Blue Phoenix

Hui Yue smiled at Pei Bai's words. He was truly going to give it his all, but he was worried that perhaps he had not prepared enough. It seemed that all the other sects had two or three youngsters with them, but the Celestial Sword Sect had bet everything on him, someone who had not even gone through a full year of studying formations.

"Young man, you seem new. Could you perhaps introduce yourself? I did not know that there was a young man like yourself within the Celestial Sword Sect."

The speaker was an old man from the Heavenly Dragon Gate, and he was genuinely curious. He was a Formation Master, but even so, he kept abreast of rumors in the outside world. He had heard before about a young man who had created waves in both Diyu and the Celestial Sword Sect World, and he could not help but wonder if this person was the one.

"I am Pei Yue," Hui Yue introduced himself with the name that the patriarch had given him. "I am indeed a new member of the Celestial Sword Sect."

"You are the Second King of Hell?!" someone from the side exclaimed, unable to pretend that he did not eavesdrop on the conversation. These youngsters were all members of the younger generation, and they all knew that the one known as Pei Yue was the strongest when it came to pure strength amongst them. He was a King of Hell, and now he had shown up at their Formation Master’s debate. Was he some multitalented monster that could do anything?

"That is me," Hui Yue nodded his head. There was no reason to try and hide his background as everyone would know about it sooner or later, but he still wanted to remain humble. "I was lucky in the trials and emerged victorious."

Everyone sucked in a big breath of air. Hui Yue had been an ordinary expert before, but now he was someone they all, even the Formation Masters, acknowledged as a real threat.

"Do forgive me for being rude," a gentle and amused voice suddenly sounded from the corner of the room, and everyone turned to look at the one who was speaking.

"That is the genius of the Heavenly Dragon Gate," Pei Bai mumbled by Hui Yue's side who nodded his head slightly to show he had heard what was said. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the speaking youth.

"Although you are an esteemed guest, could it be that you have been chosen to show off?" he asked in a jokingly manner, his words causing Hui Yue and Huli to both feel rage inside, but Hui Yue restrained his anger and held Huli back.

"I am sorry I do not understand what you mean," Hui Yue said in a cold voice which showed no respect, but everyone understood why he was so cold. This genius had indeed gone a bit too far with his words.

"What I mean is that the Celestial Sword Sect has been doing badly in the Formation Master's debate the last couple times. Could it be that they have given up and simply wish to awe us with your prestige? Giving up by bringing someone who only knows brute strength into this sacred debate?"

Hearing his words Hui Yue snorted, "You think that I am here because we have given up on the debate?" he asked slowly before he suddenly started laughing out loud, surprising everyone present.

"You are known to be a genius, are you feeling threatened? You are supposed to be the host yet you are slandering your guests in front of so many people. Is this how the Heavenly Dragon Gate receives guests?"

Hui Yue's voice contained mockery, and he shook his head, "Whether or not I know formations, you could have kept your mouth shut and seen for yourself when it was time for the debate to begin. Have you not considered that I might be a skilled formation apprentice and that you would end up looking stupid by speaking out like this?"

Every word was direct and harsh, but no one could say anything against him. It was indeed the Heavenly Dragon Gate who had started it, and what made it even worse was that they were the hosts. His actions were in now way proper.

The old weasel felt sweat appear on his forehead. Hui Yue was not someone easily insulted. Although the Celestial Sword Sect had been doing badly in the Formation Master's debates recently, they were still no pushovers, and even worse, he was also backed by Diyu! Diyu was the strongest and most mysterious of all the sects, and to be backed by both of them it was clear that he was not someone they could afford to make their enemy.

"Ah, sorry to have offended you. I just couldn’t believe that you would be talented in both cultivation, dao comprehension, and formations. Such a talent is simply peerless and impossible to come across. Are you sure that you are a member of the younger generation? You look just like your elder Pei Bai over there?"

As he spoke, the smile on his face vanished and was replaced by a frosty expression instead. It was clear that he felt some enmity towards Hui Yue, but Hui Yue was not able to say what had transpired between them to cause such hate to flourish.

The old man from the Heavenly Dragon Gate, the man who was referred to as the old weasel, noticed what was going on too late. He was unsure of how to mediate between the two sides as things were now.

It was clear that Hui Yue had not felt any hostility against the youth from the Heavenly Dragon's Gate at the very start, but as things had developed, it would be weird if he were to just step back. He had repeatedly been insulted by this genius, and there had not been any reason for it.

Looking at the old weasel, Hui Yue sighed and prepared to take a step back. However, he was sure that he wanted to have the final say and opened his mouth, "I understand that you are threatened. It is not easy to be a genius, but have some faith in your own skills rather than blaming me for your inability."

The young genius was just about to respond when he felt a piercing glare from the old weasel and took a look around. It was clear that every guest in the room was rather uncomfortable.

The Heavenly Dragon Gate was not one of the biggest sects in the galaxy, but it was still rather big, and it commanded quite a bit of respect from the many sects because of the Formation Masters within the sect. Anyone looking for a Formation Master would go to the Heavenly Dragon Gate to look for one.

But now this genius, who was supposed to become the next leader of the Formation Masters within the Heavenly Dragon Palace, was acting out of place. He was not even pretending to behave properly, but instead, he was being very impolite to a high profile young man.

Was this young genius unable to tell that what he had done was stepping over the line? If he treated the King of Hell like this, how would he treat other experts who had less fame and strength?

"Well, the young generation sure is hot-headed!" The old weasel said with a forced smile on his face as he looked around and clapped his hands. "Seeing another genius instantly makes them become like cat and dogs, eager to bite each other's tails and prove their worth."

"We were of course not expecting this to go as far as it did, for that, I apologize to the young Pei Yue on behalf of the Heavenly Dragon Gate."

"Now, let us no longer focus on what happened before, let’s instead focus on the debate that will happen soon!"

By shifting the focus of the conversation to the debate, everyone calmed down drastically and smiled much more genuinely.

Everyone was excited about the debate, and soon they all had their focus on the old weasel, all but Hui Yue and Huli forgot all about the conversation that had happened previously.

"The debate will begin tomorrow morning. The debate is very simple. Two experts will go on stage and compete against each other, fighting each other with formations. The one who wins can continue to stay on stage for as long as they want, however, don't push yourself too much."

"Eventually you will all fight each other, even if you take breaks between fights, and then we will find the final expert who stands above everyone else. We will start with the younger generation, and when we find the debate master, we will move on to the elder generation."

"The debate for the elder generation will happen the following day, and when everything has been decided, we will award some cultivation resources to the winner of the younger generation. For the best Formation Master of the older generation, they will gain a powerful Formation Master level scroll from our Heavenly Dragon Gate, a formation that requires nine hundred seals to activate."

Clamor broke out in the room, and the elder smiled as he waved his hand, "I know that usually, the price for the elders to win is the honor, but our sect decided to show a sign of our goodwill to prove that we are anything but hostile towards our guests."

The prizes had been decided upon long ago, and the decision was so that others would have a much more favorable impression of the Heavenly Dragon Gate.

They also did so with the reason that next time, it would be hard for the next hosts to not offer an even better treasure or they would lose face. Therefore, in the end, they would gain even better treasures from the Formation Master's debates in the future. They were after all most famed for their Formation Masters.

The rewards they were giving to the winner of the younger generation were also incredibly favorable this time. Although it was a reward that all the sects had gathered together, the Heavenly Dragon Gate had placed more than three times as many resources as the other sects to show their goodwill, but everyone knew that in fact, this was also because they were certain of victory. If they lost, they would truly lose quite a bit of cultivation resources.

"Now everyone, please follow me. Outside are a group of maids, these maids will take you to a courtyard with enough rooms for you all to share. One courtyard for each of the sects. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask the maids. As long as it is within our ability, we will do what we can to provide for you."

The old weasel had completely turned the situation around. Everyone felt how welcome they were and how great the Heavenly Dragon Gate was at taking care of their guests after he had spoken.

The only ones who had not forgotten the ordeal from earlier were Hui Yue, Huli, and the genius from the Heavenly Dragon Gate; this genius clearly understood that he had gone too far, so he kept his mouth shut and just glared at Hui Yue from time to time.

Hui Yue paid him no attention. They would face each other on the stage at some point, and it was much better to settle all their disagreements there rather than waste their time on mindless bickering.

Following the old weasel, all of them exited the room they had been gathered in, and just as he said outside the gate a row of maids were waiting for them. These maids led the groups of sect members to various courtyards where they settled in and prepared for the upcoming debate.