Command over life and death-that was the Book of Life and Death's greatest power.
Apart from him, the Yanluo Heavenly Son himself, everyone listed in the Book of Life and Death had a recorded lifespan.
His father, Xu Ye, for example, had a lifespan of one hundred and eighty-five years.
That was probably quite respectable even among Limit Douluos.
Tens of thousands of years ago, legends claimed that a Titled Douluo gained another hundred years of life with every level. The First Generation Sea God, Poseidon, was even said to have spent a thousand years conquering the oceans and gathering the faith of sea soul beasts before finally forging his divine seat.
But the conditions of the world had long since deteriorated.
Even someone as powerful as a quasigod could live only around two hundred years at most. Some had suffered hidden injuries in their younger days, leaving damage their bodies could hardly recover from, and could live no longer than a hundred and fifty years.
Vast Sea Douluo Chen Xinjie, the Spirit Pagoda's former Pagoda Master Qiangu Dieting, Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu's father-the old head of the Leng Family-and his maternal grandfather, Old Master Shen, head of the Shen Family, were all examples. Xu Qingjia had heard his father explain that these oldest members of the Federation's senior generation were mostly in the same situation. Already over a hundred years old, they now had only twenty or thirty years left.
Yet Xu Qingjia could now clearly sense that a single thought would let him alter the lifespan recorded for someone in the Book of Life and Death.
"Alter the Book of Life and Death." Xu Qingjia suppressed his intense curiosity. "I'll get a soul spirit and build up my strength first. Then I'll buy a soft bone rabbit to experiment on."
Although this world had no concept of karmic merit, and even the so-called embodiment of heavenly law, the Plane Master, was merely a more powerful living being, he would surely have to pay a price for doing something like this. He did not need to worry about defying heaven by altering the Book of Life and Death, but that did not mean it would cost him nothing.
The stronger the target, the greater the price.
Register names. Command life and death.
Beyond that, as the Netherworld Court's signature divine artifact, the Book of Life and Death also possessed abilities such as soul capture and soul suppression.
Once a name entered the Book of Life and Death, he could forcibly suppress its owner.
It was an especially overwhelming counter to energy beings without physical bodies, such as certain pure elemental creatures or those whose souls had left their bodies.
"Does someone like the Plane Master have a physical body?"
Xu Qingjia pondered this.
After all, if he wanted to become a god in the Douluo Plane, the Plane Master was someone he would inevitably have to face.
Or could he become a god in the Netherworld instead?
As the Netherworld Court's supreme divine treasure, the Book of Life and Death should have absorbed the energy of the Netherworld Court, or perhaps pure power from heaven and earth. Yet his divine realm-the Underworld-had not been established, and the Book of Life and Death had slipped into the Netherworld on its own to absorb its energy.
The Netherworld was probably similar in composition to the Underworld.
He wondered whether the Netherworld had a master.
Probably not. Even if it did, that master clearly had little control. Never mind Tang San fishing Huo Yun'er out of the Netherworld; the history of the Douluo Continent actually recorded Ning Rongrong and Oscar using their Martial Soul Fusion Skill to resurrect Sea God Tang San before they themselves became gods. The Netherworld felt like a public toilet-people could come and go as they pleased.
Still, it was a little early to think about all that.
Xu Qingjia shook his head gently. He had not even obtained his first soul spirit, yet he was already thinking so far ahead.
With his thoughts, he continued turning the pages of the Book of Life and Death.
This time, he was not trying to read anyone else's life story.
Xu Qingjia kept feeling that there was something odd about his Book of Life and Death.
It felt like receiving a brand-new textbook.
Hadn't he brought this thing from his previous life? Why did it only record the names of people from this world? Or could the Book of Life and Death only record names within its "signal range," the living beings in this region?
But he soon put those questions out of his mind.
Without strength, thinking about them was meaningless.
Guided by Xu Qingjia's will, the Book of Life and Death turned to what he wanted to see.
[Ten Great Yin Marshals]
The Book of Life and Death had invested him with the title of Yanluo Heavenly Son.
At the time, Xu Qingjia had wondered whether it contained any other exalted positions for Netherworld gods.
"The Fengdu Great Emperor and the other Kings Yama aren't here."
"But Meng Po, the Six Case Merit Officials, the Four Great Judges, and the Ten Great Yin Marshals and ghost officers are."
Yet all of them were gray.
As for the former, he did not know whether he lacked sufficient authority or whether they were simply absent. Perhaps he might ascend to the position of Great Emperor himself someday.
The latter were clearly not something he could use right now, either.
To establish a divine realm, especially one as vast as the Underworld, a single chief god would certainly not suffice. He would need subordinate gods as well.
Even a dragon palace came with a turtle prime minister as standard.
His kind of god was probably different from the gods of Douluo, though there were similarities.
Xu Qingjia sank his consciousness into the Book of Life and Death and learned the relevant information. "I need enough faith and thought power from living beings to condense the corresponding decrees of investiture."
Money, money, money. Everything required money.
The power of faith and devotional offerings were a god's "money."
He needed them to become a true King Yama, to build his divine realm, and to establish subordinate gods.
Of course, merit bestowed by heavenly law would work too. That was hard currency.
But where would he find such merit in this Douluo World?
Xu Qingjia planned his road ahead.
Although there was much to do now, his situation was excellent. He no longer had to flail around like a headless fly with nothing to rely on. At least he had a clear goal and a bright future he could strive toward with all his heart.
First, and most importantly, was his own cultivation.
He absolutely could not neglect his cultivation as a soul master.
Second was gathering the power of faith.
That was his path to godhood.
As for subordinate gods, he would see how much faith they required when the time came. If the cost was acceptable, condensing one or two to help him gather faith quickly would be an option. With all kinds of nonconfidential knowledge now freely available, the public had become better informed. Through the internet, even ordinary people could learn more about soul masters. They were not as easy to fool as people in ancient times. Even if everyone knew that gods had truly existed in this world, how could he make them believe without displaying a few miracles?
There was no need for more than that.
The faith primarily needed to sustain him.
In another twenty years or so, the final battle between the Abyss Plane and the Douluo Plane would begin. By then, he would need at least the power of a Second-Level God, together with the Book of Life and Death, to hold his own against the Tang Family and the Abyssal Sage King.
He might even need it sooner.
Because Tang Hao and Ah Yin were here.
Right now, he did not know what the situation was
with Tang Hao, but once Shrek's Golden Tree was blown up, Ah Yin would become the Douluo Plane's Heart of Nature.
"I wonder if stopping Shrek City from being blown up could buy me some time."
Because of certain views from his previous life, as well as his background in this one, Xu Qingjia had no affection whatsoever for Shrek or the Tang Sect.
But he did not want the bombing of Shrek City, such a horrific human tragedy, to actually happen.
Those civilians were innocent.
Many were simply toiling for their own little families, one ordinary person after another. They were their parents' children, their children's parents, the support and mainstay of their households, yet they would be swept into that terrible calamity for no reason.
Putting himself in their shoes, if his parents and Xinglan were innocent victims caught in that disaster, he would surely go mad.
"Even with the Spirit Pagoda's support, the Holy Spirit Cult could never simply steal two rank-twelve Godslayer fixed soul ammunition bombs, among the Federation's most closely guarded secrets."
The Federation must have had a hand in it.
Looking at who stood to gain or lose, perhaps others were involved too.
After all, the bombing of Shrek City meant more than the disappearance of Shrek Academy.
The Golden Tree would disappear as well.
Wouldn't that allow a certain someone to slip straight into the void it left?
The deeper he thought, the more chilling it became.
"Filthy politics. Filthy hearts."
Xu Qingjia felt that, no matter what, a person ought to possess the morals and conscience befitting a human being.
"Our Sun Moon Lineage most likely knows about it. It may even be involved."
The Sun Moon Lineage did not refer solely to their Xu Family.
It was an alliance of several families that considered themselves the legitimate descendants of the Sun Moon Empire.
The Xu Family, his mother's Shen Family, Ye Xinglan's Ye Family, the Yu Family... several families that held important positions within the Federation.
The old struggle between the Sun Moon Empire and the original Douluo Three Kingdoms had continued even ten thousand years later.
The Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire had taken many high-ranking soul masters with them when they fled overseas. Yet Shrek, the Tang Sect, and the Spirit Pagoda had grown ever stronger, while the Sun Moon Lineage no longer enjoyed the glory of its days sweeping across the continent.
The Federation's powers could roughly be divided into seven camps.
Within the Sun Moon Lineage, some shared close ties, while others had only gathered together because of external pressure. Their hearts were not united.
Shrek and the Tang Sect.
The Spirit Pagoda, which had parted ways with Shrek and the Tang Sect and cultivated friendly relations with the Federation's various powers.
The War God Temple, led by Chen Xinjie, which obeyed the Federation's orders but also contained members of Shrek and the Tang Sect.
The southern faction, led by the Holy Angel Family, which held sway over its own territory both politically and militarily.
The Blacksmith Association, led by Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua, which every major power had to accommodate and coax.
Finally, there were scattered, unorganized groups. These included powerful secluded families, some close to the Federation, others-such as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Clear Sky Sect-close to Shrek and the Tang Sect, as well as a few fence-sitters who bent with the wind.
As for ordinary people, the Federation had indeed promoted some to serve as administrators and legislators. But they were merely political mascots pushed into the public eye by the major powers to placate civilians. Votes supposedly representing public opinion were utterly powerless when they touched those powers' interests, serving only as a veneer over their struggles.
Apart from these, the Blood God Legion was a rather special case.
Xu Qingjia respected those soldiers.
Regardless of which power they came from, they protected the continent in such harsh conditions, risking their lives at any moment even in this age of peace. That alone deserved respect.
As for why he knew about the Blood God Legion, a secret legion unknown even to many Titled Douluos, it was because his maternal grandfather, Old Master Shen, was known as one of the Federation military's three giants, alongside Vast Sea Douluo Chen Xinjie and the Central Legion's commander, Divine Brush Douluo Yu Guanzhi.
"I need to go find Mom and Dad."
His main aims were gathering faith and discussing his future cultivation path.
In the early stages, his own cultivation still had to come first. That was the foundation of all foundations.
But he was hardly alone in the world.
His family had such enormous influence. He could absolutely ask them to help, then take over himself in the middle and later stages.
Faith gathered this way would certainly not be very deep, but shallow believers were still believers, and small amounts would add up. The population had multiplied many times over since the era of the First Generation Angel God. Even some second-tier cities, such as Eastsea City, had at least three million permanent residents.
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Xu Qingjia opened his eyes.
At the same time, the soul communicator beside his bed, utterly out of place amid the elegant, antique decor, lit up to notify him that someone had entered his quarters using higher-level access privileges.
Xu Qingjia left his bedroom and saw a table full of steaming dishes in the main hall of his quarters, along with his parents, who were already waiting for him.
"Mom, Dad."