The male supporting character was actually myself.

Sure enough, there wasn't a single living creature in the underworld!

A faint, clear sound could be heard, as if someone was playing a zither in the main hall.

Jiang Chen followed the sound through the empty, cold main hall, past several side halls, and finally stepped through the moon gate into a small courtyard.

The peonies in the courtyard sway in the wind, their colors hazy; if it weren't for the occasional fog, they would look just like real peonies.

"Jin Nian, you're finally back."

The music suddenly stopped, and a captivating, magnetic female voice rang out in the room.

Jin Nian immediately bristled, "Who are you? How do you know me?"

"I am Han Ying, the current Spirit King." The lights in the room gradually brightened, and a beautiful figure was projected onto the window.

Jiang Chen's eyes lit up immediately; this figure was absolutely stunning!

"The Spirit King?" Jin Nian was skeptical, clutching her brother's clothes and not daring to step forward.

He had no choice but to step forward and ask, "May I ask, Your Majesty, may we go in?"

"Of course." A hint of joy lingered in the captivating, magnetic voice. "This is the first time in all these years that I've seen a living soul in the Underworld. Please come in."

The door opened automatically.

The two entered and found that it was a room decorated entirely by women.

Pink gauze curtains swayed gently in the breeze. A beautiful woman with an oval face, fair skin, delicate eyebrows, and phoenix eyes was reclining on the bed, her slender hand supporting her cheek, looking at Jiang Chen who had entered the room with curiosity.

"Please sit down." As soon as she spoke, the tables and chairs were automatically arranged, and even a pot of tea floated over and poured two cups of light green fragrant tea into her teacup. "There's not much to offer guests in the Underworld."

This cup of yak syrup was brewed from evergreen herbs I gathered from the banks of the River Styx many years ago. Drinking a cup is said to have health benefits and slow down aging.

Jin Nian sat down, picked up the tea but couldn't bear to drink it. "Lord Lingwang, can I take it back for my good friend to drink?"

"Oh? The good friend that Jin Nian can't forget?" Ling Wang Han Ying's every smile and frown was charming. "Could it be a boy even more handsome than this young man?"

She immediately felt a little embarrassed. "No, no, no, I want to save the tea for Feifei so she can stay beautiful! Besides... because of suppressing me, Feifei's health has always been poor..."

The Spirit King raised an eyebrow. "You were suppressed? No wonder you became so well-behaved when you returned to the Underworld."

You're finally back.

If we had waited any longer, it might have been too late!

"What's too late?" Jiang Chen asked curiously.

The Spirit King looked at him with a smile in his eyes, unwilling to look away. "Jin Nian, she should be the next Spirit King."

The Netherworld accumulates too much Yin energy from all realms, and every time it reaches a certain level, a successor to the Spirit King will be born from the essence of the Hundred Thousand Black Mountains.

I should have personally brought Jin Nian back and taught her when she was born.

However, during my tenure I was unable to resolve the issue of opening the Gates of Hell, and I was unwilling to simply choose a world and let it open, thus destroying the entire world, as previous Spirit Kings had done.

Therefore, I focused all my power on suppressing the Gates of Hell. I couldn't get there immediately when Jin Nian was born, and as a result, the little girl slipped away.

Jin Nian smiled sheepishly, "I... I didn't know where I should go. I was hungry and couldn't eat evil spirits, so I just wandered around aimlessly."

Unexpectedly, they were suppressed as soon as they arrived in the human world.

Fortunately, with my brother's help, I am living a very happy life in the human world now!

"Oh, by the way, my brother came this time to help solve the problem of opening the Gates of Hell. Because... I can always feel it urging me to open them."

"Oh? It seems the Gate of the Underworld knows I've been suppressing it all along, and after discovering the birth of the next Spirit King, it's skipping me and coming straight to you." Han Ying said with a wry smile, "Actually, I know that forcibly suppressing the Gate of the Underworld is only treating the symptoms, not the root cause."

But I really don't want to see those evil spirits rush out and destroy a perfectly good world.

"Thankfully you returned in time, and there are others helping you find a way to resolve the opening of the Gates of Hell, so I can step down with peace of mind."

Chapter Twenty-Six: Life is like a dream; where do we begin to dream?

what? !

Jiang Chen was somewhat puzzled. Resignation?

"What do you mean?" Jin Nian couldn't help but shout, "Are you going to wash your hands of this?"

The little white cat, huddled behind its host's neck with only one eye peeking out to watch the commotion, whispered a reminder: "Host, the script is being updated again..."

"Ah, because my energy is almost used up." Han Ying stretched and smiled. "From the moment I was born and was taught by the previous Spirit King, I never really wanted to be this Spirit King."

Ghostly figures were everywhere, and they were all so ugly that they were unbearable to look at.

Where in the human world can you find a handsome young man who is pleasing to the eye?

So I've always been thinking about stepping down as soon as possible.

Now my wish has finally come true, Jin Nian, you have to keep it up!

Jin Nian immediately jumped up and grabbed Jiang Chen's sleeve, "Brother, let's go! I don't want to be some kind of Spirit King here!"

His sleeve was being tugged, but he didn't move, his face full of helplessness. "Where are you going? If the problem of the Gates of Hell isn't solved, the human world will be overrun by evil spirits."

Jin Nian rubbed her long, straight black hair, exclaiming in frustration, "I don't want to be the Spirit King! I want to go back and learn to paint with Fei Fei! And also, the novel I'm following isn't finished yet..."

"Lord Spirit King, please don't rush to resign. Can we talk about the problem of the Gates of the Underworld first? I want to solve it at its root, so that every time it is opened, it will cause widespread suffering."

Han Ying looked at him in surprise.

It's astonishing that a young mortal could have such a bold idea.

She couldn't help but laugh and said, "Then come with me to see the Gates of Hell."

Han Ying stood up, her delicate jade feet barely visible beneath her red brocade robe, her red toenails adding to her charm.

They followed her to a grand hall, where candles automatically lit up.

In the very center of the hall is a huge black sand table, upon which floats a small, exquisite black gate.

"This is the Gate of the Underworld," Han Ying patiently explained. "The Underworld contains all the sins of the myriad realms, which has led to the growth of resentment and the concentration of Yin energy."

As the number of evil spirits increases, exceeding the capacity of the underworld, some of them need to be released.

The purpose of the Gates of the Underworld is to alleviate the increasingly overcrowded Underworld.

Jiang Chen carefully examined the condensed model of the underworld, then pointed to ten bright dots in different locations and asked, "What are these?"

"The guardian crystal of the underworld."

As the Spirit King, upon assuming office, one should refine it for one's own use, thus achieving complete control over the Underworld and being able to do whatever one pleases within it.

But I have no interest in controlling the Underworld, and besides, I've been guarding the gates of the Underworld and can't step out of this palace, so I haven't refined it yet.

He pressed further, "If it's refined, what level can it achieve?"

"Omnipotent." Han Ying pointed to the condensed sand table and demonstrated, "If it is fully refined, the Netherworld will be like a toy in my hand, and I can change its terrain shape at will."

It can also issue commands to all the evil spirits within it.

Like this…

As she spoke, her slender, long, and fair right hand, with its red nail polish, slowly clenched into a fist.

The flat terrain in the sand table gradually rises and becomes a small hill.

"Oh dear, I haven't refined a single crystal yet, this is all I can do right now." Han Ying chuckled as she looked at the less-than-ideal terrain she had created.

Jiang Chen snapped his fingers. "Great! This is much more interesting than my previous plan."

"What were your plans before, brother?" Jin Nian asked, her face full of questions.

"The worst-case scenario is that you open the gates of the underworld, and I'll set up a trap in front of the gates to kill all the evil spirits trying to squeeze out," he replied calmly.

Han Ying and Jin Nian exchanged a wry smile. It seemed that this young man from the mortal realm truly had no idea how vast the underworld was or how ferocious the evil spirits were!

“There were some other unconventional plans, but they’re no longer needed.” Jiang Chen asked seriously, “Jin Nian, could you guard the Gate of the Underworld here?”

I need the current Spirit King's help to refine the crystal.

After all, you are not yet the Spirit King. By the time you replace him, it might be too late.

Jin Nian nodded and replied, "I have no problem with that, but Lord Spirit King..."

Han Ying crossed her arms and asked with a smile in her eyes, "Young man is indeed likable, but just because I like him doesn't mean I can let you do whatever you want."

"Shouldn't you tell me first what your new plan is?"

The courtyard was adorned with vibrant decorations and flickering red candles. Jin Nian sat idly under the flower pavilion, poking at pebbles.

After half an hour.

Han Ying lowered her eyes and smiled faintly as she opened the door and came out of the room, followed closely by the excited Jiang Chen.

"Jin Nian, the young man you brought is really great!" Her eyes were full of smiles, showing that she was very satisfied with Jiang Chen's performance. "You stay here, the two of us will go refine the guardian crystal."

If his plan can truly solve the problem of the Gates of Hell, you won't have to suffer in vain like me for almost your entire life.

Wish us luck!

Jin Nian, who was idly poking at pebbles, quickly stood up. "Then... I'll stay here. Lord Spirit King, you must protect my brother. After all, he's just a living soul."

"My brother is the best! You guys can definitely do great too!"

After explaining the precautions, Han Ying stepped out of the vermilion gate for the first time since he was born and entered this palace to take over as the Spirit King.

"Regardless of whether this trip is successful or not, I want to thank you for giving me a brief period of freedom." She enveloped Jiang Chen's soul with her own aura, her soft, boneless, slender hand leading him through the misty, ethereal world.

Jiang Chen held her cold hand and asked softly, "Where will you go after you step down?"

"After each King of Ling abdicated, they would enter the King of Ling's Tomb."

No one knows what's inside, since none of the Spirit Kings who went in have ever come out again.

I think... since it originated from the Hundred Thousand Black Mountains, it must have dissipated its energy and returned to the Black Mountains.

Is stepping down the line the death knell?

He asked, still unwilling to accept the situation, "Can I not step down?"

"Of course not." Han Ying chuckled in a captivating, magnetic voice, "After the new Spirit King is born, I will be close to stepping down. When Jin Nian is promoted to Spirit King, that will be the time I go to the Spirit King's Tomb."

If you stubbornly refuse to go, you will vanish into thin air and your soul will perish.

Actually, I've always wondered what it would be like to enter the cycle of reincarnation...