Chapter 573: Sins
Looking at the mirror, Hui Yue was still pretty worried about this trial he was about to undergo. Although he had consumed souls, this could not be considered a severe sin as everyone within Diyu consumed souls, even if they were unwilling. This was because the air in Diyu was filled with soul energy.
He had been filial and caring. He had only fought those who schemed against him, and although he had killed more than a few people, each person he killed deserved their fate.
If this were also about his other lives, then he would have been quite worried. The red wolf had killed numerous people, and some of them had even been innocent. He had slaughtered his way through the world he lived in and had been a real tyrant towards anyone who had tried to enter his territory.
The blue monk had, on the other hand, been incredibly virtuous. He never had any money because he always donated it to the poor and needy. He never killed anyone and only defeated his opponents, and he would stay away from life’s temptations. Maybe his life was enough to outweigh the misdeeds done by the red wolf.
The life of the green witch and the celestial wings were quite ordinary in comparison. They had both sinned and been filial and virtuous at times throughout their lives, and so their generosity and fidelity towards their family and friends made up for with their misdeeds.
Were it not for the red wolf and his unknown memories then Hui Yue would not be too worried.
However, Yanluo had already promised that this would not count his previous lives, yet Hui Yue was still hesitant. These previous lives had already merged with him, and it was impossible to get rid of them. They had integrated themselves with his body and mind; they had changed him and made him a mixture of both his current life and previous ones. How was it possible to separate who he was when all his memories affected him in such a way?
Although he felt better after hearing Yanluo's words, he was still hesitant and unsure of what to expect.
But just as the trial began, he found that he was not the first to go up. Also thinking about it he realized that he did not know the names of the other participants, and seeing how this trial was set up, it did not seem as if he would learn their names.
The first person was gestured to move forward, and he did. His name was not mentioned, and confused Hui Yue thought this. Was this to ensure the safety of the members or what other reason could there be for Yanluo to keep everyone’s names a secret.
Sighing, Hui Yue decided not to focus on this and instead looked at the man who was walking towards the mirror of retribution with curiosity.
The man stepped in front of the mirror, and his face was filled with worry as his body trembled slightly as he looked into the mirror.
Everyone who was standing down beneath the mirror stared intently at it only to see a gentle light envelope the man.
Blurry shapes within the mirror seemed to be constantly flashing, but it was impossible for the ones who were watching to see just exactly what the mirror was displaying.
The man was in front of the mirror no longer than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, but when the light subsided, the man seemed listless as if he had been through a rather shocking and uncomfortable ordeal.
"Failed. You have sinned far too much. You are not fit to judge the souls of others."
Yanluo's carefree voice sounded throughout the room, and the man nodded his head before he was led by a guard out of the building. It was clear that as soon as someone was deemed unworthy, they would instantly be thrown out. They would have to travel on their own back to Youdu and through the city back into the Netherworld. Even the youngsters from the younger generation of the prominent sects would only be given the courtesy of a guard to lead them back to Youdu.
The spectators all became more worried when they saw that the first person had already been eliminated and their palms turned sweaty. Their heads numbed as the next person staggered forward with uncertainty written on his face.
Everyone was worried. How bad was it for one to be considered a sinner? Was it enough to have done good deeds that could outweigh their sins or were they not allowed to have sinned in the first place?
Everyone present felt the pressure as they stared at the person who was now standing in front of the mirror. Blurred figures appeared once more, and the person turned paler by the second, but he was seemingly in a worse position than the previous person. When the mirror once more turned back to normal, the person wiped the sweat of his forehead with trembling arms, but he still dared not take as much as a breath before Yanluo spoke.
"You pass, barely" the king of hell spoke out, and his words caused the person in front of the mirror to heave a heavy sigh of relief. He went weak at the knees, and he wobbled back to the group of experts and the relief on his face was obvious.
The next person went up, and the same thing happened once again. Blurred figures appeared, and the expert in question turned pale and weak before the verdict was given.
After a bit of time, Hui Yue noticed that about one out of four would pass, but considering that they were Gods, Hui Yue was rather astonished at the high rate of success. Becoming a God was no easy task, and many needed to do underhanded things to become so powerful, that one out of four was considered virtuous enough to judge others was truly shocking.
Soon it was time for the young man with an enmity against Hui Yue to step forward. He looked at the mirror and shook his head. "I don't need to take this trial," he said with a dry voice. "I know I will not pass."
Having said this, he turned around and looked straight at Hui Yue; his eyes were filled with venomous, murderous intent. "Next time we meet, I will kill you!" He spat out before he left through the door that the failed experts had used. He walked neither too fast nor too slow; he strode out with dignity. Seeing this, everyone was shocked especially Hui Yue.
'You know him?' Lan Feng asked curiously, but Hui Yue just shook his head. He truly had no recollection of this person.
The next person to be tested was Pei Feng, and his face was rather serious and downcast. He kept imagining all the things he had done throughout his life and all the people he had indirectly caused to die, including some of his own family members. He understood that he was most likely not going to pass. His path to get his exalted position within the Celestial Sword Sect was simply not a clean one.
Still, he did not have the courage to stand up and give up like the man before him. He did not feel like admitting to the wrongs he had done, so he stood in front of the mirror. His face quickly turned pale, and his trembling legs struggled to hold him up. Sweat poured from his body like a waterfall and his clothes were soon drenched in sweat.
Of all the people tested, Pei Feng had stood in front of the mirror the longest, and he became increasingly weak as time went by.
When the mirror finally turned blank again, Yanluo's voice sounded straight afterward, "Failed." Hearing this, Pei Feng had no other choice than to leave like all the other failed contestants.
Although Hui Yue had been focused on Pei Feng, he noticed the hand of Pei Ze was clenched tightly, and a tinge of hope appeared in his eyes.
Although Pei Ze might also end up failing this round, he still would have lasted longer than Pei Feng, and this was something for him to be proud of. He also believed that it would cause his standing in the sect to rise slightly.
Before Hui Yue, there were still ten experts which included both Pei Ze and the expert from the Nightcrawler Sect.
As time went by both of them passed the trial, and soon it was Hui Yue's turn.
Taking a deep breath, Hui Yue was both worried and also interested in how this would work out. Yanluo had promised that it would just look over one lifetime, but to Hui Yue, how would this work out?
His soul no longer consisted of just his current life’s memories and thoughts, it was a mixture of many of his lifetimes. Thus he could not see how it could only consider his current life, yet he still took a step forward and slowly made his way towards the blank mirror.
As he stood in front of it, he felt an ancient power streaming out from this mirror. A power so overwhelming that he was tempted to take a step backward, but he steeled his resolve and looked deep into the mirror which just reflected a picture of himself.
The more he saw, the more confused he became. When the previous experts had stepped in front of the mirror, it had instantly started to show blurry figures, yet when Hui Yue stood in front of it nothing happened.
He glanced around and saw that the ones who had passed and the ones waiting for their turn all frowned and looked at him oddly.
While the others were uncertain about what was going on, Hui Yue and Yanluo had a general idea of what was happening. It was only going to consider his current life, but this was simply impossible because Hui Yue was a mixture of all his lives. It was not possible to judge him.
Even King Qinguang was shocked when he saw that his mirror did not work on someone. He had never experienced this before, nor did he have any idea what could cause such a phenomenon, but when he saw how calm Yanluo was, he also calmed himself remaining seated.
Murmur erupted amongst the other participants in the trial. Although they did not know each other, everyone spoke to the one next to them to hear if they had any idea what was going on, but no matter how much they thought about it, no matter how they wracked their brains, none of them understood why the mirror was not responding.
Hui Yue stood in front of the blank mirror for a full ten minutes before Yanluo called out, "Passed."
Although Hui Yue had been surprised that it had shown him nothing, he was elated when he heard that he had passed. He feared that the mirror would display all the sins of his previous lives, but he was quite surprised by this turn of events.
When he understood that it would not display anything he became worried. Would he fail because of this? But when he heard the word passed, he felt much happier. He walked down from the mirror with a happy smile on his face.
As he left the mirror and faced the other contestants, he noticed that the majority had sour expressions on their faces. It was clear that they felt that something was not okay with the fact that he had gotten through without having to face his sins.