Great, we're doomed now!

"Take Hell as an example. My original form was an ordinary wandering ghost. It was already very difficult for me to cultivate to the level of a ghost god. If we were to simply compare strength, many creatures that are born with supernatural powers would be stronger than me."

However, I made great contributions during the period of reform in Hell, which earned me a fairly high level of authority. As long as I am in Hell, only a few people, such as Yama, the Queen of the Underworld, and others, can defeat me.

Someone like Obik can be taken care of in no time.

In other words, it's a monster with a unique mechanism; in the right environment, it can even rival the Silver Dragon and Gold Dragon, and is even stronger than the Queen of the Underworld.

Ye Shou nodded, having a general idea of ​​what was going on.

"It's hard to imagine that she wouldn't know about something so big happening in Hell, so there's only one possibility."

Even the usually calm Xiao Hei was filled with worry: "The Queen of the Underworld is in trouble... To be honest, although she has high authority, her power isn't necessarily that great, since no one has ever seen her in action... But what could have happened to make her..."

"Whatever it is, why don't we go and see for ourselves and find out?"

Ye Shou stroked the cat's back, and Xiao Hei visibly relaxed, making purring sounds from its throat.

"...The instincts of this body are truly irresistible."

After calming down, Xiao Hei stretched and said, "No outsiders are allowed to enter [Yomihirasaka]. I don't have the authority right now. If I want to go in, I'll have to break the seal by force, but that will cause spacetime disorder, and something might escape."

I'll try to open the seal with magic first. If that doesn't work, then I'll have to force it. Hopefully, this will end quickly so we can patch up the hole in time.

"What kind of seal is it?"

Ye Shou's heart skipped a beat: "May I take a look?"

"Ok?"

Xiao Hei glanced at Ye Shou, thinking of his Ultraman form, and couldn't help but warn, "Don't use that kind of beam of light. Although Hell isn't purely negative energy, it still has a large number of dead souls. It's hard to imagine what would happen if your power swept over them."

Actually, you could just wait outside... and we'll call you if we can't handle it."

The big cat spoke, but still performed the incantation as instructed. Its two paws moved nimbly, forming several hand gestures, and then a burst of smoke exploded, drawn towards the cave entrance.

call!

A cold wind blew in, emanating a chilling aura from the cave that sent shivers down one's spine.

At the same time, faint dark lines also emerged, covering the cave entrance like ripples of water, constantly flowing and making them elusive.

"I see... It seems that contact with the power of light can indeed cause an explosion."

Ye Shou narrowed his eyes slightly: "This is troublesome."

Seeing that he was about to give up, Xiao Hei nodded: "That's right, let us professionals handle this—"

"After all, I don't really like this form."

"what?"

hum!

A timer made of Aizhe redstone appeared in the air in front of Ye Shou's chest. He grasped it in his hand, circled it halfway, and aimed it at the light spot falling from the tree canopy. A powerful energy wave immediately swept over like a whirlwind.

Xiao Hei was shocked, Jin Tian Jinglong also looked solemn, and Beelzebub, who was seeing the transformed form for the first time, was even more shocked.

"What... what is this?"

"I already told you not to transform here, one wrong move and you'll—"

Before the impatient little black tongue could finish speaking, a dark white light suddenly appeared in the golden light surrounding Ye Shou!

Just as things reach their extremes and then reverse, a desperate darkness was released from the brilliant light. Two completely different forces dyed the surrounding world black and white. When this strange fluctuation subsided, a life-sized giant with a completely silver-black body appeared before the three of them.

"!"

“…Bayeli?”

"Ye Shou?"

The three looked at each other, each seeing a hint of confusion in the other's eyes; for a moment, none of them could figure out what was going on.

"Ye Shou." Jin Tian Jinglong stepped forward, his hand on his sword, and asked earnestly, "Are you alright?"

"Of course."

Ye Shou, now in his Dark Radiance form, turned his head to the side—in this transformation, the corners of his mouth always gave the impression of being slightly upturned.

From Jinglong's perspective, it had a rather cynical feel to it... but Ye Shou's tone was normal, which put his mind at ease for the time being.

What's going on here?

"Light and darkness are both opposites and coexist."

Ye Shou gave a vague explanation, not intending to say much more to them.

"You can think of this form of mine as the inversion of the Giant of Light—that way, there won't be any problems entering Hell, right?"

"...Probably."

Xiao Hei felt a little uncomfortable. Although Ye Shou had no hostility, it felt like it was facing the Yellow Springs Kingdom, the lowest level of hell... no, even more dangerous than that!

Aside from the Queen of the Underworld, whose strength is unknown, none of the ghosts and gods in hell can exert such a powerful sense of oppression!

"How could such a dense aura of darkness coexist with light in one body? You are truly a mystery."

"Let's talk about it another time. We have other things to do right now."

With a wave of his hand, Ultraman Darkness darkened the entire forest. Then, the runes and patterns at the entrance of the cave slowly appeared and, as if given life, slowly opened up to reveal a gap more than a meter high.

"It's open!"

"Wow, that's amazing... You analyzed the spell with just one glance?"

Xiao Hei couldn't help but ask Ye Shou, "After this is all over, are you interested in working part-time in Hell?"

Eight hot palaces and eight cold palaces, ten palaces and ten thousand li of treasures—take your pick!

"There are plenty of people who want to work for me, but you're the first one who wants to drag me down to be their slave." Ye Shou glanced at it.

……

"Who?"

In the palace surrounded by demons and monsters, a man shrouded in black robes suddenly turned around.

"Who has entered my kingdom?!"

He looked around with suspicion, but saw nothing but the distorted alien. Then, as if remembering something, he took out a crystal ball from under his robe.

He stared at the crystal ball with a fascination, as if he could see some kind of scenery in it, his head under the hood swaying slightly.

"what?!"

The mysterious man's body trembled violently, as if he had been greatly shocked.

"My God! Could it be... no, no! It's not him!"

It composed itself and looked inside again, remained silent for a long time, and then burst into laughter.

"So that's how it is, so that's the reason. How wondrous is fate!"

A warrior who gathers the light of many has come alone to this dark land; he is practically courting death!

When you are alone, you are unable to display your supreme form. If you are only relying on your own strength, you are merely a slightly troublesome opponent for me, who has already taken control of the Underworld.

"As long as I can devour this person... heh heh, and perhaps one day even surpass the ancient gods!"

With a wave of his hand, the man in the black robe spun around, turning into a streak of black light and disappearing. When he reappeared, he was in a different dimension with no entrance or exit.

Within this enclosed little world, amidst the surging of dark energy, strands of energy, like ropes, extended from the void, tightly binding a huge, dark golden "cocoon," with flashes of light occasionally appearing on it, as if it were drawing something out.

"Queen of the Underworld, let me borrow your power—ha!"

The black-robed figure stretched out his hand, and strands of golden energy were drawn from the "cocoon." Then, a large amount of dark energy gathered, and enormous figures emerged from it...

Chapter 364: I, King Yama, am invincible! (Bonus 4K chapter)

Ye Shou returned to his normal appearance and followed behind Xiao Hei with Jing Long and Beelzebub. Just in case, he took out a black hooded cloak from his private space for everyone to wear, so that the group would not be too conspicuous.

After walking along the deep tunnel for a long time, Ye Shouneng clearly felt that as he went deeper into the tunnel, the surrounding space gradually separated from the real world, just like a thick piece of paper being split into two thin sheets and then slowly lifted.

The process was so lengthy that it didn't damage the spatial structure; whoever built this passage must have put a lot of thought into it.

When they all came out, a wave of heat carrying the smell of sulfur hit them. Ye Shou and Jing Long frowned, but Xiao Hei and Beelzebub relaxed, as if they were home... No, this really was their home.

There isn't much vegetation in Hell; it's mostly barren at first glance, though there are quite a few desolate mountains that block the view.

Reaching a high vantage point and gazing into the distance, the flames of the Crimson Lotus Inferno flickered faintly on the horizon, barely illuminating this gray world. A thick layer of gray shrouded the heavens and earth, the air thick with a oppressive, murky quality, as if one were wearing glasses that would never let them see clearly.

Black embers occasionally drifted in from unknown places, slowly landing on the ground and dissipating upon contact.

Ye Shou and the others were not in the mood to appreciate the scenery—to be honest, there really wasn't much to see. After confirming the location, Xiao Hei led the group forward.

They trudged through the rough black soil and pebbles, and soon arrived at a wide river, or more precisely, a "riverbed".

Because the river water here is neither clear nor turbid like ordinary water; instead, it is grayish and constantly surging upwards, like flowing gas.

The riverbank was crowded with shadowy souls. At first, it was fine if you didn't pay attention, but once you did, you realized that you were already surrounded by them, and you were surprised that you had walked all the way here without noticing them...

Their shapes were indistinct, like shadows shrouded in mist, crowding together and whispering, but it was impossible to hear what they were saying. In short, everyone was stuck on the riverbank, and no one dared to step into the river.

"Why don't these souls cross the river?" Jinglong pressed the sword at his waist, his brows furrowing slightly. "Where is the legendary Bridge of Helplessness? We haven't even seen a trace of it."

He had spent most of his time at the shrine, had never experienced the process of reincarnation, and had never been to hell. His knowledge of this place mostly came from folk tales and anime creations, but the scene before him was completely different from what he had imagined.

Ye Shouye was also examining the "river" in front of him, trying to match it with the legendary "Naihe River".

It is said that Japanese hells are mainly based on Buddhist scriptures and folk legends from mainland China. As one of the builders of the modern hell system, Xiao Hei himself once went to the East to learn from the scriptures, so you can see the shadow of the "underworld" everywhere.

For example, the "Sanzu River" comes from the "Nai River" in China, which is the entrance to the underworld. Once you cross this river, you can never turn back.

Logically speaking, there should be a bridge here, the so-called "Bridge of Helplessness".

(Originally it was the Naihe Bridge, but it gradually became "Naihe".)

Japan doesn't have things like the "Soup of Oblivion," but the rules are pretty much the same:

The innocent cross the bridge, the guilty cross the shallows, and the most sinful cross the deep waters.

The process of crossing the river is said to be extremely painful, serving as a warning to the world.

However, some compassionate people could not bear to see this, so they set up a boat to ferry people across the river—the fare on the Japanese side was six coins.

However, what Ye Shou saw was neither a boatman nor a bridge, and the river was strange and unpredictable, with no indication of where the shallows were... No wonder so many souls lingered on the shore.

"Hey, where's your ferryman?"