Underworld

Enveloped by the hazy yet ancient, primordial will of the Death God Position, Li Chen felt time flow around him as the scenery shifted rapidly. He completely left the planar space of Douluo Continent and stepped into the boundless, desolate Underworld.

Beneath his feet lay unending black mist, while the Yellow Springs gurgled past, casting a ghostly, frigid glow. Confused remnant souls covered both banks. Some were bound by obsessions, while others had been eroded by the Underworld's baleful aura. Trapped in the gap between yin and yang, they drifted aimlessly, unable to enter the Reincarnation Path. They could only endure loneliness and pain without end, releasing faint, mournful soul cries.

Since the Dragon God had instigated countless wars, the Douluo Underworld had amassed an immense number of souls. For the Underworlds of other worlds, this would have been cause for celebration.

Moreover, most of the fallen divine positions in the Douluo Underworld had not been low-ranking ones—those too weak had not even qualified to participate. The fallen gods were ultimately drawn into the Underworld by instinct.

However, the Lord of the Douluo Underworld had fallen long before the Dragon God War. The Death God Position had no master, and the throne of the Lord of the Underworld remained suspended high above. The fallen gods could only wander through the Underworld like drifting ghosts.

The Death God Position desperately needed someone to ascend as the Lord of the Underworld, to take command of life, death, and reincarnation as the most perfect God of Death, thereby promoting the Underworld's evolution.

After all, the Underworld had once received tremendous support from the Dragon God's ten-billion subsidy. Its quality now was in no way inferior even to the Divine Dragon Realm at its former peak.

Now, the Underworld only lacked a central pillar—someone to ascend as the Lord of the Underworld, seize control of its core, and ultimately bring about its evolution.

When Li Chen saw these wandering souls, his heart inexplicably softened. The gentle Power of Death within him began circulating on its own. He instinctively raised his hand and slowly released a wisp of pure death divine power. It carried not the slightest intent to destroy; instead, it held a warmth that soothed the soul.

The will of the Death God Position beside him tilted innocently, transforming into a ball of soft light that clung to his shoulder. It voluntarily lent him the authority of the divine position and softly said, "They... are so pitiful. Will you help them?" (Ask why? It had been hexed.)

With the tacit approval of the Death God Position's will, Li Chen bent down and transformed his death divine power into gentle threads of light, lightly touching those trapped remnant souls.

Wherever the divine power passed, the obsessions and baleful aura clinging to the dead souls were gradually washed away. Their restless spirits slowly calmed, and their once-chaotic soul forms became clear.

Using the Power of Death as a guide and his own soul consciousness as a bridge, he gradually guided these liberated remnant souls toward the golden entrance to reincarnation deep within the Underworld.

Each time he sent off a departed soul, Li Chen could feel wisps of warm, pure, transparent power emerge from the fading soul form and slowly flow into his Soul Core and soul.

This was Soul Faith Power—the heartfelt gratitude and devout belief of departed souls after attaining liberation. It was far purer than the Soul Power cultivated by soul masters, and it was also the core power behind a god's inheritance.

One wisp, ten wisps, a hundred wisps... As more and more departed souls were guided onward, the faith power around him gradually condensed into a faint luminous mist. It surrounded his body and merged with the Power of Life and Death within him.

This faith power was incomparably pure and clean, without a trace of impurity. Normally, faith of this level could only be gathered from true fanatics, and ordinary gods would not have many such believers. Most who walked the path of faith relied on quantity, never quality.

Yet now, this kind of faith power practically filled this ancient road. If gods who followed the path of faith saw it, they would be drooling with envy. Those who understood, understood.

Originally, he had controlled the power of death and endings. Yet under the wash of countless thoughts of rebirth and reincarnation, and with the full guidance of the Death God Position's will beside him, he gradually touched the other side of death—Reincarnation.

Death was not the end, but the beginning of Reincarnation. Life and death depended on one another, and reincarnation never ceased. This was the true meaning of the Great Dao of Life and Death.

Li Chen sat cross-legged on the bank of the Yellow Springs in the Underworld and closed his eyes, allowing faith power and death divine power to surge wildly through his body. The will of the Death God Position floated above his head, pouring the complete Law of Life and Death into his soul without reservation.

Ancient divine revelations intertwined with youthful mental power. Countless scenes of reincarnation flashed through his mind—birth, aging, sickness, death, the beginning and end of karmic ties—all transforming into the most primordial power of law.

Suddenly, beside the black Power of Death, white Power of Life slowly emerged under its guidance and settled firmly on the other side.

A wisp of crystalline, pale golden power carrying the aura of life and death's circulation slowly condensed—it was the Power of Reincarnation, a supreme power that stood above the Power of Life and Death and governed the rebirth and reincarnation of all living beings!

The instant the Power of Reincarnation appeared, the Yellow Springs of the Underworld churned, the Reincarnation Path shone with boundless golden light, and the Law of Life and Death throughout the entire Underworld became increasingly clear.

This fluctuation of power, transcending mortal planar realms and touching the origin of life and death, could no longer be concealed by the laws of the universe. It traveled directly into the depths of the endless Great Universe.

As the laws were completed, the Great Universe Will—standing above countless planes, with a status even higher than the God Realm—slowly opened its eyes.

An invisible, formless intent, vast and ancient, neither good nor evil, pierced through infinite space and time. It landed precisely upon Li Chen, who had just condensed the Power of Reincarnation within the Underworld, and upon that newly born will of the Death God Position.

This intent held no emotion and no pressure, yet it carried the supreme majesty of one that controlled the laws of countless planes and determined the Great Dao of all things. With a single gaze, it froze the entire Underworld. The Yellow Springs ceased flowing, and the dead souls fell silent.

Li Chen's heart jolted. His soul felt as though it had been placed beneath an endless starry sky. He could clearly sense that vast will, far surpassing gods and encompassing all things, and enormous waves surged within his heart.

He knew that his act of condensing the Power of Reincarnation and comprehending the complete Great Dao of Life and Death had already alarmed the most supreme existence of the Douluo world—the Great Universe Will.

Back then, the Dragon God had sought to advance the God Realm into a God Star, and thus fell victim to Its scheme. In the end, the God Star's advancement failed, the Dragon Prince died, the Nine Great Dragon Kings fell, and the Dragon Clan survived in name alone.

Now that the Great Universe Will had descended, would It, driven only by instinct, guide him to become the Lord of the Underworld and fill the gap in the Underworld's laws of reincarnation—or erase him and seize complete control of the Underworld's reincarnation itself?

Seeing this, the will of the Death God Position beside him no longer frolicked in ignorance. Black divine power belonging to the Death God Position faintly gathered into a pair of black eyes. An ancient primordial aura stirred slightly as it stared at the Great Universe Will with a threatening gaze.

At that moment, the Power of Life, Power of Death, and Power of Reincarnation within Li Chen fused, refined, and gave birth to one another. Under the invisible gaze of the Great Universe Will, these three powers continuously evolved, quietly transforming in an even more unimaginable direction.