Yan Hei sat by the bare Forgetful River, and the more he thought about it, the more anxious he became.
Three thousand years! In just three thousand years, how could the underworld have transformed from mulberry fields into a vast ocean?
Ever since the great god Pangu opened up the world, this world has consisted of the human realm, the underworld, and the immortal realm. These three realms are interdependent, and each operates according to its own set of strict rules.
Yan Hei had held the position of Lord of the Underworld for over 200,000 years. Three thousand years was nothing more than a period of retreat or a long sleep for a powerful being like Yan Hei.
Before returning to the Underworld, Yan Hei hadn't taken the past three thousand years seriously. He had always assumed that these three thousand years would be just like the countless other three thousand years he'd passed, just as they passed. Even with the Underworld Lord gone, didn't he still have the lords of the Underworld Cities under his command? In the past, when Yan Hei retreated and emerged, the Underworld remained unchanged.
What did he miss this time?
The distraught Yan Hei sat by the Forgetful River for a whole night before he remembered his Order from the Lord of the Underworld.
Every Hades King will have his own Hades King Order after taking office.
The Order of the Lord of Hell is made from the Void Stone and is a treasure bestowed upon the Lord of Hell by God.
The Underworld Lord's Token was like a spirit from the underworld, able to sense all major affairs of the underworld and automatically record major events that occurred there. When Yan Hei was in seclusion before, the Underworld Lord's Token could transform into Yan Hei's appearance and automatically handle the affairs of the underworld on his behalf, like Yan Hei's clone.
After each Hades King leaves office, this Hades King's Order will turn into Hades Qi and dissipate in the underworld.
What surprised Yan Hei was that after not coming back for three thousand years, his perception of the Lord of the Underworld's orders had weakened.
In the past, the Dark Lord's Order was closely connected to Yan Hei, like another body of Yan Hei. When Yan Hei needed to use the Dark Lord's Order, he only needed to think about it, and the Dark Lord's Order would appear in his palm.
This time, Yan Hei took great pains to find his Hades Order in the half-collapsed Hades Palace.
When Yan Hei saw the Order of the Lord of Hell for the first time, he was stunned.
The Dark Lord's Order, once radiant and resplendent like fine black jade, now appeared tattered and worn. Not only was a corner missing, but even the black jade itself could no longer hold its shape. The Dark Lord's Order's dark energy was gradually dissipating, and it seemed in imminent danger of passing away.
Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Yan Hei cast a few spells on the Hades Order.
Picture after picture appeared in front of Yan Hei's eyes, like a black and white TV series.
Yan Hei started directly from the point where he went astray in his practice.
After Yan Hei's training went astray, he was struggling with the uncontrolled spiritual energy in his body, trying to slowly draw it back into his dantian. Yan Hei's trusted confidant, Yan Xiao, pulled a dagger from his boot and stabbed it into Yan Hei's back.
Yan Hei's astonished eyes were fixed on the moment the dagger pierced his back.
After Yan Hei severely injured Yan Xiao, Yan Xiao fled. Not long after, Dan Yangzi, the senior brother of the Queen of the Underworld Yue'e, appeared before Yan Hei.
Danyangzi denounced Yan Hei for betraying his junior sister Yue'e's love, which made Yue'e depressed and eventually died tragically.
Dan Yangzi drew out his magic sword to avenge his junior sister.
Yan Hei fought with injuries. After the two fought for seven nights, Yan Hei was seriously injured by Dan Yangzi's flying sword.
At this time, Yan Hei was already at the end of his strength. Unwilling to die, Yan Hei took advantage of Danyang Ziyang's laughter and his soul escaped back to the black jade tablet of the Hades Palace, and his body merged into the Yinming River Zheng beside him.
After Yan Hei "died", Yan Xiao and Dan Yangzi raised their glasses and drank.
Yan Xiao set up an incense table and prayed to God: The King of Hell is dead, please ask God to appoint me as the new King of Hell.
The sandalwood stick, as thick as a baby's arm, was one-third burned and fell to the ground with a loud bang.
Yan Xiao's prayer failed, which meant that the Lord of Hell, Yan Hei, was still alive.
Yan Xiao was extremely jealous and told Li Yangzi that Yan Hei was not dead.
Dan Yangzi came to the underworld again and discovered the breath of Yan Hei in the Yinming River.
With the help of Yan Xiao, Danyangzi collected the entire Yinming River into his personal space "Xianfu" and floated away.
Yan Xiao became the "new Hades" without the Hades' order. He sat in the Hades' Palace and enjoyed tributes from the city lords of all directions.
Days passed one by one, and after the underworld lost the Yinming River, the underworld energy became thinner and thinner.
The Lethe River in the underworld is formed by the confluence of the Yinming River and the Yellow Spring Water.
The waters of the Wangchuan River have the power to cleanse the soul. New ghosts entering the underworld are driven by ghost messengers to jump into the Wangchuan River for three to five minutes, washing away their memories of their past lives before becoming residents of various underworld cities and awaiting reincarnation.
As the number of new ghosts increased, the lords of each underworld city discovered a strange phenomenon.
The ghosts that have recently bathed in the waters of the River of Oblivion have somehow retained memories of their past lives. The new ghosts with memories are more irritable and aggressive than the old ghosts without them.
The security in the underworld city is getting worse and worse, and the ones who commit crimes are all new ghosts with memories.
The city lords were so busy with official duties that they even forgot to report to the Palace of the Underworld once a year.
Yan Xiao was furious when he saw that the city lords did not "respect" him. He issued several orders to replace several city lords of the Nether City.
The new city lord's work ability was far inferior to the old one. At some point, civil unrest erupted in the underworld city. Ghosts were fighting each other, and the scene was a chaotic mess.
It's unknown when it started, but the ghosts began to devour each other.
By the time the city lords realized something was amiss, only a handful of "Rakshasa" ghosts remained in the city. These "Rakshasa" ghosts lacked reason and their sole purpose was to devour ghosts. Rakshasa ghosts had appeared in the underworld before, and upon their appearance, the Lord of the Underworld and the city lords would immediately eliminate them. If a "Rakshasa" ghost were allowed to continue its prey, all the ghosts in the underworld would be devoured.
This time, there were too many "Rakshasa ghosts" and Yan Xiao and the city lords had to work very hard to beat them to death.
When the dust settled, the underworld was reduced to a shattered ruin. Yan Xiao was severely injured, and only three of the eight Underworld City Lords remained. Even more alarming for Yan Xiao and his companions was the fact that the underworld had gone from being overrun with ghosts to being hard to find. The once clear waters of the Forgotten River had become stagnant, emitting a pungent stench.
Yan Xiao and the three city lords looked at each other.
Can the underworld without ghosts still be called the underworld?
Yan Xiao took the three city lords to investigate the cause, only to find that the Yellow Springs Road had collapsed.
Some of the ghosts that had originally entered the underworld through the Yellow Springs Road turned back to the human world and melted away in the sunlight. Some ghosts refused to turn back and crowded on the Yellow Springs Road, copying day after day and year after year, until these ghosts gradually dissipated.
Without the addition of new ghosts and after another melee, the underworld went from being overcrowded with ghosts to being barely visible.
Yan Xiao and the three city lords burst into tears and committed suicide by the Forgetful River.
After large patches of red spider lilies withered, Yan Hei returned to the underworld.
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