Chapter 542: Reaching Youdu
The closer they came to Youdu, the more experts they met on their way. Most of these experts were traveling together in groups, and they were very perceptive of their surroundings.
At first when Hui Yue saw a group of experts and they saw him, they instantly fled into the distance at their top speed. Others copied the same action when they saw Hui Yue and his group, but the closer they came to Youdu the more groups of people they would see, and people were no longer as cautious. Instead they observed their surroundings with alert glances and taut bodies.
Hui Yue was much calmer than most of the other experts. He failed to believe that anyone was dumb enough to engage in mindless slaughter or battles when they were surrounded by so many Gods. Therefore, he spent his time observing the ground and nature instead.
As they had advanced, the world had been slowly changing. The world had been filled with lush and fertile vegetation, the ground had been healthy, and the surroundings were pleasant until around three days ago.
The last three days things took a turn for the worse. The ground was cracked, no waterholes or streams were visible but dried out riverbanks could be seen.
The plants were all dried out and had turned black. It appeared that they had been permeated by the death energy that was seeping out from Diyu and especially Youdu.
Within Youdu souls were the inhabitants. They were the subjects of Yanluo and the Judges of Hell. These souls were under the protection of the Gods that lived in Youdu and Diyu, but even so, there were some who were kidnapped and refined.
Diyu was split into the Ten Courts of Hell, Youdu, and the Plains of Despair.
Any cultivator who died would enter one of the Ten Courts of Hell. Each Court of Hell was a city within Diyu. Some of them were reserved for sinners and would make them suffer through torture and unspeakable pain before they were sent to the Plains of Despair. There they would wander until their memories of their past life disappeared, and they were ready to be released into the cycle of reincarnation. Another Court of Hell was reserved for the innocent souls. In this court, they would be cleansed. Their merits in their past life would be measured, and their luck would determine what kind of life they would be reincarnated into before they too were sent to the Plains of Despair.
While there were some souls in Youdu, Youdu was mostly filled with officials and Gods.
Youdu housed the souls of the dead as commons citizens while it also contained many officials who were in charge of carrying out the tasks and punishments given by the Judges of Hell, or in any other way cater to their needs.
Youdu was also where many Gods called home. A large amount of Gods had decided to settle down in Youdu. This was because the air of Youdu was permeated with the energy of the dead, and this energy could also nourish the souls of some Gods. Although they were not allowed to hunt the souls that lived in Youdu, souls shattered every single day in fights, were refined on the black market, or in some other ways were so unlucky that their souls shattered and their energy became the black mist-like energy that one could see with the naked eye.
When one’s soul shattered, their soul energy would dissipate into the air. This would be an energy similar to the type that Hui Yue had absorbed in the tower at the tower master’s staircase.
This kind of energy was mostly beneficial for experts who had soulforce, but even ordinary experts would have their souls nourished from it. This type of energy would allow Gods to absorb more Ancestral Worldpower into their bodies. Living and training in Youdu was quite beneficial as it was known as one of the best places for strengthening one’s Ancestral Worldpower in the galaxy. Though was that it was filled with all sorts of crime; basically if one could imagine it, it was probably happening somewhere in Youdu as the darkness of the land tended to corrupt the experts living here.
Youdu was located underground much like how the caves in the Dungeons of the Divine were underground. The main difference here was a lack of light.
While every cave within the Dungeons of the Divine had a moon and a sun in each cave which shone down upon the caves, Youdu had one red moon which lit the city at all times with a dim, bloody light. Everything was cast in a dark red beneath this moon.
Hui Yue and his group of experts were getting close to the entrance of Youdu. The land was barren and black, and the aura of death constantly surrounded them. Hui Yue had his devouring force constantly activated so he could absorb as much energy as possible.
This energy that he was absorbing constantly churned within his body. It was not as strong as the energy he had absorbed within the tower, but it was close to it. These souls were all souls of mortals as the souls of Gods that were shattered would enter the Yellow River.
Hui Yue gladly accepted all the energy in his surroundings. Although he knew that it was the energy from souls, and using this energy was not much different from consuming the souls themselves, these souls had already been shattered. Their lives and energy were already forfeit never to return. If Hui Yue did not absorb it, someone else would. Hui Yue was not one to waste resources that were in front of him.
Even though Hui Yue was like a massive whirlpool drawing in more and more energy from the surroundings, none of his companions noticed anything different. The dao of devouring was simply too subtle. Every second, Hui Yue’s soul became stronger, and his body was able to contain more and more Ancestral Worldpower.
Hui Yue was not the only one absorbing this energy in the group, all of them were greedily trying to absorb as much energy as they could. But those without the dao of devouring were limited in how much they could absorb.
Even the other groups were trying to consume the energy; it was simply too valuable to let it pass.
Hui Yue’s group headed closer and closer to the entrance until they reached a large slope which went into the ground. This slope was hundred of meters long and hundred of meters tall. It was filled with people that were bustling back and forth. All of them were Gods, but some were demons as well.
These demons were very different looking. Some of them looked like beasts and others like humans. Every single demon had a powerful air about them, and they were all of the God ranked.
If one looked at these Gods, it would be almost impossible to determine if they were demons or other races, but the moment one saw their eyes, they would instantly be able to tell if they were a demon.
Every single demon had purple eyes. The demons, whether they had the figure of beasts or humans, were all purple eyed. The Judges of Hell created demons; they had the ability to use Divine Bestowal on a mortal soul and give them immortality. This would bring out all of their potential and allow them to evolve into a demon.
Demons were different from normal souls in the fact that they were no longer just souls, but from the Divine Bestowal, they also received a body made from Ancestral Worldpower. This body was weaved together by the Judge of Hell.
To do this, the Judge of Hell needed to be an Immortal of Creation as then they would be powerful enough to form a body for the souls.
The entire race of Demons were created to work beneath the judges as officials. They would punish souls according to the orders given and would carry out all the practical and mundane tasks. The Judges of Hell were also known as the Kings of Hell, and they truly lived like kings. They did nothing themselves, and all their responsibilities were left to the demons.
That being said, demons were not slaves to the judges, they were more like officials. They were paid for their work, and they could advance up their ranks. When they had worked for a certain amount of time, they would be able to retire and travel the galaxy, or settle down in Youdu and start a family.
Because of this, the bloodline of the demons had spread throughout the galaxy. The spread of demons caused the race to split into many different factions. One was the noble faction of demons. These were demons who worked for the Judges of Hell. All of them were considered nobles, and they took pride in their work. When they retired, they tried to have their children follow their path.
Another faction was the bloody demons. They no longer took pride in working for the Judges of Hell and hated them. Having been born from mortal souls that had their potential boosted and gained immortality with Divine Bestowal their potential was limited and they could no longer increase their strength in a normal way, they, in turn, created their own version of the technique and used in a harmful way on souls. They would trick people and boost their potential with it, but instead of working alongside them like the Judges of Hell, they would consume their souls for energy. The energy they consumed through this evil method was enough to boost their own potential and allow for them to get stronger and stronger.
These were the two main factions of the demons, but smaller ones existed that were spread throughout the galaxy. No matter where one went, one would find purple eyed creatures.
Seeing all these demons, Hui Yue finally understood that he had entered another world, a world much vaster than the one he came from.
“Let’s continue,” Hui Yue said with a wry smile as he landed on the ground. Anyone who wished to enter Youdu had to walk down the sloping road into the underground world below. As they landed, Hui Yue looked around. The area was bustling with demons leaving Youdu while humans and beasts entered. All of the demons and Gods alike were wearing fine clothes and rushed forth while at least nine out of ten were entering into the city.
All of Hui Yue’s friends were filled with excitement. Having reached Youdu, everyone was relieved they had made it to the city safely and were ready to start the trials.
“Milord, we can lead you to the area belonging to the Celestial Sword Sect,” Fu Ziyu said with a slight bow, but Hui Yue shook his head.
“Although the Celestial Sword Sect has shown interest in me, and would accommodate me, all my friends would not be as welcome. It is better for all of us to be together. I will gladly come visit the Celestial Sword Sect, of course, but I also have to remember my friends who are traveling with me.”
Nodding their heads, the Fu brothers did not pursue it any further, and instead, stepped backwards and allowed for Hui Yue to lead them towards an inn.
At the inn, Hui Yue quickly rented some rooms so everyone could relax from their long journey. He even rented a room for the Fu brothers.
His own room was shared with Huli. He sat down and cultivated for a short while before he waited for every beast God to appear one after another. The only ones who was not invited were the Fu brothers, and although they knew that the beast Gods were gathering within Hui Yue’s room, they did not try to find out what was going on.
“I am thinking of going to the Celestial Sword Sect later today,” Hui Yue informed the others. “But going alone is not my style. I will carry you all in the Universe Box so that if something should happen, then I have the ability to call everyone out. If worse comes to worst, we can fight our way out with all our might!”
