Book of Life and Death
"Reversing Yin and Yang?!" The people at the table exclaimed in surprise.
Another Chao Du looked around: there was nothing special about the scenery, not suitable for acting, so he simply took "Fu Yixi" to sit at an empty table not far away and asked the waiter to bring the menu.
Those people ignored her and continued their excited discussion:
"Now not only will the cultivation world become a demon realm, but the mortal realm will also become the underworld. Wouldn't we ghost cultivators then become the 'immortals' of the underworld?!"
"Moreover, when the world of the living becomes the world of the dead, everyone will no longer be subject to lifespan limitations. This is true immortality!"
Another Chaodu pretended to ask Fu Yixi what she wanted to eat, while speechless: "If you've lost your life and only have your soul left, what kind of immortality is that?" This group of ghost cultivators had been fooled by the Ghost King to the point of losing their minds.
But they clearly didn't think that way. The more they talked, the more excited they became, imagining how they, as ghost cultivators, would live as "immortals" after the mortal world became the underworld.
"Thanks to Lord Ghost King for coming up with such a brilliant idea."
"Hey, stop calling him Ghost King, from now on he'll be called Immortal King!"
"Immortal King sounds too strange, how about Immortal Venerable?"
"Hahaha, greetings, Immortal Venerable!"
Another Chao Du casually ordered a pot of wine and a plate of vegetarian dishes. The little bird Chao Du perched on her shoulder and said, "I've also heard some news. The Ghost King and the Demon Lord have jointly issued a summons, but strangely, the Ghost King seems to only intend to summon demon cultivators. Why not summon ghost cultivators? Moreover, the Ghost King plans to send only a few demon cultivators to each city in the cultivation world. This is too scattered. It doesn't seem like he's going to attack the cultivation world. I wonder if this news is wrong, or if the Ghost King has other plans."
The other Chao Du ate a few bites, strolled around the restaurant for a while, and then left, finding another inn to stay at.
The two nagasawas began to sort through the clues they had gathered that day:
The Book of Life and Death reverses Yin and Yang, allowing ghosts to cultivate into immortals.
The strange summons only summoned demonic cultivators, and only a few demonic cultivators were sent to each city in the cultivation world.
Combining the clues he knew from his previous life, Asakawa suddenly had a bold guess:
"That Book of Life and Death might be able to turn the living into the dead, and then ghost cultivators would be in charge of managing the underworld, while demonic cultivators would be in charge of 'cleaning up' the mortal world."
Another Chao Du suddenly realized: "That explains it! No wonder they only sent a few demonic cultivators to each city; they weren't there to attack, but to clean up!"
The little bird hovered back and forth on the shoulder of the other bird, unusually anxious: "Is the Book of Life and Death really that powerful, capable of turning the living into the dead? And how does it activate? Could it be that the Ghost King in the Demon Realm can control the life and death of everyone by opening the Book of Life and Death?"
Chao Du had many questions, but she knew that it would be dangerous to investigate further. The method and scope of the Book of Life and Death were probably top secret, known only to the Ghost King and her confidants. If they continued to investigate and the Ghost King discovered any clues, they might not be able to leave Mingming City alive.
She was alright; what came was just a wisp of a soul, so it was alright if it was destroyed. But she couldn't let another Chaodu perish here like that.
"You should go back first," Chao Du said. "Tell You Cang the news and see how the Immortal Alliance responds."
Another person, Chao Du, asked in surprise, "Me? Aren't you going back?"
"Well, I'll go to the Ghost King's palace and see if I can catch another fish." Chao Du shook his feathers, stretched, and said calmly, "I might not be able to come back if I go, so you don't need to wait for me, and you definitely can't come with me."
The other Asakawa was stunned, slowly clenched his fist, and said sadly, "I'm still too weak, I can't help you any more."
Chao Du nuzzled her cheek with his fluffy head, comforting her: "You've already made great progress, and this time you came to the Demon Realm and gathered so many clues. That's incredibly impressive. Only you in the cultivation world have done that. Give yourself some more time, and you'll definitely be outstanding in the future. I can't escort you on the return trip. Just ride the White Jade Crane back to Gray Wasteland Ridge. You don't need to stop anywhere else."
Another Asakawa nuzzled against her and agreed, "Okay!"
The next day, after the other bird returned home, the bird arrived at the palace where the Demon King lived.
At the cost of resonating with and being corrupted by demonic energy, she passed through the palace's magic array, enduring the intense pain of being eroded by the demonic energy while concealing herself to observe her surroundings:
What a magnificent palace! But it was filled with a ghostly atmosphere: the patrolling soldiers were all covered in bronze armor, and the attendants were either skeletons or vengeful spirits. Ling Wen didn't seem to mind the creepiness.
Everywhere you look, there are red spider lilies, and the white jade palace stands there, looking like a huge skeleton.
She staggered and flapped her wings toward the inner palace behind her. She remembered that in her previous life, Ling Wen seemed to have built a secret passage and altar under the inner palace, and perhaps the Book of Life and Death was hidden there.
She once again used the resonance to pass through a demonic energy barrier, but was so corroded by the demonic energy that she could hardly move and could only rest temporarily behind a white jade pillar.
If it were anyone else, their mind would have been completely corrupted by the demonic energy by now, but Chao Du's mind was still clear, and therefore he suffered even more from the corruption and torment.
"Huh? Where did this poor little bird come from?"
A gentle and pleasant voice rang out, and Chao Du knew something was wrong. He tried his best to flap his wings and fly away, but was pulled by a powerful force towards the direction from which the voice came.
A slender, fair hand grasped her wing, and Chao Du immediately stopped struggling: the owner of that hand was Chang Meng.
With the meager spiritual power in her current bird-like body, she was no match for Changmeng. Moreover, given the extent of this person's abnormality, the more she struggled, the more amusing she would find it.
Sure enough, the handsome young man pinched her wing and shook it, asking with a smile, "Why aren't you struggling anymore?"
Chao Du pretended to be dead.
Changmeng raised both hands and held the little bird Chaodu in her palms, then walked briskly into the bedchamber: "I've been waiting for you for a long time. Since you killed my lover Huo Zong, come and take his place."
Asakawa: "...?!" What nonsense is she spouting?! Last time she only wanted to take her as an apprentice, how did she suddenly become her lover?!
Changmeng chuckled softly: "Although you only came as a wisp of a soul today, don't worry, I will eventually have you completely in my grasp."
Asakawa: "…………" This guy seems to be even crazier than in her previous life. Does she even know what she's saying?
"Come, let me create a body for you first." Changmeng released one of her hands, and Chaodu realized that he had already entered the bedroom.
The most eye-catching thing in the entire bedchamber was the huge pool of blood in the middle.
Chao Du could sense an extremely strong resentment from it. He wondered how many people Ling Wen had killed and what secret method he had used to create such a large blood pool.
Changmeng snapped her fingers with a smile, and the blood pool trembled. A figure gradually condensed from the blood pool, and then the figure walked step by step towards the edge of the blood pool.
With each step, the figure's outline and face became clearer, until it had completely transformed into Chao Du's appearance when it reached the edge of the blood pool.
Chao Du was startled: the Demon King could create a completely new body so easily!
"So, are you satisfied with your new home?" Changmeng stroked the bird's feathers, then suddenly tapped the bird's forehead with her fingertip and extracted a wisp of its soul. "Then go and see your new home."
That wisp of soul suddenly vanished.
Changmeng pursed her lips and sighed, "Boring, but it's okay, you'll be moving in soon, you can't escape..."
...
The Immortal Alliance has been holding a meeting for a day and a night.
A group of sect leaders, elders, and clan heads from various clans were practically going crazy with arguments.
Some people feel that the cultivation world is completely finished.
Some advocated striking first and destroying the Book of Life and Death—but others objected, arguing that if the Ghost King discovered it and used the Book of Life and Death directly, such a struggle would be meaningless and would only lead to everyone's premature death.
Some even suggested that everyone should become demons and surrender to the Demon King.
Some people chuckled and said: "Why don't we all become ghost cultivators? That way, the Ghost King won't be able to do anything to us."
Fu Buci's face turned ashen: After returning from the Dragon Palace, the people of the Immortal Alliance were talking about him a lot, and at this meeting, almost no one paid any attention to him anymore.
On the one hand, his prestige had declined too much since Chaodu appeared; on the other hand, many people realized that their death was imminent, so they gave up and stopped acting altogether.
Youzang remained silent, quietly watching this farce unfold.
Chao Du has not yet emerged from seclusion, but during her retreat, she is pondering: how can she break this deadlock? Is this truly a hopeless situation?
She didn't believe it.
There is always a way out, and Heaven will not stand idly by while Yin and Yang are disordered and life and death are reversed.
"The Ghost King has mastered the way of life and death."
A voice suddenly rang in Asaka's mind. It was her own voice, but she knew it wasn't her own thought.
Moreover, her voice was much colder and more indifferent than her usual tone.
"Who?!" Chao Du's eyes sharpened: After this period of time, her spiritual power had recovered considerably, and it was impossible for someone to speak in her mind without her noticing.
"You call me Heavenly Dao," the voice replied. "Ghost King, you slaughtered millions of lives, seized the Dao of Life and Death from my hands, and forged the Book of Life and Death."
Chao Du was shocked: "...The Book of Life and Death can actually reverse Yin and Yang and determine life and death?!"
"Okay." With that cold voice, scenes flashed before Chao Du's eyes: in the city of the cultivation world, a blood moon rose high, and people died peacefully as if they were asleep.
Several demonic cultivators entered the city and wantonly dragged all the corpses of the cultivation world out of the houses and threw them into the furnace to be refined.
On the riverbank, which is full of red spider lilies, countless vengeful spirits wander aimlessly under the blood-red, transparent moonlight.
Some of the souls let out painful screams, and a ghost cultivator could easily destroy them all with a flick of his finger.
“In my countless deductions, the ending was already set from the moment the Ghost King crafted the Book of Life and Death, but…” the cold voice said, and Chao Du felt the Heavenly Dao’s suppression on his body gradually dissipate.
"You are a variable, the only variable."
After that, that cold voice never rang out again.
Chao Du came to her senses, raised her hands and looked at them, then suddenly chuckled: regardless of whether or not the Heavenly Dao had spoken, she had no intention of giving up.
How can you know the outcome if you don't try until the very last moment?
After some thought, she first sent a message to Youzang, hoping to gather as many cultivators as possible by holding a new sword-testing competition.
You Cang: "...Are you crazy? If the Book of Life and Death has a limited range, some of us can survive if we scatter. But if we gather together, what chance do we have of winning?!"
Chao Du told You Zang what Tian Dao had said: "I know you find it hard to trust me and you will definitely doubt that I made these words up, but I will do my best. The rest is up to you and the Immortal Alliance."
After a long silence, Youzang asked again, "And then what happens after we gather them together?"
Chao Du: "The Ghost King has mastered the way of life and death. Perhaps everyone will die once, but I will do my best to protect everyone's bodies and prevent the demonic cultivators from using them for refining until you all return."
Yuzang questioned, "Everyone dies, why don't you?"
“Because I am an outsider.” Asakawa sighed softly. “I told you this when we first met. My name should not be on that Book of Life and Death. Even if it is, the one who died is the Asakawa you know best, the Asakawa of this world.”
“…You’re gambling.” You Zang frowned. “But what if your name is on it? What if the Ghost King can kill ‘Chao Du’ twice?”
Chao Du chuckled and retorted, "Do you have a better method than gambling?"
Youzang remained silent for a long time, then asked, "And then?"
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