Chapter 509: That Might Not Be What the Dao Ancestor Meant
“Am I really that famous?” Jiang Li didn’t feel he had done anything particularly remarkable.
When King Yama first heard of Jiang Li, he hadn’t connected him to the person mentioned by the Dao Ancestor. Even after checking his life records in the Book of Life and Death, he remained only half-convinced. It wasn’t until today, when he lightly probed Jiang Li with his spiritual sense, that he felt the bottomless depth of that powerful soul.
King Yama had only experienced similar sensations from two individuals: the Dao Ancestor and Houtu Huangqi. Yet neither compared to the profound impression Jiang Li gave him.
As King Yama studied Jiang Li, Jiang Li likewise studied King Yama—this was his first encounter with a Golden Immortal, albeit only in soul form.
They didn’t seem much different from Celestial Immortals, neither appearing particularly formidable in combat.
“Judge me,” Jiang Li said, awaiting judgment. He too wanted to know the extent of his hidden virtue.
King Yama’s eyes were completely pitch-black, so he rolled his dark eyes: “You… honored one, you haven’t died. I cannot judge you.”
King Yama instinctively rolled his dark eyes, wanting to say “judge my ass, you’re not even dead.”
But just as he prepared to speak, he noticed the Judge frantically signaling with his eyes.
Only then did King Yama remember that the person before him wasn’t his colleague, but a figure more terrifying than the Dao Ancestor.
“To familiarize myself with the process before death, why not give it a try?” Jiang Li said with a cheerful grin.
King Yama wanted to say that if you want to die, I can grant your wish by striking out your lifespan.
Then he realized such words shouldn’t be spoken carelessly.
Seeing King Yama’s expression, the Judge perfectly understood what his superior intended to say. He felt that his boss would eventually face serious trouble because of his loose tongue.
He had heard that when King Yama was alive in the Immortal Realm, he had been a mighty figure. But because he said things he shouldn’t have and offended the Immortal Emperor, he ended up with his immortal body torn apart at the execution grounds.
“Your hidden virtue is abundant enough to grant you a hundred lifetimes in the Celestial Path, eternally enjoying prosperity and wealth. If you’re willing to remain in the Underworld, you would become the Eleventh Hall King Yama, foremost among all Yama Kings, second only to Houtu Huangqi. There’s even possibility that Houtu Huangqi might abdicate, allowing you to become the new ruler of the Underworld.”
“If I reincarnate through the Celestial Path, what’s the best possible outcome?”
“An immortal fetus could be born, becoming an immortal from birth—a darling of heaven and earth. You could reincarnate as such an immortal fetus.”
“Can I reincarnate into the Immortal Realm?”
“Yes. Generally speaking, those taking the Celestial Path reincarnate into the Immortal Realm because it offers numerous opportunities to contact the highest-level immortals and cultivation techniques, which benefits spiritual practice. However, the Immortal Realm hasn’t seen any new life born for nine thousand years. Even if you choose reincarnation there, it would be an indefinitely distant outcome.”
King Yama couldn’t help asking: “Do you have any intention of staying in the Underworld?”
Currently the Underworld was short-handed, and Houtu Huangqi rarely involved herself in management. It would be ideal to have another administrator to share the workload.
Jiang Li responded crisply: “No.”
Seeing how exhausted and overworked King Yama appeared told him that staying in the Underworld wouldn’t be a desirable position.
“If you can’t decide about your next life, you can follow the standard procedure first. That direction over there leads to the Celestial Path reincarnation.” King Yama watched Jiang Li’s conflicted expression—anyone unaware would think he was genuinely considering how to reincarnate.
Reincarnate my ass. With your lifespan, everyone else would reincarnate before it’s your turn.
Ox-Head and Horse-Face moved to guide Jiang Li, but a female ghost official who suddenly appeared beat them to it.
“Please come this way—this leads to the Celestial Path reincarnation area.”
The female ghost official walked ahead while explaining the Underworld’s situation to Jiang Li.
“The entire Underworld can be roughly divided into six sections: King Yama’s judgment area where hidden virtue is determined, then the three reincarnation waiting zones for the Celestial Path, Human Path, and Beast Reincarnation Path. Originally there was no need to specifically designate these three areas, but when the Immortal Realm caused trouble trying to destroy all realms, more and more souls flooded into the Underworld. To facilitate management, we had to create these three zones.”
“Then there’s the Avici Hell. Some beings commit heinous crimes and must endure suffering in hell to resolve their karmic burdens before they can reincarnate through the Beast Path.”
“If their karmic burdens prove difficult to resolve, they can only reincarnate again through the Beast Path in their next life.”
“Finally, there’s the reincarnation area where folk legends mention the Three Paths River and Nostalgia Terrace.”
“Have any immortals from the Immortal Realm reincarnated recently?” Jiang Li thought of the recently deceased Executor of Honghu.
The female ghost official shook her head: “No immortals have come to the Underworld. When the Heavenly Dao gained consciousness and the Immortal Realm fell into chaos, only the Dao Ancestor was powerful enough to bring his soul to the Underworld. The souls of immortals and mortals from the Immortal Realm never arrived. The Dao Ancestor said the Heavenly Dao intervened and dispersed everyone’s souls.”
“Perhaps the Immortal Realm desperately wanted to prevent the Underworld from growing stronger. After that incident, whenever immortals died, their souls would automatically disperse, ending any possibility of reincarnation.”
“Initially we wondered why the Immortal Realm wanted to prevent our strengthening—the Underworld never interferes with the living world. Later we understood that while the Underworld had no intention of opposing the Immortal Realm, the Immortal Realm wanted to conquer the Underworld and stop the cycle of reincarnation.”
“The Dao Ancestor is in the Underworld?” Jiang Li had always wanted to meet this most ancient Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortal.
“Not anymore. The Dao Ancestor was the first Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortal to reincarnate. When anyone reincarnates, their soul must be cleansed to become a completely new soul. But the Dao Ancestor was too powerful. We used the Six Paths of Reincarnation Stele to try to wear away the parts representing the Dao Ancestor’s soul, but unfortunately we failed. In the end, the Six Paths of Reincarnation Stele cracked, yet we still couldn’t transform the Dao Ancestor into a completely new soul.”
“We had no choice but to send the Dao Ancestor’s soul to reincarnate in that state.”
Jiang Li’s heart stirred—this description sounded remarkably familiar, like someone he had met.
“Where did the Dao Ancestor reincarnate? Who did he become?”
The female ghost official thought for a moment, as if recalling the Dao Ancestor’s words: “The Dao Ancestor wanted to reincarnate through the Celestial Path, but there was no place in the Immortal Realm. The Dao Ancestor said reincarnating in the Nine Provinces would be equivalent to the Celestial Path. He said he wanted to reincarnate into the person with the best cultivation talent.”
“We examined all the newborn babies in the Nine Provinces and indeed found one with cultivation talent rarely seen throughout history, particularly in Buddhist cultivation. We asked the Dao Ancestor whether Buddhist or Daoist cultivation was more important. He said the Buddha listened to his lectures before attaining enlightenment under the Bodhi tree—that Buddhism was part of the Dao, so how could there be distinction between Buddhist and Daoist cultivation? We suddenly understood and allowed the Dao Ancestor to reincarnate as that baby, whose name was Wenda.”
“We even followed the baby’s future and heard he entered the Buddhist Sect, receiving the Buddhist name Wuzhi. Presumably the Dao Ancestor was quite satisfied with this identity.”
“…”
Jiang Li suspected that at the time, the Dao Ancestor simply wanted to show off how ancient his credentials were, without actually intending to reincarnate as a Buddhist disciple.
“This is the Celestial Path.”
In the Celestial Path reincarnation waiting area, Jiang Li saw many nervous spirits regarding each other with hostility.
They viewed Jiang Li with equal wariness.
Jiang Li found it strange—those qualified for Celestial Path reincarnation should be virtuous people, yet these didn’t look like kind souls at all.
The female ghost official sneered coldly: “A bunch of deluded souls unwilling to accept reality, waiting for the Immortal Realm to return to normal so they can reincarnate there. Poor wretched spirits—they see you as just another competitor.”