“Fellow daoist’s great vow and cultivation far exceed the evil god’s. You have guarded this place for a long time and should have been able to detect the birth of water ghosts and the evil god’s actions,” Li Chi continued.
“Yes,” Nu Xu said.
But she had been completely unaware.
The Ghost King grasped the blade, her face cold and severe, ghostly flames burning in her eyes.
Li Chi waved again, the illusion shifted once more, rewinding to Chang Andu disembarking, the evil god grinning maliciously, the small boat falling down the waterfall, tumbling all the way into the Underworld. Sinister cold mist rose above the Yellow Springs, within it hiding countless water ghosts under his control, unable to find liberation……
“He wanted the power of that resentful evil, so I gave it all to him,” Li Chi said lightly. “Unless the resentful evil is eliminated, they cannot leave the Yellow Springs.”
The white bone blade’s long cry gradually subsided. Nu Xu stroked the white bone blade. The evil god had already been executed, but she knew this was not what Li Chi truly wanted her to see.
Her gaze fell upon the Underworld, upon the Yellow Springs. The memories that had been blurred in the intervals between ten lifetimes of reincarnation gradually became clear.
The Underworld’s Yellow Springs were the place of reincarnation for all living beings. Normally, no one could remain here. The spirits of the newly dead naturally entered the Underworld, guided by karmic causation through the Yellow Springs directly into the next life’s reincarnation. The spirits of those with obsessions too heavy who transformed into ghosts would instinctively resist the pull of reincarnation due to their own obsessions and could not enter the Underworld at all.
Only when obsessions were completely eliminated, or like the Ghost King, when one could gather one’s obsessions with great willpower and no longer allow them to instinctively resist the pull of reincarnation, could one enter the Underworld again for reincarnation.
But even for the Ghost King, the moment she entered the Underworld’s Yellow Springs, her memories would blur. An instant later, the Yellow Springs would send her into a new life’s reincarnation, and even those fleeting memories of the Underworld’s Yellow Springs would dissipate. Now, seeing the scene of the Underworld’s Yellow Springs again, she finally recalled those instant-by-instant memories during reincarnation.
Enter the Yellow Springs, and in an instant, be reborn. But what if those wronged souls with deep obsessions who should not enter reincarnation somehow entered the Underworld? The Yellow Springs pulled toward reincarnation—these wronged souls indeed might remain upon the Yellow Springs.
The Underworld’s Yellow Springs were manifestations of the laws of heaven and earth. Using the pale-faced evil god as a pawn, someone was coveting the laws of reincarnation from behind the scenes.
If reincarnation was thrown into chaos, then resentments would have nowhere to be calmed.
The white bone blade rang out sharply!
Nu Xu lightly pressed the bone blade and asked, “As long as one masters the method of not entering the Yellow Springs, there will be no more dangers in the Underworld. If that is so, why doesn’t the one behind this enter the Underworld themselves, instead of using these small pawns to probe?”
No matter what the mastermind wanted to do, someone like the pale-faced evil god, whose character and methods were both inadequate, would be difficult to use effectively. In all these years of doing evil on Jiuqu River, he not only failed to affect the Yellow Springs in any way, he hadn’t even explored anything useful.
“Because he is afraid,” Li Chi said, his eyes deep and profound. “The Underworld initially had no dangers indeed, but since there are those who covet the power of reincarnation, naturally there will also be those who want to stop them. Until these small pawns explore the problems within the Underworld, he absolutely dare not set foot in the Underworld.”
Those were things the deities had left behind in the Underworld long ago. Li Chi did not know how to find them now, nor would he seek them. Even after hundreds of thousands of years, that arrangement was enough to make the mastermind dare not enter the Underworld.
One hundred and twenty thousand years ago, the Underworld had not yet been established, but the initial confrontation had already begun in even more distant times. The Underworld had not been established, the deities had fallen—it seemed like losing a piece in the game. But what did it matter to temporarily lose one piece? After awakening one hundred and twenty thousand years later, he had broken open a new situation. This was a confrontation spanning hundreds of thousands of years.
Li Chi raised his eyes. The sharp light in them faded, and he asked, “Fellow daoist with your great vow, are you willing to eliminate these parasites upon the Yellow Springs?”
“This is already my dao,” Nü Xu said.
“Good.” Li Chi nodded. A ray of spiritual light flew from his sleeve and fell into the Ghost King’s palm.
“This is……” Nu Xu raised her head in surprise.
Within this ray of spiritual light was sealed a method for entering the Underworld and borrowing the power of the Yellow Springs. Even a cultivator like the pale-faced evil god could gain great benefits from a half-understood method, let alone the Ghost King. The preciousness of this method was self-evident.
“No need for thanks. If fellow daoist eliminates those parasites, it benefits me as well.” Li Chi stepped forward and had already disappeared from sight. Only his voice drifted down.
Nu Xu bowed solemnly in the direction Li Chi had disappeared. When she raised her head again, divine light shone sharp in her eyes, and the white bone blade hummed eagerly.
Bear resentful evil and strike down injustice—let it begin with these parasites who seek to steal from the Yellow Springs and throw reincarnation into chaos!
……
The Huai River flowed vast and mighty, rushing endlessly. Rising from the great snowy mountains of Tianmu in the northwest, it surged magnificently across the land, piercing through mountains and winding around gorges, finally flowing into the Northern Sea.
Mountain ranges were like bones, water veins like blood. After Tianzhu Mountain collapsed one hundred and twenty thousand years ago, causing earth veins to tremble and shatter into several pieces, the Huai River became the most important blood vessel in this continent.
And the deity who controlled the Huai River, the Huai River Divine Lord, naturally became an existence that most cultivators on this land looked up to.
“……So you see, they became even more eager for the Divine Lord’s treasury. When the Divine Lord was present, no one dared to offend him. Now that the Divine Lord is absent, these people finally dare to swarm together, wanting to steal and plunder the lord’s treasury.” The somewhat hunchbacked old man sat on a stone by the river, speaking to the bedraggled child in the water.
“But…Grandpa Turtle, the Divine Lord’s mansion has been hidden for over two thousand years. Why has it suddenly appeared recently?” the child asked.
The old man slowly shook his head. “I don’t know……”
Before something happened to the Divine Lord, he had hidden the river mansion. Until he returned, the river mansion should not appear in the world under any circumstances. Those who coveted the Divine Lord’s treasury had searched for a long time, but no one had ever found any clues.
However, several days ago, in this section of the Huai River at the border between Liang Kingdom and Sui Kingdom, strange phenomena suddenly occurred. Brilliant light and clouds filled the sky. Even the ceaselessly rushing waves of the Huai River suddenly calmed down. The water became crystal clear, revealing beneath it a magnificent mansion. Above it hung a plaque with brush strokes like a vast, unending, magnificent river, inscribed with four characters: “Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion.”
The first few cultivators to discover it dove directly to the bottom, trying to enter the mansion, only to find that the river mansion was like a phantom in the water—visible but intangible, let alone accessible.
Though the first discoverers didn’t want to spread the news, the auspicious clouds cast this place in a glow of radiant light visible from miles away. Before long, more and more cultivators gathered here.
At first, there were still mortals watching the excitement, but they were quickly driven away. Now, around the river mansion, there were only cultivators seeking to enter and obtain its treasury. Though the Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion was still just a visible but intangible phantom, it was gradually solidifying. Some speculated that the river mansion seemed to be in the process of manifesting, and in a few more days, it would likely become accessible.
Grass huts had been erected along the riverbank in this section. There were groups of cultivators from the same sect or three to five close friends sitting together, as well as solitary cultivators who found a green stone or a shady spot to wait alone. Many aquatic cultivators had also gathered at the river bottom. These were waiting openly, but who knew how many more were hidden in the shadows.
The position where the old man and the child were located was somewhat farther from that water area. He looked from afar at the gathering crowd, his face furrowing into deep lines, showing worry.
“Little Loach, when the river mansion fully manifests, take me to the edge of the river mansion, then flee quickly. Don’t come near again.”
Little Loach looked at him worriedly. “Grandpa Turtle… since the Divine Lord is so powerful, those people shouldn’t be able to break through the river mansion’s restrictions, right… How about we just forget it?”
“Are you afraid Grandpa Turtle will be killed?” The old man looked at Little Loach and said with a chuckle, “Don’t worry. Your Grandpa Turtle just has a thick shell. If worst comes to worst… I’ll retreat.”
“But will you even be able to retreat at that point…” Little Loach muttered. “The Divine Lord won’t return for another twenty thousand years. No matter how tough you are, you can’t hold out for twenty thousand years… Since they’ll get in eventually anyway, why not just ignore it……”
The old man gently patted his head. “That won’t do… When Grandpa was still a little turtle, it was the Divine Lord who saved me, and it was the Divine Lord who taught me cultivation. How can Grandpa watch that group of people ransack the Divine Lord’s home? When the Divine Lord returns, if he sees the place in complete disarray, how sad he would be……”
Little Loach lowered his head and nuzzled the old man’s hand. “Then… Grandpa Turtle, I’ll keep the passage open for you. You have to run fast when the time comes……”
The old man nodded with a smile. “Don’t worry, Grandpa Turtle has lived for several thousand years! You’re still young, so when the time comes, remember to go straight back. Don’t come near again.”
……
Half a month had passed since the day the Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion appeared in the world. Though the river mansion’s phantom had been solidifying continuously, it still hadn’t fully manifested, yet the area nearby was nearly packed with people.
As more and more people gathered, even though the river mansion hadn’t appeared yet, the first round of conflict and elimination had already begun.
Whether through open provocation or secret attacks, many cultivators without sufficient strength had already been eliminated, but countless more cultivators were still arriving.
Some factions tried to unite and establish rules for the river mansion situation to calm the current chaos. But all such attempts failed.
Half a month was a very opportune time period. This time was sufficient for news of the Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion appearing to spread, yet insufficient for some powerful factions to fully prepare and reach consensus.
This section of the river where the Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion appeared was also a very opportune location. It was situated in the lower reaches of the Huai River, at the border between Liang Kingdom and Sui Kingdom. Liang Kingdom cultivators mostly believed in strength supremacy, with various types of cultivators mixed among them. Though Sui Kingdom wasn’t as chaotic as Liang Kingdom, it valued martial prowess, taking pride in martial courage, and its cultivators loved combat. There was also much friction between the two kingdoms.
Due to these two reasons, the current situation near the Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion was extremely complex. Human cultivators, demon cultivators, ghost cultivators… immortal dao, divine dao, demon cultivation, ancient dao… none were willing to defer to the others, and there was no lack of old grudges and vendettas.
Moreover, the treasury within the Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion was too tempting. Even the several factions that wanted to unite each harbored their own schemes.
They were currently in the midst of the great aberration calamity. The tribulation of mortal beings had already progressed to a stable state, while the great calamity for cultivators was just beginning to develop in a harsh direction. To survive this calamity, every bit of accumulation was critically important.
As the great deity who controlled the Huai River, the treasures in the Huai River Divine Lord’s treasury were undoubtedly all extremely precious items. If one could obtain even a little from within, one might be able to safely pass through the great calamity.
For this reason, almost none of the cultivators who came here were willing to retreat. As the Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion solidified more and more, the surrounding atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Finally, on this day……
The clouds filling the sky above the Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion suddenly contracted and fell toward the phantom below the water. The surrounding river water changed direction, forming layer upon layer of undercurrents around the river mansion. When those currents flowed to the front of the river mansion, they no longer passed through the phantom as before but split and flowed around it as if encountering a solid object.
The cultivators hiding in the river who were skilled in water techniques instantly realized the change.
The Huai River Divine Lord’s Mansion had fully manifested!
In the next instant, countless cultivators rushed toward the river mansion.