Chapter 168: Summoning the Ghost Official Instantly, Everything Became Clear.
Mingguang detests being threatened, controlled, deceived, or played with.
Xiao Taozhi has done all these things in the past two days.
He was genuinely angry.
But they are also genuinely trying to understand and cooperate with Xiaotaozhi.
Mingguang could understand that after Xiaotaozhi learned that they were being monitored by the ancient immortals at any time, she suddenly stopped discussing anything with him and directly dug out his immortal veins, turning him into a mortal and making him her most advantageous bargaining chip, because she wanted to win.
Just like in the previous two competitions, she will do everything in her power in the end.
Mingguang originally intended to use himself as a bargaining chip to send her to heaven first to prove her position.
Xiao Taozhi's actions could even be said to coincide with what he was about to do.
Even though he hadn't "given" it yet, Xiao Taozhi's reckless "snatching" caught Mingguang off guard. He was also heartbroken because Xiao Taozhi attacked him without hesitation. But since it concerned Xiao Taozhi's life and safety, how could he blame her for such a thing?
But now, Mingguang finds it increasingly difficult to understand what Xiaotaozhi is doing.
Xiao Taozhi already knew that Dongjun was the immortal leader who accompanied the competition, and that he had descended to the mortal realm specifically to protect her and maintain the fairness of the competition in order to prevent the ancient immortals from harming her.
Why did Xiao Taozhi insist on forcibly controlling the immortal Dongjun and dragging him into the competition?
Exploiting loopholes in the competition rules cannot be done so blatantly.
Regarding the rule that the accompanying immortals are not allowed to assist the competitors in any form, the Milky Way hangs high. Once Xiao Taozhi returns to heaven, Dongjun, the accompanying immortal, will be judged to have cheated for helping her. Will she still have her position as a Grand Immortal?
Moreover, Mingguang and Xiaotaozhi did intend to investigate what exactly Elder Qingwen, who was absorbing the life force of mortals, was all about.
But this exploration is definitely not the kind of exploration that "destroys everything".
Elder Qingwen, as an elder of the Nine Heavens Palace, naturally colluded with Xu Xingshen, acting in concert.
Since she wanted to use Xu Xingshen's hand to ascend to the position of Taixian during the Ascension Ceremony, killing Qingwen was tantamount to offending Xu Xingshen. How could Xu Xingshen allow her to first sweep away his prestige and then pat her butt and go to heaven?
Xiao Taozhi's many actions have made her so arrogant that she has lost her true nature.
Mingguang looked into her eyes and still couldn't be sure whether she was deliberately digging out her heart to confuse Dongjun and get him to help her because she was afraid someone would harm her and she could only feel at ease if Dongjun was under her control.
It was the intense heat of the five yin that burned away her innate tendency to ride the crest of a cliff and snatch chestnuts from the fire, to the point that she could no longer control it.
Therefore, Mingguang tightened his palm, looked deeply at Xiaotaozhi, and said, "Are you happy controlling my brother?"
"I want to know, just how many hearts do you have, enough to dig them out, burn them to ashes, and use them to bewitch and control everyone?"
As Mingguang spoke, he pressed his other hand against her chest, his knuckles bent into a claw, and cruelly tore open her wound that had just healed.
Fresh blood instantly seeped through Bitao's front.
Mingguang's expression was frosty and cold, his anger stemming from her heartless and unrespecting act.
It was also an attempt to extinguish her excessive five aggregates with pain, to warn her that it was not too late to stop now.
If she were to kill Qingwen at this moment, even with Mingguang as leverage, Xu Xingshen, who had dominated the lower realm for hundreds of years, possessed a control over this realm that was beyond their comprehension. How could she allow a wild immortal spirit to swagger overhead?
When that time comes, it won't be so easy for Bitao to return to heaven and claim her position.
Upon seeing this, those around immediately tried to pull Mingguang away. When Taiji saw that Mingguang Xuanxian had actually resorted to such a ruthless act, his heterochromatic pupils began to spin, and the hairs on his body stood on end. In the next instant, he was about to rush forward and fight Mingguang to the death.
Bitao quickly raised her hand to stop her.
He specifically pointed to the Tai Chi symbol.
Mingguang's wounds hadn't fully healed yet, and these people clumsily reopened them.
Bitao was being tightly gripped by Mingguang's neck. This time, Mingguang showed no mercy, and a bright red flower bloomed on Bitao's heart between his fingers.
Bitao's breathing was intermittent. He was holding her against the back of the cabin, but she looked up at Mingguang and smiled.
If Mingguang continues to be indifferent to her and ignores what she does, then it proves that Mingguang has truly misunderstood Bitao.
On the contrary, the angrier Mingguang appeared and the more ruthless he became towards her, the more it proved that even though he couldn't understand many things, he was trying to stop her.
Bitao looked at Mingguang, grinned, and said, "It doesn't... hurt."
She then turned to her subordinates and said, "It's nothing... my husband is just joking with me."
"You all go do what you're supposed to do... uh..."
Because of Bitao's order, everyone retreated with strange expressions. Even Zhan Kui shook his head and clicked his tongue as he pulled Guanghan into the main hall.
Bitao said to Mingguang, "My darling, be gentle..."
Mingguang didn't let go, and Bitao grabbed his strong arm with its prominent veins, rubbed it a couple of times and said, "Don't use too much force, the injury to the veins in your arm hasn't healed yet."
Bitao's hands fell from his arms that were gripping her, landing on Mingguang's waist, which was not far from hers.
With a little effort, she actually tried to hug him.
However, Mingguang had his arm around her neck, which also pushed the two of them apart.
Mingguang locked her beautiful peach blossom eyes, the anger and anxiety in her heart intertwined into a golden spider web, but in Bitao's eyes, there was no "sudden realization", "difficulty", "forbearance" or "unspeakable suffering", only an untimely and superficial flirtation.
She did not have the five afflictions burning intensely.
Bitao was, after all, a celestial being. In order to highlight her weakness after having her heart removed, she kept urging the wood spirit to make her face pale, but her heart had already completely grown back.
Right now, no one present except Dongjun can control her.
Not to mention Mingguang, who is a complete "mortal".
But she let Mingguang vent his anger on her.
But she quickly repeated, "Mingguang, be gentle..."
Bitao swallowed hard and pressed her lips against Mingguang's palm.
Bitao liked Mingguang because of his angry demeanor. She found Mingguang's fierce appearance particularly exciting.
Since they found out they were being watched, they haven't had a proper intimate moment these past two days.
Bitao became somewhat emotional at an inopportune time.
Bitao raised her finger, channeled a wisp of spiritual energy, and flicked the numb vein on Mingguang's arm where he was pinching.
Mingguang lost control and let go of his hand.
Bitao lifted his hand and placed it on her face, then turned her head and kissed his palm with her lips, her eyes fixed on him.
A vertical line appeared between Mingguang's brows.
But they couldn't break free.
I have no energy.
A few drops of blood also seeped out from his arm.
After kissing his palm, Bitao kissed the back of his hand, like a complete lecher. Finally, when Mingguang could no longer bear it, she used wood spirit to infuse his meridians to heal him.
Then he used the Wood Spirit to restrain his movements once again.
After he became immobile, she moved closer, ignoring his furious glare, and threw herself into his arms, embracing his waist. She quickly buried her face in his chest, indulging in a moment of almost uncontrollable urge.
Bitao embraced Mingguang, looked up at him and said, "To prevent your brother from killing me in a fit of rage after regaining his senses, you'll have to stay by my side at all times from now on."
Ming Guangjun was as cold as a steep, precipitous peak soaring into the clouds, and his personality was as pure and clear as a snow lotus from Kunlun Mountain. His entire being, inside and out, exuded an aura of steep danger and unapproachability.
But now that he's actually in my hands, how can he be so easy to bully...?
Bitao pulled him towards the main hall, using wood spirit to "tie" him to her waist belt.
She walked ahead of Mingguang, her face as usual, but her heart was breaking with unbearable pain.
She knew what Mingguang was thinking. He was trying to stop her "self-destructive" behavior, attributing all the things he didn't know or couldn't understand to her being influenced and controlled by the Five Yin.
I wanted to use pain to awaken her consciousness.
Bitao turned him into an ordinary person who couldn't compete, and turned his beloved brother into a puppet to be used. In this way, even though he knew nothing, she was still able to find a "reasonable" reason for her.
If Bitao is truly a born wicked person, wouldn't Mingguang be played to death by her if he fell into her hands, and she would still think that she had no choice?
When Bitao entered the palace, her feet felt as if they were walking on cotton, her legs went weak, and her eyes were filled with spring waves. She didn't want to do anything but roll around with Mingguang, snuggle together, drown in his big chest, and never be separated.
Bitao pressed her hand to her chest, using the lingering pain to try and calm herself down.
Only by thwarting that bastard's plan to overturn the heavens and allowing Mingguang to pass away peacefully can she have endless years to stand with Mingguang at the top of the heavens and witness all the beautiful scenery of the world.
Only then can we be of one heart and mind, and enjoy boundless joy together.
After entering the palace, Bitao closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again. The springtime in her eyes had vanished, leaving only a chilling, snowy landscape.
The situation inside the hall had been completely brought under control by her subordinates. In accordance with the teachings and instructions of Bitao, any mortals who aided and abetted the evildoer were to be killed without exception. Now, in a corner of the hall, only a group of trembling mortals who had given up resisting were squatting, along with a group of children who were crying out in fear from the corpses lying all over the ground.
The real Elder Qingwen did not resist or try to escape.
Because he simply cannot do it.
He sat upright... no, he should be standing on a lotus cushion for meditation. He had no lower body, and he only had one arm left, which was rotting and stinking.
It's obvious that his legs must have rotted away like this.
The entire hall was filled with a stench of decay that even the heavy incense couldn't mask.
His hair and beard were all white, his face was loose, and he looked very old. His appearance was nothing like that of the "Elder Qingwen" who had been nailed to the door by Dongjun.
When ordinary people judge whether two people look alike, they mostly look at their appearance.
When the immortals, including Bitao, judge whether a person resembles another, they look at their bone structure and spiritual appearance.
Clearly, the young "Elder Qingwen" was someone who had taken over the body by Qingwen through some means.
A cultivator will die when the Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man reach a certain level, rather than rotting away alive. But this is the first time in Bitao's life that someone in such a state of decline can still be alive.
Mingguang clearly couldn't stand the smell. Bitao remembered that he had also experienced the Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man, and had been traumatized ever since.
He quickly turned around and used the Wood Spirit to shut down his sense of smell.
Zhan Kui covered his mouth and nose, looked at Elder Qingwen, and exclaimed exaggeratedly, "My goodness! Is this some kind of unformed white-haired monster?!"
Guanghan walked to Bitao's side, pointed to several walls in the main hall that, while extremely ornate, appeared somewhat out of place and strange, and said, "This is a small Xun hexagram, here, here..."
"Adding the unfinished lotus pond outside where we moor our spirit boat, it will form a large Xun trigram. These buildings that form the trigram are rich in spiritual energy. I had someone pry them open and found many immortal pearls, which can serve as the spiritual stones needed to form the trigram."
"The lower Xun and the upper Xun are superimposed, Xun represents wind, the two winds intertwine, continuous and ceaseless..."①
Guanghan looked at Bitao and said, "Just like the Xun on the map, the Luofan City on the map is the lotus pond of this Qingwen Palace."
"Didn't you ask me before, in the realm of the immortals and the realm of the mortals, which wind is the master, which is the guest, which flows towards whom, and which obeys whom?"
"Now I can answer you."
Guanghan said, "They flow and obey each other, but the final destination is through the eye of the Xun trigram of this 'Lotus Pond,' flowing towards the Immortal Realm, which is the Immortal Realm as the main destination."
In an instant, everything became clear.
On the surface, it appears that Qingwen is insane, using the heavy Xun hexagram to drain the life force of mortals.
Luofan City is not Qingwen's "Lotus Pond"—it is the "Lotus Pond" of the entire Immortal Realm.
It is the entrance and exit of the spiritual winds between the two realms.
Therefore, the people of Luofan City have long lifespans because they never lack vitality.
Just as Bitao and Mingguang had predicted, the entire Immortal Realm was absorbing the life force of mortals.
It's not even simply about absorbing.
These banished immortals are unable to cultivate or absorb the life force of this world.
However, they used formations to stimulate the "five elements" of mortals, putting them into a state of "cultivation" without their knowledge, and then absorbed the life force flowing through their bodies.
This vitality is the spiritual energy of the Five Elements after it has been categorized, and it conforms to the vitality of the Xuanxing Realm that can be absorbed and utilized by the banished immortals.
When Bitao first descended to the mortal realm, she could sense that the spiritual energy in the mortal realm and the immortal realm was equally abundant, but she wondered why the two realms had to use a barrier array to block them.
It turns out that the spiritual energy in the two realms is ultimately different.
This also explains why immortals rarely use the spiritual energy of the mortal realm after entering it.
Because that spiritual energy has not yet been activated by the formation and has not flowed through the body of a mortal whose "five spirits" have been aroused, it cannot be used.
Most importantly, Bitao finally understood why ordinary people, despite their short lifespans and lack of illness or disaster, suddenly die from the five signs of decay that only cultivators experience.
Because these mortals, born into this world, may have their five elements forcibly activated from birth, and begin "cultivation".
However, no one, whether a child or an adult in the mortal world, knows how to absorb and utilize the spiritual energy of the five elements of heaven and earth.
Many of them don't even know which of the five elements they belong to until they die.
They were even less able to extract their own spiritual attributes from the mixed five elements in a mortal star realm.
Those who cannot cultivate and absorb the corresponding spiritual attributes can only naturally absorb the sparse spiritual energy of the five elements in the world through daily life.
However, because they were inside the formation, their five elemental spiritual energies were being drained from them at all times.
They became tools for purifying spiritual energy.
Once one's spiritual energy is excessively depleted, one will enter the stage of the "Five Decays of Heaven and Man"—the collapse of one's cultivation technique and the shattering of one's Dao heart.
How... vicious.
Bitao slowly surveyed the magnificent building in the main hall, constructed according to the divination symbols, and her gaze met Mingguang's, which was as solemn as hers.
The two were unknowingly shaken by the truth of this astral plane.
Bitao finally looked at Elder Qingwen, who was "stuck" on the lotus cushion, looking like an old, wrinkled dog that was not dead.
Bitao walked straight toward him.
He met her cloudy yet stubborn gaze.
Before Bitao could even ask, he chuckled.
A smile from him is even more rotten and unbearable.
Bitao stepped forward without changing her expression, and pulled out the same sharp knife from her sleeve.
When Qingwen spoke, his voice surprisingly carried the gentle tone of an elderly man.
"If you don't fight in this world, you'll just be waiting to die. One day, you'll end up like me."
"Same!"
Bitao didn't want to hear his curses, so she stepped forward and decisively plunged a small knife into his spiritual core.
As soon as he stirred up the spiritual energy, he immediately began to convulse. He could no longer stand up and rolled around on the lotus cushion with his ugly body that still clung to its delusions and refused to die.
Bitao said, "You deserve this painful death."
"You have absorbed so much life force from mortals, and even possessed another person's body to house your rotting soul as you wander the world."
Bitao held a blood-stained knife, her posture no different from that of the Earth Official who pardoned sins and held a scepter to judge the guilty.
She pointed at Elder Qingwen, who was rolling on the ground, and said, "In the name of the Nine Heavens Mystic Immortal, I sentence you to go to the Avici Hell after death. You will suffer all kinds of tortures in the netherworld until you repay the sins of the souls and lives you have harmed, and only then will your soul be scattered and your spirit return to the myriad worlds."
After Bitao's solemn ruling, the arena fell silent for a moment.
Then Qingwen was the first to burst into laughter.
His mind was disturbed by the peach blossoms, causing him great pain, but he did not completely lose consciousness.
Hearing Bitao's words, he spat out a mouthful of blood, gritted his teeth, and said, "You probably don't know, but the banished immortals of this realm... are abandoned by the Heavenly Dao..."
"After death, hahahahaha, I will not enter the underworld!"
“Even if you possess extraordinary abilities,” Qingwen’s eyes were bloodshot, making him appear even more vicious and cruel, showing no remorse whatsoever, “you can’t torment me for long!”
Everyone else fell silent because of this, but Qingwen was indeed right: all the immortals banished from this world are not subject to reincarnation in this world.
Dongjun, who had been controlled by Bitao for a long time, saw her silently staring at Qingwen without saying a word. His words carried a deliberate sarcasm to provoke Bitao, but in reality, he was advising her: "Not everything in this world can be judged fairly. You are also in this realm. Do you think you are still a celestial being from the Nine Heavens? That you can command the ghost officials of the underworld..."
Before Dongjun could finish speaking...
Inside the main hall, a chilling wind suddenly swept through.
The next instant, dense ghostly energy tore through the air, condensed and gathered, and then two ghost officials wearing tall hats, one holding chains and the other holding a mourning stick, dressed in black and white robes respectively, suddenly appeared in the churning ghostly energy of the hall.
Everyone was stunned.
Even Bitao was startled. She involuntarily took half a step back, leaning lightly against Mingguang's chest behind her.
The two ghost officials, one tall and one short, bowed in unison towards the direction of the peach blossom and said, "We are here on the orders of the Mysterious Immortal to capture the sinful souls."
The two ghost officials turned around and looked at Elder Qingwen, who hadn't yet died.
Elder Qingwen was so frightened that he forgot the throbbing pain in his mind. Saliva dripped from his mouth, and his eyes were glazed over: "Impossible... impossible... the karma of sins committed in this world should not be reincarnated in this world..."
The group of mortals huddled together in fear initially believed that Bitao and the others had persecuted Elder Qingwen in order to seize power and wealth.
But when they saw that they had actually summoned the Black and White Impermanence, beings that only exist in folk legends, some people were so frightened that they fainted on the spot.
Some people were also kowtowing loudly in the direction of the Black and White Impermanence.
"Mercy, Lord Wuchang! We were forced by that old scoundrel Qingwen!"
"May the Lord of Impermanence bear witness..."
The ridiculous thing is that these mortals have seen the celestial positions of the Nine Heavens since childhood. Even if they are banished immortals, they are still true immortals.
But they are not afraid of the banished immortals, and even dare to kill them with their own hands, yet they fear the most ordinary soul-binding ghost officials in the netherworld.
At this moment, Qingwen, whose spiritual platform had already been shattered by Bitao, was further terrified and his spirit collapsed. He was actually scared to death by the sudden appearance of the two ghost officials.
Just as the soul was about to leave the body, it was bound by chains.
Aaaaaaaahh ...
Qingwen became a ghost, his mouth agape as he screamed in despair, but his voice could no longer be heard by people in the mortal world.
Those present were all terrified at the sight.
The mourning stick struck Qingwen on the head, and he quickly slumped limply between the chains, unconscious, being dragged along like a phantom.
The two ghost officials collected the sinful souls, bowed one last time in the direction of the peach blossom, and vanished in an instant into the thick, dark ghostly aura that filled the hall.
The eerie wind subsided, the ghostly aura dissipated, and the entire hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone looked at Bitao.
Bitao: "..." She did indeed know some people in the underworld.
But she didn't think she could summon Seventh Master and Eighth Master just by saying it casually.
She was just angry that Qingwen had killed so many people so easily, so she casually said something to scare him.
Unexpectedly, the Black and White Impermanence were actually summoned to apprehend the sinful souls.
They weren't even the Black and White Impermanence of this world, but those of the Lord of the Underworld!
Moreover, one of them was an acquaintance.
Bitao remembered clearly that when she died in the second competition, she went down to the underworld once to visit her two fathers with the Emperor of Fengdu. On the way, she was "teasing" by a Soul-Binding Impermanence and was bewitched, which made her have a "beautiful dream".
That exceptionally handsome Soul-Binding Impermanence was none other than the white-robed ghost official among the two from earlier!
He even winked at her as he was leaving!
Moreover, Bitao had never heard of any celestial being descending to the mortal realm and casually summoning a ghost official from the underworld.
After all, the Heavenly and Underworld realms are governed separately, and everyone is so busy that they have virtually no interaction outside of official business.
When celestial beings descend to the mortal realm, they often uncontrollably influence the fates of mortals. Celestial beings are forbidden from interfering with the judgment and reincarnation of dead souls in the mortal realm; this is a strictly forbidden heavenly rule.
Otherwise, if every immortal position were to interfere with reincarnation, and ghost officials listened to everyone, the celestial realm and the underworld would have long been in chaos.
Although I was completely baffled, so many people were watching.
Even when dressed in a peach blossom style, one must make it seem natural and appropriate.
Before she straightened up slightly, she reached back and grabbed Mingguang's arm.
After absorbing some power, he proudly said, "As I have said, we are all immortals of the Nine Heavens, appointed by the Heavenly Dao, and entrusted with the mandate of Heaven to kill evil and save the common people. This is our duty."
"Qingwen is dead. Since we're already here, let's visit the other elders as well."
"Those who possess this Xun formation within all the palaces are those who drain the life force of mortals..."
Bitao glanced at Dongjun, who was in a daze, and deliberately mimicked his crooked mouth, curling her lips slightly as she said sternly, "Kill without mercy!"
Bitao's subordinates answered in unison, their voices soaring to the heavens and shaking the earth: "Yes!"
Mingguang grabbed Bitao's arm from behind.
Bitao turned around and imprisoned him, silencing him.
She glanced at his angry expression and quickly looked away.
She couldn't listen to Mingguang's advice to "take it easy" or "postpone the action." She wanted to take this opportunity to create a hole in the heavens of this world.
They wanted her to be a clown, to attract attention and obscure their earth-shattering conspiracy.
Bitao will show them just how high she can jump.
She'll soon be able to lure out those cowardly bastards hiding in the shadows.
Bitao led the group to the palace of the next elder and "banged on the door".
They used the bodies of the cultivators that the elders had sent to rescue Qingwen to "smash" them.
Regardless of the reason, the appearance of the Black and White Impermanence is tantamount to bestowing the absolute "justice" upon Bitao's words and actions.
At least Bitao's subordinates are now all willing to risk their lives for her.
The Black and White Impermanence, who had been "away" for quite some time but had actually only concealed their presence and were still strolling leisurely not far from the street, saw Bitao leading people to get another elder.
Black Impermanence couldn't help but ask, "Seventh Brother, if she captures that elder later, will we have to reappear again?"
Bai Wuchang also looked back and said, "No, that Bitao Xuanxian is very smart. I just winked at her and she must have understood what I meant."
Black Impermanence: "But Seventh Brother, the sinful souls of immortals in this world truly do not enter the cycle of reincarnation in the underworld. What should we do with this person? We still have official duties to perform..."
Black Impermanence didn't understand why White Impermanence had to meddle in these matters. They didn't need to obey any celestial orders, and even Xuanxian didn't have the face to do so.
They just happened to be on official business and happened to be passing through this realm when they found it bustling with activity and many mortal souls floating in the air, so they came to take a look.
White Impermanence glanced at Black Impermanence and sighed, "Do you think I wanted to show up? It's all because last time this Xuanxian came down to the underworld, I heard that she was the daughter of Bai Duo and Zhuo Xian, those two ghost demons, and I found her strange and interesting, so I bewitched her for a while."
"As soon as Bai Duo's daughter left, she started causing trouble for me."
"Bai Duo is a brute who only thinks about his backside, I'm not afraid of him. The Earthly Fiend Ghost King is also a City God, if we really fight, who knows who has stronger skills. Even if he is Yama now, I am not under his control."
Black Impermanence: "Then why are you still bothering with this Xuanxian's affairs? Are you just giving her face for no reason?"
The White Impermanence gently tapped the Black Impermanence's head with the mourning stick in its hand.
"You've been dead for so many years, don't you understand what human relationships and social etiquette are?"
"White-collar corruption is not scary, but corrupt sages are!"
"He has been promoted to Yama, but he also has to take on the internal affairs of us ghost officials. We haven't found anyone to take over yet."
"He always had a smile on his face and never offended anyone. Last month, he didn't skimp on my merit allowance, but the bathtub he gave me broke in two while I was using it!"
Who could understand his vulnerability and panic at that moment?
"Ah!" said Black Impermanence, "When I went to your place for tea last month, didn't your teacup suddenly shatter by itself?"
"Zhuoxian is really cunning... I thought he was a good guy because he always smiled. Let's not offend him. Consider this our way of repaying that favor."
"But what about the soul of this sinful immortal? Should we really bring it back to the underworld?"
"Take him! Throw him straight into the deepest hell, the one the immortals judge..."
As for when they'll get him out... If Bai Wuchang isn't mistaken, that Bitao Xuanxian won the competition and will take over the position of their Luofeng Mountain Emperor.
When the time comes, she'll be the boss, and she can do whatever she wants.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com