As for the Isle of Nine Shadows, although I haven't experienced it myself, Ethan Zhang once explained it to me in detail. There are nine floating islands arranged in a spiral, each rising higher than the last. The higher the island, the stronger the beings and things residing on it. The islands are populated by creatures and plants that couldn't possibly exist in reality, as well as products recorded only in ancient texts.
At this moment, the Wraithlord began to speak. The so-called Swallow-Spit Tree can consume things and then spit out similar things, or sometimes something altered. The Shadow Realm leveraged this tree's principle, and after research, constructed a direct passage to the Underworld, allowing ghosts to continually pour through.
It’s likely that the Swallow-Spit Tree connecting to the Shadow Realm consumed the ghosts there, transforming their power into the Underworld, and then reappearing in the form of the original ghosts.
Tan Tian told us this experiment began long ago. He only learned about it decades back, and only recently discovered the Isle of Nine Shadows. If Ethan Zhang and the others hadn’t visited, he still wouldn’t know about it.
“I don't know exactly how much Emperor God and his followers have secretly prepared, but they've been preparing for this war far longer than the Underworld Court. That’s why this war is utterly meaningless.”
Thinking about how this war was really just to feed the Hell’s sacrificial rituals, I felt uneasy. The Ten Judges who rule the Underworld don’t care at all about the fate of ordinary ghosts. Not long ago, I witnessed a brutal battle. Wars are usually fought for interests or power struggles, but this one is different—completely meaningless.
No matter who controls Hell, it will always be the same. Nothing can change. Everything will just keep spinning, like a giant cycle.
“The only way to end all this is to find the true bodies of Emperor God and his followers. But that’s almost impossible now. Their true bodies are rooted in different worlds, deeply entrenched. Each one is a real body.”
“And what about you?”
Lord Shenyan stared at Tan Tian and asked, his face expressionless.
“I'm just an observer, sometimes offering a bit of help to all sides. Other than that, I am a witness. This colossal war will eventually come to an end, just like long ago, when we fought the Wraithlord. Back then, everyone thought it was over, terrified of death’s arrival, but I never saw it that way. In the end, there were only three possible outcomes: the Wraithlord wiped us out, we defeated the Wraithlord, or the Wraithlord spared us once again.”
“I’ve never understood you emotionless types. What do you really want? If you witness everything in the worlds of Yin and Yang, will you get your emotions back?”
Lord Shenyan spoke, while Tan Tian stood silently at the edge.
“Those ghosts as insignificant as ants, and you upper-class ghosts swept up in tragic fate—the result is the same. All of you are struggling in this massive chain. What are you fighting for?”
“I can’t speak for the others, but we just want this unjust war to end as soon as possible.”
Lord Shenyan spoke righteously, and Tan Tian nodded.
There are all kinds of people with all kinds of motives—even the Judges of Hell are like this, and so are Emperor God and his followers. None of what they say can be trusted until there’s a result. That’s why I joined your side, maybe the side whose fate was decided long ago.
The only thing I know for sure now is that I have to do something. I don’t know when their next attack will come. This kind of war can’t go on for long. Both sides are draining each other rapidly, and when it reaches a certain point, the higher-ups will clash directly. This initial attrition is just to give the upper echelons an edge in the coming battle, but the price is enormous—countless ghosts die, and the Six Paths of Reincarnation have now completely stopped.
Only the Divine Law still sends pure energy into the cycle, allowing reincarnation as humans and other creatures. The other five paths have likely lost all function.
"Let’s go."
I said, and Tan Tian nodded while Lord Shenyan looked at me with concern.
"With me here, nothing will happen."
I took out my bow and slung it over my back. Tan Tian once again carried me on a purple beast, flying across the landscape.
"Feeling pretty bad?"
I nodded.
"Seeing a war like this—meaningless, pointless—of course I feel bad. The upper echelons could just settle it among themselves, but the Ten Judges can't leave Hell, and they don’t want to be trapped in an even more dire situation. So they make all the ghosts of Hell bear the brunt. It’s infuriating, and now even the Living World has been dragged in."
Tan Tian nodded.
"The battle in the Living World may have already begun, attacking from both sides, gradually eating away at everything the Underworld Court has, eventually surrounding them. This kind of attrition just needs to repeat. If the Ten Judges join the fight, they’ll use their power, but that power will diminish. And once their power drops, Hell’s suppression weakens, and Emperor God and his followers will charge in—just like before, using Lady Meng’s special powers to have the dead continually assault the old Hell. It’s a cruel tactic, no matter the world or era."
I looked at Tan Tian, confused. By now, we had reached the city closest to the ravine. The city was packed with ghosts. Tan Tian brought me down, but our bodies were wrapped in a faint purple corpse membrane, making us invisible to the ghosts.
Everything in the city was as usual. Streets and alleys filled with ghosts, all talking about the war. Many bragged about how many times they'd died.
Most of the ghosts talked about victory. To them, immortality was their ticket to winning. Today, they'd killed many Underworld soldiers—those who had oppressed them for years. The ghosts were all furious, strategizing about how to survive longer and kill more Underworld soldiers in the next assault.
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Ghosts gathered in shops, drinking and eating, looking excited. They all knew that if they kept attacking, the Underworld Court’s power would weaken. Eventually, they could storm the Hall of Judges.
Suddenly, Tan Tian had the beast carry me into the air. He raised his hand, and the ground of the city split open. A sharp-beaked brown monster burst up, instantly dividing the city in two. Countless ghosts died, black tentacles sprouted again. I raised my bow, and as the purple corpse membrane faded, I nocked a white arrow.
With a swish, the arrow shot toward a tentacle right in front of me. Instantly, it began to harden, turning to stone. Tan Tian’s eyes widened.
"As expected, the source of their power comes from Hell."
The other tentacles seemed to notice me, wildly reaching toward me. I kept shooting arrows, one after another. Tan Tian flew over, smashing the petrified tentacles. I found that once shattered, the tentacles couldn’t regrow.
But there were simply too many tentacles. The beast carried me through the mass of them as I kept firing arrows, inching closer to the base of the huge black tentacle cluster. With a swish, I reached the base, which looked like a gnarled tree root. I raised Belle, eyes wide, white light pouring from my body. Tan Tian appeared beside me, destroying the tentacles attacking me, and I jumped down.
Newfound power surged through me. I channeled it into Belle and stabbed straight into the tree root. With a crack, the root began to petrify and shatter at incredible speed. I kept pouring power in, but the process exhausted me—just a moment drained a huge amount of energy.
With a thunderous crash and flying debris, the purple beast carried me up. I saw a swath of black tentacles turned completely to stone, shattered and gone, unable to regrow. I panted and wiped the sweat from my forehead.