A Glimmer from the Netherworld, the Universe's Ultimate Law of Death

The vision of the Myriad Heavens Mythic Rankings gradually faded from the void. But the shattered scene of that catastrophe—immortals and Buddhas bleeding across the heavens, the Thirty-Six Generals fighting their enemies to the last—remained branded deep in the souls of every living being across three star domains and dozens of great worlds.

The universe erupted.

Ziwei Star Domain, Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect.

Atop nine starry fortresses ten thousand miles high, built entirely from Mystic Ice Immortal Stone, countless ancient warships with terrifying auras roared as they weighed anchor. Flags vast enough to blot out the sky snapped above them, while tens of thousands of grim-faced cultivators stood on their decks.

At the prow of the foremost warship stood an old man in pale Daoist robes, his body steeped in the aura of death. His eyes had long since clouded, yet they now burned with near-mad fervor and obsession.

He was the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect's supreme ancestor—True Lord Kurong.

An ancient monster who had lived nearly ten thousand years and reached the peak of the Tribulation Crossing stage.

"Ten thousand years of cultivation, all for nothing... I have only three months left to live."

True Lord Kurong coughed softly. Each cough dispersed a wisp of his soul's essence. He stared toward Canglan Realm, his withered fingers pressing deep marks into a railing forged from ten-thousand-year divine iron.

"No Great Emperor has appeared. The path to immortality is severed... I thought I could only wait to die in that dark chamber and turn to dust. But heaven has not abandoned me!"

"The Ancient Heavenly Court... the inheritor of Erlang Manifesting Sage True Lord!"

"Lin Qiye of Canglan Realm must possess a supreme immortal scripture and a method of extending life left by an ancient deity! Even if there's only a sliver of hope, I'll search his soul by force and seize his fortune!"

"Pass down my decree! Muster the entire sect, cross the stars, and march on Canglan Realm!"

"If the Primeval Holy Land dares stand in our way... destroy its sect and slaughter its world!"

Rumble!

At True Lord Kurong's command, hundreds of enormous starships tore through the void. They became streaks of blinding light and hurtled toward Canglan Realm's star domain, bearing a cold, devastating killing intent.

And the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect was not alone.

The Jiuyou Demonic Fiend Warships of the Heavenly Demon Great Realm, the Myriad Demon Imperial Palace of the Primordial Demon Realm, the ancient guardian vessels of Ziwei Star Domain's great Ancient Era clans...

Across the universe, every Tribulation Crossing monster nearing the end of their life, or still obsessed with the path to immortality, made their move.

They did not believe the return of myth could save everyone. They believed only in plunder!

Since myth had revealed a glimpse of itself in Canglan Realm, they would use the bloodiest, most primitive means to seize that peerless opportunity for themselves!

An immense storm poised to sweep across the entire star domain bore down on Canglan Realm with unstoppable force.

Primeval Holy Land, Primeval Holy Hall.

The atmosphere was stifling.

Ji Changkong, Heavenly Sword Guest, and Perfected One Ten Thousand Laws, three mighty Dao-Slaying cultivators, sat around the center of the hall. Before them floated dozens of starry transmission jade slips flashing violently.

The news carried by any one of those slips would have driven an ordinary Ancient Era clan to despair.

"Holy Lord! The Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect of Ziwei Star Domain has mobilized its entire force! True Lord Kurong, that Tribulation Crossing monster, is leading the expedition himself!"

"Report! Three Demon Emperors of the Heavenly Demon Great Realm have torn through the world barrier! They've led a million demonic fiends across the Ecliptic Star Domain!"

"Report! The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan of the Primordial Demon Realm is leading a hundred thousand great demons! Their warships are nearing Canglan Realm's outer star domain!"

Each chilling report hung over the Primeval Holy Land like a colossal hammer poised to fall.

"They came quickly..."

Heavenly Sword Guest rested a hand on the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Sword at his waist, his face grave. The spirit sword that had accompanied him for two thousand years rang out in sharp, repeated cries. It had clearly sensed the overwhelming killing intent beyond the stars.

"Those old bastards saw the projection of the Myriad Heavens Mythic Rankings. They know myth is about to return, and they're terrified. They've gone mad!"

Perfected One Ten Thousand Laws's eyes were red. He ground his teeth. "They want to search Holy Son Lin Qiye's soul before he fully matures and steal Erlang Manifesting Sage True Lord's supreme inheritance!"

Faced with an allied force that could nearly flatten all of Canglan Realm, Ji Changkong slowly rose.

His body, granted another hundred years of life, stood straight amid a haze of Purple Qi. Far from showing fear, the eyes that had witnessed his transformation through life and death blazed with an extraordinary will to fight.

"Search his soul? Steal his fortune?"

Ji Changkong sneered, his voice thundering through the hall.

"They're nothing but bones in their graves, clinging to life in despair! They think the Primeval Holy Land can't protect the Heavenly Court's inheritance?"

"Pass down my order! Activate the Primeval Myriad Immortals Array! Pour everything the sect has accumulated over three thousand years into its core!"

"Qiye is the agent chosen by the Heavenly Court's war god, Canglan Realm's only hope of reopening the path to immortality! Let alone a handful of Tribulation Crossing monsters—even if the Demon Emperors themselves come, they'll have to step over my corpse before they touch a hair on Qiye's head!"

Behind him stood Lin Qiye, his hands clasped behind his back.

The young man, newly restored to his position as Holy Son, wore an expression as cold as iron. The ancient golden mark deep within his forehead glimmered faintly. His Eight-Nine Profound Art surged at its limit, and a proud, unyielding will to challenge heaven itself quietly rose within him.

"There's no need to worry, Holy Lord."

Lin Qiye touched the Broken Sword on his back. His voice was calm, yet carried a chilling promise of slaughter.

"If they want war, we'll give them war!"

"Those corrupt schemers will never be allowed to defile the True Lord's inheritance. If they dare set so much as half a foot in Canglan Realm... the Broken Sword in my hand will spill their blood among the stars!"

At that moment, the entire Primeval Holy Land resembled a Primordial World beast awakening at last, baring its fangs to meet the coming storm.

Yet compared to the clamor and grim resolve on the Primeval Holy Land's main peak...

The Library Pavilion was peaceful.

Su Chen remained seated in his blue robes, tapping slender fingers lightly against a wooden desk. Dense streams of data on the system panel reflected in his eyes.

Through the system's sweeping view, he could clearly see the terrifying sight of warships from the star domains closing in.

"Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect, Heavenly Demon Great Realm, Primordial Demon Realm..."

Su Chen murmured without the slightest tremor in his voice, as though commenting on a few ants crawling across a chessboard.

"Dozens of old monsters at the Tribulation Crossing stage and the peak of Dao-Slaying. They've mobilized their entire sects just to cling to life and steal a method of immortality."

"What a pity... They see only the temptation of life. They have no idea what the Heavenly Dao is, or what order means."

Su Chen extended his right hand and tapped the void.

On the system panel, his vast reserve of 210,000 Karma Points began draining at an astonishing rate!

In this incomplete universe, cultivators knew only that after the body decayed, the soul dispersed—or became a vengeful ghost. They believed death meant oblivion, and so their obsession with lifespan had curdled into something close to sickness.

For this world had no "reincarnation."

No gods gathered the souls of the dead. No hell punished the sins of their lives. No next life inherited the karma of the last!

"The Heavenly Court governs heavenly law, the order above the nine heavens, and the laws of the living world."

A light dark as ink yet supremely noble slowly appeared in Su Chen's eyes.

"But the world of the dead... needs order too."

"Since you fear death so much and long to uncover the mysteries of life and death... I'll give you the Netherworld, which governs where every living being in all the heavens and worlds goes after death!"

[Ding!]

Deep within his sea of consciousness, the system's mechanical voice rang out with unprecedented gravity and grandeur.

[Consuming Karma Points: 150,000!] [Locking onto concept: Ancient Heavenly Court's subordinate divine realm—Netherworld!] [Manifesting physical scene: a section of Yellow Springs Road, Ghost Gate (ancient, incomplete version)!] [Constructing Dao Laws: rules for receiving the true spirits of living beings, mechanisms separating yin and yang!]

Rumble!

As those 150,000 Karma Points poured in, Su Chen sensed a fundamental change in the underlying Laws of Canglan Realm and its surrounding star domains!

Beneath the void of the material world, deep in a dimension none could touch, a black river formed from boundless deathly energy and the waters of the Yellow Springs surged into existence!

Along its banks, strange Othershore Flowers, scarlet as blood, bloomed in vast swathes across the emptiness!

At the end of that field of flowers, an ancient gate ten thousand fathoms high slowly rose from the void. Forged entirely from Obsidian God Stone, it was carved with countless images of howling ghosts and subdued gods and demons!

At the gate's center hung a black plaque radiating eternal cold and death.

Upon it were three blood-red ancient characters that seemed capable of freezing the soul—

[Ghost Gate]!

"The karma is set. The laws have taken shape."

Su Chen watched the spectacle of the Netherworld rise, a deep, cold smile touching his lips.

Beyond the stars, at that very moment...

The Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect's vast fleet had torn through Canglan Realm's final outer barrier!

True Lord Kurong stood at the bow of the flagship, his face twisted and his deathly aura surging. He looked down at Canglan Realm, shining like a brilliant pearl, and burst into deafening laughter.

"Canglan Realm! Primeval Holy Land! I've come!"

"Lin Qiye, come out and die! Hand over Erlang Manifesting Sage True Lord's fortune, and I might leave your corpse intact!"

The terrifying pressure of a Tribulation Crossing cultivator slammed into Canglan Realm's atmosphere. Countless living beings trembled in fear.

On the Primeval Holy Land's main peak, Ji Changkong and Lin Qiye were just about to take to the sky and fight the old monster to the death.

But at that very instant—

Dong—!!

A muffled, deathly bell, as though rung in the deepest reaches of hell, sounded without warning across the stars!

It was not loud. It did not stir the slightest ripple of spiritual energy.

Yet the moment they heard it, the souls of True Lord Kurong, the mighty cultivators of other star domains watching from hiding, and even the billions of living beings across Canglan Realm shook violently!

They felt their bodies and souls being forcibly pulled apart!

"What's happening?!"

True Lord Kurong's laughter caught abruptly in his throat.

To his horror, he discovered that the little lifespan he had left had, at the sound of the bell, gone out like a dying ember doused in icy water. It had fallen completely... to zero!

"No! No—! I still had three months! I haven't obtained the method of immortality! How can my time be up already?! No—!"

True Lord Kurong let out a shriek of utter despair and terror.

Countless powerful cultivators across the universe watched in horror.

The mighty monster who had reached the peak of Tribulation Crossing and dominated Ziwei Star Domain for ten thousand years began to crumble in the void. His formidable body turned to ash and scattered through the sky!

And where his body had perished...

A translucent soul drifted out uncontrollably, its face caught between confusion and fear.

Then—

The void collapsed, and the Nine Netherworlds appeared!

A turbid river thick with the deathly air of the Yellow Springs unfurled across the stars! Blood-red Othershore Flowers bloomed along both its banks!

And at the end of that river...

A terrifying gate ten thousand fathoms high, bearing the authority to determine where all beings went after death—[Ghost Gate]—thrust half its immense form out of the void!

On either side of the gate, two towering figures slowly took shape, one black and one white. They wore ancient official robes, their gaunt faces stern. In their hands were the Black and White Mourning Staff and a thick Soul-Locking Chain!

An immense, cold, merciless divine voice rang across the stars, carrying the supreme law that governed life and death:

"Your name's time in the Book of Life and Death has run out. The Netherworld has come to claim your soul!"

"Kurong, your allotted life has ended... Come with me through Ghost Gate and into the Six Paths of Reincarnation!"