The fourth realm was so vast that it exceeded the limits of understanding of any creature from the worlds, chaos, and Hongmeng. It was called thus only because the inhabitants of the third realm and Lu Yun had named it so.
When compared to the fourth realm, the Hongmeng was just a speck of dust. There were even some denizens of the fourth realm that were bigger than all of the third.
Take She Nong, for instance. He was larger than all of the chaos, but he wasn’t even one of the peak existences here. He counted as middle of the pack, at most, a most ordinary life form in the vast population of the fourth realm. He was only a tiny bit stronger than the Bridge of Forgetfulness.
What Lu Yun displayed with his boosted death art unequivocally placed him in the upper echelon of the fourth realm. Thus, She Nong didn’t dare disrespect any of the human’s orders.
……
“Come with me.” Lu Yun opened the Gates of the Abyss with a wave of his hand.
The doors opened to the ninth level of the Hadal Hell. They were the front doors to the Hadal Hell to begin with, just that Tianqi had commandeered them to be the doors of the human dao hell instead.
Their size was peerless without match, as if they were the gates to an entire world. Towering in the void of the fourth realm, they exuded an unquestionable authority that surveyed everything within its purview. It felt like only in the fourth realm could the Gates of the Abyss fully recover its true self—just like the Bridge of Forgetfulness.
“The Hadal Hall!” shrieked She Nong when he took a clear look at the other side.
“Eh?” Lu Yun and Tianqi paused, looking at the man in unison.
“You know about the Hadal Hall?” Lu Yun asked with surprise.
“Who doesn’t know about that incredibly mysterious and terrifying hell!” She Nong smiled ruefully. “It holds the most ruthless and evil villains of all time. Not only are their hands drenched in blood from their ravaging of the land, but they’ve destroyed countless Hongmeng realms on their rampages.
“They’re so strong that even the unparalleled existences that exist cannot destroy them. The only recourse is to lock them away within the Hadal Hell.”
“Destroyed countless Hongmeng realms?” Tianqi asked with astonishment. Hongmeng was the name of the third realm, but it sounded like there was more than one of it?
She Nong glanced at the figure roughly the size of his head and heard the question in Tianqi’s tones. “There are many Hongmeng realms scattered in the corners of that plane.
“What we call the Hongmeng isn’t a singular realm, but a multitude of cages that incubate life. When life inside a cage transforms to levels high enough to break through the Hongmeng wall, they gain the right to open the cage and enter the real world.”
“You… mean… that the Hongmeng is just a series of holding pens and not the third realm?” Tianqi was beginning to doubt his very life.
“Naturally, how can there be a realm that small?” She Nong pointed at Lu Yun. “Your lord is bigger than even the greatest Hongmeng realm.”
“Master!” An extremely confused Tianqi smiled lopsidedly at Lu Yun.
“The Hongmeng and chaos aren’t true realms, but ours—the world of immortals and the rest of the worlds, is a bonafide, complete realm.” Lu Yun grinned back, knowing that She Nong’s words were too much of a shock to Tianqi’s worldview. His disciple wouldn’t be able to accept them for a while.
Lu Yun also fully understood what the man meant. To sophisticated life forms of the fourth realm, the creatures of the Hongmeng were the equivalent of amoebas to humans on Earth.
“Right, that’s right, our world is a true realm!” Tianqi’s dao heart began to settle down. The world of immortals, or the worlds, rather, was a true realm. Whether it was the chaos or the Hongmeng, both of them were after it.
The immortal dao in the world of immortals had the potential to traverse the fourth realm. Once the immortal dao ruled the chaos, Hongmeng, and ran through the fourth realm, there would be no difference between any of them. All life forms would be on par with the most sophisticated in the fourth realm.
“Milord, why did you suddenly open the way to the Hadal Hell?” She Nong asked cautiously.
“Where does the Hadal Hell originate from and who created it?” Lu Yun asked instead.
“I don’t know… I don’t have the right to look upon such persons. All I know are the rumors that everyone knows. Only a select few know the truth,” She Nong quickly responded.
“I see, that will do then.” Lu Yun inclined his head.
The situation in the Hadal Hell was likely far more complicated than what She Nong spoke of. Hellfire originated from there, and it blazing in Lu Yun’s body was the basis for him becoming an ultimate powerhouse of the fourth realm. Tianqi also relied on it to possess power in the fourth realm.
“Let us clear out the prisoners inside. I have other uses for this hell,” said Lu Yun.
She Nong sighed with relief upon hearing this. “I’d thought that milord wanted to do something with hellfire. Hellfire is the greatest fire in all of existence and the foundation of the Hadal Hell. Everything is fine as long as we don’t touch hellfire!
“These prisoners have been kept there so long that their strength has long eroded away. Just stand to the side and watch, milord! Me and this little brother are enough to take care of them all!” She Nong extended a finger and stroked Tianqi’s tiny head, prompting a glowering look from the latter.
“Milord, this humble one has some fast friends. Why don’t I call them over to help?” She Nong suddenly asked fawningly, right before he entered the Gates of the Abyss.
“No need, you and Tianqi, as well as the Bridge of Forgetfulness, are enough,” Lu Yun declined.
“Oh, alright!” Far from being disappointed at Lu Yun’s refusal, She Nong dashed merrily into the Hadal Hell.
Dangers abounded in the fourth realm, and a being like him was just of mediocre level. He had to face threats at every turn, so having such a powerful lord as his patron was a great stroke of fortune.
He hadn’t really wanted to summon his friends to help, he’d just wanted them all to latch onto this thigh.
……
The Hadal Hell went by many names—Hadal Battlefront, Hadal Prisons, Hadal World… All were monikers for this dreadful hell.
Numerous worlds had been born in the chaos since the dawn of time, and many hells had been born within them. All of them were a result of power leaking out from the Hadal Hell—the human dao hell included.
Lu Yun had followed the perimeter of this hell to enter the fourth realm last time, which meant the Hadal Hell was constantly connected to the fourth realm and other worlds. This was why he said that their worlds were the true realm.
The void that comprised of the Hadal Hell wasn’t that much different from the fourth realm, so it could fully accommodate power from the fourth. There were nine enormous worlds to the Hadal Hell, each of them vast without end and nurturing a terrifying core.
The closest prison to the kingdom of hell was the first level, its inhabitants long withered away. It held prisoners from the human dao era and traitors that Tianqi had later thrown in.The level closest to the fourth realm was the innermost one, and it held prisoners that were once the greatest existences of the fourth realm.
Human dao’s hell had possessed eighteen levels—a structure that was based off of the nine layers of Hadal Hell. The latter was the true source of human dao hell.
When Lu Yun and the others set foot past the Gates of the Abyss, demonic howls filled their ears. These were the cries of anguish, of struggle, of torment that persisted life after life.
“Little thing, you’ve finally come in here!” An enormous howl rang through Hadal Hell as a tremendous skeleton appeared out of the gloom and smacked down on Lu Yun.
This skeleton was the one that’d projected its will to the first level of hell before, seeking to escape through the weakest layer. It’d been beaten back countless times by Lu Yun, Ge Long, and the blood demon. It’d even once been target practice for Lu Yun to hone his sword dao.
Today, Lu Yun—the instigator of all—was here in the flesh! Naturally, the skeleton couldn’t contain its eagerness to pulverize this foe. It could exert all of its strength in the ninth layer of Hadal Hell—strength of the fourth realm!
Overwhelming fury and desire for freedom stampeded in its mind, supplanting its rationale to first determine what cultivation realm Lu Yun was currently at.
“How dare a pile of bones be so presumptuous?!” She Nong sneered at the sight and stepped forward, materializing a black spear in his hands. Glinting with a keen light, he stabbed right down upon the skeleton.
“What?!” Surprise came from the bones and it instinctively retreated. However, the spear followed it like a snake’s tongue, swift and furious, piercing through its head before anything realized what was happening.
The skeleton instantly fell apart and a tiny flower of white flame vanished through the air.
“The fire spirit of Hadal Bonefire!” She Nong started and sent his spear after the tiny fire spirit.
“The doors to the Hadal Hell are open. We can all be free if we kill these four life forms!!” The tiny fire spirit suddenly sent an immense sound wave through all nine layers.
Wails and shrieks from the imprisoned grew and intensified as shadow upon shadow upon shadow shot out of the depths. They weren’t aiming for Lu Yun and the others, but the Gates of the Abyss behind them, the exit!
They would be free if they could charge out!
