Chapter 32

As for the deeper layers of You Hun, Tai Ming did not sense You Hun's power there; that place seemed more like the true inheritance ground of the Earthly Dao lineage.

"So that's how it is. Though the Netherworld belongs to the Earthly Dao lineage, the Earthly Dao's foundation runs far deeper than just the Netherworld."

The Eighteen Layers of Netherworld were merely a part of that foundation.

Tai Ming had now taken control of the Netherworld and could be considered its sovereign.

He could develop his own Ghost Dao and ghostly gods within the Eighteen Layers of Netherworld.

And when he discovered the You Hun gathered in these eighteen layers, he felt like a fish in water.

If he could enfeoff all these You Hun as Ghost Soldiers and ghostly gods, the power of the Ghost Dao lineage would surge.

Yet he knew this was impossible.

On one hand, he lacked the time and energy to enfeoff an endless number of ghostly gods and spirits; on the other, doing so would require resources that even the entire Primordial Wilderness could scarcely bear.

The balance of yin and yang in the Primordial Wilderness was on the verge of collapse, and Tai Ming himself was directly constrained by the Primordial Wilderness's Heavenly Mandate.

Thus, even if he were to transform ghosts and gods, he had to tread carefully.

Ordinary You Hun had limited influence—vast in number but unable to shift the overall situation—while You Hun at the Taiyi Great Luo level had already transcended life, death, time, and space, so even if enfeoffed as ghostly gods, their impact on the Primordial Wilderness order would be negligible.

Realizing this, Tai Ming was shocked. He understood that weak You Hun could, in some cases, be more important than strong ones, showing that quantity could trigger qualitative change.

Earlier, when Tai Ming had gathered You Hun in the Western Land, though shielded by the Primordial Wilderness's Heavenly Mandate, he had still upset the balance of the Primordial Wilderness.

Those Ghost Soldiers and ghostly gods were considered rewards under the influence of the Heavenly Mandate, but had it been otherwise, the Great Dao Merit he gained might have been greater.

All this left him torn over whether he had gained or lost, but in the end, it was a mix of both.

After understanding the principles behind it, Tai Ming was amazed at his own good fortune, even feeling as if he had become a Child of Destiny.

However, transforming You Hun was not only constrained by the Primordial Wilderness order but also had to account for the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan of the Netherworld.

If Tai Ming did not wish to expand the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan's numbers, the number of ghostly gods he could transform would be limited.

This also explained why he had been so shaken by the You Hun of the Eighteen Layers of Netherworld and had conceived such ideas—it was a reflection of self-restraint and the guidance of desire on the path forward.

After becoming the Netherworld's sovereign, Tai Ming absorbed its foundation and gained new insights into the Great Dao.

At this moment, the Great Dao divine ring around him blazed even brighter, and a brand-new Dao Fruit condensed, shining with brilliant starlight alongside others like the Great Freedom True Demon Dao Fruit, the Great Freedom Pure Land Dao Fruit, and the still-unformed illusory Dao Fruits of the Three Thousand Great Dao.

At critical moments, Dao Fruits could manifest Tai Ming's Great Dao incarnations, displaying extraordinary combat power.

Currently, the Dao Fruits of the Demon Buddha Paths—the Great Freedom True Demon and the Great Freedom Pure Land—were the strongest in combat, already revealing the aura of Great Luo.

If not for Tai Ming's own limitations, these Dao Fruits could rival ordinary Great Luo in power.

Soon after, the Netherworld Dao Fruit grew at an astonishing speed, quickly reaching the level of the Demon Buddha Dao Fruits.

Entering the world origin of the Netherworld, Tai Ming felt as though he had personally witnessed Earthly Emperor Yue Jianshi's creation of the Netherworld.

Earthly Emperor Yue Jianshi's Earthly Path rivaled the Heavenly Dao, and its Three Thousand Great Dao Laws had fully merged into the Earthly Path.

Thus, the Netherworld had already condensed its own origin of the Three Thousand Great Dao Laws.

In a sense, the Netherworld's will could be seen as a weakened version of the Primordial Wilderness's Heavenly Mandate will.

Then, Tai Ming experienced what could be called "direct enlightenment."

With the Netherworld's world origin and the Three Thousand Great Dao Laws aiding his Ghost Dao, he rapidly absorbed the power of the Three Thousand Great Dao within the Primordial Chaos Dao Realm.

The Dao Fruits condensed from his Self Great Dao grew increasingly solid, including the Reincarnation Law, Yin-Yang Law, Life and Death Law, and World Law, all reaching the limits of Tai Ming's own realm.

In a short time, over a hundred Innate Great Daos solidified into tangible Dao Fruits.

The interweaving of Dao rhythms deepened the Self Great Dao on the divine ring.

This sight made the distant Heart of the Earthly Path jealous, as if it had bitten into a lemon.

The Heart of the Earthly Path sighed at being forced to cultivate diligently by such a "monster," a feeling both absurd and strange.

On the other hand, Tai Ming was now experiencing the sensation of embodying the Netherworld itself. Having fully refined the Heart of the Netherworld, the Netherworld's will no longer posed any obstacle before him.

The Ming He will and the Netherworld's order and rules were all condensed from the Netherworld's origin.

It had no intelligence or emotion, only the instinct for world growth.

Thus, Tai Ming's control over the Netherworld proceeded smoothly.

Soon, he emerged from the origin.

Cheating was fine, but one had to stay grounded and turn insights into real strength.

Otherwise, piling up Dao insights would only lead to losing oneself.

At the same time, Tai Ming summoned the Netherworld Ghost Seal and, as the Lord of the Ghost Dao and the Netherworld's sovereign, integrated the Lineage of Ghosts and Gods into the Eighteen Layers of Netherworld.

Instantly, Tai Ming felt the resonance between the Ghost Dao and the Netherworld.

The entire Netherworld seemed to have its flaws mended, rapidly growing.

The eighteen layers, once filled with You Hun, became empty, and the laws emerged clearly.

After the Baptism, the Netherworld became even more complete.

Now, the Netherworld was like a reborn youth, brimming with vitality and energy.

This was because Tai Ming's Ghost Gods and the Netherworld seemed naturally fused as one.

Over a hundred Yuan Hui, the Ghost Gods and the Netherworld had merged into a single entity.

The Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Gods guided the You Hun into order, and the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan, brimming with potential, integrated perfectly into the system.

The You Hun reincarnated into the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan, compensating for the flaws in the Ghost Gods' life force, and together they managed the You Hun.

The three formed a perfect closed loop, requiring no effort from Tai Ming to oversee.

As time passed, the You Hun found a destination, the Yin-Yang Ghost Clan gained a stable source of reincarnation, and the Ghost Dao's life and death Ghost Gods achieved balance.

The Netherworld was reborn anew.

At this moment, news spread across the Primordial Wilderness that the Innate Divine Beings, Nether River and Yellow Springs, were about to emerge.

With the internal cycle of the Netherworld complete, the entire realm reached unprecedented perfection, drawing the attention of many divine beings in the Primordial Wilderness.

At this time, the two Innate Divine Beings gestating within the Netherworld—Nether River and Yellow Springs—benefited the most.

In the period following the Netherworld's transformation, at the boundary between the Netherworld and the Netherworld Blood Sea, two vast, sacred lights flashed in succession.

One light resembled the Netherworld Blood Sea, wreathed in blood, enveloping the entire Netherworld. Though it lacked the terrifying Negative Energy of the Blood Sea, its aura was identical to the purified Nether River of the Netherworld.

The other light was dark yellow and turbid, corroding all things—this was the Yellow Springs power of the Netherworld.

Then, two Great Dao declarations rang out simultaneously: "Daoist Nether River emerges today; the True Spirit of the Blood Sea manifests, the soul of the Netherworld's Nether River; dissolve the will of the Blood Sea, forge my Karma Body of Slaughter."

And: "Daoist Yellow Springs emerges today; the Nine Nethers gestate the Yellow Springs, the Blood Sea births the primordial spirit; the souls of all beings have no crossing, and only when all are ferried will I achieve Nirvana."

The True Names of the Great Dao of these two Innate Divine Beings awakened.

Daoist Nether River was born from the Nether River of the Netherworld, his origin truly being the forbidden Netherworld Blood Sea of the Primordial Wilderness.

But because the Netherworld Blood Sea contained boundless Negative Energy, it could not gestate a complete Innate Divine Being.

Though a True Spirit was born, it could not endure under the erosion of Negative Energy.

Yet the transformation of the Netherworld allowed a True Spirit to flee into the Nether River, becoming the Innate Divine Being of the Nether River over the long ages.

However, influenced by the Netherworld Blood Sea, the Innate Great Dao he gestated was that of Slaughter.

Daoist Yellow Springs, further shaped by the Nether River's influence, was less affected by the Netherworld Blood Sea, and his Yellow Springs was closer to the Netherworld.

The Innate Great Dao he gestated was a branch of the Netherworld's Soul Great Dao—the Great Dao of Soul Depravity.

Though somewhat influenced by the Netherworld Blood Sea, being an Innate Divine Being of the Netherworld posed no major issue.

The emergence of these two divine beings was an unexpected joy for both the Earthly Dao Lineage and Tai Ming.

They had not placed high hopes on them; as long as they were usable, it was enough.

In truth, Tai Ming and the Heart of the Earthly Path were already satisfied that Daoist Nether River and Daoist Yellow Springs could reach the level of high-grade Innate Divine Beings.

With a bit of nurturing, becoming top-tier Grand Unity in the future would not be difficult.

When Nether River and Yellow Springs, the two Innate Divine Beings, noticed Tai Ming and the Heart of the Earthly Path, they also discovered that Tai Ming had provided them with some valuable breakthrough insights, stabilizing their foundations.

Nether River and Yellow Springs bowed to the two seniors, grateful for their guidance.

They possessed the inheritance of Innate Divine Beings and already understood their current situation.

They originated from the Earthly Dao Lineage, the Netherworld, and were naturally part of this domain.

Upon emergence, they had obtained their True Names of the Great Dao, gestated their Innate Authority, and possessed the cultivation of Mid Immortal Venerable God.

Thus, they clearly sensed the power of Tai Ming and the Heart of the Earthly Path.

They followed the survival rule of the strong prevailing and dared not show any negligence.

Seeing this, Tai Ming remained silent, as if seeing his former self in them.

Meanwhile, the Heart of the Earthly Path rejoiced at gaining two more promising little ones.

The Heart of the Earthly Path began to introduce the Earthly Dao Lineage in detail, and Nether River and Yellow Springs gradually gained a rough understanding of the Primordial Wilderness.

They were filled with awe for Yue Jianshi, one of the Ancient Three Sovereigns, shocked that they had been born in the Netherworld he had created.

They turned their gaze to Tai Ming, who had once helped them, feeling a sense of kinship, as if Tai Ming was their origin.

In truth, both Nether River and Yellow Springs originated from the Netherworld Blood Sea and the Netherworld.

Ever since Tai Ming split his soul to incarnate as Jiang Chen, he had shared affinity with the Netherworld Blood Sea and control over Negative Energy, a talent that brought him many advantages.

Other Innate Divine Beings could not bear the burden of negative obsessions like Tai Ming could, so a key opportunity for Tai Ming to receive the Mandate of Heaven was his talent for being unafraid of Negative Energy.

Now, Tai Ming had become the Lord of the Netherworld, and from any angle, he was the origin of Nether River and Yellow Springs.

Hearing the introduction, the Heart of the Earthly Path grew solemn and began to introduce Tai Ming's identity to Daoist Nether River and Daoist Yellow Springs.

"This man is the founder of the Ghost Dao in the Primordial Wilderness, the Lord of the Netherworld, the ruler of the Netherworld Ghost Gods, the Ghost Clan, and the You Hun, and moreover, the Guardian of the Dao of our Earthly Dao Lineage.

You may call him the Ghost Ancestor, the Lord of the Netherworld, or Venerable Tai Ming."

Tai Ming was no longer an ordinary cultivator; he was now the master of a faction with many titles.

Even the Heart of the Earthly Path had to show him some face in front of others.

Hearing the Heart of the Earthly Path's solemn introduction, Daoist Nether River and Daoist Yellow Springs felt a tremor in their hearts. They then bowed respectfully to Tai Ming. "Nether River (Yellow Springs) pays respects to the Ghost Ancestor!"

Though Tai Ming felt a pang of loss at this shift, he gradually adapted to his new identity and status.

Facing the reverence of two Innate Divine Beings, Nether River and Yellow Springs, he smiled calmly and voiced his expectations.

"You two are also part of the New Generation of my Netherworld, with the foundation of high-level Innate Divine Beings. I hope you can grow quickly and become pillars of the Netherworld and the Earthly Dao Lineage.

Speaking of which, there's no small connection between us.

As it happens, He has also arrived. You can meet him.

Compared to us, He is more suited to guide your cultivation."

With that, Tai Ming turned his gaze toward the void, and two divine figures gradually materialized—Jiang Chen and Daoist You Quan.

This scene won the approval of the Heart of the Earthly Path.

Indeed, neither Tai Ming nor Itself was fit to guide Nether River and Yellow Springs, as it would easily affect their Great Dao.

The appearance of Jiang Chen and Daoist You Quan broke this deadlock.

Jiang Chen shared the same origin as them, and though there was some influence, it was far milder.

As soon as Jiang Chen and Daoist You Quan appeared, they looked toward the Heart of the Earthly Path and Tai Ming, then bowed. "Jiang Chen pays respects to the Original Body, and to Senior Heart of the Earthly Path!"