Chapter 292: The River of the Dead Upgrades
Wang Yongzhi almost shouted out loud, his voice echoing through the quiet mountain cavern. The influential members of the Wang family who had followed them inside were stunned. Then, as if a string deep within their hearts had been pulled, they all felt their hearts start to race.
Chong Er?
This name resonated even more profoundly within the Wang family than the title of Haotian General!
The crowd turned to look at Li Hao in shock, their gazes fixating on the golden paper before him. The paper was only the size of a palm, but everyone present had such cultivation that they could count the legs of a fly from a thousand meters away, let alone read the characters on a piece of paper right in front of them.
Name: Chong Er
Merits: 100100…
The eyes of those present widened in disbelief. It really was him!
Chong Er—Li Hao was actually Chong Er?!
The crowd stared at Li Hao, their mouths slightly agape in shock. None of them had expected that the mysterious Chong Er, the one who hadn't even bothered to collect the divine general title bestowed by the emperor, was the very same person who had stirred up so much turmoil: Li Hao!
But soon, as if a light bulb had gone off in their minds, everyone felt a sudden clarity, an epiphany.
Ah… so that's why! It made sense now!
During the Battle of Liangzhou, when Li Hao single-handedly lured three demon kings to the River of the Dead, many had assumed he had survived because of protection from the heroic spirits. But the truth was, he had cleared the River of the Dead! The timeline matched perfectly.
"So it really was you..." Wang Yongzhi, recovering from his shock, looked at Li Hao with a mixture of surprise and admiration.
When the Merit Treasure Vault had opened and the name "Chong Er" had echoed throughout the entire Dayu Dynasty, they had considered the possibility that it was Li Hao. But Li Hao had remained elusive, and the Dragon City River of the Dead had been deemed far too difficult to clear. After many of their soldiers had been sacrificed attempting to conquer the Dragon City River, the Wang family had reported to the emperor, who had no choice but to abandon that territory, cutting it off from their lands.
In their records, that River of the Dead was among the top five most difficult out of the dozens of Youdu-level Rivers they had explored. The territory was abandoned because it was deemed insurmountable.
Even the Sword Saint, Li Xiaoran, had failed to clear it despite many attempts. The Wang family had suspected Li Hao at first, but ultimately dismissed the idea, reasoning that with the Taixu realm master pursuing him and with the difficulty of the River, it was impossible for him to have cleared it.
Yet here they were, facing the impossible made possible. The evidence was irrefutable—the information on the golden paper couldn't lie. Only items like this Ksitigarbha Buddha, artifacts brought out from the River of the Dead, could have such an effect.
"I knew it was him! I said it back then when we were discussing it—who denied it? Step forward!" someone from the crowd suddenly shouted. It was a middle-aged man, his face flushed with excitement.
But the person next to him nudged him with an elbow, pointing discreetly at Wang Yongzhi and another elder, Wang Zhenfeng.
"…"
Two cold stares immediately turned in his direction, causing the middle-aged man to fall silent, sweat forming on his back despite the summer heat.
"Um… It's getting a bit crowded in here. I think I'll step outside for some fresh air," the man muttered sheepishly.
His excuse was unconvincing in the cavernous hall, but no one challenged him. He turned to Li Hao, bowing slightly. "Congratulations, Haotian General—no, I should say Haotian Divine General—congratulations indeed…"
With that, he quickly made his way outside to cool off.
The others were left to contemplate his words, their expressions shifting from shock to something more complex.
Indeed, a divine general… The young man standing before them was no longer just a general. He was a divine general, on par with the founders of the Five Divine General Mansions!
A single individual who had opened the Merit Treasure Vault era, saving three provinces from disaster in the process. Such world-shaking achievements, combined in one person, made it hard to imagine the level of upheaval that would follow once Li Hao's identity as Chong Er became public knowledge.
In the crowd, Wang Zhenping's aged face also showed a trace of astonishment. He stared at the golden paper, squinting as he scrutinized it over and over, confirming he wasn't mistaken. For a moment, he recalled the words he had spoken earlier in the grand hall, and his face flushed with embarrassment.
Experience and strategy? The Wang family certainly had abundant experience with the River of the Dead and possessed many secrets unknown to outsiders, such as the Ksitigarbha Buddha. But flaunting such things before the top-ranked person on the Merit List now seemed laughable and self-deprecating.
"Divine General?" Li Hao echoed, puzzled by the middle-aged man's words. Given that he was a peer of Wang Yongzhi, he was unlikely to be joking.
"You didn't know?" Wang Yongzhi looked at Li Hao in surprise, then nodded as if realizing something. "No wonder you haven't gone to the court to collect it. The emperor mentioned rewarding you with the title of Divine General. The impact of opening the Merit Treasure Vault is far-reaching, with profound implications for the future of the Dayu Dynasty. It not only helps us resolve the problem of the Rivers of the Dead but also raises the limits of martial cultivation, benefiting generations to come."
Li Hao blinked in surprise. They were giving him the title of Divine General? Such an honor, and he hadn't even known about it?
But then again, he had just returned. This news was probably already old by now, especially since no one knew his identity.
"Besides the title of Divine General, is there anything else?" Li Hao asked curiously.
Wang Yongzhi paused, thinking. "There should be… But I think you'll have to see the emperor yourself to find out the specifics."
Alright then… Li Hao nodded, turning his attention to the phantom map hovering above the Ksitigarbha Buddha's head, where golden light spots dotted the surface.
"Which one do I choose?" he asked.
Wang Yongzhi snapped back to reality, his thoughts interrupted. He smiled and said, "I just remembered, I happen to be free right now. I'll join you on this journey."
"Family head, I'm also free. I'll come along to help," another chimed in.
"I've missed Uncle Zhendong. It's been a while since I last saw him. I'd like to visit him," said another, eager to join.
Others quickly followed suit, sensing an opportunity. Only two elders, Wang Zhenfeng and Wang Zhenping, remained silent. Wang Zhenfeng, however, had a broad grin, amused by the antics of these usually composed individuals. Meanwhile, Wang Zhenping was too stunned to speak, seemingly shaken by recent revelations.
"You guys…" Wang Yongzhi scolded them lightly, then turned to Li Hao. "Haotian Divine General, you don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all," Li Hao replied with a slight shake of his head.
Wang Yongzhi breathed a sigh of relief, then summoned his own golden paper. It detailed his many forays into and destructions of various Rivers of the Dead, a record of battle reports.
Li Hao glanced at it, noting the five thousand merits, far less than his own. However, the numerous recorded events showed that these merits were accumulated bit by bit, a testament to perseverance.
Others also produced their golden papers. Wang Yongzhi then guided Li Hao, "Focus on this spot here with your divine sense."
Li Hao did as instructed. Soon, he felt his consciousness being drawn into the golden light. Instinctively, he extended his Dao Domain over his body, and suddenly, he felt himself being transported to another world.
After a brief sensation of shifting, the scene before him clarified: he stood in a desolate, broken-down town. The town was eerily silent, with tattered wine flags flapping in the wind, the buildings on either side of the street in ruins. Scorched corpses lay motionless by the roadside, their backs turned to Li Hao, as a mournful wind blew, heightening the deathly stillness of the place.
Not long after, golden lights began to materialize around Li Hao as Wang Yongzhi and the others entered the River of the Dead one by one.
"This is the place?" Li Hao asked.
Wang Yongzhi surveyed the area, then nodded. "Yes, this is the River of the Dead. Let me see where Uncle Zhendong is."
As he spoke, his divine soul suddenly emerged from his feet and burrowed into the ground. But it quickly re-emerged, and Wang Yongzhi looked surprised. "What's going on? The rules here seem to have intensified."
In a Netherworld-level River of the Dead, basic rules were in place. Before entering, Wang Yongzhi had explained this River's rules to Li Hao: hands and feet were reversed. Simply put, to use one's hands, one had to think of using their feet, treating their hands as feet and feet as hands to move normally. Although the rules were not overly restrictive, being only a Netherworld-level River, they mainly affected the physical body.
But now, Wang Yongzhi found that even his divine soul was being affected. He had intended to levitate, but instead, he had burrowed into the ground.
"Hmm?" Li Hao frowned slightly. With Feng Lao's fragmented soul here, he didn't want any unexpected incidents.
"Be careful. It seems something has changed here," Wang Yongzhi warned, his face tense. In his experience, changes within a River of the Dead rarely boded well.
He quickly sent his divine soul soaring, locating a figure on the edge of the town. "I found Uncle Zhendong. Follow me," he instructed, though his movements were awkward. He first stepped backward, then hesitated before moving forward, his limbs uncoordinated.
Despite being forewarned, several of the others instinctively took a step back.
"It's not just our hands and feet. Everything seems reversed. To move forward, we need to step back!" Wang Yongzhi cautioned.
The others quickly adapted, their faces growing serious. The intensification of the River's rules suggested a potential mutation—an upgrade.
Could this Netherworld-level River of the Dead be evolving into a Youdu-level one?
After a brief struggle, they began to move more comfortably, though their movements were still somewhat clumsy. In the midst of their confusion, Li Hao extended his Dao Domain, enveloping them all.
Immediately, everyone found themselves moving backward again, taking several steps before realizing what was happening.
"I'll take you there," Li Hao offered.
His expression was serious, his divine sense scanning the entire town. He had already spotted the figure Wang Yongzhi mentioned, but what concerned him more was a pitch-black rift outside the town, slowly creeping toward them. His divine sense couldn't penetrate the darkness, and just being near it sent a chill down his spine, a primal sense of danger.
"Dao Domain…" The Wang family members could feel the expansive Dao Domain around them, envy flashing in their eyes. This was the power of a Taiping Dao realm expert, impervious to the River's rules.
Li Hao swiftly led the group to the edge of the town, where they found four figures. One was a robust-looking elder, his face as chiseled as stone, with steely eyes. Three others—a young man, a young woman, and a middle-aged man—sat nearby.
"Uncle Zhendong," Wang Yongzhi greeted respectfully, his tone noticeably more deferential. This was the Wang family's pillar of strength.
The elder's face remained stern, his voice like a blade. "Why are there so many of you here?"
"Uncle Zhendong, what's going on here?" Wang Yongzhi asked urgently. He knew better than to take the situation lightly.
"This River of the Dead is about to merge!" Wang Zhendong's face was grim as he glanced at them. He had noticed their arrival as soon as they entered the town and now spoke with a harsh tone. "Who allowed you all to come in? Don't you know the rules?"
Wang Yongzhi and the others were taken aback. It was rare to see Uncle Zhendong so serious.
"Merging? Is it colliding with a Youdu-level River of the Dead?" Wang Yongzhi asked, unable to keep the worry from his voice. "But there's no other River of the Dead nearby?"
"It just extended here recently. Not a River of the Dead visible in the mortal world…" Wang Zhendong's gaze swept over them as he continued. "It's a Hell-level River of the Dead!"
A Hell-level River of the Dead!
The five words struck them like a hammer, leaving Wang Yongzhi and the others pale with shock.
A Hell-level River of the Dead? That was the most terrifying kind, where even Taiping Dao realm experts could easily perish. It was ranked as the highest level—a taboo.
This Netherworld-level River of the Dead was merging with a Hell-level one? No wonder the rules had intensified so much!
Wang Yongzhi felt every hair on his body stand on end, and the others who had followed him in were similarly trembling with fear.
In the Wang family, they were all too aware of the horror that was a Hell-level River of the Dead. It earned its name because, once touched, there was almost no escape—only death, leading to eternal damnation.