Void-Stealing Tai Sui.
Ancient and mysterious.
They originated in antiquity.
Back then.
The Spirit Realm Heavenly Gate had not yet been sealed.
All beings of the Mortal World yearned for the Spirit Realm.
They sought to break free of mortality and enter the Spirit Realm.
To turn heaven and earth around.
The people called those years the great leap era.
Ordinarily.
To break free of mortality and enter the Spirit Realm.
One needed a recommendation from a being of the Spirit Realm.
Or to marry one.
Yet.
Some beings had no one to rely on in the Spirit Realm.
Nor were they willing to demean themselves.
By marrying a being of the Spirit Realm they did not love.
And so, in those days.
A dark profession quietly emerged.
That was the Void-Stealing Tai Sui.
The Void-Stealing Tai Sui.
Moved between the Spirit Realm and the Mortal World.
They charged enormous fees.
And handled opening the checkpoints.
Helping beings of the Mortal World fulfill their dream of reaching the Spirit Realm.
Of course.
Those smuggled across lacked a Spirit Registry.
Even after entering the Spirit Realm, they were like rats scurrying across the street, hiding here and there and suffering abuse; the slightest misstep could bring death upon them.
If their luck went awry and they encountered a blackhearted Tai Sui with a rotten conscience.
The migrants might even be sold into slavery, becoming servants and expendable fodder, condemned to a lifetime of misery.
Thus.
Smuggling oneself across.
Infiltrating.
Entering the Spirit Realm illicitly.
Carried a steep price.
The slightest misstep.
Could plunge one into eternal damnation, reduced to scattered ash.
Yet.
The Underworld Realm was famed for its heavenly treasures and earthly splendors, its outstanding people and blessed lands.
Despite its boundless, fearsome might.
The beings who wished to enter.