The eighteen levels of hell began to take shape.
Yet the eighteen Mighty Experts dared not relax. Instead, they grew even more cautious, bracing themselves for what lay ahead.
Creating hell was only the first step.
Integration was the key.
Before that, however, they still had to create one more level of hell.
That was the nineteenth level: Infinite Hell.
Its creation required the combined efforts of all eighteen Mighty Experts. Those sent into this hell would be ghosts of the most savage evil, souls whose sins had filled their cup to overflowing.
They would be imprisoned until death, forever denied rebirth.
Led by the three Half-Immortals, the Mighty Experts acted together, while Houtu moved through the eighteen levels of hell, the Six Paths of Reincarnation shining behind her.
Following the principle of uniting the Three Powers as one, the eighteen hells left their marks within the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Death energy, baleful energy, and yin energy grew ever denser within them, and the pressure emanating from the Houtu Empress grew ever stronger.
She was only one step away from becoming a Divine Path Mighty Expert.
When that happened, she would overtake those ahead of her and become the fourth Divine Path Mighty Expert between heaven and earth.
The first, naturally, was the Heavenly Southern Divine Lord.
The second was the Heavenly Worthy of Salvation from Suffering, Taiyi.
The third was the Emperor Gouchen.
After six months of deliberation, the Mighty Experts of the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty finally reached an agreement and consented to resolve the mortal realm's disputes peacefully.
To demonstrate their sincerity, they ruthlessly purged the opposition whose selfish motives ran deepest.
Representing Great Ming, the Emperor Gouchen visited the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty and signed a treaty. From then on, the two powers began to