A carefree soldier king in the city

Chapter 534 King Yama

Chao Bufan withdrew his gaze from the statue of the Goddess Nuwa, sized up the old man, and found that the King of Hell was not as fierce and menacing as he had imagined. On the contrary, he had white hair and a youthful face, which surprised him slightly. He quickly composed himself and then asked, "You must be the King of Hell, right?"

"That's right, little god," the old man replied respectfully.

Chao Bufan nodded and said, "I heard from the Six Spirit Guards that the Empress displayed great divine power and said that I was some kind of Immortal Venerable. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Immortal Lord," King Yama said respectfully, "the matter is like this, back then, the Empress—"

The disaster was explained in detail, and Chao Bufan listened attentively, occasionally saying a few words. But as Yan Wang went on to explain, Chao Bufan's face began to show solemnity and doubt.

Finally, King Yama bowed and said, "Immortal Venerable, this is how things are."

"So," Chao Bufan said solemnly, "I am the one who will inherit the Nine-Core Lamp's incense offerings?"

“Exactly,” said King Yama.

"Hmph!" Chao Bufan chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "Hey Yama, are you sure you're not mistaken? Look at me now, do I look like someone who would inherit the Nine-Wicked Lamp's incense offerings?"

“The Empress has displayed her divine power, and her hints cannot be wrong,” King Yama said with certainty. “You are the immortal being the Empress prophesied to be.”

"Alright!" Chao Bufan said with a wry smile, "Just consider me an Immortal Venerable then. But as you can see, with my insignificant cultivation, what can I possibly do?"

"May I ask if the Immortal Venerable would be so kind as to accompany me to the Nine Netherworld Secret Realm?" King Yama asked.

Chao Bufan nodded and said, "Going is fine, but I'm afraid I'll disappoint you."

“No,” said King Yama. “Immortal Venerable, you will know what’s going on when you go to the Nine Netherworld.”

Chao Bufan frowned slightly, thinking, "Is it just that I'm supposed to go see the so-called Nine-Core Lamp? But how can I, in my current state, inherit the family line? There must be some benefit, right? Yes, there must be some benefit; Goddess Nuwa couldn't possibly leave nothing behind." After pondering for a moment, Chao Bufan nodded slightly and said, "Alright, I'll go with you, but I need to make things clear. If I'm not the immortal venerable one the Goddess prophesied, then you'll have to let me go."

Yama said, "Immortal Venerable, I am absolutely certain that you are the person the Queen prophesied. There is no mistake, it is absolutely true."

Chao Bufan said, "There's no point in saying more. We'll only know when we get there. King Yama, then lead the way!"

"Immortal Lord, this way please!" Yama gestured for him to enter.

……

The Nine Netherworld Secret Realm, Heavenly Wave Pool.

Inside a huge cave, the lights flickered, and cries and a menacing atmosphere occasionally drifted out.

This is the sacred land of the Heaven and Earth Cave—the Nine Netherworld Secret Realm. Without the special secret techniques of Yama, anyone who carelessly enters will never return, no matter who they are.

The malevolent aura here, though seemingly invisible, is brimming with murderous intent. This invisible malevolent aura is like the sharp edge of a blade, extremely mysterious, and can easily crush anything that dares to stand in its way.

In fact, it's not just the Heavenly Wave Pool; the entire Nine Netherworld Secret Realm is like this, fraught with danger and a life-or-death struggle. What is unknown is that the Nine Netherworld Secret Realm is also known as the Land of Death. Apart from the Heavenly Wave Pool, the rest of the realm is a death swamp, a place where even birds cannot cross and humans rarely venture.

Ancient legend has it that after Pangu separated heaven and earth, the world was still unstable. Vast holes filled the sky, through which chaotic energy continuously flowed, causing turmoil and threatening destruction at any moment. The ancient goddess Nuwa, wandering the vast universe, passed by this place and learned that it was created by the great god Pangu. Remembering their past friendship, she refined stones to mend the sky and gathered the chaotic energy in one place, sealing it away. Thus, the Nine Netherworld Secret Realm got its name.

The primordial energy of chaos is the original energy between heaven and earth, and its power is exceptionally domineering, as one can imagine.

Therefore, there is a mysterious and powerful force in the Nine Netherworld. Anyone who ventures in, no matter how powerful or magical, will be sucked into the depths of the swamp by this mysterious and powerful force, and will die and vanish in an instant.

Outside Tianbo Pool, Yama and Chao Bufan appeared like ghosts.

"Immortal Venerable, this is the Heavenly Cave Holy Land, the Heavenly Wave Pool in the Nine Netherworld Secret Realm," King Yama said respectfully.

Chao Bufan nodded, looking up at the three blood-red characters "Tianbo Pool" above the entrance to the Tianbo Pool cave. To his astonishment, these three characters contained some kind of powerful magic, like a bloodthirsty demon opening its gaping maw, ready to devour everything before it. Shocked, Chao Bufan felt his blood surging, as if he might explode at any moment. At the same time, his eyes throbbed with pain, as if pricked by needles. He shuddered, quickly averting his gaze, unable to bear looking any longer, and thought with alarm, "That was close! Even a few words possess such power. The Nine Netherworld Secret Realm is indeed mysterious and unpredictable."

He quickly turned to look at the vast swamp ahead. The once silent swamp had suddenly darkened, thunder roared, and lightning flashed. The thunder sounded like a raging lion, shaking the heavens. Streaks of purple lightning shot up like dragons emerging from the sea, soaring into the sky, only to vanish in an instant. Just a few seconds later, a torrential downpour began, large raindrops pouring down, accompanied by a fierce wind.

"Immortal, please don't be alarmed," King Yama quickly explained, seeing that Chao Bufan seemed somewhat shocked. "The weather here is unpredictable and can change in an instant."

In fact, King Yama had already given Chao Bufan a general overview of the Nine Netherworld Secret Realm. Now, witnessing it firsthand, he was truly astonished, especially by the Heavenly Wave Pool behind him, which even divine sense couldn't penetrate. It wasn't that his divine sense was obstructed in any way; rather, the malevolent energy released from within could corrode even divine sense, let alone a living person.

Chao Bufan nodded, then turned to face the entrance of Tianbo Pool and asked, "King Yama, is this malevolent energy blowing out of the cave the Qi of Chaos?"

“That’s right,” King Yama replied.

"No wonder its power is so astonishing," Chao Bufan said.

“This is still considered small,” Yama said. “It used to be much more powerful. Ever since the other eight wicks on the Nine-Wicked Lamp burned out, the malevolent energy here has been much weaker than before.”

"Oh?" Chao Bufan was slightly surprised and asked, "Just how powerful is the true power of the Chaos Qi?"

"I don't know about this little god, but what is certain is that no one can estimate the true power of the chaotic energy," said King Yama. "Back then, in order to seal the chaotic energy that had seeped in here, the Queen herself was greatly injured and spent hundreds of years cultivating hard to recover before finally completing the feat of mending the sky."