Chapter 613: Earth Official Great Emperor, Five Peaks Great Emperor

Netherworld Office Sovereign—

Fengdu Great Emperor!

"Houtu" possesses great magnanimity; you have no idle words, and in the identity of the controller of reincarnation, you have bestowed this astonishing status.

Fengdu Great Emperor, who governs the Netherworld, is the supreme authority of all ghosts and gods under heaven, overseeing and commanding all ghost emperors, city gods, and lands of domain masters within the Netherworld Office, and administering all departments; aside from Houtu, it possesses supreme authority!

Yet such a supreme great god has no so-called appointment.

All souls and ghosts can eagerly compete…… in this competition, even a lowly ordinary ghost could, in the election ritual, defeat a Great Luo practitioner and seize the crown of the Netherworld Office Great Emperor!

The whole process is fair and just.

Just as "Houtu" said.

——"She" has come to the Netherworld, stirring up great turmoil, solely to accomplish three things!

Fair!

Fair!

Or rather, damn it, it's fairness!

Ten thousand ghosts wail and curse the injustice of the mortal world; resentment accumulates, shaking heaven and earth.

Then "She" grants fairness to all beings!

The Emperor of the Netherworld Office embodies the fairness of humanity, overseeing and examining all transgressions and illegality, surpassing the Netherworld Office's system!

This is the Fengdu Great Emperor!

Of course.

To ensure that public power does not become privatized and that ghostly hearts do not corrupt.

"Houtu" also imposes extremely stringent requirements on those who seek this position.

Fengdu Great Emperor, not only must one emerge victorious from competition among millions of outstanding ghosts and receive the endorsement of countless departed souls and gods, but even after ascending to the position of Netherworld Office Sovereign, one can sit for only three thousand years!

A three‑thousand‑year term!

How brief this is!

In such a flourishing cultivation civilization of Honghuang, three thousand years…… is even less than the time it takes some great supernatural beings to take a nap!

When three thousand years pass, the ghost‑god who originally served as Fengdu Great Emperor must step down, re‑enter the election process, and once again face the thousands of troops crossing the single‑plank bridge.

Thus, it is guaranteed that the ghost‑god occupying that position cannot be depraved.

It must maintain a posture of utmost perfection and justice, consistently advocating the legitimate rights and interests of the departed souls, in order to barely qualify for re‑election.

Fengdu Great Emperor is the greatest guardian of all ghostly interests in the Netherworld, and the most transcendent emperor!

For an emperor who meets the requirements, "Houtu" may reasonably grant the utmost authority.

"To wear the crown, one must bear its weight!"

"Houtu" whispers to the countless departed souls in the Netherworld; though the words are soft, they penetrate deep into their souls, making them aware that to participate in the election for Fengdu Great Emperor, they must face the following trial.

——Bear the sins of humanity!

——Bear the suffering of the departed souls!

Humanity has goodness, and also evil.

Goodness brings beauty and happiness.

Evil brings tragedy and pain.

A happy ghost does not linger; even in death it can close its eyes peacefully, and will not waste time in the Netherworld.

Only when the heart is filled with unwillingness and resentment will one linger here.

Fengdu Great Emperor speaks for the departed souls; those souls are, in fact, mostly the latter.

If so.

A candidate seeking recognition must be able to bear the weighty consequences of humanity's evil, drink a cup of the bitter wine of the tragic lives of all beings, heart‑to‑heart feel each departed soul's sorrow, and possess the determination and will to shoulder that burden!

To bear the suffering of a single departed soul is to earn that soul's vote…… this is the most stringent, cruel, yet just and fair selection.

Perhaps bearing the tragic lives of one, ten, or a hundred departed souls amounts to nothing.

But how many departed souls are there in the Underworld—countless millions!

This is an obsession that can reach infinite magnitude; even an ordinary Great Luo standing here would likely turn bluish‑green, say nothing, and just walk away.

Not even the thought of cheating will arise.

Because, one dare not.

That astronomical scale of numbers has long elevated the level of this selection!

Humanity's instinctive concern is: what, can even a Tom‑and‑tabby cat cheat?

Only hard resistance!

Only hard resistance!

If one cannot resist and does not know to retreat when faced with difficulty…… even a Great Luo would end up only losing oneself.

Of course.

If there is such a candidate who can experience and feel the lives of all departed souls—whether sorrowful, tragic, or regrettable—while preserving the self, smilingly living on with courage for them, still adhering to principle, speaking for all departed souls……

Then, absolutely no person or god could raise any doubt about his ascending to the position of Fengdu Great Emperor.

Such a person emerging, even with no prior cultivation, would cause the Five Direction Ghost Emperors to likewise feel intimidated, not daring to let anyone speak loudly.

Not to mention them.

Even the Dao Ancestor, even Nüwa, even the August Emperor Heavenly Emperor…… would have to hold such a person in reverence and treat them equally.

——This person is destined to stand shoulder‑to‑shoulder with them, a treasure for the entirety of Honghuang!

He bears the evil of all humanity!

Moreover, he is striving to resolve it, not abandoning, not giving up, firming his own path, turning evil into goodness!

Such a person, who wouldn't be timid? Who wouldn't be afraid? Who wouldn't be respectful?

"What a grand move!"

"What a resolute decision to sacrifice!"

In the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Emperor sighed, moved by Houtu's such action.

"Nüwa really would raise gu..."

"Fengdu Great Emperor...... Fengdu Great Emperor!"

"If there truly appeared a Fengdu Great Emperor with the most perfect bearing, taking upon himself the wounds and sorrow, sins and karmic debts of all lost souls..."

Di Jun said, shaking his head, "Facing such a person, what merit or ability does my measly Witch-Slaying Sword have to make a fool of itself before him?"

"Not even the courage or desire to draw the sword."

"This is absolutely the nemesis!"

The Heavenly Emperor sighed with feeling, drawing from his waist a long sword whose blood-colored gleam flickered into view.

This sword is the most ferocious killing implement of the Demon Race.

Gathering the evil of humanity, forged into the supreme slaughtering heavy weapon——the Witch-Slaying Sword!

This sword, on the surface slays witches, but secretly tears apart all goodness and rules, impacts and challenges the patterns of all civilization, revealing the most essential aspect of heaven and earth and the age——the weak are meat, the strong eat.

It conforms to the nature of all living beings, and thus ought to be impossible to check.

However, today!

"Houtu will select from all the lost souls, screening out a great being who can truly bear all sins and yet tirelessly struggle, and bestow upon him the authority to rule the underworld."

Once such a person is perfectly born, the Heavenly Emperor saying it's not a pain in the egg...... that would absolutely be a lie.

"Good...... Fengdu Great Emperor will most likely not be perfected." Di Jun suddenly relaxed his breath, "No one will be able to obtain all the lost souls' votes, bearing all sins...... because hell will never be empty."

The desires of all living beings are infinite.

Based on this desire, the resulting sins are also infinite.

There will always be tragedy.

Approaching infinity, the ever-increasing lost souls and tragedies, and the resentment they accumulate, will never be exhausted!

Fengdu Great Emperor, in the end, is only himself.

"Indeed!" Xihuang chuckled and echoed, "This method only treats the symptoms, not the root."

"Using a limited body to bear infinite sins...... this is actually just drinking poison to quench thirst."

A three-thousand-year term is both a limitation on the Fengdu Great Emperor and a protection for it.

With one person's body, bearing the sorrow and wrath of the underworld's lost souls, to sustain three thousand years is about the limit.

"Unless, it is not a person, not an individual life......"

Xihuang laughed softly, his voice gradually fading until it could no longer be heard.

……

All living beings do not know the suffering of the Fengdu Great Emperor.

Not knowing that the birth of such a person is actually walking down a tragic road.

Bearing despair.

Eternal struggle.

No compromise.

No giving up.

Such a position, rather than saying it's honor, it's better to say it's a tribulation.

The tribulation is so great that even if Houtu cuts the authority of the Netherworld Officialdom, no longer letting Houtu alone have the final say, thus subtly limiting Nüwa's authority over reincarnation.

——One bad, encountering a stubborn person, for three thousand years no peace, making one's head swell.

But in the end, the true Houtu, the true Nüwa, after due consideration, all feel that they cannot but accept this price!

"Yandi remained silent, even feeling that Houtu had done well."

If such a ghostly hero truly stood out, she would be pleased to see it succeed.

Those who understand the principles can know the weight of the Fengdu Great Emperor's crown.

But the vast majority of lost souls and spirits do not understand the heaviness behind this...... instead, they are merely happy and excited.

Happy at the prospect of a clear sky appearing, happy that someone would bear the burden for them and speak on their behalf.

Some with hidden ambitions still ponder trying a chance or two...... who knows, they might succeed.

They do not know how arduous a road that is.

"Houtu also does not remind."

This is not a mistake.

Or rather, she simply did it on purpose.

This spokesperson of humanity's good nature privately believes that the current chaos of heaven and earth is because many people live too comfortably, having no visceral sense of arduous struggle.

A mere scrape of the skin, and they chirp and chatter, feeling how hard they've worked, already having put in so much effort.

'This is not good.'

Houtu pondered, "Let's trap a batch of people into jumping into pits, giving them a brand-new overhaul of their three views, so they understand what it feels like to bear the weight of humanity."

"After such an operation, the soul is impacted, the three views must somehow change."

"Not saying they will definitely join the most determined ranks of the reform era, but at least having some sympathy, secretly supporting the cause of humanity, is still promising."

A sufficiently massive ideological shock, traversing the ages' pains, tempered postnatally, could not fail to stimulate a remarkable talent.

Having ideals, striving and struggling.

Who knows, one day this could still become a strange troop!

Houtu is playing a big game of chess.

She can also handle united front work.

Moreover, it's not necessarily inferior to Nüwa presiding over it.

Looking at the excited, surging ghosts, Houtu's eyes flashed.

She was awaiting.

'Humanity has fallen into decline; wanting to truly save the world cannot be done by one person's effort alone.'

'Only if you hold dreams in your hearts, cling to the firmest belief, strive, and turn the times will humanity's illness be cured without treatment.'

'As for me……'

'What I can do is merely to buy you time and resist external pressure……'

'I am not a savior.'

'You…… are!'

Houtu felt sentimental for a moment, then she quickly composed herself.

The action hasn't yet succeeded; we cannot be careless.

To give the spark planted now a chance to ignite, she still must do whatever measures she can, such as winning over teammates and resisting external enemies.

After all, the Heavenly Court on one side, the Demon Race's heart for mischief never dies!

Dealing with this evil dragon is no easy task.

Fortunately, on this road, Fengxi still has helpers——

Nüwa!

Nüwa Majesty wants Pangu, to strike down Xihuang; the Heavenly Court is an obstacle before her.

She and Fengxi have different goals, but their directions temporarily align; as ruler and subject, they are the best partners.

At this moment, Fengxi is making big moves, constructing the netherworld's bureaucracy in the underworld, even taking Houtu's authority and sending it off first then reporting later, and single-handedly establishing the Great Emperor of Fengdu, which can to some extent counter Houtu's position…… Although these actions are for the greater good, Nüwa will surely understand.

But a few sweet dates and such should still be prepared, just in case, to soothe Princess Nüwa's possible fragile heart.

Fengxi already had a plan.

He decided to strengthen Houtu a notch.

Taking advantage of the juncture when all ghosts and gods praise Houtu's holy wisdom and human resolve surges, mixing falsehoods to conceal his use of human authority is no problem.

Thus.

With a step, Houtu stepped out from the underworld!

In full vigor!

Heaven and earth trembled!

The whole world was startled!

The Heavenly Court suddenly bristled like a puffed-up cat, alarm horns blared, the Zhou Tian Star-Dou Array operated at full load, on guard, on alert.

However, Houtu didn't do anything to them.

The surging torrent of humanity's will rolled, seemingly because a special opportunity overlapped heavenly timing, earthly advantage, and human harmony, allowing this act of breaking shackles; humanity gratefully acknowledges Houtu's reorganization of the underworld's mechanism, specially permitting her to come out and let loose.

But this letting loose cannot be reckless; it must be proper business with a reasonable excuse.

"I am for Houtu, the lord of the vast earth and mountains and rivers!"

"Houtu chants divine words, commands heaven and earth: 'All mountains and valleys, immortal mountains and pure lands, all earth deities, come pay homage to me!'"

At one command, Honghuang trembled.

Under Houtu's command, especially when exercising the authority of the Sovereign of Earth, even mighty divine adepts cannot resist; even a peak great ability's mountain deity sovereign must hurry over, not daring to defy the edict.

After all, Houtu's following words are like 'fox borrowing tiger's might'—pretending the great matter of reincarnation, borrowing humanity's prestige; whoever dares not resist the edict, she can make them wear small shoes.

"The netherworld bureaucracy and underworld, penetrating yin and yang, recording merit and demerit, governing departed souls."

"From now on, reincarnation is an affair of the yin realm and also of the yang realm."

"In the yin realm there is the netherworld bureaucracy, land, realm lord, city god, spanning yin and yang, representing the underworld's prestige."

"To prevent yin excess and yang decline, with the departed interfering with the living, the yang world also ought to have regulations, for orthodoxy."

"Therefore, when an emperor appears, the five directional ghost emperors of the netherworld bureaucracy and the position of the Great Emperor of Fengdu should be established!"

"Houtu looks down upon heaven and earth, gazes at the earth deities, with a transcendent mindset."

"In correspondence with the Great Emperor of Fengdu, I wish to appoint the Great Emperor of Earthly Office, to oversee all mountains and rivers of the earth, directly subordinate to me!"

"Under the Great Emperor of Earthly Office, corresponding to the five directions, guarding east, west, south, north, and center, there should be the Five Peaks Great Emperors!"

(End of chapter)