The fake agent created by the corpse with great divine techniques died so humiliatingly in the Yin River.
As for the real agent's whereabouts, Xu Qing had no way of knowing.
In the shadow play of Qing and Chi agents, Xu Qing saw the transition of power in the Underworld, and also saw the four judges who ruled life and death and the Underworld agents struggle to repel the intrusion of the corpse.
The Underworld judges must be those who abhor evil and embody justice and integrity; hence none of the four judges survived, all returned to the Underworld.
Only among the ten under the throne of King Yama, there were traitors who became the dharma master's emissaries.
Through the perspective of Qing and Chi agents, Xu Qing also saw a familiar silhouette among the judges returning to the Underworld.
That person was clearly a talent entangled with fate at the Incense and Candle Shop's owner, Cheng Caiyun.
Xu Qing originally thought this was an unresolved past of affection between human and ghost, but didn't expect it to ultimately be a judge who returned to the world, stirring the daughter's heart as a karmic debt.
Unfortunately, Xu Qing did not know where Lu Zizhan and Cheng Caiyun went; perhaps they had been reincarnated, or were led by the Sutra of Salvation to the Boundless Realm, waiting for the Underworld's order to be rebuilt before entering the cycle again.
If he knew their whereabouts, he would, one way or another, throw out the embroidered ball in his hand to tie a durable red thread for the pair of ill-fated lovers again.
The shadow play continued to run, and Xu Qing saw through layers of palaces and pavilions, witnessing the dharma master at the Nine Netherworlds trying to refine the authority of Yin Mountain.
"Authority of Yin Mountain?"
Meanwhile.
On Yin Mountain, within Yama's Palace.
The Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master, holding half the authority of Yin Mountain, suddenly looked outside the hall.
His gaze pierced through the eight vistas of Yin Mountain, crossed the barrier of the Underworld, and landed directly on the domain of the Yin River following the faint wave peering at him.
However, just as the dharma master was about to find the person spying on him, a massive bronze coffin flew out from the depths of the Yin River, cutting off a strand of the dharma master's divine thought.
"Female Demon..."
The Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master glanced sideways at the bronze coffin, eyes full of disdain.
"You, a heavenly maiden fallen into the turbid world, ought to travel with us; only thus can you obtain freedom."
The response to the dharma master was the thousand-mile crimson flames burning atop the bronze coffin.
"Then, continue to be exiled!"
The divine thought from the Nine Netherworlds materialized into the dharma master's form, and he swung his sleeve, opening a portal capable of dictating the fate of all beings.
Over the Yin River, the coffin that brought down torrents of flowing fire was instantly swallowed by the portal, leaving no trace.
After the demoness was exiled to the north of Chishui, the dharma master's remaining divine thought continued to search for that peering gaze; however, before he could move, a Cyan Dragon flew out from Jin Sect, blocking his path.
The Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master looked at the Cyan Dragon Divine Monarch coiled around the Yin Yang boundary monument, with an unusual wave flashing in his eyes.
"The leader of four symbols, God Mengzhang... What are you hiding with the heavenly maiden?"
The Cyan Dragon sang across the nine skies, exhausting its strength to weaken the dharma master's divine thought by another fraction.
"In the era of great calamity, demons rise and the Tao recedes; you are too weak."
The dharma master strolled leisurely.
Behind him, the Cyan Dragon wailed mournfully, falling into the mortal world, landing in Baisha River, staining a hundred miles of water red.
"I am getting closer to you..."
The Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master revealed an eerie smile. As he took a step to leave the Jin Sect, a tower ship suddenly emerged from the depths of the Yin River!
On the mirage ship stood an emperor wearing a crown and dragon-patterned black robe.
The moment the gaze met that of the dharma master, the ancestral emperor drew the Tai'e Sword, its blade pointing directly at the invader!
"Slay the demon, defeat the enemy!"
"A reward for the one who takes the head!"
"..."
Hearing the ancient emperor, dead for countless years, boast about cutting off his revelation, the Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master was paradoxically amused and angered.
He merely wished to find the person behind the peering, but instead became a target for everyone.
"Destroy!"
The Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master extended his palm to cover the tower ship before him.
On the tower ship, the four Golden Armor Divine Generals suddenly transformed into golden-bodied divine figures of a hundred meters, wielding swords, spears, and halberds, facing the dharma master's palm without fear.
With a thunderous roar, the divine figures of the four Golden Armor Divine Generals vanished, and four gold plaques appeared around the boundary monument.
Seeing the mirage disperse like sands in the wind, the Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master chose not to pursue.
The ancestral emperor's mirage was merely an illusion; the tower ship itself was the divine craft built some two thousand years ago when the first emperor ordered Mao Xu to sail east to Penglai, Abbot, and Yingzhou, seeking the three immortal mountains.
All the dharma master had seen earlier was merely a shadow from the mirage; the true master of the mirage ship, along with the divine craft, was not here.
The dharma master felt his divine thought diminish significantly, finally putting away his contempt.
Earlier, when he heard various corpses discussing the anomalies in the Yin River, he paid little mind, but now having witnessed it firsthand, he keenly sensed a presence within the Yin River domain that could command heavenly maiden, Cyan Dragon, and even human king alike.
Such a figure is someone he must meet.
The dharma master once again pursued that faint wave, and upon leaving the Jin Sect, arriving in Central State, suddenly thousands of unusual waves rose within the realm of the Yin River.
The threads connecting these waves spread across twelve states, even some distant areas like the Western Regions and Nan Cuo converging sporadically.
For the first time, a look of astonishment crossed the Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master's face.
What are these million threads of the deceased?
Even with vast divine techniques and profound magical power, the dharma master could not in a short time find the counterpart at the ends of these countless threads.
Especially when the owners of these threads were all deceased.
The dharma master's authority over reincarnation wasn't obtained yet, so how could he find the single living person hidden among millions of dead souls within limited time?
Until now, the Nine Netherworlds Dharma Master subconsciously believed he was searching for a living person, or perhaps an upper realm celestial god.