Myth Beyond Heaven

Chapter 2981: Lost (3)

Silence stretched, thick with grief and shock. The wind howled mournfully across the battlefield, carrying the scent of burnt earth and fading blood.

Then—

“This isn’t the time to mourn.”

Qian Jinglei’s voice cut through the silence like a blade. All eyes turned to the woman standing apart from the group, her expression composed where others were shattered.

“Senior Yun is heading straight into Nian Shi’s trap,” she continued calmly. “We need to find him before it’s too late.”

Nantian Fengyu snapped out of her daze first. “You’re right.” She whirled toward Long Qingxuan. “Where did junior brother go?”

Long Qingxuan shook her head helplessly. “I don’t know… He wasn’t himself when he left. His emotions—they just vanished. It was like looking at a stranger.”

“That’s not good,” Yue Chuntao muttered, stroking Mumu’s fur nervously. “Lintian loses control now…”

“We can’t track him,” Long Niu said anxiously. “Even the compass that woman gave us isn’t working.”

As the group exchanged worried glances, a small hand rose from Zhang Yu’s arms.

Gui Xuan blinked sleepily, his dark eyes unusually alert. Without a word, he traced a black-green rune in the air—an ancient turtle shell pattern glowing with primordial energy.

The rune pulsed, then split into three characters:

Mortal. Heaven. Netherworld.

Before their astonished eyes, the first two dimmed, leaving only Netherworld shining ominously.

“There,” Gui Xuan said simply, his childlike voice carrying unnatural weight. “He… is… there.”

A stunned silence followed.

Zhang Yu tightened her grip on the Black Turtle God. “Little Master… are you saying Yun Lintian is in the Netherworld?”

Gui Xuan nodded. With another wave of his tiny hand, the rune expanded violently, twisting space until a massive gate materialized before them—black iron covered in ghostly flames, its surface carved with countless tormented faces.

The Gate of Hell.

“We’re going after him,” Long Xi declared immediately, her draconic aura flaring.

“Wait.” Qian Jinglei stepped forward, her frost energy forming protective runes around the group. “The Netherworld isn’t a place for the living. Without preparation—”

“We don’t have time!” Long Qingxuan interrupted, already striding toward the gate. “If Lintian is there, he’s either chasing Nian Shi or…”

She couldn’t finish the thought.

Yun Lintian, in his current state, might not be planning to return at all.

Without another word, Long Qingxuan stepped through the gate. One by one, the others followed—into the realm of the dead.

***

**

*

Yun Lintian walked silently along the blood-red shore, the Heaven Sunderer dragging behind him. The blade’s edge scraped against bones buried in the black sand, sending up sparks that illuminated his hollow eyes.

The wailing souls in the river recoiled as he passed, their cries dying to whimpers. Even the damned recognized something far more terrifying than death in his presence.

A shadow moved against the crimson mist.

“You shouldn’t be here, Living One.”

The Netherworld Judge materialized before him, his skeletal face grim. “The cycle of reincarnation cannot be disrupted. Return to—”

Yun Lintian’s sword flashed.

The Judge’s head toppled from his shoulders before he could finish speaking, his body crumbling to ash.

Yun Lintian stepped over the dissipating ashes of the Netherworld Judge without pause. The Heaven Sunderer’s blade scraped against the black sand, leaving a trail of flickering sparks in its wake.

“God of Death.”

His voice echoed across the endless riverbanks, shaking the foundations of the Netherworld itself. The River of Forgetfulness churned violently, its waters recoiling from the sound.

“Show yourself.”

The command carried the weight of inevitability. Souls throughout the underworld shrieked in terror as the very fabric of death trembled.

BOOM!

Ten massive thrones materialized along the blood-red shore. Upon them sat the Ten Yama Kings of the Netherworld, their auras radiating the authority of True Gods. Behind them stood hundreds of Ghost Kings, each a ruler of their own hellish domain.

The lead Yama King, his face stern and crowned with black jade, slammed his Judge’s Pen against the armrest of his throne.

“Who dares disturb the cycle of reincarnation?!”

His voice boomed like thunder, shaking the underworld. The other Yama Kings glared down at the lone intruder, their expressions ranging from fury to cautious wariness.

Yun Lintian didn’t even glance at them.

“God of Death,” he called again, his hollow eyes fixed on the dark horizon.

One of the Ghost Kings, a woman with skin like polished obsidian, leaned toward the lead Yama King. “Your Majesty, we should mobilize the River’s power to suppress him immediately.”

Another Ghost King nodded urgently. “This intruder killed Judge Xu without hesitation. He cannot be reasoned with.”

They all felt Yun Lintian’s unusual power and they didn’t dare to take a risk.

The lead Yama King raised a hand, silencing them. His piercing gaze studied Yun Lintian for a long moment before speaking again.

“State your purpose, Living One. This is your final warning.”

Yun Lintian continued walking forward as if no one had spoken.

The Ghost Kings exchanged glances. This level of disrespect was unprecedented in the history of the Netherworld.

“Enough!” The lead Yama King stood abruptly, his black robes billowing. “By the authority of the Ten Courts of Hell, I—”

Yun Lintian finally looked at him.

A single glance.

The Yama King’s words died in his throat. For the first time in his millennia of existence, the ruler of the underworld felt something alien—fear.

“Mobilize the river,” the obsidian-skinned Ghost King whispered urgently.

The Ten Yama Kings acted as one. Their Judge’s Pens rose in unison, summoning the full might of the Netherworld’s foundational power. The River of Forgetfulness erupted like a awakened beast, its waters forming massive tidal waves that blotted out the crimson sky.

“SUPPRESS!”

The combined might of ten True God-level rulers and hundreds of Ghost Kings crashed down upon Yun Lintian—a force capable of erasing even Primordial Gods from existence.

Yun Lintian raised the Heaven Sunderer.

And swung.

CLANG!

A sound like shattering reality echoed across the underworld. The tidal waves froze mid-air before exploding into mist. The Yama Kings’ thrones cracked. Ghost Kings were sent flying like leaves in a hurricane.

The lead Yama King barely remained standing, his ceremonial crown split cleanly in two. His hands trembled around the broken remains of his Judge’s Pen.

“Impossible…”

Before the stunned rulers of the Netherworld could react, a new voice cut through the chaos.

“That’s enough.”

A man in simple black robes stepped out from the void, his arrival unannounced yet instantly commanding absolute attention. His features were unremarkable—neither handsome nor plain—but his presence made the River of Forgetfulness itself still in reverence.

The God of Death had answered the summons.

The Yama Kings immediately dropped to one knee. “Lord Mingyu!”