Chapter 15 Sigh! Sigh! Sigh! She's still a complete...
Bitao truly had no idea that there were other "people" besides her and the deceased "grandmother" in this dilapidated temple.
She felt unusually cold today, so cold it chilled her to the bone.
Seeing that Bitao was treating the rabbit with hot water and didn't even glance at the dead "grandmother-in-law," Bai Duo finally gave up.
But before leaving the temple, Bai Duo couldn't help but ask Zhuo Xian, "Do you think... she'll remember me?"
Zhuo Xian thought to himself that even if she really remembered, she would only remember a strange old woman.
But not daring to provoke his colleagues who were already on the verge of collapse, he simply said, "Yes."
He put his arm around Bai Duo's shoulder and patted her comfortingly, saying, "You should hope that she never knows who you are. Otherwise, given how you ignored her when she was little, it's hard for this celestial fairy not to complain about you."
Zhuoxian added, “Look on the bright side. It’s precisely because this fairy was born in the place where your City God Temple is located that the task of raising the fairy has fallen on your shoulders. Regardless of whether she wins or loses in the end, the Heavenly Realm will credit you for this extra achievement.”
"You've always wanted a promotion, and I've heard that the Ten Kings of Hell are also planning a reshuffle this time. It's a good opportunity."
“Those celestial immortals wouldn’t willingly descend to serve as ghost kings in our underworld. Just capture more evil ghosts to accumulate merit, and becoming Yama, the King of Hell, will be a piece of cake.”
Bai Duo was not comforted.
In the celestial realm, one ascends to a higher rank through faith, while in the underworld, one gains a higher position through merit.
To become one of the Ten Kings of Hell, one needs a million merits. In the underworld, he can only catch evil spirits. In a thousand years, he has accumulated less than ten thousand merits, which is far from enough to keep up with the change of the Ghost King.
But he knew that Zhuoxian was comforting him and did not want to make things difficult for his only friend of a thousand years.
Bai Duo left and never looked back.
The demon king who devours evil spirits, whose flesh and bones are composed of yin energy, is inevitably subject to the principle of "loving him and kneeling to him, hating him and throwing him into the abyss." (Note:)
He was certain that this "ungrateful" fairy would not have a good end; her celestial soul would be damaged, and she would still be unable to compete.
They're going to die sooner or later, the day they fall on his turf... Hmph.
The two Earthly Fiend Kings swept through the human world and returned to the underworld to report on their duties.
Later, he went with other colleagues to inspect the situation of the other "contestants".
Whenever Bai Duo saw those "heavenly beings" fall into misfortune and suffer torment, he would be filled with disdain and harbor resentment in his heart.
A bunch of hypocritical, sanctimonious, and heartless people, what right do they have to call themselves celestial beings? They deserve this calamity!
However, one day, as he watched a celestial lord with a "prominent position" in the heavenly realm having his limbs broken and being dragged into a cult, a hot and fragrant roasted fat rabbit suddenly appeared in his hand!
He was stunned at first, then his eyelids twitched and trembled.
Seeing his expression, Zhuo Xian, who was traveling with him, also changed his expression when he looked at the roasted rabbit.
Just as he was about to stop her, Bai Duo had already swiftly vanished into yin energy.
Zhuoxian had no choice but to ask his colleagues to continue the patrol in place of the two men, while he hurried to catch up.
It should be noted that ghosts can only receive things under one specific condition.
That means someone burned it for him.
Bai Duo returned to the outside of the dilapidated temple, only to find it completely empty.
Fifteen days have passed since he "died" and fled into the mortal realm.
He remembers it very clearly!
Bai Duo formed hand seals, searching for his "avatar," and quickly turned his head to look towards the deep mountains.
When he hurried to find it, he discovered that... the place was somewhat familiar.
—It is under the peach tree where I picked the peach back then.
In the freezing cold, Bai Duo's "corpse" was wrapped in intact animal hides and lay peacefully on a "snow cart".
Bitao, however, was dressed in tattered and torn animal skins.
Her skin was red and swollen from the cold, but she was oblivious, gripping an iron pickaxe and digging a hole under the peach wood.
Bitao ran out of money to hire a funeral home because she later refused to believe her mother-in-law was really dead. She then spent money to hire a doctor to treat her, but the doctor scolded her for being insane.
But since the doctors have come, even if the "patient" is a completely dead and stiff corpse, they will still collect the consultation fee without refund.
My mother-in-law never slept for more than five days, and although she didn't wake up, she was still breathing.
This time, she was completely lifeless and her body was stiff. Bitao stayed with the corpse for fifteen days, waiting for her mother-in-law to return.
However, this time the "old witch" did not reveal her demonic power, so Bitao could no longer rely on luck.
Fortunately, it was the coldest time of winter; otherwise, the body would have rotted and decomposed after being left for fifteen days.
She needed to give her mother-in-law a proper burial, but the earth remained frozen and merciless.
She took a swing of her pickaxe, and only a patch of frozen soil, barely larger than a fingernail, broke off from the ground.
But she was digging with great enthusiasm.
Even optimistically, it's good not to hire a funeral home. She was born here and was personally saved by her mother-in-law. After her mother-in-law died, she personally sent her to her grave. Isn't this the most beautiful inheritance of life and death?
When spring comes and the peach blossoms bloom, covering the grave, it will be a way for her to rest in peace with her mother-in-law here.
Not far from her, a bonfire was burning, roasting a plump rabbit with all the seasonings.
It was the same one from that day. They planned to eat it together for the Lunar New Year.
Now that the year has passed, Bitao has no money to buy paper money for burning.
That was specially made for "mother-in-law".
At this moment, Bai Duo looked at Bi Tao, his jaw taut as if carved by a knife and axe.
This rabbit was the first piece of "meat" she had hunted this winter, but she didn't eat a single bite. She kept it for fifteen days, and now it's placed on the fire rack, becoming his offering.
But this child is still growing.
There haven't been any hard biscuits these days, so what have we been eating?
Bai Duo's suppressed paternal love, accumulated over many years, erupted with the fire.
It appeared behind Bitao without regard for anything else, and a cold wind howled, stirring up a sky full of silver snow.
Zhuoxian, who had been chasing after him as fast as he could: "!"
"Hey hey hey! Hey! Hey! Hey—"
While trying to stop Bai Duo, Zhuo Xian let out a howl like a wild boar: "This is a fairy! A fairy!"
It would be fine if it were visible to ordinary people.
By revealing himself before the immortals competing in the Heavenly Realm, Bai Duo no longer needs to be the Earthly Fiend King!
Although Bitao noticed something amiss with the "swirling demonic wind" and turned around, she did not see the Ghost King appear.
But the next moment, she felt a bone-chilling cold energy on the top of her head, which quickly spread from the crown of her head to her internal organs.
She stood stiffly, her eyes wide, sensing that something like a giant hand—capable of crushing her skull—was covering her head.
But the large, icy hand didn't crush her skull; instead, it gently stroked the top of her head twice.
"What are you doing? Why are you hitting me! The people of the Heavenly Realm are watching!"
Zhuo Xian was afraid that Bai Duo would cause a great disaster.
Those who were captured to do hard labor were not allowed to interfere with, disclose, or assist the immortals participating in the competition in any way.
That's tantamount to cheating, and neither side will have a good outcome!
However, Bai Duo, a thousand-year-old ghost king who was taller, bigger, and more powerful than him, was so powerful that even ten of them couldn't hold him back when he went crazy.
"Hey, let go first, are you trying to scare her to death!" Zhuoxian pulled Bai Duo, trying to persuade her with his emotions.
Bitao shivered violently several times, but didn't move.
Her expression shifted from shock to anticipation.
After carefully sensing it, he boldly raised his hand and lightly placed it on the bone-chilling coldness above his head.
A moment later, she smiled contentedly and murmured, "Grandma?"
She came back to see her after all.
Bai Duo quickly closed her eyes, but didn't have time to stop the tears of blood from rolling down her cheeks.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! You son of a bitch, stop crying!"
"We are ghosts! When ghosts shed tears, they will lose all their magical powers and their very souls will dissipate!"
Zhuo Xian slapped Bai Duojun's face, pried open his eyes, and forced him to look up.
"Quickly! Hold it in!"
Seeing that Bai Duo was on the verge of losing control and emitting dark ghostly energy, Zhuo Xian hastily rolled Bai Duo up, formed a hand seal to activate teleportation, and immediately disappeared from the human world.
We have to run! He wasn't joking; the heavens are really watching!
The heavens are indeed watching.
Bitao is eighteen years old this year, but she has only been in the Heavenly Realm for less than two days.
The judges remained seated on the high platform, and the high-ranking immortals of the nine great immortal clans also guarded the Silver Net, watching over their own juniors.
But each of them had a furrowed brow and a look of dissatisfaction on their faces.
They wished they could poke their own juniors on the head and scold them for being useless; some were even so restless that they wanted to descend to the mortal realm and take their place.
How could this be? How could this be?!
Two days into the competition, these participants stripped of their immortal power and descended to the mortal realm to undergo the "life" tribulation.
A batch of babies died before they even emerged from the birth canal.
Upon birth, because it was a trial by competition, the birth circumstances were naturally not very good.
Many children die young from various illnesses and accidents during childhood.
Having finally grown up, not to mention the hardships and suffering they endured, an immortal without their divine power is like a phoenix with its feathers plucked, no better than a chicken.
Most of them were born in the heavens and served in the human world, but it was just a formality. They never personally experienced the hardships of the human world and did not know that being born as a human being, even the most basic thing of living is so difficult.
In addition, this world is plagued by frequent wars, and the nation's fate is on the verge of collapse.
Neighboring countries are teeming with predators, their eyes fixed on the people, who are displaced and starving.
Even worse, the emperors were immoral, the Purple Palace was shrouded in darkness, famines raged for years, and refugees were as numerous as rats.
In rural areas, it was not uncommon for people to sell their children, exchange offspring for cannibalism, bury their parents alive, and pawn their wives.
The court was rife with infighting, the emperor was old and senile, the concubines in the harem were driven mad, several sons vied for the throne, and brothers killed each other.
The regional princes, overstepping their bounds, recruited soldiers and horses, eager to make their move.
This place is simply...like hell on earth.
The immortals who were cast into this place were ignorant of the bitterness and evil of the world, did not understand the unfathomable depths of human nature, had no protective spirits, and did not forget the joy of being an immortal.
As these factors accumulate, the higher one's celestial rank, the more they resemble a young rabbit thrown into a den of tigers and wolves, struggling against all odds, suffering head injuries and countless wounds. Some, overwhelmed by their tragic circumstances, become so devastated that they lose their will to live and take their own lives, unable to bear the suffering of the world.
Those old immortals, who usually looked down on the world and saw all its suffering as nothing more than weeds in their backyard, are now experiencing the pain of their descendants falling into the mortal realm. They are all frowning and restless.
Most importantly, on the Silver River Net, not only did the number of participants decrease by less than half at the very beginning of this "birth, aging, sickness and death" tribulation, but the spiritual threads also turned from light to darkness and were collected into the underworld to await the end of the competition.
Even among those whose remaining spiritual threads were still bright, very few had gained much faith power.
Hundreds is already a lot, thousands are few and far between, and it's still a long way from the standard that requires 100,000 believers to return to heaven and win.
Even the top figures in the Heavenly Realm, such as Mingguang, are now in dire straits on the Silver River Gull.
Having spent over a decade in this "hell on earth," struggling to make ends meet amidst constant danger and the ever-present risk of losing one's life or failing at the last hurdle.
While the ancient immortals were frowning with worry, You Tian, having attained the rank of immortal with merit, had at least experienced life in the mortal realm. Although he had faced hardships, he was not in too dire straits in the lower world.
Moreover, among those ranked above faith power, more than eight out of ten are immortals of merit.
While some are filled with sorrow, others are secretly delighted with their current situation.
Among them, the one who couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth the most was none other than Zhu Mingxian, the leader of Youtian.
His subordinates are all making good progress, so it's impossible for him not to be happy.
But he was also a little troubled, not because of the meritorious immortal positions he had arranged, but because of... his little attendant, Bitao.
In private, he tapped the silver gauntlet on his wrist and tracked Bitao more than once.
The Silver Net hanging in the sky is a list of participants, and also contains highlights of the rotating contestants. However, if you really want to know about a particular contestant, you have to summon the Silver Net yourself and track them using the spiritual threads.
Among all the immortals in the Nine Heavens, only Zhu Ming, a high-ranking immortal, knows how to track Bi Tao!
Zhu Ming felt a burning urge to bite at the mere thought of Bitao.
That good-for-nothing bastard, he's infuriating!
The more confident and composed he appeared during the competition, the more ridiculous he becomes now.
It's better for someone to die in childbirth, from illness, from an accident, or even from suicide due to unbearable circumstances than for her to damage her celestial soul storing memories during teleportation before even reaching the mortal realm, causing her to completely forget about this ridiculous competition!
Hold.
Zhu Ming had no idea that the pretty boy from the Lei Department would try to take advantage of Bi Tao before the teleportation; he had already anticipated it!
They specifically ordered a thorough search of the three Thunder Fighting Soldiers, and even added many other search formations to the existing ones used for searching for spiritual artifacts, magical artifacts, and immortal artifacts.
Make sure that the ancient immortals can't take anything useful with them except their naked souls!
However, he did not expect that Binglun did not carry any spiritual artifacts, magic weapons, or immortal artifacts, nor even talismans. Instead, he carried a piece of Binglun Seal that he had carried with him for many years to ward off evil spirits.
This thing wasn't on the list of things to be brought to the lower realm, so it should have dissipated on its own during the teleportation.
This is similar to the sachets filled with flowers and herbs that mortals in the lower realm carry with them.
It has almost no effect.
But if you say it has no effect... After absorbing the evil energy for many years, and then deliberately being impacted by the lightning-attribute silver spirit of the Ice Wheel, the evil energy is released through the vast immortal spirit of the teleportation. It has no effect on him, but it is harmful to low-level immortals.
The lingering evil spirits that cannot be dispelled in time will attach themselves to the nearest soul.
Humans have three souls, also known as Tai Guang, Shuang Ling, and You Jing.
When negative energy enters the womb, it can cause mild symptoms such as dulled vitality, weakness, and frequent illness. In severe cases, it can impair memory and intelligence.
Entering a state of spiritual pleasure can make one's mind dull and confused.
Entering the realm of the spirit will damage one's fortune.
Lei Bu, that pretty boy, clearly intended to at least make Bi Tao's mind go blank after she descended to the mortal realm, and even if it were investigated in the end, he wouldn't be considered to have broken the rules of the competition.
Whom did the palace seal he wore get in the way? It's just that the person was too weak.
This is already the least that Bitao has been punished for single-handedly stirring up the conflict between the ancient immortal clan and the merit immortal position, and even provoking those few "noble young masters" of the heavenly realm.
It's estimated that many members of the ancient immortal clan plan to descend to the mortal realm and then find a way to prevent her from returning.
Although Zhu Ming was cold-hearted and his relationship with Bi Tao was merely one of mutual exploitation, he couldn't help but be schemed against by others.
Therefore, he arrived just in time when the teleportation began that day, and he put the Ice Wheel Seal of the pretty boy from the Thunder Department into his sleeve.
but……
but!
Hold.
Zhu Ming couldn't help but curse again when he thought about it.
Bitao was not tricked, but because she had repeatedly damaged her immortal essence before the start of the competition, her immortal essence was too weak during the teleportation, and she was the first to lose her spiritual essence and be sucked into the teleportation port!
The teleportation portal was like a deep-sea whirlpool, stirring her up and down several times... Her fragile immortal essence would inevitably be damaged again.
The best-case scenario is that after she is reincarnated, she will only have some health problems.
But what I feared most came to pass, haha!
Her Heavenly Soul and Fetal Light were damaged, and the teleportation array directly blew her mind out!
When Zhu Ming jumped up and argued with the other ancient immortals in the Heavenly Realm who were organizing the competition, he was frantically shifting the blame to the teleportation. The Star God Fang Ri Tu, not paying attention, said that he had actually injured the person's main soul.
They offended a lot of people, but finally managed to get Bitao a foster parent.
I thought she would get better as she grew older.
good?
Good my ass!
Eighteen years have passed, though it has been less than two days in the Heavenly Realm.
But eighteen years have passed in the human world...
She's still a complete idiot!
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