Ye Ling ascended to the Underworld's sky and surveyed the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains.
Under the sun's rays, life had begun to appear in the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains. In time, perhaps these barren mountains would transform into lush, primeval forests, teeming with vitality.
However, outside the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains, the souls who normally resided in the Underworld displayed expressions of pain due to the sun's presence.
Sunlight was never meant to exist in the Underworld, and many souls were unable to bear its light. The disappearance of the Ten Thousand Underworld Qi and the emergence of sunlight marked their doom.
"Survival of the fittest, it is nature's ironclad rule. However, the matter of the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains began because of me. You should not perish because of this. Let me bring this to an end…"
Ye Ling murmured, releasing all the Underworld Qi stored within his body!
Boom!
An endless stream of Underworld Qi erupted from Ye Ling's body, spreading in all directions, obscuring the heavens and the earth!
Dense Underworld Qi once again swept across the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains. The nascent life that had appeared within them vanished once more due to the influence of the Underworld Qi.
The Underworld's sky was once again covered by Underworld Qi. The sunlight that shone down disappeared entirely, and the world became dim, cold, and once again lifeless.
However, precisely because the sunlight vanished, the suffering endured by the many souls dissipated. The wounds that had appeared due to the sunlight slowly healed under the nourishment of the Underworld Qi!
The Underworld had once again caught its breath.
All the souls in the Underworld would never forget this day…
But as sunlight pierced the clouds, bringing a world-ending crisis to the Underworld, the gods paid no heed. Instead, they fought amongst themselves within the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains for their selfish desires.
In the end, it was an immortal from the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains who released Underworld Qi, blocking the sunlight, re-covering the Underworld with Underworld Qi, and restoring the balance of the Three Realms.
Although the many souls did not know who the immortal who released the Underworld Qi was, the story began to spread, even appearing as corresponding myths and legends in the human world in later generations.
Ye Ling was unaware of the profound impact his actions had on the Underworld. After restoring vitality to the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains, he descended once more into them.
Under the shroud of dense Underworld Qi, the Soul-Forgetfulness Tree completely withered, and Wu Xue, who had been in a deep coma, gradually awoke.
"Xue'er!"
"Mother!"
As Wu Xue awoke, Chu Yuan and Yuan rushed forward with excited expressions.
Wu Xue slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Chu Yuan and Yuan before her, her eyes immediately reddened, and she looked on in disbelief, "You, you…"
Ever since she had swallowed the World Tree seed and transformed into the Soul-Forgetfulness Tree, her consciousness had been wandering in an endless darkness, unable to find hope or light.
She had thought she would sink into the darkness forever, but she never expected to see the light of day again!
Although Chu Yuan's appearance had changed greatly, and their child had not yet been born when she became the World Tree, she could still recognize Chu Yuan and Yuan at a glance!
The connection through blood could never be ignored!
The family's reunion filled the three with emotion.
Ye Ling stepped forward and said, "While I do not wish to disturb your family reunion, I must remind you that your current situation is quite precarious."
"Your Majesty…"
Upon seeing Ye Ling approach, Chu Yuan quickly bowed deeply to him, simultaneously explaining the current situation to Wu Xue.
Once Wu Xue understood that Ye Ling was her savior, she dared not delay and immediately bowed to him, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your intervention. I have no way to repay your great kindness!"
Ye Ling waved his hand, "This is just the beginning… The gods in the heavens are watching your bloodline. The Void organization may find Chu Yuan again at any time, and the Underworld Palace behind the Shadow Hall will not simply give up on your Wu Clan bloodline, Wu Xue."
"It can be said that your entire family is being targeted by the whole world, and the road ahead will be quite arduous."
"Although I intend to protect you, I am not your nanny. I cannot always be by your side, so some matters will require you to resolve them yourselves."
Chu Yuan understood Ye Ling's meaning and respectfully bowed, "What are Your Majesty's commands? We will go through fire and water!"
Ye Ling smiled and said, "Since you understand, I will be direct. For your family to live a stable life, you must eradicate all the forces I mentioned earlier."
"I am not concerned about the gods of the Immortal Realm. With Chu Yuan's strength, I believe you can easily handle them. The difficulty lies with the Void organization and the Shadow Hall."
"These two forces are too mysterious. Even I have not seen their full extent. Therefore, I need both of you to assist in the investigation."
"Chu Yuan, you will investigate the Void. Wu Xue, you will investigate the Shadow Hall. If there are any developments, contact me through this rune token."
With that, Ye Ling condensed two tokens from runes and handed them to Chu Yuan and Wu Xue respectively.
Both Chu Yuan and Wu Xue were targets. While they might not obtain much useful information, they would certainly draw out some individuals.
To put it nicely, Ye Ling was asking them to investigate. To put it bluntly, Chu Yuan and Wu Xue were bait.
Chu Yuan and Wu Xue naturally understood Ye Ling's intentions. However, they no longer knew how to repay Ye Ling's kindness and were willing to be used. They each took the rune tokens and respectfully said, "We will certainly not disappoint Your Majesty!"
Yuan, seeing his parents assigned tasks, looked expectantly at Ye Ling, "Then, Master, what about me? What should I do?"
"Your cultivation is not yet sufficient. Return to the small world and train with Chu Yuan!"
With that, Ye Ling made a grand gesture, collecting Yuan, who was still struggling, back into his small world.
Seeing Ye Ling place Yuan into his small world, Wu Xue covered her mouth and smiled, respectfully saying, "Then I will trouble Your Majesty to take care of our child… We shall depart now."
Chu Yuan also bowed, "Farewell, Your Majesty!"
As their words fell, Chu Yuan grabbed Wu Xue's hand, and the two instantly teleported away from the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains.
Although the tasks assigned by Ye Ling were indeed important, the couple had not seen each other for hundreds of thousands of years, and some intimacy was necessary.
Seeing Chu Yuan and Wu Xue leave hand in hand, Ye Ling smiled and shook his head. Just as he was about to leave the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains, another person flew towards them rapidly from a distance, shouting in panic, "Your Majesty!!! Help!!!"
Ye Ling looked in the direction of the sound and saw the sword-wielding man flying in haste. It was the Sword Spirit who had come to find trouble with him when Ye Ling first arrived at the Ten Thousand Underworld Mountains!
"Is that guy?" Ye Ling, seeing the Sword Spirit, who possessed Saint cultivation, flying towards him, felt a flicker of confusion in his eyes. "Why has he returned?"
Ye Ling recalled that he had asked this Sword Spirit to find his friends to help search for Huang.
However, later, while searching for Li Xiaomei, he happened to encounter Huang, making the Sword Spirit unnecessary.
At that time, Ye Ling had removed the mark and let the Sword Spirit go, and had not paid attention to his affairs afterward.
Now, this Sword Spirit was actively seeking him out…
Ye Ling looked at the panicked Sword Spirit and suddenly thought of something, a slight smile appearing on his lips, "Interesting!"