On the Path to the Great Dao

“Something’s happened in the Tongue-Pulling Hell and Scissors Hell!”

The Fire Judge didn’t hesitate for a second. He channeled his divine power, his body expanding joint by joint, and barked, “Yan Zhen, go notify all the other hells and King Yama! Prepare defenses! I’ll hold them off!”

He reached down toward the earth. In the Iron Tree Hell, the ground split open wide, and magma surged from the depths, forming a river of molten rock stretching hundreds of miles long.

The Fire Judge seized that magma river and turned it into a whip, writhing like a dragon as it coiled through the air toward Chen Shi from a great distance.

This lava whip lashed through the sky, scattering countless droplets of molten rock that hit the ground, rolled swiftly, and then leaped up to become lava ghosts—their surfaces cracked and unhardened magma, their cores molten fire—before sprinting off.

In no time, thousands of lava ghosts had formed a massive army, charging toward the passage leading from the second hell to this one!

At the same time, the Earth Judge shot toward the ghost gate of the fourth hell. But just as his speed was about to peak, a bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky and slammed straight into his skull!

The blow was devastating. The Earth Judge was smashed out of the air, crashing to the ground with a thunderous boom that carved a massive crater into the Iron Tree Hell.

That lightning struck true, crackling as it landed and transformed into an old white ape—white fur all over, a hunched frame, long arms and long legs. It was Lei Qu, chieftain of the Thunder Ape Tribe.

The moment Lei Qu touched down, the ground around him began to tremble violently. Countless skeletons clawed their way up from the earth. An endless sea of bones was swept up by a raging wind, forming an overwhelming torrent of white bone.

In the midst of the bone cyclone, the Earth Judge’s body grew taller and taller. He reached out, and countless bones assembled into a long whip that he swung toward Lei Qu.

Lei Qu roared. Shamanic ritual markings blazed across his body as he swelled joint by joint, transforming in an instant into a thousand-zhang colossus of an ape that met the bone whip head-on!

The whip coiled around him. Innumerable bones bit into his flesh, tearing at him with savage force.

With each lash from the Earth Judge, strips of flesh were ripped from Lei Qu’s body.

Lei Qu paid it no mind. He charged forward, driving a fist into the Earth Judge’s shoulder. The shoulder exploded, countless bones shattering into fragments that scattered through the air behind him. But in the next moment, more bones and skeletons swarmed onto the Earth Judge’s body, filling in the wound!

Two thousand-zhang ghost gods rolled and tumbled across the Iron Tree Hell, locked in brutal combat.

Under the Earth Judge’s command, Tai Ao, underworld marshals, underworld officers, and ghost officials charged in—thousands of them, all powerful experts honed by the divine power of sacrificial offerings. But the next instant, countless thunder apes came crashing in, each of them activating their shamanic ritual markings, their bodies morphing as they collided with the enemy.

On the other side, before the Fire Judge’s lava whip could reach Chen Shi’s side, a thousand-zhang Fire Qiao ghost stepped forward to block. He raised an arm and caught the whip as it came sweeping in.

The whip coiled around the Fire Qiao’s arm. The Fire Qiao suddenly exerted his strength, pulling the Fire Judge toward him.

The Fire Judge braced himself. They struggled for dominance until the whip snapped. The magma river spilled to the ground, becoming countless lava ghosts that sprinted like the wind, racing toward the Fire Qiao and clambering up his body.

The Fire Qiao’s hair was a blazing red, waving like flames. From that fiery mane, a swarm of Fire Qiao spirits emerged, racing down his body to meet the lava ghosts. The two forces clashed across the Fire Qiao chieftain’s own form, slaughtering each other fiercely as bodies tumbled from the air from time to time.

The Fire Qiao chieftain charged forward savagely, locking fists and feet with the Fire Judge.

Both followed the same path of attaining godhood through incense offerings. One was a Great Ascension Realm expert of the Yan Family, saturated with the incense devotion of hell’s ghost gods. The other was a descendant of the Great Shang who had awakened shamanic ritual markings, long nourished by the incense worship of his own people.

Their divine power surged and clashed. Every movement could split mountains and part seas, accompanied by raging flames that melted the surrounding ground into a rolling sea of magma.

Chen Shi’s wooden cart rolled in with a rumbling sound. It rode on wind and thunder, gliding above this sea of lava as two colossal ghost gods fought in its depths, kicking up monstrous waves.

Granny Sha sat inside the cart, watching the scene, her heart shaken by overwhelming shock.

The wooden cart sailed safely across the sea of lava, only to encounter the River of Forgetting slicing through the air in every direction, crisscrossing messily. Those river channels had been laid down by underworld officers piloting single-log boats, weaving across the surface while clashing with Thunder Ape Tribe experts in brutal combat.

Suddenly, a flock of Fu Birds flew overhead, raining down arrows like a storm to join the fight.

Blazing light fell from the sky. In moments, more than a dozen underworld officers were stuck full of arrows, bristling like porcupines.

But for all those arrows, not a single one landed on the wooden cart.

The cart carried everyone straight through, arriving smoothly at the ghost gate of the fourth hell.

The ghost soldiers guarding the gate had long since been dumbstruck.

The ghosts and monsters that had been waiting in line to cross had fled in terror at the sight of the battle. Only one ox-head lesser ghost stood frozen at the gate, utterly bewildered and scared witless.

Chen Shi jumped down from the cart and quietly stood in line behind the ox-head lesser ghost. After a moment, he said, “Excuse me, do you intend to cross? If not, would you mind if I cut in line?”

The ox-head lesser ghost hastily scrambled out of the way. Chen Shi walked up to the ghost gate, took out four incense offering coins, and pressed them into the hand of the gate-guarding ghost soldier. “Sir, do me a favor. We need to get to the Mirror of Retribution Hell.”

The ghost soldier quickly let them through, adding, “The Mirror of Retribution Hell might not be safe either!”

Chen Shi smiled and thanked him. “It’s fine. The rebels are my people.”

The ghost soldier stood there, stunned.

As the wooden cart moved into the Mirror of Retribution Hell, Granny Sha looked around. Everywhere in the sky and on the ground were giant mirrors, paper-thin, with reflections but no substance.

Inside each mirror, chaos raged. Ghost gods, spirits, underworld officers, and underworld marshals were locked in battle, leaping from one mirror to another. The fighting was incredibly fierce!

Granny Sha looked around. Most of those attacking the Mirror of Retribution Hell were ox-head and horse-face ghost clans.

Even the judge guarding this hell, powerful as he was, had been betrayed by his own underworld officers. Most of those officers came from the ox-head and horse-face ghost clans, with a few from the yaksha clan. Now, seeing their own clan chieftains, they naturally defected from the underworld and joined their people in surrounding the Yan Family’s underworld marshals and ghost officials.

The wooden cart drove right through those mirrors without encountering a single obstacle, reaching the ghost gate of the next hell.

Many ghosts were queued up there, waiting to cross. Chen Shi stopped the cart and got in line behind them.

After paying the incense offering coins, they passed through smoothly and entered the Steamer Hell.

In the Steamer Hell, massive steamers—each covering an area of several miles—were stacked with trays of steamers piled a hundred layers high, towering into the sky.

Every tray held tens of thousands of ghost souls, packed in tight and being steamed.

White steam billowed from the top of the highest tray.

Around the steamers, the Herding Ghost and Heavenly Dragon Ghost tribes, led by their respective chieftains, fought against the judge guarding this hell.

The Heavenly Dragon Ghosts turned into flying dragons, fighting in the air, while the Herding Ghosts rolled their wheels fast, battling on the ground.

The wooden cart drove right through the battlefield, safe and sound, as if the fighting and killing around it had nothing to do with it.

Granny Sha watched several thousand-zhang ghost gods gang up on the judge of the Steamer Hell, her heart pounding.

Only now did she understand why Chen Shi had been in no hurry on the road, sometimes even stopping to cook a meal when hungry. He had been arranging for the ghost tribes of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom to infiltrate the Yan Family’s eighteen hells.

Their infiltration took time.

They passed through another ghost gate and entered the Bronze Pillar Hell.

Here stood countless huge bronze pillars, some as tall as a thousand zhang, some as short as two feet. Many ox-head lesser ghosts, horse-face lesser ghosts, and little yakshas were constantly shoveling coal and stuffing it into the pillars, heating them red-hot.

They tied ghost souls to these pillars, facing the bronze, and after roasting one side, they’d flip them over to roast the other.

But now, while the lesser ghosts scurried about their work, the ghost officials, underworld officers, and underworld marshals were locked in combat with the Water Qiao and Big-Bellied ghost tribes. The two tribe chieftains ganged up on the judge of the Bronze Pillar Hell.

The thousands of soldiers battling all around didn’t disturb the lesser ghosts as they went about grilling the ghost souls.

Granny Sha was too stunned to feel anything anymore.

The wooden cart left the Bronze Pillar Hell and passed through the Knife-Mountain Hell, Ice Mountain Hell, and Oil Cauldron Hell…

Hell after hell, they drove through, and every single one had fallen into chaos. Experts from the Ghost Mother, Yaksha, Serpentine, Ghost Fox, Thousand-Weave, and Demon Rite tribes—every kind of ghost clan—had stormed the underworld.

All of the Yan Family’s experts hidden in the eighteen hells under Yama Hall’s jurisdiction were now held at bay.

Chen Shi’s wooden cart drove straight through without resistance, arriving at the ghost gate of the eighteenth hell—the Saw-Hell.

Zhong Kui, Tie Chi, Wang Fu, Jia Yuan, and Zhu Shun, along with Black and White Impermanence and the Boatman and his daughter, were holding this gate, fending off the assault from the eighteenth hell’s ghost gods.

Yama Hall itself lay within the eighteenth hell.

One man could hold the pass against ten thousand. They guarded this gate, ensuring none of the eighteenth hell’s ghost gods could escape.

Chen Shi got off the cart and stepped onto the ghost gate, looking down at the eighteenth hell.

Outside Yama Hall, countless Yan Family ghost gods guarded the ancient temple. Rows of Return to Emptiness and Great Ascension Realm experts had their spells ready and magic treasures raised, poised for battle as they stared dead at the ghost gate leading into the eighteenth hell.

The Yan Family had an endless sea of ghosts and gods, all arrayed before them. Banners fluttered in the wind.

They had already received word of the enemy’s invasion, but Zhong Kui and the others held the ghost gate, preventing them from going to support their people, putting them at a disadvantage.

The ghost gate was easy to defend and hard to attack. They had attacked several times, all repelled.

Nannan picked up the toad by its hind leg and came to the gate, looking down. The wind in the underworld was fierce and biting, tugging at her clothes, making them billow behind her.

Chen Shi stood beside her and said, “Righteous Official, I haven’t broken my promise.”

Nannan lifted the toad and hugged it to her chest, gently stroking its head. “The Demon Emperor keeps his word, indeed.”

She stepped out of the ghost gate. Behind her, a vast Primordial Spirit emerged—a crescent moon hanging between its brows—standing in the void.

She walked toward Yama Hall.

Before the hall, the ancient gods of the Yan Family surged forth, charging at her.

Nannan kept walking, holding the toad. Behind her, Zhong Kui, Jia Yuan, the Boatman, his daughter, and the others all revealed their true forms, charging out from both sides to meet the Yan Family’s ancient gods.

At the same time, behind Nannan, that vast Primordial Spirit’s voice shook heaven and earth: “To deal with wretches like you, this court won’t even bother raising the Dragon Head Executioner’s Blade! The Dog Head and Tiger Head Blades are more than enough!”

Two beams of light appeared in the sky. They shimmered in the wind and turned into a red blade light and a yellow blade light, murderous intent flooding the heavens!

One of the Yan Family’s ghost gods suddenly felt the weight of his own sins. He fell to his knees involuntarily, as if bound by some law of the Great Dao, and cried out, “I am guilty!”

He then spilled everything he had ever done wrong, pouring it out like beans from a jar.

His heart was terrified. He tried to struggle to his feet, but that vast Primordial Spirit behind Nannan tossed out a fire sign, planting it in the ground before him.

In the air, the yellow light descended from the sky. The blade fell. His head was severed from his body!

That Yan Family ghost god was obliterated—soul and all!

“I am guilty!”

Suddenly, two more Yan Family ghost gods fell to their knees, weeping and sobbing as they confessed every evil they had ever committed.

“Shua shua!”

Two more fire signs flew out. The red and yellow blade lights fell from the sky, and two more ghost god heads hit the ground, their three souls and seven spirits all slain!

Nannan walked forward unhurriedly. The sounds of battle thundered all around. More and more Yan Family ghost gods knelt and confessed. Red and yellow lights rained down from the sky.

Morale among the Yan Family’s ranks crumbled.

Inside Yama Hall, the current King Yama, Wei Yue, held incense with both hands. He bowed deeply before the Yan Family ancestors’ memorial tablets, murmuring incantations under his breath.

The Mortal World.

Liuzhou, the Yan Family.

The Yan Family had settled in Liuzhou since ancient times, operating there with deep roots. Their power ranked among the top tier of the Thirteen Great Clans.

Now, the Yan Family’s current Sect Leader, Yan Shihai, wore a grave expression as he hurried to meet the two former Sect Leaders of the Yan Family. “The former King Yama is counterattacking the underworld. She’s already reached the eighteenth hell. Yan Yue can’t hold her off. He begs the ancestors to bestow an immortal artifact to slay King Yama!”

The two old Sect Leaders’ faces changed drastically. “With the Upper Realm destroyed, the underworld is our family’s last foundation! Hurry, summon the Purple-Green Double Qi Rings! Slay King Yama and quell the underworld rebellion!”

The three sect leaders immediately raised the Purple-Green Double Qi Rings. They pointed, and the rings shattered the earth and vanished from sight.

Above the Saw-Hell, the sky suddenly convulsed violently. Two massive rings—one purple, one green—descended from the heavens. They circled and vibrated, shattering the space around them as they bore down on the towering King Yama Primordial Spirit behind Nannan!

Granny Sha cried out, “Nannan, watch out!”

The Purple-Green Double Qi Rings were immortal artifacts of terrifying power. When they clamped around a mountain peak and vibrated, even a mountain would be ground to dust!

If they caught the King Yama Primordial Spirit, things would turn grim!

Wei Yue and the Yan Family’s ghost gods rejoiced. Just as the rings were about to encircle the Primordial Spirit, a giant golden coin came flying through the air with a whistling sound. *Xiu!* The Purple-Green Double Qi Rings passed right through the coin’s square hole. Their immortal might vanished instantly. They fell from the sky and clattered to the ground.

“The immortal artifacts of the Great Shang—truly extraordinary!” Chen Shi exclaimed in admiration.

Behind him, the skeleton body raised its palm. The Golden Coin That Falls Treasures, which guarded the fate of the Great Shang survivors, flew straight toward it.

Chen Shi’s skeleton body raised the artifact again. In the air, the magic treasures raised by the Yan Family’s ghost gods all fell to the ground, dead silent.

The wooden cart rolled forward, passing through the battlefield of warring ghost gods, arriving before Yama Hall.

Chen Shi stopped and said, “Granny, I promised to avenge Brother Tianyu. I haven’t broken my word.”

Granny Sha took Xiang Tianyu’s hand, stepped down from the wooden cart, bowed to Chen Shi, and walked into Yama Hall.

—Happy Valentine’s Day! I couldn’t get a second chapter out today. I’ll make it up tomorrow or the day after.