“Today, I establish the Netherworld, and I shall be the leader of the Netherworld Commanders, leading the 10 Netherworld Commanders to govern the Netherworld, maintaining the order of life and death, in anticipation of the changes that will come after eons,”
Bull Head promptly spoke out loud:
“I shall strictly obey the Fengdu Emperor’s decree!”
Shen Yuan nodded, and with a wave of his left hand, the Netherworld began to integrate into Mount Tai Lord’s dojo, becoming like a dark reflection of the Mount Tai Lord’s dojo, transforming into a Deepest Netherworld Land where supernatural beings could rest and recuperate.
Then Shen Yuan’s gaze suddenly deepened as he looked towards the Ingenious Tiny World hidden in the depths of the void, where the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda resided.
Seeing through the wall and comprehending causality and karma, Shen Yuan extended his hand and connected the cause of the 18 Levels of Hell to that Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda.
Once the Human Emperor’s Absolute Heaven and Earth Passage opened, the Primal Chaos Nifty Pagoda would fall into place within the Netherworld, becoming the exclusive 18 Levels of Hell of the Primal Chaos Realm.
With this task concluded, the remnants of the Great Netherworld Path origin on the Mount Tai King’s throne further weakened, and even the black imperial robes on the Black-Robed Emperor began to show signs of fading.
Clearly, this last portion of the Great Netherworld Path origin was no longer sufficient to support Shen Yuan to manifest the Mount Tai Lord’s position again.
Shen Yuan slowly raised his right hand, opening the Square Inch World, from which ten exquisite seals emanating the breath of the Netherworld appeared.
Gathering the ten seals into his hand, his fingers slowly coming together, the remaining Great Netherworld Path origin rapidly dwindled.
Finally, as the phantom of the Black-Robed Emperor completely dissipated and returned to the realm of myth and the Mortal Emperor, Shen Yuan once again opened his palm.
In Shen Yuan’s hand, the ten seals of Yama had vanished, leaving only a massive Imperial Seal inscribed with a vast stretch of land, with the characters Fengdu boldly written beneath.
Handing over the Fengdu Emperor’s Seal to Bull Head, Shen Yuan traced his fingertips across the void, revealing the aura of the Unimpeded Netherworld Divine Power and forming an Imperial Edict of the Mount Tai Lord.
Subsequently, Shen Yuan said indifferently:
“Temporarily keep this Imperial Seal and the Mount Tai Lord’s Imperial Edict; after a few millennia, transfer them to the future human Imperial Dynasty in the name of the Mount Tai Lord, in exchange for the human Imperial Dynasty’s support for the rightful rule of the Netherworld,”
Bull Head, with trembling hands, took the Imperial Seal, and said earnestly:
“I shall strictly follow the Emperor’s command!”
As the transfer of the Fengdu Emperor’s Seal was completed, Shen Yuan once again felt the rhythm of causality and karma, and another causality loop was closed at this moment.
Shen Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly, deeply sensing the changes within himself.
Apart from the loosening boundary of his realm, there was some unknown change quietly affecting Shen Yuan.
With his knowledge insufficient to explain the profound changes, Shen Yuan turned to Bull Head and inquired:
“Do you know about the cycle of causality and karma?”
Bull Head’s bell-sized eyes showed confusion as he cautiously said:
“Is Your Majesty referring to the Eternal Tribulation?”
A trace of curiosity appeared in Shen Yuan’s eyes, “Talk about it in detail.”
Although puzzled, Bull Head was reassured considering Shen Yuan’s transformation from the Mount Tai Lord to the Fengdu Emperor, and continued to explain:
“A Major Heavenly Immortal can refine their Heavenly Immortal Intent to the utmost limit after which they may endeavor to step into the Eternal Golden Immortal Stage.
To ascend to eternity, one must go through the Eternal Tribulation.”
“The reason why Eternal Golden Immortals are named eternal is that they are indestructible through countless tribulations. At the heart of it, the so-called tribulation is the source of causality and karma.
As long as any being exists, it is bound by causality and karma.
Living, cultivating, every single action has its causality fixed. When the time of tribulation comes, any karma could potentially turn into a deadly tribulation through the extrapolation of the tribulation.
To ascend to eternity, one must erase these karmas that could turn into deadly tribulations.”
Shen Yuan’s gaze flickered, “To sever causality? But if one exists in this world, how can they be free from the constraints of causality?”
Bull Head shook his head repeatedly:
“Your Majesty is unaware, this so-called severance of causality is not truly cutting off all causality but is about restricting those deadly karmas.
The simplest method to ascend to eternity is to trace the threads of causality and sever all significant karmas, then enter Highest Heaven to seclude oneself for thousands of years, relying on the Highest Heaven to sever causal connections, and only when one comprehends the origin of causality can they attempt ascension.
This method is considered a shortcut among the many ways to ascend to eternity. Although it’s the simplest, severing all karmas and entering Highest Heaven is an insurmountable task for the average Major Heavenly Immortal.”
Moreover, ascending in such a manner does not necessarily guarantee escape from all causal tribulations, as many Major Heavenly Immortals have perished in the process of ascension.”
“The second method is to hold strong cultivation, and confront the causal tribulations head-on.
As soon as the tribulation begins, even Golden Immortals may fall into the Five Decays of Celestial Beings, and without a profound understanding of the True Spirit’s obscurity, even those whose cultivation pierces the heavens may struggle to successfully transcend.”
This is regarded as the most orthodox method of transcending tribulations. Once successful, the Eternal True Intent begins to form, and thereafter, tribulations can hardly affect the being.”
At this point, Bull Head paused in his speech.
“The third method, I heard from His Majesty during his lectures.
The third method does not avoid tribulations, nor endure them, but seeks the origin of causality, transforming it into a cycle of cause and effect.
One’s self becomes both cause and effect, all causality being tied to oneself, leaving no external causality to interfere.”
“His Majesty once cited an example: If a mortal found the grotto residence of an ancestor and gained the correct teachings, thereby stepping onto the path of cultivation and reaching the realm of a Major Heavenly Immortal.
The ancestor’s impartation is a causal connection. If one cannot complete this causality, it is difficult to attain the Eternal Realm.
And this Major Heavenly Immortal, due to an accident, traversed history and returned to the time before his own cultivation, leaving behind a grotto residence for the inheritance of the correct teachings.
One’s self is both the cause and effect of imparting teachings, which becomes a cycle of cause and effect.”
“However, the true cycle of causality is certainly not so simple, nor does it solely involve the imparting of teachings.
Even if those of the Highest Heaven could traverse the river of history, proving a true cycle of causality is as hard as ascending to the heavens.
If one day one could complete all the cycles of causality within oneself, that would be a realm beyond the Highest Heaven!”
Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan’s pupils constricted sharply.
At the step of the cycle of causality, Shen Yuan had already completed two cycles of causality, namely the Human Emperor’s Absolute Heaven and Earth Passage and the establishment of the Netherworld by the Lord of Mount Tai.
These were major causal connections in this world, and completing them merely allowed Shen Yuan to sense some profound and elusive changes.
It was only after Bull Head’s explanation that Shen Yuan realized that these changes originated from a realm above the Highest Heaven, the realm of the Almighty Three Pure Ones.
The next moment, Shen Yuan felt as if he had returned to that eternal space-time, sitting upon the nine Great Seats of Tao Achievement.
After the major cycle of causality, the profound changes that emerged seemed to impel Shen Yuan to utter those two words.
“Tao Achievement?”
A chill ran through his heart, and Shen Yuan quickly dispersed the thought, not daring to immerse himself in it.
With many things still undone, if he were to prematurely stir Tao Achievement and invite some unknown causality, it could affect the impending Great Schism.
Suppressing the throbbing in his heart, Shen Yuan rose slowly from the Mount Tai King’s throne and walked out of the Mount Tai Palace.
The Black-Robed Emperor, a manifestation of Great Tao, had already shaken the Mount Tai Lord’s dojo, as Netherworld Ghost Immortals awoke from seclusion, eager to behold the majesty of the Lord of Mount Tai.
Even some Ghost Immortals had already stepped onto the stairways of Mount Tai, wishing to ascend the steps and seek an audience with the Lord of Mount Tai.
Shen Yuan no longer had the interest to pay attention to this outcome.
All the causes of the Netherworld had been sown, and it was impossible for him to personally attend to everything. Everything would just have to blossom and bear fruit over time.
Standing at the highest level of the Mount Tai steps, Shen Yuan cast an indifferent glance over the many Ghost Immortals climbing the steps, and the one at the forefront happened to be an acquaintance.
Leopard Tail moved along the steps, bracing himself against the miasma-like oppression of the Highest Heaven aura, shifting his steps forwards.
He was well aware that with his Ghost Immortal realm, he had no chance of reaching the top, but as long as he gave it his all, he might be able to meet with the Lord of Mount Tai, which was his actual goal.
Taking another deep breath, Leopard Tail looked up subconsciously at the seemingly endless staircase.
Suddenly, the fog in front of him dissipated, revealing the figure at the topmost step.
The handsome face beneath the white robes engraved itself in Leopard Tail’s vision; he merely stood there, as if he presided over everything within the Primal Chaos Realm.
The next moment, the clouds rolled back in, hiding everything once again, but that fleeting glimpse had already been engraved in Leopard Tail’s heart.
“Who is he?”

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