Soon enough, the Ghost Immortal brought Tian Yongheng's soul towards the deepest palace of the Hall of Souls.
In the Netherworld, it was assumed that the Yama Palace was the ultimate power and Yama King the supreme ruler. However, that was not really the case.
The Yama Palace only controlled the Eighteen Layers of Hell and the Yama King was only the judge of the Netherworld, judging whether a person was a saint or sinner in their lifetime and then issuing the according reward or punishment before their reincarnation.
In reality, the Six Paths of Reincarnation themselves were not in the hands of the Yama Palace, but the Hall of Souls. It was because the true strongest existence in the Netherworld was actually Empress Houtou, who was the physical manifestation of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
She was the one who held ultimate power over the Six Paths of Reincarnation and the Cycle of Samsāra, and thus, by extension, the Netherworld.
As soon as the Ghost Immortal reached the palace doors, she immediately halted, and just as she was about to speak, an ethereal, ghostly voice radiated with Yin Energy from within the palace doors.
"Come in."
The Ghost Immortal breathed a sigh of relief as the palace doors opened with a creak, stepping inside with her ghostly form.
What entered her view was the figure of an exceedingly beautiful woman exuding immense allure, her back facing the Ghost Immortal's with her legs crossed, floating over a high platform as she meditated.
The figure turned around, her body suddenly twisting as if she had always been facing the Ghost Immortal. She had a breathtakingly beautiful face, an aura of death and Yin Energy clinging to her form along with a palpitating sense of suffocation, the power of the Great Dao of Reincarnation flowing with every single move of hers.
Her violet eyes held a calmness as still as the ocean, holding a grace of unimaginable years of passage and vicissitudes.
The Ghost Immortal quickly bowed, not daring to let her eyes wander before she took out Tian Yongheng's soul.
"Your Excellency, this soul..."
Before the Ghost Immortal could continue, she realized that the soul in her hands was gone and floated before Empress Houtou.
Empress Houtou narrowed her eyes, purple light glowing in their depths as she tried to track down the Providence and origin of the soul in front of her.
The next second, she abruptly closed her eyes, a thin line of violet red blood dripping down from both her eyes, filled with the supreme power of reincarnation.
The Five-Elemental Spiritual Body...on the verge of becoming a Five-Elemental Divine Spiritual Physique... This is no longer a level of existence the current me can hope to see through even with my insight.
If only my cultivation base wasn't forcibly sealed...
She shook her head, her thoughts drifting towards the soul in her hands.
"Reincarnate it into the Second Great Mortal World, Lower Realm. And don't forget to seal the memories."
Her calm, authorative voice echoed through the dimly lit palace.
The Ghost Immortal didn't ask questions any further and just bowed respectfully, the soul floating towards her as she took it and directly left.
Empress Houtou turned her gaze towards the ceiling of the palace, as if seeing through layers of space and locking onto a certain realm beyond everything and everyone. Her gaze was complicated, with a hint of confusion visible in them.
"Just what are those guys from the heavens above planning now...?"
...
Second Great Mortal World, Mythical Era.
Eastern Continent,
The Capital City of Jiangnan Region under the State of Jiangzhou, in the territory of the Great Jiang Immortal Dynasty.
Earth-shattering thunder rumbled, as if the end of the world was near.
At this moment, inside the household of Jiangnan Region Tian Family Branch, a tense atmosphere was brewing.
Looking at the weather outside and then glancing at the innermost room located at a mountain peak of the household, all the people present, even servants, had different expressions.
A middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows and a Majestic aura was floating in the clouds a few thousand feet above the mountain peak and continously sweeping his divine sense over the room.
Alongside him, many other powerful divine senses were also continously checking the situation in the room, making sure nothing goes wrong.
Although they weren't much powerful, they weren't inferior to the middle-aged man's divine sense at all.
"Woo..."
At this moment, a child's cry was heard in the room and immediately spread throughout the entire household.
The tense atmosphere started to dissipate slowly as the thunder clouds in the sky started to fade slowly.
The middle-aged man landed on the ground in front of the room and stood in front of the door.
The door to the room opened and a servant came out of it.
"Family Head, it's a boy."
She said while bowing extremely respectfully.
The middle-aged man revealed a warm smile.
"You can go now."
The servant hurriedly left as the middle-aged man entered the room.
Inside the room, he saw his wife holding a child in her arms.
"Xuan'er."
He called out to his wife, who seemed to be in her 20's and smiled at her.
"Husband, he looks just like you."
The middle-aged man's wife says as she smiles and hands the child to her husband.
Looking at his son, he was pleasantly surprised.
"From Today onwards, your name will be Tian Yongheng."
His voice was slow and calm, yet it reached the ears of every person in the household.
Tian Yongheng's mother frowned at this as her expression turned solemn.
Tian Yongheng's father noticed this and said.
"Naming him Yongheng doesn't have to do anything with Immortal Cultivation. Xuan'er, don't worry."
He shook his head slightly.
"He only has Five-Elemental Spiritual Roots, he also doesn't have any special Constitution or Bloodline. You must've also noticed this, didn't you?"
Tian Yongheng's mother spoke softly.
One had to know that she was also a relatively powerful Cultivator, so childbirth didn't affect her at all.
"Isn't that what you wanted?"
Tian Yongheng's father smiled faintly as he looked at his son.
"Yes, I didn't want him to suffer the same fate as his First and Second brothers."
Tian Yongheng's mother spoke with difficulty and guilt.
"I understand."
Tian Yongheng's father nodded.
...
4 Years Later.
At the library of Jiangnan's Tian Family Household.
A rather cute child was scrambling through the books till a particular book caught his sight.
That child was Tian Yongheng, who didn't had any memories of his past life.
He picked up a book called 'Basics of Immortal Cultivation' and opened it.
He slowly started reading it for a some time till he reached a page with 3 words written on top of it.
'Mortal Cultivation Realms.'
His eyes shone brightly as he started reading it.
The Mortal Cultivation Realms were divided into 9 Realms with each realm being further divided into 9 minor realms.
But before entering the First Realm of the Mortal Cultivation Realms, one had to open their 12 Acupoints. This stage was known as the Acupoint Opening Stage.
Someone who had opened 6 of their Acupoints or entered the Sixth Level Acupoint Opening Stage was already considered a Martial Arts Master in the secular Mortal World.
At the Twelfth Level of Acupoint Opening Stage, one was already considered a Martial Arts Grandmaster who could break rocks with their bare hands.
That was the end of the Martial Path, if one wanted to improve further, they had to step onto the Path to Immortality and become an Immortal Cultivator.
However, it wasn't so easy to become a Cultivator. One had to have the corresponding talents, A Cultivation Technique, and a lot of resources.
There were also many other factors involved, both known and unknown.
After the Acupoint Opening Stage and the end of the Martial Path is the true beginning of the Path to Immortality.
The 9 Mortal Cultivation Realms are as follows:
Qi Condensation Realm.
Foundation Establishment Realm.
Acquired Realm.
Innate Realm.
Golden Core Realm.
Void Refinement Realm.
Nascent Soul Realm.
Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
And the Immortal Ascension Realm.
to continue cultivating, one will have to ascend to the Upper Immortal World.
Tian Yongheng continued to read with his bright eyes focused, even though he knew that with his talent, he could at most reach the Third Stage of Qi Condensation Realm even with many resources.