Netherworld Venerable

Biodata

Power Progression

Main Timeline

Dark Timeline

Background / History

Chaotic Ancient Origins

Cao Yusheng originated in the Chaotic Ancient Era. He was taught by the Black Tortoise Immortal King and shared a close relationship with the Desolate Heaven Emperor. Yuangeng recalls that he cultivated the Burial Domain Method extensively before dying during the upheavals at the era’s end; the Desolate Heaven Emperor subsequently buried him in the Burial Domain 44 150.

His original ambition was to become an immortal—or even a king—so that he could shoulder part of Desolate’s burden. By his Netherworld Venerable incarnation, however, important memories of his teacher and Desolate had been sealed away 178.

Founding the Underworld

During the Mythological Era, Netherworld Venerable founded the Underworld together with the Prison-Suppressing Venerable. Other ancient supreme beings gathered around his ideals, including Rebirth, Yama, and the Corpse Emperor 45 177.

He was also the little-known Origin Dao sovereign who helped Emperor Venerable seize Kunlun Mountain and develop the Land of Ninety-Nine Dragons Nurturing Immortality. To replenish Kunlun’s exhausted power and nurture the Immortal Ascension Cauldron, he drained numerous life-bearing planets 50.

At the end of the Mythological Era, he used death to escape, leaving his weapon and companions behind. The Underworld searched for him for millions of years, while its remaining rulers grew increasingly resentful and suspicious of his eventual return 45 49.

Hidden Corpse and Awakening

On Big Dipper, Cao Yusheng recalled his past lives and concealed himself from the Underworld in an iron coffin with his Extreme Dao Weapon. When his lifespan ended, the coffin sank beneath a lake 50.

Yuangeng later extracted the coffin from a dragon pearl beneath a Central Province lake. Three perfected Reincarnation Seals protected the corpse, destroying a phantom attack from the Heavenly Nether Treasure; a fourth seal was already forming. Rather than destroy him, Yuangeng arranged to help complete his transformation 129.

His former Ancient Hall became his corpse-nurturing site above the Epoch Burial Pit. Visiting supreme beings assisted the process, though many were motivated by fear that he would revive, disappear, and plot against them 174 176.

After awakening, Netherworld Venerable rejected his former allies’ demands that he remain in the Underworld. He broke their weapon cage, then fought Yuangeng, whose attacks eventually shattered the seal on his Chaotic Ancient memories 177 178.

Ending the Netherworld Venerable Lifetime

With his memories restored, Cao Yusheng wished to enter the Immortal Domain and follow Desolate’s footsteps beyond the Boundary Sea. He asked Yuangeng to guide his next body back to the Extreme Dao once his cultivation and memories were sealed away 179.

Yuangeng entrusted his powerless fifth-life body to a Quasi-Emperor black tiger for two thousand years and sent him, together with the Jade Bowl, to Big Dipper’s Eastern Wasteland. The Underworld’s ancient venerables accepted that their karma with him had ended 180.

He later appears as Duan De, guiding Yuangeng’s group to the Primordial Ancient Star and recalling his work with Emperor Venerable to restore Kunlun’s Immortal Ascension Ground using dragon veins from other worlds 193.

Dark Timeline: Resistance Against the Heavenly Court

In the dark timeline, his incarnations led the old Nine Heavens’ resistance rather than serving alongside Emperor Venerable. As Netherworld Venerable, he founded the Underworld to oppose the Dark Heavenly Court. His final Mythological Era offensive brought down much of that court, shattered its dark Immortal Ascension Cauldron, and nearly killed Dark Emperor Venerable 138.

He also remade an unfinished small world left by the Desolate Heaven Emperor into the Nine Heavens lineage’s final stronghold. His surviving memories gave him access to many of Desolate’s remaining arrangements 150.

Cao Yusheng and Wan Qing later rescued Yuangeng from the Dark Heavenly Emperors using the Desolate Pagoda. During the decisive war, Cao fought the dark Undying Heavenly Emperor before joining his Burial Dao laws with Yuangeng’s for a combined assault 149 159.

He eventually died peacefully. Wan Qing and the others held his funeral on Gou Chen Ancient Star 166.

Appearance

• Build: Broad and somewhat plump, with an outwardly harmless appearance 129 177.
• Face: Ordinary-featured and youthful, appearing to be in his twenties or thirties when examined in his coffin 176.
• Distinguishing marks: Reincarnation Seals appear between his brows; the three initially revealed seals are lustrous white and jade-like 129.
• Clothing: Wears old Daoist robes upon breaking free of the weapons suppressing him 177.
• Bearing: His brow retains the majesty of a body tempered by the Heavenly Heart Imprint. When his Dao Fruits unite, he resembles a sovereign reigning over the netherworld 176 177.

Personality

Netherworld Venerable places his immortal path above former obligations. He regards his departure from the Underworld as the natural ending of a lifetime’s ties, not abandonment, and threatens to sever old karmic bonds by force if his companions obstruct him. Nevertheless, he explicitly states that he has never harbored malice toward them 177.

His sealed memories substantially affect his priorities. Yuangeng considers the Netherworld Venerable less urgent in his pursuit of immortality than the Cao Yusheng who witnessed Desolate’s suffering. Recovering those memories renews his determination to find and follow his old companion 178 179.

His dark-timeline counterpart is notably more magnanimous and imposing. He accepts Yuangeng as an ally because Yuangeng opposes darkness, even before knowing his origins, and bears the outlook of someone forced to lead an era’s resistance 150.

Abilities & Skills

Reincarnation Seals and Nine-Lifetime Cultivation

• Preservation of Dao Fruits: Stores cultivation and memories from successive lifetimes within Reincarnation Seals, allowing a new life to begin with a fresh cultivation foundation 49 180.
• Combined power: Linking four seals returns four different Dao Fruits to him, supplying enough power to kill ordinary Dao Provers and escape seven Imperial Dao Weapons 177 178.
• Automatic protection: His seals destroy an attack on his corpse and retain safeguards even when his fifth-life body has no cultivation 129 180.
• Ultimate goal: Seeks nine Reincarnation Seals and the union of nine lifetime Dao Fruits to achieve Mortal World Immortal ascension; that completion is not shown in the provided chapters 49 180.
• Limitations: Each new primordial spirit must cultivate anew. His research suggests that stronger Dao Fruits make seal formation more difficult and demand exceptional timing, terrain, and resources 49.

Burial Domain Method and Netherworld Dao

• Shared foundation: His methods and Yuangeng’s Burial Dao arise from the same Burial Domain tradition 44 159.
• Netherworld Scripture: His foundational scripture draws upon the netherworld and transforms reincarnation; it also establishes the Underworld’s cultivation principles 50.
• Corpse research: Excavated the Corpse Emperor and at least three imperishable Extreme Dao corpses from the Epoch Burial Pit. Attempts to awaken spirits in the latter corpses failed 49.
• Joint application: In the dark timeline, his laws reinforce Yuangeng’s, allowing their weapons to shake the Undying Heavenly Emperor’s Immortal Artifact-level Five-Colored Heavenly Blade 159.

Origin Dao

• Heaven-and-earth manipulation: Uses external terrain and fortune through the methods recorded in the Origin Scripture 50.
• Immortal Ascension Ground: Reorganized the power of numerous worlds to develop the Ninety-Nine Dragons site and nurture the Immortal Ascension Cauldron 50.
• Saint Spirit experiments: Captured nearly mature Saint Spirits and accelerated their development as experimental material 50.
• Artificial beings: Created Source God, Source Demon, and Source Ghost, whose bodies and primordial spirits could contend with sovereigns despite never undergoing Extreme Dao tribulations 50.

Nine Secrets: Qian

• Originator: Created Qian during his Tribulation Transcendence Heavenly Venerable incarnation 177.
• Application: Uses the primordial spirit as its foundation, producing numerous transformations and powerful spirit-suppressing attacks 177.
• Limit: Even with his lifetime Dao Fruits linked, the art is dispelled by Yuangeng 177.

Formations and Physical Durability

• Underworld defenses: Laid the core Imperial Dao Formation Patterns that withstand Yuangeng’s full-powered attack while he uses the Human Body Secret Realm method 44.
• Tempered body: Survives a direct strike from Yuangeng’s Immortal Tribulation Dao Sword and continues fighting 178.
• Restored Chaotic Ancient cultivation: The return of his first-life memories manifests ten illusory grotto-heavens and connected runes across his flesh and bones 178.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Heavenly Nether Treasure — His lifebound supreme treasure, created by combining his Netherworld and Origin Dao achievements. It possesses independent sentience and an intrinsic nature beyond ordinary Extreme Dao Weapons 45 50.
• Jade Bowl — His fourth-life imperial weapon. Contains the Tribulation-Transcending Heavenly Art, another Emperor Scripture, and methods for escape, concealment, and survival; accompanies his fifth-life body 180.
• Iron Coffin — Used to conceal his corpse beneath a Big Dipper lake. Destroyed when he breaks free after awakening; Yuangeng later places his fifth-life body in another iron coffin 50 129 177 180.
• Netherworld Venerable’s Ancient Hall — His original Underworld residence and later corpse-nurturing site, moved above the Epoch Burial Pit to absorb life force and death energy 176.
• Desolate Pagoda — Used with Wan Qing in the dark timeline to withstand the Dark Heavenly Emperors and extract Yuangeng from danger 149.

Relationships

• Desolate Heaven Emperor — Close Chaotic Ancient companion who buried him for future revival. After recovering his memories, Cao wishes to follow Desolate beyond the Boundary Sea 44 178 179.
• Black Tortoise Immortal King — His teacher from the Chaotic Ancient Era 150.
• Yuangeng / Burial Emperor / Heng Emperor — Fellow Burial Domain cultivator who finds his corpse, assists his awakening, restores sealed memories through combat, and protects his fifth-life body 129 176 178 180.
• Prison-Suppressing Venerable — Underworld co-founder and deeply committed follower of his ideals. Their unresolved bond becomes an obsession; settling it allows Prison-Suppressing to enter his own third life 45 181.
• Corpse Emperor — Excavated and personally guided by Netherworld Venerable; their relationship was almost that of master and disciple 49.
• Yama Venerable — Joined the Underworld because of his ideals, but later sought to destroy him before a feared reckoning 45.
• Rebirth Venerable — Former follower who wished to see him once more before dying; ultimately accepts the ending of their karmic ties 45 180.
• Carefree Heavenly Venerate — Discussed the Dao with him before the Underworld’s founding, with reported mutual admiration 82 129.
• Heavenly Nether Treasure — His sentient creation and former lifebound weapon. Resents being abandoned and attempts to attack his corpse, but eventually accepts that Netherworld Venerable no longer bears the Underworld ill will 129 179 180.
• Emperor Venerable — Collaborator in Kunlun’s development in the main timeline; his dark counterpart is Netherworld Venerable’s chief Mythological Era enemy 50 138.
• Wan Qing — Dark-timeline resistance ally who helps rescue Yuangeng and later participates in Cao Yusheng’s funeral 149 166.

Notable Quotes

“What abandonment? My ties to the Underworld had simply run their course. Naturally, I had to sever my past and walk the immortal road that belonged to me alone.” 177

“My fifth lifetime is about to begin. When it does, my cultivation will be gone, and my memories will be sealed away. Please offer me a little guidance, fellow Daoist. You need only lead this body back to the Extreme Dao.” 179