"Judge Lei Fa, you have such leisure, to run out of Guangjiu Ju and wander around the underworld."
Just as Shi Jian and his party were about to return to Guangjiu Ju, the King of Reincarnation, one of the Ten Yama Kings, appeared in the Hall of Reincarnation.
Among the Ten Yama Kings, the King of Reincarnation is the Tenth Yama King, who is specifically responsible for judging good and evil in the other nine halls, determining the severity of crimes, and dispatching souls to the Hall of Reincarnation for reincarnation and punishment in the eighteen levels of hell.
"This judge is not wandering in the underworld. I am here to escort souls to the Hall of Reincarnation, fulfilling my duties diligently."
In the Hall of Reincarnation, Shi Jian looked at the King of Reincarnation, who had a short beard and a cultivation level of Taiyi Golden Immortal, without any fear.
Although the Ten Yama Kings held higher positions than judges and were all extremely powerful, with cultivation levels above Golden Immortal, he had not committed any offense. He was merely escorting souls to the Hall of Reincarnation, so there was no need to fear the King of Reincarnation.
"Eloquent and glib. Does escorting a few souls require a judge?"
"King of Reincarnation, which rule in the underworld states that a judge cannot escort souls to the Hall of Reincarnation? Which rule states that a judge cannot leave the eighteen levels of hell?"
Faced with Shi Jian's probing questions, the King of Reincarnation was unable to answer for a moment.
The underworld indeed had no explicit rule stating that judges could not leave hell or personally escort souls to the Hall of Reincarnation.
Originally, he had received news from the ghost officers that the Judge Lei Fa from the eighteenth level of hell had left Guangjiu Ju, and he had come specifically to cause trouble.
Because among the Ten Yama Kings, the King of Reincarnation, King Chujiang, and King Biancheng were led by Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, while the remaining halls belonged to other factions.
Therefore, the King of Reincarnation, upon receiving the news, came to make things difficult for Shi Jian.
"You, a petty judge, dare to question me, this King of Yama?"
Unable to deal with Shi Jian, the King of Reincarnation used his official position and cultivation to bully him.
"This judge does not dare to question the King of Reincarnation. I am merely speaking the truth."
"You, you, you..."
Upon hearing this, the King of Reincarnation's blood pressure soared!
Since dueling was not allowed in the underworld, and he could neither fight nor outwit Shi Jian with words, he could only suppress his dissatisfaction.
He knew that a conflict between the three major factions was inevitable, but it was not now.
"Well said, very well said!"
Suddenly, another figure appeared in the Hall of Reincarnation.
"My Hall of Reincarnation is truly lively today, with two Kings of Yama and one judge!"
Meng Po saw that the newcomer was the King of Mount Tai, one of the Ten Yama Kings, led by Emperor Dongyue. She stopped paying attention to their bickering and continued to brew Meng Po's soup.
The forces under Emperor Dongyue and the palace of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha had been in conflict for thousands of years, and she was already accustomed to it.
"King of Reincarnation, why are you not properly attending to your duties in the Tenth Hall but have come to the Hall of Reincarnation to trouble a judge?"
"As expected, a person is named as they are. If you are truly without virtue, then you are truly without virtue. By relying on the title of King of Yama and your cultivation, can you act with impunity in the underworld?"
Upon hearing the King of Mount Tai curse him as lacking virtue in front of the ghost officers, the King of Reincarnation, Xue Li, felt his veins bulge.
Both were among the Ten Yama Kings, with cultivation levels at Taiyi Golden Immortal, and neither could do anything to the other.
"King of Mount Tai, do not think that just because you have Emperor Dongyue behind you, this King of Yama dares not act against you!"
"As far as I know, Emperor Dongyue has not appeared in the underworld for over a thousand years. It would be better to follow Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha."
Instantly, the Hall of Reincarnation was filled with a strong sense of hostility, as the two Kings of Yama refused to yield to each other.
"You villain, if Emperor Dongyue were not unwilling to manage the affairs of the underworld, you would have definitely been stripped of your underworld official title, thrown into the eighteen levels of hell, and exiled to Guangjiu Ju."
As he spoke, the King of Mount Tai, Dong He, exuded fluctuations of netherworld fire, and his Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivation erupted in the Hall of Reincarnation.
The souls and creatures in the River of Forgetfulness saw the netherworld fire and immediately dived into the river, disappearing.
The temperature in the entire Hall of Reincarnation rose sharply, and the waters of the River of Forgetfulness instantly began to boil, with the screams of souls constantly emanating from it.
"King of Mount Tai's temper is too fiery. Let this King of Yama help you cool down!"
The King of Reincarnation, unwilling to be outdone, manifested the Nine Revolving Golden Wheel behind him.
"Two Kings of Yama, do not engage in duels in my Hall of Reincarnation. If you damage the Stone of Three Lives and the Bridge of Helplessness and delay the reincarnation of souls, you will all not escape the punishment of Empress Houtu."
Meng Po, holding her staff, struck the floor of the Hall of Reincarnation several times with a heavy sound.
The boiling waters of the River of Forgetfulness gradually returned to normal.
Seeing this, Dong He retracted his netherworld fire, gave Shi Jian a few words of caution, and then returned to the Seventh Hall with the ghost officers behind him.
Xue Li also did not dare to cause trouble in the Hall of Reincarnation, quickly retracted the Nine Revolving Golden Wheel behind him, and left the Hall of Reincarnation.
"It seems the current situation in the underworld is not good. The Ten Yama Kings each have their own allegiances. I must hurry and lie low to avoid being used as cannon fodder in the future."
Sensing the approaching danger, Shi Jian bid farewell to Meng Po and stayed in Guangjiu Ju, diligently cultivating his thunder arts.
At this rate, within a hundred years, the three major factions would erupt into a full-scale war, vying for control of the underworld.
Empress Houtu resided in Youdu year-round and, like Emperor Dongyue, did not interfere with the affairs of the underworld.
This led to the ambitions of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and Emperor Fengdu gradually expanding, intending to fully control the underworld and sideline Emperor Dongyue and Empress Houtu.
"Senior Brother, did something happen? Why are you only returning to Guangjiu Ju now? I thought you were in trouble!"
"Nothing major happened. I just encountered the King of No Virtue. It was really unlucky."
After Shi Jian opened the gates of the underworld with the Judge's Seal, he casually found a spot within Guangjiu Ju to cultivate the three thunder arts.
He had already mastered three of the eight Heavenly Thunder Arts of Zixiao. If he could cultivate these three thunder arts to their peak, he should be able to break through to the Golden Immortal realm, or even the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
Qian He asked with slight confusion, "Senior Brother, who is the King of No Virtue? There is no King of No Virtue among the Yin Gods of Taoism."
"It is the King of Reincarnation, Xue Li, one of the Ten Yama Kings!"
"Didn't the King of Reincarnation, Xue Li, defect to Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's palace? Could it be that he specifically went to the Hall of Reincarnation to cause trouble for Senior Brother?"
Having arrived in the underworld before Shi Jian, Master Qian He had already inquired about all the affairs of the underworld, including the King of Reincarnation's defection to Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's palace.
"You guessed it. That King of Reincarnation is truly a scoundrel."
Within Guangjiu Ju, Shi Jian cursed the King of Reincarnation thoroughly in front of a crowd of ghost officers and souls.
His usual indifferent expression was replaced by anger and a sense of injustice.
"Senior Brother, our cultivation levels are still low as we have just entered the underworld. We should not leave the underworld. We cannot afford to offend the figures behind the Ten Yama Kings."
Master Qian He came before Shi Jian and repeatedly advised him!
Emperor Dongyue had been absent from the underworld for a long time, and their own ancestors could not suppress Emperor Fengdu of the North Yin and Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha.
Now, only by improving their own strength could they barely preserve their lives amidst the chaos of the underworld.