Chapter 586: Underworld Landscape

The entire court was astonished.

All the Celestials felt uneasy, yet they also saw a great opportunity, believing this model of offspring could be emulated.

As the mysteries of the Asura Path were unveiled, many things emerged that overturned their common understanding.

Someone urgently asked, “I understand ‘Principles’ – they are the fundamental truths of heaven and earth! They said it’s like the ancient practice of ‘investigating things to gain knowledge,’ understanding the world’s wisdom and rules, primarily through cultivating the Buddhist and Taoist systems. But what about ‘Culture’?”

Lord of the Clouds chuckled, “The ‘Principle’ category refers to combat-oriented talents, while the ‘Culture’ category refers to strategists. Their children, much like our Celestials, are also divided into these two types based on their innate talents. It is said that those in the ‘Culture’ category must cultivate wisdom and knowledge, with the goal that everyone becomes a sage.”

Everyone grew even more silent.

Such precise and meticulous differentiation was astonishing.

In the world of the Asura Path warriors, continuous combat training begins from a young age.

From childhood, they must cultivate Buddhism and Taoism, comprehending the knowledge and rules of heaven and earth. They condense this understanding into “chemical” and “physical equations” to calculate the world’s rules, thus embarking on their respective cultivation paths of Buddhism and Taoism.

No wonder they could so easily revive their ancient ancestors’ cultivation civilization; their foundation was unexpectedly profound.

In their eyes, a mysterious world of a highly advanced supernatural civilization was slowly unfolding.

The concepts of Buddhism and Taoism truly proved to be ancient systems that had existed since time immemorial. Even their later manifestations were so brilliant; it was hard to imagine what a resplendent era their ancient mythological heyday must have been.

Xu Zhi glanced at the natives’ reactions, his face darkening.

He sat in the living room, surveying the structure of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, observing the dynamics and changes on both sides... How long had it been since he last checked, and things had already turned out like this?

These venerable Celestials and Heavenly Emperors, looking down from the Celestial Realm at these scheming beings, peeking into the laboratories and various cultivation methods of those amusing players, were actually harboring intentions of secretly learning from them.

But secretly learning was one thing; what was happening now?

He was somewhat bewildered. Was this really such awkward flattery? Had these natives been with them for so long that their intelligence had been assimilated, or had they been thoroughly crushed and humiliated?

However, while feeling both amused and helpless, Xu Zhi also realized that while it seemed comical, it was actually a very normal situation.

Indeed.

Different frameworks, different angles, lead to different ways of looking at problems.

You might think they’re foolish, and that the style has been skewed, but in reality, this is the most accurate conjecture.

If it’s “Physical Buddhism, Chemical Taoism,” then in their eyes, isn’t nine years of compulsory education simply powerful cultivation from a young age? Isn’t this a mysterious and complete world of advanced supernatural civilization?

“Thinking about it, from this perspective, it truly makes sense. All the major academic subjects on Earth, learning them is for future success, and that’s precisely for cultivating Buddhism and Taoism!”

Xu Zhi felt that this wave of players was truly exceptional, so impressive that his scalp tingled; they were changing the times!

This was a civilization that linked the past and present.

“...These people, cough, cough, they were originally planning to secretly learn as well. Forget it, I’ll just ignore them.” Xu Zhi’s expression was odd. With a flicker, he reappeared in the Underworld.

Under a sky of utter darkness.

A grand city of Fengdu stood on the dark red ground, beneath the black sky. Its vast emptiness gave one a profound sense of insignificance.

Fengdu was already orderly and well-constructed.

Many residential buildings had appeared within the city, with numerous people living in them, awaiting their turn for reincarnation. Independent facilities like combat pavilions and newsstands helped them pass the time and also absorbed a significant amount of incense and faith.

The Hell Path of the Six Paths of Reincarnation had fully formed.

It was located in the land of the dead, serving as a dwelling and waiting place for souls before their reincarnation.

“Even the Arcade Hell had fully formed.”

Xu Zhi looked down at the arcade machines. In the eyes of the natives, these machines were like prison cells with glass panes, through which they could see images from the depths of Hell.

“Jue Wushen, Qi Tiandi... had already gained their own intelligence and were even growing stronger through combat.”

It must be said that Shangguan Man, as Meng Po, was quite competent.

Meanwhile, during this period, Shangguan Man had successfully recruited Judge Cui to be responsible for presiding over cases, freeing herself up entirely to simply serve the soup in the future.

Thus, Black and White Impermanence, Judge Cui, Meng Po, and Di Ting had completely formed the basic structure.

Recently, Ox-Head and Horse-Face were also found. Although their addition enriched the population, their duties somewhat overlapped with Black and White Impermanence, making them not strictly necessary.

Whoosh!

Xu Zhi shimmered and resettled onto the Divine Throne of Reincarnation.

Meng Po slowly bowed, “Welcome back from seclusion, Your Majesty.”

“What changes have occurred over these years?” Xu Zhi asked. He was clad in a black dragon robe, wore the Yama King’s crown, and was surrounded by a strange, twisting, shifting halo, exuding a captivating aura.

Meng Po slowly recounted, “According to Di Ting’s years of listening to the voices of the deceased from the three realms, the Celestial Path has shown signs of intent. They already harbor thoughts of reversing the Underworld, invading it, and striking their names from the Book of Life and Death.”

“Oh?” Xu Zhi was curious; he had just taken a look and hadn’t noticed any such actions.

A large number of Heavenly Emperors had been born in the Celestial Path, now numbering over seventy. Were they already trying to attack the Underworld?

Over seventy Heavenly Emperors was not surprising, as among the six hundred thousand reincarnations, the initial batch of top-tier individuals had already experienced an explosive period of growth and all been born into the Celestial Path.

“They only had some ideas,” Meng Po said with a sinister smile. “They knew they lacked the power and merely entertained the thought. At the same time, the newly emerged Buddhist and Taoist systems have completely captivated their attention.”

“They had originally been stagnant in their cultivation and, unwilling to await death, harbored such thoughts. Now that they could cultivate and grow stronger again, they had immersed themselves in those two nascent systems.”

“Quite interesting,” Xu Zhi murmured.

This was not unexpected.

The nascent Buddhist and Taoist systems alleviated their desire for breakthroughs at the Heavenly Emperor realm, as these were genuine, solid, and orthodox cultivation systems, beyond what their innate talents had previously allowed.

Of course, this was simply human nature.

The Celestials, seeking higher pursuits, thought of the mysterious Underworld, desiring to live longer.

Beings of the Mortal Path, seeking higher pursuits, thought of counterattacking the Celestial Path, thus leading to Li Sansheng and Zhang Xiao.

Everyone was pursuing the overthrow of the tier above them.

“The world is inherently a cycle,” Xu Zhi said with a smile, pondering for a moment, finding it quite amusing. “It will still be some time before their cultivation realms truly rise.”

Meng Po lowered her head, not knowing what His Majesty was thinking, nor daring to speculate.

If it were her, she would certainly nip it in the bud; why would she allow it to develop?

But if His Majesty truly thought as she did, then His Majesty would not be the supreme and sole entity overseeing the world’s nexus, in charge of the Underworld’s Hall of Reincarnation.

Meng Po lowered her head and continued, “With the establishment of Fengdu, order is better than the previous chaos. A few days ago, Black and White Impermanence had already descended to reincarnate in the lower realms; they are very interested in the true qi cultivation methods of Yin and Yang energies.”

Xu Zhi mused that it was quite good for the denizens of the Underworld to reincarnate, as Ox-Head and Horse-Face would take over the duties of Black and White Impermanence during their “vacation.”

“And you?” Xu Zhi asked, “What cultivation method are you interested in?”

“Buddhism... I have heard the stories of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva,” she replied, without any concealment.

Xu Zhi considered, “I happen to have a batch of cultivation resources from the Buddhist and Taoist lineage, which I can place in the Underworld, should you wish to try cultivating.”

After all, one should fulfill their responsibilities when in a position of power, especially as an ultimate, behind-the-scenes manipulator. Once he adopted the role, his subordinates’ strength still needed to be enhanced.