Chương 168: Houtu's Test

"Fang Yang, a disciple of the Jie Sect, along with other disciples of the sect, pays respects to the Goddess Houtu!"

Upon seeing the true form of Houtu Niangniang, Fang Yang immediately became solemn and led everyone in bowing in respect.

"No need for such formalities."

Houtu Niangniang slowly opened her eyes, her gaze falling on Fang Yang. She nodded slightly, "My dear friends, you have come from afar. You must be tired."

As soon as the Goddess Houtu finished speaking, fifteen seats appeared on the left side of the main hall.

Upon seeing this, Fang Yang made no attempt to stand on ceremony and took his seat first. Qian Yao Daojun and the others followed Fang Yang's lead, taking their seats in turn as well.

"Young friend Fang Yang is the most outstanding junior member of the Xuanmen sect in this great calamity, and must have unique insights into the affairs of the underworld. You just said that the ghosts of the underworld cannot see the future. Do you mean that reincarnation is not the hope of the ghosts?"

There's nothing that happens in the underworld that Houtu Niangniang doesn't know. The commotion caused by Fang Yang and the others wasn't big, but Houtu Niangniang could predict everything with just a little calculation.

The idea that reincarnation is not a hope is so novel that even the Goddess Houtu has never heard of it before.

Upon hearing this, Fang Yang stood up and bowed to Houtu Niangniang once again:

"Your Majesty, please be wise. Reincarnation is the righteous path of heaven and earth, and also an opportunity for all beings to transcend. However, each incarnation of beings is different; their thoughts, temperaments, and perceptions are vastly different. For ghosts, after reincarnation, their self will perish, and they will become another being."

"Forgive my boldness, but when I was a mortal, I had a wish: I would rather have my soul scattered and my body and spirit destroyed than be reincarnated."

His tone was extremely serious, and his voice was clear and resonant, echoing throughout the Six Paths of Reincarnation Palace.

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere inside the Six Paths of Reincarnation Palace became extremely heavy.

Fang Yang's earlier words were fine, but his later statement clearly showed his disdain for the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Houtu Niangniang's greatest achievement was establishing the Six Paths of Reincarnation, so Fang Yang's words were suspected of defaming Houtu Niangniang.

Houtu Niangniang showed no anger in her eyes; her expression remained calm: "In the eyes of mortals, is the Six Paths of Reincarnation truly so terrifying?"

Fang Yang raised his eyes, his gaze open and unreserved:

"From the perspective of the universe, reincarnation is an immense act of compassion. Through reincarnation, all beings gain a new life, thus avoiding annihilation. However, from the perspective of the individual, reincarnation is a deprivation of self-awareness."

"Reincarnation severs all ties with the past. The self of this life vanishes like smoke, and the self of the next life will not recognize this life. What is terrifying is not the cycle of reincarnation, but the demise of self-awareness."

Houtu Niangniang never imagined that a disciple of a sage would have the courage to point out the flaws of reincarnation in front of her.

Houtu Niangniang can distinguish between courage and arrogance.

To act like the Seven Immortals of Penglai, relying on their status as disciples of a sage to swagger towards the powerful beings of heaven and earth—that is true arrogance. Fang Yang clearly respects me, yet he still dares to speak the truth to me; that is courage.

"What you say is very true, young friend. For an individual among the masses, reincarnation is another death. However, if one were to be reincarnated with memories, it would likely disrupt the order of the Yin and Yang realms."

Every rule exists for a reason.

When the Six Paths of Reincarnation were first established, the Earth Goddess Houtu did not set up the Hall of Forgetfulness, so the ghosts did not need to drink Meng Po's soup for reincarnation.

However, the result of doing so is that Yin and Yang are in complete chaos, and cause and effect become entangled to the extreme.

Beings reincarnated with memories of their past lives may harbor resentment and hatred, displaying murderous intent towards their blood relatives from birth; others may be fixated on past love and affection.

They were willing to go against morality.

Helpless, the Goddess Houtu established the Palace of Forgetfulness and used the rules of the underworld to create an incarnation of Meng Po, which was then projected into the heavens and entered the reincarnation sub-palaces of the myriad worlds to wash away the memories of reincarnated ghosts.

These historical events are clearly recorded in the Wanfa Pavilion's books, so Fang Yang naturally knew them.

"Your Majesty's compassion is understood by this junior. The matter of reincarnation concerns the safety of the Three Realms. This junior has received the decree from my master and will certainly do my utmost to assist Your Majesty in handling all matters in the Underworld."

The goddess Houtu, disguised as an interviewer, asked, "Young friend, what brilliant plan do you have?"

Fang Yang's expression turned serious: "I wouldn't call it a brilliant plan. Before things are accomplished, all plans are just empty talk. All I can say is that I will do my best to get things done."

Fang Yang dared not take on too much responsibility before things were done properly.

He has now taken the responsibility upon himself. If things don't go well and there are problems with the cycle of reincarnation, he will be the one to take responsibility.

Fang Yang always remembered that he was just an outsourced worker, not a formal employee of the Underworld. The worst thing for an outsourced worker is to be a scapegoat.

Seeing Fang Yang's impeccable skill, Houtu Niangniang immediately looked at this youngest disciple of the sage with new respect.

"In that case, just as Fellow Daoist Tongtian said, I will entrust the eighteen levels of hell to you, young friend, so that you may deliver them from suffering."

As soon as Houtu Niangniang uttered these words, Fang Yang became the chief executioner of the eighteen levels of hell. All the gods and ghost messengers of the eighteen levels of hell were under his command.

Houtu Niangniang wanted to test Fangyang's ability to handle things by using the eighteen levels of hell. Anyway, the eighteen levels of hell were filled with evil spirits, so nothing serious could happen.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Yang cupped his hands in greeting and sat back down in his seat.

Before the immortals from other sects arrived, he inquired about the current situation in the underworld from the goddess Houtu.

The situation in the underworld is indeed not good.

The Underworld was established around the same time as the Heavenly Court. The difference is that the Heavenly Court belongs to the Xuanmen, which was the biggest winner in the last great calamity, while the Underworld belongs to the Wu Clan, which was the biggest loser in the last great calamity.

The Witch Clan lost. Those truly capable immortals and ghosts dared not submit to the Goddess Houtu; instead, they all rushed to be reincarnated. What remained in the Underworld were mostly ghost cultivators with relatively low cultivation levels.

After ascending to the throne, the Emperor of Fengdu did indeed cultivate and promote a group of underworld gods. Unfortunately, like the Jade Emperor, the Emperor of Fengdu was not a promising talent for developing power.

At first, the Jade Emperor didn't know how, but he knew how to learn, studying Di Jun, Tai Yi, and the Ancestral Dragon. Even though his students were losers, these losers still had some skill in developing their power.

The Emperor of Fengdu was different; he learned from the Twelve Ancestral Witches. What did the Twelve Ancestral Witches know about developing power? As the legitimate descendant of Pangu, they squandered a winning hand.

The Emperor of Fengdu tried his best to imitate the Twelve Ancestral Witches, but the development of the underworld could not keep up with the increase in the number of ghosts in the underworld.

Moreover, the underworld is different from the mortal realm.

In the mortal realm, there are great sages and teachings that enlighten all beings. In the underworld, however, there are no sects, and the ghosts there are left without guidance.

Hoping to educate the Wu tribe is futile; the Wu tribe isn't suited for it, and they can't even educate themselves properly.

As time went by, the situation in the underworld deteriorated further. Eventually, it spiraled out of control, leaving them no choice but to seek help from the mystical sects.

Houtu Niangniang wanted to test Fangyang's ability to handle things by using the eighteen levels of hell. Anyway, the eighteen levels of hell were filled with evil spirits, so nothing serious could happen.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Yang cupped his hands in greeting and sat back down in his seat.

Before the immortals from other sects arrived, he inquired about the current situation in the underworld from the goddess Houtu.

The situation in the underworld is indeed not good.

The Underworld was established around the same time as the Heavenly Court. The difference is that the Heavenly Court belongs to the Xuanmen, which was the biggest winner in the last great calamity, while the Underworld belongs to the Wu Clan, which was the biggest loser in the last great calamity.

The Witch Clan lost. Those truly capable immortals and ghosts dared not submit to the Goddess Houtu; instead, they all rushed to be reincarnated. What remained in the Underworld were mostly ghost cultivators with relatively low cultivation levels.

After ascending to the throne, the Emperor of Fengdu did indeed cultivate and promote a group of underworld gods. Unfortunately, like the Jade Emperor, the Emperor of Fengdu was not a promising talent for developing power.

At first, the Jade Emperor didn't know how, but he knew how to learn, studying Di Jun, Tai Yi, and the Ancestral Dragon. Even though his students were losers, these losers still had some skill in developing their power.

The Emperor of Fengdu was different; he learned from the Twelve Ancestral Witches. What did the Twelve Ancestral Witches know about developing power? As the legitimate descendant of Pangu, they squandered a winning hand.

The Emperor of Fengdu tried his best to imitate the Twelve Ancestral Witches, but the development of the underworld could not keep up with the increase in the number of ghosts in the underworld.

Moreover, the underworld is different from the mortal realm.

In the mortal realm, there are great sages and teachings that enlighten all beings. In the underworld, however, there are no sects, and the ghosts there are left without guidance.

Hoping to educate the Wu tribe is futile; the Wu tribe isn't suited for it, and they can't even educate themselves properly.

As time went by, the situation in the underworld deteriorated further. Eventually, it spiraled out of control, leaving them no choice but to seek help from the mystical sects.