"When the Glacier King gave us the Glacier Heart, to prevent any of our people from claiming it as their own, he made our ancestor take a vow before this heart. That's why, for tens of thousands of years, aside from the guarding elders, no member of our tribe has ever touched this heart. It's precisely for this reason that the heart has maintained its purity to this day!" The elder of the Snow Mountain Tribe explained.

"But you, general, are different!" The elder looked towards the Ancestor of the Nether King, "You are not one of our Snow Mountain Tribe, so you won't be cursed by the vow of that year. Most importantly, you are not one of those ignorant followers of the Volcano King!"

"Don't forget, it was I who led my troops in slaughtering your people inside the city!" The Ancestor of the Nether King expressed his doubts.

"Today, our Snow Mountain Tribe was bound to face a catastrophe. Even if you, general, do not kill us, we would be massacred by the Dog Tribe who are about to invade the city. So, general, will you make this deal or not? If you obtain the Glacier Heart, you will become one of the strongest in the world!"

Feeling the strong power emanating from the Glacier Heart, the Ancestor of the Nether King's heart wavered.

He thought to himself: If he returned to the southern continent with just two thousand soldiers, he would surely be without achievements, unable to hold his head high in front of his father, Di Yuwang, and his three elder brothers; but if he had the Glacier Heart, it would be different, for the heart imbued with powerful Spiritual Power, could help him quickly rise again.

After considering for a long while, the Ancestor of the Nether King looked at the elder and asked, "What are your conditions?"

"You must vow to preserve the bloodline of our Snow Mountain Tribe and then exterminate all of the Dog Tribe invaders outside the city. Most importantly, you must protect this ancient city!"

The Ancestor of the Nether King sighed briefly, then turned and walked to the entrance of the sanctuary. Not far away, he saw his soldiers still bloodbathing the ancient city. He was torn inside; if he accepted this condition, he would betray his lifesaver; if he did not, upon returning to the south, he would forever be viewed as mediocre and unable to compete with his three brothers.

"I am willing to make this deal with you," the Ancestor of the Nether King said to the elder after a while, "but I am afraid I cannot fulfill the last condition! If I stay here to guard this city for all my life, this Glacier Heart would have no place to be used. If so, what would be the point of me obtaining this heart?"

With a cold laugh, the elder replied, "General, you need not worry. You can leave for now, you just need to leave behind two things."

"Which two things?"

"Your heart and your promise!" the elder explained, "If you agree to my conditions, then please first make your promise before this heart. Then, I will extract your Nether Soul's heart and merge it with the Glacier Heart. From then on, the Glacier Heart will belong to you and serve you completely!"

The elder took a few steps forward, brought the Glacier Heart in front of the Ancestor of the Nether King, and continued, "Lastly, I will separate your heart from the Glacier Heart, give you the Glacier Heart, and keep your heart here! In the future, when you die, your own heart will call your Nether Soul back, allowing you to be reborn!"

The Ancestor of the Nether King furrowed his brows deeply, his eyes filled with doubt, worried that the Snow Mountain Tribe elder was deceiving him just to take his heart.

"Before I die, can the Glacier Heart be passed on to my descendants?"

"Of course, it can, but the vow remains," the elder answered earnestly. "When the time comes, remember to bring their hearts to you, so that after they die, they can be summoned like you to be reborn with their Nether Souls!"

..

..

"Stepfather!" the Ghost King suddenly interrupted.

"From what you're saying, although you four grandsons and grandfathers of Nether Kings have sealed the Gate of the Nether King with Yin Souls, your Nether Souls have been summoned to the ancient city to be reborn! You just asked me to swear never to set foot in the ancient city, is it to stop me from seeking revenge on you and Feng Yie? It was you and him who joined forces to imprison me in the Gate of the Nether King!"

The strawman shook his head and looked up at the cloud mist drifting overhead and said, "Mainly because of your heritage!"

"Adoptive father, who is my dad anyway? Why didn't you mention my dad after talking for so long?"

The scarecrow turned his head to look at the Ghost King, his voice low and guilty, "Haven't you guessed who your dad is?"

Suddenly, a frosty brilliance shot from the Ghost King's eyes, and then he froze.

"Could it be that my dad is the leader of the Dog Tribe, your life-saving nemesis—Lie?" After a long while, the Ghost King asked hoarsely. He suddenly remembered that under intense anger, he would often transform into a giant mastiff, which he had always thought was due to his cultivation in demonification.

He was shaking violently all over, more frantic and scared than ever before, even more than when he was thrown into the Gate of the Nether King by the Ancestor of the Nether King, where he managed to stay calm under the watchful eyes of the three Primordial Demons of the Netherworld during ten thousand years of lonely suffering.

He was waiting for an answer.

An answer that he couldn't accept!

"That's right, Lie is your dad!" the scarecrow nodded, "Back then, I couldn't resist the temptation and made that deal with the elder of the Snow Mountain Tribe, betraying your dad and slaughtering all the members of the Dog Tribe!"

"No!" The Ghost King suddenly let out an angry roar, his pale cheeks twitching violently.

He had once called the Ancestor of the Nether King his adoptive father for twenty thousand years, but it turned out he had been recognizing a thief as a father!

"No!" The Ghost King's face kept breaking out in cold sweat, his round, terrified eyes bloodshot.

"Disgusting, you're truly disgusting!" the Ghost King roared furiously, pointing at the scarecrow, "You betrayed my dad and even had me call you adoptive father!"

"My child, I'm sorry, it was all because your adoptive father was bewitched back then."

"Shut up, don't call me that anymore, you're not my adoptive father, you are my enemy!" The Ghost King's voice sounded like it was crying.

"It serves you right that later your wife was taken away by your elder brother, giving you a despicable and sleazy son!" the Ghost King jabbed at the soft underbelly of the Ancestor of the Nether King, "Not a single one in your family is good, all of you deserved your miserable fates!"

The scarecrow silently sighed in sorrow.

"So now you know why I considered passing on the title of the Nether King to you!"

"I don't need it!" the Ghost King's furious voice was tearing apart, "Luckily you didn't do so in the end, otherwise if I had really become the Nether King, I would find myself unforgivable now! I'm going to kill you!"

As soon as he said this, the Ghost King transformed into a giant mastiff beast, baring its fangs, its appearance ferocious.

The scarecrow stood up, speaking mournfully, "Come on then! Don't forget the oath you just swore to me!"

"Although I can't set foot in the Ancient City, I can send someone else to raze that place to the ground!"

"Howl!" Before he had finished speaking, the mastiff that the Ghost King had become let out a heart-wrenching howl as the Nether King's Power within him punished him for his thoughts of breaking the oath.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.