Chapter 756: The Past of Netherworld
Qin Mu quickly mastered the technique of controlling the paper boat. This little vessel was arguably the fastest thing flying through the Netherworld. With this boat, he could go find his mother, who was imprisoned somewhere in the Netherworld.
"By the time Earth Lord and Netherworld Lord discover this, it will be too late!"
He stood at the bow, gazing into the endless darkness. The small boat drifted through the black void, appearing utterly solitary.
However, the Netherworld was not entirely dark. There was also lava, like blood, flowing down the surface of Earth Lord's skin. Earth Lord was so immense that his skin resembled armor made of incredibly hard rock. The gaps between the rocks were like the lines of his skin, where fiery red magma flowed like blood.
Qin Mu urged the boat closer. From a distance, the rocky skin revealed nothing unusual, but up close, he saw peaks standing like forests, rough as knives, spears, swords, and halberds. Huge demons or demon gods carried palaces on their backs, shuttling through the mountain ranges.
Countless green-skinned imps swarmed around the palaces carried by the demons and demon gods, bickering and fighting with other groups of imps, slaughtering until rivers of blood flowed.
Green-skinned imps were a unique creature of the Netherworld. Fengdu also had such imps, with green faces and fangs, their features indigo-blue. Some imps were three to five times taller than a human, while others were no taller than a calf's shin, but they ran very fast.
Among these imps were imp kings, extremely powerful, comparable to gods and demons.
This kind of war was common throughout the Netherworld. Even demons and demon gods would join the battle. The demons and demon gods carrying palaces were immensely strong, but their weapons were crude. They would snap off mountain peaks from Earth Lord's skin, using them like enormous spiked clubs, swinging and smashing wildly.
Sometimes, Qin Mu could even see the primordial spirits of a few gods or demons emerge from the palaces on the backs of the demons and demon gods. They would perform rituals in front of the halls, unleash divine abilities, or activate divine weapons, engaging in fierce combat with their enemies.
"The Netherworld is quite lively."
Qin Mu watched with excitement. As he passed a battlefield, he stopped the boat and called out clearly, "Fellow Daoist!"
Both sides of the battle were startled by his voice. Countless green-skinned imps immediately stopped fighting. The demons on both sides also hastily halted, leaning on their mountain-peak spiked clubs, looking up at the small boat.
From the palaces on both sides, the primordial spirits of gods and demons flew out, hovering in the air. They clasped their hands in a respectful salute and bowed to the boat, saying, "Lord of the Mansion, we are unworthy of the title 'Fellow Daoist'!"
"Lord of the Mansion, are you here to kill us? Is Earth Lord going to eat us?"
The two battling gods and demons suddenly embraced each other, weeping bitterly. "Others fight and struggle over territory, so why, when it's our turn, are we to be eaten?"
Qin Mu quickly said, "Don't cry, you two. Earth Lord is not going to eat you. I'm just here to ask for directions. Once I have my answer, I'll leave, and you can continue your fight."
The two gods and demon gods immediately released each other.
Qin Mu asked, "Where is the place where important prisoners are held?"
The two gods and demon gods sighed with relief. "It's at the Netherworld Jade Lock Pass, beneath Earth Lord's feet."
Qin Mu thanked them and said, "On my way here, I saw fighting everywhere. Why is the Netherworld so chaotic?"
The two gods and demon gods exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. One demon god cautiously said, "Lord of the Mansion, have you forgotten the events of twenty-two years ago? Twenty-two years ago, that being whose name cannot be spoken fought all the way down from the Nine-Bend Corner, breaking through countless layers of the Yellow Springs, killing and devouring countless great powers. We are merely taking advantage of the many unclaimed territories to fight for land and settle old scores."
The other god's primordial spirit quickly nodded.
"A being whose name cannot be spoken? Such a terrifying existence exists in the Netherworld?" Qin Mu was puzzled. He urged the boat away.
The two gods and demon gods only relaxed when the boat was far away. "Strange, why did the Lord of the Mansion ask us for directions? As the Heavenly Equal Sage King, shouldn't he know about the Netherworld Jade Lock Pass? Or about the Netherworld Little Tyrant?"
"Never mind. Charge! Kill those bastards, and you'll get thirty ghost beauties!"
"I treated you like a brother when I was alive, but you seduced my wife! Kill this bastard!"
The two sides resumed their chaotic battle.
Qin Mu flew downward along Earth Lord's body. The further down he went, the heavier the Netherworld demonic energy became, and the stronger the demonic nature grew.
What he saw along the way made his heart pound. The Netherworld was in chaos everywhere, with battles raging, skies darkening, and many terrifying powerful ghost souls causing trouble, burning, killing, and looting everywhere.
"That being whose name cannot be spoken in the Netherworld twenty-two years ago must have committed countless atrocities, killing and devouring many great powers, causing such great turmoil in the Netherworld that it hasn't subsided to this day."
Qin Mu felt a chill. "It seems the Netherworld is also unfathomably deep, hiding crouching tigers and hidden dragons everywhere."
Earth Lord's body also had many ancient cities, brightly lit with lamps and bustling with activity, garrisoned by gods and demons.
There were also dark cities floating in the air, connected by cableways to cities on the ground. These cities formed various formations, exuding a grim and murderous atmosphere.
Qin Mu glanced at them from a distance but did not approach. "Those must be the garrison cities of the military governors stationed in the Netherworld by Lu Li and the Outer Heaven. Not a good place to get close."
He flew a long distance further and saw dilapidated divine cities in the sky and pitch-black cities reduced to ruins on the ground. These cities were littered with broken limbs and bodies. Judging by the wounds, it seemed some ferocious beast had bitten off half their bodies.
A towering fortress wall lay ahead, blocking the way like an iron-black city wall. The wall was extremely high. Qin Mu was about to go around it when he suddenly froze. He saw startlingly large handprints on the fortress wall.
The handprints were enormous, with fingers like mountain peaks smashing into the wall. Each finger was like a mountain.
There were also fist prints on the fortress, along with countless imprints of gods and demons smashed into the wall. The ground was littered with the dry bones of demon gods and piles of broken divine and demonic weapons.
After a while, Qin Mu stopped the boat at the city gate. The tall, majestic gate tower and walls had been smashed to pieces. The gate and wall had a huge hole, shaped like a human figure. It was clear that the being whose name could not be spoken had a chubby body but was incredibly ferocious, with unimaginable physical strength!
The small boat sailed through this hole into the abandoned fortress. The interior had been destroyed beyond recognition of its former glory. Everything was smashed to pieces.
Suddenly, Qin Mu arrived at the center of the fortress. Tens of thousands of dry bones of gods and demons stood there, arranged in large circles. These white bones of gods and demons were all leaning toward the center, as if a tremendous gravitational force at the center was pulling their bodies, while they resisted it.
Qin Mu urged the boat to the center. At the center were two huge footprints.
His boat stopped above the footprints. Qin Mu stood on the boat, looking at the skeletal frames of the gods and demons all around. These white bones must have been from those who rushed in from all directions after the being whose name could not be spoken broke through the city. At that moment, that being suddenly erupted.
"Ahhh—"
Qin Mu opened his mouth and mimicked shouting at the surrounding skeletal frames, then shook his head. "No, it wasn't killing them with sound waves. It should be..."
He turned his head, took a long breath, and mimicked inhaling toward the surroundings, then nodded. "Yes, that's it. That being whose name cannot be spoken suddenly sucked away the primordial spirits of these gods and demons, devouring them all! Swallowing tens of thousands of gods and demons in one breath! Brutal, truly brutal!"
The small boat flew over the fortress and continued onward, arriving at the crook of Earth Lord's knee. Here, there was a chain city, with thick chains linked together to form a series of cities.
Qin Mu sailed the boat into a towering gate and found a different world. The palaces here were majestic and continuous, with cities within cities. But they too had been reduced to ruins, heavy with demonic energy. Only a few green-skinned imps lived here, extremely timid. Seeing his boat approach, they turned into black smoke and vanished into who knows where.
Qin Mu's expression turned strange. He quickly withdrew from this gate and looked up. The towering gate had also been broken and fallen.
He searched the ground. After a moment, he saw the characters on the broken gate and gasped.
"Southern Heavenly Gate! This is a heavenly palace!"
His mind shook violently. He steadied himself and re-entered this heavenly palace. He flew over the Jasper Terrace and the Jasper Pool. The pool was dry, as if someone had drunk it all in one gulp. The Execution Platform was smashed to pieces. The Jade Capital City was destroyed. The Hall of Lingxiao Hall had holes punched through it. The Emperor's Throne had been pulled out, seemingly shattered by a large butt sitting on it, crushed into pieces on the ground of the Jade Capital City.
"Souls worthy of living in a heavenly palace, when alive, must have been at least at the Emperor Throne realm or the Lingxiao realm. Yet that being whose name cannot be spoken destroyed their palace, and the master here was likely devoured by that brutal existence!"
He left this heavenly palace, growing more alarmed with each sight. Twenty-two years ago, the Netherworld had clearly suffered a great calamity. The souls living here had encountered the massacre by that being whose name cannot be spoken, suffering heavy casualties.
"Earth Lord and Netherworld Lord keep writing down my little offenses every day, but they never mention this great evil being!"
Qin Mu felt quite indignant. He arrived at the sole of Earth Lord's foot. This place had become a battlefield relic.
Qin Mu looked around, his heart pounding. This battlefield was vast and boundless. Even his divine eyes could not see its edge. All he could see were rays of light everywhere—residual divine abilities left by great cultivators.
Each ray of light stretched for ten thousand miles, exuding a breathtaking beauty.
The ground was extremely flat, with no mountains or rivers visible. The sky was covered with palm prints and fist prints. The marks left on space had not healed even after more than twenty years!
Clearly, the battle here was far more terrifying and dreadful than anywhere else!
"Could it be that the souls of Emperor Throne realm experts besieged that being whose name cannot be spoken here?"
Qin Mu's heart raced. He carefully piloted the small boat through this battlefield, avoiding those brilliant divine abilities. The more he saw, the more alarmed he became.
The intensity of this great battle was beyond imagination. The number of gods and demons deployed must have been terrifying!
However, at the edge of the battlefield, he saw the footprints of that being whose name cannot be spoken again. The footprints were deep and fat. Clearly, this battle did not kill that being whose name cannot be spoken. Instead, he fought his way out!
That being whose name cannot be spoken was the ultimate victor!
"Such a terrifying existence exists in the Netherworld?"
Qin Mu took a deep breath. "I need to be cautious in my words and actions, to avoid offending the powerful beings in the Netherworld. Hmm, as the village chief said, courtesy never hurts."
He had now arrived at Earth Lord's standing ground. The demonic nature here was terrifyingly heavy. The demonic energy and nature had settled, forming the continent beneath Earth Lord's feet.
When the small boat flew off Earth Lord's sole, he saw a magnificent, vast black city, as if cast from black jade, seamless and whole, with no joints visible anywhere.
"This should be the Netherworld Jade Lock Pass."
Qin Mu urged the boat upward, trying to fly over the wall and enter the pass. But as the boat rose, the black jade wall of the Jade Lock Pass also grew upward. No matter how fast the boat flew, it could never cross the wall and enter the pass.
After testing for a long time, Qin Mu reluctantly followed the wall to find the city gate.
After an unknown amount of time, he finally found the gate of the Jade Lock Pass. Outside the gate, two demon gods stood guard with axes and halberds. Seeing the paper boat approach, they were about to bow in greeting, but then they saw that the person on the boat was not the old yin-yang messenger but a young man. They were surprised.
One demon god crossed his axe and said, "Which young master are you? Why have you come to the Jade Lock Pass? And why do you have the paper boat of the Heavenly Equal Sage King?"
Qin Mu quickly said, "Honored gods, I am Qin Mu, Qin Fengqing. I have come to visit my mother."
—Brothers and sisters, this month marks the first anniversary of "The Legend of the Shepherd God." In one year, I have written two and a half million words! The anniversary event for "The Legend of the Shepherd God" has begun, along with the first-anniversary book review event! I have commissioned custom merchandise for "The Legend of the Shepherd God" as rewards for the book review event! Please see the author's note at the end of the chapter!