Life-Reaping Soul-Hooking Lock, First Runner of the Nine Netherworlds

The stars were cold, and all was silent.

The Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect's hundred-odd starships blotted out the heavens. Now they hung in space like iron tombs. Tens of thousands of cultivators stood aboard them, and even the elders who usually looked down on everyone trembled as if plunged into an icy abyss. None dared draw a full breath.

Before that boundless aura of death, the cultivation and refined immortal arts they took such pride in were as fragile as paper.

"No... impossible! I'm at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage! One more step and I could ascend to immortality! How could my lifespan be over?!"

In the void, True Lord Kurong's powerful, half-transparent soul twisted wildly as he roared.

His body had crumbled to dust, but the terrifying soul power of a cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage still surged from him like a tsunami. He refused to accept this! After ten thousand years of bitter cultivation, with his goal one step away, how could he become a mere wandering ghost?!

"Heavenly Frost Soul, hold the void for eternity! Break!"

True Lord Kurong's soul contorted with fury. He formed a seal with both hands and forcibly ignited the spiritual light at the core of his soul. An ice avatar ten thousand miles tall blazed into being behind him, attempting to tear through the netherworld Laws that held him fast and escape into the depths of space.

That desperate strike from a soul at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage was powerful enough to erase the entire atmosphere of the Canglan Realm in an instant!

And yet...

Faced with that world-ending soul avatar, the two towering phantoms flanking the Ghost Gate showed not the slightest change of expression.

On the left stood White Impermanence, dressed in a white robe and a tall hat bearing the words "A Glimpse Brings Wealth." He lowered his head slightly. His cold, lifeless eyes swept over True Lord Kurong, holding nothing but indifference and mockery for a fool of the mortal world.

"Your allotted years are over, yet you dare defy the summons?"

White Impermanence's voice was shrill and ethereal, carrying an ancient strangeness that pierced the soul.

"Foolish child, all the splendor of the mortal world is but a fleeting dream. Once the Book of Life and Death has your name, how could you escape its net?"

On the right, Black Impermanence wore a black robe and a tall hat bearing the words "All Under Heaven at Peace." His face was fierce, and he gave an impatient snort.

That single snort struck True Lord Kurong's soul avatar like an ancient hammer!

Boom!

True Lord Kurong's immense ice avatar, powerful enough to devastate heaven and earth, failed to withstand that sound for even a microsecond. It shattered like fragile glass, scattering useless motes of soul-light across the sky!

Clatter—!

Before True Lord Kurong could recover from the backlash of his shattered avatar, Black Impermanence flicked his thick arm. One of his pitch-black Soul-Reaping Chains, steeped in the aura of the netherworld's Yellow Springs, shot out like a venomous serpent spanning the stars!

The chain was wreathed in the purest order of death.

It ignored space, ignored time, and even ignored every defensive divine art True Lord Kurong had cast around himself!

Thud!

A harsh, dull impact rang out.

The black Soul-Reaping Chains pierced the void and struck straight through True Lord Kurong's soul at the shoulder!

"Aaaaaah—!!"

His agonized scream swept through the stars like a gale.

In that instant, True Lord Kurong felt as though his soul had been cast into the depths of Yellow Springs hell. Endless cold netherfire scorched every thread of his consciousness. The soul power of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage he had prized so highly melted and collapsed before the Soul-Reaping Chains like snow beneath boiling water!

"No innocent soul is taken by the reaping chain."

Expressionless, Black Impermanence gave the chain a shake, then tugged gently with his mountain-sized soul-body.

"Come here... now!"

Clatter!

Mighty as he was at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, True Lord Kurong was dragged along by the black chain like a hooked, dying fish, unable to resist. He slammed onto Yellow Springs Road before the Ghost Gate!

"No... don't! Spare me! Exalted immortal, spare me! I'll submit to the Netherworld! I'll serve as a slave for all eternity!"

True Lord Kurong's soul trembled violently where he lay on Yellow Springs Road. He stared at the blood-red Othershore Flowers beneath him and felt the ultimate darkness within the Ghost Gate ahead, a darkness that could grind souls to dust. The ancient powerhouse who had ruled the Ziwei Star Domain for ten thousand years finally broke.

He cast aside every shred of dignity and pride. Consumed by terror, he kowtowed frantically to Black and White Impermanence, begging for mercy.

But what room was there for mercy in the enforcement of netherworld law?

"The Ghost Gate opens, and you enter the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Your deeds in life will be judged before the Mirror of Karma."

White Impermanence gently shook the Mourning Banner in his hand.

At once, the colossal Ghost Gate, towering into the clouds, slowly opened a crack with a heavy creak like the collapse of a universe!

Beyond that crack lay no immortal light, no blessed land. There was only the soul-freezing Yellow Springs, mountains of blades and seas of fire, and the despairing howls of countless ancient, wicked souls under torment!

This was the ultimate order of the world of the dead!

Black Impermanence swung his right arm. His pitch-black Soul-Reaping Chains coiled around True Lord Kurong's soul like a giant python. Ignoring his desperate screams and pleas, Black Impermanence hurled him into the boundless darkness of the Ghost Gate!

Boom!

The Ghost Gate shut.

In that instant, every trace of True Lord Kurong—his aura, his presence, his soul's very fluctuations—was erased completely from the living world.

He had passed wholly into the Nine Netherworlds.

A maddening silence gripped the stars.

Aboard the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect's hundred-odd warships, countless elders and disciples had gone deathly pale. Some could not bear the shock that reached into the depths of their souls. They collapsed to the deck and wet themselves.

He was dead.

An exalted ancestor at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, one step from ascending to immortality, had been seized before their eyes. Two black chains had hooked his soul like a dead dog and dragged it into that mysterious Ghost Gate!

He had not even been allowed to put up a fight!

"Is... is this the 'Netherworld'?!"

Deep in space, three Demon Emperors of the Heavenly Demon Great Realm and an ancestor of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Foxes from the Primordial Demon Realm watched from hiding. Every hair and scale on their bodies stood on end, and fear nearly overflowed from their eyes.

They had once believed that the highest law of the universe was survival of the fittest, and that Great Emperors and Immortals stood at the pinnacle of existence.

But now, the sudden appearance of the Netherworld had taught every powerhouse across the myriad worlds a lesson in the coldest, cruelest way—

The Heavenly Court ruled the living; the Netherworld ruled the dead!

Whether you had been an ancient powerhouse capable of shaking heaven and earth or a supreme Demon Emperor who ruled a star domain, once your lifespan ended and your name appeared in that so-called Book of Life and Death...

When the Netherworld came for your soul, not even the king of heaven could keep you here!

"Retreat! Hurry!"

One of the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect's few surviving grand elders, a cultivator at the peak of Dao-Slaying, screamed until his voice nearly broke.

"Back to the Ziwei Star Domain! Seal the sect! Seal it completely!"

"The Canglan Realm is under the watch of the Heavenly Court and the Netherworld! No disciple of the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect shall ever set foot in the Canglan Realm again—!"

Rumble!

The hundred-odd starships that had arrived bristling with killing intent now wheeled around like a swarm of terrified flies. Their crews even burned the ships' core spirit stones as they raced one another toward the rift in space!

And it was not just the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect.

The Heavenly Demon Great Realm's Nine Nether Demon Ships and the Primordial Demon Realm's palace of ten thousand demons also suppressed their baleful auras. They tore open space and fled in disgrace!

True Lord Erlang's legacy? Immortal arts of longevity?

Before a Netherworld that could seize souls and command life and death, all greed and ambition turned to pure fear!

Within moments, the space surrounding the Canglan Realm, so recently besieged and fraught with danger, fell deathly still once more.

Only the fading phantom of the Ghost Gate suspended in the void, and the blood-red Othershore Flowers along Yellow Springs Road, remained to proclaim to the myriad worlds—

Myth had truly returned.

Primeval Holy Land, beside the Sword-Washing Pool.

Ji Changkong, Heavenly Sword Guest, and Perfected One Ten Thousand Laws, three mighty Dao-Slaying cultivators, stared blankly up at the fading phantom of the Ghost Gate. They might as well have turned to stone.

Powerful as they were, even they felt a numbing tremor deep in their souls.

"The Book of Life and Death... the Six Paths of Reincarnation..."

Ji Changkong murmured. His once-piercing eyes were now filled with awe and disbelief.

"I understand... I finally understand!"

"Last night, the Myriad Heavens Mythic Rankings showed us the Ancient Heavenly Court ruling the nine heavens, and the glory and slaughter of its campaigns across the world of the living."

"But this 'Netherworld' is the order of the dead under the Heavenly Court's rule! The Heavenly Court governs the living, and the Netherworld governs the dead! Heaven and earth, yin and yang—all are under the Heavenly Court's control!"

"So this was the true scope of the Ancient Era!"

Ji Changkong trembled with excitement. He turned to Lin Qiye, his eyes burning with fervor and a newfound reverence for the heir to that legacy.

"Holy Son Qiye! Did you see it? That vast empire stands behind the divine legacy you've inherited!"

"Above the nine heavens, war gods like True Lord Erlang fight to hold back their enemies; deep in the netherworld, officers like Black and White Impermanence govern reincarnation!"

"Those fools from the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect dared to seize a mythic legacy... They had no idea what they were up against. They were asking for death!"

Hearing Ji Changkong's words, Lin Qiye took a deep breath, his Broken Sword strapped to his back.

He had sensed a fierce resonance within the Golden Mark deep in his forehead when Black and White Impermanence appeared and took True Lord Kurong's soul.

It was a "law of the Heavenly Dao" born from the same source!

Lin Qiye clenched his fists, resolve hardening in his eyes. "You're right, Holy Lord. Nothing can stop the return of myth. Whoever dares obstruct the restoration of the immortal path will be crushed beneath the order of the Heavenly Court and the Netherworld!"

After this, the Primeval Holy Land's faith in and reverence for "myth" reached an unmatched peak!

Meanwhile, at the edge of the Primeval Holy Land...

Inside the quiet, peaceful Library Pavilion...

Su Chen sat beside a lamp with a green flame. As system notifications thundered through his mind like a raging flood, a satisfied smile slowly spread across his face.

[Ding!] The manifested Ghost Gate and Yellow Springs Road have successfully slain True Lord Kurong, a mighty Tribulation cultivator! The concepts of the Netherworld, the Six Paths of Reincarnation, the Book of Life and Death, and Black and White Impermanence have caused a reality-shattering upheaval across three star domains!

[Mythic transmission surging wildly!] Transmission of the "Desolate Ancient Heavenly Court/Netherworld" system in the Canglan Realm: 60% → 90% (approaching a fully real imprint)! In the Ziwei Star Domain: 15% → 55%! In the Heavenly Demon Great Realm: 12% → 48%! In the Primordial Demon Realm: 10% → 42%!

[Karma Points skyrocketing!] Feedback from the death of a Tribulation-level powerhouse: +80,000! Feedback from the despair and terror of tens of thousands of mighty cultivators across three star domains: +198,100! Feedback from the myriad worlds' reverence for the cycle of life and death: +190,000!

[Congratulations, host! Total available Karma Points: 530,000!]

"Five hundred thousand Karma Points!"

Su Chen looked at the long string of digits on the panel. A profound gleam shone in his gentle eyes, as though he were gazing down at a chessboard.

Not only had he recovered everything he had just spent, but his reserves had swelled to an unprecedented level!

More importantly, from this moment on, no one across the myriad worlds would dare lightly question whether "myth" was real.

The Netherworld's ruthless seizure of a soul had cost a powerhouse at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage his life—and fastened the strongest lock of truth around this lie!

"The first stage—'establish authority' and 'plant the concept'—is complete."

Su Chen rose with a sweep of his sleeve and walked to the window, watching the last trace of netherworld death aura fade from the sky.

"Now that the Netherworld's name has spread, it's time for the myriad worlds to see a true 'mythic blessed land' and a 'sage's sanctuary.'"

Su Chen raised a finger and drew it lightly through the air. In the system panel's fourth-tier exchange section, he selected the next supreme entry that would shake the heavens—

[Zixiao Palace: Hongjun Preaches the Dao]!