Eating bizarre things in public upgrades my status; the Special Affairs Bureau wants me to join them

"I can summon the Gate of Ghosts. If you want to go back to the Netherworld, that's not impossible."

He Li responded with a smile.

Although the surrounding consciousnesses vaguely guessed from He Li's words that he definitely had more to say, and most likely he was going to make some troublesome demands on them.

But they both tacitly remained silent.

Because they were very clear that He Li, as the Lord of the Underworld, held absolute control.

They just want to return to the Netherworld...

No matter what his reasoning or what unreasonable demands he makes...

They could only listen and accept.

Otherwise, why would He Li be unhappy? If they were to leave the Middle Realm directly, their final fate would likely be to be trapped here, and then gradually lose consciousness over a long period of time...

This is absolutely not what they want; they have endured loneliness for far too long as conscious beings.

They desperately wanted to return to the realm of the dead...

They also yearn to be reincarnated and to experience all the wonders of the world again as living beings.

He Li, having seen through their thoughts and knowing that he held an absolute advantage, dared to make a reckless demand: "Although I can send you back to the realm of the dead."

"But this is ultimately the Middle Realm!"

"Summoning the Ghost Gate will surely attract the attention of the Heavenly Dao of the Middle Realm and many Qi Refiners."

"Perhaps those demons, immortals, and gods from the upper realms will also notice me and harbor ill intentions towards me, and given my current limited strength, it will be difficult for me to save my life in their hands."

"This matter is still too risky."

"Besides, summoning the Ghost Gate also took a lot of energy from me..."

He Li continued talking.

The consciousnesses were increasingly speechless as they listened; after all, they were beings who existed before the separation of heaven and earth.

They dared not say they knew the Lord of the Underworld in great detail, but at least they knew of his power. As the Lord of the Underworld, what kind of consumption could there be in summoning his own Ghost Gate?

As for risks? That's utter nonsense.

After all, being able to summon the Gate of Ghosts means that one can escape to the realm of the dead at any time if danger arises.

Furthermore, the Ghost Gate Pass is very difficult to destroy.

Even for those gods, it is extremely difficult.

The realm of the dead was once destroyed...

That's because it wasn't just countless top-tier beings at the time who took action, but also the innate gods born at the beginning of the world. It was through their combined efforts that the Netherworld was destroyed.

But as time went by, it became impossible to reunite those powerful beings.

Some of them have already died and disappeared.

Some have disappeared without a trace.

Therefore, the risks He Li mentioned are basically non-existent. He said this simply to gain benefits, and the consciousnesses present were not stupid, so they had already understood what he meant.

So, without waiting for He Li to continue...

The leading consciousness suddenly spoke: "We... were once powerful beings of a past era."

"Now that we are dead, we have nothing left to thank the Lord of the Underworld for sending us back to the Netherworld. However, we still retain some power that may help the Lord of the Underworld take another step forward..."

hum! ! !

As they spoke, a faint gray light appeared on the consciousness and drifted toward He Li.

As the ball of light touched He Li...

Instantly, the ball of light entered his body.

Information hidden within that ball of light also began to surface in He Li's mind...

[You have mastered the ancient technique: the Heaven-Covering Treasure Technique!]

"Heaven-Covering Technique: An ancient technique that uses the burning of one's vital energy to conceal oneself, making one imperceptible to all other methods; the stronger one's vital energy, the greater the concealment effect!"

The Heaven-Covering Technique? That seems to be a magical technique.

Spells consume spiritual energy.

This Heaven-Covering Technique consumes Qi and Blood, making it seem more like a technique used by martial artists.

But in the past, those Qi practitioners or immortals must have used magic, right? How could they have developed something so unorthodox for their time?

He Li was both surprised and somewhat curious.

But before he could figure it out, many gray orbs of light appeared on the surrounding consciousnesses.

As those orbs of light rapidly drifted towards him...

A flood of information rushed through his mind...

[You have mastered the ancient art: Celestial Transformation!]

"Heavenly Transformation: An ancient technique that worships the heavens to invoke change, burning one's vital energy to resonate with the universe around you. During this period, with the right timing and location, your every move exudes overwhelming power..."

[You have mastered the Celestial Skill: Thunder and Fire!]

"Thunder and Fire: An ancient technique of the sages, drawing upon heavenly thunder and earthly fire..."

[You have mastered the Cloud-Concealing Technique...]

[You have mastered the spotlight technique...]

You have mastered...

As He Li processed the information flooding his mind, he gradually returned to calm from his initial surprise, but the doubts in his heart continued to increase as he digested the information.

After digesting this new power, He Li finally couldn't help but stare at these consciousnesses and press them for answers...

"You're not practicing the Qi Refining system?"

"Yes and no!" The consciousness shook its head.

"In our time, the evolution of power systems was very sudden and very rapid."

"Initially, we didn't understand Qi cultivation. We just followed our instincts and absorbed energy from heaven and earth to improve ourselves. Later, we gradually developed a very crude cultivation method."

"And due to various factors..."

"There are many kinds of simple cultivation methods."

"For example, drawing Qi into the body, absorbing Qi to refine the body, or using external objects to exert power..."

He paused for a moment at this point.

It was as if she was lost in memories.

After a couple of seconds, he continued, "The era in which we lived in our youth was vibrant and full of competition, until... a special being was born under the divine tree."

"I have forgotten many things about him."

"All I know is that later, many living beings in the world respectfully called him the True Lord of All Laws!"

The True Lord of All Laws?!

He Li's brows furrowed slightly.

The consciousness continued, "The reason it's called that is because it suddenly brought many incredibly powerful spells to the entire world from who knows where..."

"There is also a very complete cultivation system."

"And that system is the Qi Refining System that you all know today!"

"Ninety percent of the spells and powers we have today are derived from the spells brought by the True Lord of Ten Thousand Laws, which made that era incredibly brilliant and glorious."

"However……"

The distorting speed of the blurred face of the consciousness increased.

He seemed to be experiencing significant emotional fluctuations.

His next words made He Li understand why his emotions had suddenly become unstable...

"However, as time went by..."

"A problem has arisen!"

"We have discovered that the spiritual energy that has never diminished over thousands or even tens of thousands of years has begun to decrease, and the spiritual objects of heaven and earth are also gradually becoming less common."

"Depleted resources lead to more conflict, and the glorious era begins to fade away due to strife."

"We too died in the great battle..."

"However, conflict could not solve the problem of dwindling spiritual energy or dwindling resources, and so... the so-called 'Severing the Heavenly Connection' that you all know began..."

Hmm? Hearing the consciousness's words, He Li's brows furrowed even more, and he almost subconsciously asked a follow-up question...

"So why are resources suddenly decreasing?"

"Is this simply the way nature works?"

"Or is there another reason?"

Upon hearing his question, the consciousness shook its head: "Nothing in the universe appears out of thin air. Spiritual energy and other resources all arise from a cause."

"We only know there's a reason for it..."

"But I can't understand why the spiritual energy and resources have never decreased over the countless years."

"We also can't understand why spiritual energy and resources suddenly started to decrease so drastically. All we know is... this matter must be related to the True Lord of Ten Thousand Laws!"

"The change began because of him!"

"It seems that the True Lord of Ten Thousand Laws knows the truth."

"Perhaps wanting to make amends or repent, he turned his back on all living beings and the long river of time, unwilling and afraid to look back at all things in the world, only hiding in that void..."

As the conversation progressed, the consciousness made no attempt to conceal its mockery and hostility towards the True Lord of Ten Thousand Laws.

He Li fell silent.

He had a vague idea that this matter might be closely related to the True Lord of the Sun and Moon.

But he had no idea that the reason why the True Lord of the Sun and Moon was sitting upside down in the river of time was actually this; he thought there was some other reason why the other party was doing that...

He shook his head and decided not to pursue the matter further.

These consciousnesses have limited knowledge.

He couldn't get a clear answer from them.

Therefore, He Li decisively gave up on investigating the matter further and instead smiled and said, "In short, I basically understand the source of your non-magical powers."

"Now let's talk about summoning the Ghost Gate..."

"I can summon it, but I have other things to do and definitely don't have time to do it right now."

"Of course, if you can help me..."

"That might speed things up!"

He Li's smile was somewhat sly.