Gate of the Netherworld

Only when he was in the midst of the inferno did he realize that the molten lava below was actually at a normal high temperature, but the ice and fire released by the Black Lotus had suppressed the heat. Yue Qianchou felt a sense of pride. Even Bi Changchun couldn't get through this place, but he could navigate it with ease. He was truly blessed with unique talents!

He was secretly pleased with himself when suddenly the space in front of him opened up, and he realized that he had passed through a sea of fire nearly a thousand meters wide. Yue Qianchou slowly descended on his sword, his feet on a patch of soft, black, clean earth. His gaze was fixed on the mountain wall in front of him, unable to look away.

A massive, semi-circular wall of Nether Iron stood before us, its surface engraved with skulls of varying sizes, some adult, some child. Bathed in the fiery glow of the molten lava, the entire wall appeared as if it were constructed from piled-up skulls. Standing before it, pairs of dark, hollow eyes seemed to stare at you, as if questioning you, creating a chilling aura of death—thick, heavy, and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

In the center of the skull wall stands a large gate, over ten meters high and seven or eight meters wide, covered with carvings of various human heads—not skulls, but old people, children, men, and women—each with a different expression, vividly portraying joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. Entering this gate gives the feeling that all aspects of human life must Wangqing within its confines. Besides the human heads, each side of the gate is adorned with a beast head resembling a 'Sky Swallowing Beast,' each with a Door Knocker Ring hanging from its fangs.

In a pile of weeds to one side of the gate, there is a huge iron stele with the words: "Netherworld, knock on the double rings, and you will enter. Humans, demons, and monsters, do not open it, or you will never return!"

This was clearly a warning sign, telling anyone coming in that ghosts could enter, but nothing else should go in, or they wouldn't be able to get out. Yue Qianchou looked at it, somewhat puzzled. It was one thing for humans and demons not to go in, but why were demons appearing too? Was there some kind of demon realm?

Looking around, it was still the same, and Yue Qianchou didn't think it was a big deal. Anyway, he wasn't going to open the door and go in; he wasn't like Old Man Bi who had nothing better to do. What did, however, was the weeds under the Nether Iron Stele that piqued his interest.

The grass was bright red, entirely of one color, with three branches and seven leaves, perfectly matching the number of the Three Souls and Seven Spirits in the human body. Yue Qianchou, winking and making faces, finally couldn't help but burst into laughter. This grass was none other than the 'Soul Returning Grass' he had come to find, how could he not be happy?

His laughter had a disproportionate effect; immediately, eerie, grotesque laughs echoed throughout the space, seemingly emanating from the skulls themselves. Yue Qianchou was startled and quickly shut his mouth, while the strange laughter gradually subsided. It was just an echo; he breathed a sigh of relief, but dared not laugh again.

He went over and plucked a 'Soul Returning Grass,' examined it closely, and then smelled it. Sure enough, it was colorless and odorless. But as soon as his breath touched Soul Returning Grass, it immediately turned into a puff of black smoke and dissipated.

Yue Qianchou paused, his hands outstretched, and recalled the records in the Pill Formula Recipe Book: the Soul Returning Grass was not a spiritual herb of the mortal world and could not be touched by human life force, otherwise it would instantly turn into smoke.

He slapped his forehead, realizing what was happening, and decided to freeze it again when needed and collect it later. So he took out a silver ball, found what he thought was a safe place, and put it inside. Feeling that there wouldn't be any problems, he then took the liberty of wandering around to see if there was anything else he needed.

Unfortunately, this place was extremely poor; it seemed that besides the black soil and ghost iron on the ground, all that was left was the Soul Returning Grass. He wasn't interested in any of that now; having come all this way, he wanted to bring back something meaningful.

Dig up a skull to take back? No point. As he looked around, his gaze suddenly fell on the gate leading to the underworld. The door knockers in the mouths of the two Sky Swallowing Beasts were dark and shiny, faintly emitting a black treasure light. They shouldn't be made of underworld iron.

Could it be some kind of treasure? Yue Qianchou's eyes lit up, and he immediately became interested. The door knocker was positioned very high, about four or five meters high. He mounted a flying sword and flew over, touching the door knocker and examining it closely. The door knocker was very large, like the Qiankun Ring that Nezha wore diagonally around his neck. Moreover, judging from the material, it was clearly different from the other materials on the door, and it was definitely not Nether Iron.

He tried to pull it off with all his might, but unfortunately, the beast head was clearly not made of ordinary materials, and brute force was completely ineffective in removing the door knocker. Without saying a word, Yue Qianchou released his black fire, using compression cutting, but it didn't work after sawing for a long time. Since the black fire didn't work, he released his green fire. The green fire was indeed more effective at dealing with this thing than the black fire, but the beast teeth locking the door knocker were also extraordinary. Even though the green fire had some effect, it was still only slightly effective.

Once again, Yue Qianchou displayed his unwavering perseverance and relentless spirit. He climbed onto the beast's head, sat atop it, and began sawing furiously with a saw made of compressed blue flame. After another half-day, he finally sawed off the lower tooth of the beast's jaws. He examined the tusk, which was as long as a chopstick and as thick as a banana. He couldn't identify its material, but since it was used here, it was definitely not an ordinary object, so he confiscated it.

The door knocker was made of four fangs from an animal head, in two pairs that snapped together. After knocking out one lower fang, there was still another lower fang left, so he continued sawing...

After he sawed off the other lower tooth, the door knocker finally fell to the ground with a dull thud onto the black soil. Yue Qianchou put the beast tooth away again, jumped down from the beast head several meters high, picked up the door knocker, and immediately felt that it was incredibly heavy. This thing probably weighed over a thousand pounds, but with his current cultivation level, this weight was nothing.

He knocked and tapped on it, examined it closely, but couldn't find anything special about the door knocker; he guessed it was just made of a special material. Yue Qianchou was quite frustrated, shaking his head and muttering, "I thought it was some kind of treasure. I've wasted so much effort. I'll show it to Old Man Bi when I get the chance, and see if it's of any use."

In the spirit of not wasting anything, the door knocker was also put away. Yue Qianchou glanced back at the Netherworld Gate and couldn't help but smile smugly.

The Sky Swallowing Beast, missing two lower fangs and the ring it held in its mouth, looked considerably less imposing than before, especially compared to the other Sky Swallowing Beast that stood opposite it, making it appear somewhat out of place. Furthermore, the entire Netherworld Gate looked odd, disrupting the overall eerie atmosphere. If someone were to see it later, they would surely wonder if the Underworld was so poor that it couldn't even afford to spend money on fixing up the facade of its Netherworld Gate.

After glancing at the other door knocker, Yue Qianchou decided to let it go, giving the Underworld some face. Actually, he still felt that getting this thing down would be troublesome, and it didn't seem to be of much use. Otherwise, given his temper, if he had such a good deal, he probably would have pried the Netherworld Gate back for them.

He's been incredibly audacious, ruining the reputation of the Underworld. He's too quick to be smug; this greedy act will bring him great trouble later. Imagine, once the Underworld discovers this, they'll inevitably send people to investigate. The names of the master and disciple left on the cave wall will make them easy targets. Once they emerge from the Nine Nether Cave, the Demon Ghost Domain will be the first to be affected. And Bi Changchun is a reckless and fearless man. Unable to go to the Underworld to challenge others, he's ready to fight anyone who comes to him, whether they're from heaven or the underworld, regardless of victory or defeat...

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