On Helplessness Bridge, the Underworld God Demands Judgment!

Wei Lingzhu's heart skipped a beat, and she asked in a deep voice:

"Old Fisherman, what happened?"

"Um."

The Old Fisherman exhaled a soft breath and said in a low voice:

"The boatman is up to his old tricks again. Just now, his men, along with a member of the Nine Refinements sect, came to our tent area several times."

"Everyone who witnessed the celestial battle the day before yesterday has been taken away."

Wei Qingshan was startled:

"We just let them take our people away like that?"

Wei Lingzhu glanced at her younger brother and said in a deep voice:

"Didn't the Old Fisherman say that if you follow a formal member of a religion and then rebel, it would be considered rebelling against the religion itself? That's a serious accusation."

The Old Fisherman rubbed his temples and nodded wearily.

"Xiao Lingzhu is right. By the time we reacted, more than ten people had already been taken away."

"Just to be on the safe side, the three of you will sleep in the building tonight. As for those who were taken away..."

The Old Fisherman gritted his teeth, then sighed softly.

Everyone knows he probably won't survive.

He glanced at the honest-looking young man:

"But you, kid, got dragged into this without any real involvement."

Zhang Fusheng didn't say anything, just smiled honestly,

Seeing this, the Old Fisherman didn't say anything more. He waved wearily, and Wu Shangpin led the three of them out of the room, where he laid out bedding for them near the window.

"I'll make do for one night." He casually pushed open the window, and a cool night breeze blew in. Snow was still falling outside.

Zhang Fusheng thanked them and sat down on the floor with the somewhat flustered Wei Siblings, leaning against the wall. They remained silent for a moment.

He looked up, unable to see the moonlight—the world was pitch black.

"Take a nap."

Zhang Fusheng murmured softly, closed his eyes, and seemed to fall asleep.

Wei Lingzhu and Wei Qingshan exchanged a glance, and the latter gave a wry smile:

"Brother Boyang slept for so long this afternoon. A good nap is so refreshing."

"They really have a big heart."

He sighed anxiously.

At this moment.

A faint divine thought flowed out quietly through the open window, spreading towards the makeshift manor in the distance.

In the makeshift manor.

Cui Wendao, wrapped in a black overcoat, stood quietly in an eerie hand seal, as if in meditation.

Wang Changhuan walked over at that moment and spoke in a deep voice:

"Ask the Way."

The young man opened his eyes, looked at him, and spoke coldly:

"What is it, my dear uncle-in-law?"

Wang Changhuan choked for a moment, then murmured:

"Qingyi and I have been separated for a long time."

"I know."

Cui Wendao's expression remained indifferent.

"Your Myriad Gods Cult's leader in this small world is that Pseudo-Xiantian, isn't she? Why hasn't she come to see me yet?"

Wang Changhuan looked embarrassed and spoke in a humble tone:

"When asked, she said that the lady had encountered an accident and suffered minor injuries, and was currently recuperating. The main reason was to investigate the black resentment energy in the sky."

Cui Wendao, a look of impatience flashing across his face:

"Then don't bother me. Also, go back and report that I need to see her within ten days."

Wang Changhuan remained silent for a moment. This Great Grandmaster, who had lit three furnaces and held great power and position, responded cautiously, as if he were a servant.

Then, with his head down, he backed out of the room and gently closed the door behind him.

After leaving the manor.

"My lord, the Cui family's influence is far too great." A grandmaster approached and spoke softly.

Wang Changhuan sighed softly:

"The Cui family."

The master considered for a moment, then continued:

"My lord, once that Celestial Person passes away, the Cui family will likely face dire straits and may become the target of public criticism."

Wang Changhuan glanced at him sideways:

"Don't speak ill of the noble family. Get to work, guard the manor. If Young Master Cui encounters any mishap, even a thousand heads wouldn't be enough to pay your debt."

The master opened his mouth, then responded angrily.

Those who can prove themselves as grandmasters are undoubtedly geniuses, possessing their own pride, yet they're now expected to serve a mere child?

Naturally, they were not happy about it.

Watching the grandmaster return to the manor, Wang Changhuan shook his head:

"The target of public criticism?"

He laughed and muttered to himself:

"Both Wen Dao and Qing Yi are qualified to be Book Holder. If they are both truly transferred to the Qinghe family, that would be a real meteoric rise to power!"

As he muttered to himself, he took to the air and sped off into the distance, preparing to meet that important person, while his thoughts wandered in reverie.

Just flying and flying.

Wang Changhuan suddenly realized something was wrong.

He stopped abruptly, looked around, and saw only desert and darkness overhead, but the sound of a surging river could be heard, its source unknown.

The sound of the river was initially faint and indistinct, but it gradually became clearer, as if it were flowing gently right in front of you!

"Go forward, go forward!"

Ahead lies our destination, the other shore.

It seemed as if a voice was constantly echoing in his mind.

Wang Changhuan's eyes were somewhat glazed over as he stared blankly ahead. In the distance, far beyond, there was a continuous, faint light.

It resembles a blooming flowerbed, yet it feels more like a destined final resting place on the other side of the river.

One step, two steps.

He walked forward, stepping on the sky, getting closer and closer.

The sound of the river grew increasingly turbulent.

Wrong!!

The Spiritual Furnace Fire flickering behind his head suddenly surged, jolting Wang Changhuan awake. A tingling, numb sensation spread through his entire body.

He struggled in terror, letting out a thunderous roar:

"Who is this person?!"

The hissing echoed, and the world went dark. No one answered; only the sound of flowing water could be heard.

Cannot find it, cannot see it.

A chill ran through Wang Changhuan; his first instinct was to turn back and return to Cui Wendao's side.

He is qualified to be the Book Holder; he can communicate with the legendary Cui family Supreme Treasure!

Can.

Wang Changhuan made a horrifying discovery.

There's no going back now.

It felt as if some unspeakable, indescribable, and unimaginable horror was pressing heavily on my shoulders.

He lowered his head.

It is a bridge.

Beneath my feet was a bridge filled with an aura of decay, desolation, and ruin. The bridge surface was mottled and worn, and a layer of gray mist had enveloped the surroundings at some unknown time.

As if struck by a sudden inspiration,

Wang Changhuan suddenly raised his head again, and the fog surrounding the bridge suddenly thinned out a little.

He saw it.

He saw a magnificent, colossal statue that reached to the very bottom of the heavens.

The statue is towering ten thousand feet tall, clad in a majestic robe, topped with a twelve-tasseled crown, its face half compassionate and half wrathful, turned sideways towards oneself.

But its head was turned, staring intently.

I was drenched in cold sweat.

The mist churned, and dozens of overlapping chants pierced through the dark fog.

"I humbly submit that I am the Central Extreme Cult Master, the Great Emperor of the Underworld, the Nine Nether Sin-Removing Heavenly Venerate."

"He holds the position of the Underworld, governs the Netherworld, controls the balance of life and death in the mortal realm, and oversees the records of good and evil, right and wrong."

The overlapping sounds seemed to be both far away and close at hand.

Wang Changhuan trembled as three flames appeared behind his head, burning fiercely, the chanting echoing, each word stimulating his nerves.

The Nine Nether Sin-Removing Heavenly Venerate.

They control life and death in the human world, and govern good and evil, right and wrong.

And, a thin record.

The statue suddenly receded, receded further and further away, until it disappeared completely, and even the layers of chanting became faint, turning into a hazy, indistinct background sound.

'Du, du, du'

Footsteps echoed from the depths of the fog ahead. Wang Changhuan stood on the dilapidated bridge, staring intently at the thick fog.

Someone emerged from the mist, his figure drawing wisps of fog that flowed through his clothes.

It is a child with three eyes.

In the child's third eye, a gray and desolate color swirled, and he walked towards the void with his hands behind his back.

Who dares to trespass into the Netherworld Yin Capital?

The light, airy voice entered Wang Changhuan's ears, sending a chill down his spine.

The old, dark capital?

"What is your name?" the three-eyed child asked in an ancient language, with a condescending air.

As he opened his mouth to ask a question, a chilling Yin Qi burst forth from his mouth and nose, causing the three furnace fires behind the Grand Master to flicker and nearly go out.

Wang Changhuan was drenched in sweat, his mind completely captivated, utterly unable to muster the slightest thought of resistance, and murmured:

"My name is Wang Changhuan."

"Wang Changhuan."

The Three-Eyed Child calmly narrates:

"You do bear some traces of the Book of Life and Death. It seems you've been entangled in karma and mistakenly entered the underworld?"

"Yes, yes! We wandered in by mistake!"

Wang Changhuan nodded hastily at first, but then his expression suddenly froze.

Book of Life and Death?

He didn't know what it was, but the name sounded straightforward and reminded him of the Cui family's Supreme Treasure.

The Qinghe Cui Clan.

Zhang Fusheng subtly manipulated Zhou Muneo's body, which was originally his creation and his Subordinate Soul. With a thought, he easily pulled Zhou Mu Niao into the divine realm.

As for Wang Changhuan...

He originally intended to assassinate him directly to test his current abilities and perhaps even try to bring him to the Eight Sceneries Palace.

Forcibly extracting someone's traits from a high-level perspective—it usually won't work, but what if it does?

Only.

Hearing Wang Changhuan's mutterings just now changed Zhang Fusheng's mind.

The Book Holder, surnamed Cui

There is no doubt what book he is holding.

Standing on the Helplessness Bridge of Helplessness, a place where even the gods cannot turn back, Wang Changhuan licked his lips and spoke tremulously:

"What, what is the Book of Life and Death?"

The Three-Eyed Child said calmly:

"It is in charge of recording the merits and demerits, interactions, birth dates, and lifespans of all mortal beings in the human realm."

Wang Changhuan's legs went weak.

He saw the Three-Eyed Child shrouded in eerie mist and spoke with great interest:

"Judging from your appearance, what, have you seen me before?"

"That's fine. Let me extract your soul and send you through the eighteen hells, then you'll understand everything."

As he finished speaking, the mist churned, and the magnificent scene of eighteen layers of purgatory appeared and disappeared in the mist behind the boy.

There were mountains of knives and seas of fire, boiling oil cauldrons and iron trees, where countless Soul Spirit sank and floated, enduring torture and emitting piercing wails!

Wang Changhuan was terrified and knelt down, begging for mercy.

Although Zhang Fusheng possessed a thousand-year-old position, his divine realm had been nurtured by incense offerings and tempered by the Six Ding Divine Fire for hundreds of years.

But to be honest, it's not really the underworld. If Wang Changhuan calmed down and looked carefully, he could still see some clues.

But his mind was already captivated by the wooden bridge beneath him, the statue he had just seen, and the Other Shore Flower!

Where can one still find peace and focused observation?

After all, he was one of the few people who had tried to understand [the Netherworld].

Wang Changhuan kowtowed repeatedly at this moment:

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! I have no connection with the Book of Life and Death! It's the Cui family, the Cui family!!"

This master, who had lit three braziers, revealed everything as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

"It was the Cui family of that mortal realm who usurped the Book of Life and Death! I once befriended a woman named Cui Qingyi, and unintentionally learned of this matter. I was branded by that book, and my lifespan and fate are now entirely in their hands!"

His forehead struck the mottled bridge surface again and again.

With each collision, it seemed as if memories of the past flashed through his mind, only to vanish just as quickly—this terrified Wang Changhuan even more.

The past is not the past in this lifetime.

It was in my past life, or the life before that.

He was utterly terrified, his mind completely lost, and the Spiritual Furnace Fire behind him began to weaken.

"Further discussion is pointless."

The Three-Eyed Child spoke indifferently:

"Go to hell!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the eighteen layers of purgatory in the mist behind him suddenly seemed to solidify.

A chilling wind howled, and ghosts wailed!

Wang Changhuan was emotionally devastated.

He was in despair.

Suddenly at this moment.

"The underworld has been absent from the mortal realm for countless years. Why, are you interfering in human affairs again?"

A detached voice came from the infinite heights. Wang Changhuan suddenly looked up and saw light, saw the Rosy Clouds!

He saw the sky-covering Rosy Clouds descend, and within that Rosy Clouds, he saw an ineffable, transcendent Dao Palace.

Before the Dao Palace, bathed in the Rosy Clouds, stood a dignified old man who looked somewhat familiar.