All the ghost messengers bowed and responded.
At the same time, Xu Zhengyang slowly walked to the window. He drew back the curtains and calmly gazed out at the city nightscape. The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, neon lights occasionally flashed on either side of the road, and cars sped past on the main road, their beams of light gleaming…
Now, he no longer worries about finding a plausible excuse to avoid worrying his family while ensuring his own physical safety, to enter the underworld and search for the Yama's Palace. He knows that, with his current status as the City God and his powerful supernatural abilities, he can freely travel between the human and underworld realms. He can determine his next location in the underworld using his willpower; moreover, he can leave a trace of his will within his body, allowing his consciousness to instantly return from the underworld to his body in case of emergency.
However, the physical body is ultimately limited, and in this mortal world, his authority is only limited to a city. Even with ghost messengers, he can only run rampant within the province of Hedong in most situations.
With a sigh, Xu Zhengyang turned and lay down on the bed. A sudden feeling of loneliness washed over him, and a thought flashed through his mind: How wonderful it would be to have a wife to hold me while I sleep tonight!
He didn't want to be a god in legends who was heartless, devoid of desire, and devoid of any sense of purpose.
Therefore, the mundane world is still the best; it's something one can't bear to part with. One can't leave it behind.
But in this mortal world, what truly captivates us, besides material desires, is perhaps the word "emotion" itself—family affection, friendship, romantic love. In short, it is the interplay of love, hate, passion, bitterness, and everything in between that makes life so rich and complex, so hard to let go of. However, upon reflection, if a hundred years later, parents, sisters, wives, friends, and even further back, sons and daughters, all will eventually pass away, enter the underworld, and embark on the cycle of reincarnation, all memories fading away. It's as if this person has never left a trace in this world. How could they possibly recognize Xu Zhengyang then?
This is perhaps why everyone fears death and is unwilling to leave this world.
From a selfish perspective, Xu Zhengyang, as a deity, enjoys worldly life, and even while seemingly driven by greed to use his supernatural abilities and various privileges to earn money, isn't it all because he's constantly thinking about punishing evil and promoting good, accumulating merit and faith to accelerate his promotion, eventually reaching the Emperor level or higher, with the hope of achieving immortality?
But now that I think about it, if that day really came and I could live forever, what a miserable, desolate, and lonely existence that would be!
It's absurd to think that if one person dies or another passes away, you can just start a new bunch, and your sons and daughters can keep being born, dying, being born again, and dying again. If you could truly reach that state of mind, you'd be detached from all emotions and desires. How could a deeply aged, demonic being possibly do something like a super old demon eating relatively tender grass?
Or, one day, when I truly become a ruler and gain immortality, and have enough authority and ability, I can deify all my relatives and friends, allowing them to level up step by step and seek immortality.
This seems a bit inappropriate and unfair!
The thought had just flashed through his mind when Xu Zhengyang suddenly sat up, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He seemed to have realized something.
Rumble...
A series of muffled thunderclaps came from outside.
Xu Zhengyang waved his hand, summoning the city scroll. He stared at it for a long while, then muttered softly, "Even if you don't tell me, I'd bet that either Heaven or the Underworld is experiencing a famine, right?"
The smooth, delicate scroll shimmered with light. No reply was given.
"Alas, it seems that even gods, like humans, often suffer because they are too selfish." Xu Zhengyang sighed deeply. "This is a helpless act, still because of emotions!"
Xu Zhengyang lit a cigarette and took two deep drags. He stood lost in thought for a while, looking through the undrawn curtains. He extinguished the cigarette after it had burned out and lay back down. Leaving a sliver of his senses in his physical body, he then sent his divine consciousness back to the underworld to search for the location of the Yama's Palace.
This time, however, he descended upon the boundless Pool of Reincarnation.
The pools of reincarnation are like blood-yellow gems adorning an endless expanse of emerald brocade; and the passages between the pools are like threads tightly weaving through them.
Volume 4, City God Chapter 180: The Underworld, What Happened?
Based on Xu Zhengyang's current position as the City God, he has the authority and ability to retrieve any ghost from the Yellow Springs Road, the River of Oblivion, the River of Three Crossings, and the Pool of Reincarnation with a wave of his hand.
As the City God of the human world, he can perform the duties of a judge in the underworld.
However, with so many ghosts, which one could Xu Zhengyang recognize? How could he possibly know whether they were good or bad in life? Besides, if he were to try to select them one by one by himself, wouldn't he be so exhausted that he would have to jump into the Pool of Reincarnation to seek rebirth?
So let's temporarily let the evil spirits mixed in with the ghosts have an easy time, and let's temporarily let the very few good spirits suffer.
Xu Zhengyang ventured from the edge of the Samsara Pool into the depths of the Underworld once more, soaring through the air while looking down at various different locations.
The underworld is indeed vast. From the edge of the endless black wall surrounding the underworld to the location of the Reincarnation Pool, Xu Zhengyang roughly estimated that it was at least several thousand miles away. Moreover, apart from flying to the side for a few dozen miles out of curiosity, Xu Zhengyang basically did not deviate further to either side, and always followed the direction of the Yellow Spring Road and the river to go deeper.
How far apart are these two sides? And where does it end?
Xu Zhengyang, who appeared to be soaring freely through the air, actually felt a slight worry in his heart: what if he got lost...?
He continued flying straight ahead until he finally saw the end of the boundless Pool of Reincarnation. Xu Zhengyang stopped flying and looked down at the scene from high above, a truly astonishing sight.
As they approached the dark, arc-shaped area, the scattered Reincarnation Pools were no longer visible on the azure wasteland. The area was devoid of any green color; instead, it was dark, neither black nor deep blue, an indescribable color that exuded a sense of gloom, stillness, and a chilling, deathly aura.
Looking down at that dark place from high above, it appeared to be circular in shape. However, due to its vast size, Xu Zhengyang's vision couldn't reach its end.
What astonished him was that the dark land, which was clearly higher than the wasteland, was filled with ruins.
It was the ruins of buildings… He didn’t know how to describe the scene in his mind, but suddenly he had a feeling of déjà vu. The desolation and ruin here were very similar to a place he had visited in Beijing and had seen some pictures of in his textbooks, a place called—Yuanmingyuan.
The piles of ruins resembled small hills or mounds of graves.
The place was desolate and dilapidated, exuding a thick aura of death. Even before approaching, the chill was enough to make one's heart turn to ice. For Xu Zhengyang, who was already accustomed to the environment of the underworld and was the City God of the human realm, his divine sense was completely unfazed by the cold and deathly aura of the netherworld. But now, gazing down at that ruined land from afar, his heart still felt cold, his heart sank.
From the ruins, one can see how glorious this dark and gloomy place once was.
While not exactly towering skyscrapers, it was certainly a collection of grand mansions and palaces, their imposing structures standing solemnly atop the ruins. Behold the occasional stone pillars standing amidst the ruins, the dark beams jutting out from the rubble, the protruding, broken boulders, the occasional eaves adorned with scaly tiles, and the sections of collapsed walls and remnants…
Xu Zhengyang stood in mid-air for a long time before floating up to the ruins and slowly landing in the center of the piles of rubble.
Without a doubt, this is the former underworld, also known as the "Hall of Yama".
The way this place looks now seems to be silently telling visitors that it has experienced the baptism of war and suffered irresistible disasters.
But who could possibly destroy the underworld and raze it to the ground?
According to legends and ancient texts, the King of Hell, Yama, the Four Ghost Emperors, and the Ten Kings of Hell in the underworld are all renowned deities, the so-called Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Even in the underworld, they dare not act arrogantly or cause trouble, but can only quietly perform rituals to deliver wronged souls and evil spirits, vowing not to become Buddhas until hell is empty.
Who else has such skill and strength?
Unless... the Heavenly Court and the Underworld completely turn against each other, and heavenly soldiers, generals, and gods descend upon the Underworld, it's impossible for this place to be destroyed into its current desolate and miserable state. But the Underworld is originally the territory of the Heavenly Court, and the gods of both sides should be under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Court. Could it be that they're fighting amongst themselves? Or is the Underworld planning a rebellion against the Heavenly Court?
This is utter nonsense.
Walking slowly through the ruins, examining the occasional glimpses of former glory amidst the desolation, Xu Zhengyang felt a bittersweet feeling welling up inside him. Although there was no sign of life, it all silently testified that many gods or ghosts had once resided here—perhaps Yama, the Ghost Emperor, the Ten Kings of Hell, judges, and other ghostly messengers…
However, in this netherworld, apart from the River of Three Crossings and the Pool of Reincarnation, which have some problems due to the lack of ghost messengers to manage and supervise them, everything else seems to be operating continuously according to some natural or predetermined law. This is enough to prove that there is an incomparably powerful force in the dark supporting the operation of these laws.
Based on Xu Zhengyang's current understanding, this power can only be divine power. Since there is no god, the source of divine power can only be emitted through some kind of object, namely—divine artifacts.
Just like Xu Zhengyang's journey from a half-local deity to where he is today, what truly helped him was that divine jade artifact that he still cannot understand or comprehend. It is the local record book, county record book, case file, city record book... possessing its own consciousness, even capable of determining the duties of a deity. It granted Xu Zhengyang various supernatural abilities, yet it always firmly told him that it was merely an artifact of a deity.
Standing amidst the towering ruins, Xu Zhengyang felt as insignificant as an ant.
Looking up at the dark, inky sky, at the silent, jade-like disc painted in the heavens, Xu Zhengyang pondered for a long time…
His consciousness surged, and a thought flashed through his mind. Xu Zhengyang frowned and let out a long howl. In this boundless space, the long howl spread far and wide, but it did not resonate even slightly. At the same time, his divine sense spread outwards in an instant, like ripples spreading outwards from the center of a still pool.
Yes, Xu Zhengyang wanted to rely on his divine power to restore the ruined Netherworld to its original appearance, just as he had done when he built the City God's Mansion in the scroll.
However, when the divine sense was dispersed, it was like mud entering the ocean, without stirring up the slightest ripple.
Xu Zhengyang collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted. His impulsive act had consumed most of his divine power, yet had served no purpose whatsoever.
Xu Zhengyang was unwilling to give up. He wanted to find something, something that might be buried under these piles of ruins.
It's impossible that nothing was left behind!
Just like after a war between humans, you can always find things in the ruins left by the carnage that can prove what happened before.
So after resting for a while, Xu Zhengyang closed his eyes and extended his divine sense, enveloping a not-so-tall ruin beside him. He knew that each protrusion of the ruins represented a former building, and since his divine power was insufficient to rebuild all the ruins in the Netherworld, restoring this particular building to its original state should not be a problem.
Sure enough, as soon as divine sense enveloped the pile of ruins and poured into it, the ruins slowly began to undergo tremendous changes within sight.
This gradual process of change reminded Xu Zhengyang of the slow rewinding of some documentaries he had seen before.
Yes, the process of how a towering government office was destroyed by a huge external force was gradually revealed to Xu Zhengyang in a reverse manner.
Finally, the government office was restored to its original appearance, or perhaps this appearance was entirely from Xu Zhengyang's imagination.
In short, the main building of the government office was two stories high, and the backyard and sides were lined with rows of neat bungalows. This extremely large building of the underworld appeared before Xu Zhengyang's eyes.
Everything, from the bricks and tiles to the walls and windows, was a deep, somber black; above the towering gatehouse at the main entrance, several large, gilded characters read: Southeast Yama Palace.
Xu Zhengyang glanced at the plaque casually, showing no surprise or curiosity, as it was all within his expectations. Xu Hengyang dragged his weary body to his feet and walked into the mansion.
In the main hall of the government office, one can see neatly arranged tables and chairs, a spacious hall, carved doors and windows, and thick, black roof beams.
On a slightly raised platform directly opposite the hall entrance, a large desk was set up with a pen holder, an inkstone, and a black, shiny gavel that gleamed with a soft yellow light.
Xu Zhengyang walked around the lobby with a solemn expression, looking around.
When he walked to the desk on the platform, Xu Zhengyang frowned slightly and reached out to pick up the gavel placed on the desk.
At that moment, Cheng Juan suddenly reminded him, "This gavel is most suitable for making a Qiankun ruler."
"Oh?" Xu Zhengyang was slightly taken aback. Since becoming the City God, Cheng Juan had reminded him that he needed to possess a magical artifact suitable for his status as the City God.
This includes the Qiankun Ruler and the City Scroll.
Xu Zhengyang unhesitatingly put the astonishing wood into the scroll. Just as he was about to continue examining it, he suddenly realized that he should go back. He didn't know how long he had been out.
With a thought, the entire divine being vanished from the Netherworld in an instant. The divine consciousness returned to the physical body.
Xu Zhengyang sat up, picked up his phone from the bedside table, and checked the time. It was already past nine o'clock the next day.
There were no missed calls on his phone, so it seemed no one had bothered him. Otherwise, the wisp of divine consciousness remaining in his physical body would have notified him long ago.
I got out of bed and walked to the bedside table. I pulled back the curtains and looked outside. I saw that it had started to drizzle outside.
Xu Zhengyang was stunned for a while, then turned around, changed into his usual clothes, washed up, and went out.
As human beings, we should act like human beings.
There's no rush to unravel the mysteries of the underworld. We can simply go there every night to investigate and study it carefully. Besides, how much divine power would it take to restore those ruins of the underworld to their former state?
The revolution is not yet complete, comrades, we must continue our efforts!
Volume Four, City God Chapter 181: Different Underworld Institutions
In the few days following his promotion to City God, Yu Shi, who had subsequently been upgraded to City God, explained in detail, upon Xu Zhengyang's questioning, the powers and abilities a City God could possess, as well as the divine artifacts he should have, and of course, the constraints and limitations of being a City God.
Xu Zhengyang no longer felt the same excitement mixed with resentment he used to feel after each promotion.
Yes, the materials for crafting divine artifacts are still hard to find, and crafting them still requires a large amount of divine power. Of course, crafting divine artifacts isn't difficult; there's no complicated processing involved, it's just a matter of thought.
Having already prepared himself mentally, Xu Zhengyang naturally wasn't angry; let whoever wanted it, it didn't matter. Limited by his divine authority and territorial boundaries, within Fuhe City, which belonged to him, and under the current social realities, was there anything Xu Zhengyang couldn't do without needing a more powerful divine artifact?
The answer is clearly no, at least not under the current circumstances.
However, having something is better than having nothing. It's like someone having a lot of money and being able to live a very good life. But as long as there's money to be made, they won't stop. So, after discovering that gavel in the southeastern Yama's Palace in the underworld, Xu Zhengyang immediately seized the opportunity to make it his own.
As the saying goes, no one gets up early without a reason. After expending so much supernatural power and causing the City God to fear that he would be unable to return to the mortal world due to insufficient divine power, it would be absolutely unreasonable not to take advantage of some unwanted treasures to reward and comfort himself.
Yes, the City Scroll once told him that in addition to the City Scroll, the City God should also possess the Universe Ruler and the Soul-Slaying Needle.
To craft a Qiankun Ruler, the required material is either ancient divine wood or the wood from the spirit fruit trees planted in the ancient Heavenly Court's divine garden. Xu Zhengyang wasn't angry when he learned this, nor did he hold out much hope. Where was he supposed to find ancient divine wood? Besides, who knew what divine wood actually looked like? As for the spirit fruit trees planted in the ancient Heavenly Court's divine garden, forget about it; he didn't even have the power to go to the Heavenly Court yet.
However, the Qiankun Ruler is still quite formidable.
Holding the Qiankun Ruler allows one to exercise the authority of a judge in the underworld, such as reviewing underworld records, instructing underworld messengers to run errands, and temporarily severing passages between reincarnation pools. More importantly, a City God with the Qiankun Ruler can command the wind and rain within his own territory in the human world. While he cannot move mountains and overturn seas, he can still modify the terrain and open up pathways through mountains with great supernatural powers.
Of course. This last point requires an enormous amount of divine power that would make Xu Zhengyang's heart ache, and it must be reported to the Heavenly Court in advance and approved before it can be carried out. Otherwise, it would be a violation of the Heavenly Laws, an unauthorized alteration of the natural order, and would be punished by being struck by lightning.
When Xu Zhengyang saw this, he curled his lip and thought to himself, "What's wrong with me? Why would I do such a thing?"