Chapter 248: The Formation of the Netherworld Small World

Within the Zhou Tian Star Tower, Lu Yan did not directly interfere in the ascension of the Soul Continent.

His understanding of rule-level powers was limited—far inferior to the Probability Cloud, which served as the core of the Omniscient Computational Center.

However, the formation of a small world presented Lu Yan with an extraordinary opportunity. He actively merged his divine soul into the Human Emperor Banner, seeking to comprehend the process of the world’s advancement.

The Soul Continent gradually took form from a barren realm built upon soul computational power. Within the endless void, laws woven by the Probability Cloud condensed and intertwined, forming an invisible web that blanketed the entire continent.

The scattered soul computational power, like distant starlight, slowly coalesced under the guidance of the Probability Cloud, weaving the framework of existence.

Above the Soul Continent, a black giant egg that had never completed its incubation was now bestowed with the concept of a Great Sun. The light of the true spirit, derived from supreme will, shone once more, becoming the sole source of illumination for the Soul Continent.

Intangible time began to flow through the Soul Continent. As the black Great Sun rose in the east and set in the west, the abstract concept of time was materialized.

Within the Great Sun, the undying light of the true spirit surged in a furnace-like core, waiting for the moment it would be granted a physical form.

The flickering Probability Cloud captured the singular truth amid infinite variables. With each fluctuation, a rule was born or extinguished. When the Probability Cloud stabilized completely, countless stars filled the Soul Continent.

Each star acted as a micro-node of computational power, together forming a vast rules network—one encompassing all causality and fate.

Upon the land, the Human Emperor Qi surged like a tide. Within that Qi, boundless light of Heavenly Dao Merit could reshape all things and recreate the world. It conjured endless mountain ranges, and the earth’s leylines awakened with the concept of vitality.

The vitality emerging from the earth disrupted the balance of the Soul Continent—but all of this had long been anticipated by the Probability Cloud’s deduction.

As a divine decree descended from the stars, the Five Great Ghost Gods commanded their ghostly armies to form the Yellow Springs Grand Array. That all-eroding Yellow Springs water surged across the land, sweeping from the edge of heaven and earth, splitting the Soul Continent.

Then, millions of lingering souls stored within the Human Emperor Banner poured into the Yellow Springs, saturating the world in deathly aura once more and reestablishing the balance between life and death in this realm of the departed.

With the Soul Continent’s formation, the Yellow Springs water imbued with the power of decay was granted a new concept.

Representing annihilation and finality, the rules of destruction merged into the Yellow Springs, causing both it and the world to undergo a qualitative leap in level.

Lu Yan was immersed in the myriad mystical changes. With his divine soul alone, he should not have been able to comprehend the vastness and majesty of world-creation and rule-formation.

Yet every shift within the Soul Continent radiated waves of rule power, which were all devoured by the Supreme Divine Ability Seed.

Through the seed, Lu Yan could barely absorb the enlightenment of the Soul Continent’s ascension.

No one knew how much time passed, but as the Human Emperor Banner devoured the majority of the Zhou Tian Star Tower’s rule resources, the grand continent finally stabilized.

Its heavenly laws were fully formed, like a true blessed land.

Lu Yan awoke from his trance, gazing inward at the Supreme Divine Ability Seed. Though it had not consumed any rule resources directly, the enlightenment alone had significantly benefited the seed.

Previously, the external Dao patterns on the seed—though imbued with the Heavenly Dao—came from various sources and were disorganized.

Now, following the insight from the Soul Continent’s ascension, the Dao patterns had begun to interlink, almost fusing into a single whole.

Although Lu Yan didn’t fully understand the deeper meaning, the transformation of the seed was clearly a positive one.

Withdrawing his gaze from the Divine Ability Seed, Lu Yan looked toward the newly transformed small world.

Originally, the Soul Continent had spanned eight hundred li. Though vast, it was merely a construct of soul computation.

It lacked rules and substance—no more than a castle in the sky.

Now, post-ascension, the small world’s area shrank to three hundred li. But all within it had become real, solid heaven and earth.

If the previous Soul Continent were to collide with the current small world, the larger landmass would be crushed without resistance.

Such a colossal small world would have shattered the Human Emperor Banner upon formation, were it not for the banner’s lofty Heavenly Dao Merit grade.

Lu Yan had heard that in the Immortal Cultivation Version, some treasures contained artificial “cave heavens.”

Yet those were fake, barely spanning dozens of li, and lacking complete rules. Even so, such treasures were of Nascent Soul Spirit Treasure grade at minimum.

Now, the small world within Lu Yan’s Human Emperor Banner had long surpassed those.

Of course, in a true small world, size was the least significant factor.

After devouring so many rule resources, and with the Probability Cloud weaving its foundation, this world now housed several unique rules.

The entire world was based on Human Emperor Qi, forming reality itself. Without Lu Yan’s vast reserve of this Qi, the world wouldn’t have retained its 300-li size after ascension.

All matter within the small world originated from the Human Emperor Banner.

This was the Human Emperor Rule.

Within the small world, the Probability Cloud, Ghost Gods, and ghostly soldiers were all composed of computational algorithms.

Stars simulated constellations, and the Great Sun measured time. Through this, Lu Yan could deduce all causality and future from the world’s phenomena.

This was the Calculation Rule.

The final rule emerged from the Yellow Springs’ rise in rank.

Now imbued with destruction and finality, the Yellow Springs water had gained the essence to erode everything.

Anyone entering this small world and being washed by its Yellow Springs—be it even a Nascent Soul Dao Lord—would face annihilation.

This was the Yellow Springs Rule.

What disappointed Lu Yan slightly was that only Yellow Springs water within the small world could possess this rule.

When drawn into the outside world through a Yellow Springs Grand Array, the water could no longer express this rule’s full potency.

“Though the Yellow Springs Rule can’t activate outside, the water itself has fundamentally changed.”

“Before, a Fifth-Grade Yellow Springs Array could barely unleash Nascent Soul Early Stage power. Now, drawing water from this small world, it could even contend with the mid-to-late stage.”

“If I could lure an enemy into the small world, slaying even Nascent Soul Peak cultivators would be effortless.”

Lu Yan stroked his chin, musing silently.

At that moment, ripples spread through the small world as the Five Great Ghost Gods appeared with their ghostly armies.

Now fully bound to the small world, their power had also surged with its elevation.

Under the nourishment of the Human Emperor Rule, the ghost soldiers’ cultivation soared to peak Foundation Establishment. Six hundred ghost generals simultaneously advanced to the Golden Core realm.

Even the entire Allied Immortals Alliance only boasted a little over four hundred Golden Core Realms under a hundred years old.

These six hundred ghost generals and six thousand Foundation Peak ghost soldiers could theoretically match the Alliance’s mid-to-low-tier strength.

Of course, that was only in theory.

After all, the Alliance’s Golden Core Realms were geniuses who had broken through before reaching one hundred years of age—no mass-produced ghost general could compare in potential.

The only lingering regret for Lu Yan was that the Five Ghost Gods had only reached Peak Golden Core.

This wasn’t due to a lack of benefit, but because Lu Yan’s cultivation as master of the Human Emperor Banner was too low.

If he stepped into the Golden Core realm, the Five Ghost Gods could follow him into the Nascent Soul realm.

“Not yet perfect, but at least now I finally have the strength to support my role as Netherworld Envoy.”

Lu Yan murmured to himself.

Until now, he had intimidated the Allied Immortals Alliance based on his achievements in the Apocalyptic Version—but his personal strength had been lacking.

With the small world’s ascension, that flaw had been remedied. Now, bolstered by this world, he could stand against Nascent Soul Peak experts with ease.

His brows furrowed slightly.

“I’ve gotten too used to calling it the Soul Continent. Now that it’s become a real world, it needs a new name.”

After a long moment of contemplation, Human Emperor Qi within the small world shifted with Lu Yan’s thoughts. A divine voice like the decree of heaven echoed across the realm.

“This world shall be named—Netherworld!”

As the name was established, ghost gods and ghost soldiers knelt reverently and proclaimed in unison:

“By the decree of our lord!”

At the moment the name was set, Lu Yan sensed countless intangible threads of karma entwining around the newly ascended Netherworld.

Some were formed from Lu Yan’s previous spread of the name, others from ancient legends of the Netherworld across different versions.

By naming this world “Netherworld,” Lu Yan would inevitably shoulder all those karmic burdens.

If this had happened before making his deal with the Great Collapse Heavenly Dao, perhaps Lu Yan would have felt cautious.

Versions were ever-changing. Claiming the Netherworld name could bring karmic backlash he might not be able to endure.

But now that he had made his transaction with the Great Collapse Heavenly Dao—aiming to forge a Divine Court and become a second Heavenly Dao—taking on karma was inevitable.

Claiming the name early was no issue.

“Once I reach Golden Core and combine it with the Human Emperor Banner, I’ll be unbeatable under the Nascent Soul stage. Sweeping through all version factions will be easy.”

“Even the accelerated versions won’t produce a Nascent Soul within a hundred years. By then, completing my transaction with the Great Collapse Heavenly Dao will be simple.”

Lu Yan’s gaze swept across the remaining rule resources in the Zhou Tian Star Tower.

To hasten the Netherworld’s formation, he had consumed a massive amount of them to save time.

This meant nearly half the Tower’s thousands of rule resources had been used.

Staring at the leftovers, Lu Yan felt uneasy.

He knew the Supreme Divine Ability Seed was a glutton—these remaining resources might not be enough to fully nourish it.

“Let it devour everything first. If it’s not enough, I’ll conquer territory and steal more rule resources to fill the gap.”

Setting his mind, Lu Yan sat cross-legged at the center of the Tower and focused inward.

He released the long-suppressed Supreme Divine Ability Seed. In that instant, the sound of chains breaking echoed through space.

The once-still Chaos Great Sun transformed into a ravenous devourer of rules.

The void twisted. Reality shattered. A black hole as deep as the abyss slowly formed above Lu Yan, rimmed in an eerie dark-red halo. It rotated, tearing space like fabric, shrieking in agony.

Within the Zhou Tian Star Tower, all rule-infused objects and fragments of mysterious techniques were drawn like puppets on strings—streams of radiant light rushing into the insatiable black hole.

Each wisp of rule energy it devoured caused the black hole to expand, like a mythical devouring god, endlessly growing.

Some rule objects triggered their own laws in resistance: stasis, time reversal, spatial distortion—all appeared to block the consumption.

Yet no matter the resistance, everything fell into the black hole. Upon touching its edge, all intact rules were instantly dismantled.

A majestic and terrifying sight unseen by others—space twisted and screamed, laws collapsed and rebuilt. Chaos and order fused in an eerie harmony.

The Supreme Divine Ability Seed’s power even reached the newly ascended Netherworld.

The land trembled, the sky echoed. The entire small world seemed to encounter a natural enemy it could not withstand.

In Lu Yan’s vision, at the edge of the fading stars, the true face of this realm was partially revealed.

Two vast energies—Yin and Yang—intertwined, forming a World-Destroying Millstone, threatening to grind all into nothingness.

“World-Destroying Rule?”

(End of Chapter)