Human Path Secret Realm:
The Grand Mohist and her subordinate walked out of the Soul Calling Hall.
The Grand Mohist turned her head and looked at that subordinate coldly. “You are not Hong Yu. Who are you?”
That subordinate’s expression changed. Then, he regained his calm. “Grand Mohist, didn’t I just do what you wanted? Was opening the Ghost Sealing Box wrong?”
“Speak. Who are you?” the Grand Mohist said coldly. As she spoke, a sword appeared in her hands.
Even as a soul body, the Grand Mohist managed to bring an enchanted treasure.
“Grand Mohist!” that subordinate said anxiously.
“If you don’t speak, I’ll attack!” The Grand Mohist narrowed her eyes, radiating a murderous intent.
That subordinate’s face twitched before turning solemn. Then, he bowed respectfully to the Grand Mohist. As he bowed, his figure changed.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
That subordinate’s appearance changed to that of Bodhisattva Zi Zhu.
“Supreme Ascendant, I am here on the Future Buddha’s orders. That’s why I did that. I hope Supreme Ascendant will be magnanimous,” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said respectfully.
“The Reincarnation Pool? How excellent of the Future Buddha! Humph! What a plan! Where’s Hong Yu?” the Grand Mohist said coldly.
“Veritable Hong Yu is safe. He is currently in my body,” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said respectfully.
“Bodhisattva Zi Zhu? Humph! Are you not afraid of me killing you for trading places with Veritable Hong Yu?” the Grand Mohist asked coldly.
“Supreme Ascendant, please forgive me. The Lord Buddha asked me to give you an explanation. He will make up for this after today. However, our three holy lands have not entered the Human Path Secret Realm in two thousand years. Who knows what has happened inside? Who knows whether the item our three holy lands are protecting is still here? Who knows whether Old Mister Guan Qi damaged anything when he entered one thousand years ago?” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said respectfully.
“I can deal with it. Is the Future Buddha worried about me?” the Grand Mohist asked coldly.
“It is not that he is worried about you. He is worried about Gu Hai. He sent me to delay Gu Hai, to allow you to proceed further in,” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu replied respectfully.
“Oh? And Hong Yu is not comparable to you?” the Grand Mohist said coldly.
“Veritable Hong Yu has never entered this place before. During this humble one’s previous life, I had the fortune of entering with the Future Buddha and know of some of the mechanisms of the place. I will delay Gu Hai and prevent him from wrecking our plans. Furthermore, do you think that the Qian Heavenly Emperor is that kind to allow you in as well?” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu explained seriously.
The Grand Mohist narrowed her eyes slightly.
“The Lord Buddha said that Long Zhanguo allowed you in for you serve as a guide for Gu Hai, leading Gu Hai to that place,” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said.
“Humph!” the Grand Mohist snorted coldly. She had already guessed this.
“So, I will delay Gu Hai while you head in. Supreme Ascendant, please forgive me for this,” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said seriously.
“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Future Buddha? Does he really look down on my Myriad Age Daoist Sect that much?” the Grand Mohist said coldly.
“Supreme Ascendant, the Lord Buddha said that he would apologize to you in person when you return. Please forgive us!” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu bowed again.
“Humph!” the Grand Mohist snorted coldly.
Although she wanted to vent her rage, it was pointless to do so now.
“Supreme Ascendant, you should head in. I’ll block Gu Hai. I’ll see you in ten days,” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said respectfully.
“Humph!”
The Grand Mohist snorted coldly and coldly eyed Bodhisattva Zi Zhu. Then, she flung out her sleeves and flew into the distance. This time, she did not bring Bodhisattva Zi Zhu with her.
After the Grand Mohist vanished, Bodhisattva Zi Zhu held her palms together. “Lord Buddha, the Supreme Ascendant already discovered me.”
A voice came from Bodhisattva Zi Zhu’s palms. “If she has discovered you, then so be it. Hold the thing that I gave you. The Go stones on it will help you discover where Old Mister Guan Qi went previously.”
Bodhisattva Zi Zhu extended her hand, revealing a palm-sized Go board. Some tiny Go stones on it pointed to a certain direction.
“Yes! Lord Buddha, rest assured!” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said respectfully.
Then, Bodhisattva Zi Zhu headed in the direction that the Go stones indicated.
Bodhisattva Zi Zhu did not act on her promise to the Grand Mohist to block Gu Hai.
Boom!
When Gu Hai came out of the Soul Calling Hall, the black water seemed to want to flow out as well. He immediately closed the door.
“Your Majesty, that was…,” Bing Ji asked somewhat worriedly.
“It’s fine. Just pretend it never happened.” Gu Hai shook his head.
Gu Hai did not know what the Qian Heavenly Emperor’s plan was. However, it was bound to be something big. If he could avoid getting involved, he would.
Bing Ji nodded and turned her head to the front.
“This is?” Bing Ji looked at the door that they exited from with some shock.
The Soul Calling Hall was no longer behind them but a stone door at the foot of a mountain.
There seemed to be another world before them, a strange world.
This world did not have any sun or moon, only boundless gray clouds. The clouds gathered in the sky in a gigantic whirlpool.
The whirlpool of clouds covered the entire sky.
All the light in this world came from the clouds, which appeared to glow a faint blue. However, as there were boundless clouds, the world was blue.
The blue lights were very faint, moving with the clouds and heading to the center of the whirlpool. That was the destination of the blue lights.
There were mountains, rivers, and a vast expanse below.
“The Human Path Secret Realm?” Gu Hai frowned faintly.
“That is…the aura of spiritual souls?” Bing Ji raised her eyes to the sky.
“What?” Gu Hai looked at Bing Ji in confusion.
“That’s right. I can sense it. Your Majesty, the weak, blue lights coming from the sky are spiritual souls, the three spiritual souls of mortals. That’s right; it is this aura!” Bing Ji said in shock.
“Are you saying that the blue lights in the clouds, heading to the center of the whirlpool, are spiritual souls?” Gu Hai raised his eyebrows.
“They should be.”
“However, there seem to be hundreds of millions of them. No, billions, tens of billions, possibly even more?” Gu Hai said as he gazed wide-eyed at the spiritual souls in the sky.
“Yes. Perhaps…perhaps…”
“Perhaps what?”
“Perhaps the souls of all the living beings will come here. This is the Human Path Secret Realm. Could it be the legendary…” Bing Ji looked at Gu Hai.
“The human path of reincarnation?” Gu Hai’s pupils constricted.
“Yes. This official has the same guess,” Bing Ji said worriedly.
“After a mortal dies, he will reincarnate. The legendary six paths of reincarnation? The six paths of reincarnation are not one whole but are separated? This is called the Human Path Secret Realm, and it is one of the paths of reincarnation? Did we enter the cycle of reincarnation?” Gu Hai’s face sank.
Bing Ji looked at Gu Hai.
However, Gu Hai showed a sullen expression. This is the world of the cycle of reincarnation. No wonder it can collect the ancient cultural Dao.
The sky teems with souls?
Which soul among the three spiritual souls?
Earthly souls? It could be since earthly souls get reincarnated.
Heavenly souls? It might also be possible.
Mortal souls? Perhaps.
No matter which they were, Gu Hai now showed a grave expression.
“Your Majesty, the Grand Mohist has vanished. What should we do now?” Bing Ji asked worriedly.
“There’s no rush. Let me see this first!” Gu Hai said.
Gu Hai held the bamboo-strip scroll from the Cultural Dao Sage Palace in one hand—the bamboo-strip scroll that Old Mister Guan Qi read in the past—and the Ghost Sealing Box in the other.
He put down the Ghost Sealing Box and slowly opened the bamboo-strip scroll.
Heavenly Yin City:
Lifespan Beiming waved. One hundred chains shot into the sky and pulled down one hundred sages. Qian Nation soldiers rushed forward and beheaded them to honor their emperor.
Heavenly Yin City immediately fell silent. All the citizens gaped.
Were these the unparalleled sages?
It was one thing for them to get their faces slapped by Gu Hai. To think that they dared to insult the Qian Heavenly Emperor! They were simply seeking death. Insulting Gu Hai only led to their faces getting slapped with the cultural Dao. Insulting the Qian Heavenly Emperor led to public execution.
The faces of the various cultivators filled with shock.
Long Zhanguo, the Qian Heavenly Emperor, really dared to do it.
“Imperial Lord, is the Qian Heavenly Emperor…why does he dare to?” one of Emperor Kong’s subordinates said in horror.
Those were sages, heaven’s envoys, yet the Qian Heavenly Emperor killed them on a whim? Even if it was not the Qian Heavenly Emperor who ordered it but Lifespan Beiming, he still had the Qian Heavenly Emperor’s tacit approval.
“It looks like my guess was right. Even without Gu Hai’s Classic of the Dao and Virtue, the Qian Heavenly Emperor could have obtained sufficient recommendation talismans,” Emperor Kong said with narrowed eyes.
“Ah?”
Beside the Azure Emperor, Dan Wang’s eyelids twitched as he said, “Imperial Lord, you said that the Qian Heavenly Emperor had already made preparations to use force long ago. If Gu Hai had not obtained the recommendation talismans, would he have forced the three holy lands to hand over the recommendation talismans? Those are the Supreme Ascendant, the Supreme Genesis, and the Future Buddha! How could he dare to?”
“Well, he did it. However, it is fortunate for him that Gu Hai took first place. That bought him a lot of time,” the Azure Emperor said.
“A lot of time for what?” Dan Wang asked curiously.
“He delayed getting discovered by Heaven. He can do a lot of things with this time.” The Azure Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the distant Long Zhanguo.
Long Wanyu goggled at Long Zhanguo. “Old fogey, you really dared to do it?”
The expressions of the Supreme Ascendant Dao’s disciples changed dramatically.
The Future Buddha held his palms together, now looking extremely sullen.
“Killing heavenly servants? Is he starting a rebellion?” The Supreme Genesis’s expression changed.
Everyone fixed their gaze on the Qian Heavenly Emperor.
All the remaining sages in the sky felt chilled. Who could have expected the Qian Heavenly Emperor to kill them on a whim? Furthermore, after the one hundred sages were executed, their heavenly souls were destroyed. There was something wrong with the soldiers’ sabers.
“What do you want?”
“Long Zhanguo, what are you doing?”
“Why did you kill them?”
The sages’ expressions changed.
The Qian Heavenly Emperor ignored the sages, gazing at the tightly shut Cultural Dao Sage Palace.
Boom!
Just then, the Cultural Dao Sage Palace’s doors burst open, and a flood of black liquid gushed out.
The black liquid did not fall to the plaza. Instead, it dyed the noble spirit in the sky black. Churning black clouds now spread out over Heavenly Yin City.
“It is done, Your Holy Eminence!” Lifespan Beiming called out excitedly.
The Qian Heavenly Emperor revealed a satisfied smile. “The first step is completed. Next is an intense battle. Begin your preparations!”
“Yes!” the Qian Nation officials answered.
Of course, only a few understood what was going on. Most people were unaware of what was happening.
“You! Are you rebelling? Long Zhanguo, are you trying to imitate Old Mister Guan Qi and oppose Heaven?” a sage suddenly cried out.
“Quickly! Inform Heaven! Someone is plotting a rebellion in the world! Hurry!” the sages said anxiously.
Then, the sages took on prayerful postures as though communicating with Heaven.
“You are thinking of informing Heaven only now? It’s too late!” the Qian Heavenly Emperor snorted coldly.
“You are just a bunch of lackeys. I initially considered sparing you, but you don’t know what’s good for you!” Lifespan Beiming snorted coldly as he flung out his sleeves.
Rattle! Rattle!
An overwhelming number of chains appeared out of nowhere and flew at the sages like a vast sea, trying to capture them all.
