The sinister man's expression flickered.
He looked at the Lord of Hell's sneering face, and his memory was pulled back to the time when Jiuhuan was still around.
Back then, the Underworld still existed, and Yama was still alive.
The Three Realms were also intact.
He was a celestial being!
He was the most noble celestial being in the Six Paths of Reincarnation, born with the strength of an immortal. Among the Three Realms and Six Paths, he was the most respected being.
Once, while on a mission to the mortal realm, he fought a powerful ghost who had escaped the Underworld. He killed the ghost but was severely wounded himself.
As his immortal power was damaged, he could not immediately return to the celestial realm and had to stay in the mortal world to recuperate.
During this time, he met a woman in the mortal world.
She was a very pure girl who took meticulous care of him.
However, although the girl was good, her lifespan was limited, unlike him, who was a Great Golden Immortal with an infinite lifespan.
He tried his best but could not prevent the girl's death.
Yet, what he could never understand was why, despite all his efforts, the girl only lived for three hundred years?
With his power, a mere wisp of his energy could grant a mortal ten thousand years of life.
No matter what he did, the girl still died!
Until one day, he discovered that the girl's soul had not returned to the Underworld, but had been imprisoned by a faction in the mortal realm that colluded with ghosts from the Underworld.
There were billions of beings like the girl in the mortal world.
When they died, their souls did not return to the Underworld, but were pulled into a massive vessel.
Countless pure souls were refined into a single Purifying Soul Pill!
The mastermind behind this succeeded.
But disaster struck. Although the mastermind was also a Great Golden Immortal, he was killed by the celestial being.
Not only that, but in order to avenge this wrong, he uprooted the entire operation, killing everyone involved.
The sheer number of them was immense, possibly trillions. He had wiped out an entire continent of beings in the mortal realm.
Such extensive slaughter drew karma upon him.
Overwhelming karma made his every step difficult and his path fraught with peril. Finally, after a battle with a sword immortal from the mortal realm, both perished.
His soul returned to the Underworld. With too much karma, he was naturally imprisoned in hell to suffer endless torment.
For countless years, he had grown accustomed to the torments of hell, his soul becoming numb.
Moreover, the suffering in hell had made his soul more solid, further advancing his strength. In terms of his soul, he was already at the peak of a Great Golden Immortal.
When he escaped from hell years ago, he fought the Lord of Hell to a standstill. If not for the help of the Lord of Reincarnation, he might have escaped this infernal place.
The Lord of Hell also snapped out of his reverie.
The person before him was Qian Peng, a celestial general, who had taken a wrong step and ended up in his current predicament.
Although he sympathized with Qian Peng, the law showed no mercy. Mistakes were mistakes, regardless of their cause, and they could not violate the laws of heaven.
"Qian Peng, so much time has passed since then, you should let go."
"Shang Cheng! What do you know of love? Her soul was captured and refined into a Purifying Soul Pill. This was a dereliction of duty by your Underworld!"
"Qian Peng, the Underworld, though powerful, is not invincible. Please calm yourself."
"I cannot calm down. After all these years, you are still as rigid and bureaucratic as ever. Hmph~"
Hearing this, the Lord of Hell became displeased.
He himself had participated in the formulation of the Underworld's legal system. While you could deny him, you could not deny the justice of the Underworld.
He snorted coldly and said, "If you are unwilling to strive for merit, then return to hell on your own! With your karma, you will never have the chance for reincarnation. You can reflect on yourself in hell."
Qian Peng scoffed, "Who cares?"
With that, he ignored the Lord of Hell's ashen face and walked back into hell.
There were not a few wicked souls with stories like his.
Many wicked souls had already resigned themselves to death, but in hell, even death was a luxury.
Having already given up on life, they naturally had no desire for merit-based reincarnation.
"We don't care about reincarnation!"
"Let's go back to hell!"
"I'd rather suffer this torment forever."
"........."
The Lord of Hell's expression was grim.
He could do nothing about wicked souls like Qian Peng who had lost the will to live.
However, such individuals were ultimately a minority.
Most wicked souls wished to escape the hardships of hell and have a chance at reincarnation, to relive their past lives and regain their memories.
If they missed this opportunity, who knew when they would ever get another chance for reincarnation.
"My lord, we are willing to help!"
"Yes, we have countless wicked souls. No matter how vast the void, in our hands, it will be as light as a feather!"
"When do we depart? We are already parched with anticipation."
"......"
Hearing their shouts, the Lord of Hell smiled.
It seemed that most wicked souls still wished to escape hell, and with that, he was relieved.
"As long as you perform your duties diligently, I guarantee that you will all have the chance for reincarnation!"
"Go!"
With a wave of his hand, the immeasurable wicked souls vanished.
As the innate controller of wicked souls in hell, he could naturally sense the existence of each and every one of them.
With his command, all the wicked souls dispersed.
Among these wicked souls, there were countless Great Golden Immortal level beings, tens of millions more than in the mortal realm.
The number of these wicked souls was truly astonishing.
They could only be described as immeasurable.
..........
The Underworld.
Above the Underworld.
The Lord of Reincarnation stepped through the air.
She glanced at the Lord of Hell and said, "I have investigated and found that Yama is trapped somewhere."
The Lord of Hell was greatly alarmed, "How did you find out?"
She sighed, "I have countless soul fragments that cycle through the myriad realms. One of my fragments inadvertently glimpsed a starry expanse. Although I did not see Lord Yama, I sensed his aura."
At that moment, she too was shocked.
For countless years, both the Primordial Chaos realm demons of the past and the rulers of the Three Realms had disappeared.
After so long without appearing, they had all speculated that they might be healing in secret.
But after such a long time, why had their healing not finished?
This was truly strange!
Only now, after hearing the truth from the Lord of Reincarnation, did he finally understand.
"So that's how it is! No wonder they haven't shown themselves."
"Where is that starry expanse?"
Facing the Lord of Hell's inquiry, the Lord of Reincarnation shook her head and sighed, "That was merely a fleeting glimpse by my reincarnation fragment. It vanished in an instant, and I cannot trace its origin."
She could split her soul into countless fragments and reincarnate.
Therefore, there were countless reincarnation avatars of hers throughout the realms. However, her avatars were different from Lin Yu's.
Her avatars were purely supportive. All her soul fragments that reincarnated would strengthen her soul power, which would then feed back to her.
Thus, her soul power was hundreds of times greater than that of the Lord of Hell.
This was also the main reason she could hold her position as the head of the Twelve Halls.
When each of her soul fragments died, it would return to her本体, and she would gain the memory of the fragment.
However, with so many soul fragments, she could not confirm the reincarnation location of every single one.
"That is such a pity!"
The Lord of Reincarnation said, "However, at least we know they are trapped!"