One of the reasons Haoyun and his companions were willing to temporarily stay in the City of Spirits was to console Judge Yan. Lady Qianyan, with her adorable grandchildren, used this as a way to alleviate some of the grief over losing her daughter. However, Judge Yan clearly didn't fare as well. Aside from overseeing the work in the Shadow Spirit Realm every day, he spent the rest of his time staring blankly at the Phoenix Feather Dagger No. 6, now shattered and only half intact. He also repeatedly watched the audio and video recordings provided by Haoyun's system, documenting as much information as possible about Yan Chaoyue, despite the system's inconsistent reliability.
During their conversations with Judge Yan, Haoyun and his team learned something crucial. It was revealed that Yan Chaoyue had sent a message to Judge Yan midway through that great battle. This explained why upon Haoyun's return, there were so many heavily armed Shadow Spirit soldiers guarding the Judgment Plaza. As for how Yan Chaoyue managed to send the message, Haoyun didn't need to guess. It was likely that during the process of forcibly converting the Destroyer's energy, Yan Chaoyue accidentally activated the informer function within her battle armor, thus enabling her system to establish contact with the outside world once again.
Dao Lao then asked Judge Yan what Yan Chaoyue had said to him. Judge Yan shook his head bitterly and explained that after briefly establishing contact with Haoyun and Master Gu, they had quickly lost touch again. Since then, they had been monitoring their communication channels, eagerly awaiting any updates from Haoyun regarding their situation and the search for Yan Chaoyue's whereabouts. Eventually, after a long wait, Judge Yan received a sudden message from Yan Chaoyue.
In that message, Yan Chaoyue said, "Father, it's Chaoyue! Please respond if you receive this! Father! We are currently in the midst of a fierce battle, and the situation is extremely urgent. I will try to send some of our people, including my other two children, Xiulin and Xiuqi, to escape from here. Please provide coordinates for teleportation as soon as possible, so Uncle Dao and the others have a chance to escape from the black hole with these people. Father, please remember! These people are the last spark of the Eternal Worship civilization. Please treat them well!"
After so many years of Yan Chaoyue's absence, receiving sudden news from his daughter naturally filled Judge Yan with joy. However, combining this message from Yan Chaoyue with the previous information sent by Haoyun, Judge Yan couldn't help but realize the severity of Yan Chaoyue's situation. He dared not delay any further and immediately sent the coordinates of the Judgment Plaza to Yan Chaoyue.
After that, Judge Yan and his team received no further replies from Yan Chaoyue. Judge Yan wasn't even sure if Yan Chaoyue had received the message he had sent. This made Judge Yan gradually aware of the seriousness of Yan Chaoyue's situation. He didn't dare to procrastinate and immediately summoned the city guards of the City of Spirits to assemble at the Judgment Plaza, raising their alert level to the highest. Then, over a hundred people suddenly appeared.
Judge Yan eagerly searched the crowd for Yan Chaoyue's figure, but was left immensely disappointed. "Until the end, I didn't get to say another word to her, just like with Fan Er back then. They all just left hurriedly after leaving a few words, then disappeared completely. Sigh!" Judge Yan sighed again with a trembling voice.
Dao Lao hurriedly comforted him, "Old Yan, Chaoyue and Chaofan sacrificed themselves for the greater good. As a veteran soldier yourself, you should be proud of them rather than letting yourself sink into despair like this. Moreover, you should know that the environment on Eternal Worship is extremely complex, and coupled with the urgent situation at the time, it was already very difficult for Chaoyue to establish contact with you!"
Haoyun also quickly explained, "That's right, Judge Yan. The situation at the time was extremely dire for us. Chaoyue probably chose to conserve the energy in the dagger so that we could quickly prepare to leave Eternal Worship. That's why she resisted the urge to continue talking with you after receiving the coordinates you sent. More importantly, if Chaoyue hadn't saved energy in the dagger, it could have delayed the time it took for us to activate the teleportation array and return here. Chaoyue might have missed the opportunity to help us and, especially, to ensure that Xiuqi and Xiulin could safely leave Eternal Worship!"
Haoyun then proceeded to explain in detail about the functions of the "informer" and "doghole drilling" that were relevant. He also explained why he hadn't reestablished contact with Master Gu earlier—it was also to conserve energy, ensuring that they had enough for subsequent actions. Judge Yan, after gaining a more detailed understanding of the situation on Eternal Worship, finally felt some relief in his emotions under the comforting efforts of Haoyun and his team.
And so, Haoyun and his team spent the next few days accompanying Judge Yan through his difficult times, while continuing to cooperate with various departments of the Realm of Spirits to organize all kinds of intelligence obtained from this journey into the black hole. However, when recounting their experiences inside the black hole, Haoyun and his team tactfully disguised many events that occurred in the Fragrant Nebula. In particular, regarding the Countess, they concealed necessary details, purposely replacing her name with "the mysterious person." They also indicated that after receiving the mysterious person's help, she disappeared without a trace.
The reason Haoyun and his team did this was twofold: first, they had agreed not to reveal the Countess's existence to the outside world in order to find Yan Chaoyue initially. Moreover, they had a strong premonition that if they violated the agreement at the time, the Countess, with her character, would probably find a way to retaliate against them sooner or later. Regardless, since the Countess had indeed provided them with a lot of help and hadn't shown too much hostility toward the Realm of Spirits, Haoyun and his team were reluctant to dwell on her issue any longer. Letting the Countess leave and never contacting her again might be the best choice.
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As for the deliberate concealment by Haoyun and his companions of their experiences in the Fragrant Nebula, the second reason was rooted in the nightmares they had endured there. Moreover, to escape the Fragrant Nebula, they had resorted to morally questionable actions. Consequently, they not only avoided discussing these events but also shielded them from others. For Haoyun and his companions, burying their experiences in the deepest recesses of memory was the best choice.
Once the surviving inhabitants of Everlasting Star settled down, Judge Yan, following Yan Chaoyue's wishes, successfully helped them apply to the Merit Gate of the Realm of Many Spirits. He secured their promotion to the qualification of Upper Realm Saints, placing them all under his jurisdiction. Subsequently, to aid these inhabitants in their ascent from lower realm beings to Upper Realm Saints, Judge Yan appointed dedicated mentors to expedite their promotion, thereby revitalizing Everlasting Star's civilization under the new pantheon of the Realm of Many Spirits.
Hilf and Tie Zhu, as former close aides of Yan Chaoyue, naturally earned Judge Yan's special appreciation. Thus, Hilf became the apprentice minister of internal affairs within Judge Yan's palace, while Tie Zhu joined the palace guard, both directly under Lady Qingyan's command. Their task was to assist Lady Qingyan in nurturing Xulin and Xuqi as future pillars of Spirit City.
Due to Yan Chaoyue's status as Queen of Everlasting Star, Judge Yan contemplated returning to the Void-360 Black Hole to seek a way to decipher the three-tier uncontrolled array and revisit the place where Yan Chaoyue slept eternally. While Dao Lao and the others understood Judge Yan's desire to revisit the places where his daughter had once lived, they vehemently opposed the idea. Setting aside the current danger surrounding Everlasting Star due to the destroyed three-tier uncontrolled array, they questioned whether even the powerful Judge Yan could avoid mortal peril. Moreover, they faced the logistical challenge of returning to Everlasting Star.
Moreover, to ensure a safe return to Everlasting Star, Haoyun would have to use the skill of Dog Hole, which nearly depleted the energy in his battle armor after its first use. Moreover, the Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6, shattered and only the hilt remaining, could no longer support the battle armor in launching the Dog Hole skill.
Could Haoyun and his team dare to use the highly pure Mold Spirit energy imprisoned in the Yin Spirit Realm to replenish their battle armor's energy for launching the Dog Hole skill again? Such an act would flagrantly violate the laws of the Realm of Many Spirits. If they dared, they would surely face severe punishment, possibly bypassing the penalties of reincarnation or imprisonment and having their sanctity blasted to smithereens by the Realm of Many Spirits.
After considering the many uncontrollable forces, the group finally concluded that their plan to return to Everlasting Star was unfeasible. Reluctantly, Judge Yan was forced to abandon his plans. However, what happened shortly after Judge Yan proposed his idea surprised everyone.
That day, Dao Lao, Master Gu, Dream Jia, and Haoyun were discussing the newly released body scan report, wondering why Haoyun had suffered no further harm from the Mold Spirit energy and showed no abnormal conditions after its forced infusion. To ensure Haoyun's safety, Dao Lao planned to conduct a more detailed examination of Haoyun's body to detect any hidden dangers caused by the Mold Spirit energy during the activation of the Dog Hole skill.
Just as they prepared to commence the new examination, they simultaneously received a message from Judge Yan: "Dao Lao! Master Gu! Hurry to my place! The dagger is acting up!"
Which dagger was experiencing abnormal behavior? Haoyun and his team were momentarily stunned by Judge Yan's message before quickly realizing that the dagger in question was the Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6, which he used daily for reminiscence. Consequently, the four rushed back to Judge Yan's palace and found a considerable gathering of guards in the great hall. Everyone stood ready for combat around Judge Yan's desk.
"Old Yan, what's going on?" Dao Lao inquired, stepping forward.
As the guards cleared a path for Haoyun's team to approach Judge Yan, they saw before them a massive energy web tinged with purple and crimson lightning enveloping the Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 on Judge Yan's desk. Under the crackling influence of the energy web, the smooth desk surface had been cleanly carved into a smooth arc. Witnessing this scene, Haoyun and his team furrowed their brows in concern.
"I'm not sure. I was here handling paperwork when suddenly, lightning bolts appeared out of nowhere. They all struck this dagger and instantly generated this powerful energy," Judge Yan explained solemnly, pointing at the Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 enveloped in the energy web.
“Strange, why would this dagger release energy similar to activating the Dog Hole on its own? Moreover, I feel like this energy isn't trying to pull things in here but rather attempting to bring something here,” Haoyun cautiously speculated, gesturing with his hands towards the purple-red electrical currents within the energy web.
“If Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 is trying to bring something over, it can only transport momentum from the Everlasting Star, right? Could it be...?” Dream Jia also speculated, her expression growing increasingly serious.
“It shouldn't be! Even if the Destroyer Black Gate didn't immediately perish, under severe power depletion, there's no way he could survive the siege of the three-tier uncontrolled array. Besides, my Mold Spirit energy detector hasn't detected any suspicious energy attempting to emerge from within. However, this situation is even worse. Because in the process of forming this energy web, Phoenix Thorn Feather No. 6 must have utilized the power of Mold Spirit energy. Therefore, if whatever is trying to forcefully come through can harness the power of Mold Spirit energy and our systems cannot detect the presence of Mold Spirit energy, then we cannot rule out the possibility that whatever is about to be transported here possesses formidable power,” Dao Lao said with concern.