Chapter 3 The Past and Present Lives of His Parents

Ji Ning had once asked King Yan to investigate the reincarnations of his father Ji Yichuan and his mother Yuchi Xue. But later, after the battle with the Shaoyan clan and his exile to the Land of Annihilation, King Yan had no chance to tell him the results.

“I found them,” King Yan said, nodding.

“Wonderful. This is wonderful.” Ji Ning could barely contain his excitement.

In Ji Ning’s heart,

his father Ji Yichuan and mother Yuchi Xue held the highest place, even higher than his Dao-companion Yu Wei. Even his parents from his past life on Earth ranked slightly below Ji Yichuan and Yuchi Xue. After all, his past-life father had always been busy with work and rarely saw him, while his past-life mother had cared for him diligently—he never forgot that.

But in this life...

his mother had been willing to risk her life to give birth to him. To help him grow, she refused to tell him about the enmity with the Snowdragon Mountains or the great revenge of the Yuchi clan.

Though his father appeared cold, his concern for Ji Ning was no less than Yuchi Xue’s. He personally taught Ji Ning swordsmanship and protected him until he could no longer do so, then died to reunite with Yuchi Xue.

Ji Ning could not forget!

Those early years were the happiest of his life.

“These are bamboo slips,” King Yan said, producing two rolls. “They contain the records of our underworld—everything judged by the judges. This one has a vast amount of information, including that of your mother Yuchi Xue. The other contains your father Ji Yichuan’s.”

Ji Ning took a deep breath before accepting them.

He immediately probed one roll with his divine sense. A flood of information surged in. Thanks to his powerful heartforce, his control of divine sense was much stronger, and he quickly found his father’s entry among the sea of data.

“Ji Yichuan, from Yanshan, Anchan Commandery, Great Xia World. Zifu Disciple. No merit or sin. Judgment: reincarnate as a human, reborn in the Liuhe clan of Huashan Commandery, Wuqiong World, named Liuhe Chuan. Lifespan: one hundred and eighty-two years.”

Ji Ning was no longer a naive child. He had read common knowledge books at Mount Cangqian and understood the meaning of this judgment. The destination, name, and lifespan were generally determined by the natural flow of the Dao. Unless a judge deliberately altered them—such changes usually cost a bit of merit—so only those with sufficient influence could get the Ten Kings of Hell or the First Judge to order modifications.

As Judge Cui had once said, changing lifespans was trivial for him.

In truth, lifespan only mattered to mortals. Once one became a cultivator, they embarked on a path of defying heaven, facing the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations. How far they could go was uncertain. A mortal might live over a hundred years, but a cultivator who became a Zifu Disciple at twenty might be killed shortly after, living even shorter than a mortal!

The underworld’s judgment of lifespan was meaningful only for mortals.

“Wuqiong World? Huashan Commandery, Liuhe clan, Liuhe Chuan?” Ji Ning silently memorized it.

He then took the other bamboo slip and probed it with his divine sense.

Soon he found his mother Yuchi Xue’s information.

“Yuchi Xue, from the Yuchi clan of Dongyu Commandery, Great Xia World. Some merit. Judgment: reincarnate as a human, reborn in the Dongliu clan of Huashan Commandery, Wuqiong World, named Dongliu Xue. Lifespan: two hundred years.”

Ji Ning was delighted after reading it.

Both in Huashan Commandery, Wuqiong World?

King Yan spoke up: “The judgments of the judges generally follow the natural Dao. It seems your father and mother had a karmic bond across multiple lives, and the Dao invisibly linked them again.”

“A karmic bond across multiple lives?” Ji Ning nodded gently, then asked, “Senior King Yan, do you mean my parents are together again?”

“I looked into their reincarnations and even went to Huashan Commandery in Wuqiong World to investigate. But your parents have already died. What I found is recorded in this book.” King Yan looked at Ji Ning, produced a book, and handed it to him.

Ji Ning was stunned. “Already dead? Then they should have been reborn again. Why isn’t there another reincarnation record...” Suddenly realizing something, his face turned pale. He took the book and scanned it with his divine sense.

“No.”

“No.”

Ji Ning clutched the book, shaking his head, his eyes filled with shock, anger, and pain. He refused to accept this result.

His father and mother indeed had a karmic bond. Though there were some twists and turns in this life, they still ended up together and both embarked on the path of cultivation...

“How could this happen? How could it be like this?” Ji Ning shook his head, muttering, “Why did all this have to fall on them? Why not on me? Though they started cultivating again, they were only minor figures. Why must they suffer so? Why?”

“I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it.”

“This is false. False.”

A hint of madness appeared in Ji Ning’s eyes. When the truth exceeded what he could bear, instinct made him refuse to believe it. Besides, it was only a written record—he trusted it even less.

“Brother.”

“Junior apprentice-brother.” Yu Wei and the Xiyue郡主 said worriedly.

But Ji Ning said directly, “I must go to the minor underworld, right now! Senior apprentice-sister... though Anchan City is in danger, I have to leave now. If Anchan City truly faces a crisis, crush the message talisman, and I will return immediately via Greater Teleportation.”

“Alright.” Yu Wei nodded quickly. “I’ll go with you.” She could feel Ji Ning’s urgency.

“No need. I’ll go alone.” Ji Ning looked at King Yan. “Senior King Yan, I need to go to the minor underworld first and reverse time to witness the judge’s trial of my parents.”

Ji Ning now doubted even the reincarnation records in the bamboo slips. Only by reversing time and seeing the trial with his own eyes would he believe.

"Good." King Yan nodded. He remembered the Xia Emperor's instructions. Throughout the entire Grand Xia world, the Xia Emperor valued several people and had been trying to win them over. Among them, the one he valued most was this 'Ji Ning', who had yet to undergo the tribulation. Of course, King Yan would not refuse Ji Ning's request.

"Let's go." Ji Ning was unwilling to wait.

"I'll take you." King Yan immediately took Ji Ning with him, swiftly flew out of the mansion, reached the high sky, and directly tore through the void. Both of them disappeared.

Yuchi Xiyue and Yu Wei both looked up, watching Ji Ning and the other leave.

"Grandfather didn't even tell me before." Yuchi Xiyue's face showed anxiety.

"I hope everything goes well." Yu Wei spoke softly.

……

The aura of the underworld permeated the air.

A vast world. At a glance, countless white-robed figures were walking in lines. Beside them, many ghost soldiers with ox heads and horse faces were whipping and supervising them. Some white-robed figures curiously stared at the two figures that appeared in the high sky.

The two figures that appeared in the high sky were Ji Ning and King Yan.

"This minor underworld is not much different from the true underworld. There are also an extremely large number of dead souls." King Yan said. After all, the dozens of major worlds and countless minor worlds under the control of Patriarch Crimsonbright were all governed here, roughly one percent of the Three Realms' territory.

Ji Ning did not speak. He was in no mood for small talk.

King Yan understood after saying that. He said no more and directly led Ji Ning to fly into a huge city. Within the city, buildings stood one after another, and ghost soldiers were everywhere. King Yan soon arrived at a Judge's Hall.

"This is the Judge's Hall where your mother was judged back then." King Yan led Ji Ning and walked straight in.

The ghost soldiers at the hall's entrance dared not block them.

The judge sitting high in the hall was startled. He was just one of countless judges, far inferior to the lofty King Yan.

"This humble one pays respects to the King of Hell." The judge immediately knelt respectfully. Around him, a crowd of ghost soldiers also knelt. The souls waiting for judgment were also stunned.

"Judge this one quickly and send him off." King Yan ordered.

"Yes, yes." The judge quickly said, "Hurry and take him away, send him to the Eighteenth Level of Hell."

Immediately, two ghost soldiers escorted him away. The soul screamed in terror, but was still taken away.

"All of you, withdraw first. Today, this Judge's Hall will not be used." The King of Hell commanded.

"Yes." The judge and the many ghost soldiers dared not say a word. Although their tasks were heavy, there were many Judge's Halls, and having one shut down for a day was nothing. They all cast curious glances at the young man beside the King of Hell. They sensed that the King of Hell clearly did not dare to slight that young man.

He must have an extraordinary background. They all obediently withdrew.

Soon, only Ji Ning and the King of Hell remained in the Judge's Hall.

"Senior King Yan, I have not yet undergone the tribulation to become a Celestial Immortal. The time reversal spell will have to rely on you, senior." Ji Ning said.

"A small matter." King Yan said. Although the spell consumed a considerable amount of immortal power, it was nothing much.

King Yan immediately cast the spell.

Whoosh~~~

The surrounding scene began to change. The judge and ghost soldiers who had left returned at a very rapid speed, began judging the previous souls again, then judged the souls before that... The time reversal grew faster and faster, even turning into blurry shadows. Ji Ning and King Yan stood silently inside the Judge's Hall, watching.

These scenes of time reversal were all illusory. Even if the figures of the judge and ghost soldiers touched them, there was no effect.

One year, two years, three years... Rapidly flowing backward.

"It's this day." King Yan said.

Because the bamboo slips of the magic treasures were ordered, which Judge's Hall recorded them, when they were recorded, all had a sequence. Thus, King Yan also knew the exact Judge's Hall and the approximate time on a certain day.

The speed of time reversal immediately began to slow down. Each soul could be clearly seen.

Ji Ning also watched carefully. Among these souls, one should be his mother.

Suddenly—

King Yan also sharply slowed down the speed of the time reversal spell, because the white-robed woman who had just appeared in the Judge's Hall being escorted in... was precisely Ji Ning's mother—Yuchi Xue!

"Mother." Ji Ning's eyes stung. He even wanted to rush over and embrace his mother.

How long had it been, how long...

But Ji Ning understood that what he saw through time reversal was what had already happened in the past. They were all illusions. He could not touch his mother at all.

"Hurry up, hurry up." Two ghost soldiers escorted Yuchi Xue and even gave her a push.

Yuchi Xue looked around, but was not flustered at all. She immediately knelt: "I pay respects to the Judge."

……