Eighteen Levels of Hell

Zhou Jun gazed at the space before him, where Rootless Water was being nurtured, and an indescribable strange feeling rose in his heart. He could not help thinking of River of Oblivion Water, as well as the legendary Meng Po's Soup. It was said that Meng Po's Soup was brewed from River of Oblivion Water. Now, with only this one space here, Zhou Jun suddenly felt that it was somewhat too small.

Although this space would gradually evolve into a Blessed Land or a small world over time, the process was far too long. Zhou Jun pondered to himself that he would have to find time to set up more similar spaces elsewhere.

He turned and looked down at the Netherworld Soil below, hesitation stirring in his heart. After all, that land was filled with endless dangers; one careless move could leave him trapped in a hopeless situation. Zhou Jun could not help wavering. He had already come this far—if he chose to give up now, he truly could not resign himself to it.

Zhou Jun silently considered it for a long time. In the end, he gritted his teeth, nodded fiercely, and made up his mind. "Let's do it! The bigger the waves, the pricier the fish! When has a child ever cried every day? When has a gambling dog ever lost every day?" Zhou Jun said viciously to himself.

As Zhou Jun continued to explore deeper, he discovered that the color of the surrounding soil gradually darkened and grew harder and harder, as though it had been affected by some mysterious force. Though he held the powerful spiritual treasure, the Green Lotus Hoe, digging became increasingly difficult. Even the surrounding Netherworld Soil gradually transformed into hard Netherworld Stone.

Zhou Jun secretly pondered that this change meant he was approaching some important truth. The closer he came to his goal, the more vigilant he became, not daring to be the slightest bit careless. He continued digging downward with utmost caution, every step filled with wariness.

Before long, Zhou Jun suddenly sensed what seemed to be an underground river beneath his feet. He stopped what he was doing and listened intently. Sure enough, he heard the sound of flowing water within. This left him deeply puzzled. He had already gone underground for so long, and especially after entering the range of the Netherworld Soil, he had not encountered any other underground rivers along the way.

The appearance of this underground river only deepened the doubts in Zhou Jun's heart. He could not help wondering why there would be a river in such a deep place. Could this underground river be related to the truth he had been seeking? A string of questions flooded his mind, thoroughly stirring his curiosity.

His movements were exceptionally careful, as though what he held was not an ordinary hoe, but a rare treasure beyond compare. Every swing of the Green Lotus Hoe was like the performance of a solemn ritual, and he feared causing even the slightest damage to this land.

At last, through his unremitting efforts, an opening gradually appeared. Yet at the instant the passage was breached, a powerful surge of Sha Qi and resentment erupted from the hole like an enraged colossal beast. Entwined with dark-red blood qi, this force formed a torrent that made one's heart tremble as it swept straight toward Zhou Jun.

Faced with this sudden attack, Zhou Jun did not panic. He had anticipated it and made ample preparations beforehand. He muttered an incantation, rapidly formed hand seals, and at his summons, the Pure World White Lotus and the Eighteen Leyline Pearls appeared, hovering before him. They emitted a faint glow and tightly protected him within it.

The Eighteen Leyline Pearls spun rapidly in the air like a greedy vortex, desperately absorbing the surging Sha Qi. The occasional strands that slipped through were also devoured hungrily by the World-Purifying White Lotus. Second by second, the struggle between man and Sha Qi continued for quite some time. Only when that immense surge of Sha Qi gradually dispersed did Zhou Jun let out a slight sigh of relief.

However, he did not lower his guard. Though that powerful Sha Qi had weakened considerably, wisps of it still continued to emerge from the opening without end, merely lacking the former intensity. Zhou Jun carefully shifted his feet and slowly approached the opening, afraid of provoking some unforeseen accident.

When he finally reached the vicinity of the opening and focused his gaze inside, he saw dark-red liquid flowing slowly within, like a dark-red river. The dense blood qi it gave off was enough to make one retch at the smell. Zhou Jun's heart jolted, and he suddenly understood: this was no underground river at all—it was clearly the Blood River he had been thinking about all along!

Zhou Jun had never imagined that this blood would be located so deep underground! He had already completely given up searching for it. He had even once suspected that the moment this blood entered the earth, the heavens and earth of the Primordial Land had transferred it into the Blood Sea through spatial means. Yet the truth was entirely beyond his expectations.

Zhou Jun stared at his surroundings, and understanding gradually dawned on him. He realized that the blood of the beings of the Primordial Land continuously flowed into the Blood Sea through this place. The Blood Sea then flowed anew across the Netherworld Soil and, after a series of evolutions, ultimately formed Bioluo Huangquan and the River of Oblivion.

Even more surprisingly, the Netherworld Stone had become extraordinarily hard after being corroded by Sha Qi and resentment for a long time. It was precisely because of this that the Eighteen Levels of Hell could be carved out within this Netherworld Stone. Moreover, in order to neutralize the resentment, Sha Qi, and blood qi flowing out from this Blood River, the souls of the most treacherous and wicked people were also used to suppress them here. This was why the Eighteen Levels of Hell possessed so many cruel punishments.

The reasons behind this were in fact extremely complicated, but they could mainly be summarized in the following two points:

First, this was clearly a severe means of punishment, intended to make those who had committed sins bear the consequences they deserved. By placing them in an environment of extreme danger and making them personally experience the terror of this resentment and Sha Qi, they would gain a profound understanding of and remorse for their own misdeeds. At the same time, using the sins upon them as bait to lure in this incomparably dangerous resentment and Sha Qi was also a strategy of fighting poison with poison.

Second, there was an even deeper consideration. Although these fiendish gods and evil ghosts were themselves filled with brutality and wickedness, they also possessed certain abilities and could absorb and neutralize the resentment in their surroundings. Placing them here was meant to use this characteristic to absorb and dissolve the resentment emitted by this region. During this process, the bodies of these fiendish gods and evil ghosts acted like filters, filtering out the violent and dangerous elements within the Resentment of Chaotic Gods and Demons, rendering it no longer so frenzied and dangerous.

Finally, once the Sha Qi and resentment within these fiendish gods and evil ghosts had been completely driven away, they would lose their original harmfulness. At that point, the natural power of heaven and earth could effectively refine and absorb them, thereby purifying this region.