The Underworld Envoy arrived incredibly quickly this time, appearing beside them almost the instant the soul beast notified him. It was less than three seconds, let alone three months.
"Your Excellency, have you finally decided to set out to find my Lord?" He gave a sinister smile, as always, his eyes gleaming. "I will open the passage to the Underworld now."
After saying that, without waiting for You You's reply, he waved his hand and the surroundings immediately darkened. A gap appeared under their feet, and they felt a sinking sensation under their feet. The next moment, they were in another world.
Youyou's first impression was of silence. It was as if the world had been muted in an instant, with even the chirping of insects and birds disappearing completely. The temperature around her plummeted, and a chilling, biting breeze occasionally brushed against her hands.
She instinctively looked around, but all she saw was a gray, gloomy expanse, devoid of any light. Only on the ground were pale golden paths, stretching in all directions and seemingly endless.
"This is... the underworld?" Youyou was stunned for a moment.
“That’s right.” The Underworld Messenger nodded and pointed to the network of roads around them. “These are the Yellow Springs. Please wait a moment while I find out which one leads to the Demon Realm.”
After speaking, the Underworld Messenger squatted down, supporting himself with one hand on the ground, and began to seriously sense and identify the objects.
Upon closer inspection, Youyou discovered that the surroundings weren't entirely empty. Along the pale golden path, one or two figures would occasionally drift by; upon closer inspection, most were spirits. However, unlike the ghosts encountered in the human world, which were either filled with malevolent energy or ghostly aura, these spirits seemed to lack any consciousness, simply drifting silently forward along the path.
"Soul beasts, what are these...?" Youyou couldn't help but look at the soul beasts beside her and ask.
“They are all…undead.” The soul beast answered seriously, “The Yellow Springs can wash away the marks of the mortal world on undead souls and restore them to their original state, so…that’s why they are like this! When the time comes for reincarnation, they will…go to reincarnation.”
"Oh." You nodded. No wonder these shadows all seemed to be drifting around aimlessly.
etc!
"This road can wash away the marks of the mortal world, so we'll be safe standing here, right?"
“No.” The soul beast shook its head firmly. “You… are not undead.”
"That's good." Youyou breathed a sigh of relief.
The underworld messenger beside him had already scouted the way and pointed to the right, saying, "Let's take this route."
"Wait!" Just as You You was about to follow, Yuan's father suddenly spoke up, raised his hand and made a hand seal, summoning a defensive barrier that enveloped Feng Rong and her together. "The Yin energy in the Underworld is very heavy, we'd better be careful."
Sure enough, the chilling aura surrounding her was immediately dispelled, and her body began to warm up. "As expected of Father Yuan, he's so thoughtful." You You thanked him and then followed the Underworld Envoy.
It must be said, the Underworld is truly a peculiar place. The entire world consists of nothing but those pale golden paths. Moreover, these paths aren't necessarily on solid ground; they're like ribbons, appearing everywhere—up, down, left, and right. Crucially, as long as you walk on these paths, it feels as if you're walking on solid ground; there's no uniform gravity, making it all quite magical.
The Underworld Messenger was incredibly fast. No one knew if he had used some kind of magic, but even though they hadn't taken more than a few steps, the surrounding path seemed to rush backward, revealing a new scene with every step.
Before long, they reached the end of the road, where an even darker area lay before them, its destination unknown.
"Once we cross this river, we will reach the Demon Realm." The Underworld Envoy said with a stiff but excited expression, "Your Excellency, both Gods, as long as we cross this River Styx, we will reach the Demon Realm."
"River?" You You was stunned. Where was there a river?
“The River Styx is different from the rivers of the mortal world,” the Underworld Messenger immediately explained. “This is a river that connects the souls of the six realms. Since you three are living beings, you naturally cannot see it, but don’t worry, just walk across.”
As he spoke, he deftly made a hand seal and swept it towards their hands. Instantly, the surrounding yin energy stirred, and a black mark appeared on the palms of all three of them.
"What's this?" Youyou asked.
"This is the Netherworld Seal. With this seal, the three of you can successfully cross the River Styx and reach the Demon Realm," the Netherworld Envoy immediately explained. "If Your Majesty finds the Book of the Underworld or my Lord, as long as this seal is activated, it will take the three of you back to the Netherworld from the nearest Yellow Springs."
So this is a return ticket.
"This seal of yours doesn't have any expiration date, time limit, or activation conditions, does it?" Given the unreliability of the Underworld, Youyou felt it was necessary to find out more first.
"Of course! Hehehe." The Underworld Envoy patted his chest and assured, "This is the Underworld Seal I personally set up. I guarantee in the name of my lord that there will be absolutely no problem, and I will definitely bring you all back safely."
"..." Why is it that mentioning Hades makes you even more worried?
“There is indeed an aura of demonic energy across from here,” Feng Rong said, looking ahead. “It should be true.”
Youyou finally calmed down. Oh well, she was already here, what was the point of backing out now?
"Let's go!" The three exchanged a glance, stepped off the pale golden path, and headed towards the dark territory.
Almost instantly, the three figures vanished into the darkness. The soul beast beside them instinctively took a step forward, but was pulled back by the Underworld Envoy.
"Little Soul Beast, you can't go now!"
"Why?" The soul beast frowned immediately, glaring at him. "I was originally that..."
"Oh dear, it's not the right time yet!" the Underworld Messenger interrupted him, sighing, "If you anger him, let's see if he still wants you?"
"..." The soul beast's face immediately fell, and it withdrew its foot with a look of resentment.
"Don't worry unnecessarily," the Underworld Messenger couldn't help but add, "She'll be fine even if something happens to anyone else."
The soul beast seemed to have thought of something, and coldly snorted, "Hmph, of course!" Doesn't it know whose master it is?
After speaking, the two looked ahead together. What appeared to others as pitch black was entirely different to them. Before them was not black at all, but a shimmering golden river, flowing with countless streams of soul power. The three of them were walking in the middle of the river.
The river water surged down, but when it passed near the three people, it abruptly changed direction and flowed past them.
The Underworld Envoy looked directly at the three people, but his gaze did not linger on You You in the middle. Instead, he looked at Feng Rong and Yuan Qi beside them and was momentarily stunned.
Hmm, that's strange.
It's normal for His Excellency to be able to avoid the River Styx, but how did the other two manage to do it? This situation doesn't seem to be influenced by His Excellency's power at all!
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