Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 345 - 218: Entering the Nine Netherworld, Venturing into the Netherworld

Chapter 345: Chapter 218: Entering the Nine Netherworld, Venturing into the Netherworld

Soon, six Immortals agreed to Qingcang’s request, or rather, to her demand.

They didn’t even ask for compensation, much less a favor. There were few treasures in heaven and earth that could stir their hearts, largely because they had lived for so long that their concepts had completely diverged from those of ordinary beings.

Interests remain eternal and unchanging, but the long-lived set their sights on tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years into the future.

Ultimately, they concluded that everything would be worth it as long as Jianmu died. If it were not for the Human Race cultivating Spirit Fields and dredging Spirit Veins, the earth would still be barren.

Immortals use the world as a copper coin; they desire to split the territories of the nine provinces.

The banquet dispersed, leaving only Qingcang and the Fox Fairy alone.

Qingcang succinctly said, "Teach me how to use it."

According to Gu Wen, this item had been snatched from a fox demon, and the captured letter stated that the Taiyin Order was something the Fox Fairy wanted.

"You don’t know how to use it, yet you made such big promises?"

The Fox Fairy was speechless, her former close friend was the same as before.

"This item is the former underworld Yama’s decree. With a little refining, it will turn into a Flying Immortal Device, ignoring the constraints of space and allowing escape to the Nine Netherworld. I was originally planning to use it to flee from Jianmu, but I never expected your murderous disciple to snatch it midway."

"But you’d better think carefully, the Nine Netherworld is the land of the dead, only the Divine Soul can enter."

A long, long time ago, when the underworld still existed.

All beings had two lifespans, yin lifespan and yang lifespan. Living in the Yang World, which is today’s Cultivation World. After death, they went to the underworld, the Nine Netherworld Earth Realm, where only the Divine Soul could enter.

As they spoke, Qingcang already held the Taiyin Order in her hand, completely refining it.

Her eyes slightly closed as her Divine Soul left the body.

Whoosh!

A stream of faint light flashed by, the Taiyin Order vanished into thin air, leaving behind a body missing its Three Souls and Six Spirits.

The Fox Fairy approached lightly, lifted her hair, inspected the Earth Realm’s attire, and gently tapped Qingcang’s nose with her fingertip, her beautiful eyes blurry with enchantment.

With just a glance and a smile, her bewitching and sinister figure made one feel entranced.

"Still as reckless as before."

With her delicate jade fingers trailing through the inkstone on the table, she applied two smudges of eyeshadow to Qingcang. In an instant, the view twisted, and with the other’s Divine Soul, she saw a world shrouded in eternal darkness.

The whole heaven and earth were empty, leaving only the boundless desolation.

An ancient city stood ahead, with gates a thousand feet high, carved with two beast heads holding a bronze scroll in their mouths.

The left read "Those who see it shall live forever,"

the right "All beings undying."

"I am Qingcang, requesting an audience with the Lord."

Qingcang bowed slightly with hands cupped, but long received no response. She raised her head, blinked, and took a half step back before slamming a punch against the city gate.

It was as if a small mountain were revolving around the indentation; the entire city gate was shaking.

The watching Fox Fairy was stunned.

Is this how you request an audience with Saints?

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After striking three times, the whole ancient city hummed with resonance.

The status of an Immortal, the power of a Little Saint, this was where Qingcang was extraordinary.

"Stop knocking, stop knocking!"

A voice came from behind the gate.

The gates slowly opened, and Qingcang and the Fox Fairy, faced with the thousand-feet-high city gate, instinctively looked up, only to hear the voice coming from beneath their feet.

"Truly disturbing one’s peaceful sleep, I must see who is so divine."

A five-foot figure, chubby-faced with three eyes, dressed in black and gold Xuan clothing dragging completely on the floor.

Qingcang sized up the chubby figure, and he sized her up in return.

"So it’s you, the one who once cut off a strand of the Heavenly Emperor’s hair. Come in. Wu Wang City hasn’t seen an outsider for many years."

The doors slowly opened, dust flying towards them as if unveiling a history book that had been sealed for a hundred thousand years.

Behind the gate was a bustling marketplace, filled with finely-dressed birds, beasts, aquatic creatures, and Divine Beasts as far as the eye could reach.

The three-eyed chubby fellow turned to the side, slapping his belly laughing, "The cycle of birth and death of all creatures never ceases, it just so happens I’m short of a person here, you simply need to stay and you’ll live forever."

His voice rose with every word, and in the blink of an eye, the sky was filled with a gigantic face, with the vast city a mere plaything in the palm.

"Not interested."

Qingcang laughed lightly, her spread fingers squeezing together as a bright halo of radiance beamed, her figure slowly rose to stand, with her breath and presence soaring to incredible heights.

As they looked at each other at an equal level, she scoffed, "Turns out you’re just a door-keeper boy. I thought you were some kind of Saint."

The previously silent realm of death for a hundred thousand years vibrated as two terrifying existences collided with fists and feet, shaking the very fabric of heaven and earth.

————————————

In the early morning, the sky began to brighten with a shadowy glow.

Gu Wen awoke to a gentle shaking and opened his eyes to see a beautiful face just a fist’s distance away.

"It’s time for cultivation practice."

"Adapt as circumstances come, cultivate the essence through practice."

A stick of incense later, Gu Wen was still being dragged by Yu Hua up from bed, yawning and sitting cross-legged in the courtyard. Yu Hua took out a jade slip and waved it a few times before realizing it was damaged by the ’Transformation of All to the Mundane.’

So she had to recite from memory, "Grandmaster said, although you now possess the foundation of an Immortal, you still know nothing about Qi Cultivation. To help you adapt more quickly when you go out later, I will teach you the most basic Qi Cultivation."

"I brought some Spirit Stones..."

Yu Hua touched the embroidered pouch at her waist, only to find that the Qiankun Bag was also unusable.

"Do you need Spiritual Energy?"

"You have a way?"

The next moment, Gu Wen lightly flicked the Jade Pendant in his bosom, and a cat with a tiger’s head appeared in his arms, first licking his chin upon appearance.

Holding the Inheritance Treasure by the scruff of its neck to avoid getting drenched with the cat’s saliva,

Gu Wen explained the situation and brought Yu Hua into the Grotto Heaven.

The Inheritance Treasure Cave Heaven spanned a diameter of ten miles; they looked over a scene like cotton candy, empty and vast. The only activity was near the Spiritual Spring, where several acres of fields planted by Gu Wen could be seen.