Mysterious mirror hanging high

Upon hearing this, Judge Sun was nearly scared out of his wits, but he was under someone else's control and had no choice but to be led by Lu Yingzhao deep into the underworld.

"Where should we go next?"

Lu Yingzhao casually chopped down a group of ghost soldiers blocking his way with a single halberd strike, and asked.

“This way…” Judge Sun stammered, “Grandma, don’t go the wrong way… The Underworld’s prison and the Netherworld Prison are very close. The Underworld is empty today, but the Netherworld Prison is not empty…”

"Oh? The Underworld?" Lu Yingzhao raised an eyebrow.

"That's right. The two major Daoist powers in the Nine Netherworld are the [Yin Si] and the [Ming Yu]. Unlike the Lord of the Yin Si, the [Reincarnation Dao Venerable], the Lord of the Ming Yu, the [Ming Zun], has always been stationed here..."

"Your [Underworld] prisons hold souls, but what kind of souls are held in the [Netherworld Prison]?"

Judge Sun said, "What is imprisoned in the Underworld is not the soul of a cultivator, but... [the Underworld]."

"deep?"

"Yes, it's difficult for me to explain to you clearly. This thing is a bit like a rule."

Sun Pan said in a low voice, "Aren't you curious about why, after the living beings in the world die, no matter which realm they are in, their true spirits are all drawn to the Nine Netherworld? It is said that it is this thing suppressed in the [Netherworld Prison] that is at work."

"It's a bit like a magnet, attracting all death."

"However, later the [Reincarnation Daoist] established the [Underworld] and created [Reincarnation]. As long as the true spirits of the world are cleansed in the cycle of reincarnation, they can get rid of the attraction of the [Netherworld] and be reborn as new lives."

"Otherwise, all the true spirits in the world will be devoured by the [Netherworld], and soon there will be no living beings below the Golden Immortal realm left in this world."

"Perhaps it is for this reason that the relationship between [Netherworld] and [Underworld] is not particularly good..."

Sun Pan smiled awkwardly: "Fortunately, although the [Netherworld Lord] is a Dao Venerable, due to the special nature of [Netherworld], no living being can survive if it gets close to Him. Therefore, in theory, the [Netherworld Prison] is just the [Netherworld Lord] all by himself, without any subordinates."

Lu Yingzhao nodded thoughtfully, then casually killed a few more imps blocking his way before continuing his exploration.

The further down they went, the dimmer the light became. The scattered ghost soldiers and jailers they encountered along the way could not withstand a single blow from Lu Yingzhao's halberd. Wherever the purple-gold lightning passed, the ghosts scattered, adding wisps of blue smoke to this road leading deep into the prison.

"The first prison is just ahead... ahead."

Sun Pan pointed to a huge cave that constantly emitted bone-chilling cold air, and said in a trembling voice, "This place is dedicated to punishing the souls of those whose crimes do not warrant death, or those who require long-term torment..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Yingzhao had already slipped inside.

Inside the cave was an endless ice field, where the cold wind was like a knife, swirling with tiny ice crystals that were bone-chilling and soul-crushing.

Countless translucent souls were pierced by thick chains of ice, pinned to huge ice pillars or frozen to the ground, trembling and emitting silent wails... Some low-ranking ghosts dressed as jailers were wielding ice whips or wielding cold air to torment these souls.

Lu Yingzhao released Yun Xuance from the cave at that moment. Yun Xuance felt a jolt around him and looked around: "Where is this...?"

"Let's see if there are any fellow cultivators from the Immortal Continent?"

Without needing much explanation, Yun Xuance instantly understood everything. She glanced around and indeed saw a familiar face:

"Friend Daoist Chang?"

A soul, tortured beyond recognition, trembled slightly and looked up at the sky: "Yun...Yun San Niang?"

With a swift stroke of the purple-gold thunder halberd, an arc of lightning spread out, precisely shattering all the icy chains binding Chang Jingsi's soul.

With a flick of his sleeve, Lu Yingzhao took Chang Jingsi into his inner celestial abode.

"Next place." She looked at Judge Sun, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"Yes, yes, yes... this way, [Fire Hell]..."

Lu Yingzhao followed the same method for the rest of the trip.

Under Sun Pan's trembling guidance, she successively entered several underworld prisons with vastly different styles.

These prisons were increasingly dangerous and bizarre, and the guards were becoming stronger and stronger. However, all resistance seemed pale and powerless in the face of Lu Yingzhao's tyrannical and unreasonable fighting power and the purple-gold lightning that was the bane of evil spirits.

She rescued people, cleared the area, and left with fluid, decisive movements, as if she were not venturing into the terrifying underworld prison, but rather picking a few ripe fruits in her own backyard.

Some of the rescued cultivators from the Immortal Continent were overwhelmed with excitement, while others were already delirious. However, without exception, they were all properly taken in by Lu Yingzhao. Roughly speaking, there were more than twenty of them.

Although they were only a tiny minority compared to the total number of fallen cultivators on the entire Immortal Continent, it was already quite remarkable that they could maintain their true spirit for several months in the Underworld Prison and that she happened to find them.

"That's about all the main types of criminal punishments."

Sun Pan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "Grandma, hurry up and leave. If you don't leave now, the Ghost Festival is coming to an end, and the Ten Kings of Hell will finish their tour of the celestial realm and return to the underworld."

"Although the ten kings are only at the Golden Immortal level, when they are in the Underworld, they can use the power of reincarnation, and each king can exert strength close to that of a Dao Lord... Sigh, why am I telling you this? Even if they are Golden Immortals, you can't beat them!"

Unexpectedly, Lu Yingzhao seemed to have no intention of leaving. She frowned slightly and asked, "I have a question... Today, I took the souls of my fellow cultivators from the Immortal Continent from the Nine Netherworlds. Will your Underworld find them again in the future?"

“This…” Judge Sun’s eyes flickered.

“You’d better not lie,” Lu Yingzhao said seriously.

“Your Excellency, the true names of most living beings in the world are engraved on the register. But the register only contains a name. We underworld officers can roughly sense the vague location of a cultivator through this name. This is the method that underworld officers use when they go to other realms to claim lives.”

"As long as a bit of true spirit is imprinted on the true name in the [Registration Book], it is called [Registration], and from then on one can enjoy a lifespan of one era. As long as the Registration Book is not destroyed, the true spirit in the book can also live on forever."

Lu Yingzhao stroked her chin: "So, in other words, as long as I cross out the names on the register, you won't be able to find them?"

“This…” Sun Pan forced a smile: “That makes sense, but doing so would eliminate all of you fellow cultivators’ hopes of being named. If you fail to cultivate in the future, you will inevitably have to reincarnate or have your true spirit perish.”

"Bah! Third Sister and the others are seeking the Golden Immortal Path, who cares about having their names registered in your lousy underworld register?" Lu Yingzhao laughed and scolded, "Quickly lead the way, let me find the register and cross out the names of all the fellow cultivators from the Immortal Continent!"

Judge Sun, with a long face, reluctantly pulled out a small booklet:

“There’s no need for that. The registers are divided into countless categories, and each judge has one. If you cross out a name in this register, it’s equivalent to crossing it out in the general register as well… But this treasure has a tracking function. It’s very clear which judge’s register these names were crossed out in.”

He looked pitiful: "I beg the fairy to cross out my name and then casually shatter my ghostly body with a single halberd, so I can have an explanation later, saying that the fairy forcibly took my name from the register..."