Chapter 31

Tai Ming needed to go out for training and could no longer continue transforming the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan.

Therefore, he decided to once again activate the Netherworld's authority to create and transform the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan.

Even in his absence, the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan would multiply countless times over.

Although Tai Ming had a split-soul incarnation, Jiang Chen could not actually wield the authority to create and transform the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan.

If that authority fell into Jiang Chen's hands, it would be corroded by Negative Energy, and any newly born Yin-Yang Ghost Clan members would be assimilated.

Tai Ming was relieved that he had chosen to entrust the oversight of the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan to the will of the Netherworld.

As it turned out, this was the wisest decision he had ever made.

In Tai Ming's hands, the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan had undergone many cycles of creation, but the results were mixed—their potential could not compare to the first generation transformed from powerful Grand Unity You Hun.

When those first-generation Yin-Yang Ghost Clan members reached their limits alongside Tai Ming's breakthroughs, the ones he had personally transformed included some that had not even reached the Earth God realm.

Now, however, the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan tribes Tai Ming sensed were all formidable in strength, even if not every member possessed the potential of the first generation.

He could infer that most of them had been transformed from powerful souls among the Grand Unity You Hun.

A rough estimate showed that the vast majority of these Yin-Yang Ghost Clan members had already attained the strength of an Immortal Venerable God, and nearly half had even reached the level of a Grand Unity Venerable God.

The rest, though not yet Immortal Venerable Gods, were not far off.

A clan this powerful was unmatched in the primordial wilderness.

This was because these Yin-Yang Ghost Clan members had been awakened from powerful souls above the Immortal Venerable God level, with their strength restored.

If Tai Ming had done this himself, it would have taken an extremely long time, since he could not personally select the strongest souls from the entire Netherworld.

For the will of the Netherworld, however, this was a trivial task.

In comparison, Tai Ming's presence as the progenitor of the ghost clan seemed almost insignificant.

Even so, Tai Ming was extremely satisfied with the current state of the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan.

He realized that, as the gathering place for all souls in the primordial wilderness, the wandering souls he had collected earlier in the Western Land were merely a small fraction accumulated over a long span of time.

The truly significant portion had always been here in the Netherworld.

Ever since the Netherworld was first opened, souls had been converging here without cease.

The Netherworld was vast and boundless, containing countless souls within. Though Grand Unity You Hun were rare, over the long ages, the number that had gathered was not to be underestimated.

The Yin-Yang Ghost Clan was only a tiny part of this.

Feeling the familiar surroundings, as if hearing Tai Ming's words, the Heart of the Earthly Path emerged from him.

It revealed to Tai Ming that the potential of the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan had long exceeded expectations. That was why, in the past, the will of the Netherworld and the Heart of the Earthly Path had frequently extended a helping hand to aid his growth—all to unlock that potential.

Their true aim was to perfect the Netherworld, using Tai Ming's development to drive the prosperity of the Earthly Dao Lineage.

Even if the Heavenly Dao and the Human Dao outside were to suppress the Earthly Dao Lineage, they remained confident that as long as Tai Ming grew, backed by the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan and the Netherworld's accumulated resources, the Earthly Dao Lineage would flourish and no longer be constrained by anyone or any force.

At this point, Tai Ming understood the full chain of cause and effect. He realized that the Heart of the Earthly Path's attention and protection toward him and the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan had not been random.

When it first met him, aside from stopping his reckless actions, the Heart of the Earthly Path had primarily hoped that he would properly nurture these precious Yin-Yang Ghost Clan members.

Now, Tai Ming deeply felt the terrifying power of the Ancient Three Sovereigns' lineage and knew that he was still far from their level.

To improve his talent and potential, they had not hesitated to use their accumulated resources to refine the Beast Emperor of Reincarnation.

When Tai Ming conceived the plan to create the Corpse Dao lineage and perfect the Netherworld, everyone had agreed without much deliberation.

For the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan, this was merely a minor affair.

The key was to elevate Tai Ming's strength, which would continuously raise the ceiling of the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan's potential.

By drawing on the powerful souls accumulated in the Netherworld over countless years, the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan transformed from them would likely surpass everyone's imagination.

It was similar to the method of conferring ghost god titles that Tai Ming had learned from the Netherworld Ghost Seal—both approaches shared the same underlying principle.

The Netherworld's accumulated resources made this plan even more terrifying.

Imagine this: when the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan members, who had inherited the potential and foundation of Grand Unity or even Great Luo souls, fully matured—millions of Great Luo Venerable God ghost clan members, trillions of Grand Unity Venerable God ghost clan members, and Immortal Venerable God ghost clan members gathered together—their combined power would be enough to sweep across the entire primordial wilderness.

It was precisely for this reason that the Heart of the Earthly Path and the will of the Netherworld had chosen to compromise in the face of such overwhelming power and devoted themselves fully to nurturing Tai Ming.

At this moment, Tai Ming was filled with mixed emotions. "So I was just a side product all along."

Hearing Tai Ming's lament, the Heart of the Earthly Path responded, "That was indeed our initial intention, but your growth has exceeded our expectations.

You have shattered our understanding like a monster, even creating the Lineage of Ghosts and Gods, which is similar to the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan.

Your potential may even surpass that of the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan. There is no need for you to sell yourself short.

Perhaps without us, you could still have reached great heights—it would just have taken more time.

The countless miracles you have achieved have left us in awe.

Though we had some calculations in the beginning, our investment in you was real."

Now they could calmly discuss all of this. If it had been anyone else, the relationship would have long soured.

At this moment, the sudden emergence of the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan did not surprise Tai Ming much. What drew his attention instead was the methods of the Earthly Dao Lineage.

His deeper understanding of the Earthly Dao Lineage actually solved a long-standing mystery.

The growth in his power gave him the confidence to speak as an equal with the Heart of the Earthly Path.

Tai Ming knew well that Yue Jianshi handing him the Heart of the Netherworld must have deep meaning behind it.

But he didn't reject the possibility of being used, because he understood that any sudden benefit came with its own reasons.

Therefore, he decided to directly refine the Heart of the Netherworld and take control of the entire Netherworld.

As his control strengthened, he gradually began the process of integrating the Lineage of Ghosts and Gods into the Netherworld's greater family.

He kept his emotions and mindset stable, closely observing the changes in the Netherworld.

The growth of the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan made it easier for him to accept other transformations within the Netherworld.

He noticed that with the completion of Ming He and Huang Quan's gestation, the Netherworld as a whole was thriving, experiencing unprecedented development.

In particular, two Innate Divine Beings were gestating, destined to possess great fortune and immense opportunities.

Although they had already met the conditions for birth, Tai Ming decided to give them a helping hand, allowing them to stabilize their foundations and, after emerging, share some of the pressure on the Earthly Dao Lineage.

He knew that Daoist You Quan was also undergoing tempering, but he needed stronger support to sustain the entire Earthly Dao Lineage's development.

At this moment, the two Innate Divine Beings gestating from Ming He and Huang Quan were powerful assistants for the Earthly Dao Lineage.

In the future, certain matters could be entrusted to them, sparing Tai Ming from acting personally and avoiding awkward situations.

Thus, Tai Ming shared his insights on cultivation realms, and the two divine embryos felt deeply grateful.

Afterward, Tai Ming observed the state of the Netherworld, waited quietly for the Heavenly Dao Lineage's grand assembly, and focused on refining the Heart of the Netherworld.

As for the two gestating Innate Divine Beings, it remained uncertain whether they would successfully emerge before the assembly.

If the opportunity arose, Tai Ming and the Heart of the Earthly Path would take them to see the spectacle.

If they failed to emerge, they would have to cultivate diligently within the Netherworld.

Several hundred years passed, and the Heavenly Dao Lineage's grand assembly was approaching, but the two Innate Divine Beings had still not emerged.

At that moment, a sudden tremor shook the Netherworld, causing upheaval throughout the realm and drawing the attention of the Heart of the Earthly Path.

As for the cause of this tremor, aside from the possibility that the Netherworld had been discovered, the Heart of the Earthly Path could hardly imagine any other reason.

But given the Netherworld's complexity, the Heart of the Earthly Path couldn't directly communicate with the Netherworld's will to understand the details.

What followed shocked the Heart of the Earthly Path even more—Tai Ming held the Heart of the Netherworld in his hand.

At this moment, Tai Ming manifested a giant ** form, with a cluster of Netherworld Divine Light suspended in his hand—the Heart of the Netherworld.

Whoever held this heart was the master of the Netherworld.

Yet, since the Heart of the Earthly Path was born, the Heart of the Netherworld had always been in Yue Jianshi's possession, and now it appeared in Tai Ming's hands.

The Heart of the Earthly Path was stunned into silence before quickly recovering, understanding the far-reaching plan Yue Jianshi had left behind.

Yue Jianshi actually entrusted the Heart of the Netherworld to you, lad, showing his extremely high expectations and recognition of you.

To ensure you could become the guardian of the Earthly Path, he truly put so much effort into it.

He made me mistakenly believe that he had left the Heart of the Netherworld for the true successor of the Earthly Path.

Your state of mind is indeed beyond ordinary people's, able to grasp such deep **.

It seems you might be stronger than we imagined.

Yes, unless someone could seize what belongs to Yue Jianshi, the Heart of the Netherworld wouldn't easily change hands.

Yet, even knowing this, I still can't calm my thoughts.

Now that you hold the Heart of the Netherworld, it represents Yue Jianshi's recognition of you far exceeding that of the future Earthly Path successor.

Even though you gave birth to the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan, founded the Ghost Dao Lineage, and even created ghost gods and deities, I still couldn't imagine Yue Jianshi letting you rule the Netherworld.

This kid's growth rate is beyond my imagination; he might have already surpassed me.

Unfortunately, you're now fully immersed in the power of the Netherworld, unable to perceive my feelings.

After mastering the Heart of the Netherworld, you realize that the Netherworld's complexity far exceeds imagination.

The Netherworld's ability to rival the Nine Heavens Realm of the Heavenly Dao Lineage is no empty boast.

That Nine Heavens Realm is called the Nine Heavens, each one comparable to a ** great world.

The Heavenly Dao Lineage has accumulated endless resources through these abundant reserves.

Similarly, the Netherworld is divided into nineteen layers of worlds.

More precisely, eighteen layers fall within the Netherworld's domain, while the lowest layer does not belong to it.

The Nether Land you were in before was merely the first layer of the Netherworld.

Although one layer of the Netherworld cannot fully compare to the Nine Heavens Realm, it's not far off.

Two layers of the Netherworld are enough to crush one layer of the Heavenly Realm.

Thus, the Netherworld's scale is actually larger than that of the Nine Heavens Realm.

Both were generated from Chaos Pure Qi and Chaos Turbid Qi, with no essential difference.

Once the quantity of power reaches a certain level, the amount no longer matters.

Tai Ming realized that the Netherworld's foundation was no less formidable than the Heavenly Dao Lineage's Realm of the Nine Heavens.

At this moment, as the sovereign of the Netherworld, he had fully grasped its authority, unraveling a long-standing doubt.

He had previously wondered why the Netherworld, after eons of accumulation, seemed to harbor so few wandering souls.

Though he had suspected the Netherworld was incomplete and implemented the Ming He Huang Quan plan to enhance its soul-gathering ability, witnessing the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan's profound foundation made him question that assumption.

Given the Netherworld's outward appearance, it seemed incapable of gathering so many Taiyi Great Luo souls or evolving such a vast Yin-Yang Ghost Clan.

Thus, the Netherworld must hold an unknown secret.

Now, he finally understood ** .

The first layer of the Netherworld only gathered newly formed souls, while the truly ancient and powerful ones were hidden in the deeper layers.

The number of souls concealed in each layer was thousands of times greater than in the first.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Beyond the tenth of the Eighteen Layers of Netherworld, the deeper one went, the more powerful the souls nurtured—and naturally, powerful souls were fewer in number.

Though there could not be an endless supply of Taiyi Great Luo souls, the aura of Grand Unity You Hun that Tai Ming sensed in the Eighteenth Layer of Netherworld approached millions.

This was the Netherworld's true hidden strength.