Entering the Netherworld

Move it!

"You're all dead already, you're ghosts now. Hurry!"

"You were a prince? Millions of subjects, thirty thousand cavalry? In the Netherworld, your mortal title means nothing!"

Crack!

A group of tall, muscular ghost soldiers with ferocious faces roared and lashed out with their whips. The whips crackled with electric light, striking the specters. The one who had been shouting about being a prince received dozens of lashes, until his ghostly form grew thin and nearly dissipated before they stopped.

"I should be dead... so this is the Netherworld?" Ji Ning appeared out of thin air and couldn't help but curiously observe the unfamiliar surroundings. Hearing the prince's shouting, he grew even more puzzled. "Millions of subjects? Thirty thousand cavalry? Earth is a modern society now; where would there be thirty thousand cavalry?"

"Hurry up!" The tall, burly Ox-Headed ghost soldier in front, his body glowing with cyan light, stared at Ji Ning and roared.

Ji Ning followed the line forward.

Countless white-clad figures formed long dragon-like queues, slowly advancing. At the end of each line, a white-clad figure would appear from thin air. Some shook their heads and sighed, some wailed loudly, some shouted and cursed, some were bewildered and confused.

"My father is the Snow Demon King! How dare you hit me! I'll eat you, roar!"

"Don't hit me!"

"Ah!"

These specters had just entered the Netherworld and still thought they weren't dead. When struck, many would angrily shout, but soon they would understand from the lashing... they were already dead. No matter how glorious they were in life, after death it all came to nothing.

...

Time passed. Ji Ning had been walking in the endless procession of specters for a long time. He dared not speak, for speaking would earn lashes from the Ox-Head and Horse-Faced soldiers' whips. He had been walking numbly for a very, very long time. Fortunately, specters did not know hunger.

One day, after walking numbly for a long time.

"Ji Ning!" A voice like rumbling thunder echoed across the heavens and earth. The countless specters all looked up toward the horizon. Ji Ning also looked. In the distance, a massive black cloud was roiling. Standing on the black cloud was a colossal Ox-Headed Fiendgod emanating black light.

This enormous Ox-Headed Fiendgod was about ten thousand zhang tall, like a majestic mountain. Driving the black cloud, it flew from the horizon in an instant.

"Ji Ning." The giant Ox-Headed Fiendgod, high above on the black cloud, looked down. Two golden beams of light, ten thousand zhang long, shot from its eyes, cutting through the sky and shining directly upon the dazed Ji Ning below.

The ten-thousand-zhang golden light from the giant Ox-Headed Fiendgod's eyes coiled around Ji Ning, and he vanished from the line. The ordinary Ox-Head and Horse-Faced ghost soldiers all cowered in silence. All the specters were stunned and frozen, only reacting after a long while.

...

In the endless black cloud-filled sky, the ten-thousand-zhang Ox-Headed Fiendgod stood on the cloud.

It reached out its hand, and on its palm stood a tiny figure—Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was completely dumbfounded.

Heavens.

A giant Ox-Headed god ten thousand zhang tall was right in front of him, and he himself was standing on its palm?

"Ji Ning." The Ox-Headed Fiendgod looked down at the tiny figure in its palm.

"I have been ordered by Lord Cui Jue to fetch you." The Ox-Headed Fiendgod spoke to Ji Ning on its palm, then waved its hand. Ji Ning was collected into a void space. The giant Ox-Headed Fiendgod drove the black cloud and vanished at the horizon in an instant.

Within the Netherworld's Fengdu City.

It was a quiet study. Inside was a bookshelf, and in the center of the study was a desk. A middle-aged man in green robes was flipping through a book.

Ji Ning was standing.

"Why does Lord Cui want to see me?" Ji Ning pondered. He was a mere mortal, and he didn't know any immortals. If he had such a powerful background, he wouldn't have suffered a lifetime of illness in his past life. So why had Lord Cui sent that Ox-Headed Fiendgod to bring him here?

"He summoned me, but now he doesn't say anything." Ji Ning couldn't help but examine the study.

The study was simple. The only decoration on the wall was a painting.

"That is..." Ji Ning looked carefully. It was a painting of a woman. Her feathered robes fluttered with natural rhythm, and her smile inspired even more reverence than the great Buddhas in Earth's temples. In an instant, Ji Ning was completely immersed in the painting. The woman in the painting—her face, her long hair, her feathered robes—all possessed extraordinary magic.

"Oh?" The middle-aged man in green robes looked up, glancing in surprise at the painting on the wall. "I didn't expect him to have such comprehension."

"Wake!" The middle-aged man in green robes gave a soft shout.

Ji Ning felt his empty state of mind shatter in an instant. He was fully awakened and realized he was still in Lord Cui's presence.

Lord Cui Jue had now closed his book and looked over. Ji Ning's expression changed, because from his angle he could barely see the cover of the book in Lord Cui's hands—three characters: Book of Life and Death!

Lord Cui was reading the Book of Life and Death?

"I took a look at your life." Lord Cui smiled at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was startled.

Scenes from his past life surfaced in his heart. His father was the project leader of a biology research institute with a very high salary, and his mother was an ordinary teacher. Being born into such a family should have been good, but he had been born with a terminal illness. Doctors had declared it a miracle if he lived to fifteen or sixteen.

Thus, he couldn't go to school, couldn't play with other children his age, and even walking outside for half an hour each day would exhaust him. His frail body and the torment of illness made him very withdrawn as a child. Moreover, he had overheard people in the hospital saying he would die in his teens. This early knowledge of his impending death had tormented his younger self, making him even more isolated.

Fortunately!

Fortunately, there were books and the internet.

Books and the internet gave him a 'spiritual world,' preventing his personality from becoming twisted. Through them, he frantically absorbed knowledge, began to understand the world, broadened his horizons, and gradually became calmer, viewing the world more rationally and peacefully.

He learned that there were many more miserable children in the world. After all, he still had parents, food, and clothing.

He also sought his own value. He couldn't just wait to die. Since he had lived a life, he had to accomplish something. So he asked his father for a hundred thousand yuan and started working online. He had only wanted to add some color to his life, but unexpectedly he actually achieved success.

In a few years, he amassed a huge fortune.

But his terminal illness worsened, making him realize he didn't have long to live. His parents didn't need his care, and the money would be wasted sitting there. So before dying, he gave it all away to poor, sick, and suffering children across the country who needed it.

"I can't change my own fate, but I can change the fate of countless poor, sick, and suffering children!" This was the cry from the deepest part of Ji Ning's heart!

After donating all his money and waiting for death, he never expected that one day, while walking with his parents on a street outside the hospital, he would die like that.

"Born into suffering." Lord Cui said softly. "Suffering didn't twist you; instead it made you unleash astonishing power. You earned a great fortune, and even more rare... you gave it all away!"

"You died at eighteen." Lord Cui sighed with emotion. "To sacrifice yourself to save someone else, and a stranger at that—that is truly rare."

Ji Ning said, "You flatter me, Lord Cui. If I had a long life ahead, I might not have been willing to do that. According to the doctors, I had at most three months left. Trading my less-than-three-months of life for a little girl's decades of life—it was worth it!"

Lord Cui smiled, then opened the Book of Life and Death in his hands. His voice was soft but carried boundless majesty: "Ji Ning, in your life you saved over ten thousand people. Your karmic merit is immense. Entering the Six Paths of Reincarnation, you shall enter... the Heavenly path!"

"The Heavenly path." Ji Ning murmured.

Lord Cui said with emotion, "To enter the Heavenly path with great karmic merit, and to achieve this from Earth—it is even rarer. Whether intentionally or not, you gave away your fortune to help children, which brought you tremendous merit. Otherwise, you might not have been able to enter the Celestial Realm."

"What do you mean, Lord Cui?" Ji Ning asked, puzzled.

"People are not born good or evil." Lord Cui said. "Children mostly have no distinction between good and evil; it is their later circumstances that gradually change them... If you had helped adults, you might have helped some good people. But good and evil are hard to distinguish, and if you had helped evil people, your merit would have been reduced."

Ji Ning seemed to understand.

"The original decree of the Book of Life and Death said you would live only to sixteen. But because of your merit, you lived to eighteen." Lord Cui said.

"What?" Ji Ning was shocked. "Can what the Book of Life and Death has determined be changed?"

"Of course it can be changed. How could it not?" Lord Cui laughed. "Even I can easily add a hundred years to someone's lifespan. Let alone the Book of Life and Death... even if Heaven wants you dead, it leaves you a sliver of life. A person's fate has a foundation in the innate destiny, but it can still be changed through later efforts."

Ji Ning pondered.

Indeed.

As the ancients said, 'If Heaven inflicts disaster, it can still be avoided; if you bring disaster upon yourself, there is no way to live.' If Heaven wants you dead, it still leaves a thread of life. The Book of Life and Death only determines the innate destiny; one can still strive in the later stage.

"I believe there are many people with great merit, so why did you summon me alone?" Ji Ning asked his doubt.

Lord Cui laughed: "Because, you and I are from the same hometown."

"Same hometown?" Ji Ning was startled. "Are you also from..."

"Yes, in the words you 'modern people' use, I am also from Earth!" Lord Cui smiled. "But from the Sui-Tang era."

Sui-Tang?

Ji Ning was overjoyed: "I heard those specters talking about princes and demon kings—they're not from Earth."

"It's normal that they are not from Earth. The endless universe is divided into the Three Realms: Heaven, Earth, and the Mortal Realm." Lord Cui explained. "Heaven is the Celestial Realm! Earth is the Netherworld! The Mortal Realm is the world of humans. The Mortal Realm has three thousand major worlds and billions of minor worlds... Each of the three thousand major worlds is vast and magnificent, with immortals and demons hidden within. Each of the billions of minor worlds is much smaller, with a sparse population. Our homeland is one of them. Even after all this time, our homeland has only a few billion people."

"At every moment, countless dead living beings from the three thousand major worlds and billions of minor worlds come to the Netherworld! How many specters do you think there are in the Netherworld?" Lord Cui looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning was stunned.

Heavens.

The Three Realms?

The Mortal Realm was so vast, and Earth was just one of the billions of minor worlds. As someone from Earth, he had always thought Earth was the center! But now he discovered... Earth was just one of billions of minor worlds, not even among the three thousand major worlds. For a moment, he felt a sense of loss.

"Among the three thousand major worlds and billions of minor worlds, there are naturally many with high merit. But among my hometown folks, one with high merit is rare. Your innate destiny was weak, yet you still reached this point—truly rare! Since I had nothing to do, I thought I'd meet my little fellow townsman." Lord Cui smiled. "You are about to be reborn, so I will tell you about the Six Paths of Reincarnation."

"The Six Paths of Reincarnation are: the Heavenly path, the Asura path, the Human path, the Animal path, the Hungry Ghost path, and the Hell path."

Lord Cui explained, "Among them, the Heavenly path and the Asura path both go to the 'Celestial Realm' of the Three Realms."

"The Human path and the Animal path both go to the 'Mortal Realm' of the Three Realms."

"The Hungry Ghost path and the Hell path both go to the 'Netherworld' of the Three Realms."

"The Heavenly path is the one you are about to enter." This made Ji Ning listen carefully. Lord Cui said with emotion, "This is the best one. You will be reborn into the Celestial Realm, born from Heaven and Earth, becoming a Celestial being. From birth, you will be a Xiantian being! Only those born from Heaven and Earth are worthy of being called 'Xiantian beings'."

"Born from Heaven and Earth, not from a mother?" Ji Ning was astonished.

"Of course." Lord Cui laughed. "How else could it be called a Xiantian being? Strictly speaking, Heaven and Earth are your parents!"

"After being born in the Celestial Realm, your cultivation speed will be astonishing. You can easily join the Heavenly Court and become a Heavenly Soldier or General." Lord Cui said.

Ji Ning blinked.

Heavenly Soldiers and Generals?

He would become a Heavenly Soldier or General in the future?

"Celestial beings have another advantage: when you turn sixteen, you will awaken your past life memories." Lord Cui said with emotion. "I met with you only because your merit is high and you are my fellow townsman. I didn't expect that as soon as you arrived, you would become absorbed in the Nuwa painting—your comprehension is truly high. To help you stand out among the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, I will give you some assistance."

Ji Ning was overjoyed. Assistance? How?

"Look at this painting of Nuwa." Lord Cui pointed to the wall.

Ji Ning looked.

That painting of a woman was actually of Nuwa?

"What is painted here is the most benevolent and holy Pangu goddess, Nuwa." Lord Cui showed reverence. "Since Pangu split the heavens and died, only Nuwa has been able to reach Pangu's level. Nuwa can destroy the heavens and also repair them, and even create life. The most sentient of all races, 'humans,' were created by Nuwa. She comprehended eighty-four thousand Daos and is the undisputed supreme existence of the Three Realms."

"Supreme of the Three Realms?" Ji Ning was shocked.

Nuwa created humans and repaired the sky—he had heard these myths long ago.

"This painting is a visualization technique, but you cannot fathom its mysteries." Lord Cui smiled. "Although you will become a Heavenly Soldier or General in the future and receive visualization techniques, they will not compare to this wonderful method of mine. I am now imparting this visualization technique to you, to complete our fate."

"Thank you, Lord Cui." Ji Ning bowed nearly to the ground.

"No need to thank me. It's just a visualization technique, not a cultivation method or an immortal-demon secret art." Lord Cui pointed at Ji Ning's forehead.

Boom!

Ji Ning felt a rumble in his mind, and a giant image of Nuwa appeared in his mind.

"Wake." Lord Cui looked at Ji Ning. "Remember, visualize often; it will temper your soul. Of course, you are about to be reborn and must drink Meng Po soup. Your memory will temporarily disappear. When you turn sixteen, you will remember this visualization technique. But that is enough; it will allow you to stand out among the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals! Having this visualization technique only gives you a bit more opportunity on your path to immortality. To become a Celestial Immortal, there will still be many tribulations... I hope you can succeed. In the future, when I ascend to the Heavenly Court, we can meet again."

Ji Ning was also filled with excitement.

Heavenly Soldiers and Generals?

Become an immortal?

Truly something to look forward to.

"Go." Lord Cui waved his hand.

Whoosh.

Ji Ning had vanished.