In terms of bizarre and terrifying design, it was indeed in the same vein as the Netherworld Path in Lucas Warren's memory. But aside from that, there was nothing netherworldly about it. There was no damp, poisonous miasma eroding living beings, nor were there vengeful spirits or ghosts bearing suffering and torment... Even the bones forming the framework faintly displayed a uniform and orderly beauty.

Seeing Lucas Warren's astonishment, Emily Stone couldn't help but laugh and say, "Haha, startled you, didn't I, Lord of the Mountain? Times have changed! The Netherworld Path is now a law-abiding social organization, with businesses spread across the five continents and a hundred nations to the right of the heavens... Though, admittedly, it's not very popular. Alright, let's hurry and get on the bus—there's an extra charge if we park too long."

As she spoke, the little tour guide proactively took Lucas Warren's hand and hurriedly stepped onto the bus, treading on the fleshy pedal.

Inside the carriage, a snow-white skeleton sat in the driver's seat, wearing a blue-black cap and a deep purple uniform. Its right hand held a tendon-like mechanical cable, while its left hand reached into a moist, ashen meat pouch. At the bottom of the pouch, several writhing blood vessels extended throughout the carriage, clearly part of the control mechanism.

Despite the neat uniform, the driver's appearance was still extremely frightening. Yet, after Emily Stone and Lucas Warren boarded, the driver even stood up from its seat, opened its mouth at the two of them, and its jaw joints made rhythmic clicking sounds, as if attempting a businesslike smile.

Emily Stone shuddered on the spot, nearly jumping off the bus, and the stone fire in her dantian flickered.

"...No wonder the Netherworld Path slashes its prices to half that of its competitors, and business is still so bleak—this is just too creepy!"

Lucas Warren was immediately unimpressed. "They're enthusiastically doing business, yet you're spreading notions of appearance and orthodoxy discrimination. Truly shameful."

"I... It was my fault."

Emily Stone helplessly lowered her head, feeling a moment's guilt for her prejudice against the Netherworld Path's driver.

But shameful or not, the reality was right before their eyes: aside from the driver and the two of them, the carriage was completely empty, with only twelve rows of seats, twenty-four in total, arranged in perfect order.

Moreover, the seats were quite ingeniously designed—bones as the base, covered with flesh membranes, maintaining the expected eeriness of the Netherworld Path. Yet each seat had a seatbelt twisted from gray-white fascia, and magazines placed in flesh pouches on the seatbacks in front. There was even a lumbar support structure specially designed into the bone framework, revealing a touch of human warmth amid the netherworld's chill...

"So why does the Netherworld Path insist on maintaining this expected eeriness!?"

Lucas Warren couldn't help but sigh as well. Times had indeed changed. The Netherworld Path, once especially sinister and ruthless even among heretical sects, now blended into the mainstream with a surprising degree of humanization. That "expected eeriness" seemed more like a swan song from the old guard, clinging to tradition.

Over the past thousand years, what exactly had the Netherworld Path experienced?

After taking their seats, Emily Stone continued to fulfill her duties as a tour guide, explaining, "Back when the Heavenly Catastrophe descended, the entire Jiuzhou continent was on the brink of destruction. In the face of life and death, the distinction between good and evil no longer mattered. Moreover, with the fall of the Celestial Court and the destruction of the Immortal Realm, the Heavenly Dao of Jiuzhou became severely twisted. Many cultivators turned into monsters under this distortion. This phenomenon is called 'Hua Huang'—the monsters after Hua Huang are more terrifying and dangerous than any demonic cultivator. When Mozhou fell, the three major demonic sects were almost wiped out, and only survived thanks to the help of the orthodox sects. Many of the later Founders of Order were actually great figures from the demonic path. Afterwards, these Founders reached up to the Heavenly Heart and established the Grand Law, fully merging the immortal and demonic paths. So even those who specialize in the demonic path can now walk openly in the sunlight—though the Netherworld Path still prefers to be active at night, since the daytime immortal laws are unfavorable to them."

Upon hearing this, Lucas Warren hissed softly and flipped open the children's general knowledge textbook that Emily Stone had given him.

Taking advantage of the bone bus's journey, it was the perfect time to finish reading the remaining important section.

That was the very 【Grand Law】 Emily Stone had just mentioned.

In fact, this 【Grand Law】 was the core standard distinguishing classical from modern times, and the old from the new immortal calendar.

As Emily Stone had said, the greatest harm of the Heavenly Catastrophe was that after the destruction of the Immortal Realm, even the Heavenly Dao was almost destroyed. The Heavenly Dao, twisted by the upheaval, in turn twisted countless cultivators who relied on it. For the survivors to rebuild civilization, the first priority was to reorganize the Heavenly Dao and cut away the corrupted parts.

In theory, the Heavenly Dao is ethereal, beyond human reach. Even the progenitors of the Immortal Realm, with utmost sincerity, always considered themselves seekers of the Dao. It seemed that the higher humanity's achievements, the further they were from the Dao.

But when the Heavenly Dao was corrupted and on the verge of collapse, it left a shortcut for the mortal world.

Then, led by Olivia Warren and the other Founders of Order, they followed that shortcut and successfully touched the Heavenly Dao, leaving a human mark upon it.

That mark was called the 【Grand Law】.

By weaving the Heavenly Dao with human hearts, they achieved unity between heaven and humanity, mutual benefit and symbiosis. From then on, the Heavenly Dao was no longer distant, nor did it treat all things as mere fodder. The Heavenly Dao now stood on humanity's side—and, of course, humanity would stand with the Heavenly Dao. This symbiotic relationship is what distinguishes the pre-Catastrophe era from the post-Catastrophe era: the Grand Law.

As for the Grand Law, the general knowledge textbook's introduction was very vague. Even the few illustrative cases left the reader feeling rather mystified.