After seeing Lin Ruoxi and the others enter the Netherworld Gate, Evan Chu quickly reverted to his human form, dashed over to the circular stone, and retrieved the three stones, stowing them in his storage ring.
At that moment, the light of the six-pointed star abruptly dimmed, and a massive pressure descended. Evan Chu threw all his strength into charging into the Netherworld Gate—if he’d hesitated even a second, the pressure could have crushed him to death on the spot.
Everything happened so fast that the danger was beyond imagination. Even so, Evan was badly injured—pale-gold blood kept spurting from his mouth, his face was deathly pale, and he’d suffered serious internal wounds.
But as soon as he entered the Netherworld Gate, the pressure vanished. Evan wiped the blood from his mouth and gave a bitter smile: "I almost died here. That was close. Now we’re in the Netherworld. This gate is basically a teleportation portal—we’ll arrive soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, a powerful pulling force appeared. The four of them vanished from the spot, and the entrance atop Cloudcrest Mountain closed behind them as if it had never existed.
After Evan’s group left, an ancient voice echoed from the clouds: "Frostbane, if you can’t break through to the Great Ascension stage within the time it takes for three women, then Frostbane Sect should prepare for destruction! Don’t disappoint me—I only have three years left!"
Naturally, Evan didn’t hear any of this. If he had, he’d be full of questions—what did the Demon Lord mean by three years, could he really have only three years of life left?
In fact, the Demon Lord truly has only three years left. Helping Evan resist that crushing pressure consumed a massive amount of soul power; now he can’t even take human form, only appear as black mist. If Evan knew, who knows what he’d think.
The transmission lasted a long time. When the four finally reappeared, they found themselves at the bottom of a deep pool, the water so cold it felt like an ice cellar. Even with their strength, the chill bit deep—proof of how extreme the temperature was.
Evan and the others quickly climbed out of the pool and looked around. The sky was a dark red, with no sun or moon—clearly, this was a whole different world.
"Evan, this Netherworld is so creepy! Look at these plants—almost all of them are dark red, some even black. Why isn’t there anything green?" Roxanne said, breaking the silence.
"Everyone, stay alert. We’re in the Netherworld now, and it’s crawling with experts. We have to move carefully—no reckless moves. Let’s all switch back to human form so we don’t draw attention," Evan instructed.
Ethan spoke up: "Where should we go? This looks like just a pool, and who knows if there are any beasts around. Should we try to find someplace with people?"
Evan was about to reply when Luna, the sword spirit, interjected: "Evan, the Netherworld is different from everywhere else. This is just a branch region, infested with soul-type beings and malevolent ghosts. Some Ghost Kings here are terrifyingly strong—be careful."
"Ghost Kings? What are those? Luna, can you explain? I really don’t know anything about the Netherworld. Are the people here different from those in the Azure Tide Ruins?" Evan asked, startled.
"Of course they’re different! The Netherworld has no sunlight, and the creatures here fear it the most. But once you reach the Divine Martial Realm, you’re not afraid anymore. Your Sunflare Stone is something lots of ghostly beings dread, so keep it safe—it might come in handy," Luna said.
The more Evan listened, the more confused he got, just standing there in a daze. Roxanne nudged him: "Evan, what are you thinking? Where do we go from here?"
Evan finally snapped out of it. After glancing at the others, he said, "There are all kinds of strange soul-type entities in the Netherworld, so stay alert. Let’s explore a bit—maybe there’s an inn or something around here."
The four of them flew into the air. But flying here was exhausting, and they were way slower than usual. Plus, the consumption of Stellar Power was insanely high.
After nearly an hour of flying, they reached a flat area. There were no buildings, but plenty of weird trees—no leaves at all, just bare branches.
The reason they stopped here was because Evan and the others spotted a stone stele, covered in dozens of words—but none they recognized. It wasn’t ancient script or modern writing, leaving them stumped.
Evan focused and called out to the Demon Lord in his storage ring: "Demon Lord, do you know the Netherworld’s writing? How much do you know about this place? I’m here now and need your help."
"Frostbane, you’ve been to the Netherworld before. There are five major races here: Ghost Clan, Netherkin, humans, Shade Clan, and Blood Clan. The Netherkin and Ghost Clan are the most numerous and powerful, followed by Blood Clan and Shade Clan. As for humans, they’re descended from cultivators trapped after the entrance was sealed off.
Still, don’t underestimate the humans—their strength is no joke. There are plenty at sixth or seventh layer of the Saint Martial Realm, so be careful," the Demon Lord warned.
"Five major races? Do you know where to find humans? There’s no sunlight here—how do they survive? And do these races also cultivate by absorbing Stellar Power?" Evan asked.
"How did I end up with an idiot like you? Who knows when you’ll get all your memories back. Talking to you is exhausting. There’s food in the Netherworld, just like on the main continent—plenty of birds and beasts. They’re not called demonic beasts here, but Netherbeasts.
But Ghost Clan and Shade Clan are special—they don’t usually eat that stuff. They mostly devour Netherbeast essence, and sometimes human essence too, just like demons do. Victims end up as dried corpses.
But the humans here are extremely united. Whenever Ghost Clan or Shade Clan attack, they band together to fight back, so it’s rare for anyone to get devoured.
The strangest thing about the Netherworld is that people here live incredibly long lives, but their appearance barely changes. They also mature super early—some girls start having kids at ten. Don’t freak out about it.
And one more thing—if you spot a woman as stunning as your own, don’t assume she’s your age. She could easily be hundreds of years old, so trying to pick up girls here is unrealistic. You might end up with a centuries-old monster.
For now, you should hurry and find a city. Cities usually have human-run businesses like inns and restaurants, which makes it easier to get information. My knowledge is limited—it’s been ten thousand years since I was here, so you’ll have to rely on yourself.
Also, warn your friends: never judge people by their looks, or you’ll suffer for it. Even a little kid might have fifth- or sixth-layer Saint Martial strength," the Demon Lord added.
Evan was left speechless—this place was way beyond anything he’d imagined. He passed all the Demon Lord’s info on to Roxanne, Ethan, and Ryan.
The three of them were just as stunned as Evan. "Evan, how do you know all this? You’ve never been here before!" Ryan demanded.
"I know way more than you do. Like the Netherworld Gate—if I hadn’t said anything, who would’ve figured it out? Don’t forget, I’m Lord Frostbane reincarnated. It’s not surprising that I know this stuff," Evan replied.
"Let’s hurry and find a city, Evan. I really don’t want to hang around here—the atmosphere is so creepy, I just want to sleep in a real bed. Entering the Netherworld is exhausting," Roxanne complained.
"Luna, can you use your divine sense to check how far the nearest city is? We’re ready to go," Evan asked the sword spirit.
"Evan, it’s not that I won’t help. In the Netherworld, divine sense is the last thing you should use. Lots of Ghost Kings and Shade Kings hunt by sensing divine sense—they can gauge your strength from it. Never forget that," Luna warned.
Evan was a bit disappointed but nodded. After glancing ahead, he said, "Let’s fly forward—just don’t go too fast. We could run into powerful enemies at any time, so better safe than sorry!"
The four of them continued flying slowly, and nothing happened along the way. After more than an hour, they finally saw a massive city wall looming ahead.
"Look! There’s a city up ahead—we finally found one! That was way harder than I thought," Roxanne said, her voice trembling with excitement.
Evan noticed an official road not far from the city, with plenty of people walking along it. "Let’s land and be careful not to draw attention. Who knows if those people are humans or Netherkin?" he warned.
The four quickly landed on the road. They saw many people coming and going from the city, but every single one had their face covered with a black veil, making it impossible to tell if they were human or another race.
Seeing this, Evan immediately understood. He told Roxanne, Ethan, and Ryan, "We should cover our faces too—otherwise, we’ll get noticed by other races and attract trouble we don’t need."
"Where are we supposed to find black veils right now? Forget it! I’m a guy—I hate hiding my face. Besides, with my explosive red hair, I’ll stand out anyway," Ryan grumbled.
Evan could only sigh and said, "Let’s just head into the city. Hopefully nothing goes wrong."
Soon they reached the city gate. Evan glanced up at the writing on the wall—still nothing he recognized, but it had to be the city’s name.
Four guards in gray armor stood watch at the gate, their faces uncovered. As soon as Evan’s group approached, one of the guards stepped forward and blocked them, shouting, "You’ve got guts, coming in without covering your faces. Arrest them all—"