A yin officer led Wang Sheng into a military camp. He brought him to a relatively clean tent as he explained the arrangements.

"General Xu Xian, you can stay here for the next few days. In about seven or eight days, the higher-ups should assign you an official duty. You will most likely be sent to patrol the inner city."

Wang Sheng slowly nodded. Maintaining the cold and ruthless persona of the Wandering Slaughterer, he replied indifferently, "Understood."

The official cupped his hands with a smile before turning to leave.

The camp stood right beside the inner walls of Fengdu City.

In other words, after all the effort Wang Sheng had gone through to enter the city, he was still only wandering around the edges; he had yet to reach the true core of the Nether Realm's administration.

He really had just been skirting the line this whole time.

At a moment like this, it was only natural for the Nether Realm not to trust him completely. Its officials would likely arrange more tests for him afterward.

Wang Sheng had already decided to give himself a flaw or two, including excessive arrogance, to make it easier for the Nether Realm to accept him. After all, nobody was perfect.

He couldn't pretend to be lustful, though. Mu Wanxuan was already enough for him.

Before Wang Sheng entered the inner part of the city, Xu Zhongliang had also told him that Mu Wanxuan was currently somewhere in the Nether Realm. She was hiding in a rather remote area, not in Fengdu City.

After so many years apart, simply hearing her name made it impossible for Wang Sheng to stay calm. For a moment, he wanted nothing more than to rush to her side.

However, this was not the right time. Besides, the Nether Realm was hardly a suitable place for a reunion. It would be better to settle everything first before indulging in romance and sentiment.

If he truly could not defeat Feng Jiu, he even considered simply taking his senior sister, master, little sister, and the others away. They would hide at the ends of the world through the Great Dao of Creation. Of course, accomplishing that would probably be no easier than crushing Feng Jiu's forces head-on.

The furnishings inside the tent were decent enough, though the place still felt rather crude overall.

Wang Sheng smiled at Ling Sheng. "Looks like we'll be depending on each other again."

"Yes, Master," Ling Sheng answered softly as she carried over a chair and sat by the entrance of the tent.

With a casual motion, Wang Sheng drew a talisman in the air. It transformed into an array that completely enveloped the tent and radiated a chilling killing intent.

The Great Dao of Slaughter he wielded was genuine through and through.

Wang Sheng checked the furniture around the tent and found no anomalies. After removing his shoes and socks, he lay on the wooden bed and breathed out slowly.

The Asura race... Po Feng...

While moving around the city, Wang Sheng had gathered that the Asura race had long declined into a minor force within the Nether Realm. Most of their experts had already been absorbed into its ranks as well.

Back in the Ancient Era, the Asura race had once stood at the height of glory in the Blood Sea. However, because they obstructed the establishment of reincarnation, the Three Pure Ones brought heavenly punishment upon them. From their experts down to ordinary clansmen, more than half were killed or wounded.

After the Nether Realm was established, the Asura race continued causing trouble. Hence, the Nether Realm repeatedly fought and defeated them. Over time, they were gradually absorbed under its rule.

It had been a slow process of conquest. Still, many of the Asura experts now served within the Nether Realm's administration.

Po Feng was likely one of them.

At present, Wang Sheng possessed one clear advantage: Yuan Tu.

It had once belonged to Minghe, the creator of the Asura race. To the Asura, it had extraordinary significance.

Moreover, the Asura race maintained a strict hierarchy. High-ranking Asura possessed absolute authority over lower-ranking members.

Should I absorb this force for myself or use it as a small bargaining chip and involve them in the power struggle within the Nether Realm?

The thought opened up a new direction for Wang Sheng.

Resting his head on his arm, Wang Sheng quietly pondered the matter. Before he realized it, he had fallen asleep.

***

On his second day infiltrating the Nether Realm's administration, Wang Sheng personally witnessed just how severe the internal problems had become.

Two groups of soldiers confronted each other on the road leading from the inner city to the restricted territory of the Ten Yanluo Halls. Their armor looked nearly identical, yet the hostility between them was so intense that they resembled sworn enemies.

So the conflict has already escalated this far.

Yet with the towering walls and concealment arrays blocking everything from the outside world, none of the cultivators beyond Fengdu City had any idea that the Nether Realm was already in such chaos.

That only created more convenient opportunities for Wang Sheng.

A few days later, Bian Zhong arrived with two senior Nether Realm judges with matching thick beards. The three drank with Wang Sheng while subtly probing him with questions. By the end of it, they could more or less be considered acquaintances.

Several more days passed. He remained quietly inside his tent until he finally received a message from outside.

To ensure secrecy, he had painstakingly used the Great Dao of Creation before entering the Nether Realm to create a pair of communication jade talismans.

They could only transmit simple text messages, and each message could not exceed a hundred words. However, they were extraordinarily well concealed. Even if several experts stared directly at them, they would not sense the slightest fluctuation.

The message had slipped through while everyone wasn't paying attention. The contents were simple—merely a report of recent events outside.

The chaos within Fengdu City had already reached a new peak. More and more cultivators were gathering, and their numbers had long surpassed what the Nether Realm's yin officers could control.

The Nether Realm responded swiftly as well, transferring large numbers of troops into Fengdu City. Since all efforts focused on protecting the inner city, other areas were ignored entirely.

At the same time, Feng Jiu's faction seemed to have sensed something and had begun moving more frequently.

First, among the exposed forces under Feng Jiu within the Immortal Saint Realm, many experts had mysteriously vanished.

Fierce battles between cultivators then erupted relentlessly along the passage connecting the Immortal Saint Realm and the Nether Realm. Several major factions were dragged into the conflict, seemingly over disputes involving passage fees.

Another piece of news drew Wang Sheng's concern: Huai Jing had apparently led a support team from Earth into the Nether Realm successfully.

Xu Zhongliang was asking for Wang Sheng's opinion on whether they should participate in the chaos surrounding Fengdu City.

After some thought, Wang Sheng picked up the jade talisman and sent back several lines of text.

Deep down, he was still a little selfish. He did not want the promising young experts that Earth's cultivation world had spent ten thousand years nurturing to die pointlessly in this place.

Have them focus on providing support and reinforcement.

That single sentence was enough. Xu Zhongliang would naturally understand how to handle the rest.

Having a strategist who could practically act as a caretaker truly saved him a lot of trouble.

The day the Nether Realm would choose a new King of Hell was drawing closer and closer.

Twenty days after infiltrating the underworld administration, Wang Sheng finally received his "reward."

His first official assignment within the Nether Realm was the position of Soul-Gathering General in the reserve army. On the surface, his duty was to oversee the process of souls and true spirits entering the Nether Realm and eventually gathering in Fengdu City.

In truth, he had simply become another minor general within the Nether Realm, temporarily aligned with Bian Zhong's faction and ready to clash with the opposing side at any moment.

Even now, Wang Sheng could only infer from Bian Zhong's words that their faction belonged to the side supporting Houtu.

As for the opposing faction, Wang Sheng privately gave them a name of his own: the Nether Realm Hooligans.

Directly coming into contact with them would not be easy, especially since Wang Sheng had not prepared any backup plans for such a situation either.

Once he entered the underworld administration, all he could do was take things one step at a time. As long as nobody expected him to sacrifice his masculine charm, everything else could still be managed. That was only a joke, of course.

Now that he held an official post, he had work to do.

Every day, he wore the same cold expression while leading a squad of ghost wardens on patrol around the inner city walls.

Wang Sheng was the sacred spirit, the first pseudo–mighty figure of Earth's cultivation world, and the inheritor of the Great Dao of Creation. He was capable of influencing the fate of countless living beings.

And yet within the Nether Realm's administration, he had somehow become nothing more than a minor patrol general.

Still, the position brought plenty of conveniences.

Carrying out patrols every day allowed him to encounter all kinds of officials within the Nether Realm. Occasionally, he even caught sight of the locations of the Ten Yanluo Palaces and glimpses of the Six-Path Wheel of Reincarnation.

All this time, Wang Sheng restrained himself from seeking out Po Feng, the Asura "background investigator."

A moment of impatience could ruin the greater plan. Right now, he could not reveal even the slightest ambition toward the Nether Realm.

What Wang Sheng had not expected, however, was that although he did not go looking for Po Feng, Po Feng openly came looking for him instead.

She didn't come alone, either, or choose some secretive midnight hour.

Instead, she arrived openly and directly after Wang Sheng finished another round of patrols and returned to his tent to rest. With her was a pair of dark-skinned Asura men and women dressed in rather revealing clothing.

Wang Sheng was rendered speechless.

Maintaining the personality he had established for himself, he kept an indifferent expression as he sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at the three figures who had entered his tent without invitation, his brow faintly furrowing.

Ling Sheng had already risen to her feet. Seven-colored light flickered from her fingertips, while traces of blood appeared within her eyes.

Wang Sheng frowned. "Who are you people?"

Po Feng also frowned slightly. Dressed in a crimson gauze dress that looked almost like curtains draped across her, she had the distinct appearance common among female Asura.

For some reason, most Asura women preferred dressing that way.

Po Feng whispered, "You don't remember me?"

"The inquisitor," Wang Sheng replied calmly. "I can't seem to find any reason for us to meet in person."

"I came today because I have a request." Po Feng didn't seem angry at all. "Could you let these two clansmen of mine see Yuan Tu?"

Wang Sheng nodded and casually summoned Yuan Tu. The silver blade floated above his palm as it slowly rotated.

The trio stared at the primordial treasure of slaughter. Relief appeared on Po Feng's face, mixed with traces of sorrow and tenderness.

Wang Sheng could not fully understand what she was feeling, but he had the vague sense that she was deeply moved.

The two figures behind her, however, showed completely different reactions.

The male Asura trembled all over before lowering his head and dropping to his knees. He pressed himself against the cold soil, kissing the ground repeatedly while muttering nonstop, "Ancestor... O' Ancestor..."

Meanwhile, the younger female Asura, who had blood-colored hair, smiled seductively. She looked harmless enough at first glance in her short skirt and leather boots, yet faint ripples spread through her eyes while the Dao Rhythm hidden within her slowly emerged. Her cultivation realm was actually slightly higher than Po Feng's.

Wang Sheng immediately felt a haze clouding his mind. A sneer rose within his heart, but outwardly, he pretended to break into a sweat and even breathed more quickly.

Beside him, Ling Sheng secretly glanced at her master before immediately turning pale as well, pretending she had also fallen under the influence.

Po Feng abruptly turned around and stared coldly at the female clansman behind her. "Mei Nita, are you certain you want to do this?"

"The Ancestor's treasure rightfully belongs to the Asura race," Mei Nita replied. "Po Feng, do not stop me."

From the side, Wang Sheng quietly observed everything and noticed that Po Feng visibly hesitated for a brief instant before taking half a step to the side.

Mei Nita's impossibly slender waist swayed as she slowly walked toward Wang Sheng.

The crimson color within her eyes deepened further. Strands of Dao Rhythm wrapped themselves around Wang Sheng like invisible shackles, suppressing both his Dao and his Primordial Spirit.

The female Asura reached toward the silver sword hilt, only for Wang Sheng's immortal power to block her hand. A charming smile curled across her lips.

"Can you give it to me?"

"Sure," Wang Sheng muttered softly as the immortal power in his palm slowly withdrew.

Disdain flickered through the female Asura's eyes, and the smile on her lips grew even more alluring.

Simultaneously, waves of immortal perception swept toward the tent from all directions. It was obvious that the experts within the Nether Realm did not want her to take Yuan Tu away.

However, just as the female Asura wrapped her slender hand around the hilt, the sword suddenly trembled. A streak of silver sword radiance burst forth and slashed at her face.