Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 450 Visiting the Underworld

After communicating with the Celestial Venerable of Longevity, Emperor Xuanwu made considerable progress in both his Dao and Dharma.

The Celestial Venerable of Longevity said, “Fellow Daoist Xuanwu, your swordsmanship is based on deduction, which gives rise to all kinds of techniques. I am not proficient in this path and it is difficult for me to be of much help to you.”

"The Supreme Celestial Venerable Wuji created a supreme celestial technique in his third incarnation, called the Myriad Laws Celestial Technique. If you can absorb the profound meaning of this technique, you may be able to elevate your own technique to a higher level."

"Just as my sword technique is based on the Yin-Yang Dao Scripture created by the fourth incarnation of the Supreme Heavenly Venerable Wuji."

Emperor Xuanwu cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Fellow Daoist Changsheng."

Emperor Xuanwu then rose to bid farewell and left the Immortal Mausoleum for his final destination, the Underworld.

Which earth immortal could be in the underworld? Could it be the legendary Lord of the Underworld?

Although the title of the Underworld Lord is not particularly well-known in the current human universe, a ruler of the Xuanwu Emperor's level still vaguely knows some things about the mythological era.

The former Underworld Lord was not only the first of the Nine Heavenly Venerables, the Transcending Tribulation Heavenly Venerable, who re-attained enlightenment through the connection of an ancient corpse, but also the founder of the Underworld, that is, the master of the Underworld.

Even the Dao of Fields that Emperor Xuanwu learned from his master, Lingbao Tianzun, originally came from the combination of Origin Techniques and Array Patterns created by Mingzun.

If we limit ourselves to the mythological era, then the Underworld Lord is a supreme celestial being who can be ranked alongside figures like the Celestial Venerable Lingbao, the Celestial Venerable Daode, and the Celestial Venerable Yuanshi.

The Lord of the Underworld last appeared during the mythological era when he participated in the extermination of the forbidden zones of life, after which he vanished without a trace. Apart from a very few people, including Liang Yu, no one knows the Lord of the Underworld's whereabouts or movements.

Without Lingbao Tianzun's knowledge, Xuanwu Emperor naturally did not know that Mingzun had already ended this life and fallen into a deep slumber.

Therefore, in Xuanwu Emperor's mind, the Underworld Lord was very likely still in the mortal world.

Is he still in charge of the underworld now?
Recalling the deeds of his master, Lingbao Tianzun, in quelling the corpse calamity, Emperor Xuanwu was not at peace.

The fact that the Underworld was able to survive the cleansing of forbidden zones in the past clearly means it has already been cleansed, so its overall position is definitely not a problem.

This can be seen from the competitors he encountered from the Netherworld on the ancient starry road before he attained enlightenment. Although he exuded a sinister aura and didn't look like a good person at all, his character was actually very upright, and he had more principles and a bottom line than many cultivators in the human universe.

Moreover, in the years since the Three-Life Emperor attained enlightenment, although the underworld and the outside world have had little contact, they have maintained a very harmonious relationship.

Even so, their relationship with the Lingbao Tianzun lineage is probably far from good.

While he was pondering this, Emperor Xuanwu had already arrived before the Netherworld.

The Netherworld is now a vast world, even larger than the Immortal Mausoleum. This is, of course, because the Netherworld is inherently larger than the Immortal Mausoleum. In terms of Earth Immortal cultivation, the Eternal Celestial Venerable is actually superior.

Despite the barrier of the world, Emperor Xuanwu could still sense the countless life forms that existed within it.

The array patterns surrounding the Netherworld flickered for a moment, then fell silent. Emperor Xuanwu sensed the aura of more than one Dao Proving Being from them, demonstrating the depth of their foundations.

Soon, the great formation and the world barrier parted to reveal a portal, from which a figure dressed in black robes emerged, seemingly an unparalleled ruler from the netherworld.

Emperor Xuanwu frowned slightly. This person did not seem to be the legendary Underworld Lord, but his aura was almost identical to that of the Underworld, making it impossible to discern his original identity. Emperor Xuanwu's previous identity was the Prison Suppressor Emperor, but the Prison Suppressor Emperor was merely a title he adopted after entering the Underworld. His true form was originally an ancient venerable being born in the late mythological era.

However, in the years since he committed suicide, he has gradually abandoned his original identity and even the Dao and Dharma of that time, leaving almost no trace. The Dao of the Underworld and the Netherworld has become the Dao he cultivates.

Therefore, Emperor Xuanwu was naturally unable to recognize his identity.

Emperor Xuanwu said, "Fellow Daoist, you..."

The Underworld Emperor said, "Fellow Daoist Xuanwu, you may simply call me the Underworld Emperor."

Xuanwu Emperor said, "Fellow Daoist Minghuang, my master, Lingbao Tianzun, instructed me to come here to learn the methods of Earth Immortals from you. Is this convenient for you?"

The Underworld Emperor said, “Of course it’s convenient. The Celestial Venerable Lingbao once came to the Underworld to slumber and transform for a period of time, and set up a great array for the core of my Underworld, from which I benefited greatly. As his disciple, you are naturally an honored guest of my Underworld, so this is nothing to worry about.”

"Moreover, it would be too lonely for Fellow Daoist Changsheng to cultivate the Earth Immortal method alone. If you also become an Earth Immortal, then the three of us will be true like-minded people, and we should get closer to each other to help and support one another."

"Fellow Daoist Xuanwu, please."

The Underworld Emperor knew that the Xuanwu Emperor might be wary of him because of the past conflict between the Underworld and the Lingbao Heavenly Venerable, but that was a matter of the old Underworld. The current Underworld was a new Underworld built with him as its core leader.

Therefore, reconciliation with the lineage of Lingbao Tianzun is naturally an important step in turning the page on the old underworld.

Therefore, in order to dispel Xuanwu Emperor's doubts about restrictions, the Underworld Emperor used the fact that Lingbao Tianzun had once come to the Underworld to undergo transformation as a starting point, and then used future cooperation as a follow-up to reassure Xuanwu Emperor.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xuanwu was indeed relieved and entered the Underworld with Emperor Ming.

Compared to the Immortal Tomb, the Underworld doesn't look as appealing. A dark sky, black earth, a chilling atmosphere, and corpses everywhere—it's practically a ghostly realm belonging to the dead.

Similar to the Immortal Mausoleum, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this Netherworld is completely different from that of the human universe. It is filled with a mysterious yin power, which is harmful to the vast majority of cultivators.

Living in such an environment for a long time will inevitably have an impact on oneself, damaging both lifespan and cultivation level.

However, for beings who cultivate specific techniques or possess specific bloodlines and constitutions, this place is an excellent cultivation sanctuary. It's simply a case of one man's poison being another man's honey.

However, Emperor Xuanwu had a good impression of the Underworld.

Although the overall tone of this world is gloomy and dark, all life and civilization within it maintains a peaceful and stable order, displaying a positive, vigorous, and energetic vitality.

It's important to understand that the life forms involved are not limited to ancient corpses with spiritual powers; there are also anomalies born from yin energy and death energy, native Yin-Yang races, various races with similar bloodlines that migrated from the human universe, and human forces that cultivate such techniques. The complexity of this group is beyond question.

The underworld and the netherworld could not have been in such a harmonious state in the past, and maintaining such a state would require a great deal of effort to guide and restrain them.

The Underworld Lord has been missing for countless years, so all of this is most likely the work of this Underworld Emperor.

Therefore, Emperor Xuanwu not only had a very good impression of the Underworld, but also of the Underworld Emperor.

(End of this chapter)