Chapter 92: A Glimmer of Hope Amidst Darkness (Part Two)

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Whoosh... Qin Ye was falling rapidly downward. This cavern seemed endless; the deeper he fell, the lighter his body felt. After more than twenty minutes, he suddenly sensed... that he was like a feather, able to stand on the surrounding yin energy.

It wasn’t just a feeling...

He tried it out, and indeed, like a feather, he maintained his form and fell straight down in an upright position.

“What is going on?” After falling for tens of minutes, their initial excitement had been subdued. He said in astonishment.

“The Netherworld.” Arthas’s voice was somewhat incredulous. “Between the realms of yin and yang, there exists a very small void called the Netherworld. You can think of it as the underworld or the world of the living. For example, sometimes people suddenly find a road or a junction they’ve never seen before, and it’s not marked on any map. That’s an entrance to the Netherworld.”

She took a deep breath. “I once told you, there are many exits opened by the Underworld in the world of the living, most of which humans can never find. And all these exits open into the Netherworld!”

The Soul-Sealing Orb looked around cautiously. “Exits at the boundary between yin and yang are absolute secrets. Such a large exit... even I have never heard of it.”

Qin Ye casually nodded, then blinked. “What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?” Arthas sneered. “It means... if Kuafu wasn’t swept here by accident, then it came here on purpose. It must know the Underworld’s ultimate secrets and hold at least the rank of Lord within the official system! In other words, it’s someone within the system!”

Qin Ye nodded, and the two fell silent. After another ten minutes, his form finally stopped.

Without any warning.

This was a very strange space. Above was a white sky—not clear blue, but a pure white sea of mist. He could sense an aura that clashed with the yin energy. Below was a cyan sea of mist. Though it felt like solid ground beneath his feet, when Qin Ye reached out to touch it, he felt nothing.

On the misty cyan sea grew dozens of small black flowers, about the size of a palm, purely black, arranged in five layers resembling lotus petals.

Riding clouds and fog, transforming into a celestial being.

“Sure enough, this is the Netherworld... Yang energy above, yin energy below. These flowers are called Soul Retainers; they only exist in the Netherworld. It is said that souls arriving here, if greedy enough to pluck a Soul Retainer, will be trapped here forever.”

Qin Ye squinted and looked around. The black yin energy had completely dissipated. Everywhere he looked, countless lost souls wandered aimlessly among the flowers.

There were souls from ancient times, modern times, men and women, old and young, all kinds.

Further away, there was a huge golden object.

“Roar... hiss...” The deep snoring sounded with the rise and fall of the golden object, causing the entire Netherworld to tremble and shift with each breath. The golden light on its body flickered along with its breathing.

Suddenly!

A terrifying gust of wind almost blew Qin Ye away! Even though he quickly regained his senses, he was still pushed a step back!

“Just breathing... the Soul Binder can’t even stand steady...” Qin Ye gasped. Arthas immediately said, “Pluck a Soul Retainer. It has another name, the Wind-Settling Flower. Look at the souls around; not one of them is blown away.”

Qin Ye looked and saw it was true.

“As a Yin Messenger, you won’t be affected by its pressure here in the Netherworld. Take the Soul Retainer and you can approach it.”

Qin Ye gripped his Ghost-Head Blade, cut off a flower, and carefully walked forward.

“Roar... hiss...” With each breath, the flower in his hand trembled violently. The surrounding yin energy vanished, retreating wildly, then was sucked forward again with the golden object’s inhalation.

“What a formidable presence...” He pressed his chest and gritted his teeth, moving closer.

The distance was vast, at least several thousand meters. As Qin Ye drew nearer, his expression changed completely.

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Huge...

Too huge...

This giant beast was at least half the size of Bao’an City!

He walked tirelessly, ten minutes, twenty minutes... When, with another exhalation, the yin energy beneath his feet was swept away, he softly spoke, “Arthas... what is this?”

Beneath his feet was a paved stone ground.

But the surface was covered in scars.

They were made of a liquid, pure golden liquid.

Arthas stared for two seconds, then the Soul-Sealing Orb trembled and hoarsely said, “Impossible... this can’t be...”

“Bring it closer... let me see...”

Qin Ye complied. After staring for more than ten seconds, the orb flew up and its voice was dry: “This is... blood...”

“I understand now... no wonder this gold looks familiar... I know who this lord is...”

“Little one... come here, I’ll properly introduce this great figure of the Underworld to you...”

They were very close now. After another ten minutes, Qin Ye could clearly make out the shape of the giant beast.

He didn’t approach further because he remembered clearly: from afar, the beast’s scales lay flat against its body.

But now, as he drew closer, each scale was quietly standing erect.

The instinct of a mighty being.

At this distance, his eyesight could even discern the golden patterns circling each scale.

“It really is... it truly is this lord...” Arthas’s voice trembled. “Do not advance... not another step. Once you cross into its alert zone, even if you were ten times stronger, you would be reduced to ashes in an instant.”

“Circle around it and take a look... this may be the first divine beast you encounter. I doubt you’ll ever see a second in your lifetime...”

Qin Ye didn’t move forward. At this distance, he had a clear premonition: even ten meters more, and he would be killed instantly.

Though asleep, it felt as if thousands of eyes were fixated on him.

“Truly... monstrously powerful...” He gritted his teeth and circled the beast. Hours later, he finally memorized the creature’s true form.

A tiger’s head with a single horn, but dog-like ears; a dragon’s body covered in golden scales; along its back, a stripe of pure white fur running from head to tail.

Yet the tail was that of a lion, and its feet were claws of an animal he had never seen before.

The massive body was curled up, the head half-hidden within the body, sleeping soundly. With each breath, the surrounding yin energy surged into its nostrils, transforming into streams of black aura flowing along its dragon body, finally converging on a huge wound along its back that almost split it in two.

“My... heavens...” Qin Ye gasped. Even lying down, it was thousands of meters tall, spanning tens of thousands of meters in length. This monster made him feel as though he had seen a dragon from the Classic of Mountains and Seas!

Arthas’s hoarse voice sounded: “The single horn symbolizes judgment and power, ‘a single word can determine the case.’ The dragon body represents auspiciousness, the tiger head intelligence and courage, dog ears denote keen hearing, lion tail endurance, and qilin’s feet symbolize balance and virtue—thus it is called the ‘Nine Unlikes.’”

“In the Underworld, any soul that cannot be judged, once brought before it, this elder beast listens to their entire life story while lying on the ground. If the soul is evil, it pierces them with its horn. This elder’s name is widely known among humans, said to embody spiritual energy, divine power, fortune, wealth, sharpness, luck, vitality, strength, and integrity—thus also called the ‘Nine Qi Spirit.’”

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“And its true name...” Arthas’s voice was trembling. Qin Ye closed his eyes and said with deep emotion, “Diting...”

“In Journey to the West, even Buddha could not distinguish the Six-Eared Macaque, but Diting heard it clearly. It is also the mount of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva...”

The shock was overwhelming.

Qin Ye never dreamed that Kuafu was actually Diting! The mount of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva! A true divine beast!

Beneath Bao’an City was Diting’s hiding place!

He now understood everything: it was Diting who took the Record of the Underworld and broke through here, and was accidentally discovered by Cao Youdao, awakening its ambition.

More terrifying was the wound on its back.

It almost split Diting apart, exposing white bones and internal organs. That it was still alive was a miracle.

“Did it break free from Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva? Choosing to stay behind?” Arthas murmured. “This wound... was it left by the power used during the desperate struggle when Kṣitigarbha attained Buddhahood and took everything away?”

“What should we do?” Qin Ye stared at this legendary Underworld divine beast and softly asked.

He didn’t know if it was simple that Diting built the Underworld atop the other’s head. Now that he knew it was Diting, he dared not act rashly.

The stakes were too high. If the beast displeased him, a single turn could destroy the newly formed Underworld like a boat in a storm.

Arthas was also stunned. “Such a wound... it can’t awaken for a thousand years. But building a new Underworld requires the Yama Seal... this elder divine beast will surely sense it. Perhaps... it will awaken and glance at us...”

Qin Ye swallowed hard. “How terrifying would that glance be?”

Arthas said coldly, “If luck is bad, we may reunite in the Underworld.”

“Damn!!” Qin Ye scratched his head fiercely. What kind of situation was this? Having finally found this pearl, who would have thought it was something as high-level as Diting! And the new Underworld’s establishment might provoke a backlash. Could he just give up like that?

He couldn’t give up.

He even harbored a wild ambition.

Diting’s awakening was still far off. If he could gain the divine beast’s recognition after a thousand years...

He would be like a crowned emperor!

Who would dare covet the new Underworld then?!

Arthas said no more; the decision was Qin Ye’s.

Silence.

Qin Ye stared fixedly at Diting, as if trying to read from its breathing when it might awaken.

Time passed unknowingly—two hours, three hours... five hours later, Qin Ye finally exhaled deeply and looked seriously at Arthas.

Arthas lifted the orb, and their eyes met. Qin Ye’s lips moved several times before he bit his teeth and said, “Teach me... how to establish the Underworld!”