"Little me will open the door for you adults now."
Tianyuan was completely terrified. He said to Ye Ling with a trembling voice, and then jumped into the Youming Pool.
Soon, the calm Youming Pool automatically split into two halves, revealing a staircase.
At the end of the staircase, there was a door filled with Yin energy.
Ghost King Tianyuan stood before the great door and reminded everyone, "My lords, I must remind you that once you walk through this door, you will enter the underworld, and there will be no turning back!"
"My lords are not among the immortals. Even though your strength is extraordinary, you are still mortals. Once other ghosts discover your activities in the underworld and alarm King Yama, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
Ye Ling paid no attention to Tianyuan's reminder, walked down the stairs, and stopped before the great door. He then asked Tianyuan, "You said you used to be an official in the underworld?"
Tianyuan nodded quickly, nervously saying, "Yes, yes... just a small official, with no sense of presence."
"How long have you worked?" Ye Ling asked again.
"Three, three hundred years..." Tianyuan nervously held up three fingers.
Having spent three hundred years in the underworld as a minor official, and now reduced to guarding the Youming Pool, he was a rare kind of ghost who achieved so little.
His colleagues who started at the same time had either become important figures in the underworld or ascended to become gods in the immortal realm. Only he remained a small guard.
"Three hundred years... then you should be very familiar with the environment of the underworld?" Ye Ling continued to ask.
Tianyuan nervously replied, "Yes, yes... My lord, why do you ask?"
Ye Ling narrowed his eyes and smiled, "We have never been to the underworld, and we are not familiar with the environment. You can be our guide and lead the way."
"Ah, ah?"
Upon hearing Ye Ling's words, Tianyuan shivered, and his face instantly turned into a bitter gourd!
There was more than one entrance from the mortal world to the underworld. Even if Ye Ling and his group entered the underworld through the Youming Pool, if they were discovered later, the trouble might not necessarily fall on him!
But now that Ye Ling wanted him to be a guide, the nature of the situation was different.
As a guard at the entrance to the underworld, not only did he fail to stop mortals from entering, but he also broke the law and became a guide for lawbreakers!
If this were discovered, he would surely face dire consequences!
But...
Tianyuan looked at Ye Ling's sincere eyes and found it impossible to refuse.
It wasn't that he was moved by Ye Ling's sincerity, but rather that he knew very well that if he refused Ye Ling, he would die right then and there!
Helpless, Tianyuan said bitterly, "Little me understands. Little me will lead the way for you adults now!"
Tianyuan reluctantly opened the great door, poked his head into the underworld, and after confirming there was no one on the other side, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. He turned to Ye Ling and the others and said, "My lords, please come in."
Ye Ling and Ye You nodded with a smile and walked into the underworld with natural grace.
Xu Xiaoqing and Su Ruoxue suppressed their excitement and nervousness and followed closely behind.
For them, behind the door lay an unprecedented world, and they were about to enter the realm of kings...
No one knew what they would encounter next.
Seeing that Xu Xiaoqing and Su Ruoxue had entered, Tianyuan gritted his teeth fiercely and was about to go all out and close the great door when Ye Ling's voice came from inside the door, "Guide, what are you still standing there for?"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Tianyuan shivered and quickly abandoned his idea of closing the door, hurrying into the underworld, "Coming, coming!"
The Underworld, the Land of the Dead!
Earth has three realms.
The uppermost is the Heavenly Realm, where immortals reside. The great powers who rule the world live here. The Heavenly Realm hides countless unfathomable great powers.
In the middle is the Human Realm, where billions of living beings reside. Whether they are humans, demons, or devils... countless beings live in the Human Realm. The Human Realm is also the most important world among the three realms, bordering the universe and being the core of Earth.
The lowest is the Underworld, the realm of the deceased. Whether from the Heavenly Realm or the Human Realm, once living beings die, their souls fall into the Underworld to await reincarnation.
In the Underworld, the Underworld is divided into regions according to mortal kingdoms. For example, in the West, there are areas like Hell. In the Chinese region, the world dominated by the Heavenly Court, the Underworld region is the Land of the Dead, governed by King Yama.
The various regions of the Underworld are independent and do not communicate with each other.
The Underworld that Ye Ling and his group entered through the Youming Pool was the Land of the Dead, governed by the Heavenly Court, which is also the world in Chinese mythology!
In the Land of the Dead, in a desolate and cold wilderness, Tianyuan trembled and asked Ye Ling, "My lord, we have arrived at the Land of the Dead. Where do we go next?"
Ye Ling scanned his surroundings and did not find any lingering souls. He then asked Tianyuan, "How do we get to Mount Buzhou?"
"My lord wants to go to Mount Buzhou?"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Tianyuan was instantly shocked and quickly asked.
Seeing Tianyuan's astonished reaction, Ye Ling raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with Mount Buzhou?"
Tianyuan said with a slight tremor, "My lord, you may not know... Mount Buzhou is a vital area in the Underworld, on the other side of the Nai River, deep within the sea of Forgetfulness Flowers."
"Not only do we have to cross the Bridge of Forgetfulness, but even after crossing it, the sea of Forgetfulness Flowers is heavily guarded, with sentries every ten steps. It is impossible to bypass the guards and reach Mount Buzhou!"
"So what?" Ye Ling asked indifferently.
He had no intention of hiding his identity from the beginning.
After the battle at the ancient ruins of the Tongtian Clan, Ye Ling's name had spread throughout the Immortal Realm. Now, all the gods and Buddhas in the heavens considered him a sage, an unassigned immortal god.
Even if he were discovered in the Underworld at this moment, the gods of the Heavenly Court would only pretend not to see him.
"So what if we are discovered... My lord... why do you say it so casually?"
Tianyuan, who had been guarding the Youming Pool, was unaware of Ye Ling's reputation in the Immortal Realm. At this moment, he was so anxious that he was about to cry, and he advised, "We are now lawbreakers, and we must act with caution. Even being discovered by a ghost soldier is a big problem. Now we are going to break into Mount Buzhou, which is heavily guarded. This is walking into a trap!"
"My lord, can you choose another place? Mount Buzhou is truly not to be visited!"
Ye Ling smiled, "Coincidentally, I only want to go to Mount Buzhou, and nowhere else. Just tell me if you will lead the way or not?"
Tianyuan: "I..."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Tianyuan suddenly realized that he had nothing to say.
He was now a hostage and had no right to refuse Ye Ling.
If he were caught by the underworld army, he would still have a chance to argue and a glimmer of hope during the trial.
But if he refused Ye Ling now...
Tianyuan estimated that he would immediately be annihilated!
Realizing his situation, Tianyuan could only say bitterly, "Little me understands..."
"We will go to Mount Buzhou now."