I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 240 Opening the Underworld, Gathering Ghosts and Bestowing Titles
Time flew by, and more than ten days passed quickly. The Blood Serpent retinue in Gaizhou Garrison City began to be hunted down and wiped out.

The identity of the Underworld Emperor of the Dynasty was also thoroughly spread.

Thanks to this, the new dynasty's concept of the Underworld Emperor finally evolved.

The moment the Underworld Emperor's status was fully formed, he felt a connection in the dark, but that connection was extremely distant, as if it were separated by a world.

"Eh~?"

Wang Chao was slightly puzzled at first, wondering how the Underworld Emperor's position could exist in this world and what kind of being it was connected to.

Then it suddenly dawned on me that the connection between them could be the Underworld Emperor's position in the Celestial Empire.
If that's the case, then isn't that like being in a completely different world?

Without realizing it, Wang Chao revealed a thoughtful expression.

I wonder if, if he were in this world and completed all the heavenly statuses he had evolved, he would establish a real connection with the Celestial Empire.

In addition, as the Underworld Emperor's status evolved, he also absorbed the power of many rules of this world.

This gave the dynasty a true identity in this world, freeing it from the suppression and rejection of the world's rules.

At the same time, the dynasty's control over the strange energy has reached a new level, and its power has become more restrained. This makes it less likely that Zhang Zhaoyi and others who have integrated with the strange energy will be corrupted by it.

After condensing the status of the Underworld Emperor, one can naturally open up the Underworld and bestow titles upon the Yin Gods.

only.
Sensing the faint eerie aura shrouding Gaizhou City, Wang Chao was once again in a dilemma.

With such a measly aura, what kind of underworld could he possibly create?

Moreover, in this world, there is no national destiny for him to rely on in creating an illusory underworld.

Watching the devout believers passing by on their way to the City God Temple to worship, Wang Chao couldn't help but sigh.

Indeed, only suffering can give rise to a strong faith.

Upon learning of the existence of the Underworld Emperor and the presence of blood-red evil spirits, the faith in the City God immediately surged.

Furthermore, the general public spontaneously built a temple to the Underworld Emperor next to the City God Temple.

It's just that it's not fully completed yet.

Otherwise, the incense at the Temple of the Underworld Emperor would surely be more abundant than that at the Temple of the City God.

Especially after most of the Blood Serpent's retinue were hunted down and the city became relatively safe, even though food is scarce in the city now and a lot of time is spent searching for food, tens of thousands of people still go to the City God Temple every day.

Suddenly, Wang Chao had an idea and quickly headed towards the City God Temple.

The City God Temple was packed with people, and an endless stream of eerie energy was generated, spreading in all directions and eventually enveloping the entire Gaizhou Garrison City.

At that time, it would not be an exaggeration to call Gaizhou Weicheng a ghost town.

The souls of those who die here are not obliterated by the power of heaven and earth, but instead, after absorbing the eerie energy, they transform into nearly immortal ghosts.

Even though Zhang Zhaoyi and his group could easily kill these ghosts.

However, as long as there are still people who know about these ghosts, they will always be reborn.

Fortunately, the ghosts are newly born, and the energy of this world is far inferior to that of the Celestial Empire, so it is impossible for them to condense powerful ghost bodies.

Therefore, they can only rely on their special form of existence, the eerie power they contain, their sudden appearance, and so on to frighten others in order to gather spiritual power.

Therefore, no one has died as a result so far.

However, as time goes by, the eerie atmosphere grows stronger, and these ghostly creatures are rapidly increasing in power.

It is estimated that in about a year or two, the power of these dynasties will be enough to kill people.

Looking at the eerie aura spreading outward from the City God Temple, and the divine radiance that emerged from the City God statue as people continued to worship, Wang Chao couldn't help but sigh that this was far stronger than many statues in the Celestial Empire.

Then he looked at the Underworld Emperor Temple next to him, which also radiated divine power, but it was much weaker than the City God statue, which was worshipped by a large number of believers.

After a moment's hesitation, Wang Chao stepped out and entered the City God Temple. His figure disappeared into the spiritual realm, completely ignoring the numerous believers who were crammed together with almost no gaps between them. He passed right through them and arrived at the main hall of the City God Temple.

With a slight thought, the boundless eerie aura that enveloped the entire Gaizhou Garrison City surged and converged upon it.

"By regulating Yin and Yang, the underworld was opened!"

The dynasty pointed its fingers into a sword, mobilizing the power of the Underworld Emperor to align with the rules of the surrounding world, and then made a feint towards the statue of the City God.

"Crack!"

A deep, dark hue bloomed, and the spiritual space was immediately shattered.

The sound of space shattering reached the hearts of everyone in the city.

"Eh~?"

"Huh? What's that sound?"

Unconsciously, everyone looked towards the direction of the City God Temple.

However, they found nothing.

Zhang Zhaoyi and the others, however, vaguely sensed the strange changes in the city's atmosphere.

It seemed that the eerie atmosphere of the entire Gaizhou Garrison City was converging towards the City God Temple.

The group exchanged glances and immediately set off in twos and threes towards the City God Temple.

When they arrived at the City God Temple, their feelings became even clearer.

The surging, eerie energy gathered and flowed continuously toward the City God statue.

In the dim light, many people in the City God Temple even saw the City God statue begin to emit wisps of divine light.

"Is this... the City God manifesting?"

"The City God has appeared!"

"May the City God protect us!"

In an instant, all the believers in the City God Temple knelt down in worship.

On the other side, Zhang Zhaoyi and the others looked at the kneeling people around them. After a slight hesitation, they still did not kneel down. Instead, they faced the direction of the City God Temple and gave the military salute that the dynasty had given them.

They were connected to the Underworld Emperor, and the City God was, after all, his subordinate.

If that's the case, and they don't even allow them to kneel when facing the Underworld Emperor, how could they possibly kneel before the City God?
Wouldn't that be a slap in the face to the Underworld Emperor?

Therefore, they simply gave a military salute.

"Could it be because of the Underworld Emperor?"

"Of course."

"I wonder what the Underworld Emperor is up to?"

"Do you think it's possible that the Underworld Emperor has appointed a new City God?"

"Perhaps, but how can we possibly fathom the actions of such important figures?"

"Too.
I just don't know if it will ultimately be good or bad.

"It should be good, right? After all, the eerie atmosphere in the city is disappearing."

"Hmm, maybe things will return to normal here in the future."

"Is it back to normal?"

Zhang Zhaoyi frowned slightly.

A return to normalcy might not be a good thing. He hadn't forgotten that Gaizhou Garrison, where they were located, was besieged by the Qing army. If Gaizhou Garrison returned to normalcy, it would inevitably invite another attack from the Qing army.

However, no matter what thoughts they had, they couldn't influence the Underworld Emperor's decision.

"Oh~!"

In the end, he could only sigh inwardly.

Hopefully, the final outcome won't be the worst-case scenario.

After breaking through the spiritual space, the dynasty immediately took a step forward, carrying boundless strange energy, and stepped into the broken spatial rift.

Endless eerie energy surged and converged, woven and evolved by the dynasty with the power of the Underworld Emperor, gradually transforming into a dark and gloomy world.

It was no more than a hundred meters in diameter, and the air was thick with eerie gloom.
Below lay the deep, dark earth, and above, thin clouds hung in the sky.
The sun shone from outside, bringing a sliver of light to this place, but it appeared cold and hazy, as if it had no warmth at all.

Immediately afterward, with a slight thought from the dynasty, the City God Temple in the real world was projected and evolved in this newly opened spiritual underworld.

Immediately afterwards, endless eerie energy and the power of rules converged, and the City God Temple continued to solidify. The statues in the main hall of the City God Temple began to emit dark golden divine light, and gradually merged with the divine light of the City God statues in the real world.

"boom!"

As it completely merged with the divine light of the real world, the entire underworld trembled and solidified completely.

From then on, the City God statue in the real world became the embodiment of the underworld.

Then, with a thought, the Underworld Emperor's position flew out of his body and instantly fell into the depths of the Underworld space, transforming into the core of the Underworld.

Endless dark golden light bloomed, instantly spreading throughout the underworld and slowly merging into every corner.

"Om~!"

The underworld trembled slightly once more, becoming even more solid and stable.

Countless beliefs about the underworld and the Underworld Emperor converged continuously. After being transformed by the Underworld Emperor's status, they became the source of power for the underworld, supporting its existence while also continuously expanding its space.

From then on, with the City God statue as its vessel and the Underworld Emperor's position as its core, as long as there are legends and beliefs about the Underworld Emperor and the Underworld in the real world, the Underworld will continue to exist, and may even slowly grow and expand.

Ultimately, it enveloped the entire Gaizhou Garrison City, and even a wider area.

At the same time, the dynasty also sensed that this underworld space was faintly connected to an even larger and deeper underworld.

Needless to say, that is naturally the Heavenly Dynasty's Underworld.

It even possessed the pure and eerie energy of the Heavenly Dynasty's Underworld, which emanated from the Underworld Emperor's position and rapidly spread throughout the Underworld.

After these strange energies merged with the surrounding strange energies, the essence of the surrounding strange energies was immediately enhanced, and even this underworld became more solid and stable.

It seems that even without the power of faith and legend from the outside world, it can still continue to exist.

Of course, the dynasty knew in its heart that this was just an illusion caused by the sudden support of the Heavenly Dynasty's Netherworld power for this realm.

After all, even the underworld of the Celestial Empire would gradually weaken and eventually collapse and perish if it lost all living beings.

Not to mention the underworld of this world.

But speaking of it.
This world's underworld is more in line with the legendary underworld.

Because the eerie energy within it is more like the negative forces of all living beings, which have evolved by merging with the energy of heaven and earth, and is a kind of extremely yin energy of heaven and earth.

If it didn't also possess the negative consciousness and lingering thoughts of all living beings, which would erode and pollute people's minds, it should be called Yin energy, or even ghost energy.

This underworld exists on a spiritual level, but it also has real-world influences; otherwise, it wouldn't be able to be represented by the City God statue.

The Heavenly Kingdom's Underworld is more like a kind of information space.

After surveying the underworld once more, the dynasty pondered for a moment, and then a thought struck him.

An invisible force swept out from the City God Temple in an instant, passing over the entire Gaizhou Garrison City.

"Hmm~?"

When that invisible force swept over them, Zhang Zhaoyi and the others couldn't help but stiffen.

In that instant, they seemed to see a gloomy and dark world, a cold and sinister yet vast and majestic will looking down on the heavens and the earth, leaving no room for resistance.

"whoosh whoosh"

Under that force, all the ghosts in the entire Gaizhou Garrison City were drawn together by an invisible force and rapidly converged on the City God Temple.

"Watch out, there's a ghost!"

When they arrived nearby, they were immediately spotted by Zhang Zhaoyi and the others, who were shocked and became on high alert.

However, Zhang Zhaoyi soon discovered that the ghosts did not seem to come on their own initiative, but rather seemed to be forcibly dragged there by an invisible suction force.

Because many of the ghosts fly backwards with their fangs bared and claws out, it's clear they didn't come willingly.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhaoyi had an idea and stopped the crowd from making a move.

"Don't act yet, let's assess the situation first."

"General?"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Zhang Zhaoyi.

However, Zhang Zhaoyi did not answer them at this moment, but instead focused his attention on the ghosts that were rapidly gathering.

Upon seeing this, everyone turned to look.

However, although they remained vigilant, they showed no intention of taking immediate action.

After the ghosts gathered at the City God Temple, their forms immediately twisted and swayed, as if they had entered a body of water rippling with waves.

The next instant, those ghosts vanished.

"Eh~?"

"Where are the ghosts? Where are those vengeful spirits? They've vanished!"

Without hesitation, everyone's eyes widened, and they began to look around in search.

However, some people looked thoughtful, while Zhang Zhaoyi's face showed an expression of knowing full well that this was indeed the case.

really
This is the City God collecting all the ghosts in the city.

Underworld
"Swish"

One by one, ghostly creatures quietly emerged, glanced around blankly, then narrowed their eyes, absorbing the eerie energy around them, revealing an expression of enjoyment.

His aura began to rise steadily.

These ghosts are, after all, the evolved souls of the dead. Although their consciousness and cognition have been erased, some of their spiritual instincts originating from humans still remain.

For example, maintaining one's own existence, consuming and growing, and certain emotional and facial changes under special circumstances.

Looking at the hundreds or even thousands of ghosts, Wang Chao couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

There's so little he can do in this world.

In just over ten days, hundreds or even thousands of people have died under its eerie aura.

Immediately, the king's expression turned solemn, and he loudly issued an edict.

"Imperial decree, ghost soldiers! Ghost messengers!"

In an instant, the Underworld Emperor's status trembled, and beams of dark golden light descended, instantly merging into the numerous ghostly beings.

(End of this chapter)