Rise of Humanity

The ox-headed celestial was definitely a god. It was impossible for Zhong Yue to defeat a god even if he gave it his all, let alone imprison one!

Yet, a god like that was now trapped in his【Six Soul Banner】!

Could it be the【Six Soul Banner】? No, no, I know a few other emperor-level skills myself even my【Celestial Demon Yi】and【Worship of Gods】are emperor-level skills themselves. The【Six Soul Banner】is strong, but it can’t have the ability to imprison a god in one strike…

Zhong Yue was puzzled; the【Six Soul Banner】’s power was far too strong in his hands. Even Bi and An had to cast it out together, yet he had done it on his own, and his【Six Soul Banner】was far stronger than theirs; not to mention his cultivation was also weaker than Bi’s and An’s.

In truth, this was all because of his Innate True Soul. Although he had yet to awaken the Innate True Soul, the fact that his soul was already in the innate state had placed him at a significant advantage compared to the ox-headed celestial being.

Zhong Yue took out the tablet given to him and waved it in front of the ox-headed celestial, “Recognize this?”

Terror immediately overtook the ox-headed celestial’s heart, and he knelt with his head down, “Emissary, emissary, I beg for mercy!”

Emissary? Zhong Yue was startled, Seems like the tablets given to us are really valuable. I wonder how high an emissary’s status truly is….

Qiu Jin’er took out her tablet and gave a cold sneer, “You recognize this tablet, so you should know very well why we are here, correct?”

The ox-headed celestial grew even more horrified, he lowered his head down to the ground and said, “The Hell Overseers are the Hell’s eyes and acts upon Hell’s will. They have the power to sentence a guardian to death even without giving them on a trial. Overseers, please forgive me!”

Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin’er exchanged a look and spotted the same joy in each other’s eyes.

“Senior martial brother, this Hell Overseer title sounds very useful, it might be able to clear our path through Hell and make things easier.” Qiu Jin’er said to Zhong Yue through her psyche. She asked, “Since we are clear of what the tablets are now, there’s no use for him now. Should we kill him?”

“No.” Zhong Yue mulled and said, “We still need him to lead the way. He lives here and is familiar with the environment. He can save us a lot of time searching for our destination.”

Qiu Jin’er nodded silently.

They did not belong to Hell’s forces; although they had the tablets of Hell Overseers, they wouldn’t be able to fake it through if there were any inspections. Thus, they could just let the ox-headed celestial handle the unnecessary inspections and reduce the risk of exposure.

Most importantly, the ox-headed celestial being’s life is in their hands, it was easier for them to manipulate him without having to fear betrayal.

“What is your name?” Zhong Yue asked while releasing the ox-headed celestial being’s soul back to his body.

The ox-headed celestial quickly answered, “Dear emissary, I am Lan Si from the Ox-Head Celestial Race Lan Shan Clan. You can call me Little Si’er, and I am the guardian of the Bridge of Helplessness.”

“Lan Shan Clan Lan Si God… Step forth and heed to my command!” Zhong Yue clasped and raised his hands up while he said solemnly, “The lords of Hell have neglected their duties and the peace of Hell is no longer persisting. The higher-ups ordered us to investigate into this matter and restore Hell’s long disturbed harmony. Little Si, now that you know who we are, you know what to do, don’t you?”

Lan Si God was terrified, he quickly laughed and said, “I know, I know! I will let this demon god back to the Bridge of Helplessness, and I will make sure he is reincarnated in accordance to the rules of Hell…”

Qiu Jin’er gave a cold sneer, “How dare you! This demon god has devoured millions of innocent souls, how do you think Hell will maintain its reputation if a murderer like him is forgiven so easily? Send him to the Hell Abyss, he will never be reincarnated and shall live in torment for eternity!”

Lan Si God was shocked, his body shivered in terror while he lowered his voice, “This punishment is far too severe… He has only devoured a few million of souls, that isn’t a warranting exile to the Abyss…”

Even though he was already breaching the rules of Hell to devour the demon god’s spirit; Lan Si God still didn’t dare to touch the demon god’s soul as it would quickly elevate into a capital offense if he did.

On the top of it, sentencing one’s soul into the Hell Abyss was a far graver punishment than killing one’s soul itself.

Qiu Jin’er replied frigidly, “You dare to question me?”

“No emissary, I didn’t mean to…” Lan Si God lowered his head.

Meanwhile, Zhong Yue praised in his heart. Qiu Jin’er only wanted the demon god to be sent into the Hell Abyss so that Lan Si God would lead them directly to the Hell Abyss; there, it held captivated the prisoner Bi and An requested to be freed.

“Little Si’er, the punishment is fair and just.” Zhong Yue explained, “The higher-ups are displeased by Hell’s performance lately. The lords are not upholding their responsibilities and the guardians aren’t carrying out their duties either. Not only that, but some even colluded with those they shouldn’t be in contact with and it has brought enormous disruptions to the order we have all sworn to protect. That leads us here—to investigate the true severity of the matter.”

Lan Si God shuddered in fear, he didn’t dare to utter anything and could only quietly return the demon god’s soul back to the spirit before chaining him up.

Zhong Yue continued, “That’s why he shall be punished severely, as a message to the other miscreants. Now, we’ve finished our discussion of the demon god, it’s your turn now.”

Cold sweat burst out of Lan Si God’s forehead while Zhong Yue gave his usual warm, bright smile, “Although we are the Hell Overseers, we are no natives to Hell. The Hell Lords have their own factions and minions, they will not hesitate to stand in our way if they knew we are coming for them. Thus, we need a native to cover for us.”

Lan Si God immediately knelt down, “Little Si’er is willing to serve the emissaries!”

Zhong Yue held him up and said while smiling, “If you serve us well, not only that we will not pursue your wrongdoings, you will even be promoted.”

Lan Si God was shocked and overjoyed, he thought, Blessings and misfortunes always come in pairs!

Qiu Jin’er gave a cold sneer, “From now on, we will be your servants. Be extreme careful not to expose us. Don’t worry, we will make sure we kill you first before we die!”

Lan Si God nod consecutively and asked, “May I ask how I should call you? Least I can reply when the others ask who you are.”

Zhong Yue mulled, he asked, “You can call me Chang Tianji, and she will be Chang Buyu.”

Upon hearing their names, Lan Si God’s heart sterned up and quickly lead the two on the Bridge of Helplessness.

It was the same world one would see in Hell, but also a different one as the ambiance in here was extremely eerie.

The cold breeze swept across them, and a huge castle was suddenly seen floating beside the bridge. Lan Si God shouted, “Ma Wang King, Ma Wang King!”

“Senior Martial Brother Lan Si, what do you need?” A horse celestial being walked out of the castle and asked.

Lan Si God smiled and said, “I have something to do and would need to leave for half a year. I will not be able to carry out my duties for the said period of time, please do help me take care of any emergencies if there are any.”

“Rest assured.” Ma Wang King nodded, he then looked at Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin’er and asked, “These two are?”

“My new servants. What are the two of you doing? Why aren’t you greeting Ma Wang King?”

Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin’er bowed and said in unison, “We greet the great Ma Wang King.”

The three of them then left and continued on their journey. They traveled for half a day before reaching the end of the bridge. The Bridge of Helplessness ended at a huge city built with bones. The skeletons that constructed the city were still squirming as though they were trying to crawl out of it; even trying to hold them when they got closer to it.

Gods! Zhong Yue was shocked. The city was even bigger than a planet and yet, it was wholly built from god skeletons!

The planets were orbiting around the city, even the suns seemed dwarfed when measured against it.

On the city wall were gods shrouded in ghost fire guarding the city, their weapons glowed with green flames and an ancient air repleted the whole city.

These city guards were vigilant at all times as if they would be attacked at anytime now.

“Hell Mansion Serene Darkness City!” A bone tablet of a million feet tall was raised in front of the city gate. Below the words, there was a single sentence written in blood, “The city of dead, the end of lives!”

Zhong Yue was puzzled. Such a grand city with countless gods as the guardians, what was it built for? And who would dare to invade it?

All of a sudden, a huge face lowered down from the city wall, its eyes were like two green fireballs as it glanced over them.

Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin’er felt as though their souls were fully exposed in its eyes.

“Senior Martial Brother He Zhe, why are the inspections so tight today?” Lan Si God asked while smiling.

The huge face moved back and replied with a solemn face, “An expert infiltrated the Six Paths World and ambushed Hell. The Home-Viewing Pavilion is broken, and the River of Darkness is breached. All 18 judges are alerted but the expert managed to escape from their hands, but is still somewhere in Hell. Thus, the judges ordered everyone to be inspected and checked before entering and or exiting the cities…. Alright, all three of you are cleared now, you may enter the city.”

Lan Si God thanked him and led them into the city.

Zhong Yue was curious, he whispered softly, “There are still intruders in Hell?”

“Of course.” Lan Si God smiled, “There are many unknown and powerful existences lurking in the Six Paths World. They usually live a hermit’s life and pay no attention to anyone else other than themselves. Their ultimate goal is to dictate their own lives. They don’t want to lower their heads to the judges so they would be sent to a better reincarnation; that’s why they always try to infiltrate Hell to change their own destinies.”

Zhong Yue nodded, he suddenly said, “Little Si, bring us to the Book of Life and Death. I need to check the books as some of the judges have fraternized with outsiders and disobeyed the rules of Hell of not changing the reincarnations of the experts.”

Lan Si God smiled, “It’s usually hard to do it, we’ll have to do many things and bribe the guards. But now, the intruder gave us a perfect opening to check the Book of Life and Death while bypassing the red tape!”

TN:

Tianji means “Secrets of Heaven”

Buyu means “Don’t speak”