Chapter 258 The Battle Between Humans and Demonic Beasts in the Underworld

The dark sky is an eternally unchanging gray.

Inside the Yama Palace, Zhao Feng stood before a large table, holding up the dark golden Yama Seal with one hand. As one of the Ten Yama Kings who govern reincarnation, he only needed to cross the barrier between the two realms to meet the Dao Lord; his divine sense could do so without any formalities.

He placed the imperial seal heavily on the table and turned to look at the civil and military judges behind him.

"The rules of the Mirror of Retribution have changed. I must go to Kunlun to discuss the new judgment laws of the Underworld with the Dao Lord." Zhao Feng's voice was steady and powerful, carrying an unquestionable authority. "While my divine consciousness is separated from my body, the pressure of the Ten Courts will be somewhat reduced. You will lead the Yin soldiers to guard the various passes, and there must be no losses. Although the road to the Yellow Springs is teeming with souls, the laws of the Netherworld will suppress them. As long as no major chaos occurs, we can wait for my return."

"Your humble servant obeys," the civil and military judges replied in unison.

Zhao Feng nodded slightly and slowly closed his eyes.

A wisp of pure and powerful divine consciousness escaped from between his brows, transforming into an almost imperceptible stream of light that ignored the heavy dome of the Netherworld and sped towards Mount Kunlun in the heavens. Meanwhile, Zhao Feng's physical body, left before the throne, dimmed, resembling a lifeless, dark golden statue.

As Yama's divine consciousness departed, the suppressive force that enveloped the entire underworld inevitably began to weaken slightly.

On the road to the underworld, the gray-white mist remains thick.

The trial of reincarnation has dragged on indefinitely, with millions of souls crowding the ancient road leading to the gates of hell, the remnants of human hunters' souls almost pressed together with the souls of mutated monsters.

Originally, under the suppression of the Netherworld's "Law of Chaos," the souls of the dead would lose their memories and resentment from their previous lives, becoming like puppets.

However, Zhao Feng underestimated the intensity of the obsession of this new species in the mortal realm.

The weakening of Yama's oppressive aura was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing the causal vortex on the road to the underworld to completely lose its final balance. Millions of opposing wills to survive in the mortal world clashed violently in such a confined space, and the quantitative change finally triggered a qualitative change.

The constraints of the Chaotic Law were broken by millions of fiery obsessions.

At the edge of the crowd, a greyish-white hunter's ghost suddenly stopped its mechanical steps. A crimson light, representing the obsession of its past life, gradually shone in its empty eyes. It turned its head, staring intently at a second-tier armored boar ghost standing beside it.

In the mortal realm, it was this beast that crushed his spine.

The instinct for survival and the hatred etched deep in his soul instantly revived. The hunter's spirit made no sound, directly raising the high-frequency vibrating blade materialized from his obsession and slashing it into the demonic boar's soul.

The demonic boar spirit cried out in pain, its eyes blazing with furious green fire. It bared its illusory tusks and bit down on the hunter spirit's shoulder, tearing off a fragment of its soul and swallowing it whole.

It was like a drop of cold water falling into a pot of boiling oil.

Sleeping consciousnesses are awakened one after another like a plague on the crowded road to the underworld. Humanity's ambition to survive and the monsters' bloodthirsty instinct for evolution are reignited on the land of the dead.

The riots began.

There were no magical clashes, only the most primal soul-devouring. Human hunters, driven by their fighting instincts, formed small formations, using illusory weapons to sever the souls of the demonic beasts; the demonic beasts, in turn, gathered into a horde, tearing at the remnants of human souls with their claws and teeth.

What's chilling is that this kind of fighting is not simply a matter of attrition.

The human soul that had devoured the demon race's soul power had its originally grayish-white and transparent soul form become more solid, and even the phantom of its bio-elemental root on its back had grown new tentacles. Meanwhile, the demon beast that had consumed the human soul gradually grew larger.

The laws of species evolution they lived by were carried intact into the afterlife.

"Report! Your Honor, there's a riot on the Road to the Underworld!"

A ghost general on lookout duty rushed into the Yama's palace, knelt on one knee, and cried out, "Millions of souls are devouring each other! The situation is out of control!"

Judge Wen's expression changed, and he quickly walked outside the hall. Looking down, the once desolate Road to the Underworld had become a giant soul grinder, with grayish-white fragments of remnant souls flying everywhere like a blizzard.

"Outrageous!" The martial judge drew his long sword and roared, "How dare these mere ghosts run rampant in the underworld! With Yama absent, I will wipe them out! One hundred thousand black-armored ghost soldiers arrayed themselves, and within half an hour, these ignorant remnants of death were utterly annihilated!"

As the righteous gods of the underworld, the Yin soldiers have a natural advantage over ordinary ghosts, making it easy for them to wipe them out.

"Wait! Don't kill them!"

The civil judge grabbed the military judge's wrist, his eyes revealing both calmness and apprehension.

"Look closely at those souls devouring each other. They are evolving. If you were to use your ghostly army to annihilate these millions of souls who have survived the ravages of war, you would be destroying the very foundation of Earth's cycle of life."

Judge Wu gritted his teeth as he looked at the chaos below: "We can't let them devour each other on the road to the underworld. If this continues, it will damage the foundation of the underworld."

"Surround them, but don't kill them." Judge Wen made a decisive decision, raising his judge's pen to issue the military order, "Mobilize all the black-armored Yin soldiers to form the 'Heaven-Sealing and Earth-Locking Yin-Yang Grand Formation' along the outer perimeter of the Yellow Springs Road. Encircle the battlefield completely and cut off their connection with the main city of Fengdu."

"Let them devour each other within their circle. As long as they don't rush into the gates of hell, maintain the status quo and wait for Yama to bring back the Dao Lord's decree from Kunlun before making a decision."

Military orders are absolute.

One hundred thousand black-armored ghost soldiers surged forth from all directions. They did not charge into the enemy ranks, but instead halted in unison at the edge of the riot, their spears slamming heavily into the ground. An indestructible black energy barrier rose from the ground, firmly locking the millions of souls caught in the frenzied battle in the middle of the Road to the Underworld.

No matter how fierce the internal causal storm raged, the defenses built by the underworld soldiers remained as solid as a mountain. The officials of the underworld demonstrated absolute control, methodically containing this disaster, which was enough to overturn the cycle of reincarnation, within a limited area.

Meanwhile, high above, in the Kunlun Cloud Palace.

Amidst the ever-present ethereal aura, Zhao Feng's divine sense materialized into a phantom and landed before the bronze palace.

He did not kneel, but bowed slightly, his voice penetrating the heavy bronze door and echoing in the empty hall.

"Lord Dao. The karmic burdens in the mortal realm are too heavy, causing problems with the underlying laws of the Netherworld. The Mirror of Karma cannot distinguish between good and evil in humans and demons, and the cycle of reincarnation is congested."

Zhao Feng paused, his tone carrying a hint of businesslike composure.

"The rules you established in the wasteland are no longer sufficient to contain the current laws of the underworld. If the machine of the underworld is to continue operating, please establish new rules."

A brief silence fell over the bronze hall.

A moment later, the two heavy bronze gates groaned and slowly opened to the sides. A vast, cold gaze, seemingly above all things, emanated from the depths of the hall, piercing through the sea of ​​clouds and landing on the ghostly battlefield where the two forces were devouring each other.