Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 431 - 431 430 Shanyin Ghost Festival

431: Chapter 430 Shanyin Ghost Festival 431: Chapter 430 Shanyin Ghost Festival Hou Niao completely gave up on the idea of asking Li Chuping for a chance to enter the Underground Storage.

He knew very well that if he couldn’t clarify the matter of the Ghost Festival, he would never get the opportunity.

He immediately began to collect information about the Shanyin Ghost Festival at the Sikong Mansion, not only from past records but also from his colleagues.

Except for Li Chuping, he had no friends at Sikong Mansion.

However, everyone has a mouth, not just for eating but for speaking.

Excess politeness harms no one.

There are many with quirky temperaments in the Sikong Mansion, and many are arrogant and solitary, but there are also many who are kind, courteous, and willing to help newcomers.

By asking around and being polite, there wasn’t much he couldn’t find out.

The Shanyin Ghost Festival was not some unmentionable secret.

The Shanyin Ghost Festival, occurring once every twelve years, is a festival on the Jinxiu Continent not meant for mortals; in the Mortal World, there are countless ceremonies and rituals concerning ghosts and the destiny of souls after death, including Shang Yuan, Qingming, Chongyang, and festivals in Fengdu, among others.

Different regions and countries have their own traditional customs.

However, the Shanyin Ghost Festival is a continent-wide event, exclusive to the Underworld.

Only human cultivators from the Mortal World can participate, as can the ordinary mortal souls who died during this period.

Simply put, there are numerous ghost festivals across the Jinxiu Continent, but only the Shanyin Ghost Festival is truly attended by ghost messengers and wandering souls.

The other festivals are mere self-conducted rituals by mortals to commemorate their deceased loved ones.

This is the fundamental difference.

Every twelve years, the Underworld holds such an event, supposedly to promote communication between the Mortal World and the Underworld, to foster understanding, eliminate alienation, and prevent both sides from seeing each other as a treacherous journey through hell.

Of course, this explanation is ancient, and who knows how much it has changed now?

A more reliable statement is that the Underworld needs a balance of Yang energy from time to time to achieve internal equilibrium, a process that requires twelve days and happens once every twelve years.

At that time, the Yin energy of the Underworld will pervade the entire Jinxiu Continent, which coincides with the transition from winter to spring in the Mortal World, manifesting as several consecutive days of gloomy weather.

It’s mostly harmless, but unknown to many, this time is when hordes of ghosts run rampant.

Ghost souls constantly emerge, wandering across the continent, until finally the masses of ghosts gather in a region between the Mortal World and the Underworld to begin their festival.

That’s roughly the process.

Mortals cannot see them, nor do they materialize before the living or interfere with mortal affairs; to Hou Niao, this process seemed more like the ghost messengers of the Underworld coming out to catch a breath of fresh air, absorbing some Yang energy.

The ghost envoys of the Underworld are the absolute protagonists of this festival,

while human cultivators are merely supporting characters.

Because of the limitation of the Yin fog, higher-level cultivators can’t enter; or perhaps it’s also a compromise reached between the Underworld and the human Cultivation World.

Only cultivators of the Third Realm of Tongtian are eligible to participate.

Having entered the Tongxuan Realm less than twelve years ago, Hou Niao didn’t experience the last Shanyin Ghost Festival, but this time it coincided perfectly.

Not every human Tongtian Third Realm cultivator is qualified to participate either.

One must obtain permission from a national power or sect, holding a special talisman decree, to be allowed to observe this Yang World event of the ghost messengers.

Speaking of cultivation levels, one must at least be of the Tongtian Second Realm to move freely in the Yin fog.

If one wishes to control it freely, it is best to send cultivators of the Tongtian Third Realm.

Their roles are to supervise, observe, and regulate to prevent any unpleasant incidents;

It’s not an appealing job since there’s nothing to gain from it.

The ghost envoys from the Underworld don’t seem like easy characters to deal with either.

They sometimes exude a sense of sour grapes towards the cultivators from the Mortal World.

In their envy and jealousy, there’s also a degree of self-satisfaction and exclusion.

Fortunately, it only lasts for twelve days, so it doesn’t cause much delay.

“The Shanyin Ghost Festival is essentially an interaction between the Underworld and the Mortal World.

The maintainers of order such as the ghost soldiers, ghost messengers, and ghost envoys in the Underworld need to practice cultivation too.

They need to absorb some yang energy to maintain balance; this is quite normal.”

An elder cultivator who worked in the office was leisurely and, being of advanced age, liked to play the role of a teacher.

In Sikong Mansion, there were not many people willing to solve problems, but even fewer were brave enough to admit ignorance and ask questions.

“Do all the ghost messengers from the Underworld come up?

Does that mean I could see the Living Yama during the Shanyin Ghost Festival?”

The elder cultivator laughed, “How could that be possible?

The high-ranking officials of the Underworld won’t come.

They are strong enough on their own and don’t need to come to the Mortal World to absorb yang energy.

Not to mention the Ten Palaces Yama, even the judges beneath them, Meng Po, Black and White Impermanence, Oxhead and Horseface, they don’t need it either.

But there are many more minor officials in the Underworld.

It’s said there are Twenty-four Divisions: the Yin Yang Department, Speed Reporting Department, Merit and Demerit Department, Blessing Registration Bureau, Plague Department, Sensing Department, Punishment Department, Merit Examination Department…

These minor officials have limited cultivation, low strength, and usually have no chance to come up to the Mortal World, so they need such a Ghost Festival to help adjust the balance between yin and yang.

Well, looking at the history, it’s usually Black and White Impermanence or Oxhead and Horseface who are responsible for leading and are the highest-ranking officials of the Underworld one could see.

However, their strength is not the same as that of human cultivators, and there are great disparities among them, so no one can say for sure at what level they are exactly.

From what those who have been there speculate, Black and White Impermanence might be around the level of the Golden Core?

Oxhead and Horseface are probably two realms after reaching Tongtian?

This matter can’t be compared; the whole system of the Underworld is incomparable to the familiar cultivation system we know.”

Hou Niao was still puzzled, “So it’s just a meeting then, what could possibly go wrong?

Everyone sticks to their own domain, there’s no conflict of interest, so why take it so seriously?”

The elder cultivator said with a playful tone, “That’s the theory, and maybe that’s how it used to be in history; but you have to understand that everything changes, humans change, and ghost messengers change too, where are there unchanging rules?

Like our Shan Sect, how many of the rules left by our ancestors are we still upholding now?

Therefore, the ghost messengers of today are not the same as those of old, and there are many places where they fall short of expectations;

Similarly, in the Ghost Festival, there are cultivators from different sects across the Jinxiu Continent, and their relationships with one another are complicated.

In such a setting, what do you think will happen?

Furthermore, a large number of souls who died in the Mortal World during the past twelve years will gather, with all kinds of grievances and lamentations.

It’s exceptionally chaotic.

There are even some cultivators with unique talents who can enter the event without a talisman, tsk tsk…”

Hou Niao was somewhat speechless, “It’s that chaotic?”

The elder cultivator sighed, “That’s why in history, sects would casually send a cultivator just to make an appearance, to hold up appearances; but later, the disciples they sent became more and more powerful, because they had to face many unexpected incidents.

That’s also a way to expand the inheritance of the Daoist traditions.

For example, a large convergence of souls—if they take to heart a unique and powerful Daoist tradition, they may develop a special affection for that tradition in their future reincarnations… and so on, so forth.”

Hou Niao shook his head, “If people have gone to the Underworld, why bother bringing them back to revisit the Mortal World?

Isn’t that redundant?”

The elder cultivator spread his hands, “Who knows?

It’s said that it’s an initiative by the Underworld to give these souls one last chance to see their mortal friends and family, to put their minds at ease.”

Hou Niao asked, “But what if they see their enemies living well?”