Chapter 302

"Another hidden quest has appeared?"

Originally Zhao Si had been planning to restart Lin Liu's life, but suddenly his spirits lifted! The protagonist died without restarting; last time it was Jin Bing's first life, when Jin Bing used the Kunpeng Award to retain his spirituality, ultimately allowing the life that should have been restarted to gain some extra years—that is, in this short plot, Jin Bing successfully uncovered the key information of the main quest.

"This time another similar plot comes…… Looks like it will reveal some key information again."

Zhao Si had an insight, but then a question arose: "Jin Bing's reincarnation that time was because of the Kunpeng Award and Houtu Reincarnation…… but why is Lin Liu like that?"

Lin Liu died twice in his first life, yet neither triggered the plot; why does dying in his second life trigger it? What essential difference exists between the two lives?

"Yes!"

Zhao Si immediately thought of the key: "It's Divine Dao Cultivation!"

According to the control variable method, the only thing that can be called different between Lin Liu's two lives is that he has now surpassed mortals and become a Divine Dao Practitioner.

Looks like to reach the Netherworld, one must accomplish cultivation.

The specific principle is unclear, but this is obviously a privilege; in this world, only Divine Dao Practitioners can go to the Netherworld, ordinary mortals have no such power, otherwise Liu Lin wouldn't have only just noticed this problem.

"Could it be that reincarnation here also counts as a privilege?"

Zhao Si scratched his head, his curiosity about this strange world deepening: theoretically, reincarnation should be open to everyone!

Xiao Heizi is acting as Heavenly Emperor here; ignoring human affairs is fine, but how did he come up with privileges? He… shouldn't be that absurd? The more Zhao Si thought, the stranger it seemed, and he couldn't help but scrutinize the plot more closely……

……

【You stand half-asleep, half-awake before the city gate named "Ghost Gate Pass".】

【You looked around blankly, gaining nothing, and drifted into the gate……】

【Upon entering the gate, you discovered an immensely empty plaza, with about ten or so souls drifting about, similar to you.】

【Obviously, they arrived earlier than you; you even spotted at a glance the four Rebel Kings you had recently sent to be executed by lingchi at the Vegetable Market.】

【The four of them also saw you, first stunned, then burst out laughing: 'Lackey! You too have today!'}

You froze as well, never expecting to run into them again… Hearing the mocking laughter of the four of them, you felt awful inside—after all, what they said wasn't wrong; you really were just sucking up to the court this time, truly seeking your own death…

But you didn't want to discuss this with them, because you're the protagonist and can still restart; these few worthless lot wouldn't understand what trump cards you have.

You merely asked back, "Where's the West King? Why aren't you with them?"

Upon hearing this, the four stared at each other… After a moment, the East King exclaimed in surprise, "You don't know? Could you be an amateur?"

You:?

How can this also give you a sense of superiority?

You instinctively frowned, about to utter some rude words to curse the other's ancestors eighteen generations over, when suddenly a stranger nearby said, "Fellow Daoist, it's normal not to have heard of the Netherworld; let me, a poor Daoist, do a good deed for once!"

You looked over in surprise, and the stranger Daoist smiled at you kindly: "This place is the legendary Netherworld, which should provide the cycle of reincarnation for us cultivators who died unjustly, but…"

"But this place has long been abandoned by the heavens; under the Heavenly Emperor's rule, the Netherworld's spirits have all been recalled to heaven, where they no longer attend to affairs together with the Heavenly Emperor and the other gods, having become mere clay and wooden idols."

"After that, the Netherworld was abandoned; we cultivators who died unjustly still come here out of instinct, but having lost the aid of the Netherworld's spirits, we can no longer undergo reincarnation."

This brief account got straight to the point; in just a few words it cleared up the history of this place for you, a lowly country bumpkin.

Upon hearing it, you couldn't help but realize: no wonder you'd come here after death in this life—it turns out you've already crossed the boundary between mortal and cultivator!

At the same time, you gained a more comprehensive understanding of this world… but it also stirred up even more new doubts in your mind…

"As for the West King's whereabouts you asked about earlier…"

The stranger Daoist sighed helplessly: "If he's been dead for more than seven days, then he's completely dead now."

"Don't blame me, fellow Daoist; we wandering souls also have a lifespan of seven days, and after seven days we will completely dissipate, never to be reborn again."

Upon hearing the Daoist's words, the more than ten wandering spirits present all lowered their heads, their faces filled with bewilderment and despair.

The four rebel kings were the same, except their faces bore a few more traces of hatred and venom as they stared at you fixedly, seeming to want to stare you to death… This isn't strange, after all they died at your hands, so their hatred is normal.

From cultivator rebel kings who hoped for longevity, they've fallen to lonely ghosts that can only last another seven days—what a sea of hatred!

You feel not the slightest shame, for those few scoundrels deserved it. You also feel no fear, for as wandering souls you have lost all offensive capability.

All heaven has left you is seven days…

"Seven days?"

Unlike others, you, having received this information, are not only not sad, but feel relieved… all you need to do is wait seven days, and then you can continue onward!

You're not afraid of death; you're only afraid of hitting a bottleneck.

…… Time passed day by day, and you simply wandered here day after day.

Since you could converse with the souls, you wandered while asking them questions, trying to squeeze out as much useful information as possible.

However, they didn't know much about mystical things either, so your gains were meager: you only learned that this Netherworld automatically pulls in dead cultivators from the four continents and then keeps them until they're completely dead.

And since cultivators have always been few, the Netherworld usually doesn't have many people—at most seven or eight at a time—but this time there are a dozen or so, thanks to you…

You: No need to thank me.

Four rebel kings: I@#×#*%!

Wandering in this abandoned Netherworld, you couldn't help but wonder: if that's the case, the Netherworld's workload isn't that heavy, so why would the Heavenly Emperor abandon it?

The Netherworld only serves cultivators, and cultivators are already few, with even fewer dying; yet a dozen or so talents have shown up—has the Heavenly Emperor become so lazy that he won't even bother with such a trivial task?

Moreover, although the Netherworld's clientele is small, without it nobody could reincarnate, which would undoubtedly be a huge blow to cultivators and would not help the heavens grow either—I find it hard to fathom the Heavenly Emperor's thinking.

You also asked this question of the wandering spirits present, but even those who were cultivators from great sects couldn't answer, because they too were puzzled; this doubt has plagued all informed cultivators since the Heavenly Emperor abandoned the Netherworld.

Precisely because nobody understands the Heavenly Emperor, the ultimate goal of all rebel organizations has become: gather incense, attain true godhood, then ascend to the heavens and replace those useless gods!

Needless to say, everyone is a passionate idealist with grand ambitions; even the four rebel kings say their ideal is to storm the heavens and replace all the gods.

"When we first entered the Dao, we once vowed that after we attained the Dao, we would not only reopen the Netherworld's duty of reincarnation, but also take charge of the divine offices of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, ensuring favorable weather and eternal peace for the mortal realm…"

As they were about to dissipate, the East King among the four rebel kings couldn't help but glare at you resentfully: "Our great cause was already on the verge of success; the court was weakening, and once we five joined forces in rebellion, the court might not have been able to suppress us!"

"At that time we would establish a new dynasty, become true gods, elevate the Five Kings' dharma aspects to the Five Emperors' dharma aspects, and then join forces to storm heaven…"

"Who would have thought you, this lackey, would insist on currying favor with the court… What a mess we're in now? We died, the court wasn't overthrown, the heavenly bureaucracy's chance is still far off, and even you, this lackey, got killed…"

"You harm-bringer! The people of the world will never forgive you!"

After he finished cursing harshly, his wandering soul's body completely faded away, leaving no trace... his seven days had passed.

You, however, let out a cold laugh and sneered: 'For the common folk? With just a few of their treasures, they think they deserve? Better first tighten military discipline before spouting such nonsense!'

After the Eastern King's annihilation, the remaining three kings also completely vanished like smoke after each had finished uttering their harsh words...

Those four were gone, and the few early-arriving wandering souls also disappeared one after another; after you, no newcomer came from outside for a long while, so now only two wandering souls remain in the underworld.

One is you, the other is the strange Daoist you spoke with earlier... but you and he will also disappear soon, at most a matter of one or two days.

"Fellow Daoist, only we two remain."

The strange Daoist sighed with feeling: 'Back when I was in the mortal realm, I never felt that seven days could be so precious... an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time!'

You, however, gave a faint smile and did not respond to his words.

"Fellow Daoist, regarding heavenly realm matters, do you really know nothing at all?"

You asked him again, intending to squeeze the last bit of information from him.

"Gone..."

He shook his head: 'After all our talk, aren't we just ordinary mortals? How could we possibly know too much about heavenly realm affairs?'

"However, don't take to heart the words those four just spoke."

The Daoist laughed: 'Just because one can sit in the human world and attack the heavenly realm... that's merely self-deception; if they were truly allowed to sit in the human world, at most they'd be like our dynasty's founding emperor!'

"Back then, the founding emperor also had the same idea as them, proclaiming he would storm the heavenly realm for the sake of humanity and seek blessings for all beings... but what was the result? He achieved nothing, at most maintaining a hundred and twenty years of peace and prosperity in the human world."

"Afterward, he abdicated and ascended to heaven, accepting titles and rewards from the Heavenly Emperor, becoming no different from the other gods... those who don't govern still don't govern."

"Oh?"

These remarks again made you raise your eyebrows, seizing the key information: 'Did the founding emperor ultimately ascend to heaven and become a god?'

All along, the folk rumor had been that his life and death were unknown; it turns out he actually ascended to heaven and became a god...

Your attitude left the Daoist speechless: 'Fellow Daoist, you're about to die completely, why are you still inquiring about all this? There's no reincarnation here; knowing it would be useless...'

"Useless?"

You shook your head and then finally asked seriously: 'May I ask how you should be addressed, fellow Daoist? Where did you cultivate before death? What was your cultivation level? How did you die? How many people in your family? What is the name of your sect?'

Daoist: ……

Are you putting this aside to check household registration?

……

(End of chapter)