experts which included both Pei Ze and the expert from the Nightcrawler Sect.

  As time went by both of them passed the trial, and soon it was Hui Yue's turn.

  Taking a deep breath, Hui Yue was both worried and also interested in how this would work out. Yanluo had promised that it would just look over one lifetime, but to Hui Yue, how would this work out?