冥界？
Of course.
Hua Linjie, the City Lord of Flower City, brushed a stray strand of hair from his temple. His eyes, delicate and tinted the color of rosy petals, paused as he asked, "The Underworld, one of the Seven Realms?"
The Seven Realms were the Divine Realm, the Immortal Realm, the Mortal Realm, the Cultivation Realm, the Demon Realm, the Nether Realm, and the Underworld.
"Elder Prefect of the Flowing Bright Sect, why are you suddenly mentioning the Underworld?" the deacon elder of the Flowing Bright Sect inquired, perplexed.
Beitang Lin's expression was solemn. After a moment of contemplation and hesitation, he finally asked, "The Underworld... after the Great Wars of the Realms over a thousand years ago, the Underworld vanished from the Seven Realms. How many people know about this?"
Indeed, not many people were aware of this matter, but coincidentally, quite a few present did.
The deacon elders, needless to say, were essentially the pillars of sects with profound and powerful backgrounds. Having lived for a long time, they were bound to have glimpsed some of these hidden affairs.
The City Lords of Rongcheng and Flower City, along with Master Huiming of Compassionate City, also knew.
The reason the deacon elders, who managed all disputes and affairs of the Twenty-Eight Heavens, knew such secret matters was not surprising. As for the two City Lords and Master Huiming knowing, it was due to an anomaly in Fengdu City centuries ago.
At that time, Fengdu City was overrun with vengeful ghosts unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation, and the ghostly and yin energies surged alarmingly. The nun Huinyin, Master Huiming's master, from Compassionate City, could not connect with the Underworld to draw the overflowing ghosts into hell.
In the end, she could only use three immortal artifacts as a medium and sacrifice her own life to seal the ghosts of Fengdu Ghost City within the city. If not for Master Huinyin's self-sacrifice, it is likely that Fengdu Ghost City's influence on the surrounding areas could not have been contained.
It was also because of that incident that a statue was erected in Compassionate City to commemorate her great contribution and serve as a warning.
That incident directly caused the area within a hundred-mile radius of Fengdu Ghost City, excluding the city itself, to be perpetually overcast and sunless, with withered vegetation and dark soil. Except for some dark-attribute green plants remaining within Rongcheng, very few living creatures could survive long-term in this land.
But after so many years, with the immortal artifacts stolen, only one remained to support the seal. The nightmare of that year had returned.
"Impossible. If the Underworld has vanished, wouldn't that mean... if we die, there will be no more reincarnation?" Lu Ziyin murmured in a daze.
Everyone knew that the Underworld was where souls went after death, the place that gave purpose to the world's deceased. Without the Underworld, what would that mean?
"That's right. The concept of reincarnation and rebirth no longer exists. When people die, they are truly dead, as if their souls are utterly destroyed," Beitang Lin stated gravely, striking a chord in their hearts.
Danya was also stunned by this news.
Let alone him, who among those present could remain unaffected by such shocking news?
"Then, if the Underworld has disappeared, where will the souls of the dead in this world go?" Rulan asked anxiously.
In this world, who had not lost loved ones or close friends? They knew that the dead could not return to life, and they could only hope for a next life. But what if there was no "next life"?
Master Huiming saw that her juniors, struck by this news, were each unable to cope and looked lost.
She sighed, "Souls without masters wander the heavens, while vengeful souls and the deceased are isolated in formations by the major Buddhist monasteries according to their regions, temporarily trapped within to prevent them from being corrupted by the world's evil energies and becoming malevolent ghosts that harm humanity."
This was the best they could do under the circumstances.
They were humans, and their methods could not interfere with the destination of the deceased. If they were thoroughly corrupted evil spirits, they could be roughly transcended. However, for ordinary departed souls, it had become an unsolvable problem.
Even ordinary departed souls, if tainted by sinister ghostly energies, could evolve into vengeful spirits. Vengeful spirits were different from evil spirits; they could be transcended, and upon transcendence, they would not dissipate like evil spirits but transform into pure souls.
Under normal circumstances, they could then proceed to normal reincarnation.
But without the guidance of the Underworld, the situation was entirely different.
According to the laws of heaven and earth, the mortal realm was a place for the living, not the deceased. Depending on the strength of their souls, the souls of the departed could not linger in the mortal realm for too long.
If they lingered for too long, the result would be the same: they would transform into spiritual energy of heaven and earth, be born of spirit, return to spirit, and become the gentle breeze, the bright moon, the sun and moon, the mountains and rivers.
"If... if there were no Underworld, then once Fengdu Ghost City is completely opened and out of control, and ghost cultivators gather a large number of souls to descend upon the world..."
One could only imagine how many departed souls had lingered in the mortal realm over the past thousand years, and the thought alone was chilling.
"This is why the Supreme Mansion has come to Fengdu. Fengdu Ghost City must be eliminated, otherwise, the common people will suffer, and heaven and earth will not be at peace!" Beitang Lin declared resolutely at this moment.
After the preceding buildup and atmosphere, his words were immediately met with everyone's agreement.
"We absolutely cannot let the people of Fengdu Ghost City have a chance to come out, otherwise, this world... will become what kind of hell!"
"Young Master of the Supreme Mansion, you said earlier that your father told you there was demonic energy within Fengdu Ghost City?" Danya inquired politely at this point.
He was not intimidated by Beitang Lin's stern words and did not join the chorus of condemnation. Instead, he steered the conversation back to a matter previously mentioned by Lebao.
His calmness and independent demeanor drew everyone's gaze back to him.
Lebao felt a sharp and profound gaze from this person, but upon closer inspection, it was like clear green water, tranquil and shadowless.
He nodded and said, "My father said that the source of the demonic energy is also greatly related to the City Lord of Rongcheng."
The City Lord of Rongcheng, at the forefront, was stunned.
He rarely showed a displeased expression, but he could not confront a child in anger. He turned to the people of the Supreme Mansion and asked, "What do you mean? Does the Saint Lord of the Supreme Mansion think that I, Yu Shicheng, am a demon?"
"Wait."
At this moment, the deacon elder of the Unrivaled Realm, with his sharp and intelligent eyes, seemed to have noticed something about the City Lord of Rongcheng.
He strode forward, took out a copper mirror inlaid with white jade and carved with intricate patterns from his pocket, and shone a spiritual light towards Yu Shicheng.
The bright golden light shone down. While it had no effect on others, a faint, almost imperceptible black-purple aura emerged from the City Lord of Rongcheng.
This made matters clear.
The City Lord of Rongcheng, Yu Shicheng, was greatly shocked, his face turning ashen. The City Lord of Flower City and Master Huiming, along with others close to him, were also speechless with shock.
The deacon elder of the Unrivaled Realm did not immediately declare the City Lord of Rongcheng to be a demonic spy. Instead, he asked sternly, "Who have you been in frequent contact with recently?"
"Wouldn't it be faster to directly ask him who he is closely associated with in Fengdu Ghost City to find the answer?" Yan Tianjiao said with a chilling sneer, his face like frost.