Chapter 7: The Underworld’s Flash (Part One)
The figure in white snorted coldly, his voice equally low and hoarse: “Do you take me for a three-year-old child? Even if I returned with you, what then? Do you really believe that beast possesses an antidote for the unparalleled Holy Water? Have you forgotten that the unparalleled Holy Water is the world’s most extraordinary poison, one without any cure? Even if he did have an antidote, I would absolutely never return to bow and scrape before him again. I wish I could eat his flesh and drink his blood. My only regret is my own foolishness, realizing his true nature only when it was too late. Leave now. Considering how long you’ve followed me, I’ll spare your lives. Mie Shiyi is already dead; do you truly wish to join him as restless spirits?”
Since they had all ceased moving and stood still, A Dai could barely make out that every person in the group wore a veil covering their faces, including the white-clad figure known as the Underworld King; none of their features were visible. Upon hearing the name “Wu Er Sheng Shui,” he was utterly startled—it was the only poison mentioned in Goris’s notes for which no antidote existed. Just days earlier, Goris had remarked that he had devoted considerable time to studying this Wu Er Sheng Shui. Extremely precious, only small quantities were stored within the imperial palace of the Tianjin Empire, reserved solely for the emperor to order the execution of high-ranking officials. In his notes, Goris spoke of Wu Er Sheng Shui with the highest praise, explaining that its name signified “unique and unparalleled.” Its method of preparation had long been lost, and the remaining traces across the continent were exceedingly rare; on the black market, a single drop had once fetched a thousand diamond coins. If one drop of Wu Er Sheng Shui were dissolved into clear water, its toxicity could turn half a city’s population into souls of the dead. Those poisoned by Wu Er Sheng Shui could only suppress its effects through their internal energy, but could never expel it entirely. Once their energy was completely exhausted, the poisonous qi would inevitably attack the heart, causing death. Their entire bodies, bones included, would dissolve into a pool of blue poisonous liquid.
The man in black said, “Leader, to be honest, we all admire you greatly. Although we have never truly met face to face, your Underworld King Sword is simply beyond our match. I, Mie Yi, dare say that few people across the continent can stand against you. However, currently most of your energy is being used to suppress the effects of the Holy Water, so you certainly cannot endure for much longer. Without being able to wield your Underworld King Sword, how could you possibly kill us all? You are right that the Holy Water indeed has no antidote, but with your level of power, and with our assistance beside you, suppressing it for several years should pose no problem. Why must you insist on seeking death? We do not know, nor do we wish to know, what transpired between you and Our Master. Our sole task is to bring you back. Leader, you should be well aware of Our Master’s temper. If we return without accomplishing our mission, the punishment awaiting us will likely be far more terrible than death itself.”
The “Underworld King” suddenly sighed and said, “Since you remain so stubbornly deluded, do not blame me for being ruthless.” Casually, he thrust his broad sword, five feet in length, into the ground; most of the blade silently sank into the earth. His right hand moved to rest upon his chest as he quietly gazed at the eleven men in black before him.
Although merely a simple gesture, it filled those eleven men in black with extreme dread. Simultaneously, they retreated three steps backward and raised their narrow swords. Terror shone in their eyes, as though they had witnessed something horrifying.
The man in white spoke with a chilling voice: “You think that just because I’ve been hit by the Peerless Holy Water, I can no longer wield the Sword of the Underworld King? Since you’ve pushed me too far, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.”
“Wait a moment. Boss Underworld King, do you truly still possess the ability to use the Sword of the Underworld King?”
The man in white snorted coldly. An intensely frigid and evil aura rapidly spread outward from him as its center. Within a hundred-meter radius, the trees of the Illusion Forest trembled slightly; the rustling of their leaves sounded like moans of pain.
Simultaneously, battle-aura glows of different colors condensed upon the narrow swords of the eleven men clad in black, as if they were awaiting something.
A Dai suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body; that icy, evil aura seeped continuously into him through every pore. Involuntarily, he shivered, thinking to himself, “This person is terrifying!” Overwhelming malevolent energy filled the space between heaven and earth, causing A Dai’s whole body to tremble incessantly. Just as he was about to cry out uncontrollably, a serene warmth suddenly surged from within him, expelling the invading evil qi. Warm and comforting, he immediately felt much better.
The eleven figures clad in black moved simultaneously. Their narrow swords erupted with intense light as they all thrust toward the chest of the man in white.
“Flash of the Underworld King—Heaven—and—Earth—Tremble.” The white-clad man’s form suddenly became unreal; that illusory figure flashed and vanished instantly. Evil energy burst forth violently from his body, accompanied by a faint point of dark blue light that appeared and disappeared along with his movement. The malevolent force erupted overwhelmingly in an instant, completely engulfing the attack of the men in black.
As the evil energy subsided, the men in black found themselves back in their original positions, while the man in white still stood before the broadsword, as if none of them had ever left their spots.
Thump, thump. Without any warning, the two men in black on the far right silently collapsed. Their bodies seemed to have been drained dry, instantly turning into desiccated corpses.
Mie Yi’s voice remained low but now trembled slightly. “You… you… the Nether King’s Sword—are you Ming Shan?” The earlier cataclysmic attack had already shattered his resolve; a frigid, evil energy continuously assaulted the meridians within his body. He no longer harbored any confidence that he could contend with the figure before him. He did not fear death, yet he was unwilling to make a futile sacrifice.
The man in white kept his right hand pressed against his chest and said calmly, “This is the first time—truly the first—that anyone has witnessed the Nether King’s Sword strike and still lived. For the sake of our past association, leave. You should be able to explain yourselves upon returning. I do not wish to kill anyone else today.”
Mie Yi glanced at the desiccated corpses of Mie Liu and Mie Shi, clenched his teeth, and spat bitterly, “Take their bodies. Let’s go.” He tapped the ground with one foot and floated over to where Mie Shi Yi lay dead beneath the white-clad man’s broadsword, then scooped up his body. None of the remaining men in black spoke; two of them tucked the dried corpses of Mie Liu and Mie Shi under their arms. These remaining nine, maintaining a disciplined formation, slowly retreated and vanished into the mist.
The man in white chuckled self-deprecatingly and muttered to himself, “Never did I imagine that I, the ‘King of Hell,’ would one day have to rely on deception to save my life.” His body swayed; he grabbed the broadsword before him to steady himself. “What formidable Holy Water of Wuer! Am I to die here?” His strength gave way, and he collapsed to the side.
Originally, the man in white had barely managed to suppress the poison of the Divine Water of Wuer with his pure true energy. But to drive away those men in black, he had no choice but to mobilize his true energy and unleash his ultimate technique. The poison could no longer be contained, and he could hold on no longer.
A-Dai stared blankly at everything unfolding before him, rubbing his eyes. The scenes just witnessed felt so unreal. That extraordinarily surging evil energy had left a deep mark within the depths of his heart. He had never imagined that anyone could unleash such a powerful attack. The evil aura emitted by his master, Glis, when using Black Flame, was simply incomparable to that of this man in white. If not for the fact that the man in white lay unconscious, very much alive, just a short distance away, A-Dai would have believed he was dreaming. What he did not realize was that he had narrowly escaped with his life. The evil energy radiating from the man in white would have disturbed even a master like Mie Yi, let alone someone as frail as A-Dai. Had it not been for the endless vitality of the Fruit of Rebirth helping him expel the evil energy, his meridians would have long since become disordered, and he would be dead.
After a while, A-Dai gradually regained his senses. He slowly rose to his feet and took step after step toward the man in white. He wanted to see what would happen when someone consumed the Holy Water of Wuer, which Glis held in such high esteem.
Though the distance was merely a hundred meters, A Dai took five full minutes to traverse it. He could clearly hear his own heartbeat; after all, for a child not yet twelve years old, the scene he had just witnessed could only be described as terrifying. Three living lives had vanished so easily.
Finally, A Dai reached the side of the figure clad in white. Crouching down, he examined the person carefully. The figure’s face was covered by a white veil, with only two small holes for the eyes. Their body was trembling slightly in spasms.
“Not dead.” Terrified, A Dai collapsed onto the ground. This person wasn’t dead yet?
The figure in white remained motionless, continuing to tremble slightly. Suddenly, it occurred to A Dai that this person must possess the profound inner strength that Teacher Gliss had spoken of. They must have suppressed the toxicity of the Wu Er Holy Water within their body to endure until now. Although Teacher Gliss had never found an antidote for the Wu Er Holy Water, he had devised a method to temporarily counteract its poison. However, lacking access to the genuine Wu Er Holy Water, he had never been able to test it. Gliss had once said that dying beneath the effects of the Wu Er Holy Water would itself be a kind of blessing, and he deeply regretted never having had the opportunity to truly experiment with his method of suppressing its toxicity.
Should he save him? A sense of compassion gradually rose within Ah Dai’s heart. Carefully, he removed the veil from the white-clad man’s face. Before his eyes appeared the slender yet handsome countenance of a middle-aged man. The man’s skin was fair; his sword-like eyebrows slanted upward toward his temples, his nose straight, and his mouth square. A faint blue aura covered his face, seemingly rising continuously. His teeth were tightly clenched, as if he were trapped in endless agony.
Ah Dai looked left and right, unable to perceive any evil in this middle-aged man before him. Naively, he thought that those dressed in black earlier must have been the villains, while this white-clad man had killed only in self-defense. “Let me save him,” he decided, “and at the same time, help Teacher Goris test whether the method for suppressing the No-Two Holy Water is effective.” However, he failed to consider whether awakening the white-clad man might bring harm upon himself.
Thinking thus, Ah Dai hesitated no longer. He clearly understood that if he delayed any further, the man before him would be beyond saving. With effort, he lifted the white-clad man’s arm and draped it over his own narrow shoulders.
So heavy! Ah Dai exerted all his strength to pull, yet managed to move the white-clad man only slightly. After several more attempts, he still could not shift the man’s body much. What should he do? Squatting beside the white-clad man, Ah Dai wiped the sweat from his forehead and remained frozen there for a long while, utterly at a loss.
Ah! I can’t drag him back; I’ll just save him here. How stupid of me. A Dai knocked on his own head, then turned and ran toward the wooden cabin.
Back inside the cabin, A Dai headed straight for Gellis’s laboratory. Having long since memorized the notebook by heart, he clearly remembered what was needed to suppress the Wu Er Holy Water.
“Hmm, three taels of silver mother, one tael of crystal powder, half a tael of Heart-Extinguishing Grass—wait, Teacher said this Heart-Extinguishing Grass is extremely poisonous. Why use as much as half a tael? Never mind, it doesn’t matter; whatever Teacher says must be right. One-quarter tael of Pure Frost, one-third tael of Breeze Herb…” Carefully, A Dai gathered all the items noted in the notebook and placed them into the small cauldron. He fetched some clear water, poured it in, stirred the mixture a few times with a pestle, and nodded in satisfaction.
“Teacher, please don’t blame A Dai when you return! I only used your things to save someone.” Honest-hearted A Dai could not forget Gellis’s instructions from before.
Rubbing his hands together, A Dai spoke to himself with excitement: “Alright, I’m starting now. Oh, fire elements filling heaven and earth! Grant me the power of burning. In my name, borrowing your strength, appear, scorching flames.” With a hiss, a blue-green flame sprang from A Dai’s palm. Carefully, he moved his hand beneath the small cauldron, letting the outer part of the flame continuously heat it.
Thanks to constant practice, A Dai’s fire spell had now become quite proficient. After ten months of meditation, he could easily control the flame’s temperature. Within a short while, the water began to boil. A Dai knew that among these materials, only silver mother was difficult to melt, so he placed some specially formulated, non-medicinal quick-melt powder created by Goris onto the silver mother. Even so, it took nearly an hour to completely fuse all the materials together.

A Glimpse of the Underworld King (Part 2)
Wiping the sweat from his forehead with his other hand, A Dai let out a long breath. Having used the fire spell for an hour, his magical energy was nearing its limit. Finally, most of the moisture had evaporated. Satisfied with the silvery, paste-like liquid before him, A Dai retrieved a silver mold from the cabinet and carefully poured the liquid from the cauldron into it.
The mold had become scorching hot. A-Dai carefully placed it into the prepared clear water. Hiss— a plume of white steam rose from the mold. A-Dai breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that what he had set out to make was now complete.
In just a short while, the mold had cooled completely. A-Dai carefully lifted it out and opened it on the table. Ten small silver spheres came into view. A faint fragrance emanated from them. Ah! Excellent, it’s a success. He grabbed one of the silver spheres and dashed out. More than an hour had passed; he wondered how the person in white fared.
When A-Dai returned to the spot where the person in white had collapsed, the figure was nowhere to be found. Even the broadsword that had been plunged into the ground had vanished. A-Dai stood rooted to the spot, bewildered and at a loss.
Suddenly, he felt a slight chill against his neck. A massive sword tip appeared beside his throat, and his shoulders felt as though they bore a thousand-pound burden, leaving him unable to move.
“Who are you?” A deep voice rang out from behind, unmistakably belonging to the man in white.
A-Dai froze, intending to turn around, but the force on the sword suddenly intensified, pressing him down until he fell to the ground with a thud.
The tip of the sword pointed at A-Dai’s chest as the man in white repeated, “Who are you?” In truth, long before A-Dai departed, the man in white had already regained consciousness. However, since he needed to channel all his internal energy to suppress the poison of the Wu Er Sacred Water, he hadn’t possessed even a shred of strength to resist at that time. He was only aware of another person’s presence beside him—someone who seemed to harbor no intent to harm him and had even tugged at him twice. After A-Dai left, he had struggled greatly to regain control over the poison once more. Realizing his current physical state wouldn’t allow him to travel far, he simply drew his broadsword and hid nearby. When A-Dai returned, what the man in white saw was a thin, childlike figure brimming with excitement, possessing no martial arts skills whatsoever; thus, his vigilance inadvertently eased.
“I… I’m A-Dai,” A-Dai said timidly.
A-Dai? Could there really be such a name?” The man in white couldn’t help but pause in surprise. “Why are you here? Where did you go just now?
“I… I live nearby! I just went to prepare medicine. You’ve been poisoned by the Wu Er Sacred Water; you must be treated immediately.”
Hearing A-Dai’s words, the man in white was greatly startled and exclaimed involuntarily, “What? You can neutralize the deadly poison of the Wuer Holy Water?”
A-Dai shook his head and honestly replied, “I cannot neutralize it, but my teacher has a method that can temporarily suppress the toxicity, preventing it from taking effect.”
A flash of joy passed through the eyes of the man in white, who then said coldly, “So that means you overheard my earlier conversation with those people. Why do you want to save me?” A chilling killing intent emanated from within him; although deeply troubled by the Wuer Holy Water, he could still easily kill this weak life before him.
A-Dai scratched his head. Although the killing intent radiating from the man in white made him very uncomfortable, he felt that the other party did not truly harbor malicious intentions. “Does saving someone require a reason?”
The man in white was stunned by the question and replied hoarsely, “Do you truly intend to help me suppress the deadly poison of the Wuer Sacred Water?” He was already at the end of his strength; nearly all his true energy had been expended to contain the toxicity. The broadsword was immensely heavy, and his arms were now trembling slightly.
Ah Dai nodded and said, “Yes!”
The man in white pressed further, “Then do you have confidence in succeeding?”
Ah Dai shook his head and replied, “No. This is my first time making medicine. I’ve only ever watched my teacher prepare other remedies before. However, I followed the formula from my teacher’s notes exactly. My teacher, after all, was a truly great alchemist.”
The man in white was startled. An alchemist? It seems this child truly is not one of the Master’s people. He released his grip, tossed the broadsword aside, and looked coldly at A Dai, saying, “I will believe you for now. Where is the medicine? Hand it over.” He thought to himself, I am barely holding on anyway; might as well give it a try. Perhaps it will help. At worst, I will only die.
A Dai uttered an “Oh,” and handed over the silver sphere he held.
The man in white took the silver sphere and was momentarily stunned. Something this heavy—is it even meant to be eaten? He asked, “This is the medicine?”
A Dai nodded and said, “Yes, this is the medicine. According to my teacher’s notes, this remedy is suitable only for those with profound inner energy. After swallowing it, the silver sphere will automatically draw the deadly poison of the Wu Er Sacred Water toward its surroundings, preventing it from spreading. However, since it contains elements of silver mother, one must use internal energy to suspend it within the body to avoid compressing the internal organs. Unfortunately, this object cannot completely absorb the toxicity of the Wu Er Sacred Water; otherwise, it would truly act as an antidote. Although the poison’s toxicity is drawn together, it will still slowly seep into your body. Therefore, this method can only suppress the poison, not eliminate it.”
After hearing A-Dai’s explanation, the man in white felt a few more degrees of conviction. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed the silver sphere whole.
A-Dai said, “By the way, after swallowing the silver sphere, you must use your true energy to gather the poison together. Only then can the silver sphere confine all the toxic qi within a certain range.”
The man in white sat cross-legged on the ground and, half-believing and half-doubting, mobilized his true energy according to A-Dai’s instructions. Indeed, just as A-Dai had said, those wildly surging streams of toxic qi were drawn toward the silver sphere the moment they entered its range, completely confined within a narrow area. He no longer needed to exert all his strength to suppress them. Using his most potent true energy, he wrapped a layer around the gathered toxic qi, thus preventing the gradual seepage into his body that A-Dai had mentioned. In a sense, the toxicity of the Wuer Sacred Water could no longer threaten him. However, he also knew clearly that fifty percent of his cultivation power would now be devoted to controlling the silver sphere and containing the poison, meaning he could never again unleash his full strength.
Exhaling a long breath, the man in white opened his eyes. A-Dai asked anxiously, “How is it? How is it? Did my master’s method work?”
The white-clad figure’s expression softened considerably. He nodded slightly and said, “I feel much better now. Thank you, young friend.”
Adai offered a simple, guileless smile. “No need to thank me, no need at all. I’m just glad it worked. However, you must keep that silver sphere suspended within your body from now on. If the poisonous qi spreads, the symptoms could flare up even more violently. Well, I’m off. Goodbye.” With that, Adai stood up contentedly, rubbed his somewhat sore shoulders, and turned to walk into the mist.
“Wait a moment,” the white-clad figure called out, stopping Adai. “Your name is Adai, correct? Young friend, since you saved my life, do you have any request?” As the proud ‘King of Hades,’ he could not bear to owe anyone a favor. At the same time, he wished to test whether this seemingly foolish child harbored some ulterior motive.
Adai paused in surprise, then shook his head. “I don’t have any requests. But could you please kill fewer people in the future? Even though they were bad individuals, if you kill them, they won’t be able to eat steamed buns anymore.”
A faint smile appeared on the white-clad man’s face as he said, “How do you know they are bad people, and how do you know I am a good one?”
Ah Dai scratched his head and replied, “I can’t really explain it. Maybe it’s because you don’t look like a bad person, while those dressed in black don’t seem like good folks either. But when you killed them, it was so terrifying; everything around turned cold.”
The white-clad man’s expression shifted slightly, a flash of surprise passing through his eyes. “So, you were watching us when we acted. Are you feeling any discomfort?”
Ah Dai shook his head. “No discomfort at all! Well, I must go now. I’ve made a mess of my teacher’s laboratory, and I need to hurry back to clean it up. Otherwise, when he returns in a few days, he’ll surely scold me.” With that, he turned and walked toward the wooden cabin.
The man in white hesitated for a moment, then called out to Adai again, saying, “Could you take me to your place so I can rest? I’ve exhausted my strength and must eat something and get proper rest; otherwise, with insufficient power, I won’t be able to contain the silver sphere.”
Adai thought for a moment and replied, “No, I can’t take you there. If my teacher finds out, he’ll be displeased.”
The man in white smiled slightly and said, “Don’t worry. If your master knew you had saved someone, he would praise you without hesitation. Besides, shouldn’t you see a rescue through to the end? If you leave me here and those villains return, I will surely die!”
The gentle smile of the man in white touched Ah Dai. After hesitating for a long while, he said, “All right, but you must rest briefly and leave quickly. My master may return soon, and he doesn’t much care for strangers.”
“Very well; I will rest a short while and then depart.” The man in white wished to see what sort of place this child named Ah Dai lived in, and the alchemist’s home held a certain allure for him as well. Most importantly, he wanted to understand why this child remained unafraid of the evil aura emanating from his Hades Sword.
After all, the man in white possessed profound cultivation. Although he had been tormented for many days by the Wuer Holy Water, its poison had now been absorbed by the silver sphere crafted by Ah Dai. He could already walk on his own; aside from the effort required to control the silver sphere, he still retained roughly twenty to thirty percent of his former power.
A Dai quickly led the white-clad figure, “King of Hell,” to the wooden cabin. Upon seeing everything before him, “King of Hell” couldn’t help but marvel. “Did your teacher create all this? He must be a master-level alchemist. Hmm, what an exquisitely designed magic array!”
Gris had never explained to A Dai what a magic array was. A Dai only understood that the white-clad man was praising his teacher, so he smiled immediately and said, “Yes, my teacher is very powerful. You must be tired. Let me take you to rest first, then find something for you to eat. A good sleep might help you feel better.”
“King of Hell” nodded and followed A Dai into his simply furnished wooden cabin. Without hesitation, “King of Hell” sat cross-legged on the bed and began to focus his mind on cultivation. These past few days, his spirit had remained constantly tense, while his body had been continuously tormented by the Wuer Holy Water; he truly needed to regulate his breath thoroughly. A Dai did not disturb him. Instead, he went to the orchard, picked a basketful of fruits, placed them beside “King of Hell,” and quietly withdrew. Even now, A Dai remained extremely excited about successfully refining the silver ball earlier that day, which had helped “King of Hell” suppress the deadly poison of the Wuer Holy Water. In truth, how could A Dai know that when Gris originally researched this method, even he himself lacked confidence in its success, because his approach could only work under ideal conditions. The most crucial requirement was that the poisoned person must possess exceptionally thick and profound true energy. If an ordinary person were poisoned by the Wuer Holy Water, they would have long since dissolved entirely into a puddle of blue liquid and died. Even mages specializing in spiritual power would be utterly unable to resist this toxin, ranked as the most poisonous substance on the continent. However, the man standing before A Dai, known as “King of Hell,” was undoubtedly one of the top experts on the entire continent. Only someone at his level could realize Gris’s ideal conditions, using true energy to continuously control both the silver ball and the poisonous qi, preventing their spread. Even so, controlling the silver ball had already consumed nearly half of “King of Hell”‘s internal energy.
After leaving the wooden cabin, A Dai first restored everything in the laboratory to its original state. Then, outside the house, he focused intently on practicing his Fire Meteor spell. Nowadays, when using this magic, A Dai could almost fully control it; however, its destructive power remained too weak. Even if multiple projectiles struck simultaneously, they would hardly cause any significant damage. Each individual component of the Fire Meteor was merely a tiny fireball slightly larger than a spark. Except for burning leaves, it probably couldn’t even penetrate ordinary leather.
The fire meteor had, after all, approached the stage of intermediate magic. Moreover, A-Dai had already been casting flame spells for a long time today; after cultivating for just a while, he felt utterly exhausted. Sitting on the steps at the entrance of the wooden cabin and leaning against the wooden wall beside him, he inadvertently fell asleep.
“A-Dai, wake up, wake up.”不知 how much time had passed when A-Dai felt someone patting his face, rousing him groggily from sleep. Opening his eyes, he saw it was precisely the man in white robes he had rescued earlier—”Pluto King.” At this moment, his complexion had improved significantly; the blue aura on his face had vanished entirely, clearly indicating that he had fully subdued the toxicity of the Wuer Holy Water.
“Ah! Uncle, you’ve rested well.”
“Pluto King” nodded and said, “Yes! Are you very tired? Go back to your room to sleep. It’s already dark.”
Only now did Adai notice that night had fallen. The dark sky, shrouded in thick mist all around, exuded an air of mystery. He stood up, stretched his somewhat stiff body, and walked toward the room. Originally, he had already decided that as soon as the man in white robes had rested, he would immediately ask him to leave. However, upon seeing how dark it had become, he abandoned that idea; after all, traveling through the forest at night in such darkness made it far too easy to get lost. Better to let him stay here for the night first.