Underworld Duties — Side Objectives Guide

When Zhong Kui disappeared, the underworld did not stop assigning work — it doubled it. Underworld duties are optional (but lucrative) objectives that appear between combat waves in Reap and Rush. They teach lore, introduce Yaoguai behaviors safely, and pay bonus Soul currency. Ignore them and you can still win runs; master them and you unlock achievements, companion trust, and narrative fragments about the broken reincarnation queue.

How duties appear

After clearing a wave threshold, a scroll icon pulses on the HUD. Accept with E (default interact) or decline with Escape. Declining has no penalty beyond lost rewards. Accepting spawns a duty marker — golden for benevolent tasks, crimson for combat-heavy ones. Timers are generous in Early Access biomes one and two; biome three adds soft fail states (escort NPC health). Read Controls Guide for escort movement tips.

Feed hungry Yaoguai

The most common duty: deliver offerings to starving Yaoguai who are, paradoxically, not trying to kill you yet. Pick up offerings at marked shrines, walk into hungry packs without attacking, and hold interact to feed. Feeding teaches which Yaoguai types share spawn pools with elites — knowledge that transfers directly to Combat Basics. Rewards: Souls, occasional Paper Craft drops, and progress toward pacifist-flavored achievements.

Help misplaced gods

Lesser deities lost in hallways need escort to correct portals. They walk slowly; you must clear or dodge threats along the path. Wood-element envoys gain minor escort speed auras in Early Access — see Envoy Tier List. If the god takes damage, reward tier drops but duty still completes. These quests explain why certain boss arenas look like shattered temple floors — narrative payoff in the Review.

Fox spirit cultivation issues

Fox spirits request specific element resonance states before they resume cultivation — e.g., hold Fire Resonance for ten seconds without taking damage. Harder than feeding duties, but pays rare Relic blueprint shards. Pair with Five Elements Build Guide to plan resonance without derailing your main spell focus. Failure simply ends the duty; no run failure.

Duty rewards and streaks

Completing three duties in one run triggers a Ledger Bonus — extra Soul payout at run end. Five duties unlock a hidden envoy dialogue line (Early Access). Track streak achievements in Achievements Guide. Some Fate Stones boost duty rewards; check Fate Stone Builds.

When to skip duties

Skip during boss rush modifiers or when low on health with no healing crafts. Speed runners often skip after biome two; achievement hunters never skip fox duties. New players should accept every duty for the first ten runs — the teaching value exceeds the time cost. Link back to Getting Started Guide for run pacing.

Duty bugs and updates

Early Access means occasional stuck escort NPCs. Pause and resume, or dash interact. Report persistent issues on the Steam Community Hub. Patch history lives on Updates. No Trello or external wiki is official — this site tracks verified in-game behavior only.

Duty rotation by biome

Biome one duties skew toward feeding and short escorts — low combat pressure, ideal for learning Yaoguai names without a boss timer. Biome two introduces fox spirit cultivation checks and crimson scrolls that spawn extra elites if you accept while under-leveled. Biome three combines escort damage thresholds with resonance gates; bring at least one cleanse craft from Paper Crafts Items before accepting golden scrolls there. Treat duty choice as part of route planning, not a popup you click blindly between waves.

Combining duties with daily build goals

If your daily goal is Soul farming for ledger unlocks, stack Duty Ledger Fate Stones, an Earth envoy, and escort-friendly companions from Companion Tier List. If your goal is boss progression, accept only duties along your path to the gate — never backtrack for a fox spirit unless you carry the correct element setup from Build Planner. Hybrid runs can finish two feeding duties plus one escort before a boss attempt; that pacing matches how most launch-week clears hit biome three without feeling rushed.