Lord of the Netherworld

Biodata

Power Progression

Background and History

Mortal life and rise

In an age of war and poverty, the future Lord believed his hometown’s teaching that good people would be reincarnated into wealth. He endured exploitation without resisting and starved to death, still expecting a better life 203.

In the Netherworld, he learned that reincarnation had been a lie used by nobles to maintain their authority. Determined to impose order on a world where supernatural beings preyed on souls, he killed and devoured other souls until he became its most powerful being. He then established reincarnation and reshaped the Netherworld for human life 203 227.

The Demon and his death

The resentment of the souls he consumed accumulated within him and became the Demon, his darkest side. After he became a god, the Demon separated from him. The two remained bound: if one died, so would the other 227.

An Outer God later targeted the Netherworld. Unable to reunite with the Demon, who refused restraint, the Lord accepted death and left contingencies against the invasion. His divine authority continued to obstruct the Outer God after Netherworld demigods divided and devoured his flesh 227.

Shen Hao and the succession plan

The Lord intervened in Shen Hao’s reincarnation, freezing his time and sending him into the future for a second life in the mortal world 202. He also chose Shen Hao as the viable successor to the Demon’s power: Shen Hao was native to the Netherworld and resembled the Demon in personality 227.

When Shen Hao reached the world’s Divine Authority, the Lord’s remaining consciousness urged him to accept it and become its god. Shen Hao refused, viewing divine authority as a shackle. The Lord acknowledged that he could no longer help him, and his final remnant vanished 229.

Appearance

The Lord’s remaining consciousness appeared as a middle-aged man who seemed approachable despite an authoritative bearing 229.

• Nearly two meters tall and powerfully built 229.
• His earlier image remained indistinct even when Shen Hao examined it with the Eye of Cause and Effect 203.

Personality

As a human, he was patient and steadfast in his belief that enduring hardship and doing good would be rewarded. Learning that this belief was a lie shattered his faith, but he responded by resolving to create the order and reincarnation he had been promised 203.

He became ruthless in the Netherworld, killing and consuming souls to survive, while retaining his goal of giving humans another life. Even after death, his remaining consciousness regarded choosing a successor and preventing an Outer God’s entry as his duties 203 227 229.

Abilities & Skills

Divine authority

As the Netherworld’s true god, the Lord established rules that continued to affect the world after his death 203 227.

• His remaining authority caused the world to reject the invading god and prevented it from freely exercising its full power 227.
• Damaging the Land of Reincarnation would greatly weaken that authority 178.
• His final consciousness used its power to force the Outer God to retreat, allowing Shen Hao to reach the authority 229.

Reincarnation and soul judgment

The Lord created the Land of Reincarnation to give human souls another life in the Netherworld 177 203.

• Kind souls could be reincarnated, while wicked souls were sent to hell 203.
• The Book of Life and Death judged souls and issued sentences; the hells kept sentenced souls alive for the duration of their punishment 188 204.
• He altered Shen Hao’s reincarnation, sending his soul into the mortal world rather than returning him to life in the Netherworld 202.

Resentment and curses

The Lord’s resentment remained scattered across the Netherworld after his death 50.

• Exposure could gradually rob humans and gods of their sanity 50 99.
• A descendant of one of his oldest believers possessed Devotion, protecting him from the Lord’s resentment and curses 99.

Seals, formations and blessings

The Lord imprisoned supernatural beings and left structures and weapons empowered by him 71 98 142.

• A city formation sealed a deity and drew on its power. Its four statue cores could be destroyed using the blood of the corresponding original followers’ descendants 98.
• The Executioner’s blessed scythe could pull a target’s soul into an execution chamber; fifteen minutes inside equaled one second outside 71.
• His chains restrained an ancient deity until Bai Shuang used his talisman to release it 115.

Creations and Relics

• Land of Reincarnation — The system he established to judge souls and provide second lives; Yan Jun governed it on his behalf 178 203.
• Home of Evil Ghosts — A prison whose facilities extracted energy from supernatural beings to power the Netherworld 123 142.
• Hells — Places created to punish sinful souls, including Avici Hell and Red Lotus Hell 188 190 204.
• Talisman — A remnant of his power used by Bai Shuang; it could release the deity bound by his chains but did not affect the city’s believers 111 115.
• Demon’s Left Arm — An arm sought by the Outer God’s followers as the Lord’s remaining arm. It absorbed life force and contained memories of the Lord’s past and plan; Shen Hao later fused with it 212 214 227.

Relationships

• The Demon — Born from the resentment the Lord accumulated while devouring souls. It separated from him but remained bound to his life 227.
• Shen Hao — Chosen by the Lord to inherit the Demon’s power and oppose the invading god. Shen Hao later refused the divine authority the Lord offered him 202 227 229.
• Yan Jun — Trusted subordinate and master of the Land of Reincarnation. He fought those attacking the Lord’s legacy after his death 178.
• Headless Knight — Former loyal servant of the Lord 50.
• Executioner — Servant charged with capturing and punishing the Lord’s enemies; he continued guarding prisoners after death 71.
• Outer God — A god from another world who targeted the Netherworld and sought to erase the Lord’s divine authority to establish its own 203 227.

Conflicting Accounts