Chapter 450 - 183: Linjiang Passes Away, Sea of Netherworld, The Ghost Ship Approaches
Chapter 450: Chapter 183: Linjiang Passes Away, Sea of Netherworld, The Ghost Ship Approaches
The implications were enough to make anyone’s heart shudder.
"The others..."
Jin Yunfeng and Chen Shaoyou exchanged a glance, deeply confused.
But since Su Bai didn’t elaborate, they naturally didn’t dare to ask. Harboring numerous speculations, the two followed close behind.
The Boxing Saint Mountains towered majestically, standing tall upon the earth and stretching for countless miles.
The palaces within were built to be exceptionally grand, yet they hadn’t damaged the mountains or the Earth Veins in the slightest. It was clear that a master had guided their construction.
By the time Su Bai arrived before the mountains, it was already noon.
Within the Boxing Saint Mountains, however, there was a ceaseless flow of people coming and going.
The bustling atmosphere was no less lively than a popular tourist destination on his previous world, Blue Star.
Watching the people come and go, a strange thought surfaced in Su Bai’s mind.
He had meditated in the Da Yu Capital City for eight years and rarely went out. Although no major event in the world could escape his notice, he wasn’t omniscient and couldn’t possibly know every single detail with perfect clarity.
This scene before the Boxing Saint Mountains was something he was seeing for the first time as well.
It wasn’t just him; Chen Shaoyou and the others were also rather dumbfounded.
Since ancient times, so-called Cultivation Sects had, without exception, hidden themselves away in remote mountains and would set up all sorts of Arrays to prevent outsiders from entering.
A scene like this at the Boxing Saint Mountains was a rare sight throughout history.
"Senior, if they found out you were here, wouldn’t that stir up a whole lot of fun?"
At Su Bai’s side, the eyes of the Silver-White Dog Demon lit up, and it instantly grew eager.
It didn’t much care for the praise the world heaped upon it, nor did it feel those were its own achievements.
In truth, during its eight years in the Gui Chen Sect, it had done basically nothing of consequence.
The only thing it could do was not drag everyone else down.
Moreover, it felt no dissatisfaction about stepping down from its position; on the contrary, it felt a refreshing sense of escaping a cage.
Be a Sect Leader?
’What could be more comfortable than being a dog?’
"Don’t cause trouble."
Su Bai lightly patted its dog head, his gaze shifting to a thatched hut in front of the mountains.
It was an ordinary-looking thatched hut, but the fact that it could be built before the Boxing Saint Mountains made it seem very out of the ordinary.
WHOOSH!
Just as Su Bai looked over, the door of the thatched hut was slowly pushed open.
A young Daoist in a blue Daoist Robe walked out slowly, followed closely by an old Monk with a white beard and eyebrows.
The two of them walked toward Su Bai, who was by the side of the road.
"This Daoist..."
Among the group, Chen Shaoyou’s brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of surprise in his heart.
’Who is this person? How could he possibly know their itinerary?’
’Never mind that in this era, the Celestial Secrets are in disarray, and the arts of Divination and Deduction are less than a tenth as effective.’
’Even if the Celestial Secrets weren’t in disarray, with my own Ancestral Master’s Cultivation, there were few in the world who could deduce his whereabouts.’
"The Golden Radiance Jade Palace Technique? A Cultivation Technique from Desolate Province’s Golden Radiance Mountain that was lost long ago?"
Jin Yunfeng, on the other hand, had recognized the Daoist’s origins.
"Young Daoist, you certainly are patient."
Watching the young Daoist approach slowly, Su Bai’s eyes shifted, and he sighed softly.
"It’s a pity about your master, though."
The young Daoist was none other than the Little Daoist Child from Golden Radiance Mountain back then, Nianxin.
His master, Linjiang Daoist, had once ventured into the Netherworld because his lifespan was nearing its end, only to fall short at the final hurdle.
Afterward, Su Bai had used a Longevity Technique to trade for the incense of Golden Radiance Mountain.
In the end, it was only because the Venerable Bai You descended using his body that he gained another hundred years of life.
Unfortunately, he had been too severely injured in the Netherworld. Even though he had more time, he couldn’t hold on for long.
Two years ago, Su Bai had a premonition and even sent someone with a Divine Sealing Order, intending to make him the Mountain God of Golden Radiance Mountain, but Linjiang Daoist declined.
As for the old Monk, he was a disciple Linjiang Daoist had once taken in, but he was expelled from the sect for making a grave mistake.
On the day he learned of Linjiang Daoist’s passing, he returned to wait here with Nianxin Daoist Child, and had been doing so for many years.
"Nianxin, Daoist Child of Golden Radiance Mountain, pays his respects to the Celestial Master!"
Upon seeing Su Bai, the young Daoist immediately kowtowed.
"Thank you for your concern, Celestial Master. Master passed away peacefully, with no regrets."
"Daoism cultivates the present life, while Buddhism seeks the next. Your master learned a motley of things. He failed to achieve the Dao in this life, and he may not succeed in the next either."
"If, that is, there is a next life..."
Su Bai shook his head slightly, then asked:
"You have waited for me here for two years, day after day. You must have a request for me?"
"Your Dharma Eye is like a torch, Celestial Master."
Nianxin Daoist Child said respectfully:
"My master once said that the Celestial Master would return sooner or later. He instructed this disciple to wait here for the purpose of pleading with the Celestial Master to take me with you."
"It seems your master learned quite a bit after being possessed by Bai You."
Su Bai chuckled, not bothering to ask how Linjiang Daoist knew he was going to the Netherworld.
Because for thousands of years, anyone who became Feathered would eventually go to the Netherworld.
From a certain perspective, the Netherworld Venerable Master was already a monument on the path of cultivation in this world.
WHOOSH!
Su Bai took a step forward, and his figure vanished into the mountains.
Jin Yunfeng and Chen Shaoyou both glanced curiously at Nianxin Daoist Child before stepping forward to follow.
"Senior Brother, though you were at fault, you have served me these past few years. We should be even now."
Nianxin Daoist Child glanced at the silent old monk and sighed softly.
"This old monk’s sins are heavy. How can we be even?"
The bald old monk, showing neither joy nor sorrow, simply pressed his palms together, gave a deep bow, then turned, chose a direction, and walked into the distance, step by step.
His figure gradually faded into the brilliant light...
"The Buddha said, all people should love one another, not despise..."
The bald old monk chanted a Buddhist mantra with every step.
As the sound of his Zen chant vibrated, specks of golden light flowed out from him.
As the sound of the sutra faded, his vigorous steps began to falter.
Clearly, he had dispersed his own Cultivation and Magical Power.
"Alas!"
Nianxin Daoist Child let out a long sigh, then transformed into wind and chased after Su Bai and the others.
...
Ever since contact with the Netherworld was completely lost thousands of years ago, very few people had been able to set foot inside it.
The passages that once led to the Netherworld had all been sealed.
Only strange places like the Yinfu Store still had paths leading to the Netherworld.
An ordinary Cultivator could waste their entire life and still not find a single passage.
With Su Bai’s current abilities, he could naturally find one.
However, there was no need for him to search.
There was a passage right here in Celestial Origin Mountain.
It was a passage that Venerable Bai You—or perhaps Gu Tianyun, who had instructed Bai You—had left behind for him.
And this passage was the dry well in Celestial Origin Mountain.
The group arrived at the dry well and jumped in one after another.
DONG!
Like a giant stone falling into water, distinct ripples spread out in all directions.
It was only a moment.
When everyone opened their eyes again, what greeted them was an endless, sinister wind and a gloomy, deathly still Netherworld, completely devoid of Vitality!
And what they all felt was waves of an irresistible, sinister cold!
This was simply unbelievable!
Their Cultivation levels were not weak, yet they were completely unable to resist it.
At this moment, Chen Shaoyou and the others felt an extreme cold—a bone-chilling frost that could ignore their Magical Presence.
CRASH!
The next moment, a sound like ocean waves surging and a sudden gale stirring up monstrous billows echoed in everyone’s ears.
The group came back to their senses.
They immediately found themselves before a deep, silent, and boundlessly vast sea of deathly qi!
"This is the legendary Sea of Netherworld?"
"Legend says the spirits of the dead must all cross this sea to wash away their sins..."
Chen Shaoyou marveled inwardly.
In later generations, legends of Reincarnation were not uncommon, but no one knew if it truly existed.
"Correct, this is the Sea of Netherworld."
"Legend has it that this sea contains all the sins of heaven and earth from time immemorial. Even a Feathered Transformation Realm True Master would perish if they were tainted by a single drop."
Nianxin Daoist Child’s eyes suddenly lit up.
WHOOSH!
And as the group appeared, a patch of hazy mist on the wind-whipped sea of deathly qi suddenly parted.
A lone boat cut through the rolling, sinister fog, slowly drifting toward the shore.
The Netherworld...
The Dead Sea...
The sinister fog...
Watching the Ghost Ship approach, Chen Shaoyou’s eyes grew distant:
"They say there is a Ghost Ship on the Sea of Netherworld."
"With no one to ferry it, it drifts on and on."