I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

He walked along the road to the underworld for an unknown amount of time, until his legs were almost numb, and finally he saw a black river that stretched across the end of the road, with its banks covered with spider lilies.

"Holy crap, the River of Oblivion! I know this place like the back of my hand!"

Zhong Jiu's eyes widened, but the scene was completely different from what he had imagined.

Not only has the ferryman "Death" who guides souls disappeared, but the Naihe Bridge and Meng Po's soup that should be on the River of Oblivion are also nowhere to be seen.

There was only a blood-black river blocking their way, not a soul in sight.

The river was like congealed pus, completely still, without even the slightest sound of flowing water. The surface of the river was crawling with poisonous insects and vicious snakes, which would occasionally stick their heads out and flick their tongues. A strong, fishy stench assaulted his nostrils, and even though Zhong Jiu held his breath, the nausea still pierced his brain.

He scanned the area with his divine sense and his scalp tingled. The riverbed was filled with countless skeletons and souls, each one radiating resentment. They were like wild beasts trapped in a cage, ready to pounce and tear apart any living creature that approached.

"No wonder the system didn't give any notification; it turns out it only unlocked the 'starter village' at the entrance to the underworld."

Zhong Jiu was a little disappointed, but then he thought it made sense. Unlocking the entire underworld in one step would be too outrageous.

Without the Bridge of Helplessness, he simply couldn't cross it.

The River of Oblivion is no ordinary river; neither the living nor the dead can cross it.

Want to fly there?

There's no chance of that happening; the souls in the river are just waiting for someone to fly over so they can swarm in and drag the person into the river to be their substitute.

Even though Zhong Jiu was already a seventh-rank underworld official and had entered the realm of "divine beings," he dared not attempt it rashly.

The only way to cross the river is to be guided by "Death" or to cross the Bridge of Helplessness, but the bridge is nowhere to be seen yet, so his exploration can only end here.

"No, we've come all this way, we can't go back empty-handed."

Zhong Jiu stared at the murky waters of the River of Oblivion, and a bold idea suddenly popped into his head. This river water could even corrode gods; if used to deal with evil spirits, it would be an absolute weapon of mass destruction!

"System, find me a magical artifact capable of holding a large amount of water from the River of Oblivion!"

The system reacted extremely quickly, displaying introductions to seven or eight magical artifacts in just one second.

Zhong Jiu glanced at the prices and finally set his sights on an inconspicuous green gourd. It was a storage gourd with a large capacity and was portable, but the price was a bit painful, costing 200,000 incense points.

"Bought it!"

Gritting his teeth, Chung Kau placed the order directly, instantly wiping out the two million incense points he had just received, returning him to a state of "being penniless".

Now he finally understood the difference between faith points and incense points.

Faith points are "hard currency," and each person can only contribute once. They can help them level up and advance in rank, making them extremely valuable. Incense points, on the other hand, are "fast-moving consumer goods," and a worshipper can contribute every day. They come quickly, which is why items in the system shop are so expensive.

Zhong Jiu became more and more excited as he thought about it. If people all over the country and the world offered incense to him, the incense value he would receive every day would be astronomical. Before long, he would be able to buy all those exorbitantly priced items in the system's shop whenever he wanted.

As for faith points, although they come slowly, as long as he maintains peace in his region, he will accumulate them sooner or later.

However, this gourd also has a special purpose: it can only hold water from the River of Oblivion. It is a special water storage artifact for the gods of the underworld, but its capacity is ridiculously large, like a bottomless pit.

Despite the filth and stench of the River of Oblivion, it can be a deadly weapon capable of corrupting evil spirits when it comes to a critical moment.

Zhong Jiu placed the gourd on the river surface and let the river water gurgle in. The gourd swelled up, but the water level of the Wangchuan River didn't even ripple.

He patted the heavy gourd, feeling quite pleased with himself. No longer lingering on this gateway to the underworld, he turned and headed towards the mortal realm.

The journey back from the underworld took quite a while, by which time it was already broad daylight in the mortal realm.

As soon as I stepped into the City God's Mansion, a dark figure darted over with a "whoosh"—it was the Night Wanderer.

The man's eyes widened, and he shouted urgently, "My lord! I've uncovered some earth-shattering news! You must hear it!"

"Oh? Look at how anxious you are, has the demon's lair exploded?"

Zhong Jiu raised an eyebrow and smiled, surprised by the Night Wanderer's efficiency. As he walked toward the Yin-Yang Division, he casually asked.

"A powerful spirit guards the pass towards Tianmu Mountain, commanding 100,000 banners. It seems a hundred thousand evil spirits have gathered there! A dark, endless mass!"

The Night Wanderer lowered his voice, his tone carrying a hint of seriousness.

"One hundred thousand?"

Zhong Jiu paused, somewhat surprised. This number did indeed exceed his expectations, but now that he was a seventh-rank department head and his cultivation had reached the Divine Realm, he naturally had confidence.

The cultivation system in the underworld and the path of cultivation in the human world are completely different things.

Even after decades of arduous cultivation by Taoists and Buddhists, absorbing spiritual energy and refining essence, they may not be able to match the conferment of titles by the underworld. Take Lei Bo Lao, for example. He never touched cultivation in his life, but after being conferred the title of Gong Cao, he immediately gained great supernatural powers. This is the confidence behind a divine position.

The source of power for underworld deities is simple: either they rely on incense offerings for nourishment, and the more incense offerings they receive, the stronger they become; or they learn from human cultivators who absorb spiritual energy to cultivate.

However, the rank of a deity does not necessarily indicate the strength of their power. Some deities with high ranks are lazy in fulfilling their duties and remain stagnant; while some deities with low ranks diligently cultivate themselves and still become powerful.

Zhong Jiu is different; he has a "double buff" stacked on top of him: the divine cultivation given by his divine position and the human golden core given by the system. One plus one is far greater than two.

Before he advanced, he had to put in some effort when he encountered Soul Generals, but now that he has advanced, Soul Generals are nothing to him.

"It's not one Soul General leading the team, it's two!"

The Night Wanderer quickly added, "That Thousand-Eyed Demon King has gone mad for some reason, suddenly sending another Soul General. It's clear he's determined to fight us to the death!"

"Two Soul Generals?"

Zhong Jiu's lips curled into a cold smile, his eyes filled with disdain. "Perfect timing. Saves me the trouble of searching for them one by one. When are they going to make their move?"

"Five hours later!" the Night Wanderer replied hastily.

"They seem to be in a hurry."

Zhong Jiu touched his chin, then thought about it again and felt it made sense.

Evil spirits don't need to eat or sleep. At the command of the soul general, they can pounce like a gust of wind, unlike ancient armies that had to prepare food and set up camp.

"Pass on my orders: have the soul soldiers of the Inspectorate outside the city immediately return to the City God's Mansion, and have all officials in the halls and departments suspend their current affairs and stand by! Also, send a soul messenger to inform the authorities that 100,000 ghost troops will be pressing in five hours."

Chung Kau's tone was resolute and unambiguous.

The messenger received the order and rushed out. Before long, the news reached the Inspectorate and the Special Operations Group.

The Soul Soldiers of the Inspectorate were eager to fight, and upon hearing that a battle was about to begin, they were all itching to get back to the City God's Mansion.

Meanwhile, the special operations team was in an uproar.

"What did you say? In five hours, 100,000 ghost troops will attack Guiling City?"

The special operations team members' eyes widened in disbelief, and the documents in their hands fell to the ground.

"Message delivered. I shall take my leave."

The messenger cupped his hands in greeting, then vanished in a wisp of green smoke, leaving the special operations team members staring at each other in the office, their faces deathly pale.

"Quickly! Contact the provincial capital immediately and report the news to Old Zhang!"

Chung Ying-mei was the first to react, grabbing the walkie-talkie and rushing to the office, her voice trembling.

An emergency video conference started instantly. Zhang Yunxiao had just finished listening to the report when he jumped up from his chair, his eyes filled with disbelief: "Are you sure the news is true? You're not mistaken?"

One hundred thousand ghost soldiers are attacking Guiling City; they're going to devour more than half a million citizens alive!

This news is so shocking that everyone instinctively wants to run away; it can't be true!

"The message was personally delivered by a messenger from the City God's Palace; how could it be false?"

Zhong Yingmei shook her head with a bitter smile. She wished it was a joke, but would the gods of the underworld joke about human lives?

The office fell silent the moment she said those words.

Everyone remembered the unusual situation of the ghosts sealing off the city during this period. It turned out that they were not afraid to take action, but were holding back a big move!

"How could this happen..."

Zhang Yunxiao plopped back into his chair, looking completely dejected.

Just a few days ago, I saw hope because the underworld appeared, and I felt that I had finally made it through. I never expected that disaster would strike so suddenly.

If a city of over 500,000 people were to be trampled flat by evil spirits, it would cause a huge uproar across the country! Those who are still struggling to hold on would absolutely collapse mentally.

This blow is more devastating than a demon killing several people!