Supreme Emperor of Swords

Chapter 103 Changes in the Hell Path

After any creature died, they would enter the Hell Path.

This was the karma that had been inflicted on them before their deaths.

If someone were to do evil deeds when they were alive, they would be directly sent to hell after death. Especially those who were extremely vicious and evil, they would be sent to the eighteenth level of hell to be tortured.

The Hell Path was extremely magnificent, but it could also be divided into four categories, including the Eight Hells, the Hell of Wanderers, the Coldest Hell, and the Lonely Hell.

The Eight Hells were the foundation of the Hell Path. They were full of fire everywhere, so they were called the Eight Hot Hells. At the bottom of the Hell Path was the terrifying Hell of Heart Annihilation, which was also called the Seamless Hell.

Each of the Eight Hot Hells had four gates, and each gate had four Small Hells. There were a total of 128 Hells. All living creatures who came out of the Eight Hot Hells would have to travel through this place, which was called the Hell of Wanderers.

The Coldest Hell was extremely cold. The people there would often cry out in grief from the cold. In fact, even their souls would turn pale from the cold.

In the Lonely Hell, there were no living creatures. All the people who had committed evil deeds when they were alive would live a lonely and inhuman life here, making them think about the evil deeds they had done when they were alive.

The Hell Path was the most bitter one among the six paths. Therefore, if reincarnation was still closed, the souls who came here could only suffer endlessly.

Of course, if someone was a good person or had no evil deeds in his previous life, he could be spared from these tortures, judged, and reincarnated. Or he could enter the Hungry Ghost Path through the branches of the River of Forgetfulness.

…

Ding Hao listened to the reports of the Yama Kings, but his eyes were fixed on the River of Forgetfulness.

The River of Forgetfulness was more turbulent than before.

The turbulent river was in chaos. It was heavy, dim, but crisscrossed.

The waves roared one after another, like hundreds of fire cannons roaring at the same time, like a pack of wolves roaring sadly, like a violent evil dragon, rushing over aggressively.

There was a bridge on the River of Forgetfulness.

The bridge was narrow and bright, guarded by Day Trippers and Night Wanderers day and night.

There were carved stone railings on both sides, and the bridge was slightly curved and paved with blue stones.

The bridge was divided into three layers. The souls of good people could safely pass through the upper layer, those who were both good and evil could cross the middle part of the bridge, and the evil people’s souls could cross the lower layer. However, most of them would be swept into the dirty waves and bitten by the copper snakes and iron dogs.

Whoever became food for the copper snakes and iron dogs would have no way out and fall into the river eternally.

Good people could cross the bridge smoothly, while evil people would be thrown into the Bloody Pool to suffer.

There was a stone pool under the bridge called the Bloody Pool.

In the Bloody Pool, insects and snakes were all over the place, and the pungent smell filled the air, making one terrified.

This bridge was the Naihe Bridge which terrified ghosts and living creatures.

Next to the Naihe Bridge was a mud platform. It was none other than the Home Gazing Platform.

Beside the River of Forgetfulness, there was a stone, which recorded all the previous and present lives.

All kinds of fierce-looking ghost servants escorted many virtual shadows and ghosts of different creatures on the Road to the Netherworld. They passed by the River of Forgetfulness and came to the Home Gazing Platform.

The old woman, Granny Meng, was trembling. She held a cane in one hand and a bowl of wine-like soup in the other. She handed the bowl of soup to the ghosts passing by. After having it, the ghosts would forget all the karma, memories, grievances, and enmities of their previous lives. Then, they could go on their way with peace of mind.

Of course, before that, many ghosts would pass by the Home Gazing Platform and use the Three Lives Stone to take a last look at the human world, or at the places they were familiar with. Then, they would turn around, have the soup that Granny Meng offered, and reincarnate under the escort of the ghost servants.

Under Ding Hao’s observation, most of the ghosts did as they were told, but there were also some cunning ones who refused to have the soup. They kept shouting and were even ready to resist. However, no matter how powerful and noble they were when they were alive, they could not get whatever they wanted when they were in hell.

Once those ghosts, who were not under the ghost servants’ control, had any intention of resisting, a hooked knife immediately appeared under their feet. The sharp copper pipe pierced through their throats and forced them to have the soup. No ghosts could escape.

Although the scene was a little cruel, it was also for the sake of the six paths. Moreover, most of these ghosts who resisted were cruel when they were alive, and their hands were stained with the blood of countless creatures. This could be regarded as retribution for evil.

The Karma Mirror released the light of the Divine Mirror, illuminating the water of the river, and distinguishing good from evil. The ghosts were classified into different streams, drifting into the distance.

On the Karma Mirror, there were tens of thousands of ghost servants in black working day and night. They escorted the ghosts and named them one by one. Then, they used the Karma Mirror to sort them out. After the ghost had Granny Meng’s soup, finally, they were reborn according to the karma of their previous lives.

Ding Hao turned to look at somewhere else.

The reincarnation channel was filled with circles of strange and beautiful mist. The aura was much stronger than before, but there were still many parts that needed to be perfected. Obviously, it had not been completed and was still under construction.

In the channel, the light flowed, and the wind reversed. Although the wind was weak, it was slowly strengthening. As time passed, the entire reincarnation system would be completely perfected. In this way, the cycle of reincarnation of the dead and the living would be complete.

However, in Ding Hao’s opinion, this speed was still a little slow.

Since the six paths were connected, Ding Hao had thought that the cycle of the six paths would be quickly perfected, but thousands of years had passed, and it had merely reached this step. Now it seemed that it was not as simple as he had imagined.

The ten Yama Kings described the situation in Hell. After listening, Ding Hao turned around and said a few words. Then, he looked at King Qinguang of the First Hall and said, “I know most of the situation, King Qinguang…”

“Yes!” King Qinguang took a step forward and bowed.

“Is there any change in the Book of Life and Death now?” Ding Hao asked.

King Qinguang flipped his hand, and a faint blue mist appeared. A thin booklet appeared. It was the Book of Life and Death that Ding Hao had turned the Ghost Servant List into on a whim in the past.

After carefully handing it to Ding Hao, King Qinguang slowly reported, “Master, the Book of Life and Death has undergone earth-shaking changes. In the past thousand years, almost all creatures have begun to reincarnate. I have recorded these creatures from different regions one by one. I believe that after some time, the reincarnation will be completed. Then, the soul will have something to rely on, a good ending, and a new life…”

Ding Hao took it and opened the thin six-page title page. With his head down, a wisp of Divine Senses was released between his eyebrows and seeped into it.

For a moment, Ding Hao’s eyes lit up. As if he could see through the void and see the hidden content, a series of different information came to his mind.

The information, including different names, different fates, life-and-death separations, grudges, love, hatred, when one was born, whether one was good or evil, and the distinction between men and women, was all clearly described.

It seemed that ever since King Qinguang became the ruler of Hell, he had been working very hard, which made Ding Hao satisfied.

Ding Hao thought that the man he had appointed was indeed not bad.

“Well, not bad!” After Ding Hao roughly scanned it, he returned the Book of Life and Death to King Qinguang. The latter took it carefully. His palm shook slightly, and a blue light appeared. Then, the book in his hand disappeared.

At first, every page of the Book of Life and Death was blank without any names. After thousands of years, most living creatures of the six major kinds finally completed reincarnation and were recorded in the book.

If everything went well, after a few more years, reincarnation could naturally be activated, balancing the energy of this world.

However, Ding Hao suddenly sighed.

He seemed to have thought of something.

Originally, as long as he got the Heart of Heaven and Earth, he could let the reincarnation of the six paths really start to turn, and then completely solve the problem that darkness and light could not coexist, that the creatures in the six paths would be overcrowded and eventually destroyed.

Although the Heart of Heaven and Earth had been found, half of it was obtained by Ding Tong. If Ding Hao didn’t handle it properly, not only would the problem not be solved, but even the whole Planar Cosmos would be destroyed.

For the time being, he could only find the sea of consciousness of the brain of the Creator of All Things as soon as possible to use it to fight against Ding Tong, but it could not be done in a hurry.

Ding Hao set aside his complicated thoughts, looked at the ten Yama Kings, and said, “I now know everything about the Hell Path. You’ve done a good job… If there’s nothing else, go back and continue your business.”

After that, Ding Hao seemed to be ready to leave.

But at this time, King Qinguang seemed to have something to say. He wanted to say something but stopped on second thought.

Ding Hao turned his head and looked at King Qinguang. “King Qinguang, do you have something to tell me…”

King Qinguang hesitated for a moment and said, “In fact, I shouldn’t be the one to talk about this. After all, the Hell Path is not in charge of this matter. It’s just that I still think I need to tell you about it, Master.”

“Go ahead!” Ding Hao raised his eyebrows.

“I’ve been managing the Hell Path for some time. It has always been peaceful.” King Qinguang paused for a moment and continued, “But recently, I found that some ghosts on the River of Forgetfulness that go to the Hungry Ghost Path have been hindered. Sometimes, there will even be some accidents. Because that place doesn’t belong to the Hell Path and is not under my command, I can only take it to heart and have never exceeded my power to investigate. Now that you’re here, I just want to tell you this, Master.”

“The Hungry Ghost Path, huh?” Ding Hao narrowed his eyes slightly as if he was thinking about something. Then, he nodded and said, “Well, I see. I happen to want to go there. I’ll go and see what’s going on there…”

“You did a good job in this matter!” Ding Hao praised King Qinguang and said, “Well, you all go back and continue your work. I will deal with the things over there.”

“Yes, Master!” The ten Yama Kings looked at each other and bowed to him. Then, they turned into a flash of lightning and went straight to the sky. After that, they scattered in different directions and went back to their own places.

When the ten Yama Kings went back, Ding Hao rested his eyes on the River of Forgetfulness and began to think.

“According to what King Qinguang said, it seems that the Hungry Ghost Path is not peaceful. I wonder what’s going on…”

Before his voice died away, Ding Hao had disappeared, leaving only the sound of the surging River of Forgetfulness and the shouts of the ghost servants escorting the ghosts.