The starlight faded, leaving behind a dark room with several dark dragon pillars standing on both sides of the main hall. Seated on the throne at the end of the hall was a young man with dark hair, holding something resembling a ledger in his left hand and murmuring to himself with a thick brush held in his right hand.

Juxi took hesitant steps forward and approached the young man, asking, "Excuse me, where am I?"

"Of course, this is the Celestial Court. Every time someone dies, they all come here saying the same thing. Isn't there any originality left in anyone?" The young man raised his head and complained without giving Juxi a chance to speak.

"Do you not understand even this? Nowadays, everyone, be they ghosts or deities, knows that innovation is crucial for societal progress, not just for you!"

"Uh..."

As Juxi looked at the now calm face of the once angry young man, most of his nervousness dissipated, and he got straight to the point.

"So, does that mean I am already dead, and this is the Underworld?"

"What nonsense! What kind of place is the Underworld? Listen carefully! I'll only say this once! The place where we reside is called the Celestial Court, and this is the shrine where all departed spiritual thoughts are collected."

The shrine of the dead?

Was he really already dead? Although disappointed, Juxi was not without hope, just worried about how his grandparents would take the news or if his parents would be devastated because of him.

After all, he felt like he was overthinking it... he was just a forsaken creature.

"Don't think too much. The dead do not need to cling to the grudges and grievances of the world. Go! The Master of the Crossroads of Karma is waiting for you there. You are special, so the Master wants to personally meet you. Perhaps you will become one of us. Remember, out of three trillion beings, it is a great fortune to be received by the Master."

The thought of the Master wanting to meet him personally was rarer than winning the lottery, making Juxi unable to contain his excitement.

Upon arriving at the doors of the main hall via the shrine, Juxi was immediately struck by a spectacular sight he did not anticipate. He had thought the gloomy and damp Underworld would be suspended in the misty sky, but the rays of sunlight fell on the magnificent and towering structure that seemed to reach the sky. No, this was the real divine realm!

"Long time no see, Son Beyond the Boundaries. We have met five times already, and this will be the sixth!"

Just as Juxi was lost in the wonderful otherworldly realm, a gentle yet authoritative voice pierced through the heavens, descending from the main hall via a celestial staircase to reach his ears, shattering the peace of the place.

"I am the Yama King of the Celestial Court!"

"Child, this world needs you to seek the truth. The day you achieve enlightenment will be the day you are enshrined as a god."

A man in a black mask spoke from above the celestial staircase.

Witnessing this scene, Juxi couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy, but that so-called Yama King... wasn't that the Underworld?

"As you can see, this is my Ten Yama Halls, not called the Underworld."

As he spoke, at the moment Juxi blinked, the Yama King had already passed him. A sturdy and powerful hand with purple hair yet blue veins landed on Juxi's shoulder.

"Can you understand my thoughts?"

"There is no language unknown within the Ten Yama Halls. Therefore..."

In a flash, before Juxi could react, the Yama King appeared behind him, stating, "I trust senses more than eyes and insight over mere sight."

"Are you transcendent? What a good choice. If only I had such a choice."

Bluntly mocking, Juxi did not know where his courage came from to challenge the Yama King.

But the former's tone was calm and dignified, giving him some options.

"As in the previous five encounters, I offer you two choices: Do you continue the wheel of reincarnation or...?"

With a delay, the Yama King gave a definitive answer.

"In your past life, the ordeal was one of solitude. By surpassing solitude and treating others with sincerity, you only need to make a clear choice after passing through the five realms this time. You won't need to endure the harsh winds and shackles again."

"Alright, I choose to continue the wheel of reincarnation!"

After much internal struggle, Juxi thought, since there was a clear path in front of him, he must follow it!

"Think carefully. Once you choose the final cycle, you will endure the torments and hardships of purgatory. If not, you can become an immortal resident of the celestial realm, living a happy li—"

The reason the Yama King personally sought him out each time was because he always chose to endure the cycles of reincarnation rather than the near-infinite lifespan offered by the celestial realm. However, Juxi, a mere child, retorted his child's beliefs.

"Pain is also a form of happiness. I love my family and all the loved ones around me."

Juxi's tightly clenched fist hidden in the white sleeve unconsciously relaxed.

"Whether in this life or the next! I hope to go back, to continue that part of my fantasy... Sorry, I can't abandon my desires and enter your realm of bliss yet. So, until we meet again!"

Expressing his final belief in a rather crude manner, Juxi resolutely walked towards the door of reincarnation.

"Wishing you good luck, child! Once you make a choice and step through the door of reincarnation, there is no turning back. You may be forever trapped in the gears of time, unable to escape."

The black figure disappeared into the sky, causing Juxi a moment of hesitation. He turned his head, his eyes revealing a solitary gaze, like a monk who had renounced the world.

"Thank you for your kindness. Even if it's just a dream, I hope to forever sink into the abyss."

"This isn't the best way. The Immortal Emperor said, 'When alive, see the person; when dead, see the corpse.' Even if it's burned to ashes, it must be pieced back together for the report!"

Though the words were spoken this way, around twenty black-clothed men, including the leader, leaped in place, standing balanced on the tops of the bamboo poles, closely watching as someone escaped from the forest. They hoped to see the person purported to be the Dragon and Phoenix as mentioned by the Immortal Emperor flee the woods.

Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew through.

"Today, your ashes probably won't be pieced back together. Let alone being reported to someone?"

The voice belonged to an old man, echoing through the bamboo forest, seemingly close but also distant.

The leader of the black-clothed men raised chicken skin bumps on his scalp. In all his years of wandering, besides the previous generation's leader, Yi Fei, no one had imposed such pressure as this junior high-level expert with Nine Hearts!

"Since you're so brazen, why not try taking a blow from me? If you can endure it, I'll hand the Holy Sage's son over to you."

Filled with defiance, the black-clothed leader was unwilling to accept the old man's aura calculation, both being of the same level as Imperial Humans. If he couldn’t withstand an attack from the same level, he would lose face and credibility among the Flowing Garment Guards!

"Fine, I agree!"

Having given his word, darkness surrounded them, the initial cold wind turning icy, carrying the scent of death.

Unaware of any attack from the other side, one red streak tore across the sky, silently leaving the leader suspended on the bamboo pole with a fragmented body, a rather eerie sight.

The surviving deputy leader and others were unable to discern or confirm his position.

"I don't like overly pessimistic people!"

After his words, everyone turned their attention to the deputy leader... or his body!

A member among the black-clothed group, on the verge of death, finally breathed his last upon seeing the face of the old man.

Bending down, the old man inspected the silver flower on the black-clothed man's attire, plucked it off, and tucked it into his pocket with a sigh, "After all these years of waiting, it seems it's no longer safe."

"Grandpa! Mother, quick, run! Grandpa has eliminated the bad people ahead!"

Once the black-clothed men were all taken care of, Juxi helped his mother, still shaken, to escape from the underground passage hidden beneath the rocks.

"Grandpa, the fire has been extinguished. Let's go b—"

"We can't go back to Anlin!"

Overruling Juxi's suggestion, Grandpa pulled out a tight-fitting vest with a silver flower imprint from his pocket, showing it to Juxi and his mother.

Juxi, being a born and raised local in Anlin, didn't need to be explained much, but his mother, Chen Liufang, upon seeing the bloodied silver flower, tensed and clasped Juxi's small hand tightly in hers.

"That silver flower is the same as the ones worn by the black-clothed men who massacred our entire family, including my father that night. They are all part of the Flowing Garment Guards!"

Her tone was filled with hatred.

"It's all over now. If your father hadn't saved me back then, I would've been dead under their knives by now!"

Although Juxi couldn't fully understand who the black-clothed men were, his mother's hateful expression and tone at least made him somewhat uneasy.

"To fall to this extent... The Flowing Garment Guards used to be known for their chivalry, protecting the poor and fighting the rich. But now? They kill ordinary people without a second thought. I refuse even to look at the Flowing Garment Guards who used to be my pride! How long will you turn a blind eye and a deaf ear?"

"Grandpa, Mother is tired. Perhaps you should—"

Rubbing his mother's shoulders, Juxi asked how she was feeling.

"No, now that things have come to this, we must not linger a single moment longer here! We must immediately set out for the residence of Guo Prefect in Qingzhou City. He is now the most trustworthy among the acquaintances closest to us, as your grandfather listed him in the joint petition before the uprising."

After that, he went to the back of the tent and brought out two brown horses that were often used for leisure. He saddled them and helped Tianhua and Chen Shi onto the horses before mounting the other one himself. After a whistle, Juxi and his mother's horse obediently followed his horse, and they rode away from the bamboo forest where they had lived for twelve years without stopping.