After King Yu, Yu Yong, died, he had remained muddleheaded, having lost all sensation.
He did not know how much time had passed.
He opened his eyes and found the surroundings shrouded in dim yellow. A river surged up from beneath the Nine Netherworlds, flowing toward an endless distance.
Within the turbid river water, human souls had lost consciousness, their pupils whitened one after another. They formed orderly ranks, wriggling ceaselessly through the water as they followed the current into the distance.
Suddenly, a gateway filled with the Gold Qi of weapons opened, and a low voice emerged from within. "Sword Three Ninety-Two."
The muddy river water gurgled onward, without any response.
As the voice fell, a turbid tributary split from the River of Rebirth and flowed toward the gateway of weapon Gold Qi, its waters pouring into it without end.
Along with the river water, white-pupiled human souls occasionally separated from the main current and entered the gateway of weapon Gold Qi, one after another. Every one of those souls seemed to carry an aura of sharpness and unyielding uprightness.
Neither more nor less, three hundred and ninety-two such human souls flowed through.
After the three hundred and ninety-two human souls entered the gateway of weapon Gold Qi, the gateway vanished, and so did the tributary.
"Axe Seventy-Nine."
"Spear Three Thousand Seven Hundred Eighty-Two."
"..."
One low voice after another arose over the River of Rebirth. Gateways appeared one after another, swallowing souls of specific traits and specific numbers from the tributaries with precision and efficiency.
Besides the names of weapons such as swords, spears, and axes, words like "Pill," "Longevity," "Fortune," and "Emolument" occasionally appeared over the River of Rebirth as well, each followed by a number.
The numbers accompanying such terms were very small, mostly single digits,