Lord of the Underworld

Lord of the Underworld is a xianxia (mythological cultivation) web novel by Zhongyuan Wubai, serialized on Qidian, totaling about 1.64 million Chinese characters across 784 chapters. The protagonist is a immortal grass growing by the banks of the Heavenly River, reincarnating endlessly: in one life it is reborn as Ji Liao, young master of the Four Seasons Manor, blind from birth yet able to establish himself within and beyond the manor through his swordsmanship and character. Rather than the common single-line power-fantasy structure of "a mortal's rise," the work has the protagonist repeatedly experience different identities and lives — he can be a young nobleman in spring robes, or a strategist shaping policy at court; a prince, or a beggar; regarded as a lofty scholar, or as a vulgar man. Those who fear him fear him as a demon; those who respect him respect him as a god. Across these shifting identities and eras, the protagonist moves from a world of martial arts to a realm of xianxia, from human to immortal, gradually touching the depths of reincarnation and the heavenly Dao. The title "Lord of the Underworld" points to the hidden sovereign and lord of reincarnation, and also hints at the protagonist's fate of endless "death—rebirth—setting out again" across vast ages. The novel's style is understated and classical, interweaving the jianghu, the court, and cultivation; its pace does not rely on dense face-slapping but on the layered unfolding of the characters' states of mind and vision, finally closing on the scene of "the stars are sparse, and only Ji Liao is immortal alone."