The Great Road of Shading the Sky

Chapter 286 The Underworld, the End of Reincarnation

On this day, the underworld was in turmoil.

Everyone thought a massive, earth-shattering battle was about to break out.

They knew that the waters of the underworld were unfathomably deep, and that a prehistoric behemoth might be buried somewhere, which, once it emerged, would surely cause a sensation!

But who would have thought that the turmoil would come and go so quickly?

Many people only heard a bell ringing across time and saw the once towering Tower of Babel rise from the ground, and then it was all over, with no idea what had actually happened.

Before the ancient underworld, the Black Emperor, dragging his emaciated body, staggered and crawled at the feet of the Western Emperor. He raised his head and looked at the two familiar yet unfamiliar people, and for a moment he couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Empress Mother, I knew you were still alive!"

Then, it turned to look at Shaohua, as if growling, its eyes fixed on her, and said, "The Great Emperor did not lie to me, saying that you would one day defy the heavens and return."

"But he didn't say when he would return. You are the Emperor's own sister, and you defied the heavens to return in an impossible situation. Can you tell me where he is now?"

Upon hearing this, Shaohua remained silent.

The Black Emperor's eyes turned red, as if he had aged instantly. His body hunched over, his eyes cloudy, and he had lost a certain vitality. He whispered, "No, I don't believe it. How could the Great Emperor, who was so powerful, die so young, fall so tragically, and end up like this?!"

The Beginningless Bell shrank to the size of a bell, emitting a gentle sound that awakened him and calmed his emotions.

But how could the Black Emperor remain calm and collected?

It roared and howled, its face covered in tears. Its grief and sorrow resounded throughout heaven and earth, echoing in the cycle of reincarnation, lingering for a long time.

Then Huo stood up, grabbed Shao Hua's arm, looked up at her with trembling eyes, and choked out, "Heavenly Emperor, please save him! I'll do anything you ask!"

Shao Hua didn't care about Hei Huang's rudeness, nor was she angry at all. She understood this kind of pain very well, and if she could really save Wu Shi, she would be willing to pay any price.

However, she really couldn't do it now, and she couldn't bear to reveal the bloody truth, so she could only comfort her and say that there would be a time when they would meet again in the future.

People must have hope in their hearts. If they give up now, this loyal dog might just die on the spot, determined to follow its master to the death.

“He is my brother. No matter what, I will bring him back. Until then, you must live and wait for him to return,” Shaohua said.

Black King loosened its claws and collapsed to the ground, but a glint of light gradually appeared in its eyes.

It knew everything, having witnessed the final battle, but it had always refused to admit it. It had endured the torment and wait for the day because of a sentence left by its master before he left. Finally, the day has come.

Now, thanks to Shaohua's words, it has chosen to continue waiting and to live on!
Duan De, covered in rotting flesh, breathed a sigh of relief. He had been scared half to death by the Black Emperor's actions. Even if they had a good relationship, he shouldn't have pounced on him.

Fortunately, that person's temperament remained as peaceful as ever, exactly the same as in the past.

"It seems that she really has returned, and not some strange thing. There is really hope!" He beamed, his mouth almost reaching the back of his head, and several lumps of rotting flesh fell from his face in excitement.

Mingyuan, who had witnessed all of this, covered her face with her hands.

In truth, she herself was no better off; her physical body was gone, leaving only a remnant soul and spirit, which could be described as a wandering ghost.

If it weren't for what happened today, she would still be drifting on the River of Souls, ferrying people across the river every day.

The Western Emperor watched quietly, his eyes filled with sorrow, but he showed no emotion whatsoever.

If even her son's dog is like this, as a mother, her grief will only be even more intense.

Seeing her daughter return was already a blessing from heaven, and at this moment she could not possibly bring up those painful memories again.

She knew very well that her daughter must be extremely upset, so why say anything more?

At the Southern Heavenly Gate, old friends meet again, but tears stream down their faces.

On the path of reincarnation to the side, countless souls flickered and disappeared, having lost their spirituality. They were all those about to be reincarnated. The dead flowed like water, ceaselessly rushing by, forming a stark contrast with the few living people.

Reincarnation does indeed exist within these three realms.

"This is the last sanctuary they built for us. You should be able to guess that the three realms of the underworld, the mortal world, and the outer heavens are combined and based on the 'Three Realms' you created in the mortal world. Hence, it is also called the Three Realms," said the Western Emperor.

Everyone talks about the underworld, and indeed there is an underworld in the great underworld, with many cycles of reincarnation.

These cycles of reincarnation have been slightly altered by humans, but they all eventually lead to the ancient underworld, connecting together at the end of the River of Souls.

Those souls that can walk the path of reincarnation are not ordinary people in their previous lives; they must have at least some cultivation. Otherwise, they would have dissipated before even entering the underworld, leaving no time for them to be guided.

Those souls that passed through the South Heavenly Gate traveled a path known as the Road to the Underworld.

On the road to the underworld, along the River of Souls, the pale blue spider lilies bloom.

"In later generations, there was a spider lily that became a celestial king in that era. After it died, it was buried here. It was quite beautiful. If I remember correctly, it also left behind a single seedling, which has descendants in the underworld." Duan De scratched his head, accidentally tearing off another piece of scalp.

The group walked along the road to the underworld, accompanied by spirits and ghosts. Despite the turbulent winds and clouds of the three thousand realms of the underworld, the ancient underworld remained completely silent, and no one dared to disturb them.

At the end of the River of Souls, a plateau suddenly appears on the wasteland, upon which stands a huge, ancient and majestic city, dazzlingly beautiful, its light shooting into the sky and releasing a dense beam of energy.

In this dim world, there is a bright city, bathed in holy light, creating a stark contrast that seems strange and eerie.

The wasteland was lifeless and desolate, but here it was like the place where the sun had set.

As you can see, the city is extremely magnificent, its light soaring into the sky and illuminating the void, as if it did not exist in this world, but manifested in time.

Near the ancient city of light, the surrounding area was a blood-red expanse, littered with countless corpses and severed limbs; an unknown number of lives had perished.

There are human bodies, as well as the skeletons of various ferocious beasts and birds of prey, including dragons, phoenixes, and roc birds, many of which are still bleeding today.

Many strange plants were scattered on the ground, but they had all lost their vitality.

These corpses were left behind countless years ago, and no one cared about them lying here.

The exposed corpses were either top-tier true immortals or quasi-immortal kings; the rest had piled up to form the Corpse Plateau below, becoming the foundation of the City of Light and Death.

“In the underworld, every so-called famous mountain is actually a large tomb. These are not quite there yet, so we were too lazy to bury them properly and just piled them up here,” the Black Emperor said.

Duan De added, "Only Immortal Kings are worth our trouble in collecting their corpses. These Immortal Corpses are not very valuable. Cough cough, too many people have died, and we are powerless to do anything about it."

Collecting corpses is no easy task. If you just dig a hole and bury them, who knows what might happen? And they don't want to raise spirits.

If left unattended, the heavy Yin energy would make most realms uninhabitable. Throwing them into the Heavenly Emperor's Burial Pit or the Four Extremes Floating Soil seems like a good solution, but the problem is that those corpses are somewhat unworthy, and Black Emperor and Duan De are not very willing to mess with such places.

It would be troublesome if it brought about disaster.

In the end, they were just piled up here. Anyway, with that artifact in the City of Light and Death suppressing them, no corpses or monsters could cause any trouble.

Shao Hua frowned slightly, and at a glance she could tell that this scarlet land was entirely formed from solidified blood mud. It was a plateau of corpses, terrifying to the extreme.

"when!"

The Beginningless Bell trembled slightly, emitting ripples that dispelled all the Yin energy and undying killing intent.

The group climbed the city wall, and Shao Hua saw the ancient artifact that Hei Huang and Duan De had mentioned.

In the center of the City of Light and Death, there is a huge millstone, which looks like it is made of rough stone. It is enormous and occupies one-third of the city. It is slowly turning.

Those souls that have traversed the path of reincarnation and the underworld will be thrown into this large stone mill after entering the city. They will fall into the millstone through the holes and be completely crushed, returning to their origin.

All resentment and obsessions are ground away in the millstone, all traces of the past are erased, leaving only blank spiritual seeds.

In Shao Hua's eyes, after the "impurities" of those soul lights were crushed, pure spiritual particles floated up and were partially reflected, forming the brilliant light above the City of Light and Death.

"A familiar feeling, Xiaohua, what do you think?" She narrowed her eyes slightly, vaguely seeing a path of evolution.

The particles rose into the air like countless candlelight in the darkness, or like countless dandelions flying in the sunset, pollen everywhere, making the road a "seed" of pollen.

That is spirit, the most fundamental substance, and the foundation of the pollen path.

"The road is a wrong one, and that was not my original intention, but in this world, that's the only way to go. There is still a glimmer of hope." A voice echoed in Shao Hua's heart.

Countless spirits danced in the sky, and at this moment, an endless stream of spirits poured in from the void, like a celestial river bursting its banks, cascading down thousands of feet, forming brilliant Dao patterns, as if paving a road.

Furthermore, a vast expanse of spirits became even more dazzling, manifesting themselves and rushing towards Shaohua's body like a rain of light, nourishing a remnant spirit that resided there.

Black Emperor and Duan De gaped, and Ming Yuanxin's eyes widened as well, all of them looking on in disbelief and awe.

Even the Western Emperor was somewhat surprised; she could see more, which made her even more astonished.

"I see. This is the power you borrowed. It was the creator of the Pollen Road. No wonder I felt something was off when I entered the underworld."

She didn't realize it was her daughter's return at first, and only showed up later because Shao Hua was exhausted and borrowed the power of the Pollen Emperor, which caused her aura and Dao to be completely different, so she didn't recognize her for a moment.

The same was true for Black Emperor and Mingyuanxin, as well as Wushizhong; they didn't notice it immediately, which almost led to the reversal of the Heavenly Gang and caused a huge blunder.

As for the fact that the Western Emperor's own path is completely different from before, it is because she has reached the end of the path and her own path is undergoing extreme sublimation, which is why it is like this.

She carried far too many expectations, endured countless hardships, and survived with great difficulty. Finally, she had the opportunity to step into that level. After all, no one was more suited to wait than her.

Looking at her daughter beside her, a touching smile appeared on her face.

It was unclear how much time had passed, or perhaps only a moment, but the strange phenomenon gradually dissipated.

Shao Hua also gained a lot of insights, and even slightly adjusted her breathing several times. If she were to refine it a bit, she could say that she had created a top-level breathing technique.

Click!
Sounds emanated from her body as she rapidly progressed from the initial stage of Immortal Ascension to the Breakthrough Realm, and she was about to achieve perfect enlightenment.

There's nothing we can do; the reconstruction of the sacrificial altar is just that unreasonable.

There is no cultivation, and there is no need to even inhale or exhale essence. With a little enlightenment, one can make up for the shortcomings of the previous life and make rapid progress in cultivation and realm.

Clearly, when Xiaohua was absorbing the primordial power of the Pollen Path for nourishment, it also completely revealed the Pollen Path to her. It's perfectly normal for her to have some insights; it would be strange if she didn't.

"How are you?" Shaohua asked in her heart.

"Very good, but we can't continue any further. This is the best we can do." A somewhat regretful voice echoed in her heart.

In the post-Sacred Ruins era, the world was shrouded in darkness, devoid of an emperor.

Throughout the vast universe, one can always find a few Dao Ancestors, but there is not a single one at the level of the End of the Path.

One reason is that becoming a Celestial Emperor is extremely difficult.

Secondly, it is because of some unspeakable existence.

In a sense, the path of sacrifice has not completely transcended the realm of the end of the road. It can be regarded as being at the same level as the Immortal Emperor. Once someone breaks through, it will inevitably awaken a being sleeping at the end of the plateau.

As the only surviving master of the Sacrifice Path, and arguably a being on the verge of transcendence, Shao Hua's dark side could be described as omniscient and omnipotent under these circumstances.

The reason I didn't shatter the Three Realms with a single blow was simply because I felt it wasn't necessary.

More accurately, His gaze was never on this place from beginning to end, and He never even thought about this question. Why would Tianlong deliberately trample on a small ant nest?

Perhaps only when all the myriad worlds are placed together can He take a second look.

But what meaning would it have for Him to destroy all the myriad worlds?

Boring! Uninteresting! Useless!

Therefore, after becoming invincible, He chose to slumber.

It is also a silent search for the original patient.

The reason why there was no blood sacrifice for the entire world is also very simple. At the end of that era, He himself buried the entire era, which proved to be useless.

Unless He sacrifices Himself
The pollen emperor could have tried to reflect back, but dared not cross the line, stuck firmly at that critical point.

The Western Emperor was no different. She inherited the legacy of that glorious era and had already reached the end of the road. At the last moment, she also sensed an indescribable crisis.

Left with no other choice, she had to forcibly change her route, and as a result, she inadvertently ended up looking like this now.

After this brief interlude, Shaohua turned and gazed towards the other side of the ancient city of Guangming.

In another direction from the giant millstone, there is a blurry road. All the spiritual seeds that have been ground to dust, leaving only a faint shadow, all travel along that road after emerging from the millstone, leading to the origin of the River of Souls.

There stands a shattered mountain of giant rocks, behind which are six ancient bridges connecting the ends of the cycle of reincarnation.
(End of this chapter)