The night was as dark as ink, and the sea breeze at Bin Hai carried the salty and moist sea air, wafting past the balcony’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

Shen Siyuan gently twisted his fingers as the Ten Thousand Soul Banner slowly rose from his Sea of Consciousness. The palm-sized banner fluttered without wind, and the incense fire power within, intertwined in gold and red, surged like a vast ocean. Even through the fabric, one could feel the pure and majestic sacred aura.

"Brother, the incense has all been gathered."

Holding a slightly yellowed True Words Book, Xiao Yue walked forward with a calm expression, "These past few days, I’ve visited all seventy-two temples big and small, as well as various folk shrines and Land God Temples. Most of the Incense Fire Wishing Power scattered in the mortal world has been collected into the banner by me."

Now she was the True God of the Yin Department of Yangzhou Netherworld. Managing the Incense Fire Wishing Power of the mortal world was her duty. Plus, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner naturally gathered incense. In just a few short days, she had accumulated an incense power several times greater than before.

"You’ve worked hard." Shen Siyuan smiled, patting her on the head, then looked to the side.

Duoduo was carrying the Qiankun Umbrella; the pattern of the Pine Wood Immortal Crane on the umbrella surface glowed with a faint blue light under the lamp. Seeing Shen Qingzhou look over, Duoduo said immediately, "Brother, I’m ready too. We can depart at any time."

Only Dou Dou was squatting down, tying red ribbons on her pair of Bronze Double Hammers, humming an off-tune nursery rhyme. After tying them up, she waved them, and the orange-red Divine Fire flashed across the hammerheads, bringing up a spray of fine sparks.

"Potato, when are we leaving? I can’t wait."

She bounced over to Shen Siyuan’s side, looking up with a face full of eager excitement.

Believing herself to be invincible, she had long yearned to show off her skills once more in the Netherworld.

Shen Siyuan was amused by her impatient look, gently flicking her forehead: "What’s the rush? This time, you can’t just charge ahead recklessly. If you act as rashly as last time, I’ll send you back and won’t let you follow."

"I won’t."

Dou Dou immediately puffed out her chest in protest, patting her chest, "I’m strong now. If those bad bugs come, I’ll hammer them one by one or in pairs if they come in twos."

"Enough, stop joking around."

Shen Siyuan chuckled, shaking his head, and glanced at Duoduo, "Duoduo, let’s go."

"Okay!"

Duoduo responded, gripping the umbrella handle with both hands, raising it high. A pale green light curtain enveloped the four of them, the Pine Wood Immortal Crane on the umbrella seemed to flap its wings, and a force of reversing realities slowly permeated the air.

As Duoduo gently rotated her wrist, the surrounding scene warped and shattered in an instant.

In just a moment, the floor beneath their feet vanished, replaced by the thick black soil of Yangzhou Netherworld.

All around was endless darkness.

The sky was covered with thick Polluted Energy, obscuring sun and moon, with only the occasional flash of the scarlet ghostly light from the eyes of Mud Worms, flickering on and off in the dark like ghost fires.

The black soil beneath was sticky and slippery, emitting a nauseating stench of rot, a manifestation of human desires and malice hardened over the years, eating away at this land that should have been meant for reincarnation and rebirth.

Only the area under their feet was purified yellow soil by incense fire, warm and clean, distinctly separate from the surrounding black soil, like a small island in the darkness.

"Wow, a lot of those stinking worms have grown back."

Dou Dou stood on tiptoe, peering into the distance, hearing the rising and falling hisses from the darkness. Far from being afraid, she seemed even more excited, clutching her Bronze Double Hammers, ready to charge forward.

"Stop."

Shen Siyuan reached out and grabbed her collar, pulling back the little cannonball rushing ahead, "Take care of business first, then you can play to your heart’s content."

Dou Dou pouted but obediently halted her steps, though her eyes kept darting into the darkness, as if selecting the unlucky Mud Worm to hammer first.

Shen Siyuan said no more, raising his hand, he tossed the Ten Thousand Soul Banner into the air.

The banner swelled against the wind, instantly expanding to dozens of feet wide, hanging like a sky canopy over the Netherworld.

With Shen Siyuan’s fingers forming a seal, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner suddenly erupted in a blaze of gold-red light.

The incense fire power, vast as the ocean, poured down from the banner like a flood from a breached dam.

The path of orange-red incense fire instantly cleansed the sticky black soil, turning it into warm yellow soil. The pervasive stench of rot was blown away, and even the thick black clouds over the Netherworld were torn open by the incense flow.

"Sizzle... Sizzle..."

In the darkness, countless Mud Worms hidden within the black soil screeched miserably as they were engulfed by the incense fire.

The bizarre creatures fashioned from human malice melted and dissolved in the face of pure incense fire at a visible speed, leaving no remains behind, vanishing without a trace.

In the distance, some hidden Muddy Ghosts were swept by the incense’s ripple, releasing heart-wrenching screams.

Their soul bodies were eroded crazily by the incense fire power, with their once solid bodies decaying and becoming mottled at a visible rate, like rotten wood corroded by strong acid, disintegrating entirely in just a few breaths, their souls scattered.

"Brother, this spread is too slow."

Xiao Yue stood by, watching the incense flow only cover the surrounding hundred-mile region, speaking softly, "The Netherworld is too vast, cleaning it bit by bit like this will take too long."

"I know."

Shen Siyuan smiled slightly, looking deep into the Netherworld.

He could clearly feel the ever-present Yin Wind flowing through this piece of the Netherworld.

It was the natural wind brought by the cycles of reincarnation, permeating the entire Yangzhou Netherworld. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

He raised his hand in a gesture, and the pouring incense fire flow halted abruptly, transforming into countless gold-red light points in mid-air, like a sky full of stars.

Then, a soft yet enormous force swept out from his fingertip, guiding the Yin Wind across the entire Netherworld.

"Whoosh~"

The whistling Yin Wind surged from all directions in the Netherworld, like countless invisible hands, lifting the floating incense light points, scattering them toward every corner of the Netherworld.

Everywhere it passed, black soil turned yellow, Polluted Energy dissipated, Mud Worms melted, and Muddy Ghosts disintegrated.

The originally dead, dark, and corrupt Yangzhou Netherworld was now illuminated with countless tiny lights by the diffuse incense fire.

Dou Dou’s eyes were wide, clapping her hands in cheer: "Wow, Potato is amazing! It’s like setting off fireworks..."

Duoduo also looked up, watching the incense fire drift off into the distance, clutching the Qiankun Umbrella in her hands tighter unconsciously.

Only Xiao Yue remained calm, her gaze scanning the depths of the Netherworld with vigilance, her eyebrows slightly furrowing: "Brother, something’s not right."

"What is it?" Shen Siyuan turned his head toward her.

"The incense disappears very quickly when heading in that direction." Xiao Yue pointed.

"There must be Mud Worms there, and a lot of them."

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan wasn’t surprised. Instead, a knowing smile played at his lips.