Chapter 12: First Entry into the Underworld
(Note: The previous chapter mentioned Odin’s death, and those powerful beings controlled by him awakened. This was a mistake—the one who died was the wind-type divine clone, and those powerful beings were controlled by the death-type divine clone. This has been corrected.)
Linley felt his heart pounding as if it might explode from excitement; he had never been this thrilled before. “Father can still recover his memories, he can come back to life! And Yale, George, Dixie…” The oppressive mood of the past few days vanished in an instant. Linley was ecstatic, as if the world had suddenly become brighter and more colorful.
“Don’t rush, don’t rush,” Beirut quickly said.
Everyone forced themselves to hold back.
“I was just speaking casually,” Beirut continued. “After ordinary people die, their souls enter the Underworld and form undead. To find a specific undead formed from a particular person is impossible even for a Highgod. Only the seven Sovereigns of the Underworld, who control the realm, have the ability to do so! But Sovereigns are Sovereigns after all—do you think they’ll do something just because you ask them to?”
The group fell silent, and Linley felt a surge of anxiety.
Sovereigns were indeed exalted and lofty; they likely wouldn’t care about the request of a mere Highgod.
“We won’t know unless we try,” Linley said firmly.
Whether for Yale, George, Dixie, or his father, Linley refused to give up.
“Trying might work,” Delia added quickly.
Beirut shook his head helplessly. “To accomplish this, there are two major difficulties. First, finding and meeting a Sovereign. Second, getting that Sovereign to agree to help you. Both are incredibly hard. Linley, I know you want to see your father and your brothers again. But do you know where the Sovereigns of the Underworld live?”
Linley was taken aback.
Where did the Sovereigns live? That was a closely guarded secret. For instance, the Violet Flame Sovereign—though he had visited the Violet Crystal Mountains, he only later learned that the Violet Flame Sovereign resided there.
“Finding a Sovereign is hard. Even if you manage to locate a place where a Sovereign happens to be, what can you do if that Sovereign doesn’t want to see you?” Beirut said. “And even if you do meet a Sovereign, would they casually agree to a Highgod’s request?”
The difficulty was immense!
“I want to try,” Linley said resolutely. “No matter what, I won’t give up. There are seven Sovereigns of the Underworld. I’ll search for them. If one fails, I’ll go to the next.”
Beirut shook his head upon hearing this.
“Stubborn enough, aren’t you?”
“Alright,” Beirut nodded. With a flip of his hand, a book appeared, a full ten centimeters thick. “Linley, this book provides a detailed introduction to the Underworld. Take a look—it’ll help you understand the Underworld better.”
“Thank you,” Linley said, taking the book.
During his time in the Infernal Realm, he hadn’t really studied the Underworld in depth. He had thought he’d never go there, never expecting something like this to happen.
“If you truly go to the Underworld, I’ll give you one piece of advice,” Beirut said helplessly. “It’s hardly advice—you’ll probably think of it yourself. To find a Sovereign of the Underworld, first seek out the Sovereign’s envoys. There are many of them, so you should be able to find one. If you can’t, then look for the Prefects of the prefectures. Those Prefects might know which Sovereign governs them.”
Linley nodded.
Though finding a Sovereign’s envoy or a Prefect might lead him to a Sovereign, would those envoys or Prefects be willing to tell him?
“Keep that token I lent you,” Beirut said. “That token represents the Bloodpeak Sovereign. With it, your journey might be a bit easier.”
Linley’s eyes lit up.
Right. The token! It was a gift from the Bloodpeak Sovereign to Beirut. With this, perhaps the Underworld Sovereigns would listen to a few words from him.
“Grandpa, thanks!” Bebe said, beaming.
“Otherwise, you’d call me stingy,” Beirut laughed.
Bebe grinned. There was no doubt about going to the Underworld.
“Thank you, Lord Beirut,” Delia said gratefully. Beirut smiled. “Alright, you can stay here. I’ll head back. If anything comes up, come find me in the Dark Forest.” With that, Beirut vanished in a flash, turning into a black streak of light as he departed.
Midair.
Beirut looked back at Dragonblood Castle from afar, a meaningful smile curling at the corners of his mouth. “Just as I expected! But I wonder if this kid will live up to it.” Then, still smiling, he flew toward the Dark Forest.
Upon learning this news, the group at Dragonblood Castle was thrilled. But soon, they felt the pressure. Finding a Sovereign and asking them for a favor was an immense challenge. They began to worry whether Linley could succeed. They also feared… that a Sovereign might, in a fit of anger, kill Linley!
“Sovereigns shouldn’t be that capricious, right?” Wudi said worriedly.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Delia snapped.
Bebe smiled confidently. “Relax. The Underworld Sovereigns, seeing that me and the boss have the Bloodpeak Sovereign’s token, probably won’t kill us.” Though Bebe sounded confident, he was nervous inside. After all, would an Underworld Sovereign necessarily care about the Bloodpeak Sovereign’s face?
Maybe the Underworld Sovereign they met happened to have a grudge against the Bloodpeak Sovereign.
No one could say for sure!
“Sovereigns consider themselves exalted. As long as we don’t offend them, they won’t lower themselves to kill us,” Linley said calmly. “For this trip to the Underworld, Bebe and I will go alone.” Linley and Bebe had already communicated through their souls. They didn’t know what they’d face in the Underworld.
If just the two of them went, they wouldn’t be afraid. But if they brought others, they might not be able to protect them in dangerous situations. Linley chuckled. At that moment, his body split into two forms, and a Linley with fiery red hair stepped out.
“Delia, I’ll leave my fire-type divine clone here. And Nisse… if anything comes up, tell my fire-type divine clone. I’ll know immediately and notify Bebe,” Linley said with a faint smile. Leaving a fire-type divine clone behind would serve as a communication bridge.
Nisse and Delia felt a bit more at ease. With Linley’s fire-type divine clone here, they could always know what was happening with Linley and Bebe in the Underworld.
The day after Beirut left Dragonblood Castle, Linley and Bebe decided to set off. In just one night, Linley had thoroughly read the book about the Underworld, gaining a general understanding of it.
The Underworld, Undead Sacred Mountain.
This was a massive mountain, tens of thousands of meters high, its entire surface pale like bone. Bones were scattered everywhere on the mountain, and at its peak stood an ancient, pitch-black castle shrouded in black mist. This castle had existed for countless eons.
Occasionally, metallic lifeforms flew out of the castle, and sometimes sounds drifted from within.
The Infernal Realm had seven teleportation points, but the Underworld had only two. The Undead Sacred Mountain was one of them!
“Hey, all of you, line up against the wall!” a group of white-robed warriors shouted casually.
The massive teleportation array radiated dazzling light as figures appeared from time to time. These people looked around in confusion—some were Saints, others were mere Demigods. Highgods were rare, and it was very uncommon to see one!
“A Saint coming to the Underworld? Just asking to die,” a black-haired, boyish-looking white-robed warrior said, kicking a middle-aged Saint who had just been teleported in, sending him flying into a corner of the wall.
The kicked man glared back. “What are you looking at, kid? Want to fight?” the white-robed warrior taunted. The middle-aged Saint gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and leaned against the corner without a word. Seeing no resistance, the warrior shook his head with a laugh. “In the Underworld, Saints are everywhere. If you don’t learn to endure, you’ll die on your first day!”
“Busir, you always enjoy messing with them,” another white-robed warrior, leaning against the wall and drinking wine, said with a laugh.
The black-haired youth, Busir, laughed. “If I don’t teach them the rules now, they’ll die even faster once they truly integrate into the Underworld.”
By now, quite a few people had been teleported in.
“Someone else is coming,” the black-haired white-robed youth said, turning to look. The massive teleportation array lit up with a hazy glow, and two figures appeared within it. As the light faded—
“Highgods!”
The surrounding white-robed warriors immediately turned to look. Even those who had been sitting stood up abruptly. Highgods rarely appeared in the teleportation channels. When they did, they usually came from other higher planes and were often not ordinary figures.
These white-robed warriors carefully observed the two.
One was a brown-haired young man, the other a thin youth wearing a straw hat. The brown-haired young man suddenly floated into the air, looked around from a height, and said, “This is the Undead Sacred Mountain! It seems we need to head south. But before that, let’s take a look at the Undead Realm.”
Hearing the words “Undead Sacred Mountain,” the white-robed warriors immediately confirmed that these newcomers were from another higher plane.
“Alright, boss.”
The brown-haired man nodded slightly to the surrounding white-robed warriors, then led the straw-hatted youth as they soared into the sky, leaving the Undead Sacred Mountain.
“Traveling to other planes… when will I reach that level? But the teleportation fee is so expensive! The underworld stones I’ve saved over the years aren’t even enough for one trip,” the black-haired, boyish white-robed warrior said enviously.
The vast sky was covered with dark, oppressive clouds, and lightning serpents flickered within them, writhing like dragons.
This was a desolate plain.
Boundless undead were arrayed in two opposing camps. There were countless skeletons, filthy zombies, ethereal, translucent ghosts, imposing black knights, eerie corpse demons, and corpse witches. Each type had clear hierarchies.
Even among skeletons, there were weak ones and powerful ones that had reached the Saint level.
“Karbusir, you have only two choices—” a majestic voice echoed across the sky. “Submit to me, or die!”
The only response was a cold snort.
“Attack!” the majestic voice roared.
“Attack,” another sharp voice commanded.
Immediately, the two vast armies of undead surged toward each other in a frenzy. The war among the undead was like crashing waves. In the sky, countless bone dragons, undead griffins, and others howled as they charged at the enemy. Poisonous mists drifted freely through the air. On both sides, massive numbers of undead kept dying.
Suddenly—
Both armies of undead halted abruptly. Even their leaders trembled as they looked up.
In the sky, two figures flew side by side. The terrifying aura they emitted made the countless undead below tremble in fear. It was an aura far more powerful than that of their Undead Kings—so powerful that they dared not resist. Moments later, the two figures vanished over the horizon.
“Just releasing a bit of aura, and they’re too scared to move,” Bebe said with a grin.
“You’re really bored,” Linley said, exasperated.
Earlier, after leaving the Undead Sacred Mountain, they had flown north to observe the Undead Realm. When Bebe realized that the aura of a Highgod terrified the undead, he kept releasing it to scare them. Linley could only shake his head helplessly at Bebe’s playful antics.
The Underworld was different from the Infernal Realm. It consisted of a single, terrifyingly large continent. This continent was even larger than the five continents of the Infernal Realm combined!
The northern part of the continent was home to endless undead, known as the Undead Realm.
The southern part was what was truly called the Underworld.
The Undead Sacred Mountain was located at the border between the Underworld and the Undead Realm.
“Every moment, countless undead die in the Undead Realm. The way undead grow is by devouring the souls of other undead! What worries me most now is that the undead formed from Yale, George, and my father might get devoured,” Linley said with concern. But still, he and Bebe flew out of the Undead Realm and headed south toward the Underworld region.
PS: Two chapters completed.