Human Path Secret Realm:
Due to the divine light balls encasing them, their souls seemed to have tangible bodies. When they walked on the grass, the grass bent beneath them.
Gu Hai and Bing Ji followed one of the trails, giving chase.
“Your Majesty, why did the Grand Mohist’s group split up?” Bing Ji asked with a frown.
“I don’t know, but be careful later. The soul body is formed by only the three spiritual souls. It is still connected to the seven physical souls in our physical body. However, the energy they can send over is pitifully little. I have not reached the Heavenly Palace Realm yet, and have not tempered my three spiritual souls. We are much weaker than the Grand Mohist unless we use enchanted treasures,” Gu Hai said while shaking his head.
“If we end up fighting, would we…,” Bing Ji said worriedly.
“Normally speaking, while we are weak, we won’t die,” Gu Hai said.
“Why?” Bing Ji asked.
“None of the Slaughter Heavenly Dynasty’s Divine Blood Army died back then. Logically speaking, as long as the physical body is fine, the spiritual souls in the Human Path Secret Realm cannot die,” Gu Hai said.
“Huh?” This slightly startled Bing Ji.
“Let’s go,” Gu Hai said.
The two quickly gave chase in one of the directions, which happened to be Bodhisattva Zi Zhu’s.
After rushing for a while, Gu Hai and Bing Ji suddenly paused. He had seen a figure in front of them. It was blue and translucent. It should be a soul.
This was the soul of a scholar.
Gu Hai and Bing Ji looked at that scholar, and that scholar suddenly saw Gu Hai and Bing Ji.
“Sages? This humble one is Su Chengwen. Salutations, Sages,” that scholar greeted respectfully in his excitement.
“Oh? You called us sages?” Gu Hai said, feeling confused.
That scholar looked at the two and said, “Sages, you are covered with holy light. You must have participated in the Ten Thousand Sages Convention, right? This humble one has heard of it before.”
Indeed, Gu Hai and Bing Ji gave off a blue light that was different from that of the souls here.
“You have heard of it?” Gu Hai said curiously.
“A sage entered here one thousand years ago. He even went to Reincarnation City and left an incredible Go game record. It is said that that sage also gave off holy light like you,” that scholar said excitedly.
“Old Mister Guan Qi?” Bing Ji’s expression changed.
“That sage seemed to be named Guan Qi!” that scholar said excitedly.
“Can I trouble you to bring us to Reincarnation City?” Gu Hai asked with a smile.
“Your Majesty, are we not…,” Bing Ji immediately said worriedly.
The grass trail is still here. Are we not going to continue following it?
Gu Hai shook his head. There was no way to continue following it. The appearance of the first soul meant there would be more souls later. With more souls, there would be more disturbances to the trail. It would be easy to lose the trail.
However, if they went to where Old Mister Guan Qi went, they might benefit greatly.
“That is of course. Sages, this way, please!” the scholar said excitedly.
“Many thanks. Might I know why you are here? Shouldn’t you have entered the nether realm?” Gu Hai asked.
The scholar said with a faint, bitter smile, “The ones that enter the nether realm are earthly souls. We are mortal souls.”
“Mortal souls? Don’t mortal souls remain at their graves, protecting and blessing their descendants?” Bing Ji asked.
The scholar nodded. “That’s right. I stood by my grave for three hundred years before coming here.”
“Oh?”
“Sages should know that when we stand by our graves, we absorb the energy of the blessings Dao and pass them on to our descendants. However, the existence of our descendants is why we can remain in the land of the living. Otherwise, the exposure to the weather, the blazing sun, the strong wind, the rain, and various other atmospheric phenomena will wear us down. We can survive because of the energy from our descendants. However, once the offerings from our bloodline get cut off, we can’t survive in the land of the living for long,” the scholar said with a bitter smile.
“Oh? So, you vanished from your grave in the land of the living and appeared here?” Gu Hai said with surprise.
“Indeed. When we get cut off from our descendants’ offerings, we will be sent to this world. This would also happen if our corpses were not buried, we had no one to look after our graves, or we did not leave a body behind. We will vanish and come here!” the scholar exclaimed.
Bing Ji seemed bewildered, but Gu Hai’s eyes lit up.
Since Chen Xianer died, what Gu Hai wanted to do the most was bring her back to life. However, he worried that her three spiritual souls had vanished and it was already too late. Hearing that if the mortal soul vanished, it would come here was great news to him.
“Then, what do you do here?” Bing Ji asked out of curiosity.
“When we are here, it seems like heaven nourishes us, mortal souls, with a certain energy, allowing us to take a physical form. We dig the ground of this world, searching for strange items and can live for three hundred years,” the scholar explained.
“Oh?”
“After three hundred years, we will be reduced to fragments, like those above!” The scholar looked skyward.
Gu Hai and Bing Ji raised their heads to the sky again. They saw the countless blue lights in the churning and spinning clouds above, the spiritual souls filling the sky.
“Those are fragments of spiritual souls?” Bing Ji exclaimed.
“Indeed. We ordinary mortal souls can live for three hundred years. However, if we perform well, the Lord Magistrate rewards us with some item to extend our lifespan, letting us live longer. Once we are here, we will slowly decline. In the end, we become fragments and return to the sky. Of course, if we kill each other and break each other’s bodies, we will die sooner,” the scholar explained.
“What are the mortal soul fragments in the sky doing?” Gu Hai asked.
“I don’t know.” The scholar shook his head.
The churning dark clouds in the sky pulled the countless mortal soul fragments to the black hole in the center.
The scholar bit his lips as he said, “That black hole seems like a large mouth. I keep feeling that once we die, there will be nothing. Then, the black hole in the sky will consume us.”
“There’s no need to worry. Perhaps that would not be the case,” Gu Hai consoled.
“I embarrassed myself before the sages.” The scholar smiled bitterly.
The group traveled together. After they went over three mountains, Gu Hai saw a vast city in the distance.
The city was a dull blue. The city gates had the words “Reincarnation City” over them. Many souls lined up in long queues to enter the city.
“What are those souls doing?” Bing Ji asked curiously.
“They are here to turn in missions. No matter what they find, as long as they find something strange or special, there will be a reward. Look, the many magistrates there are responsible for recording it,” the scholar explained.
“Oh? Finding strange things in this world?” Gu Hai frowned.
“Indeed. The magistrates record it and judge whether it is useful or not. Being able to bring sages here is also my blessing. I can gain a Lifespan Increasing Pill that increases my lifespan by one year,” the scholar said happily.
Gu Hai nodded.
Gu Hai and Bing Ji followed the scholar to the crowd of souls. When the surrounding souls saw them, they appeared shocked.
“Sages? Sages came again?”
“Hurry! Inform the Lord Magistrate!”
“Inform the Reincarnation King!”
The souls looked at that scholar with excitement and envy.
Gu Hai’s group walked to one of the magistrates.
“Lord Magistrate, I have found two sages and brought them here. Do I get a reward for that?” that scholar said with anticipation.
The magistrate held up a scroll and sent a beam of white light at the scholar. That magistrate looked at the scroll and said, “Su Chengwen? You entered the Human Path Secret Realm thirty-six years ago. You did pretty well. You can get one ten-year Lifespan Increasing Pill.”
“Many thanks, Lord Magistrate!” the scholar said excitedly.
The scholar initially thought that he would obtain just one year’s worth. Unexpectedly, the magistrate was so generous, giving him ten years.
“He knows you?” Bing Ji said in shock.
“The Lord Magistrate meets countless souls every day. How could he recognize this humble one? It is because of the Mortal Soul Register that the Lord Magistrate holds. It records all the mortal souls that enter this world,” that scholar explained excitedly.
The magistrate handed over a black pill. The countless souls in the surroundings felt jealous and envious as they watched the scholar swallow the pill.
“The Mortal Soul Register?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.
At this moment, the magistrate turned to look at Gu Hai and Bing Ji with a faint smile.
The other magistrates responsible for recording the information from the other souls came over as well. Many souls holding weapons also exited the city.
“Are you those sages who participated in the Ten Thousand Sages Convention?” The first magistrate smiled at Gu Hai.
Gu Hai narrowed his eyes. Bing Ji frowned as she noticed most soul soldiers coming over.
“That’s right,” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Hahahahaha! I am going to make a major contribution! Sorry for the offense. Capture them!” the magistrate said with a ferocious smile.
“What?” the earlier scholar exclaimed.
“Su Chengwen, you did well. Do you know why I gave you ten years? You helped me make a major contribution. Hahahaha! The Reincarnation King just issued a bounty, and it immediately fell into my hands? Let’s see how you are going to run!” the magistrate said excitedly.
“Hah!”
The many soul soldiers immediately pointed their spears at Gu Hai and Bing Ji.
Reincarnation City:
A man wearing black imperial robes stood beside Bodhisattva Zi Zhu.
“Bodhisattva, look. This is the Go board that Old Mister Guan Qi left behind back then. I don’t know how to use it and have no way to approach it.” The imperial-robed man pointed to a large Go board placed on a vast plaza in front. Layers of white fog hovered above the Go board.
Bodhisattva Zi Zhu narrowed her eyes slightly at the Go board. Looking at it made her dizzy.
“Reincarnation King, you have worked hard. What did Old Mister Guan Qi say back then?” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu asked.
“Nothing.” The Reincarnation King shook his head. “Oh! That’s right. He seemed to have said, ‘Unfortunately, it is too late.’ Then, he left. I sought out many souls to try and solve this Go board, but they failed.”
Just as Bodhisattva Zi Zhu and the Reincarnation King studied the Go board, a magistrate rushed over from a distance. “I have a report!”
The Reincarnation King raised his eyebrows as he looked over coldly. “I said not to interrupt me, right?”
“I have a report for Reincarnation King. They have been captured! The two sages on the bounty that was just announced have been captured!” that magistrate said excitedly.
“Captured? So quickly?” The Reincarnation King felt slightly startled.
“Gu Hai? Bing Ji? They made their way here so quickly? Humph! It’s good that you came. Let’s see how you escape this time!” Bodhisattva Zi Zhu said with a ferocious scowl.
