Having lost everything, there was nothing left to lose.
With nothing to lose, there was naturally nothing to fear.
The Nether Emperor watched Jing Jiu quietly, faint light shifting in his abyss-like black eyes, marking subtle changes in his emotions.
Sympathy for a fellow sufferer, or respect?
The Nether Emperor asked, "You said you would enter the Nether Department and help me rebuild my legacy. Setting aside how difficult that would be, even if you truly accomplished it, the situation might change years from now, and the Upper Realm might no longer be able to suppress my people. Aren't you worried that my successor would then become a scourge to the Human Race?"
Jing Jiu said, "The Nether Department has never been-or rather, should never be-a scourge to the Human Race, just as the Human Race has never been a scourge to the Immortal Realm."
The Nether Emperor said, "Taiping told me the same thing back then."
Jing Jiu said, "These principles did indeed come from him, because I seldom think about such things. But I think what he said made sense, at least this part."
What the people of the Nether Department, especially those powerful Demonic Cultivators, wanted most in life was to pass through the Abyss or climb out of the Heavenly Access Well and reach the Mortal World.
Because the Mortal World had sunlight and spiritual qi, an environment better suited to life, and a true sky.
Just as Daoist cultivators of the Human Race wished to ascend, all life yearned for a broader world, higher and farther away.
There was nothing wrong with that.
Just as there was nothing wrong with a sect of the evil path wanting a Spirit Vein.
It was simply that the Human Race happened to be here.
It was simply that