Chapter 68: Ping Xin Emerges from the Earth Prison

  Everyone collect it, kneel down and beg for collection!

  The Queen of the Earth transformed her body into a wheel of reincarnation, and the Heavenly Way bestowed infinite merits upon the dying Hou Tu Zu Wu. Miraculously, his primordial spirit was born. Under the stimulation of infinite merits, the realm of the primordial spirit evolved through the initial, middle, and final stages of heavenly immortals, true immortals, golden immortals, Taiyi Golden Immortals, Daluo Golden Immortals, and quasi-saints. When Hou Tu Zu Wu's cultivation reached the final stage of a quasi-saint, it finally came to a stop. The immense merits continued to condense into a wheel of merit behind him. However, Hou Tu was also bound by the cycle of reincarnation in the six paths and could not leave.

  Houtu's merits in transforming the wheel of reincarnation are even greater than those of Nüwa Niangniang's creation of humans. If Houtu Niangniang had not lacked the Hongmeng Purple Qi, she would likely have become a sage by now.

  Houtu Niangniang, after stabilizing her own realm, transmitted a message to the heavens and earth: "I, the Houtu of the Wu tribe, abandoned my physical body to establish the six paths of reincarnation, allowing the deceased to have a place to rely on. With the death of Houtu, there is no more Houtu in the world; with the death of Houtu, I am Ping Xin."

  After the creation of the Six Paths of Reincarnation was completed, the souls between heaven and earth seemed to be attracted by some kind of force, all of which came to the Six Paths of Reincarnation. The souls that had not yet entered the Blood Sea due to being attracted by the Blood Sea also changed direction.

  Ping Xin first handed a jade slip to Wuji, saying: "Wuji fellow daoist, at this time the five transformations of reincarnation have been realized. I ask that you take care of the witch tribe, Ping Xin is grateful and reverent."

  Wuji said, "Don't worry, I will definitely do as I promised." Wuji saw that there was only one six-way wheel of reincarnation here, which did not match the legend of his previous life. Wuji couldn't help but think about it. First, Wuji built a large gate at the place where the soul entered, with the words "Ghost Gate" written on it. Then, he built a winding road in the place where the souls wandered, called "Yellow Spring Road", which extended all the way to the edge of the six-way wheel of reincarnation.

  Yu Huang planted many Higan flowers on both sides of the Yellow Spring Road, and dug two rivers in the middle of the Yellow Spring Road. First, there was a river called "Three Paths River". Many souls could only pass through by taking the flat boats along the riverbank. Later, Yu Huang dug another river called "Forgetfulness River", where all things sank, and only one Naihe Bridge could be crossed.

  After crossing the Naihe Bridge, Wuji built a Hometown Pavilion and a Three-Life Stone. Seeing that the construction of the Land of Earth was almost complete, he took out the Regicide Gun and began to wield it in the Blood Sea not far away. At this time, Wuji's Tao was not as good as that of the Saints, but Wuji was not opening up the world, only opening up eighteen spaces. Moreover, Wuji had already grasped the Breaking Method of the Original Saint, so using the Breaking Method in the Blood Sea was still possible.

  As the infinite sky danced, half a day passed, and on the edge of the six reincarnations, eighteen spaces were finally formed. At this time, the eleventh ancestor of the Wu tribe, Wu, led some of the Hou Tu tribe's great witches to arrive at this place.

  Ping Xin first shared his experiences with the Eleventh Ancestor Wu, then discussed the handling opinions of the Wu tribe. Finally, Ping Xin told the Eleventh Ancestor Wu about the ending of the Wu and Yao that he had just seen in the realm of the Holy Man. After discussing it, they decided that it was impossible for these ancestors to humiliate themselves for survival. In the end, they still decided to arrange a part of the Wu tribe to come to the Six Paths Reincarnation, as the seed of the Wu tribe, and then Emperor Jiang Ancestor Wu brought in some senior and junior witches.

  Wuji then discussed with Pingxin the matter of establishing the underworld structure, and taught Pingxin to arrange dozens of Daowu and Xiaowu. When Pingxin heard that there were merits to be gained and the increase of the witch tribe's luck, he naturally cooperated fully. Before long, a group of witches gathered in front of Wuji. At this time, a Taoist flew over from afar, and Wuji saw from a distance that it was his own Shixiong Xuan Dou Dao Ren.

  Xuandu first greeted Pingxin with courtesy, then turned to Wuji and said: "Younger brother, the master has asked me to come and listen to your instructions." As soon as Wuji heard this, he understood the true intention of Taishang Shengren, which was simply to let Xuandu mix in and gain merit and good fortune. Of course, Wuji was aware of this, but he would not object.

  After Wuji, Xuandu was appointed as the Dipper Emperor of the Earth Bureau, with a position only under Hou Tu Niangniang. He is in charge of the overall power of the Earth Bureau. Later, Wuji also appointed five great witches: Dongfang Gui Di, who governs Taoshi Mountain and Guimen Pass; Xifang Gui Di, who governs ? Zhongshan; Beifang Gui Di, who governs Luoshan; Nanfang Gui Di, who governs Lufu Mountain; and Zhongyang Gui Di, who governs Baodu Mountain.

  Then ten Da Wu were appointed as the Ten Halls of Yan Luo:

  The First Temple: Qin Guang Wang Jiang, in charge of human life and death, fate and fortune.

  The Second Court: Chu Jiang Wang Lie, in charge of the Great Hell of Ice, also known as the Cold Ice Hell.

  The Third Court: Emperor Song Diyu is in charge of the great hell of black rope.

  The Fourth Court: King Wu Guan and Lu, in charge of the combined great hells, namely the Blood Pool Hell.

  The Fifth Court: Yanluo Wang Bao, in charge of summoning the Great Hell.

  The Sixth Palace: King Biancheng presides over the Great Wailing Hell and the Wrongful Death City.

  The Seventh Palace: King Dong of Mount Tai, in charge of the bustling hell, also known as the minced meat hell.

  The Eighth Palace: The Urban King Huang, in charge of the Great Heat and the Great Hell, namely the Steamer Hell.

  The Ninth Court: King Pingdeng of Equality, in charge of the Iron Net and Avici Hell.

  The Tenth Tribunal: The Turning Wheel King Xue, in charge of sending the ghosts from each tribunal to be reincarnated, distinguishing between good and evil, determining their ranks, and dispatching them for rebirth.

  After Wuji, he appointed eighteen witches as judges of the eighteen layers of hell.

  The first layer, the Tongue-Pulling Hell; all those who in life stirred up trouble and separation, slandered and harmed others, had oily mouths and slippery tongues, cleverly debated and deceived people. After death, they were thrown into the Tongue-Pulling Hell, where little demons pried open their mouths, used iron pliers to grip their tongues, and slowly pulled them out... afterwards entering the Scissor Hell, the Iron Tree Hell.

  The second layer, Scissors Hell; in the mortal world, if a woman's husband unfortunately dies prematurely, she will be widowed. If you instigate her to remarry or act as a matchmaker for her, then after your death, you will be thrown into Scissors Hell and have your ten fingers cut off! Not to mention that her husband is still alive.

  The third layer, Iron Tree Hell; those who in life stirred up discord among relatives, incited fathers and sons, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives to quarrel, after death enter the Iron Tree Hell. The trees all have sharp blades, which pierce through the skin on one's back, suspending them from the iron tree. After this is over, they must still enter the Tongue-Pulling Hell, the Steaming Cauldron Hell.

  The fourth level, the Mirror of Retribution Hell; if one commits a crime in the mortal world and does not confess, or tries to bribe their way out, even if they manage to escape punishment (it's better if they don't), there are still those who commit crimes and flee, but eventually, they will die. When they arrive at the underworld, they will be thrown into the Mirror of Retribution Hell, where their crimes will be reflected in the mirror. Then, they will be sent to different hells to suffer punishment accordingly.

  The fifth layer, the steamer hell; there are people who, in their daily lives, like to gossip and spread rumors, harming and slandering others. This is what people commonly refer to as a "long-tongued woman". After death, such individuals are thrown into the steamer hell, where they are steamed in a steamer. Not only that, after being steamed, cold winds blow over them, their bodies are reformed, and they are taken to the tongue-pulling hell.

  The sixth level, Copper Column Hell; those who intentionally set fires or commit arson for revenge, after death will be thrown into the Copper Column Hell. The little ghosts strip off your clothes and make you hug a copper column tube with a diameter of one meter and a height of two meters. Charcoal is burned inside the tube, and the wind is constantly fanned, causing the copper column tube to turn red-hot quickly.

  The seventh layer, the Knife Mountain Hell; those who blaspheme the gods, you don't have to believe it, but you can't blaspheme them; those who slaughter animals, let's not mention killing people, just say that in your lifetime you killed cows, horses, cats, and dogs, because they are also lives, perhaps their past lives were humans or maybe even yours...... Because the underworld is different from the world of the living, there is no distinction between high and low, noble and humble, cows, horses, cats, dogs, and people, all are called living spirits. Those who commit one of the above two crimes will be thrown into the Knife Mountain Hell after death, stripped of their clothes, and forced to climb up the Knife Mountain naked...... Depending on the severity of their sins, they may "reside" at the top of the Knife Mountain.

  The eighth level, Ice Mountain Hell: Those who harm their husbands and commit adultery, evil women who have abortions with malice, after death are thrown into the Ice Mountain Hell. They are stripped of their clothes and made to climb the ice mountain. Also, those who are addicted to gambling, disobedient to their parents, and unrighteous, are also made to climb the ice mountain.

  The ninth level, the Oil Cauldron Hell; those who are lewd and lascivious, thieves and robbers, cheat and bully the good and the weak, abduct and deceive women and children, falsely accuse and slander others, plot to seize others' property, husbands and wives who do evil, after death will be thrown into the Oil Cauldron Hell, stripped of their clothes and thrown into a hot oil cauldron to be fried, sizzling and crackling! According to the severity of the crime, they will be fried N times...

  The tenth level, the Cow Pit Hell; this is a hell for animals to seek revenge. All those who in life indiscriminately slaughtered livestock and built their happiness on their suffering will be thrown into the Cow Pit Hell after death. Once thrown into the pit, several wild cows charge forward, butting with horns and trampling with hooves.

  The eleventh level, Stone Press Hell; if a person in the world gives birth to an infant, regardless of the reason, such as the infant being born stupid or disabled; or due to reasons such as preferring sons over daughters, they drown or abandon the infant. This kind of person after death is thrown into the Stone Press Hell. It is a square-shaped large stone pool (slot), with a rope suspending a giant stone of the same size above it, putting the person in the pool and cutting the rope with an axe...

  The Twelfth Level, the Mortar Hell; this hell is quite unusual. If people waste food and grains while they are alive, such as throwing away leftover food from a banquet or discarding something after eating only two bites, they will be sent to the Mortar Hell after death and ground to death in a mortar. What's even more unusual is that if you talk while eating, especially using dirty language, profanity, or insults, you will also be sent to the Mortar Hell for punishment after death.

  The thirteenth layer, the Blood Pool Hell; all those who do not respect others, are unfilial to their parents, and are not upright, taking crooked and evil paths, after death will be thrown into the Blood Pool Hell. Thrown into the blood pool to suffer.

  The Fourteenth Level, the Hell of Unjust Death; you must know that it is not easy to come into this world as a human being, it is an opportunity given by Yan Wang Ye. If you do not cherish it and commit suicide, such as cutting your veins to death, poisoning yourself to death, hanging yourself to death, etc., you will infuriate Yan Wang Ye, after death, you will be thrown into the Hell of Unjust Death. Then don't even think about being human again.

  The Fifteenth Level, the Hell of Crushing; this is not often seen nowadays, but the crime is very serious. Those who dig up graves and tombs after death will be sent to the Hell of Crushing and punished by crushing.

  The sixteenth level, the Volcanic Hell; this level is relatively extensive. Those who embezzle public funds for personal gain, bribe and accept bribes, steal and rob, set fires, will be thrown into the Volcanic Hell after death. They will be driven into the volcano to be burned alive without dying. Additionally, monks and Taoist priests who break their vows will also be driven into the volcano.

  The seventeenth level, Stone Mill Hell; those who waste the five grains, petty thieves, greedy officials and corrupt clerks, and those who oppress the common people will be pounded into meat paste in the Stone Mill Hell after death. After being ground, they are reconstituted as humans and then ground again! Additionally, Buddhist monks and Taoist priests who eat meat also suffer this fate.

  The eighteenth level, the Sawing Hell; those who are lazy and deceitful, cheat their superiors and deceive their inferiors, swindle women and children, and engage in unfair trade will be sent to the Sawing Hell after death. The newcomers' clothes are stripped off, tied up in a "big" character shape on four wooden stakes, from the crotch to the head, sawed to death with a saw.

  Wuji again appointed over a hundred witches as Ox Heads and Horse Faces. Afterwards, the Heavenly Way once more bestowed boundless merits, Wuji obtained five of them. This was the merit of Wuji establishing the authority structure of the underworld and opening up the eighteen layers of hell. Ping Xin Niang Niang, as the mistress of the underworld, gained one layer of merit. The remaining four layers of merit were divided among Xuan Du and the many witches who were appointed to office. Among them, Xuan Du, as the second person under Ping Xin Niang Niang, obtained five layers of merit. With the help of this merit, Xuan Du, who had originally already reached the threshold of the Great Luo Golden Immortal Dao, finally attained the Great Luo Golden Immortal position. Afterwards, together with the merit he gained from defending humanity last time, he beheaded Shan Shi Zong Dou Da Di and took his place as the guardian of the underworld.