"Wait!" As expected, the phantom of Houtu quickly called out to him, "Actually, helping me is helping yourself."

"What do you mean?" Zuan asked in a deep voice.

“That era is too far removed from today, and the Mermaid Queen is imprisoned in the Moon Palace. Even if I wanted to help you now, I couldn’t,” Houtu’s illusory figure patiently explained.

"What about Jiang Luofu? You were the one who sent her there, so don't tell me you're powerless to help her." Zu An suppressed his emotions, deciding to save as many people as possible first.

"Jiang Luofu's emotions were too intense, which attracted the attention of a great being. This is her destiny, and also her opportunity. You don't need to worry about her." The phantom of Houtu mentioned that great being, and its voice had a strange emotional fluctuation.

Zu An's heart skipped a beat. He had heard Zhuanxu mention something similar before, so it seemed that she was indeed not in any danger.

Who is this being you're talking about?

"You should know by now that secrets are dangerous. You are not strong enough right now, and knowing about that being's existence will only bring you destruction."

Zuan remained silent. He naturally understood this law. He was not the kind of person who acted rashly and without thinking. He did not press the matter further, but instead asked, "Is that being stronger than you and the Heavenly Emperor?"

The phantom of Houtu nodded slightly: "Not only are they stronger than us, but they are even stronger than saints. This is the first time we have learned that there is an even more powerful realm above saints."

Zuan: "..."

In various myths and online novels of my past life, the Saint Realm was basically the ceiling. I never imagined there was an even higher level.

He suddenly remembered some information he had obtained from the historian of time and Mi Li, and suddenly had some realizations.

Even if beings like Houtu become saints, their influence is only limited to the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Other worlds may not recognize them, or there may be other gods in other worlds with similar functions.

There are countless worlds in the universe.

Those more powerful beings must be some kind of conceptual god that objectively exists in countless universes.

Thinking of this, he was immediately filled with fighting spirit. Once he had a goal, many things became clearer.

"If this won't work and that won't work, what's the point of asking me to stay?"

"Because helping me is helping yourself," the phantom of Houtu quickly added without keeping me in suspense, "If you help me successfully refine the Six Paths of Reincarnation, I can use the Six Paths of Reincarnation to help that mermaid queen and..."

She paused here, seemingly glancing at Pei Mianman next to Zu An: "And your reincarnation as the Goddess of Wushan."

“Reincarnation must be fair and follow the established laws of the world. My actions are considered favoritism and backdoors, which have caused me great harm. But considering how much you have helped me, I am willing to pay this price.”

Pei Mianman's heart pounded. She had initially doubted whether the goddess of Wushan was truly her past life, or if she was just similar in appearance, given the vast difference in their personalities. However, judging from the gaze of the phantom Houtu just now, it seemed that she wasn't a fake.

Zuan said in a deep voice, "The only option is reincarnation? But in my eyes, we're clearly different people now. What meaning would that have for her in that era?"

"Your viewpoint is too narrow. When you stand at a higher level, you will realize that reincarnation may change one's appearance, personality, or experiences... but no matter how it changes, one's essence will not change, so in reality, it is the same person."

Upon hearing Houtu's explanation, Zu'an frowned. He simply couldn't understand this explanation; how could two completely different people be considered the same person?

Seemingly sensing his resentment, Houtu continued, "You need to think this through. If you insist on not letting them reincarnate, then the very premise for your several close female friends to exist will be gone. Without reincarnation, where will they come from? Is this what you want to see?"

"What!" Zu An was greatly shocked. He subconsciously glanced at Pei Mianman and noticed that her usually radiant face was now somewhat pale.

"Actually, you don't need to worry about it. Some things happened in that era, and they probably only had a way to survive by reincarnating." Houtu's voice rang out again.

"What exactly happened back then?" I vaguely knew from the audio and video left by the Goddess of Wushan that something big had happened, but she didn't say what it was. Someone like Houtu might know more information.

Houtu shook her head slightly: "Unfortunately, I have lost some of my memories and do not know what happened back then. I only vaguely know that it was a great disaster."

Zuan was startled. Even a being like Houtu could have lost her memories. Could it be due to injuries sustained during that great calamity?

The thought that the Mermaid Queen and the Goddess of Wushan not only had to wait alone for a long time in that era, but also had to helplessly face such a terrible disaster in the end, made his heart ache.

"Could it be caused by the Lich War?" Zaun wondered.

"It shouldn't be. Although the Lich War was a great catastrophe, in the end, both the Lich and the Lich races were severely damaged and withdrew from the stage of history together. The human race began to flourish, and there are no signs of any major disaster," Houtu judged.

Zuan also thought of the image left by the Goddess of Wushan, which mentioned that she had waited for tens of thousands of years, which proved that there should not have been any major disaster during those ten thousand years.

"I've already given you the solution. This is the limit of what I've done. Whether you're willing or not is up to you. At worst, I'll just go back to sleep and wait for the next person willing to help me. You should know that I did indeed successfully create the Six Paths of Reincarnation in history." Houtu's voice was calm. For an existence like her, the passage of time was indeed meaningless.

Zuan thought about it a lot and had to admit that what she said made a lot of sense.

He was unaware of the specific calamities that had occurred during that era; the only thing he could do was to leave the Mermaid Queen and Gong Suyin a way out.

He then took out the authority of the various worlds he had obtained earlier. Houtu's illusory image instantly became serious. She tapped her hands in the void, and soon a vortex appeared in mid-air. Although it was much smaller than the sea eye when she came down, it was much deeper.

A strong sense of death permeates the air, yet a faint glimmer of life is also present.

Next, Houtu's illusory figure flicked her sleeve, and the authority of the six worlds appeared in six directions. A bright thread appeared on each of them and extended into the vortex. The entire vortex gradually turned into six colors and rotated.

Zuan and Pei Mianman seemed to see silhouettes of countless worlds appearing behind each color, clearly indicating that the Six Paths of Reincarnation were establishing connections with countless worlds within the Six Paths.

At this moment, Houtu's voice rang out again: "I am about to completely merge into the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Your help in establishing the Six Paths of Reincarnation is a great merit, and the will of Heaven and Earth will remember it. Once the Six Paths of Reincarnation is completely completed, the Netherworld will be needed to help the Six Paths of Reincarnation operate on a daily basis. You are destined to be the master of the Netherworld."

"Are you willing, Emperor of Fengdu?"