As time trickled away, the resentment and malevolence within many of the ghostly spirits gradually dissipated.
When a month had passed, quite a number of these spirits had been successfully enlightened by Shi Jian, Sikong Yu, and Uncle Jiu.
"There are still some spirits that haven't been fully enlightened!"
"Forget it, if fate doesn't allow it, then there's no need to waste time on these spirits."
As soon as the words fell, several golden lights shot straight towards the eighteenth level of hell in the Underworld, appearing within Guang Ji Ju.
The golden light landed on Shi Jian, Sikong Yu, Uncle Jiu, and Qian He Daochang and their group.
In Fengdu City, the Great Emperor Bei Yin Fengdu and Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha sensed the emergence of Heavenly Dao merits and looked up towards Guang Ji Ju.
"Why would the Heavenly Dao bestow merits in the eighteenth level of hell?"
As Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha was not part of the Yin Division, he was unqualified to enter the eighteenth level of hell to investigate the reason for the Heavenly Dao bestowing merits.
The Great Emperor Bei Yin Fengdu, as the Yin Tianzi, saw Shi Jian and his group enlightening spirits in the eighteenth level of hell but did not intervene in a timely manner. Instead, he chose to remain in Fengdu City to continue plotting against the Great Emperor Dong Yue. In his eyes, a few Ghost Immortal realm cultivators and one Golden Immortal realm cultivator were mere ants who could not stir up any significant trouble. Even with Heavenly Dao merits, they were not to be feared.
"Interesting. The Heavenly Dao not only didn't grant me merits but also passed on another divine lightning technique of the Purple霄 Divine Lightning, the God-Slaying Demon Lightning."
The Purple霄 Divine Lightning was created by the Heavenly Dao. Apart from the Birth and Death Purple Lightning, the other several divine lightning techniques were almost lost. Even the Heavenly Lord of High Azure for Primordial Thunder and the Great Master of Heavenly Thunder could not learn the other seven techniques of the Purple霄 Divine Lightning.
If Shi Jian were to learn all eight techniques of the Purple霄 Divine Lightning and cultivate them to perfection, their power would far surpass the Grand Pure Divine Lightning, Jade Pure Divine Lightning, and Supreme Pure Divine Lightning that the Three Pure Ones comprehended in the Du Tian Divine Lightning.
Now that four of the eight Purple霄 Divine Lightning techniques had been learned, with only the remaining four yet to be comprehended, perhaps by enlightening spirits this time, the remaining four techniques could be completed.
On the other side, Uncle Jiu and the others, having received the Heavenly Dao merits, directly advanced from the Ghost Immortal realm to the Profound Immortal realm, enabling them to be appointed as judges in the Underworld.
Profound Immortal realm judges were very rare. Throughout the entire Yin Cao Difu, there were only four: Wei Zheng, the Judge of Benevolence and Reward; Zhong Kui, the Judge of Punishment and Evil; Lu Zhi Dao, the Judge of Investigation; and Cui Jue, the Judge of Yin Law.
"Enlightening spirits truly yields Heavenly Dao merits. In just a few seconds, I broke through from Ghost Immortal to Profound Immortal. It's worthy of the Heavenly Dao merits."
"Heavenly Dao merits are indeed useful, but unfortunately, they are a bit scarce. The merits required for breaking through major realms later will only increase."
Seated on the meditation cushions, Sikong Yu and the others, feeling their realms breaking through to Profound Immortal, were all beaming with smiles.
Without Heavenly Dao merits, it would have been almost impossible for them to break through to the Profound Immortal realm. They would have remained stuck in the Ghost Immortal realm forever, serving as mere ghost couriers in the Underworld.
"Huh? Why hasn't Senior Brother's realm broken through?"
At this moment, Uncle Jiu and the others also noticed the anomaly.
Logically, the Heavenly Dao merits had fallen upon Shi Jian, and his realm should have advanced to the early stage of Taiyi Golden Immortal. He should not still be in the late stage of Golden Immortal.
"I am different from you. I obtained a divine lightning technique, not Heavenly Dao merits."
Without any concealment, Shi Jian revealed that he had obtained the Purple霄 Divine Lightning technique. He had not expected the Heavenly Dao to bestow upon him the Purple霄 Divine Lightning technique instead of Heavenly Dao merits.
He had initially thought that cultivating three Purple霄 Divine Lightning techniques would be his limit, but he did not expect the Heavenly Dao to offer a helping hand at a critical moment by bestowing the cultivation method for the God-Slaying Demon Lightning.
"Senior Brother, you're so lucky to have the Heavenly Dao bestow another Purple霄 Divine Lightning technique upon you. We are truly envious."
Sikong Yu instantly felt that the Heavenly Dao merits he received earlier were somewhat less appealing. Rather than having Heavenly Dao merits, he would have preferred the Purple霄 Divine Lightning technique.
"I was also fortunate to gain the favor of the Heavenly Dao and learn the God-Slaying Demon Lightning. It's nothing noteworthy."
After speaking, faint golden lights began to appear on the bodies of the gathered spirits, allowing them to be reincarnated sequentially in the near future.
However, only half of the enlightened spirits were subject to the rules of the Underworld, requiring them to be slowly arranged for reincarnation at the Reincarnation Department, which would take several years at least.
He was not worried that these spirits would not be reincarnated. The presence of the Heavenly Dao aura on their bodies was equivalent to a golden token of exemption from Heavenly Dao punishment.
Even the Great Emperor Bei Yin Fengdu would not dare to go against the Heavenly Dao and prevent the spirits from reincarnating.
"You spirits who have been enlightened shall be exempt from punishment. You will be reincarnated in succession later. The remaining unenlightened spirits will continue to be punished in Guang Ji Ju."
The ghost couriers in Guang Ji Ju, upon hearing Shi Jian's words, picked up their implements of punishment and began the tongue-pulling torment for the remaining spirits.
These spirits were too heavy with malevolence and resentment, unwilling to face the sins they had committed in their lives. Therefore, he saw no need to continue preaching to convert the spirits before him.
Doing so would be akin to playing a lute to a cow, wasting a great deal of time. It would be better to seize the opportunity to “reap benefits” from other levels of hell.
"Senior Brother, where shall we go next? Shall we go to Ju Xu Sui Lue?"
"Let's go to the second level of hell first. The judges managing the other seventeen hells all belong to the Great Emperor Dong Yue. We need not fear the Great Emperor Bei Yin Fengdu and Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha causing trouble."
The second level of hell, Ju Xu Sui Lue, is also known as the Scissors Hell. Spirits cast into the Scissors Hell have their ten fingers cut off by the ghost couriers.
Then, the ghost couriers would restore the spirits' fingers and continue to let the spirits suffer the torment of having their ten fingers cut.
The pain of the ten fingers connected to the heart was somewhat more terrifying than the tongue-pulling torment in Guang Ji Ju.
"The judge in charge of Ju Xu Sui Lue is a Celestial Immortal realm judge. Without further ado, we should hurry to the second level of hell."
Uncle Jiu explained the matters concerning Ju Xu Sui Lue and its administrator.
As they were on the same boat, the group would not encounter too many problems entering the second level of hell to enlighten spirits.
"Ju Xu Sui Lue has a punishment every two days. You first calculate the time of the next punishment. After the punishment is over, we will go to the second level of hell."
Shi Jian, to make thorough preparations, began to handle the subsequent matters.
First, the reincarnation of spirits, and second, the issue of punishments.
Ju Xu Sui Lue had a punishment every two days, while Guang Ji Ju had a punishment every three days. If they wanted to enlighten spirits, they had to stay in the second level of hell at all times.
Otherwise, traveling back and forth between the first and second levels of hell would take several months to enlighten spirits.
"Half of the spirits in Guang Ji Ju have been enlightened. The remaining spirits are being guarded by ghost couriers and cannot pose any significant threat. I can confidently go to the second level of hell to enlighten spirits."
Shi Jian entrusted the important task of managing the spirits to the more powerful ghost couriers.
Then, taking Uncle Jiu and his group, he used the Judge's Seal to communicate with the judge of the second level of hell, thereby entering Ju Xu Sui Lue.
"Judge of Thunder Punishment, how is it that in such a short time, you have broken through from the Celestial Immortal realm to the late stage of Golden Immortal realm?"