Chapter 1026: Chapter 66: Reincarnation Disaster

This situation has been accumulating and fermenting for nearly two thousand years. About eight thousand years ago, an unimaginably massive death tide erupted in the yang world, affecting the entire Nine Provinces.

“Eight thousand years ago?” Xiao Jie’s heart was suddenly enlightened, “Isn’t that the exact time when the Outer Heavenly Demons invaded on a large scale?”

“Immortal Venerable has a discerning eye, that is indeed so!” Yama confirmed Xiao Jie’s speculation, “Although the main army of the Outer Heavenly Demons was intercepted and ultimately annihilated by the Immortal Friends of Gu Yun State, many powerful Heavenly Demons broke through the blockade and invaded the Mortal World of the Nine Provinces. These Outer Heavenly Demons possess unmatched power, often capable of annihilating cities and nations! Under their rampage, the Jiuzhou World witnessed millions slain and injured within mere decades! Wails of sorrow spread across the land, and lives were devastated!”

The already overburdened Reincarnation System was once again dealt a devastating blow, nearing paralysis.

The so-called interconnection of yin and yang, when yang weakens, yin flourishes. The more deaths in the yang world, the larger the number of wandering Evil Ghosts stranded in the Netherworld, unable to reincarnate normally. If these ghosts can be guided to reincarnate in time, they can return to human form, enter the next life’s cycle, dissipate sinister energy, and thus maintain the balance between yin and yang.

However, if unable to reincarnate for a long time, they become immersed and twisted in the evil and malevolent atmosphere of the Netherworld, gradually mutating into various powerful, aggressive “Ghost Clans.” The Asura Clan, Yaksha Clan, Evil Shadow Clan, Bone Demon Clan, and others were born this way. They are innately powerful, bloodthirsty, and contentious, viewing order as a shackle.

Every upheaval in the yang world generates tsunami-like shockwaves in the Netherworld, spawning more and stronger Evil Spirits and Evil Ghosts. These newly-born Ghost Clans and Ghost Kings inherently reject the Yan Mansion’s law and order, causing chaos, warring with each other, and attacking Yama’s direct territory. Their numbers increase like a snowball.

By five thousand years ago, the separatist forces of Ghost Kings in the Netherworld had grown beyond suppression. The major Ghost Clans had partitioned the fertile lands of the Netherworld. Among them, the strongest Ghost Kings even put forth a monarch—the self-proclaimed “Netherworld Emperor” fearsome ghost! He not only integrated most of the rebellious forces in the Netherworld but also brazenly led the Netherworld army, attacking the yang world in reverse! Their simple and terrifying goal was to transform all living beings in the yang world into ghosts, completely erasing the Yin Yang Boundary! Thus, Senluo Ghost City and even the entire reincarnation order would collapse irreparably.

“Fortunately back then, the Immortals of Gu Yun State understood the bigger picture and cooperated with the orthodox forces of my Yan Mansion, joining forces, fighting through hardships, and finally defeating the Netherworld Emperor and his main forces, resealing the yin-yang channel, driving them back to the Netherworld.” Yama spoke with gratitude towards his past allies, but then his tone shifted to deep helplessness, “Unfortunately, the evil was not completely eradicated back then; they were merely heavily injured and driven back, without completely eliminating the threat. The situation was only temporarily suppressed, not fundamentally resolved. As long as the ghosts and undead stranded in the Netherworld far exceed the number of incubation slots, this vicious cycle will persist and worsen.”

Hearing this, Xiao Jie couldn’t help but wonder, “Isn’t there supposed to be the ‘Six Paths of Reincarnation’? Heavenly Dao, human path, Beast Dao, Hungry Ghost Dao, Hell Dao, Asura Dao. Can’t these stranded ghosts be arranged to enter other paths, like the Beast Dao, to be consumed first?”

Yama’s bitter smile grew deeper: “What Immortal Venerable said is theoretically feasible. But the matter of reincarnation has its in-depth laws and regulations; it cannot be arbitrarily changed, or it will backfire. I also tried to… Alas, I once attempted to transfer a large number of ghosts without hope of reincarnation into the human path to the Beast Dao. The result? It did indeed ‘consume’ a large number of ghosts in a short time. But these souls, harboring resentment and incomplete memories, reincarnated as beastly creatures, easily catalyzed into many ferocious and fierce, sometimes awakening the Divine Skills of their kind ‘demons’! Demons devour humans! The result is more demons in the yang world, quicker and increased human deaths, and even fewer newborns, increasing the pressure on the Netherworld instead of decreasing it!”

He paused and gave an example: “Does Immortal Venerable know of ‘Canglin State’? In ancient times, it was dense with Human Clan inhabitants. Due to one of my unfortunate bulk reincarnation operations at the time, the state was overrun with demons, and in just a hundred years, the human population was nearly entirely devoured by monsters! Eventually, the Immortals of Gu Yun State could not bear witnessing it, took action to transform demons, guiding the remaining Demon Race to awaken Spiritual Wisdom, gradually transforming onto the ‘Demon Person’ path, barely bringing matters to a standstill and covering up the past.

Listening, Xiao Jie was left speechless. So the origin of those half-human half-demon residents in Canglin State was indeed Yama’s policy error in the past?

“Three thousand years ago, the ‘Demon Star’ again descended upon the world, emanating strange fluctuations, confusing the minds and beastly nature, further worsening the situation.” Yama continued stating this bloody historical record of ten thousand years, “As of today, does Immortal Venerable know how much the yang world population of Nine Provinces remains? According to the blurred reflection of the Reincarnation Mirror, it is less than one million! Once, ten thousand years ago, when the Nine Provinces population peaked, there were tens of millions!”

“With a population of one million… the number of newborns each year is understandably pitifully low. In the Netherworld, after ten thousand years of accumulation, the number of ghosts awaiting reincarnation is now in the tens of millions! Among them, quite a few have been piled up for hundreds or even thousands of years! Its level of resentment is unimaginable.” Yama’s voice is filled with powerlessness, “There are so many ghosts wishing to reincarnate, but where are there enough newborns for them to do so? So daily, many ghosts leave the Sea of Reincarnation, joining under the Netherworld Emperor’s Ghost Army; my estimation of his army numbering in the millions is already conservative.”

“Nowadays, the ‘Sea of Reincarnation,’ which symbolizes the core of reincarnation order, has long been overwhelmed, internally accumulated with resentment, nearly solidified. Of the eighteen Ghost Cities originally governed and maintained by me for the order of the Netherworld, thirteen have been conquered and occupied by various Ghost Kings! Now only five remain, under my soldiers desperately guarding them.”

“Not long ago, that Netherworld Emperor mobilized his army, launching a full-scale assault on the most crucial frontline stronghold ‘Ghost City.’ The battle has been deadlocked for months now, with heavy casualties, and severe shortages of supplies amongst the defending forces. According to the current situation, the fall of Ghost City is probably only a matter of time. Even not long ago, Wangchuan Platform and even this Senluo Ghost City suffered probing attacks from the enemy’s side forces! If Ghost City falls, the enemy’s forces will directly target Senluo Ghost City! At this rate, quickly in one year, maybe slowly in two years, my last remaining five Ghost Cities are feared to be completely lost! By then, reincarnation collapses, yin and yang reverse, and the three realms won’t find peace!”

Xiao Jie listened, also speechless for a long time. How could the situation have already worsened to such an extent? Yet this help… it seems he cannot really provide any!

Although Immortals are individually powerful, almost undying, they aren’t invincible, mainly adept at one-on-one combat or small-scale conflicts. If drawn into a world-scale war like the one between Yama and the Netherworld Emperor, an individual’s ability to contribute is indeed limited. Especially when even a Level 98 Realm King couldn’t withstand the pressure, what could he, a Level 39 little Independent Immortal, possibly do?

Moreover, the root of the immediate dilemma lies in the imbalance of yin and yang, population decline. As long as the birth rate in the yang world doesn’t increase, the accumulation of ghosts in the Netherworld will only grow, and the enemy will continue to multiply, endlessly killing them will solve nothing. This is fundamentally an unsolvable vicious cycle!

Of course, theoretically, if they could rely on absolutely powerful force to exorcise these rebellious Ghost Kings and accumulated Evil Ghosts physically, at least it could buy decades or centuries of peace, giving time for the yang world to restore its population. But such a “sweep of the Netherworld” can’t be achieved by him alone. Unless… unless all of the Immortals of Gu Yun State take action collectively, perhaps there is a glimmer of hope.

But given Xiao Jie’s understanding of those Immortals, getting them to leave their comfort zones to join a war destined to be bloody and seemingly meaningless is evidently impossible.

Originally thinking both sides were evenly matched, he didn’t expect Yama’s side was already teetering on the brink, with such dire circumstances.

This is definitely not a task he can take on, it’s a complete mess.

Of course, bluntly refusing is certainly not an option. The other party has just agreed to help him retrieve someone and has treated him with such hospitality, clearly relying on him to help resolve the problem.