The fifteenth day of the seventh month, also known as the day of the Ghost Festival, is said to be the day the gates of the Underworld open.
It’s rumored that during this ti, all ghosts must undergo an examination. Those who pass can leave the Netherworld: those with a master return ho, while the masterless wander the Mortal World, seeking things to eat, hence the day’s na, Ghost Festival.
Rumors aside, reality is more terrifying than the tales.
Because powerful cultivators, who die under unusual circumstances, will try every ans to leave the Netherworld during the Ghost Festival when the ’Life and Death Boundary’ is weakest and attempt to possess a new body for rebirth.
Just like those beings who claim to be from the Upper Realm: cannibalistic!
Over the years, so have succeeded in living again through the forbidden reincarnation of possession, but none have truly succeeded.
The Mortal World has its Daoist skills, and the Netherworld has its rules.
Violators in the Netherworld provide information, and the Mortal World gives chase and kills them.
Lu Jin’an once took on such tasks in the Sitting and Illuminating Realm, and out of curiosity had also looked through relevant texts in the Library Pavilion of the Wandao Sect; hence, he was quite knowledgeable about it.
Standing before the Ghost Gate, Lu Jin’an slightly raised his head. Because his Dao included life and death, he could see the Death Qi lingering around the Ghost Gate.
In his striking white attire, a thought flashed through Lu Jin’an’s mind: Should he use his current mastery of the "Great Freedom Visualization Technique" to deduce the approximate outco of this journey?
But as soon as this thought erged, Lu Jin’an snuffed it out: "The more you learn cultivation techniques, the more you hone them; how can you beco more hesitant?"
Laughing at himself wryly, Lu Jin’an didn’t proceed to use the "Great Freedom Visualization Technique."
Because human nature is to seek fortune and avoid disaster, and no matter what you do, there’s seldom a one hundred percent success rate. If you know the bad outco in advance, a ’seed of fear’ is planted deep in your heart.
Once this seed sprouts, it becos hard to eliminate and turns into a perpetual ’what if’ on the Immortal Path.
And ’what if’ implies a lack of confidence in oneself.
On the road of questioning Dao, failure may exist, but there is no ultimate success; what is most precious is the courage to continue forward and with a clear conscience.
’In small matters, seeking fortune and avoiding disaster is harmless. To seek immortality and question Dao is to tread a thorny path; one cannot escape.’
Lu Jin’an’s eyelids drooped slightly as he took out the short blade engraved with blood-colored patterns.
During the Ghost Festival, the Ghost Gate opens wide, and specters roam the night.
Not at this ti, separated by life and death, resides the Mortal World.
Ignoring the gazes of the Netherworld Ancient Constables around him, Lu Jin’an held the blood-patterned short sword and walked step by step toward the Ghost Gate, the ’Blood Eye’ on the sword’s hilt seeming akin to a rotating pupil; the closer he got to the Ghost Gate, the more joyful the sword’s hum beca.
Entering the Death Boundary, and the ’Netherworld Validation’ paves the way.
Lu Jin’an glanced at the short sword’s blood pearl, filled with blood, twisted his wrist slightly, and as the short sword pierced the thick city gate, ripples spread before him, allowing him to smoothly enter the Soul Suppressing Corridor beyond the gate.
On top of the city gate tower at the Ghost City’s entrance, Pei Wanyu wore a subtly proud smile on her charming face.
With her cultivation realm, it was only natural to sense her treasured disciple’s montary intention to use the "Great Freedom Visualization Technique," prompting her to think if Jin’an truly wanted to foresee the future upon entering the Ghost Gate, she would imdiately bring him back to the sect.
Even the cultivators at the Tianyan Pavilion, who were extrely skilled in the art of fate deduction, wouldn’t carelessly draw lots for themselves. Jin’an, a cultivator only half-understood in deduction due to the nature of his cultivation technique, could easily cloud his Dao heart if he rashly divined his future.
Thankfully, her treasured disciple had always made her proud.
Feeling reassured, Pei Wanyu slightly raised her head and looked towards the undefined and bottomless Broken Realm in the distance, gently lifting her right hand, her slender fingers adorned with red rouge forming a grip. The already dense canopy of yin energy seed to be shrouded in a layer of pitch black, like heavy oppression before a pouring storm.
Majestic spiritual power, like a Black Phoenix, forcibly created an independent domain on the abyss of the Broken Realm, spanning unknowingly several tens of thousands of miles, preventing the infiltration of Yin Ming Qi, seemingly able to pierce the Netherworld.
Pei Wanyu, retracting her right hand, tucked a strand of blown hair behind her ear, her slightly narrowed eyes resembling a gentle crescent moon, the beauty mark on her lower right lip adding to her allure.
"If any unexpected events occur, I wouldn’t want to wait for another lifeti~"
Pei Wanyu muttered to herself. Even if a baby born in the future cycle of reincarnation resembled Jin’an and had mories from before reincarnation, she wouldn’t consider him her treasured disciple, Lu Jin’an.
So she’d prefer to create a stir in the Netherworld and personally bring back her good disciple.
"Ah~ I couldn’t resist taking action again~" Whatever had crossed her mind, Pei Wanyu chuckled with a hint of mischievous delight: "Qingyue, oh Qingyue, I wasn’t intending to snatch Jin’an and leave you watching from the sidelines~"
Her mood increasingly cheerful, Pei Wanyu folded her arms, lightly tapping her fingers against her arm, occasionally humming a little tune.
"I wonder if Qingyue has managed to find information on Zhu Nanzhi. According to Jin’an’s oddly generous description, she seems like soone from Qingmiao Palace who descended to the red dust in Nanzhuo Domain only to then pursue ’Supre Forget Love’...
Hmm? Could she be that woman’s disciple?"
······
Lu Jin’an passed through the Ghost City’s gate, and not far ahead was the entrance to the Soul Suppressing Corridor.
Legend has it that the Soul Suppressing Corridor is a vast labyrinth; once mortals and departed souls hoping to return to the Mortal World enter, they beco lost in it, never to transcend.
Lu Jin’an tightened his grip on the ’Netherworld Validation’; with this blood-soaked short sword, he wouldn’t beco lost in the Soul Suppressing Corridor.
Unnoticeably stepping forward, with one foot into the Soul Suppressing Corridor’s entrance, it was akin to entering the Underworld with half a foot.
Surrounded by nothing but Yin Ming Qi, wholly isolated from the outside Spiritual Energy, yet Lu Jin’an’s internal Spiritual Power remained unfazed and did not dissipate.
Because he held the sword, the ’Netherworld Validation’ was the living being’s legal pass to enter the Underworld.
How many ’Netherworld Validations’ exist in the world is unknown, but those who relied on this to enter the Underworld have been few throughout history.
And they all sought to traverse the Great Dao of death.
So cultivators returned alive from the Netherworld, achieving great power, but many more were swallowed by death as failures.
With the ’Netherworld Validation’ in hand, Lu Jin’an managed to smoothly find the correct path through the Soul Suppressing Corridor, but his pace was not fast.
Because the Soul Suppressing Corridor, a labyrinth conjoining space and mind, is a rare place of insight for cultivators who primarily focus on the Great Dao of space.
Yet, although Lu Jin’an did not hurry, he did not pause.
Compared to the power of space, confronting the power of death was even rarer.
Crossing the Soul Suppressing Corridor, Lu Jin’an looked ahead at the true entrance to the Netherworld, where, on either side, stood a tall and thin figure with a smiling face and a short and stout figure with a fierce countenance.
Gazing at the official hats of these two figures inscribed with ’Life-long wealth’ and ’Peaceful World,’ Lu Jin’an’s eyes lit up.
Oh, the mythological Black and White Impermanence!
With the short sword’s tip downward, Lu Jin’an slightly bowed and perford a sword salute—
"I have long admired your esteed nas."
······
User Comments
0 comments from readers