The Netherworld here is much like the Netherworld of the lower realms: the sky is a dark, ominous red, and the air is thick with Nether qi, giving everything a chilling, sinister feel. But there’s one big difference—there’s actually a fair bit of green vegetation growing here, maybe the biggest distinction of all.
Evan Chu and Jade flew through the air at a leisurely pace. This trip to the Netherworld was all about finding Princess Ivy and Chase Chu. The Netherworld was just as unimaginably vast as the Immortal Realm, and its number of entrances was no less than the Immortal Realm’s either.
Trying to find those two in this teeming sea of people was basically like searching for a needle in a haystack. Still, Evan was confident he’d track them down. “Jade, let’s head into that city first, rest up, and listen for any special happenings in the Netherworld. Maybe we’ll get lucky and run into them.”
“That’s all we can do for now,” Jade said. “But don’t forget—the Netherworld is dangerous everywhere. If we show up with our Immortal auras, we’ll be spotted in an instant. We need to figure out how to disguise ourselves as Netherworld natives. That’s going to be a real headache.”
Evan hadn’t really considered that, but it wasn’t a problem for him. Back in the lower Netherworld, he’d absorbed ghost qi and pretended to be a member of the Ghost Clan. Now that he was here, he could just absorb Nether qi or the aura of other local races and disguise himself as a Netherworld native.
“I can do it. The real question is, can you make yourself radiate strong Nether qi?” Evan asked, a little worried.
“Of course I can,” Jade replied. “I was actually worried about you, but I guess I shouldn’t have. You’re way more capable than I thought. Let’s just grab a few Netherworld cultivators, kill them, and absorb their Nether qi. That way we can get into the city without a hitch.”
“No time to waste, let’s head over to the road by the city gate and take out a few people. I’ll go in invisible—it’ll be easier that way. You just wait somewhere hidden,” Evan said.
Soon, the two of them arrived at a city road. Jade found a spot in a thick patch of shrubs to hide, while Evan went straight out onto the main road.
Once he was invisible, Evan knocked out a few Netherworld cultivators with decent strength and brought them back to the woods for Jade to absorb their Nether qi. Then he headed back out to the road to catch a few more.
It didn’t take long before Evan had brought back dozens of people—including two Netherworld Immortal Emperors. “Young Master, this should be enough. Don’t waste time, just absorb them too. Any more would be pointless,” Jade said.
Evan immediately activated his Star-Siphon Method, draining all the Nether qi and internal energy from these Netherworld cultivators. To his surprise, their energy was actually delicious, and his Chaos Immortal Force didn’t reject it at all. That made Evan pretty happy.
He’d rarely absorbed other people’s energy before, but now it was clear—this was a shortcut to boosting his strength. He’d have to study it more when he had time; maybe it would help when he finally ascended to the God Realm.
Jade used a similar technique, but she couldn’t absorb energy into her body—she could only gather Nether qi around her externally. Evan, on the other hand, absorbed everything directly. Once he’d finished, he was already indistinguishable from a true Netherworld native.
Jade was shocked by how much Evan had changed. She couldn’t help but mutter in her heart, “What a monster!”
“Alright, now there’s nothing stopping us from entering the Netherworld. Let’s hope we get a pleasant surprise out of this trip!” Evan said.
“The Netherworld is just like the Immortal Realm—vast and full of treasures. It’s all about whether you’re lucky enough to find them,” Jade replied.
With a flicker of thought, Evan unleashed a Fireshift and burned all the Netherworld cultivators to ashes—just to be safe. Of course, before torching them, he took whatever valuables he needed from their storage rings.
For example, Netherstones—absolutely essential in the Netherworld. These Netherstones were nothing like the ones in the lower realms; even the lowest-grade Netherstone here packed way more energy than the highest-grade ones down below, and the Nether qi was on a whole different level. It was like two separate worlds.
Besides Netherstones, Evan only took the jade tablets. These two jade tablets held some extremely special information: one recorded the power distribution in the Netherworld, and the other was packed with oddities and famous anecdotes. With these, he’d instantly gained a deep understanding of the Netherworld.
The two of them walked openly down the main road, feeling pretty pleased with themselves—especially since Netherworld cultivators passed by now and then, but none seemed able to see through their disguises.
Evan glanced at the passersby and realized the local races were the same as in the lower Netherworld: true Netherkin, Shade Clan, and Ghost Clan. Following the crowd, they stopped in front of a massive city.
Evan looked up at the city gate and saw writing in Netherworld script—he was dumbfounded. He didn’t recognize a single character. When he glanced at Jade, she just shook her head, equally clueless.
The city gate was guarded by soldiers whose strength was impressive—they’d reached late-stage Ninth-Heaven Arch-Immortal Realm, and there were several of them at that level. That alone proved just how terrifying the Netherworld’s power was.
After paying the entrance fee, Evan and Jade entered the city. The streets were packed with vendors hawking their wares, but Evan wasn’t interested in most Netherworld goods—unless he stumbled upon something truly heaven-defying, which was unlikely here.
The city wasn’t huge, but it was crowded—especially with inns and taverns everywhere. Wanting to keep a low profile, Evan and Jade picked an ordinary tavern to enter, since taverns were always the best place to gather news.
A chatty waiter greeted them right away, rattling off a long list of house specialties. Evan and Jade found him a bit much, but after settling in a quiet corner, they ordered a few signature dishes.
The tavern was already bustling, with all sorts of cultivators inside—some even mid- and late-stage Immortal Emperors. Just bumping into Immortal Emperors so casually showed that the Netherworld was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Its overall strength was far above the Immortal Realm.
If the Immortal Realm ever went to war with the Netherworld, it’d be a one-sided slaughter. Evan had no intention of letting that happen, especially after seeing how terrifying the Netherworld really was.
Soon the waiter brought over their food and left. Most of the diners were chatting about trivial things, but one nearby table’s conversation caught Evan’s attention.
“Did you hear? King Victor Zhao has issued a decree—anyone who ascended to the Netherworld or broke through to Nether General in the last two hundred years has to go to the royal capital for the Royal Talent Recruitment Tournament. I think the selection starts at the beginning of next month,” a middle-aged man said.
“That soon? Do you think we have a shot? Anyone who passes the selection will become an elite disciple, with a limitless future ahead!” someone else chimed in.
“Forget it. Only those who reached Nether General within two hundred years can join. We’re way past that age. Still, it’ll be fun to watch the excitement. I hear King Victor Zhao’s daughter is personally hosting the tournament—and she’s one of the Netherworld’s top beauties!” the first man said...