It was an independent Stigmata Space, floating within the rift between dimensions.
When Lu Jingming stepped into this place, the entire space seemed to come alive. The area, which had been filled with an endless, icy, deathly silence and darkness, began to glow with a faint shimmer.
A figure slowly walked out from the deepest reaches of the darkness. It was Castorice. At this moment, she was fundamentally different from the past.
She still possessed that tranquil and ethereal beauty, but there was no longer any breath of the living upon her. Every movement, every frown, and every smile emanated a charm of extinction and eternal rest. Her existence itself was the personification of death.
With Lu Jingming's assistance and propelled by the massive concept of death inherent to this planet, she had successfully condensed her own Divine Seat: the Divine Seat of Death. From this day forward, she was the only legitimate Goddess of Death on this planet, governing the end of all life.
"Jingming, you've come."
Castorice's voice was ethereal and misty, as if rising from the depths of the Nine Serenities, yet it carried a trace of warmth that she only reserved for Lu Jingming.
"I'm here."
Lu Jingming walked to her and gently took her hand. "Are you ready? Let us begin our most important grand undertaking."
Castorice nodded, a flash of anticipation in her eyes. Attaining godhood was not the end for her. The first thing she intended to do after becoming a goddess was to open a world truly belonging to the deceased—the Underworld—with Lu Jingming's help.
"Then, let us begin."
Lu Jingming let go of her hand and took a step back. "Herta, Ruan Mei, Buer, Miku... everyone, I'm counting on you."
As his voice fell, several equally powerful wills descended upon this space.
"Hmph, how could I possibly miss such an interesting project?" a self-assured voice rang out; it was Herta.
"The ultimate end of life is death. To witness the birth of an 'afterlife world' with my own eyes is of extraordinary significance to my research," came Ruan Mei's intellectual and elegant voice.
"The cycle of all things and the rotation of life and death is the duty of the World Tree. I am very happy to establish a peaceful destination for the children of this world," the voice of Great Lord Rukkhadevata was filled with compassion and gentleness.
"Celestial Computer connected to the Stigmata Space. Computing power at 100% output. Ready to begin constructing the Underworld's law model at any time," reported Miku with her usual efficiency and precision.
A grand project on the scale of creation—unprecedented in history—unfolded.
Step One: Opening the Space.
"Castorice, using your Divine Seat as the core, expand your Stigmata Space to its limit," Lu Jingming commanded.
Castorice closed her eyes. The black divine power of the Death Seat erupted from her body like a tsunami, frantically surging in all directions. What was once just an independent space in a dimensional rift began a relentless, frenzied expansion under the infusion of deathly divine power.
Its boundaries stretched rapidly toward infinity. Inside the space, the darkness grew deeper, and the silence became purer. Countless "stars" composed of the laws of death were slowly born in this dark universe, only to slowly fade away. Here, a "space" was undergoing a metamorphosis into a true "world."
Step Two: Anchoring the Ley Lines.
"Buer, it's your turn."
"Leave it to me."
The illusory figure of Great Lord Rukkhadevata appeared at the center of the Underworld. She extended both hands. Behind her, a towering phantom of the World Tree composed of emerald light slowly emerged.
In the next moment, the roots of this World Tree seemed to pierce through the dimensional barriers, plunging from the Underworld into the reality—the core of Planet Douluo. The ley line network spread across the depths of the entire planet, acting like its vascular system, was completely activated by the power of the World Tree.
Countless invisible ley line paths composed of soul energy were forcibly connected from the physical world into this newborn Underworld. From then on, this Underworld was no longer a rootless drifting leaf. It was tightly linked to the entirety of Planet Douluo, becoming an indispensable link in the planet's ecological cycle.
Step Three: Establishing Order.
"Herta, Ruan Mei, Miku, construct the basic laws of the Underworld."
"Received."
In the sky of the Underworld, a colossal blue light curtain composed of billions of data streams suddenly unfurled. It was the computing interface of the Celestial Computer. Herta and Ruan Mei stood before the light curtain like two designers planning the universe.
"First, the 'River of Soul Guidance.' All souls entering the Underworld must undergo its baptism, forgetting their past lives and leaving only the purest soul essence."
"Next, the 'Plains of Silence,' where souls wait for reincarnation. Waiting areas will be divided based on their deeds in life and the purity of the soul."
"Finally, the 'Gate of Reincarnation.' The Celestial Computer will perform macro-adjustments based on the population dynamics of the physical world, deciding the quantity and quality of souls to be cast into reincarnation daily."
Every one of their instructions was transformed into lines of complex code, input by Miku into the Underworld's core. Behind them, the entire Underworld underwent earth-shaking changes.
A massive river emitting an eerie blue light appeared out of thin air, cutting through the Underworld. At the river's end, a vast, boundless plain grew white flowers that emitted a soft glow. At the end of the plain stood a majestic, solemn gate constructed of black and white crystals.
The basic framework of the Underworld was complete.
Step Four: Infusing the Souls.
"It's my turn."
Lu Jingming looked at this world of the dead, which had begun to take shape, and took a deep breath. He extended his hand, and the Abyss Flower appeared. He gently thrust the spear into the void beneath his feet.
"In my name, I summon the returnees lost between life and death."
His voice seemed to pierce through time and space. In the next moment, across the entire Douluo Continent, those remnants and ghosts who had died due to war, accidents, or various reasons—but whose souls had not fully dissipated due to obsession, hatred, or other causes—felt an irresistible summons.
One by one, their figures emerged from the places they had died. Then, turning into streaks of light, they were involuntarily drawn along the newly established ley line paths and cast into this brand-new Underworld.
Millions of soul orbs emitting various lights fell like a magnificent meteor shower into the River of Soul Guidance. Through the baptism of the river, their grievances, obsessions, and memories were slowly stripped away, eventually turning into pure soul bodies emitting a soft white light. They stepped onto the Plains of Silence, waiting there peacefully.
The Underworld had finally welcomed its first "residents."
Step Five: Perfecting the Cycle.
"Mobius, I'm counting on you for the final step."
Lu Jingming looked toward the last expert who had not yet acted.
"Heh, it's finally my turn," came a voice like a snake's hiss, tinged with morbidity and fanaticism.
The figure of Mobius appeared before the Gate of Reincarnation. She looked at the pure souls waiting for rebirth, her eyes flashing with excitement. She extended both hands, and countless emerald "snakes" composed of life energy crawled from her palms, entwining the massive Gate of Reincarnation.
"In the name of 'Infinity,' I grant you the chance to return to life."
Under the infusion of her power, the cold Gate of Reincarnation seemed to come alive. The gate slowly opened a crack. Behind the gate was not a void, but a world full of hope and vitality, composed of the cries of countless newborn infants.
A soul was sucked into the gate and disappeared. Simultaneously, in a far corner of the physical world, a newborn baby let out its first cry. Reincarnation was successful.
With the opening of the Underworld and the establishment of reincarnation, a brand-new, complete, and closed-loop ecological system was fully formed on Planet Douluo. From then on, whether it was humans or soul beasts on this planet, their souls after death would automatically return to the ley lines and be guided into the Underworld to wash away their past and wait for rebirth.
Controlling the Underworld and Reincarnation was equivalent to fundamentally controlling the life and death of this world.
Resurrection? It was possible. But to resurrect someone, one first had to have the ability to snatch that soul from the hands of Castorice, the Goddess of Death. Then, one had to be able to bypass the unbreakable reincarnation system constructed by the planet's ley lines, the World Tree, the Celestial Computer, and several god-level powerhouses.
Even if one managed all of that, they would still face the final and most terrifying obstacle: the judgment of the High Council of the Astral Alliance.
Because, on the day after the establishment of reincarnation, a brand-new, supreme law was written into the Fundamental Law of the Astral Alliance:
"Any act of resurrecting the dead without the approval of the High Council of the Alliance shall be deemed a desecration of the fundamental laws of the world, a provocation against the supreme authority of the Alliance, and the highest grade of 'First-Degree Treason.' Once discovered, regardless of identity, status, or race, the Alliance will spare no expense and use all its power to effect... total erasure."
The promulgation of this law completely put an end to the chaotic situations of the past, where the whim of a certain god or the luck of a protagonist could casually break the boundaries of life and death. An event like Tang San resurrecting Xiao Wu was absolutely impossible under this new world order.
Dead meant dead. Without the permission of the Astral Alliance, waiting honestly in line for reincarnation was the only and final destination for all life.
Lu Jingming had not only unified the realms of the living but had also established an eternal, orderly kingdom for the dead.
Time is the most impartial and ruthless measure in the universe. After the ascent of Sea Abyss City, the opening of the Underworld, and the settling of reincarnation, several more years passed by like a fleeting dream.
For those who had experienced the fires and conflicts of the old era, these few years felt like a bizarre yet incredibly real dream. The change was all-encompassing, bone-deep, and earth-shaking.
In the old era, traveling from one end of the continent to the other required months even for powerhouses of the Title Douluo level. Now, a global maglev rail network allowed anyone to reach any major city on the planet within twenty-four hours. Teleportation stations, combining soul tool technology and spatial engineering, shortened distances of ten thousand miles to a matter of minutes.
Sea Abyss City, the headquarters of the Alliance suspended in the sky, had become the ultimate hub of the global transportation network, processing hundreds of millions of people and goods daily like an untiring, powerful heart for the planet.
In the old era, the fate of commoners was like duckweed in the wind. A sudden blizzard or a prolonged drought could cause tens of thousands to freeze or starve to death. Now, with the technological support of Herta and Ruan Mei, a global "Ecological Regulation System" had been established. It could precisely control temperature, humidity, and rainfall in every region, nipping extreme weather in the bud. Automated ecological farms spread across the globe and managed by the AI "Hatsune Miku" could produce enough food to support ten times the current population. Hunger and cold, the two ghosts that had haunted human civilization for tens of thousands of years, were completely swept into the dustbin of history.
In the old era, there was an insurmountable chasm between nobles and commoners. Nobles held knowledge, power, and strength; they viewed commoners as grass, oppressing or killing them at will without consequence. Now, under the supreme Fundamental Law issued by the Astral Alliance, the idea that all men are born equal was no longer an empty slogan.
In its first year, the Astral Alliance abolished the ten-thousand-year-old system of slavery with thunderous force. All enslaved persons were liberated, and the Alliance provided education, housing, and jobs to help them reintegrate into society. This was followed by a global reform of land and assets. All hereditary territories and privileges of the old nobility were reclaimed by the Alliance. After strict auditing, a portion of their assets was kept as retirement funds for past family contributions, while the rest was funneled into public welfare and infrastructure.
Of course, the Alliance did not implement a one-size-fits-all approach. For those individuals and families who had performed distinguished service in war or made outstanding contributions in fields like technology or culture, the Alliance granted new "Starsea Peerages" representing honor.