Now standing upright again, Judge Yan continued, "Indeed! Yue'er has fallen and can never return. Therefore, while we mourn for Yue'er, we will also assist you in fulfilling her unfinished business to the fullest. However, before that, we need to address your issue. After all, we are still unclear about how your soul was sealed within the Phoenix Thorns and how those twelve feathers of the Phoenix Thorns managed to break through the hurriedly constructed barrier and return here. Therefore, to ensure the security of our realm's defenses, you must stay in the Hall of Judgment to cooperate with us in investigating this matter thoroughly. Only then can I help you remold your soul into a holy body and authorize your unrestricted movement within the City of Spirits."

"I understand! Please rest assured, Judge Yan. I will actively cooperate with the investigation in the Netherworld Realm and will not slack off!" Upon hearing Judge Yan's instructions, King Er hastily bowed and accepted the command.

"Good! By the way, from now on, I command you not to call me Judge Yan anymore! It sounds too formal! From now on, we are family! So, you will only call me 'Dad'! Got it?!" Judge Yan nodded satisfactorily at the towering King Er and commanded in a playful scolding tone.

"I obey! Judge Ya— oh no, Dad! Your child obeys!" Seeing the Lord Chief Judge of the Netherworld Realm willingly accept him, King Er hurriedly reorganized his words in response to Judge Yan, finally revealing a joyful smile on his face.

With Judge Yan openly acknowledging King Er as his son-in-law, the atmosphere in the hall relaxed considerably. Therefore, Hao Yun teased King Er, "Alright, alright! Now that your dad has spoken, you don't have to be so formal. I say, King Er, you've officially become the husband of the 13th District Princess of the Netherworld Realm! Oh my! As a newcomer Netherworld envoy, I'll have to address you as Lord Husband in the future! I'll have to ask Lord Husband to take care of me more, give me less work, and increase my wages!"

Hao Yun's teasing instantly amused everyone in the Hall of Judgment. Master Gu, while congratulating King Er, personally led the officers in the hall to bow to King Er and said, "We respectfully welcome Lord Husband back to the palace! May Lord Husband be auspicious! If Lord Husband has any needs, please command us anytime, and we will be at your service!"

As everyone continuously shouted "Lord Husband" to King Er, they no longer dwelled on the pain of the irreversible fact but rather threw themselves into their work with a positive attitude once again. Judge Yan interrupted those still flattering "Lord Husband" and addressed King Er again, "By the way, Er, you must remember that it was Yue'er's residual divine power in you that stabilized your soul. But Yue'er's residual divine power will dissipate sooner or later, so you must actively cooperate with treatment to forge your own exclusive divine power soon, so that your soul can smoothly ascend to become a holy body."

Then, Judge Yan turned to Master Gu and instructed, "These matters will be handled by you, Master Gu! After Er successfully ascends to become a Spirit, we will comprehensively assess him again to see if we can also admit him into the ranks of the clergy!"

"I obey! Master Gu will definitely do everything possible to help Lord Husband ascend to become a Spirit as soon as possible! Well then, I will take Lord Husband to the rear hall for a comprehensive physical examination first, and then figure out how his soul followed the twelve feathers of the Phoenix Thorns back to the City of Spirits." Master Gu replied respectfully.

"Good. Er, Master Gu is the Chief Steward of our district. In the future, if you have any questions, you can ask Master Gu directly. Now, go with Master Gu for a comprehensive physical examination!" Judge Yan said.

"I obey! Then I will take my leave for now! I will come to greet Dad and Mom later in the evening." Lord Husband King Er immediately bowed to Judge Yan and Lady Qingyan, then followed Master Gu into the rear hall of the Hall of Judgment. Concerned about King Er's physical condition, Lady Qingyan also accompanied King Er back to the rear hall, along with Tie Zhu and Xi'er.

Judge Yan sat back at the long table, which had been dug out with a huge arc-shaped gap, watching Lord Husband King Er leave under the escort of a group of priests, shaking his head and jokingly scolding, "Hmph! A bunch of flatterers! They all treated me like air as soon as Yue'er's husband came back! Alas! With this, the position of my family's younger brother will probably drop another level!"

As Judge Yan watched Lord Husband King Er leave amidst a group of priests, and while teasing Lady Qingyan that her treatment towards him would likely diminish again, Dao Lao, Hao Yun, and Dream Jia stood before Judge Yan with some concern. Dao Lao began to ask, "Old Yan, do you think King Er—"

Judge Yan waved his hand to interrupt Dao Lao, saying, "In fact, I have conducted multiple inspections on Er's body by injecting divine power remaining from Yue'er into him. There really isn't any problem with his body. Apart from the residual divine power left by Yue'er in Er's soul, he is just an ordinary lower realm soul!"

"So, Er's survival in that explosion and forcibly returning to the City of Spirits with the twelve feathers of the Phoenix Thorns was due to the divine power remaining in his body from Yue'er?" Dream Jia asked.

Judge Yan pondered for a moment, shook his head, and replied, "I think that's unlikely. According to the data you provided, the power of the three-layer uncontrolled array was enough to kill a high-level clergyman and destroyer like Yue'er. Moreover, even the destroyer could not resist the energy released when Yue'er self-destructed at close range. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for Er's soul to survive under those circumstances."

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"Exactly. Logically speaking, Er's soul had a very slim chance of survival. So, Er's soul being able to survive is also a miracle. Or rather, it should be said to be a very strange thing." Hao Yun said.

"Judge Yan, how strong is the Phoenix Thorns? Can it really withstand the energy released by Yue'er's self-destruction and the energy impact released by the three-layer array?" Dream Jia continued to ask.

"The strength of the Phoenix Spine, how powerful is it really? Um—actually, even I am not clear about that. As everyone knows, the reason why a deity can unleash tremendous energy upon self-destruction is because they integrate their exclusive weapon into their body and detonate it simultaneously. Therefore, logically speaking, Yue'er's Phoenix Spine should have been destroyed along with her during self-destruction. However, those twelve feathers of the Phoenix Spine are not only undamaged but have even actively returned here, which is indeed a very unbelievable thing," Judge Yan replied with a puzzled expression as he looked at the Phoenix Spine in his hand. Subsequently, everyone fell into silence once again.

In reality, Haoyun and the others had already linked this matter with the Countess and highly suspected that it was because the Countess had tampered with the Phoenix Spine during its repair process, causing it not only to remain intact but also to return perfectly to Judge Yan's hands. Of course, due to the agreement with the Countess, Haoyun and the others only exchanged thoughts on this through their private communication channel, without intending to inform Judge Yan about the situation between Yan Chaoyue and the Countess.

Seeing that everyone was at a loss for words, Judge Yan changed his tone and said, "Ah! It seems that the situation after the end of the divine war is even worse than imagined! Although the Mould Spirit energies appear to have been defeated in battle, they are likely hiding in large numbers within the black holes of the Divine Spirit Realm, silently growing their strength. If we cannot find a better way to stop them, I'm afraid that in the near future, the Divine Spirit Realm will inevitably face a new divine war with the Mould Spirit energies!"

"So what you mean is, the reason why Er and those twelve Phoenix Spine feathers were able to be transported back has something to do with the Drill Dog Hole technique?" Dao Lao asked.

Judge Yan nodded and replied, "Exactly. As the three of you speculated earlier, the energy released from Phoenix Spine Feather No. 6 just now is very similar to the energy released when you used it to activate the Drill Dog Hole. So thinking about it, I also believe that the probability of Er and the other twelve daggers being transported back here is higher if the dagger was used to activate the Drill Dog Hole again. But then, a new problem arises—if it wasn't Haoyun who activated the Drill Dog Hole just now, then who controlled Phoenix Spine Feather No. 6 to activate the teleportation array?"

Upon hearing this, Haoyun and the others once again pretended to ponder deeply. Because they were well aware that since Yan Chaoyue could use the Informant function in Haoyun's Yinling Realm armor, she could also use the Drill Dog Hole technique. But the problem was, Haoyun and Chaoyue both needed to possess the armor and Phoenix Spine Feather No. 6 at the same time to activate these two techniques. However, without the armor and the dagger, Chaoyue couldn't possibly activate the Drill Dog Hole technique, especially not in the midst of self-destruction.

Therefore, the answer was obviously clear. The person who remotely controlled Phoenix Spine Feather No. 6 to activate the Drill Dog Hole technique was likely the inventor of this technique, Countess herself. Of course, Haoyun and the others certainly wouldn't inform Judge Yan of this more reliable speculation.

Seeing that Haoyun and the others were also at a loss for words, Judge Yan said worriedly, "Furthermore, today's events are enough to prove that there are flaws in the barriers set in our Yinling Realm, and even throughout the entire Divine Spirit Realm. Moreover, this flaw has been discovered by the mysterious person you encountered. It is precisely because of this that the mysterious person bestowed upon you the special energy that allowed you to break through various constraints and successfully return. If that mysterious person informs the Mould Spirit energies of how to break through the barriers of the Divine Spirit Realm, it would mean that the barriers separating the upper and lower realms of the Divine Spirit Realm would completely lose their effect, making the upper realm an undefended world, allowing the Mould Spirit energies to more easily infiltrate and launch more dangerous attacks against us."

Haoyun and the others continued to nod silently in agreement with Judge Yan's concerns. Of course, they did so for two reasons: first, because they also recognized the seriousness of this issue, and second, because they knew that the mysterious person himself was Mould Spirit energy. Although the Countess, also a Mould Spirit energy, was somewhat independent and unwilling to associate with other Mould Spirit energies, it did not mean that she would not inform them of how to breach the barriers of the Divine Spirit Realm.

Upon hearing Judge Yan's concerns, Haoyun couldn't help but become worried himself, "Could it be that from the very beginning, that Drill Dog Hole technique was a trap set by the mysterious person for us? On the surface, Drill Dog Hole can help us escape from the Everlong Star, but in reality, it's to try and find a way to breach the barriers of the Divine Spirit Realm? That guy is really cunning!"

Judge Yan nodded in agreement with Haoyun's speculation, "Since this strange teleportation spell can break through various prohibitions and teleport you to the City of Spirits, logically speaking, as long as it has the coordinates, this teleportation spell can send anyone to any place in the upper realm of the Divine Spirit Realm. That would be a very tricky situation."

"But from the current situation, that guy doesn't seem like an enemy. If he harbored ill intentions toward us, he could completely ignore Er's soul and the other twelve daggers, even directly destroying them, rather than actively sending them back to the City of Spirits," Dream Jia pondered aloud.

After some thought, Judge Yan responded, "Indeed. If it was that mysterious person who sent Er and the twelve daggers back here, it can at least indicate that he harbors no ill intentions toward us, at least not for now. However, we cannot afford to be complacent because of this. After all, this matter involves the safety of the territories of the Yinling Realm and even the entire upper realm of the Divine Spirit Realm."

At this point, Judge Yan bowed to Haoyun and the others, "Gentlemen, this matter is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly! Let me first report this matter in detail to my superiors, and then we will come back to discuss further with the three of you!

Then, Judge Yan hurriedly walked out of the main hall. After Judge Yan left, Haoyun immediately confirmed through the private chat channel, "Could it be that this matter is really related to the Countess? But how did she manage to control the severely damaged Phoenix Spine Feather No. 6 from a hundred thousand miles away and activate the Drill Dog Hole technique?"