331: The late emperor passed away before completing his great undertaking.

The rabbit-man slave Little Ear, who was nearby, alertly perked up and then drooped his ears. Seeing Old Buck's strange behavior, he leaned over and asked.

"Old Buck, what are you doing?"

Old Buck: "A breathing technique, a method bestowed by the gods last night. It can stop the pain."

Di Ya was half-doubting, taking out a jade slip from her bosom and looking at it left and right. Only then did she realize she seemed to be illiterate and had never learned the common script of the continent.

"Old Buck, can you teach me? Please."

Old Buck looked up, only then seeing that Di Ya's small face was full of confusion. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain the crooked "airflow diagrams," but he himself didn't fully recognize the common script of the continent, barely remembering the meanings of a few dozen symbols.

In the shack, the beastmen slaves who had their ears pricked up also wilted. The jade slip was a good thing, but if they couldn't understand it, it was no different from a stone.

In the shadows, You Yu, who had watched the whole process, had his mouth twitch. His spiritual sense swept over the seven or eight beastmen in the room; aside from Old Buck, who barely counted as semi-literate, the rest were completely illiterate.

He nudged Tudor with his elbow, his voice transmission sounding pained: "Lord Judge, did you see that? The late emperor's ambition half-fulfilled, cut short by death!"

"I just found a living 'half-baked common script user' and thought I could save some effort."

"And the result? This group of lower beastmen's bloodlines are as thin as watered-down ale, they've even lost all the bloodline memories passed down from their ancestors. They're completely illiterate; even using the jade slip as a teething stick would be too hard."

Tudor's face, hidden under his hood, showed no expression, but the judges brush in his sleeve spun rapidly, leaking his emotions.

After a few seconds of silence, he sent back a dry transmission: "Unexpected, yet within reason. For low-level slaves, just being alive is a stroke of luck."

"What luck?"

You Yu abandoned his usual "calm and self-contained" image, almost shouting out loud, forcibly suppressing the irritability in his head.

"Proselytizing, proselytizing—if they can't even understand the teachings, how can they believe in the Abyss? I can't rely on manifesting myself every night to be their reading machine, can I? I am a Minister of the Netherworld, not a preschool nanny."

Tudor saw that Minister You was sulking and didn't dare to speak. He could only use his judges brush to sketch a rune in the void.

The rune flashed, penetrating the planar barrier of the Ativi Continent and heading towards the depths of the Netherworld.

In the side hall of Jiaotai Palace, Ling Qi was writing furiously amidst a mountain of reports.

The "Thirteen Billion incense offerings Report" that A Ning was punished to copy had only just begun, and her wrist was already aching.

"Buzz—"

The communication jade talisman at her waist suddenly vibrated, projecting a line of encrypted spiritual script; it was the mark of a Underworld Judge.

Tudor, urgent report from the Ativi Continent.

The illiteracy rate of the target group exceeds ninety percent, and the popularity of the common script is nearly zero.

Requesting the immediate dispatch of a group of clerical ghost messengers who were 'teachers' in their past lives to quickly learn the common script of the Ativi Continent and record basic literacy jade slips.

Extremely urgent! Urgent! Urgent! Urgent!

Ling Qi's finger holding the jade slip paused.

[Illiterate, ninety percent?]

She pushed up her glasses, her gaze behind the lenses sweeping over that line of text, then glancing at the incense offerings report on the table that was less than ten percent copied.

A surge of nameless anger flared up.

When the White-Haired Loli was running her pyramid scheme in the Demon region, at least her targets were literate.

These two, Tudor and You Yu, are proselytizing on the Ativi Continent, and they even need headquarters to support them with literacy classes.

The Secretary-General took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to curse. Her fingertips moved rapidly on the jade talisman, her spiritual power condensing into a new command:

"Allocate from the clerical ghost messenger archives, screening for those whose profession in life was 'teacher,' prioritizing those who died in the last hundred years and have resilient spirits."

"Effective immediately, seal off the 'Crash Course Hall' and perform an initiation transfer of the Ativi common script basics and common vocabulary."

"Requirement: Master it within forty-eight double-hours and record a hundred sets of 'Picture Literacy' jade slip templates."

"Upon completion, report to the Department of Judges."

The command had just been sent when her gaze inadvertently swept over the report on the table that seemed like it would never be finished.

The feeling of irritability in her heart grew stronger.

Grabbing her pen, as if to vent her dissatisfaction, she scribbled a few more times on the jade slip... Ativi Continent, Kingdom of Barbatos, Slums.

You Yu was holding in a stomach full of anger. Tudor had finished transmitting the information and said to You Yu crossly, "It's done."

You Yu gave a muffled grunt in response.

Seeing this, Tudor said no more, simply stating concisely: "The Secretary-General has already allocated the 'teacher ghost messengers.' They will be in place in forty-eight double-hours."

Hearing this news, You Yu felt a slight sense of relief. However, before he could even be happy, a bigger problem surged into his mind.

What to do before the teacher ghost messengers arrive?

How should tonight's "prayer meeting" proceed?

He couldn't just let this group of illiterate beastmen stare blankly at the jade slips!

[Game over, I've taken on a crappy job.]

He bit the bullet, his raspy voice rising again, drowning out the confusion in the shack: "People of the Abyss."

All the beastmen shuddered, looking towards the "Shadow of the Deep Diver" in the shadows.

You Yu pointed at the jade slip in Old Buck's hand: "This is the God-given 'Breathing Diagram.' Practice according to this to temporarily alleviate the suffering of the flesh. Tonight, I will personally teach you how to read the diagram."

He walked to the center of the room, his blue Soul Fire flickering, condensing the simple "sitting human airflow diagram" from the jade slip in mid-air, magnifying it dozens of times.

"Look! Sit! Butt on the ground, back straight... I didn't tell you to stick it out..." You Yu pointed at the light-and-shadow image, trying his best to mimic the tone of a preschool teacher.

Unfortunately, the raspy voice paired with the bone mask was full of intimidating power.

Old Buck quickly sat up straight to demonstrate.

Di Ya and the other beastmen followed suit, clumsily sitting cross-legged.

"Inhale~"

"Slowly, imagine your belly swelling... Yes, Di Ya, I'm talking to you, don't inhale with your cheeks."

"It's not farting, it's exhaling. Follow the arrows on the diagram and slowly breathe out the air in your belly... Slow! Slow! Do you think you're pulling a bellows, old pig-head?"

A simple breathing guidance was being taught such that You Yu wanted to flip the table and go on strike.

This group of beastmen slaves had great strength for mining and carrying rocks, but learning to breathe was harder than reaching the heavens.

Either they inhaled until their faces were red and necks thick, or they exhaled as fast as a deflating ball.

He felt like he wasn't proselytizing, but domesticating a group of prehistoric behemoths that had just learned to walk on their hind legs.

His throat was almost shouting itself hoarse before he finally managed to get the seven or eight beastmen slaves in the room to follow the light-and-shadow image, inhaling and exhaling with some semblance of form.

Old Buck practiced the most seriously, his forehead covered in sweat, his cloudy eyes shining surprisingly bright.

Every slow breath made the whip wounds on his back feel a bit cooler.

Di Ya's small face was flushed red as she tried hard to imitate, and though her movements were crooked, her earnestness made You Yu's anger vanish completely.

"Abyss above, the flesh shall eventually find peace..." You Yu struck while the iron was hot, leading the beastmen slaves in reciting the prayer.

This prayer was more orderly than before, carrying a hint of awkward piety.

Having finally endured until the end of the "prayer meeting," You Yu waved his hand to dispel the light and shadow, leaving behind the words, "Everyone, practice diligently."