Crack!
Wang Yuan stepped on the scattered ghost bones on the ground, crushing them underfoot, and looked up at the sky above, which resembled an ancient painting with a yellowed tint.
Occasionally, strange clouds, resembling lumps of tumors, drifted by.
"This Netherworld is truly well-hidden.
I deployed so many straw dogs to infiltrate the Asura Ghost Country in advance, yet I still couldn’t discover this trick up the Underground Master’s sleeve.
If she suddenly releases all these ghosts in one go, it would surely devastate the Underworld, much more fiercely than the eerie chaos of the Yang World.
The most terrifying thing in this world isn’t the eerie, but the unknown!"
With a step forward, he sidestepped a broken shadow of a human figure walking straight towards him, which, more accurately, was a ghost.
It seed completely devoid of self-consciousness, passing by Wang Yuan without a glance, and continued walking forward.
Panning his gaze around, in this half-finished Immortal Heaven, the roots of the Killing Tree manifested in substance, entwining around broken constructions of various styles and eras.
Countless black and red shadows, missing various parts of their bodies, wandered aimlessly.
They weren’t physically disabled like living mortals, but had massive gaping holes rotting through them.
So were missing half their skull, so a rib, so their entire upper body...
Even sections of their limbs were missing, or so much of them had decayed that only a pair of blackened feet remained, yet this didn’t impede their movent at all.
Just as Wang Yuan’s group set foot in the Immortal Heaven, a cold, whistling murmur resounded incessantly in his ears:
"Humans die as ghosts, ghosts die as shadows, shadows die as Xiyi, Xiyi die as Yi, Yi die as Wei, Wei die formless...."
The aning of these words wasn’t hard to understand.
The words Xiyi appeared multiple tis in Daoist classics, such as in the "Tao Te Ching," which says: "Seen but not visible is Y, heard but not audible is Xi."
"The Annotations of the River Duke on the Tao Te Ching" says: "Colorless is Yi, soundless is Xi."
Here, color doesn’t an lustful, but is the sa color referred to as form, as described in Buddhism: form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form.
Without form is Yi, without sound is Xi.
This ans that these shadows would gradually lose their form, and eventually even their sound, vanishing entirely from the world.
The black ash dust falling from the edges of the holes revealed that it wasn’t a beast gnawing at their bodies, but ti, or perhaps, mory!
Just then.
Among the five senses accompanying Wang Yuan, the most lively, Hualing, found the sight of those ghosts, particularly one walking with only two feet, quite amusing.
Extending her small, fair hand, a chain of water vapor automatically ford across its path, tripping it hard.
Unexpectedly, after stumbling several steps, the ghost abruptly disintegrated into ash, disappearing completely into the air.
"Oh no! Are ghosts this fragile?"
The young girl exclaid in surprise, not at all expecting such a ferocious [weird] that fed on ghosts would be so fragile.
Wang Yuan glanced over, having inherited Lady Xiang’s knowledge, he understood the situation clearly and began explaining to her:
"Ghosts can almost completely immunize against attacks from other ghosts.
So this ghost isn’t dead, rather everyone who once knew him has forgotten, transforming him into ’Xiyi,’ unseen, and unheard.
The knowledge I gained from the [Underground Master] suggests that the Netherworld is a place closer to the concept of ’death’ than the Underworld.
In this life, humans actually experience ’death’ three tis:
The first is when closing their eyes and leaving the mortal world; the second is bidding farewell to loved ones, severing ties; the third is being forgotten by everyone, to the point of complete oblivion.
With each ’death,’ they beco closer to the essence of death.
Unless one leaves a recorded na in human history, achieving ’everlasting fa’ or ’notoriety through the ages,’ everyone inevitably undergoes this fate upon reaching here."
The rules of this Immortal Heaven are quite unique; humans are subject to them, and so too are other entities.
[Netherworld] is like a forgotten storage box, or rather, a ’stomach’ of the [Killing Tree].
Everything here, be it people, things, or events, once existed. Coming here signifies being forgotten and digested by the world.
As those who rember them dwindle to none, they gradually collapse and disappear completely.
These ghosts feed on ghosts, instinctively seizing their sense of existence to stave off their own demise.
In essence, the [Killing Tree] and [Underground Master] are producing ’digestive enzys’ through the Netherworld.
If left unchecked, it would eventually devour Fengdu, the Underworld, the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and even the indigenous Heavenly Dao attached to it.
If not for Wang Yuan backstabbing the forr supre of the Ghost Path, usurping all the Underground Master had, inheriting her "Netherworld" as well.
The first targets these ghosts would attack would be them.
As for now...
They’re rely ingredients, edible from top to bottom.
"Strike while the iron is hot, let’s act now. Green Sun, Red Sun, White Sun, Three Aspects Dharma Body, [Three Yang Tribulation Technique], activate!"
Wang Yuan’s figure wavered, splitting into three, and soared skyward.
Three bright great suns, their power level far surpassing ordinary [Dharma Images], descended upon this Netherworld with a thunderous roar.
From the past, present, and future, their infinite heat caused these shadows, already in constant decay, to wail as they lted and evaporated rapidly.
The power of the [Killing Tree] rooted in the Underworld also weakened gradually along with it.
Reviews
All reviews (0)