Chapter 650: Black Phoenix

The small maid was in deep thought over the matter for a while. The two, man and girl, had stopped in their tracks and were looking at one another until the girl finally nodded her head.

“I guess you are right,” she said with a bit of hesitation. “If I love someone, I should protect them and live a long life with them instead of merging with them. As long as I live, then I will be able to protect the ones dear to me, so my rebirth ability is priceless. I cannot afford to sacrifice it unless it is the only way to save the ones I love.”

Hui Yue looked at the young girl who seemed to be no more than ten years old and sighed. What did this girl even know about love, he wondered, but he also knew better than to actually ask such a question.

“You said you were a phoenix,” Hui Yue changed the subject and smiled as he looked at the girl. “I have never met any phoenixes other than Lan Feng. What is your name? What kind of phoenix are you?”

Hui Yue knew it was rude to ask such questions, but he could not help but do so. He was curious about phoenixes since Lan Feng rarely spoke about himself.

“I am little Sun,” the girl said with a gentle smile on her face. “Father always calls me his little Sun because I am the sun in his life which he never sees down here in Youdu.”

“For father, I would instantly give up all my rebirths if it could help him,” she continued as her eyes shone brightly as she spoke of her father. “I love father. He is the strongest expert around, and no one can challenge him. We are black phoenixes, a very rare kind of species which thrive in darkness, but father has managed to comprehend the major dao of light too! He is simply amazing!”

Hui Yue felt a headache coming his way, but he also understood a lot of things he had not before.

It was clear that the father that this little girl was talking about was either Yanluo or Yama. Those two were the strongest experts in the galaxy, and Hui Yue had the impression that the expert in question was Yanluo.

The reason he a.s.sumed it was Yanluo was because then a lot of things made sense. Yanluo’s ability to see that Hui Yue had merged with a phoenix, his ability to know about Lan Feng’s sacrifice, and even the way he understood Lan Feng like no other.

‘Black phoenixes are really rare,’ Lan Feng’s voice came from within Hui Yue. ‘They are known as extremely talented creatures with strong souls. Anyone would do everything in their power to get their hands on a black phoenix. The only phoenix rarer than them is the blue phoenix, or in other words, me. This is because I am the only blue phoenix in the entire galaxy.’

‘Although I am rarer than them, my natural talent is not as great as a black phoenix. You see, unlike me who is a descendant of the Vermilion Bird, the black phoenixes are descendants of the sun. Everywhere an adult black phoenix governs, is a place of prosperity. They are celestial creatures. Celestial creatures are born of the heavens and not created by G.o.ds.’

Hui Yue nodded his head and looked at the little girl in front of him. She was still talking about the father whom she adored, and a soft expression appeared on his face as he ruffled her hair. “Thank you for telling me all this,” he said with a great smile on his face, and the girl was momentarily stunned before she too flashed a great smile.

“Well, we cannot leave father hanging for much longer,” she continued and started skipping through the halls, leaving Hui Yue to follow behind her.

They rushed through one corridor after another before they reached one of the main halls. From within Hui Yue could hear nothing, but he also understood that there was likely to be restrictive formations surrounding the room. It wouldn't be good if private conversations were being overheard by others.

The small girl went straight to the door and opened it without even knocking first. The door opened soundlessly, but it was impossible to overlook her intrusion because she instantly raised her voice and called out. “Father I have brought your guest here!”

As she called out, Hui Yue heard a sigh from within and saw a troubled expression on Yanluo’s face.

“Little Sun, you have to stop dressing up as a maid to meet my guests,” he scolded her, but the girl just kept smiling as if she had been praised instead.

“Well, run now, go play with some of the other children and let us grownups talk,” he sighed again, unable to stay mad at the child in front of him.

The small girl, Little Sun, instantly nodded her head and turned to leave after waving her hand at Hui Yue. “You must be a very special person for father to treat you so seriously,” she said before vanis.h.i.+ng out the door, leaving Hui Yue rather dumbfounded.

Yanluo shook his head with a slight smile on his lips, but he said nothing to disagree with what the child had said. “Come in and close the door. I have something important to discuss with you,” he said, and Hui Yue did as he was told.

There was only Yanluo present in the big hall, and he was seated at the very end on his throne. Next to this throne were other chairs and Yanluo waved his hand, signaling for Hui Yue to take a seat which he quickly did.

“I am curious as for why I was summoned here in such a grand way that even caused the demons to be enraged,” Hui Yue said as he sat down, and Yanluo nodded his head. “You have every right to know, however, it's impossible to tell you over the communication orb. Although they can be used for many conversations, they are never completely safe. If one is skilled enough they can listen in on our conversation, and this is one conversation we cannot afford to have anyone else hear,” Yanluo said seriously.

“When you were here last time you told the madame of the late King Chujiang that she should consider speaking with He Bo about letting the soul of the late King Chujiang go,” he spoke going to the heart of the matter. Hearing this, Hui Yue nodded his head. He had indeed said such a thing.

“She did exactly what you suggested and traveled to the Yellow River where she asked what he wanted in return for the late King Chujiang’s soul.”

“As for the specifics of that trade, not even I am ent.i.tled to know about it. However, it took the madame around forty years to find the things needed and now she has traded them for Chujiang’s soul.”

“The madame and the old King Chujiang returned to Youdu a year ago, but his soul was weakened and needed nourishment. I know you have the Nirvana Phoenix Flame, would you be willing to sacrifice a wisp of your flame to help heal his soul?”

Yanluo straightforwardly asked his question, and Hui Yue, who had listened intently had somewhat guessed what it was he wanted from him.

“Sure,” Hui Yue shrugged his shoulders. Although the Nirvana Phoenix Flame was priceless, it was not near as important as having Diyu owe him a favor.

“Another thing we need to discuss is your position as the Second Judge of h.e.l.l,” Yanluo continued with a complicated expression on his face. “You are by right the Second Judge of h.e.l.l, but so is he. We will need one of you to step down, though I cannot decide who it should be. Both of you have your benefits and your disadvantages. So tell me, what are your thoughts on the matter?”

Hui Yue paused for a moment as he scratched his chin and thought about it. “I think that the best would be for the old king to once more take over as the Second Judge of h.e.l.l,” he said honestly.

“Although I am a talent for Diyu, I have no experience in running one of the ten courts. I have done nothing as a Judge of h.e.l.l in the years I have had the position, and I was only fighting for the position because of what you said. I only wished to be a judge so that you would tell me how to resurrect w.a.n.g Ju Long.”

“Now, that the rightful king is back, I see no reason why I should not step down from the position and hand it over to him with a calm heart. I am sure that he will be more fit to lead the second court and that he is willing to take on the task once more.”

“I understand that his soul has weakened and his body is no more. As a matter of fact, my friends and I are looking for the Alchemist G.o.d to learn how to refine the strongest bodies possible for immortals.”

“If we succeed in finding him we will come back and help you refine a new body for the Second Judge of h.e.l.l. If this could happen then he should almost have returned to his peak condition.”

“However my only conditions are that I wish to know a few things and I want Diyu to owe me a favor,” Hui Yue said seriously while looking Yanluo in the eyes.

Yanluo did not hesitate for long before nodding his head, “I agree with your conditions. The fact that you will use your Nirvana Phoenix Flame for the sake of the old King Chujiang makes us owe you a favor. Because you are willing to step back and let the old King Chujiang once more become the King of h.e.l.l, we owe you a second favor.”

“In case you manage to create a body for King Chujiang, then we will owe you yet another favor.”

“Not to mention that you will forever be considered a part of Diyu, beneath only me and the other Judges of h.e.l.l. I will bestow upon you a medallion making you a guest elder of Diyu.”

Flipping his hand a medallion appeared in his palm. He handed it over to Hui Yue who respectfully accepted it and stored it within the Universe Box.

“Let me give you some information as well,” Yanluo continued. “The reason that so many demons gathered to kill you was exactly because you were a Judge of h.e.l.l. Losing a judge would wound Diyu rather badly. But that is only the official reason.”

“The one who ama.s.sed these demons to attack is a cultivator who used to be human but who is being branded and molded by demon blood and becoming a demon himself.”

“His name is An He, and I am sure you know of him. His goal was to get rid of you for reasons that I am unsure of, but he is a rising star within the Blood Demon faction. He is ruthless to both his enemies and himself, and does everything in his power to gain more power and influence.”

“He used the excuse that you are a Judge of h.e.l.l to challenge you, but I am quite certain that there are other reasons behind his behavior. How have you insulted him? When you travel in the future, you really need to be careful. It seems he will not hesitate at all to use everything at his disposal to get rid of you. Even if you are strong, you will lose some friends from the frequent attacks. As such you will be in less danger if you are not one of our Judges of h.e.l.l because he will have a much harder time gathering people to attack you.”