21st Century Necromancer

Chapter 147: Nether River (2nd update, please subscribe, please vote for monthly tickets)

following the procedures outlined in the "multiverse universal necromancy spell compendium" for constructing necromantic space, chen yu, after stabilizing the spatial structure and perfecting the internal environment, had two important tasks to undertake.

the first was to project the nether plane into his own space and to remodel this space according to the rules of the nether plane, thus transforming it to resemble the underworld and also better meet the needs of necromancers.

despite originating from space fragments where the original world’s rules had long since shattered and dissipated, a small part of the rules still lingered. if these were not adjusted, they would cause some trouble for the necromancers.

by projecting the nether plane’s rules and using its complete set of rules to remodel the remaining ones, the space could be made more netherworld-like, or ’underworldized’, aligning its rules more closely with the needs of necromancers and producing materials that would better meet their requirements.

after all, the destruction and dissipation of rules, though a form of death, were entirely different from the death sought by necromancers. the end of all things and the unity of all things are not the same concept; what necromancers strive for is the cycle of life and death, not absolute oblivion. stay updated with empire

as for the second task, it was even more significant: chen yu needed to introduce the nether river into this space.

the nether river, an endless river that spanned the entire multiverse and, alongside the river of time, was called one of the two great rivers, often referred to as the bottomless old nether river.

in the eyes of the common people of the multiverse, the nether river was the divide between the mortal realm and the netherworld; crossing the nether river would allow one to enter the netherworld, while those who accidentally fell into it would be doomed to eternal suffering and torment...

but in truth, these were all lies concocted by the deities of the multiverse to harvest the souls of the deceased.

yes, they were lies. the nether river was not the boundary between the mortal realm and the netherworld; it was just that the deities had purposely built the netherworld on the river’s bank to seize the souls of the dead from the river.

this was one of the results achieved by necromancers after investing countless efforts and time into studying the nether river.

the spirit gathering tower could gather the soul elements brought into this space from the nether river, create standard artificial souls or specially customized functional souls according to pre-set templates, then infuse them with the necessary memories for different uses, directly producing the required undead servants without any additional teaching or training.

as for the return of souls to the nether river, it was not a concern for necromancers. the process of creating artificial souls inevitably generated defective products and residues, which were of no use to necromancers but indistinguishable from the souls of the deceased to the nether river. simply reintroducing these residues into the nether river would suffice.

compared to the traditional method of collecting the souls of the dead, this approach was undoubtedly more efficient. therefore, it was only natural that necromancers adopted this model when constructing necromantic spaces, using traditional spirit gathering methods only when they were incapable of constructing a necromantic space or lacked the necessary knowledge.

and the method of introducing the nether river was quite simple. as the endless river that spanned every world of the multiverse, the nether river’s existence was eternal and immutable, not even influenced by the river of time. consequently, finding the nether river was very straightforward.

what chen yu had to do was to open a channel within his space to connect to the nether river, allowing its waters to flow into this space.

theoretically, this was similar to how chen yu previously connected to the four elemental planes to infuse this space with air, water, and flame, but introducing the nether river was not as simple as connecting to the four elemental planes. after all, the nether river’s existence was far more majestic and elusive than that of the four elemental planes.

although everyone knew the nether river was there, influencing the nether river or even drawing a stream from it was not an easy task.

therefore, chen yu’s target was not the body of the nether river that transcended the multiverse. he did not have the qualification or ability to manipulate the body of the nether river. the target he aimed for was the segment of the nether river that flowed through this world, known in buddhism as the sanzu river, and in the mythology of the orient as the yellow springs.

with the power of the ritual altar, chen yu once again expanded his perception. this time, he did not need crystal stones with space attributes as casting materials to enhance his perception, because the vast and endless nether river was right there, with no need for a deliberate search.