Stepping out of the Gathering Fortune Pavilion, Chen Zhou arrived at the neighboring Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm.
The Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm had undergone a complete transformation, thanks to its continuous development over time and the diligent efforts of the little demons Su Xue had brought from the Southern Region to cultivate and plan the land.
A floating, inverted mountain hung in the sky, its peak pointing downward and its base facing the heavens. It was covered in exotic flowers and rare herbs, with waterfalls cascading from the peak, creating a mist that formed rainbow bridges in mid-air.
Rows of medicinal fields were neatly arranged across the land, each containing different spiritual plants, resembling a vast green checkerboard.
A few little plant demons were busy working among the rows.
The Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm was perfect in almost every way, except for its excessive number of rules.
The rules established by Lady Su Xue—regarding the amount of fertilizer, watering times, and pruning methods for every single spiritual plant—were all different.
As little plant demons, they were naturally attuned to vegetation and found the work easy enough, but the sheer volume of meticulous rules was overwhelming.
However, no one actually complained.
Su Xue had said that this space was a land graced by the Divine Lord, and being able to live in such a place was already a supreme blessing.
Basking in the sun, farming, and chatting every day made for a life more comfortable than that of the immortals.
It was just that, occasionally, some strange things would pop up.
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
A little demon looked up and saw a fist-sized yellow beetle flying over from the other side of the medicinal field. Its wings buzzed loudly, and it flew in a wobbly, drunken manner.
The yellow beetle was a dusty yellow color, its shell covered in fine insect markings that resembled parched, cracked earth.
It dove headfirst into a field of fragrant smartweed blooming with purple flowers, grabbing onto a stamen and rubbing against it vigorously.
Pollen fell in flurries, coating the beetle entirely.
After finishing with one flower, it moved on to the next, causing the petals to tremble and the stalks to lean every which way.
"Hey, hey, hey!" The little demon cried out in a panic, dropping its wooden ladle and running over. "Stop that! Stop it! These are the Purple Jade Fragrant Smartweed Lady Su Xue just cultivated. You can't touch them during their blooming period!"
The yellow beetle didn't listen at all. After finishing with the Purple Jade Fragrant Smartweed, it buzzed over to the neighboring Green Heart Grass field and began gnawing away.
Crunch, crunch.
A crescent-shaped notch was bitten out of a Green Heart Grass leaf.
The little demon stomped her feet in distress. "That's Green Heart Grass! Lady Su Xue said it was to be saved for Lord Yu He!"
The yellow beetle looked up, a half-eaten leaf still dangling from its mouth. It blinked at the little demon and then began chewing even more happily.
Other little plant demons gathered around, frantically trying to catch it.
But the yellow beetle was fast, twisting and turning as it wove through the medicinal fields. Every so often, it would stop to take a few bites of a spiritual plant or rub against a flower, throwing the entire field into chaos.
One little demon was led on such a chase that he tripped and fell face-first into the mud. When he climbed out, his face was covered in dirt, and he looked so pitiful that he was nearly moved to tears.
These spiritual plants had been planted by Lady Su Xue herself. They usually tended to them with extreme care, afraid of even the slightest bump, yet they were being ruined like this by a single bug.
Just then, an elderly voice drifted over from the edge of the field.
"Ahem."
The voice wasn't loud, but all the little plant demons stopped in their tracks.
The soul of an old man floated out from between the fields.
He was hoary-haired with a thin, gaunt face, wearing a light gray robe and leaning on a walking stick. His soul was semi-transparent, its edges glowing with a faint light like a condensed cloud of mist.
Duke Wu wore a stern expression as he floated toward the yellow beetle.
The yellow beetle was currently hugging the cap of a Vermilion Spirit Ganoderma and gnawing with gusto when it suddenly felt a chill behind it. Looking back, it met Duke Wu's sharp gaze.
Duke Wu's hand moved like lightning, snatching the beetle and clutching it in his palm.
The yellow beetle's six legs kicked wildly, and its wings buzzed frantically between his fingers, but it couldn't break free.
"My apologies, my apologies." Duke Wu turned and cupped his hands toward the little plant demons, his face full of embarrassment. "This little rascal has just awakened, and his mind isn't quite clear yet. He's caused trouble for everyone."
The little demon was taken aback and hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no, please don't say that."
Although they didn't know who this old man was, all the souls in the Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm, regardless of their origin, were under the Divine Lord's authority.
Lady Su Xue called these souls 'tenants' and said they were all poor souls taken in by the Divine Lord.
Since he was a tenant, he was one of their own.
And the bug brought by one of their own... could be considered half of their own, too.
Duke Wu looked down, glaring at the yellow beetle in his palm, his beard bristling with anger.
"Purity and Filth! Can't you settle down for a moment?"
The reincarnated Purity and Filth stopped struggling and tilted its head, looking at Duke Wu with its bright black eyes before letting out a self-righteous squeak.
"Squeak!"
Duke Wu's face darkened further, his anger growing as he spoke. "Look at you, how old are you, huh? Over a thousand years old. Rejuvenation is one thing, but how did your brains have to revert into nothingness too?"
"You were at least the ruler of a province once. Before you went mad, you were quite the figure."
"Now look at you—chasing flowers, trampling grass, and gnawing on everything in sight. Have you no shame?"
As the little plant demons watched Purity and Filth being scolded, they suddenly heard another sound and looked toward the end of the medicinal field.
A figure was emerging from the light curtain of swirling spiritual energy.
His black robes trailed on the ground, his features were blurred, and a faint death qi swirled around him. As he walked, the spiritual plants in the medicinal fields swayed slightly, as if brushed by an invisible wind.
The little plant demons immediately put down their work and knelt in unison.
"Divine Lord."
Duke Wu also hurriedly turned around, clutching Purity and Filth in one hand while leaning on his walking stick with the other, and bowed respectfully.
"Sovereign."
Purity and Filth began to squirm in his palm again, its six legs kicking as it tried to escape.
Duke Wu squeezed it firmly and hissed under his breath, "Behave!"
Chen Zhou walked over, his gaze sweeping across the medicinal fields before finally landing on Purity and Filth in Duke Wu's hand.
"How are you adjusting?"
The question was directed at Duke Wu.
Duke Wu straightened up, his face filled with emotion.
"In response to Your Sovereignty, I have been awake for less than a day, but I have already toured this entire place."
"It is no exaggeration to say that in my thousand years of life, I have never seen such a place."
"I spent my entire life in Tianchi Province."
"From birth to death, I never once got to see a bright, clear blue sky."
"Old Man Purity and Filth also had a heart full of passion back then; he wanted to give the people of Tianchi Province a better life."
"But he couldn't do it."
"In that place, filth energy wells up from underground. The soil can grow no crops, the water is poisoned, the air is poisoned, and even the clouds in the sky are gray-green."
Duke Wu lowered his head to look at Purity and Filth in his grasp. The beetle lay there quietly, motionless.
Duke Wu sighed and looked back up at Chen Zhou.
"Sovereign, I dare to ask a question."
"What is the name of this place?"
Chen Zhou looked at him and spoke calmly.
"Wrongfully Dead."
"The city where I reside is named the City of the Wrongfully Dead. Those rejected by heaven and earth, I shall take in; those doomed to eternal damnation, I shall deliver."
"To all who enter this city, I do not ask of your origin, only of your destination."
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