A person who should have died, even had their ashes scattered by the Demon God... had suddenly revived?!
Except for Cheng Hong, who had fainted from exhaustion, everyone else was almost stunned, their expressions blank and bewildered.
Was this… was this her?
Upon closer inspection, the identical appearance, the chillingly noble and imposing aura—this… was her.
But if one were to say she had died and returned to life… they seemed unsure.
For ever since her arrival, she had brought eternal night and darkness to this world, an existence symbolizing the extreme opposite of light.
All of this seemed to indicate that Gu Junshi, who had "come alive" again, had become an extraordinary being beyond their imagination.
Perhaps, she truly was dead.
For having stepped forth from the "Black Gate" once more, her Yin energy surged, heavily smearing the sky. At first glance, she did not resemble a living person.
Looking at her person, her skin was as cold and white as snow crystal, lacking the warmth and color of a human. Her eyes, crystalline and deep in texture, were a light shade of hazy gray-blue, giving off a profound yet dangerous complexity, inscrutable yet captivating.
Her lips were faintly colored, holding a smile colder than the night wind, standing at a stalemate with the Demon God, yielding not an inch.
"Sis…"
Gu Er's eyes widened, his words jumbled, his lips trembling.
He pushed away the Human Emperor's support, his eyes filled with grief, as if witnessing something unbearable.
"No… how could this be…"
Living people had the aura of the living. For example, these cultivators, from strongest to weakest, emitted a light representing life within their bodies in the eternal darkness. But she had nothing on her.
Although she could move like a living person, she lacked the aura of the living.
What did this represent?
It represented that she had indeed died.
And the Gu Junshi appearing before them now was merely a spirit.
Perhaps… not an ordinary spirit either. After all, spirits that crossed over from the underworld were either in the form of ghosts or skeletons. If they possessed a physical body but no soul, they could only be called Jiangshi.
But she was none of these. She possessed a complete body yet had come to the mortal world without losing her soul, and with world-destroying might.
"How did she come back to life?! We clearly saw the Demon God—"
The cultivators from the immortal sects exclaimed in astonishment.
"She seems different from before?"
Due to Gu Junshi's appearance, they even temporarily forgot their panic over being plunged into eternal night.
The Human Emperor, having been reshaped from an evil soul, existed between human and ghost. Naturally, he could perceive more of the matters of the underworld. However, he too found Gu Junshi's current state somewhat incomprehensible.
Neither human, nor ghost, nor immortal, she seemed to transcend these classifications.
He couldn't even discern if the Gu Junshi standing here now was the one he knew.
Tan Ya tightened his grip on the Yun Lei Sword, the damp hilt trembling slightly, just as his heart was unable to remain calm.
His lips parted in a dry, light laugh, "She truly never stops surprising people…"
"Gu… Jun… Shi?!"
The Demon God's surprised voice boomed, drawing out a long, cold wind that scraped across exposed skin, chilling to the bone.
In the darkness, every existence was like a colored light dotted on the black curtain, with mingled light and shadow, uneven and mottled. And the Demon God's ancient, blood-red light, like an abyss or a disaster, blazed across the entire sky, subtly suppressing the black curtain brought by Gu Junshi.
"What? After such a short absence, Lord Demon God no longer recognizes me?"
A lazy, cold voice carried Gu Junshi's unique tone. She was enveloped in a layer of mysterious purple-blue that stood out in the darkness, like scorching flames soaring upwards. Her tall figure, every muscle in her body seemingly containing endless power.
The Demon God never imagined that Gu Junshi had been reduced to ashes, her ashes even fed to demonic beasts, and yet she had resurrected. Who exactly was she?!
"Why are you still alive? I clearly investigated your entire background. You do not possess the ability to escape my grasp! Who helped you? The Heavenly Dao?"
Perhaps at this moment, the Demon God realized that Gu Junshi was far more complex than He had previously thought, and thus spoke with unrestrained agitation.
Gu Junshi stretched out her arm and drew a line downwards. The wind ceased and the clouds stilled, a heavy aura sweeping out. The black door continued to open without haste.
"I am already dead. This return to the mortal realm is specifically to escort Lord Demon God to hell."
She stood before that immensely tall black gate, appearing small. But the vast backdrop merely added a stroke of color to her, unable to suppress her radiance.
With a laugh, Gu Junshi took a step forward, and immediately a bridge of black lotuses snaked out. She seemed to tread upon the beautiful and dreamlike aurora of day and night.
"Of course, my 'hell' is not an adjective, but a destination."
As her words fell, a boundless space appeared behind the black gate. Within it, familiar scenes of hell emerged—places of punishment like mountains of knives, seas of fire, and oil vats for tongue extraction. Those residing within were those who had committed heinous crimes in life.
"What is that?!"
Someone's voice trembled with fear.
Primarily in this dark and silent world, the impact of crimson, wails, severity, and brutality tugged at everyone's nerves.
Humans would forever feel a visceral fear of harsh punishment, just as they did now, looking at the souls suffering cruel torments within the hellish scenes.
Initially, they were bewildered and stunned. Then, someone said, "I once heard that within the Underworld, there are eighteen layers of hell, used to punish all sorts of ghosts and spirits. The environment is terrifying and gloomy, far more horrific than mortal prisons for executed criminals. These souls entering the Underworld will receive different degrees of punishment according to the sins they committed in life, such as being thrown into oil vats, mountains of knives, seas of fire, or being whipped and tormented…"
The speaker was not a native cultivator of the Spirit Realm but had come from the Human Realm. Thus, upon making the connection, the words spilled out.
Others listened, half-believing, half-doubting, "Is that… really true? If so, wouldn't people who do evil in life suffer torment after death?"
The cultivators of the Spirit Realm were living beings, unaware of matters after death, nor did they subscribe to the idea of good and evil being rewarded and evil being punished, or the cycle of karma. They believed more in the supremacy of the strong; one could do anything if powerful enough.
"Naturally. Human destinies differ, fortunes vary. Some are born into higher strata, others lower. But only after death are all souls treated equally. The good are rewarded, the wicked punished; this is the underworld law formulated by the King of the Underworld."
Though they didn't know the true situation of the Underworld, once some things started being blabbered, they couldn't stop.
"Does this underworld law apply to the Demon God too?"
The cultivators were stunned.
However, an old Taoist who had lived for hundreds of years interjected, "It is rumored that after gods die, they directly vanish, their bodies and spirits ceasing to exist, and do not enter the Underworld…"
In the midst of this chaotic chatter, someone suddenly had an epiphany, their expression turning frenzied as they shouted excitedly, "Except for gods, aren't all other spirits managed by the Underworld? Is this place behind the great black door the Underworld we've been searching for?"
This sentence struck like a divine stroke, and a huge thunderclap exploded above their heads. They were all dumbfounded.
"N-no way, that's the passage to the Underworld…"
Their eyes widened, as if struck by manna from heaven, a mixture of shock and joy: "The Underworld just appeared?!"
"That terrifying black gate, could it be the Gate of the Yellow Springs, once recorded in the Book of the Underworld Heaven and Earth?!"