Passing through the massive gateway that emitted a faint azure glow felt like crossing some invisible boundary. The scenery around them instantly underwent an earth-shaking transformation.
No longer was it a desolate, deathly wilderness. In its place stood a colossal city whose grandeur and grimness defied description—Fengdu City!
Its walls towered into the clouds. They were not built from mortal bricks and stones, but from Nether Foundation Stone, dark and heavy as iron, as though it had condensed countless years and soul power. Faint light rippled across their surfaces like water, while reliefs of countless faces—pain, repentance, serenity, numbness, and more—appeared indistinctly upon them, silently recounting the weight of reincarnation. The enormous city gates stood wide open like the maw of a giant beast. Above them hung a huge black plaque bearing the ancient Netherworld characters for "Fengdu," its strokes sharp and forceful, as if they contained the will to judge and pass sentence.
The city was not pitch-black as they had imagined. Countless lanterns glowing with green, white, or blue ghostly light floated in the air like stars in the mortal world, illuminating this city of the dead. The streets were broad and orderly, paved with huge bluish-black stone slabs polished smooth as mirrors, reflecting the swaying ghostfires overhead. On either side stood uniform black buildings with sharp angles, flying eaves, and bracket sets, ancient and solemn in style. Most were government offices, treasuries, or residences for meritorious lost souls and Ghost Officials.
All manner of "residents" moved through the streets. Yin soldiers and ghost generals in matching dark armor patrolled in formation with expressionless faces. Ghost Officials such as judges and Impermanences hurried past in robes of various colors. Most numerous were lost souls of every form, their auras varying in strength. Some wandered about blankly, some were escorted by ghost messengers toward certain halls, while others seemed to have settled here and carried out various trades, selling goods unique to the Netherworld—Yin Soul Beads, River of Forgetfulness Water, Three Lives Stone Fragments, and more. There was even a hint of marketplace bustle, except this bustle was silent or hushed, carrying an inherent gloom and oppression.
The entire city was shrouded beneath a vast, rigorous, inviolable Order Law. Every wisp of air seemed saturated with the power of rules. The Living would instinctively feel small and restrained here.
"W-what a huge city!" Mo Hen looked up at the walls whose tops were nearly invisible and could not help murmuring in astonishment. As a disciple of Heavenly Secrets City, he possessed an innate sensitivity toward architecture and mechanisms. At this moment, he was completely awed by Fengdu City's magnificent structure and the Law Power it contained, far beyond his comprehension. "The construction of these walls, the circulation of this energy... it's practically a living super mechanism city!"
Bai Zhi pressed her palms together and silently recited a Buddhist Chant, her brows slightly furrowed. The aura of yin and death here was concentrated to the extreme. Though restrained by order and unable to actively erode living beings, it still felt to a living cultivator of Buddhist arts like herself as though she were standing in the depths of the sea, forcing her to circulate spiritual power at all times to resist it. She could sense the joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness of countless lost souls throughout the city, and her compassionate heart felt heavy.
The clouds and mist around Yun Ji seemed to have reached a Subtle Balance with Fengdu's Netherworld Breath. She quietly observed the "rules" governing the city's operation, her eyes gleaming with the light of deduction.
Star Swirl, meanwhile, appeared extremely uneasy. It pressed tightly against Su Yan, the star swirl at its tail slowly rotating and releasing faint starlight that dispersed the chilling aura trying to draw close. It was filled with rejection toward this world of the dead.
Su Yan's sensations, however, were the most peculiar.
From the instant they entered Fengdu City, the Compass in his arms seemed like a fish returned to water, becoming exceptionally "active." The body of the Compass, repaired to 75%, was warm. Without needing his deliberate activation, it continuously released a gentle silver radiance on its own, producing a subtle resonance with the vast Netherworld laws around it. What surprised him even more was that the Star Map in his mind seemed to be receiving countless chaotic yet immensely information-dense signals!
These Information Streams had not been transmitted by anyone. Rather, they seemed like ancient, fragmented remnants of rules, traces of time, and lingering thoughts of all beings naturally leaking from the city's core—from the great wheel said to operate the Six Paths of Reincarnation, the Ten Halls that judged good and evil, and the depths of the Eighteen Layers of Hell that punished sin!
He seemed to "hear" the low, majestic sound of laws emitted by the turning Wheel of Reincarnation; "see" the light of karma flickering when the scales of good and evil weighed souls within the Judgment Hall; and "feel" the ripples of rules stirred by ultimate agony and repentance in the depths of hell...
This information was far too vast, chaotic, and fragmented for his current Spiritual Power to decipher. He could only receive it passively, leaving his sea of consciousness somewhat swollen and painful. Yet it also gave him an unprecedentedly vague but direct impression of concepts such as "reincarnation," "karma," and "order." The Compass was like a greedy sponge, silently absorbing and recording everything. The needle on its body seemed to become more agile, while the starlight on its surface increasingly blended with the ghostly glow.
Judge Cui Jue seemed to notice Su Yan's abnormality. He glanced at the Compass in Su Yan's hand but said nothing more, merely remarking calmly, "Fengdu is a place of great importance to the order of heaven and earth. Its laws are strict. You must watch your words and actions here. Do not start conflicts recklessly, and do not disturb the balance of yin and yang. Follow this official to the Netherworld Inn for the time being. The King of Hell will summon you later."
He led Su Yan's group before a relatively quiet cluster of black buildings at the edge of the city. This was the Netherworld Inn, which received visiting guests from outside, provided they were not hostile. After arranging their accommodations, Cui Jue hurried away with the Ghost Officials, clearly intending to report the full details of the Rule Tumor incident to higher authorities.
The rooms provided by the inn were simple, but they contained formations capable of soothing souls and gathering yin energy, which greatly benefited their recovery. After settling in briefly, the four of them eagerly left the inn, wishing to experience this legendary city up close.
They discovered that although Fengdu City was governed by strict order, it was not entirely unyielding. In certain areas stood Merit Steles resembling "quest boards," which posted various tasks commissioned by the Underworld. These included purging evil ghosts that had escaped from hell, gathering specific Netherworld Materials, and investigating abnormal Energy Fluctuations in certain regions. Completing such tasks earned Underworld Merit, which could be exchanged for resources unique to the Underworld.
There was even a small marketplace in a plaza on the western side of the city. It was operated by ghost merchants with special trading permits, and many unimaginable items could be bought there with spirit stones, yin virtue, or barter.
Mo Hen's gaze was immediately drawn to certain ores and mechanism materials in the market that contained unusual Netherworld Energy. He was especially fascinated by a material called Nether Ironwood, which was tough and able to conduct yin energy, filling him with inspiration. Bai Zhi, meanwhile, was very interested in copies of Buddhist texts from the Underworld's archives that recorded methods of delivering souls, purification, and stabilizing the spirit. Yun Ji paid greater attention to rare items capable of enhancing deduction abilities or related to Netherworld laws.
Using some unwanted Netherworld Materials he had collected during previous battles, Su Yan exchanged them for several Underworld-exclusive skill manuals and talismans. He chose the crafting manual for the advanced Ghost Suppressing Talisman, the Five Thunders Ghost Suppressing Talisman. Although the Power of Thunder was suppressed in this place, it might prove especially effective against the evil entities of the End Times Cult. He also selected the movement skill Shadow Step, which allowed its user to blend into a Netherworld environment for a short time and greatly enhance stealth, making it highly suitable for scouting and surprise attacks. He also exchanged several specially made Yin Soul Crystals for Star Swirl. Though they were not exactly "delicious" to it, they could help it better adapt to the Netherworld environment and improve its resistance to yin-energy attacks.
As they exchanged supplies, they could sense that the surrounding Underworld Ghost Officials and some ghost merchants had clearly become much friendlier after learning that they were the Living who had purified the Rule Tumor and defeated the Netherworld Palace Lord. Some even showed a faint, barely noticeable respect. The Underworld also revered strength and merit.
Several days later, Judge Cui Jue came to the inn again and summoned Su Yan.
Within a quiet chamber in the Hall of Judgment, several beast-hide scrolls emitting an ancient aura lay spread out before Cui Jue. They were covered in encrypted writing composed in divine script.
"Regarding the Rule Tumor and the technique used to create it that you mentioned," Cui Jue said gravely, pointing to a blurry pattern on one of the scrolls. Its style was entirely different from the End Times Cult's symbol—more ancient, intricate, and carrying a profound sense of peering into heavenly secrets. "This official consulted the ancient records sealed away by the Underworld and discovered that its origin points to a civilization long erased by the river of history—the Sky-Peeking Clan."
"The Sky-Peeking Clan?" Su Yan's heart stirred. It was a name he had never heard before.
"Indeed." Cui Jue nodded. "According to scattered records, the Sky-Peeking Clan was a branch of the ancient peoples. They cultivated neither divine abilities nor physical bodies, but instead blazed their own path, excelling at observing, analyzing, and even utilizing the fundamental rules between heaven and earth. They could perceive the gaps in the operation of laws and even 'modify' local rules to a certain extent. Their techniques were so ingenious they seemed crafted by ghosts and gods, touching upon the secrets of creation."
He paused, his tone filled with deep apprehension. "Yet those who peer into heavenly secrets and toy with rules will ultimately incur heaven's envy. At the height of their prosperity, the Sky-Peeking Clan mysteriously vanished overnight. The traces of their civilization were also erased from history on a massive scale by some unknown force, and the reason remains a mystery. The records state that they seemed to have been conducting a forbidden study involving the 'origin of the world' in their final days..."
Cui Jue looked at Su Yan, his gaze deep. "If the Rule Tumor technology possessed by the End Times Cult truly originated from the Sky-Peeking Clan... then their scheme is likely far more terrifying than we imagined. Perhaps they do not merely wish to trigger the Well of Guixu and destroy the world. They may wish to... 'reconstruct' the rules!"
The ruins of the Sky-Peeking Clan might contain the End Times Cult's weakness—or an even greater secret.
A brand-new clue, leading toward a place even more ancient and forbidden, slowly unfolded within this grim Underworld.
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