Chapter 597: Welcoming Banquet
The group flew towards the heavenly mountain, and as they reached it, they noticed that everyone was already present, chatting with one another in small groups.
The mountain was tall. It was so tall that when they landed in front of it, Hui Yue was unable to see the mountain peak when he raised his head.
As he looked into the banquet hall, he noticed three men who were being treated with respect by everyone present. Even those who spoke were speaking with low voices and were careful with what they spoke about.
Looking at three men, he recognized one as being the father of his previous life, and after scouring his memories, he also recognized the other two as being his father's brothers. One was the patriarch of the sect, while the other one was the second ancestor.
Since they rarely showed their faces in the sect few had ever seen them, so for them to make an appearance, one could understand just how important Hui Yue was in their eyes.
The ones who had been unhappy with the fact that such a big banquet was being held for an outsider suddenly forgot all their indignation because they got to see their patriarch and the ancestors. For the younger generation, and many of those who had just become adults, this was the first time they had seen the elusive masters of the sect.
Suddenly the many voices stilled and everyone, including the three men who were revered by all, looked at the door where a group of experts appeared.
This group was filled with people everyone recognized. Pei Feng and Pei Ze were famous throughout the sect, even though they were younger generation members. They had long since been approved of by the older generation, and behind them, were a few elders.
However, in the middle of this group was a white-haired young man. He was handsome, and when one looked at him, he gave off an otherworldly feel as if he did not belong to this world. Those who were stronger could feel a faint sense of danger coming from him, and shock flashed through their faces.
Hui Yue wore a casual expression as he entered the banquet hall. He said nothing and did nothing but follow behind the elders in front of him.
He would never have wanted such a big ceremony as the one that his father had prepared for him, and Hui Yue could only sigh. He had already had enough of pleasantries from the banquet in Youdu and the coronation. To go through it once more was not something that he wanted to do.
On the other hand, he also understood that his father was greatly looking forward to this celebration to show everyone that his son was a skilled person. Hui Yue, who had promised the memory when they merged that he would make his father proud, would gladly go through yet another social gathering to make his father proud.
As they entered everyone’s focus was on Hui Yue who stood still, and an awkward silence descended over the banquet hall.
Was Hui Yue supposed to say something? He had nothing to say. He had just arrived and knew no one, what could they expect him to say?
But suddenly the patriarch himself cleared his throat and spoke up, "We are here to welcome Pei Yue who has returned from Diyu and has successfully become the new Second Judge of Hell!"
"Pei Yue is a new member of our Celestial Sword Sect. He is fifty years old, and can be considered a member of the younger generation."
The patriarch paused for a moment while his words sunk in. The new Judge of Hell, the most outstanding member of the younger generation amongst all sects, was merely fifty years of age?! This revelation was utterly terrifying! And added to that was the fact that he had ascended from mortality, yet he was not a new God! He was now obviously a full-fledged Primordial Immortal.
"Pei Yue is very talented. However, we cannot forget that he is the result of people breaking the rules and as such he will never be given any high position within the sect. Pei Yue will never be allowed to become the Sect Leader, nor will he ever be able to become an elder of the sect. The same goes for all of his descendants. They will be considered members of the Celestial Sword Sect, but they will never be allowed the reigns to rule the sect."
Many of the members of the sect nodded their heads in approval. Hui Yue had so much talent that it would indeed be a shame for the sect to kill him, and now that he had become the new Judge of Hell, Diyu would never allow them to kill him; however, they had to punish him somehow. Therefore, the easiest way was to just never allow him to have any real influence in the sect.
The one who was the most shocked about all of this was Pei Feng. He had almost come to terms with the fact that the Sect Leader position no longer belonged to him, but all of a sudden meat pies fell from the skies.
If it was between him and Pei Ze, although he did not feel like he would be able to easily defeat Pei Ze, he had a feeling that if he used some schemes it would still be possible. Thus a smile suddenly appeared on his face, but this smile turned to a scowl when he saw that Pei Ze had absolutely no reaction to the news. It was clear he had already known about it way before.
"Had I known then I would have spared nothing to make friends with this young man, but now Pei Ze has gained a strong and frightening follower. Still, I have a chance again!" Pei Feng mumbled to himself as his eyes regained some of their lost vigor.
While everyone was happy that Hui Yue could not gain a position like elder or Sect Leader, there was still some unhappiness left in their hearts, but now this unhappiness was mixed with a tinge of jealousy from many of the experts.
"Everyone, celebrate tonight! Celebrate that our sect has managed to form an alliance with Diyu! We will no longer need to fear the other sects as Diyu will be backing us up!" Pei Tian's voice also resounded through the hall, and everyone nodded their heads. That was indeed something to celebrate, but to think that all this was because of Hui Yue was something they needed time to accept.
Hui Yue and the group around him were still standing in the doorway, but they quickly entered the hall and found a small place where they could stand.
The first to excuse himself was Pei Feng who almost instantly bowed to the elders and returned to his own group of friends.
Not long after Pei Ze did the same, leaving Hui Yue alone with the elders. As everyone was staring at him, he felt like he was some kind of spectacle for others.
Many of the females in the groups looked at him before they giggled to one another and chatted about something he could not hear while the men looked at him with disdain or jealousy.
Although he could feel many glances being sent his way, no one stepped forward to introduce themselves to him. Instead, they all just stayed in their own groups chatting with one another
As time went by the two ancestors and the patriarch were immersed deeply in conversation with one another, and slowly many dao protectors also made an appearance at the celebration. Many of them arrived because they were curious about Hui Yue, the only living son of Pei Tian.
The elders around Hui Yue soon left as well as they headed towards other elders or friends, especially after the dao protectors had arrived. The elders vanished one after another, leaving only Pei Ziqi left who stayed by Hui Yue's side like a guard.
Pei Ziqi was one of the strongest experts in the Celestial Sword Sect. Her strength was not to be looked down upon, and she was a battle maniac. She enjoyed all kinds of fights, and she was also the one who had been in the most fights. She had a hot temper, and she would often flare up and challenge people to a fight over the smallest thing after which she would beat her opponent into a pulp.
What Hui Yue was unaware of was that the reason many of the braver girls did not approach him was because of Pei Ziqi. As long as Ziqi was there, no one was willing to come near them.
Pei Ziqi and Hui Yue did not speak, they just stood there and observed everything that was happening around them for the better of a full hour before Pei Tian and his two brothers finally made their way towards Hui Yue.
The moment they moved, everyone's focus turned to Hui Yue and the three experts. Although they were seemingly still speaking to one another, their eyes were all fixed on Hui Yue. Their words became quieter, and they no longer focused on what they were talking about.
"You made your father proud!" Pei Tian said with a great smile on his face as he placed a hand on Hui Yue's shoulder. Although Hui Yue had spoken with Pei Tian before, he had never met him in real life, and now that they were close to each other, he could feel a heavy pressure from all three.
He quickly understood that these experts had at least comprehended a full major dao, or maybe even two. They had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and it was only natural that they had become some of the strongest experts because of this. It was quite hard to live this long without getting killed, but now that they were that old it would be near impossible to kill them. They were simply too monstrously strong.
Of course for someone like Yama, he could kill them with but a thought though others would have to use quite a lot of energy to kill them if they even could. Even someone like Yanluo would have to spend quite a bit of energy to kill them, and if all three were together, then it would be impossible for him to kill them.
"I am glad I made you proud," Hui Yue said with a smile on his face as he looked at his father. Since he had merged with the celestial wing's memory, he also felt genuine affection towards this powerful old man.
"You are the pride of my life. You just returned, but you already brought with you so many astonishing achievements. Your talent is no less than that of Yanluo, and if you are given enough time then you will be able to become the strongest expert in the entire galaxy!"
"For now though you will have to stay within the Celestial Sword Sect. Although some people might be rude towards you, no one will dare to harm you. Since it is like this, you will be able to train in silence." Pei Tian laughed, and Hui Yue nodded his head.
It was indeed true that Hui Yue was able to train in silence, but he needed some pressure to truly bring out his full potential. Because of this, Hui Yue did not mind if he was viewed with hostility by the other members of the Celestial Sword Sect. Although he was a member of the sect and would never betray it, he also understood that he had no deep ties to the sect yet.
The rest of the night was spent by Hui Yue talking with his father, the patriarch, and the second ancestor. He was mainly asking questions about the sect while the ancestors and patriarchs showed more interest in his trials to become the next Judge of Hell.