Chapter 0278: The Palace of the Underworld King

The Palace of the Underworld King, floating 10 meters above the ground, was hundreds of feet tall and dozens of miles long, made of a gray mineral.
“Mystery Phoenix Stone!” Huang Long recognized this mineral material at a glance.
The Mystery Phoenix Stone contained pure destructive energy and was the rarest mineral in the underworld. A thumb-sized piece was worth 100 Divine Stones—so how much was this Palace of the Underworld King worth?!
Moreover, through Huang Long’s divine sense, he discovered that the palace was actually made from a single connected vein of Mystery Phoenix Stone—one entire vein, not pieces piled together!
“Let’s go up!” At that moment, Huang Long led Bog and the others to fly up and land inside the Palace of the Underworld King.
The palace doors were hundreds of feet wide.
Once inside, an ancient aura hit them head-on—this was the aura accumulated over trillions of years by the Palace of the Underworld King.
The main hall was divided into more than a dozen areas, each serving a different purpose. Huang Long led Bog and the others to the registration area.
Inside the main hall, there were no fewer than ten thousand god-tier powerhouses moving about.
“Are these the Underworld King powerhouses?!” Huang Long watched the occasional god-tier powerhouse dressed in Underworld King attire—their clothes were light gray, yet they exuded an air of authority. On their chests were the ancient characters for “Underworld King,” with a star or two beneath them.
One star represented a first-level Underworld King, and so on.
These stars emitted a faint glow in various colors. Huang Long realized they were top-quality spiritual crystal stones beneficial for cultivation.
Whenever an Underworld King powerhouse appeared, the surrounding god-tier powerhouses would show reverence and step back slightly.
From what Huang Long learned from the shopkeeper, even a million god-tier powerhouses might not produce one Underworld King powerhouse. As for why, the shopkeeper was vague, clearly not daring to speak openly.
Although the exact reason was unknown, it showed just how difficult it was to become an Underworld King powerhouse.
When Huang Long entered the registration area, there were hundreds of people in the hall, most of whom also seemed to be there for registration. However, all of them were lower-tier gods.
Upon seeing Huang Long bring a group of divine domain servants, these lower-tier gods were shocked and then showed disdain.
“Hehe, is this guy crazy? Bringing a bunch of divine domain servants to the Palace of the Underworld King?”
“I think he’s really insane. Otherwise, no one would show off by bringing such servants here.”
Many people laughed and speculated.
Huang Long stopped, turned around, and looked at them.

“What? Do you still dare to attack?!” Seeing Huang Long stop and look at them, these people laughed even harder, their faces full of mockery. Attacking in the Palace of the Underworld Kings was tantamount to seeking death—they would be crushed to pieces by all the powerful Underworld Kings!

At that moment, Huang Long’s eyes flashed briefly. Immediately afterward, all those who had been mocking him trembled violently, their faces turning pale. When they looked at Huang Long again, their expressions changed.

“Soul attack!”

So powerful!

Silence reigned in the grand hall.

Although Huang Long’s reincarnated soul was damaged, years of cultivation, along with the absorption of the Nanyang Fire Spirit Pearl, had elevated his divine consciousness to that of an ordinary Golden Immortal—equivalent to the middle to late stage of a mid-tier god. How could these lower-tier gods resist such power?

“What’s going on?!” Two powerful Underworld Kings dressed in royal attire came over and demanded, clearly sensing something unusual.

“My lords, it’s nothing, really!” The lower-tier gods panicked and quickly spoke respectfully.

If they accused Huang Long of attacking them, where was the evidence?

Soul attack?! Who could prove it?

Moreover, a god-tier warrior capable of soul attacks inspired deep awe.

Not all god-tier warriors could use soul attacks—only those with soul mutations that granted them power, after undergoing soul cultivation to unleash that power, could do so. And such god-tier warriors with soul mutations were even rarer than Underworld Kings!

Out of one million god-tier warriors, there might be one Underworld King, but among ten million, it might not even be possible to find one with a soul mutation that granted power! Such warriors were known as Soul Masters!

Soul Masters possessed mysterious and unpredictable soul attacks, making them impossible to defend against. Imagine—before you could even act, they could launch a soul attack, scattering or even severely damaging your soul, without even needing to touch you! In the Underworld, Soul Masters were as respected as Underworld King warriors, holding high status and being sought after by all factions.

Therefore, they could never afford to offend Huang Long. They regretted it deeply, thinking that if they had known Huang Long was a Soul Master, they wouldn’t have dared act like that.

The two powerful Underworld Kings glanced at Huang Long suspiciously before leaving.

After they left, the lower-tier gods stared at Huang Long nervously, while those who didn’t understand yet, after hearing what others were saying, looked at him with awe.

To the relief of those lower gods, after the two powerful Underworld Kings left, Huang Long also turned and led a group of divine beings to the registration desk, ignoring them further.
“I never expected that man to be a powerful Soul Master! How terrifying!”
“How strong do you think his soul power is? At the peak of lower gods?!”
Soul power can vary in strength and can be continuously enhanced through cultivation. Generally, a powerful being at the peak of lower gods possesses soul power on par with their physical strength. Although Soul Masters are terrifying, their soul attacks can only target weaker opponents; if they try to attack higher-ranked divine beings, they will suffer backlash from their souls!
“I don’t know… I think it’s at the strength of mid-tier gods!”
Amidst the awe and cautious discussions of these lower gods, Huang Long and the others arrived at the registration desk.
The person in charge of the registration desk was a beautiful woman with purple hair, appearing to be in her twenties. When she saw Huang Long and the others approaching, she was surprised like the lower gods, but quickly regained her composure and smiled professionally. “Sir, what service do you need?”
Although the registration desk was mainly for registration, it also offered other services.
“We want to become Underworld Kings. Please help us register,” Huang Long said calmly.
“You?” The purple-haired woman initially replied casually but then froze, speaking impulsively before looking at Bog and the others behind Huang Long.
To become a powerful Underworld King, even just at the first level, usually requires the strength of a being at the peak of lower gods. Even those at that peak level rarely succeed. Having worked here for tens of thousands of years, this was the first time she had encountered divine beings coming to register.
“Sir, are you sure?!” the purple-haired woman asked Huang Long in surprise, wondering if she had heard wrong.
“You heard me right,” Huang Long’s voice rang out.
The purple-haired woman was about to say something else but, seeing Huang Long’s calm and unyielding expression, changed her tone. “Very well. Twenty-five people, that’s 250 divine stones in total.”
250 divine stones!
Huang Long shook his head. In this Underworld, everything was measured in divine stones—living here was truly difficult!
Fortunately, he had already learned about this registration fee from the clerk before coming, so he wasn’t surprised. With a flash of light, 250 divine stones appeared on the registration desk.
The purple-haired woman scanned them with her divine sense to confirm the amount was correct, then stored them in the counter’s space. She then picked up twenty-five palm-sized tokens, neither gold nor silver, and used her divine sense to inscribe each of Huang Long and the others’ names onto them.

“Alright, these are your identity badges. Keep them with you whenever you hunt primal beasts, and they will record details of the beasts you’ve slain, including their numbers and levels. If you kill one million primal beasts at the Lower God level or above within a hundred years, then you can become a First-Class Nether King,” said the purple-haired woman after finishing everything, handing the badges to Huang Long.

“What?! A hundred years, one million?!”, Bog and the others exclaimed in shock.

Huang Long was also slightly stunned.

A hundred years, one million beasts—that meant killing ten thousand primal beasts at the Lower God level or above per year?!

Only then did Huang Long understand why not even one Nether King might emerge from a million godly strongmen. Even for a Mid-Level God, killing ten thousand such beasts in a year would be extremely difficult! After all, killing ten thousand in a year was an extremely tight deadline—just like asking an alchemist to produce ten thousand pills in a year, leaving almost no time for rest. It required not only strength but also the tempering of one’s will!

It was easy to imagine that hunting primal beasts day after day, month after month, for a hundred years in the dangerous Ancient Forest would drive anyone mad, even if they weren’t killed by the beasts!

The purple-haired woman seemed satisfied with Bog and the others’ reactions, her pretty face showing a hint of pride.

Even a Lower God with two types of primordial powers didn’t dare sign up for the Nether King trial—how could these minor divine realms dare? If becoming a Nether King were that easy, there would be Nether King strongmen everywhere in the Netherworld.

“Let’s go!” Huang Long kept the woman’s expression in mind, his expression calm as he led Bog and the others away.

A hundred years, one million beasts? Huang Long thought sarcastically.

One million beasts—how much divine stone would that earn? He did the math: one at the first level was worth two hundred, so that’s two hundred million! If it were at the second level, five hundred, that’s five hundred million; at the third level, one thousand, that’s one billion; and at the fourth level, even more—one hundred billion!

Twenty-five people, a hundred years—surely they could earn several hundred billion?! Huang Long mused.

Several hundred billion was still considered a small income!

If that purple-haired woman knew what Huang Long was thinking as he left, she would be furious—already thinking about profits before even starting the trial?!

After leaving the Nether King Palace, Huang Long and the others boarded a hired primal beast carriage and headed north toward Silver Emperor City.

In the Netherworld, there were five great palaces: the Soul Master Palace, the Nether King Palace, the Alchemist Palace, the Artisan Palace, and the Merchant Palace! Five great palaces, five great forces!

Each city has five separate halls, and the Commerce and Trade Hall of the Silver Emperor City is located in the north. As the name suggests, it is a hall for exchange and trade, managed jointly by the six major families of the Netherworld.