Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 1091 - 781 to Netherworld_2

Chapter 1091: 781 to Netherworld_2

...

In the past, it didn’t matter, for Jiang Chen was weak, and could travel to the Netherworld by any means, but now he was considered a celebrity of sorts, thus, if he wanted to go to the Netherworld, he had to pass through the Ghost Gate honestly.

Looking at the Three Realms from the Chaos, one can see that the Heavenly Realm is directly above the earth, while the Netherworld is below. Therefore, to ascend to the Heaven Court, one must fly upwards; to descend to the Netherworld, downwards.

In the midst of Mount Sumeru, Jiang Chen returned from the depths of the void above the earth. Then, with a thought, he entered the ground below and continued downward. In just a few breaths’ time, he arrived in a dim, gray space.

Then, a yellow road appeared before him, bustling with countless ethereal figures walking upon it. This was the Netherworld Road, a bridge between the human world and the Netherworld. After death, souls leave the human realm via the Netherworld Road to enter the Netherworld.

At the end of the road, a grand portal towered, standing ninety thousand zhang high and thirty thousand zhang wide, engraved with many profound runes. Carved into the lintel was a colossal ghost face, its eyes deep and piercing, as if they could see through the cosmos and across all heavens and myriads of worlds.

Below the ghost face, there was a plaque with the words "Ghost Gate" inscribed in three large characters.

This was the Ghost Gate, the gateway to the Netherworld, a legendary top-quality Innate Spiritual Treasure. The Heaven Court has four great heavenly gates, whose combined power is comparable to the most superior Innate Spiritual Treasures, even nearing that of an Innate Treasure. In terms of power, it naturally far surpasses the Ghost Gate.

But that’s when all four gates come together, only then surpassing the Ghost Gate. Taken individually, none of the four great heavenly gates could compare.

The small ghost carved on the lintel was not merely decorative. According to Jiang Chen’s understanding, once the Ghost Gate’s full power was unleashed, that little ghost would come to life, capable of appearing at will within anyone’s Sea of Consciousness and dragging their Innate True Spirit into the Ghost Gate.

Its power was so formidable that even Great Divine Transcendents could be caught off guard and ensnared.

The Ghost Gate is the final destination for all living beings, theoretically, unless one becomes a Saint, transcending heaven and earth, nobody can avoid passing through the Ghost Gate at least once. Hence, the Ghost Gate has the power to forcibly absorb the True Spirits of all living beings, a supreme authority granted to it by heaven and earth.

...

There were several specters maintaining order above the Ghost Gate, and Jiang Chen even spotted a Great Luo Golden Immortal lurking in the shadows.

This too was normal, as the Ghost Gate is after all the entrance to the Netherworld, the face of the Netherworld’s prestige, naturally requiring a powerful guardian to prevent any insensible individuals from causing trouble.

However, the powerful guardian was there for show, as those who dare stir up trouble at the Ghost Gate typically have powerful backing, and the Great Luo Golden Immortal would not dare to interfere. Those without backing wouldn’t dare make trouble at the Ghost Gate either, so the Great Luo Golden Immortal need not intervene.

Just like the Monkey King Sun Wukong from the past, had this Great Luo Golden Immortal tried to stop him, no matter Sun Wukong’s abilities, he would have been unable to enter the Netherworld.

Still, the same issue remained, he dared not intervene. He might be able to prevent Sun Wukong from entering the Underworld, but the cost of such an action afterwards was something he could not afford. Thus, the best approach was to pretend to know nothing.

To be frank, serving as an official in the Underworld, especially a high-ranking one, is truly difficult.

Since the Underworld is involved in the cycles of reincarnation, the rulers of the Underworld possess immense power, which could largely determine a person’s fate.

If the ruler is powerful, this could be advantageous; various forces will try to ingratiate themselves with them, seeking to arrange a favorable future for their inept descendants.

But the issue is that the rulers of the Underworld generally are not very strong, which is a disaster.

In the Prehistoric World, strength and backing are the ultimate truths: either you are powerful, or you have a strong backing. However, tragically, the rulers of the Underworld have neither.

This leads to the various powerhouses completely disrespecting them, their attitudes not ingratiating but commanding and authoritative. They give orders directly, treating the Underworld’s rulers as underlings to be ordered around.

When faced with such dominant powers, the rulers of the Underworld dare not offend and dare not disobey their commands, only finding ways to carry them out.

However, the fate of humans is predetermined by heaven; the Underworld administers reincarnation on behalf of Heaven and Earth, possessing only the right to correct errors, not to alter fate. Rashly changing a person’s fate results in the loss of one’s own lifespan.

Thus, those in power in the Underworld do not last long. Generally, every few thousand years, there will be a fall of one of the Ten Kings of Hell, which is the price to pay for arbitrarily altering another’s fate.

How else to explain the foolishness of Sun Wukong? Others, when altering the Book of Life and Death, would coerce the Ten Kings of Hell to act, so that if there were any culpability, it would rest on the Ten Kings of Hell and not on themselves.

But Sun Wukong, on the other hand, directly took matters into his own hands to make changes, resulting in the karmic force generated from altering the Book of Life and Death to fall entirely upon himself, even implicating his own monkey offspring—a truly unwise move.

Serving as an official in the Underworld means acting like a lord before the common people and like a grandchild before the various powerhouses, while also taking risks to carry out tasks for them, without any certain benefits from success and definite misfortune if failing. Additionally, undertaking too many tasks can easily lead to divine punishment.

This is truly too difficult!

Therefore, being an official in the Underworld, especially one of the Ten Kings of Hell, is not a good job by any means. To put it bluntly, even the Ox-Head and Horse-Face last longer in their roles than the Ten Kings of Hell do.

If someone is unlucky enough to become one of the Ten Kings of Hell, their future is pretty much doomed; there will be no good end. Only by clinging to powerful patrons can one hope to hold office for a long time.

However, such patrons are not easy to find. In the Netherworld, the only one who could be considered a substantial patron is Mother Earth. But if one could cling to the patronage of Mother Earth, why would they bother becoming one of the uncertain Ten Kings of Hell?

Besides Mother Earth, no other patronage is useful. In the past, even when Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was around, there were Kings of Hell who tried to cling to him, thinking that by relying on the Buddhist door, they could gain protection. Unfortunately, it was futile; they were taken down by the people of the Heaven Court.

Then came King Qinguang, who clung to the patronage of the Heaven Court, hoping for the protection of the Jade Emperor. However, it was still to no avail, for he was taken out by the people of the Buddhist door.

In the Netherworld, only those under the protection of Mother Earth are able to live a long life. Any other patronage is useless.

...

Upon arriving at the Ghost Gate, Jiang Chen looked in the direction of the Reincarnation Hall from afar and bowed, then he swaggered toward the Ghost Gate.

During this time, the numerous ghost soldiers guarding the Ghost Gate, as well as the countless spirits coming and going, did not notice Jiang Chen’s presence at all.

With Jiang Chen’s cultivation level, going unnoticed, if he so desired, was truly a simple matter.

After passing through the Ghost Gate, he was truly entering the Netherworld, leaving the world of the living and stepping into the realm of the departed.

Fortunately, this wasn’t Jiang Chen’s first visit to the Netherworld, so he had no trouble adapting. He discerned the direction and headed toward the Reincarnation Hall, where Mother Earth resided.

It’s important to clarify that the Underworld is not the sole administrative institution in the Netherworld. When the Netherworld first came into being, there were two dominant forces: the Reincarnation Hall, led by Mother Earth, and the Sea of Blood, presided over by the Old Ancestor of the Underworld River.

A series of significant events later transpired, leading to Mother Earth’s retreat from the world and the sealing of the Old Ancestor of the Underworld River by the Western teachings. Not long after, a power known as the Underworld Ministry rose, becoming the overlord of the Netherworld.

The Underworld Ministry was dominated by the Emperor of Fengdu. His subordinates were either the native-born deities of the Netherworld or heroic spirits transformed from deceased members of the Human Race from ancient times. They were exceptionally strong and ruled the Netherworld for a considerable period.

It was only later, after the conclusion of the Ancient Investiture of the Gods battles, that the Underworld officially emerged to manage the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and it became the apparent strongest force in the Netherworld.

Indeed, due to its responsibility for managing the Six Paths of Reincarnation, the Underworld is indeed significant. However, significance and strength are unrelated; the Underworld’s power is far less than that of the Underworld Ministry.

All the major powers between Heaven and Earth dare to manipulate the Underworld, but they do not dare to meddle with the Underworld Ministry.

It’s no joke, for the Underworld Ministry controls the Endless Hell, one of the two great hopeless lands, alongside the Heavenly Prison, where many legendary villains are sealed.