Chapter 40: The Underworld and the Battle with Yama

Chapter 40: The Underworld and the Battle with Yama

"The Emperor has gone to the Underworld!"

This news sent shockwaves through all the realms. The Emperor was going to seek revenge, facing the most mysterious place in the ancient world—the Underworld.

This would be her first battle after attaining the Dao, and it stirred the hearts of countless people.

The Underworld was truly enigmatic, a realm where the dead could be reborn, seizing the power of creation.

The first person to achieve this was the Nether Emperor, who had been a supreme imperial expert in life and then, after death, transformed his physical body to once again attain the Dao.

The Corpse Emperor was the second, but fifteen years ago, he was brutally killed by a revived spirit treasure array.

Despite losing two Supreme Sovereigns from the start, the Underworld's reputation remained one of profound dread and fear.

In other words, if they could casually produce two Supreme Sovereigns, wasn't that enough to instill terror?

The Underworld was shrouded in a thick, oppressive aura of death. It was vast and boundless, like another universe where death was the eternal theme, and the black earth stretched endlessly.

Shaohua walked along a path of golden light, and before she even arrived, she reached out and shattered the Underworld's signboard.

"Ahem, why has the Emperor come?" A hoarse, raspy voice echoed from the depths of the Underworld.

"I've come to kill", Shaohua said coolly.

As the current Emperor, she was free to act without restraint. She didn't even bother to explain her reasons for revenge; these dead spirits weren't worthy of hearing them.

Moreover, she was curious about just how strong she had become.

Even if she wasn't at the so-called "Heavenly Emperor" level, capable of overwhelming all enemies with a single hand, she must have at least reached the threshold, right?

If not, she could always use both hands.

She had severed the sacred bloodline inherited from her father and the imperial Dao principles from her mother, forging her own path. Her body and spirit were now even more powerful than before.

Shaohua felt that she might, perhaps, be slightly stronger than her mother.

Surely no one still thought that the Western Empress was weak in combat, right?

Before she finished speaking, the golden light path descended upon the Underworld, and the vast, desolate land, filled with blood rivers, mountains of corpses, and countless Yin soldiers and ghosts, all vanished into thin air.

Shaohua walked forward, her body surrounded by crimson divine light. She wore a black robe, and beneath it, a crimson-gold battle armor that faintly revealed her graceful curves.

This was once her father's battle armor, shattered and incomplete, but she had reforged it, enduring the trials of the imperial tribulation, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

The battle armor, forged from Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold, resonated with a powerful life force.

It had once been stained with the blood of Supreme Sovereigns, making it even more vividly red. Now fully revived, it shone brilliantly, illuminating the entire universe.

The dark, oppressive aura of the Underworld was dispelled by the crimson light, and countless Yin soldiers and powerful war slaves, including some near-emperors, retreated in terror.

They felt like ants gazing at a celestial dragon, deeply sensing their own insignificance. Many could not bear the pressure and fell to their knees.

This was the might of the current Emperor. As long as her blood flowed, even a slight release of her aura could make all living beings tremble and shatter.

Below the Emperor, all were mere ants!

Shaohua stormed into the Underworld as if it were empty.

Along the way, she saw one massive stele after another, each a monument to past glory, inscribed with the Underworld's epochs and the achievements of its rulers.

She shattered them all with a single palm strike, simply because they displeased her.

Finally, she reached the heart of the Underworld, where a grand Yama Hall stood before her, emanating a deep and decaying aura.

Shaohua raised an eyebrow; this aura was familiar. She had even fought it when her mother attained the Dao.

"Yama Emperor!"

She called out coldly, her voice shaking the entire hall, which began to crumble.

"It's me, you've come", a withered figure said, seated on the imperial throne, gazing at the Emperor outside.

The hall was filled with Imperial Dao Array Patterns, which, while unable to stop such a being, at least preserved his dignity.

"Only you are left?" Shaohua demanded.

"Heh, didn't you see it for yourself? The entire Underworld now has only one Imperial Dao expert left—me", Yama Emperor sneered, his expression void of emotion as he explained the situation.

"After that battle, the Heavenly Nether Treasure didn't return; it flew away on its own."

"Emperor Eternal Life also entered the Immortal Tomb and never came back."

"Imperial Jail Warden, feeling uneasy during your tribulation, disappeared without a trace."

"A few others who achieved Dao in unconventional ways also took the opportunity to escape."

If these news were to spread, it would shock the human realm. Who would have thought that the vast Underworld, once so formidable, had almost become an empty nest, with only Yama Emperor remaining.

"I am old and don't want to leave. Let me be buried in this Netherland", Yama Emperor sighed lightly, his voice filled with desolation, even softening a bit.

But Shaohua didn't believe a word of it. She retorted with a faint sneer, "I think the other life-prohibited zones simply won't take you, an old man on the brink of death."

People often speak kindly when they are about to die, but the words of a dead man are nothing but lies.

She narrowed her eyes, seeing through the truth.

This old man had lived for far too long, and the injuries sustained when her mother attained the Dao had never healed. He was now thoroughly exhausted, his life force and energy drained.

His entire being was in the process of Dao Dissolution, his spirit fading. Even if given all the divine medicines and all the living beings in the universe to devour, it would be impossible to reverse his fate; he was certain to die.

He was already as good as dead, with only a few years of life left. After that, he would dissolve into dust, leaving nothing behind.

However, there was something off about this old man.

"Hahahaha, what a sharp young one! Since you've guessed it, you'll accompany me in my demise!" Yama Emperor suddenly stood up, raising his hands high, laughing maniacally.

"The Underworld, a vast forbidden zone that began in the endless ages past, is now coming to an end, and it will be I, Yama Emperor, who brings it to its conclusion!!"

Deep within the vast Netherland, earth-shattering ripples spread, the ground beneath them shattering as countless corpses were annihilated, and apocalyptic scenes unfolded one after another, terrifying beyond measure.

The array beneath Yama Emperor's feet, connected to the boundless Netherland, burst into full force when he stood up, a royal Dao killing array set up by several Supremes.

The killing array also summoned endless death energy, transforming into an unstoppable force of destruction that flooded the entire Underworld.

"At the end of the cycle, everything will come to an end. The Underworld is the final resting place for all beings, and it will be our burial ground as well!!!"

Yama Emperor shouted with his final breath, his voice echoing like a curse through the Netherland.

He was a pawn, not willingly facing death, but forced into it by two others who had betrayed him, pushing him to end his life here.

But that didn't matter now. If he could take a Great Emperor with him, it would be worth it.

Shaohua's eyes flashed with determination. She wouldn't let Yama Emperor have his way. Even if she had to die, she would die by her own hand.

"Divine Illumination—A Thousand Lifetimes in a Single Turn!"

She chanted, her voice long and resounding, like a female war goddess. Instead of retreating, she advanced, unafraid of the killing arrays that summoned the power of the Netherland, determined to slay Yama Emperor.

She and her sword became one, radiating immortal light, with beams of time light emerging, forming ripples that cut through the air at an unimaginable speed.

This was a force completely opposite to the Eternal Seal. Time flowed rapidly, all things withered and decayed, and everything was lost, irretrievable.

"You—"

Yama Emperor's eyes widened in shock, unable to react. The sword light pierced through his celestial platform, and his entire body turned to ash in an instant.

Alas, a once-mighty ancient emperor, who had once looked down upon the nine heavens and ten earths, had fallen into darkness in pursuit of eternal life.

In the end, he was used as a pawn, listening to his own dirge in sorrow, fading into dust, and being buried alongside the Underworld.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end