Han Wu teleported to the Soul Microcosm and finally laid eyes on the Underworld he had poured so much time and resources into building. The first thing he felt upon stepping inside was the high concentration of Spirit Aura.
This made sense, as the construction materials were Spirit Stones mined in the Giant Shadow Civilization, which were worth tens of millions of Divine Essence on their own.
The dense Spirit Aura nourished the souls stored here and prevented memory loss caused by soul degradation. As for why preserving those memories was important, well, Han Wu naturally had his reasons.
He regularly invaded other civilizations. Each one contained unique techniques and knowledge tied to its local laws. Much of that knowledge was destroyed in war, with physical records lost and lineages broken. In these situations, memories became invaluable.
Collecting souls and extracting key memories would thus allow Han Wu to effectively capture the cultural heritage of every civilization he conquered. While techniques could lose some effectiveness without the original civilization’s laws to support them, they still provided crucial data.
Han Wu could even copy those memories and implant them into newborn souls, giving fresh units innate knowledge of powerful techniques from birth.
That was just one of the Underworld’s minor features. The most important function was reincarnation, which was also tied to Han Wu’s own Reincarnation ability. Basically, the system could select high-quality souls for rebirth across his Microcosms. Reborn with their past-life memories intact, these souls could grow rapidly and produce talent at an accelerated rate.
The Underworld could also refine complete souls into pure Spirit Aura. Stubborn, hostile, or low-value souls unfit for reincarnation could be melted down and recycled. Locusts bred fast, so not every newborn could carry a high-quality reincarnated soul. This essentially gave ordinary souls a use as well.
During his tour, Han Wu discovered a statue at the Underworld’s core that bore a striking resemblance to himself. Upon calling over the officials in charge, he learned that the statue was the Underworld’s emblem. Any official could invoke Reaper Seal through it to perform soul collection.
The statue also had a function that surprised even Han Wu. It could nurture a soul-related Divine Jurisdiction via the slow, steady absorption and refinement of souls. This took a long time, but required zero effort on Han Wu’s part.
Han Wu was thrilled. The Jurisdiction born from the Underworld could help him grow even stronger one day. With that, he finished his inspection feeling satisfied. His only regret was the lack of any large-scale war to fill the Underworld with souls and demonstrate its full capacity.
“Maybe I should ask my teacher if there’s a good civilization that needs conquering.” Han Wu chuckled, deciding to visit Xu Hai back at the academy.
When he arrived, Xu Hai was busy in his office, processing a flood of applications to join the Wisdom Faction. Han Wu’s performance in the hunting event had given the faction explosive publicity, and its ranking had climbed like a rocket since its founding just a few months ago, already reaching twenty-third on the Divine Civilization’s faction rankings. They were a dark horse indeed.
Experts were predicting they would break into the top ten within a year. Xu Hai knew that most of the credit belonged to Han Wu.
The longer he mentored his student, the fonder he became, so much so that the thought of adopting him had crossed his mind more than once, or failing that, letting Han Wu adopt him.
Of course, Han Wu, being a respectful and upstanding young man, would never allow such a thing. The generational math alone was absurd. If he called Xu Hai “teacher” while Xu Hai called him “father,” Han Wu would technically become his own grandfather.
Xu Hai shook the ridiculous thought away, smiling as his student approached. “Han Wu, come sit. What have you been up to these past few days?”
Han Wu summed up his experiences in refining his True Martial Jurisdiction, competing in the hunting event, and cultivating units. Xu Hai listened patiently, offering guidance wherever Han Wu ran into gaps in his understanding.
Although the Wisdom God King’s practical strength was not the greatest, he was undeniably one of the foremost authorities in theory and skill analysis within the entire Divine Civilization. Many of Han Wu’s lingering questions found answers under Xu Hai’s guidance.
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Teacher, I have an urgent report,” He Xu called from outside.
“Come in,” Xu Hai said.
He Xu pushed the door open and smiled when he saw Han Wu. He was pleased with his junior. Their recent collaboration had been more profitable than years of prior effort combined.
“What did you find?” Xu Hai asked.
He Xu got straight to the point. “I’ve been tracking the Destruction Clan and discovered that they’ve been secretly contacting the War Faction.”
Han Wu raised an eyebrow. As he had clashed with the Destruction Clan during the event, the Wisdom Faction’s investigation into them almost certainly had something to do with him.
“I’d like to hear about this too, sir,” Han Wu said.
“You should know. Better safe than sorry,” Xu Hai replied. “While you were in the hunting event, the Destruction Clan sent someone to ask me to persuade you to hand over the Giant Crest. I refused. After that, I noticed them making moves behind the scenes that seemed aimed at you, so I had He Xu investigate. I never thought it would actually come up positive.”
He Xu nodded. “I suspect the Destruction Clan is planning to team up with the War Faction against Han Wu, or possibly against the Wisdom Faction as a whole.”
Xu Hai frowned. Even without the Butcher and Evilspawn, the War Faction remained firmly in the Divine Civilization’s top ten factions. Its foundations ran deep. If it declared war on the Wisdom Faction, the situation would be dire.
While the three of them were working through countermeasures, Xu Hai’s communicator lit up with an incoming call from Su Lan, the Goddess of Enchantment.
Feeling somewhat awkward in front of his two students, he answered the call.
“Xu Hai, something terrible has happened,” she said with clear urgency. “The God King of Darkness has fallen!”