The mortal world.

Dusk.

The waning glow of the sunset, piercing through the kitchen window glass, fell on Chen Hao's serene face, also gradually bringing warmth to his body.

Chen Hao was cooking Ye Yuqiao's favorite crabs, relishing the sight of Yuqiao extolling the dish he prepared with his own hands, which was why he was always so devoted when cooking.

Suddenly, Chen Hao felt warmth surge against his back, followed by a familiar and unique fragrance wafting into his nose.

It was Ye Yuqiao coming in, hugging him from behind.

"It smells so good!" Ye Yuqiao said with her eyes closed, "The queen is almost drooling!"

Chen Hao slightly tilted his head backward, his face brimming with a happy smile, "Just a moment, it will be ready soon!"

Over the past couple of days, the two of them, along with Tang Jing and Xie Xiaofeng, had visited amusement parks, ocean parks, ice rinks, and many other fun places, enjoying the so-called vacation.

Not long after, Chen Hao turned off the stove and then turned around, looking tenderly at Ye Yuqiao...

The last rays of the sunset showered over the two of them, warming their hearts. For both, life in these two days was incredibly blissful.

But at that moment, out of the blue, Chen Hao's half-closed left eye emitted a dazzling black-purple light.

Ye Yuqiao immediately opened her eyes wide and tilted her head back in surprise, "Chen Hao, why is your left eye suddenly emitting purple light? Could it be that the spiritual power inside the Nether King Orchid Heart has broken through the seal you placed on it?"

Chen Hao closed his left eye, only to see the black-purple light flicker in and out of visibility, while the Nether King Orchid Heart still remained frozen.

"Yuqiao, could it be that you've seen wrong?"

No sooner had Chen Hao finished speaking than countless black-purple rays shot out from his left eye in all directions.

"How strange!" Chen Hao asked curiously.

"Do you feel anything unusual in your body?"

Chen Hao shook his head, looking utterly bewildered.

Ye Yuqiao furrowed her brows, deep in thought.

Before long, without Ye Yuqiao figuring out what was happening, countless cracks suddenly appeared around Chen Hao's left eye, and then his left eye turned into a purple vortex.

Ye Yuqiao leaned closer to Chen Hao, only to see a spiral of red Yin Qi Spiritual Power rotating inside the vortex, which then gradually shrank as it spun faster.

"So that's what's happening!" Ye Yuqiao had a sudden realization and explained, "It's the Nether King's Heart that is transforming King Nanlin's Yin Qi Spiritual Power for your use."

"Does that mean my spiritual power is about to greatly increase?" Chen Hao asked, his face alight with joy.

Ye Yuqiao nodded, "But it's best if you first remove the seal on the Nether King's Heart; the transformation will happen faster that way."

"Wouldn't that let the fake Yuqiao know our whereabouts?" Chen Hao's face darkened.

"So what if she knows!" Ye Yuqiao pondered seriously for a moment then said, "We'll just reseal it after the transformation is complete."

After some thought, Chen Hao took Ye Yuqiao's hand and said, "Yuqiao, a complete transformation will take at least a few days. I want to live peacefully for a few more days before we remove the seal, is that okay?"

"All right!" Ye Yuqiao leaned her face against Chen Hao's chest, "Actually, I too wish to spend a few more days just the two of us."

..

..

The night was deep,

After spending two days and a night walking within the painting scroll, relying on past experience from entering other Demon-Sealing Scrolls, the Ghost King quickly found the place where the demon was sealed in this landscape scroll—the very embodiment of the Ancestor of the Nether King's sealing power.

In the eight scrolls containing fragments of ancient cities, the embodiments of the Ancestor of the Nether King's power were all different. In the previous four scrolls that the Ghost King had entered, the embodiments were respectively a Jiao dragon, a gnome, an ice bird, and a tree king.

Beyond that, each embodiment had a distinct personality and emotions: the Jiao dragon was brutal, the gnome was afraid of death, the ice bird was reclusive, and the tree king was benevolent. Each different personality represented a different aspect of the Great Ancestor's psyche.

"What will the embodiment be this time? What personality will it have?" the Ghost King wondered as he walked. He hoped that this incarnation would be an easy-to-talk-to demon sealer, willing to answer his questions.

When he arrived at a heavily fogged forest, the Ghost King stopped in his tracks.

Within that forest, he sensed a mighty power.

"Foster father!" the Ghost King called out to the forest, his voice laden with a myriad of emotions. When the Ancestor of the Nether King transformed his power into embodiments and sealed them in these Demon-Sealing Scrolls, he was still a child. Hence, the embodiments knew nothing of the events that later transpired in the Netherworld.

Because of this, the Ghost King couldn't bring himself to hate these embodiments.

After a while, the fog in the forest dispersed, revealing a gaunt figure before the Ghost King.

To the Ghost King's surprise, this embodiment turned out to be just an ordinary scarecrow! The scarecrow wore plain clothing with a hay-woven garland atop its head. Beneath that garland was a youthful face filled with childish innocence.

"Could this scarecrow represent the innermost original intent of my foster father?" the Ghost King speculated.

"You call me foster father, could it be you're Jie?" Although the scarecrow appeared innocent, its voice and tone were exactly like that of the Nether King's Ancestor as the Ghost King remembered, "You've grown so much now, it seems that tens of thousands of years have passed."

"It has been around sixty thousand years," the Ghost King said as he approached the scarecrow.

"I wonder what the Netherworld has become now?" the scarecrow asked.

"We're now at the Fourth Generation Underworld King, and it's a female Underworld King. But her fate is the same as the previous three generations; they all sealed the Gate of the Nether King with a Yin Soul! Now, I rule over the Netherworld!" the Ghost King replied.

The scarecrow sat down on the ground, rested its chin in its hands and, after contemplating for a while, sighed and said, "It seems that everything is karma. I am to blame for the evils I committed back then! It's just unfortunate that my descendants have to suffer along with me, especially the Fourth Generation Underworld King. I didn't expect it to be a young lady."

With that, the scarecrow smiled, showing interest in its great-granddaughter who had become the Fourth Generation Underworld King.

Feeling that the scarecrow before him was congenial, the Ghost King saw a glimmer of hope in learning about his own origins and identity.

Just as he was about to speak, the scarecrow spoke first, "You just said that you rule over the Netherworld now, that's quite good. I had the same intention back in my day."

The Ghost King was taken aback and, after a moment of shock, asked, "Foster father, did I hear you correctly? You said you intended to pass the Netherworld throne to me, and not to your son, Feng Yie?"

The scarecrow nodded, "That's right! Until this embodiment of mine was sealed in the scroll, that's what I was thinking."

"Why did you plan to pass the throne of Nether King to me?"

The scarecrow turned to look at the Ghost King, then stood up and walked a few steps forward. After a moment of consideration, it turned around and said, "Well, tens of thousands of years have passed, there's no harm in telling you now! I planned to pass the Nether King's throne to you because, firstly, Feng Yie is not my biological son, secondly, you are outstanding, and also I feel guilt towards your father."

"My father!"

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