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 scenes of that calamity—immortals and buddhas bleeding beneath the heavens, the Thirty-Six Generals fighting to hold back the enemy—remained branded into the souls of every living being across the Three Great Star Domains and dozens of great worlds.

The universe erupted.

In the Ziwei Star Domain, at the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect.

Atop nine star fortresses ten thousand miles high, built entirely from Mystic Ice Immortal Stone, countless ancient warships rumbled as they weighed anchor. Banners vast enough to blot out the sky snapped above them, while tens of thousands of cultivators stood grim-faced 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 clouded eyes now burned with near-mad fervor and obsession.

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

A peerless old monster who had lived nearly ten thousand years and reached the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

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

True Lord Kurong coughed softly. Each cough carried away a wisp of his soul's essence. He stared toward the Canglan Realm, his withered fingers digging deep impressions into the rail forged from ten-thousand-year divine iron.

"The Great Emperors are nowhere to be seen, and the path to immortality is severed... I thought all I could do was wait to die in a dark chamber and turn to dust. But heaven has not abandoned me!"

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

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

"Pass down my order! Muster every fighting force in the sect and set sail across the stars for the 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 the Canglan Realm, bearing a cold, murderous intent that promised destruction.

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 the great Ancient Era clans in the Ziwei Star Domain...

Across the universe, every old monster at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage whose life was nearing its end, or who remained obsessed with the Immortal Dao, made a move.

They did not believe the return of myth could save everyone. They believed only in taking what they wanted!

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

A storm poised to engulf the entire star domain bore down on the 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 sat around the center of the hall. Before the three Dao-Slaying experts floated dozens of star-transmission jade slips, flashing violently.

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

"Holy Lord! The Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect of the Ziwei Star Domain has mobilized its entire strength! True Lord Kurong, an old monster at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, is leading the expedition himself!"

"Report! Three Demon Emperors from the Heavenly Demon Great Realm have torn through the world barrier! They're leading an army of a million demons and have already crossed the Ecliptic Star Domain!"

"Report! The Nine-Tailed Celestial Foxes of the Primordial Demon Realm are leading a hundred thousand great demons! Their warships are nearing the star domains surrounding the Canglan Realm!"

Each cold report was another crushing weight hanging over the Primeval Holy Land.

"They came so quickly..."

Heavenly Sword Guest rested a hand on the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Sword at his waist, his expression grave. The sword that had accompanied him for two thousand years rang out in piercing bursts, plainly sensing the overwhelming murderous intent beyond the stars.

"Those old fossils saw the projection of the Myriad Heavens Mythic Rankings. They know myth is about to return, and it's driven them mad with fear!"

Perfected One Ten Thousand Laws's eyes were bloodshot, his teeth clenched. "They want to search Holy Son Lin Qiye's soul and steal True Lord Erlang's supreme legacy before he can fully grow into his power!"

Faced with an allied force that could all but flatten the entire Canglan Realm, Ji Changkong slowly rose.

His body, granted another hundred years of life, stood straight. Purple Qi swirled around him, and in his eyes, tempered by a brush with death, there was not a trace of fear. Instead, they blazed with an unmatched will to fight.

"Search his soul? Steal his fortune?"

Ji Changkong sneered, his voice thundering through the hall.

"They're nothing but walking corpses clinging to life in despair! Do they think the Primeval Holy Land can't protect the Heavenly Court's legacy?"

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

"Qiye was chosen by the Heavenly Court's God of War. He's the Canglan Realm's only hope of restoring the path to immortality! Today, a few old monsters at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage mean nothing. Even if the Demon Emperors of the heavens come in person, they'll have to step over my corpse before they harm a hair on Qiye's head!"

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

The young man who had just reclaimed his position as Holy Son looked cold and resolute. The ancient golden mark deep in his forehead glimmered, and his Eight-Nine Profound Art churned at full power. An unyielding pride, one that dared challenge the heavens, 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 edged with a chilling readiness to kill.

"If they want a fight, they'll have one!"

"True Lord Erlang's legacy will not be defiled by these corrupt, rotten men. If they dare set foot in the Canglan Realm... the Broken Sword in my hand will spill their blood across the stars!"

In that moment, the entire Primeval Holy Land seemed like a beast from the Primordial World fully awakened. It bared its fangs to meet the coming storm.

Yet compared with the clamor and grim resolve on the Primeval Main Peak...

The Library Pavilion was peaceful.

Su Chen still sat there in his blue robes, tapping slender fingers lightly against the wooden desk. Streams of dense data from the system panel reflected in his eyes.

Through the system's all-encompassing view, he could clearly see the terrifying sight of warships from across the star domains bearing down on the realm.

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

Su Chen spoke softly, without the slightest ripple of emotion, as though he were commenting on a few ants crawling across a chessboard.

"Dozens of old monsters at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage and the peak of Dao-Slaying. All to cling to life and steal a method of immortality, they've thrown the full strength of their factions into it."

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

Su Chen extended his right hand and tapped the air.

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

In this incomplete universe, cultivators knew only that when the body decayed, the soul dispersed or became a vengeful ghost. They believed death led to nothingness. That was why their hunger for more years—and their fear of running out—had become almost pathological.

Because this world had no reincarnation.

No gods gathered the souls of the dead. No hell punished the sins committed in life. No next life carried forward the karma of the last!

"The Heavenly Court governs the laws of heaven, the order above the nine skies, and the workings of the living world."

Deep in Su Chen's eyes appeared a glimmer dark as ink, yet immeasurably noble.

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

"Since you fear death so much and yearn to uncover the secrets of life and death... I'll give you a Netherworld that governs where every being across the myriad 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 order · Netherworld!] [Manifesting physical sites: a section of the Yellow Springs Road, the Ghost Gate (ancient, incomplete version)!] [Constructing Great Dao laws: rules for receiving the true spirits of living beings, mechanism separating yin and yang!]

Rumble!

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

Beneath the void of the physical world, deep in a dimension no one could touch, a pitch-black river formed from boundless deathly energy and the Yellow Springs surged into existence!

Along its banks, eerie Othershore Flowers, red as blood, burst into bloom across the emptiness!

And at the far end of those flowers, an ancient gate ten thousand feet tall began rising inch by inch from the void. Built entirely from Obsidian God Stone, it was covered in carvings of roaring evil spirits and subdued gods and demons!

At the gate's center hung a black plaque radiating an eternal chill and the aura of death.

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

[Ghost Gate]!

"The karma is set. The laws are in place."

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

Meanwhile, beyond the stars.

The Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect's vast fleet of warships had torn through the final barrier of the void outside the Canglan Realm!

True Lord Kurong stood at the prow of the flagship, his face twisted and his aura of death surging. Looking down at the Canglan Realm, which shone like a pearl, he burst into deafening laughter.

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

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

The terrifying pressure of a Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivator crashed against the Canglan Realm's atmosphere like a mountain. Countless living beings trembled in fear.

On the Primeval Main Peak, Ji Changkong and Lin Qiye were just about to soar into the air and fight the old monster to the death.

But at that very instant—

Dong—!!

A dull, deathly bell toll, as if from the deepest reaches of hell, rang out across the stars without warning!

It was not loud. It did not even stir the spiritual energy.

Yet the moment they heard it, True Lord Kurong, the experts from other star domains watching in secret, and even the countless living beings of the Canglan Realm felt their souls shudder!

They felt their bodies and souls being... forcibly torn 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, the instant the bell tolled, been extinguished like embers doused in icy water. It had fallen utterly... to zero!

"No! No—! I still had three months! I haven't obtained the secret of eternal life! How can my time be up now?! No—!"

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

Under the horrified gaze of countless experts across the universe...

This peerless old monster, who had stood at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage and dominated the Ziwei Star Domain for ten thousand years, began to crumble. His mighty body weathered away in the void, turning directly to ash!

And where his body had been destroyed...

A translucent soul floated out against its will, its face caught between confusion and fear.

The next moment...

The void collapsed, and the Nine Netherworlds appeared!

A murky river thick with the deathly aura of the Yellow Springs spread across the stars from nowhere! Along both banks, blood-red Othershore Flowers bloomed in the wind!

And at the end of that Yellow Springs River...

A terrifying gate ten thousand feet tall, its authority reaching every living being's fate after death—the [Ghost Gate]—thrust half its enormous form out of the void with a thunderous roar!

Two towering figures, one black and one white, slowly took shape on either side of the gate. Dressed in ancient official robes, their gaunt faces stern, they held the Black and White Mourning Staff and a heavy Soul-Locking Chain!

A vast, cold, merciless divine voice, bearing the Supreme Law that governed life and death, thundered through the stars.

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

"Mortal Kurong, your allotted years are spent... Follow me through the Ghost Gate and into the Six Paths of Reincarnation!"