"Help you?"
Houtu looked at her expectant little face, and her heart stirred. As the ruler of the Underworld, she shouldn't have meddled in these karmic entanglements.
First, she felt an inexplicable closeness to the aura of Pan Gu on Xiruan.
Second, she had long been dissatisfied with the Western Religious Sect's constant efforts to convert spirits in her Underworld and expand its influence.
Ksitigarbha, in particular, had grown increasingly reckless, relying on the backing of two Saints. He had even dared to meddle in the workings of reincarnation and detain True Spirits.
Houtu had merely been enduring it all because, having joined with the cycle of reincarnation, she couldn't act lightly.
The arrival of this little one today had shown her a chance to break the stalemate.
Perhaps... using her to give the Western Religious Sect a warning wouldn't be a bad idea.
Besides, earning Tongtian's gratitude might also help the Wu Clan's situation in the future.
Having thought it through, Empress Houtu had already made her decision.
She looked at Xiruan and slowly nodded.
"All right."
"I'll help you."
Her words rang out like a decree from the Heavenly Dao, instantly spreading throughout the entire Underworld.
All the ghosts and gods were shaken to their core, their hearts surging like a storm-tossed sea!
Empress Houtu... had actually agreed to the Little Devil King's request!
She was going to help the Interception Sect herself!
The Ten Yama Kings were so terrified they nearly lost their souls. Every one of them lowered his head even further.
They feared Empress Houtu might remember how they had once abetted the evildoers and settle old scores with them.
After their brief shock, Immortal Wuyun, Holy Mother Wudang, and the other Jie Sect Disciples burst into unprecedented joy!
"Your Ladyship is merciful!"
"Heaven bless the Interception Sect! Heaven bless the Interception Sect!"
Countless True Spirits of the Interception Sect bowed from afar, tears streaming down their faces, too overwhelmed to contain their excitement.
"That's wonderful! Thank you, Auntie!"
The moment Xiruan heard Houtu agree, she jumped up in delight. She knew this pretty auntie was a wonderful person!
"Don't thank me just yet."
Houtu smiled and shook her head, then lightly drew a line through the air with her slender hand.
Another scene appeared in the sky.
A vast, boundless sea of churning crimson waves appeared. Strange-looking members of the Asura Clan occasionally poked their heads above the water, letting out roars.
It was the Youming Blood Sea, bordering the Underworld!
"Most of the Interception Sect disciples' True Spirits were indeed imprisoned by Ksitigarbha in the City of the Wrongly Dead and the Eighteen Levels of Hell."
Empress Houtu's voice rang out slowly.
"But some of them had such deep resentment and committed such grave sins that even Ksitigarbha's Buddha Light couldn't fully convert them. So he cast them into the Youming Blood Sea, hoping to use the sea's filthy power to erode the imprints of their True Spirits."
"What?!"
Holy Mother Wudang's eyes blazed with fury.
"Ksitigarbha! You're utterly vile!"
Casting True Spirits into the Blood Sea was no different from making them vanish completely.
The Blood Sea had formed from the filthy blood of Great God Pangu's navel. Its corruptive power was the most potent against souls and spirits.
Forget incomplete True Spirits—even a Da Luo Golden Immortal in their prime would soon lose all reason if they fell into the Blood Sea, becoming part of it!
"Auntie, do you mean I still have a bunch of employees locked up in that filthy ditch?"
Xiruan pointed at the crimson sea, her little face full of anger.
That bald factory boss really was rotten to the core!
Not only had he locked his employees in a sweatshop, he'd thrown some of them into a filthy ditch that looked disgusting!
It was utterly inhumane!
"Mm." Houtu nodded. "But don't worry."
She turned her gaze toward the churning Blood Sea, her eyes suddenly stern and cold.
"Minghe, come out and face me."
Her voice rang across the entire Youming Blood Sea.
"Boom!"
Towering waves surged through the Blood Sea!
A gigantic palace built of bones slowly rose from its depths.
A figure in a blood-red robe appeared atop the palace, his face sinister and his aura immensely powerful.
He held two swords that radiated murderous intent, and beneath his feet rested a blood-red, twelve-petal lotus platform. (Ksitigarbha's was merely a branch that had been exchanged long ago.)
He was the master of the Youming Blood Sea, one of the mightiest Great Beings beneath the Saints in the Primeval World, famed for the saying, "As long as the Blood Sea remains, Minghe will never die"—Ancestor Minghe!
"Fellow Daoist Houtu, may I ask why you've summoned me?"
Ancestor Minghe's voice was hoarse and gloomy. A deep wariness filled his eyes as he looked at Houtu.
He had been Houtu's neighbor for countless eons and knew well how fearsome the ruler of the Underworld was.
Though she couldn't leave the Underworld, she was invincible within the netherworld.
So he usually did his best not to provoke his neighbor.
"Minghe, I'll get straight to the point."
Houtu's tone was cool and forceful.
"Hand over the things in your Blood Sea that don't belong to you."
Ancestor Minghe furrowed his brow.
He immediately understood what Houtu meant.
He had known that Ksitigarbha had cast the Interception Sect's True Spirits into the Blood Sea.
He had intended to refine all those True Spirits into Blood God clones and strengthen himself.
He hadn't expected those disciples to be so stubborn, each one refusing to yield even in the face of death. He had tried hard but still failed.
So he had simply suppressed their True Spirits beneath the Blood Sea's eye, using the sea's source power to erode them day and night.
He had thought no one would ever find out.
But who could have guessed that Houtu would personally come to him over this matter today!
"Fellow Daoist Houtu, what do you mean?"
Ancestor Minghe rolled his eyes, deciding to play dumb.
"My Blood Sea contains only the sons and daughters of my Asura Clan and some wandering ghosts. What could there be that doesn't belong to me?"
He didn't want to give up the spoils he'd already gotten his hands on for no reason.
"Is that so?"
Houtu's gaze turned cold. She raised her right hand and gently pressed it down toward the Youming Blood Sea.
"Rumble—!"
In that instant, the entire Youming Blood Sea seemed to be pinned down by an invisible hand!
The countless miles of surging blood waves were forcibly pressed down, sinking tens of thousands of feet.
The entire sea level dropped dramatically!
A supreme force, born of the earth and of reincarnation, descended upon the Blood Sea, suppressing all things!
Ancestor Minghe's expression changed drastically!
He could clearly feel his connection to the Blood Sea's source being forcibly suppressed... and severed by an even more powerful force!
"You!"
He stared at Houtu in shock and disbelief.
He knew Houtu was powerful in the Underworld, but he hadn't realized she was this powerful!
She could even suppress the Blood Sea, his home ground!
"I'll say it one last time."
Houtu's voice was as cold as a blade.
"Hand them over."
"Otherwise, I don't mind giving this Blood Sea a new master."
Ancestor Minghe's face turned darker than the bottom of a pot.
He knew Houtu wasn't bluffing.
She really was that powerful!
In the netherworld, she was invincible!
After weighing his options, Ancestor Minghe forced an ugly smile.
"Fellow Daoist, please calm down! I was being foolish!"
He promptly backed down.
"I'll bring those fellow Daoists from the Interception Sect out right away!"
With a thought, he opened a crimson vortex in the depths of the Blood Sea.
Several thousand incredibly weak True Spirits, wrapped in bloody light, were sent out of the vortex.
Empress Houtu flicked a finger. A gentle, earthy-yellow divine light swept up the True Spirits and instantly brought them back to the Underworld.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Minghe."
Houtu spoke coolly and casually waved her hand. The rift in space vanished.
From beginning to end, she hadn't let Xiruan come face-to-face with the infamous Ancestor Minghe.
She didn't want the little one exposed too soon to a being as bloodthirsty and merciless as Minghe.
Xiruan watched the employees who had suddenly appeared and clapped her hands happily.
"Wow! Auntie, you're amazing!"
She thought this auntie was just like a magician. She waved her hand, and people appeared!
"All right, I've helped you get everyone back."
Houtu looked at the returning True Spirits of the Interception Sect. That was all she could do.
The rest was up to Tongtian and the little one.
"Thank you, Auntie! You're such a wonderful person!"
Xiruan rummaged around in her little belly pouch for a while and finally pulled out the thing she was most pleased with.
It was a juicy Peach of Immortality, an exquisite, high-grade innate spiritual root from the Queen Mother's Pantaoyuan that ripened once every nine thousand years!
Before you continue