Chapter 067: His Highness of the Criminal Court

After leaving the Celestial Empress’s Palace, Nyla walked far across the divine grounds until she reached a secluded side hall, where Niao-Niao was already waiting for her.

Earlier, Niao-Niao had refused to accompany her again and instead chose to wait patiently in this cramped side chamber.

Along the way, countless deities watched Nyla. Though they offered polite smiles on the surface, whispers and sly glances trailed behind her. Nyla understood exactly what they discussed; she knew few truly cared for her. Most, like Leiling, only sought to take advantage of her misfortune.

She ignored every strange look. Having secured Leiling’s promise, all that remained was to await the return of the Arbiter of Punishments.

Upon reentering the side hall, Niao-Niao hurried up to her, concern etched in its gaze. “You were gone so long! What happened?”

Nyla nodded and regarded Niao-Niao with mild curiosity. “When did it become so considerate? If this were before, it would surely be complaining.” Since returning from the Netherworld, Niao-Niao had changed far too much.

Niao-Niao rolled its eyes in response. “I always care about the bigger picture—you just never noticed!”

Nyla was briefly speechless; it seemed Niao-Niao was reverting to its old self. Truly, she should not set her hopes too high for it.

“Who is it?” Niao-Niao asked, curiosity piqued. “With Liu Jia absent, who could take his place?”

“The Divine Arbiter—Fuli,” Nyla replied.

“And who is that?” Niao-Niao pressed.

“He oversees all punishments in the divine realm. More importantly, he possesses the royal bloodline of the gods. With Liu Jia absent, he is not just the best, but the only possible choice.”

“Oh,” Niao-Niao nodded, though it had no idea what an Arbiter was supposed to do. In its mind, anything related to Liu Jia couldn’t be good. It glanced at Nyla again, thinking perhaps she was just slightly better than the rest.

These thoughts, however, Niao-Niao kept to itself. If Nyla ever found out, the consequences would be dire.

Lately, Niao-Niao had been pondering why Nyla always felt free to smack it on the head, while her own attitude toward it—save for a brief respite atop Sunset Mountain—had grown increasingly indifferent. Did it really look that easy to bully?

Niao-Niao simply could not understand. As it mulled over its future treatment, “Ouch!” it yelped in exaggerated pain as Nyla’s hand landed heavily on its poor head once more.

“Stop daydreaming. Don’t cause any trouble!” Nyla interrupted its wandering thoughts.

“Understood!” Niao-Niao answered tearfully. Nyla, that wretched girl—her strength was far too much!

“Fuli…” Nyla murmured the name to herself. How long had it been since she last saw him?

In the divine realm, the Arbiter Fuli was a figure of great importance. He wielded authority over all punishments, carried the noble blood of the royal gods, and ranked just below Emperor Liu Jia and Empress Leiling.

He was cold and enigmatic, but fiercely loyal to the divine realm. Most crucially, only Liu Jia and Leiling could command him—so gaining his support required Leiling’s explicit consent.

Celestial Empress’s Palace.

“Your Highness wishes me to descend to the mortal world?” The elegant voice was tinged with the coldest detachment.

Leiling nodded quietly, watching the man before her.

“Why?”

Fuli’s lips curved in a faint smile, though it never reached his eyes.

“The Netherworld has intervened. The divine realm cannot stand idly by. At this moment, only your status matches Nyla’s requirements. You can use this opportunity to curb the Netherworld’s expansion in the mortal realm.”

“Is that truly Your Highness’s intent—to restrain the Netherworld, and nothing more?” Fuli intoned.

Leiling nodded again.

Fuli’s gaze locked onto hers, as if a piercing light sought the very depths of her heart, probing for her truest intentions.

After a long silence, “As Your Highness wishes,” Fuli said, and turned to leave the Celestial Empress’s Palace.

In the side chamber, Nyla waited anxiously. At last, she received a definitive reply, but there was another message: the Arbiter would need some time to prepare before arriving in the mortal world.

“Prepare? What preparations? He’s just stalling!” Niao-Niao muttered, only to be silenced by Nyla’s sharp glance.

Niao-Niao obediently clamped its mouth shut.

Nyla sighed and resigned herself to return to the mortal realm with Niao-Niao for now.

Within the Hall of Judgement, Fuli sat in stillness, though his mind raced with Leiling’s request—more precisely, the request of the Goddess of the Earth.

He had never known that rekindling the Sacred Core Flame would require the combined power of both the Netherworld and the divine realm. Something about this felt off, yet he could find no answer.

What he could be certain of was that the matter must be genuine—otherwise, Nyla would not have journeyed to the divine realm again at such cost. The Earth Goddess’s greatest concern now was restoring everything in the mortal realm; without it, the world would surely perish in this calamity.

What secret could be hidden within all this? And then there was another mysterious force—the Netherworld’s presence. He wondered curiously what means Nyla had used to sway the Netherworld, or had they truly reached some kind of agreement?

“Your Grace, the Earth Goddess has departed from the divine realm. She hopes you will arrive soon,” a guard reported quietly.

“I understand.” Fuli waved him away. Now, he actually found himself anticipating all that was about to unfold in the mortal world.

Fuli rose slowly, his obsidian gaze fixed upon the distant land—the remote and humble mortal realm.

The wind stirred his long hair, the jet-black strands shimmering with an icy brilliance as they danced in the air.

His lips curled again in that enigmatic smile.

Nyla and Niao-Niao hurried back to the mortal realm. This time, Niao-Niao perched obediently on Nyla’s shoulder, making no attempt to fly on its own.

Nyla moved swiftly, a red streak darting across the land. Anyone standing on the earth below would see only a flash of crimson, never her true form.

The mortal continent remained shrouded in a dreadful white. The snow and ice showed no signs of thawing.

Nyla stopped, finally arriving within the wards of the Sacred Core Flame.

But with the flame extinguished, the barrier had lost its former power and was now as fragile as glass, chill as the waters of the Underworld.

“So cold!” Niao-Niao shivered all over. It could not fathom how the once-holy Sacred Core Flame had ended up this way, reduced to nothing but a heap of spent ashes.

Nyla looked at her hands. She could already feel a strange stir in her palms; the Netherfire and the Sacred Earth Flame were releasing their power, impossible to restrain. The mingling fire and ice had restored some sensation to her hands. Yet, after losing the Nether Butterfly from her left hand, she felt oddly unaccustomed.

At the thought of the Nether Butterfly, her mind drifted to the King of the Underworld. By now, he should have arrived.

Indeed, even as the thought crossed her mind, a powerful presence appeared behind her, heralding the arrival of her first honored guest.

The King of the Underworld emerged at Nyla’s back.

She turned and bowed slightly. No matter what, she was pleased by his arrival.

But her greater concern was Fuli, who had yet to appear.

The King of the Underworld met Nyla’s gaze, as if to ask whether they could begin.

Nyla shook her head.

His eyes darkened. “He dares keep me waiting.”

Nyla did not look at him. All she could do was wait quietly for the one who was so inexcusably late.

Just as she was beginning to think he would never appear, a figure finally entered her view.

Fuli strolled in as if merely admiring the scenery, though in truth he was scrutinizing everything within the ward of the Sacred Core Flame. To his surprise, the barrier was so damaged as to be almost useless. Clearly, the mortal realm had suffered an unprecedented disaster—its very source of warmth reduced to ruins. He glanced at the black-clad man beside Nyla. "Such a powerful aura of death! Who is he—could he be the King of the Underworld?"

Fuli walked up to Nyla and offered a slight smile.

That smile alone incensed the King of the Underworld. “The gods of the celestial realm truly live up to their reputation—able to smile even at a time like this. Impressive, truly impressive.”

Nyla, too, was vexed by Fuli’s smile. There was something enigmatic and unfathomable in it, sending a chill down her spine.

Yet what surprised her even more was that the King of the Underworld would resort to sarcasm—this discovery startled her more than Fuli’s smile itself.

Fuli’s gaze sharpened as he looked coldly at the King. “Since when does anyone dare pass judgment on the affairs of the divine realm?” he said, his tone deliberately hard.

As expected, the King’s eyes grew even darker. “And who are you, to speak to me in such a manner?”

“Oh? Has the Earth Goddess not informed you?” Fuli replied.

Nyla watched them anxiously. How could they begin quarreling the very moment they met?

Meanwhile, Niao-Niao delighted in the spectacle—such a rare sight, the King of the Underworld and the Arbiter in open conflict.

Nyla hurriedly introduced the two, revealing each other’s identities.

Both the King and Fuli were taken aback.

Fuli had not expected the King of the Underworld himself to come to the mortal realm.

The King, in turn, was startled to learn that Fuli also possessed the royal bloodline of the gods. What was his relationship to Liu Jia? Was it akin to his own with Lige?

Instead of easing, the tension between them only intensified, the purpose of their coming nearly forgotten.

“Your Majesty, King of the Underworld; Your Grace, Arbiter—have you forgotten the purpose of your visit? Whatever grievances lie between you, could they not be settled later?” Nyla could finally bear the strange atmosphere no longer and broke the silence.

The reason she had not intervened sooner was that, upon the arrival of both the Arbiter and the King, she could palpably feel the fierce flux in her palms. The two flames seemed on the verge of breaking free, clashing fiercely within her hands.

A vision surfaced in her mind—at last, she understood the secret hidden within.