Chapter 181: The Great Emperor Bestows the Dharma

As Lu Yan’s voice fell, the two elders of the Li Family’s Second Branch—Li Kuang and Li Qie—seemed to awaken from a dream. Their faces turned deathly pale as they cried out loudly:

“Guards!”

“Music! Dance!”

Their voices trembled, and despite their attempt at sounding commanding, they couldn’t conceal the fear deep within their hearts.

Elder Li Sheng of the Third Branch had only recently broken through to the Demon Fiend Realm after the Li Family reaped benefits from the North Mang Mountain forbidden ruins. Among the three elders, he was the weakest.

But even so, Li Sheng was still a genuine Demon Fiend Realm expert. Such a figure could be considered a top-tier combatant wherever they went. Only the Ancestors of the Abyss Profound Realm who suppressed their clan’s foundation could be ranked above him.

Yet such a person had died without a sound, without even a shred of resistance. Did that not mean the other party could also kill them just as easily?

They had acted recklessly under the name of the Underworld. Would they now face judgment as well?

These thoughts spiraled through their minds, pushing them toward the brink of panic.

At the entrance, the two corpses that had collapsed began to dissipate like an illusion, fading into fragments of soul and blood that returned to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, merging into the path.

This phenomenon of dissolving into the Dao confirmed their deaths beyond doubt—there was no possibility of a disguise.

Yet despite the two Li Family elders raising their voices, the grand hall remained silent. No one responded to their calls.

Representatives of the various thousand-year-old families kept their eyes locked on the corpses dissolving into mist at the door, expressions tense and unreadable.

At that moment, the Li Family patriarch, Li Hao, strode into the hall with steady steps.

He glanced around and clapped his hands loudly as he declared:

“Dance for the emissary!”

As his voice rang out, the waiting crowd filed in and took their seats around the hall.

Atop the stage, a group of pale-faced musicians began to play an eerie melody. The guqins in their hands emitted a ghostly green light, their strings woven seemingly from invisible soul threads. Each pluck sent tremors through the void. Black mist spiraled from their flutes and pipes, twisting into warped notes that hovered in the air.

In the center of the stage, dancers in pink gauze dresses twirled gracefully. Under the flickering lights, their skin glowed a strange bluish-white. Their forms shifted between solid and phantom, as though caught between life and death. As the music built, their shapes grew more grotesque. Beneath their translucent skin, pale bones could be glimpsed. When their skirts flared, it was as if countless vengeful souls were crying in agony.

During the soul-snaring dance, their faces would transform into bare skulls one moment and revert to seductive beauty the next, blurring the line between bewitchment and horror.

Yet after Lu Yan’s dramatic appearance, no one among the gathered families had the mind to enjoy the performance.

They dared not transmit divine sense or exchange thoughts in secret before Lu Yan. All they could do was sit in heavy silence, contemplating the implications.

Only Lu Yan, seated at the head of the hall, remained composed, calmly watching the bizarre performance.

No one knew that with the start of this Dance of Red Beauty and White Bone, a heavy weight had finally been lifted from Lu Yan’s heart.

Two days ago, Lu Yan had met Li Hao in the forbidden North Mang grounds.

After discovering that the Li Family’s probing was prompted by a correction from the Heavenly Dao of the Demon World, Lu Yan realized he had to act to preserve the Underworld’s authority.

No matter how it was explained, the root of the Li Family’s trouble came down to being unworthy of the position they had been elevated to—an inevitable backlash.

It was the price of forcibly raising a family’s level through version-based momentum shifts.

If this issue wasn’t resolved, the impact would ripple beyond the Li Family and threaten the carefully cultivated authority of the Underworld itself.

If the Li Family collapsed in this farce of false emissaries, the Underworld—as their backing—would also be tainted.

If the Underworld couldn’t even control a subordinate clan’s internal strife and allowed impostors to exploit its name, it would lose all credibility as a mythic force.

Once the Underworld fell from its pedestal, the incense and wish power accumulated by the Soul Banner and all of Lu Yan’s long-term plans would be for nothing.

To restore the Underworld’s awe, unless he could orchestrate another instance of “Man Replacing Heaven,” it would be impossible.

Whether for concealing the true Dharma in the future or preserving the Underworld’s prestige, Lu Yan had no choice but to end the Li Family’s internal chaos.

If successful, this could even provide him with a suitable identity to use as cover for the Seventeen True Dharmas.

After all, with the threat of the Underworld looming, even if others were suspicious, who would dare raise a hand against one of its emissaries?

Taking action was easy. The hard part was delivering a thunderous blow strong enough to awe the thousand-year-old families.

In versions lacking supernatural urban legends, Underworld ghosts and gods were peerless existences, terrifying all beings.

A single Underworld god or battalion of ghost soldiers could wipe out an entire city with ease.

Once that concept was mapped to the Demon World version, the status of the Underworld’s ghosts rose accordingly. In Li Hao’s eyes, they were supreme beings above the Abyss Profound Realm, capable of solving any problem with a single word or decree.

But only Lu Yan knew—this was all a hollow construct shaped by reflected information.

Inside his storage pouch’s Soul Banner, even with three ghost gods and eight hundred ghost soldiers, he couldn’t defeat a single Demon Fiend Realm cultivator.

Let alone when the Second and Third Branches of the Li Family each had one, and their hidden backers from the ancient clans wielded Abyss Profound Realm ancestors.

If he revealed that the Underworld was just a shell, exposing its lack of real power, every major force would pounce. His fate might be worse than simply exposing the true Dharma.

So Lu Yan’s only option was to display overwhelming might—to appear godlike.

And what best embodied the Underworld’s majesty?

Clearly—slaughter.

Killing one fake emissary wasn’t enough. A fake emissary was just Soul Burial level, not worth mentioning.

To truly intimidate all factions, Lu Yan needed to kill a Demon Fiend Realm expert—and do it with such ease that no one could gauge his real strength.

Among his resources, only the Soul Continent within the Soul Banner had the power to injure a Demon Fiend expert.

The Soul Continent had merged completely with the Soul Banner, forming a miniature world. The Underworld’s three ghost gods and eight hundred ghost soldiers all resided within—Lu Yan’s ultimate trump card.

Once unleashed, the Soul Continent’s vast mass could crush a Demon Fiend’s soul. But the premise was that the target must face it head-on without evading.

In normal combat, Lu Yan could never keep up with a Demon Fiend expert’s speed. His Soul Banner wouldn’t even land before the enemy fled.

He also had to ensure the target didn’t possess an immortal-type True Intent. The Soul Continent dealt damage through sheer computational force—it lacked rule-level lethality. If the enemy had soul-immortality, failing to kill them in one blow would be a disaster.

After reviewing all the information Li Hao had provided, Lu Yan finally chose his target for intimidation.

Elder Li Sheng of the Third Branch. He had closely served the fake emissary, attending to his daily needs.

Recently advanced to Demon Fiend Realm, weak in cultivation and willpower, and only wielding Earth Manipulation True Intent—he was the ideal choice.

As the fake emissary was about to take his seat and everything seemed settled, Lu Yan suddenly appeared, catching Li Sheng off guard.

Then, under the guise of handing the Soul Banner to the fake emissary, Lu Yan unleashed the Soul Continent. Though it appeared aimed at the imposter, the brunt of the pressure fell squarely on Li Sheng.

This maneuver, seemingly effortless, was in fact the result of three ghost god “computers” and eight hundred ghost soldier “computers” operating in perfect coordination.

Unaware, Li Sheng thought he’d been caught in the aftermath. By the time he realized the truth, it was too late. The Soul Continent had already descended, crushing his soul before he could even cry for help.

The entire process was executed lightly—but no one would suspect that this one strike had summoned the full might of the Underworld that once reigned supreme in the previous version.

With this, Lu Yan, the weakest person present, had shaken the Li Family’s Second Branch, the ancient clans, and even Li Hao himself.

The moment he sat at the head of the hall, it meant all factions had preliminarily accepted his identity.

But that didn’t mean he could now rest easy.

Quite the opposite—sitting in the Underworld’s seat was merely the beginning.

While watching the macabre Dance of Red Beauty and White Bone, Lu Yan’s mind raced, calculating countermeasures for all that might come next.

At the center of the hall, the performance came to an end.

The dancers and musicians quietly withdrew, leaving only the various seated powers.

Li Hao, patriarch of the Li Family, did not take a seat. Instead, he stood like a guard, a powerful patriarch reduced to the servant of an emissary.

This posture made the two seated Li Family elders even more uneasy.

Meanwhile, the representatives of the other factions seized the moment to converse in secret.

“Even if the Third Branch planned it, do you think that emissary is stupid? Of course he saw through it.”

“It’s already come to this. Since we’ve offended the Underworld, there’s no turning back.”

“Before I came, the ancestor of our clan said powerful Underworld figures can’t descend here easily.”

“This Demon World still belongs to us—the ancient families. Even the Underworld can’t wipe us all out unscathed.”

Ordinarily, with Lu Yan representing a resurgent Underworld, the best move for all powers would be to step back and offer compensation.

But under the correction of the Demon World’s Heavenly Dao, the ancient families reached a swift consensus—to stand united against the Underworld.

Just as Qing Fengyang was about to speak, a cold voice rang out from the head of the hall.

“The Great Emperor, pitying the chaos of the Demon World and the disorder of all beings, has ordered me to descend with the Banner.”

“In His name—I shall spread the Dharma to all living beings!”

(End of Chapter)