Within the Nether River

The Nether River had no source and no end.

That meant it had neither a beginning nor an end. Like the River of Time, it was one of the laws governing the World of Gods. Unlike the River of Time, however, the Nether River had taken physical form and was nowhere near as mysterious.

Its purpose and rules were simple: it brought death to living beings whose lifespans had run out, then returned their souls to the beginning to be reborn in the womb.

Those rules reached far and wide. The World of Gods, the Dark World, the Abyss World, the Three Moons, and every Small World that had not fully broken free of the River of Time all fell within their reach.

Unless someone had transcended the Three Realms and escaped the Five Elements...

Ahem. All it took was breaking free of the River of Time's control—in other words, entering the Saint Realm. Such beings lived forever and were completely beyond the Nether River's grasp!

Even if they reincarnated, they could retain some of their Origin Power and many of their memories while passing through the Nether River.

That was one of the main reasons there were so damn many Reincarnated Deities.

The Nether River itself lay in a strange space between the World of Gods and the Dark World. Apart from the souls of the dead, drawn there by an inexplicable pull, only Saints could get anywhere near it or enter it.

The Nether River in this Small World, however, was merely a tributary. It possessed some of the river's powers, but its reach ended there. Like a Mobius Strip, it flowed in an endless loop within the Small World.

Even so.

A tributary of the Nether River was far beyond what an ordinary Legendary expert could approach.