Chapter 1174: Root of the World (1/2)

“Bury civilizations!” Lu Yun mouthed.

“That’s right, I bury civilizations.” Violetgrave’s eyes glittered brightly, completely devoid of her usual sleepy look, though she still habitually yawned and stretched.

“Are the four other hells alive like you?” Lu Yun asked after thinking about it.

Violetgrave shook her head gently. “I am the only living being of the five hells. What the Netherdark Hell buries should be more accurately termed the wisdom of all life, rather than its civilizations.

“It is because of this collective wisdom that I was born. As for the other four… well, they all collect dead things.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Lu Yun didn’t understand the reason for their exchange. Violetgrave had never talked about where she came from or what she was. She’d only ever said that she was Violetgrave. Just Violetgrave.

Lu Yun had always thought that the five hells were prisons used by the great masters of the fourth realm, and that Tianqi had once been their warden.

This now looked to be the furthest thing from the truth.

“Because I am free now!” Uncontrollable excitement flashed through Violetgrave’s eyes as she looked at Lu Yun. “I am finally free from being a hell. I am my own being with my own sense of self!

“Do you recall what I said to you when you wanted me to keep watch over the World Gates? That if you don’t take me away before the gates broke, I’d turn into something more frightening than those yin spirits?”

“Because of the Nihil Hell?” Lu Yun instantly grasped where she was leading to.

All of the yin spirits in the cosmos came from the Nihil Hell, which also happened to be devouring the Sanguine Hell. If Violetgrave had remained by the World Gates when they broke, she would’ve been easily corrupted by the Nihil Hell and turned into another horrifying nest of evil.

“That’s right.” Violetgrave nodded and continued gently, “I’ve been fighting that existence in the Nihil Hell all these years. I make my deals so I can obtain sufficient quantities of powerful souls and withstand what occupies that hell.”

“Souls?” Lu Yun blinked.

“That’s right, souls!” Violetgrave nodded. “Only civilization and wisdom from living souls is true civilization and wisdom by which I can fully deploy my power. However, I don’t need souls anymore.”

“Because of me?” Lu Yun quickly connected the dots.

“That’s right, because of you.” Violetgrave nodded. “The power of the Hadal, Sanguine, and Abyssal Hells are all on you and you’ve inherited a part of my power. With the four great hells gathered together and native resistance from the Nihil Hell, we’ve managed to suppress that thing.

“I have also been released from being an entity of hell because of you. I am a true living being now, so I am no longer threatened by that one.”

“I’ve inherited part of your power?” Lu Yun blinked. “Though we’ve made deals before, I’ve never personally received any of your power.”

“What do you think the underworld is?” Violetgrave asked with a smile.

Pausing, Lu Yun nodded with a rueful chuckle.

The underworld… was probably part of the Netherdark Hell, seeing as they shared the same character for dark in their names. Lu Yun’s Xing Chen replica had been a holy king of the underworld and received its legacy. That legacy had been power from the Netherdark Hell.

Since Violetgrave had taken the Netherdark Flame with her, the underworld had remained the underworld instead of becoming the Netherdark Hell.

Regardless, the underworld still fulfilled the duties of the Netherdark Hell, swallowing civilization after civilization in the chaos—as represented by various tombs of heaven and earth dotting its landscape.