Becoming a god starts from planting a Bodhi tree.

Chapter 457 The Mystery of the Return to the True Netherworld, Peaceful Universe

Hidden Sword, Azure Sky...

Add to that the Ferocious Ancestor, whose identity was exposed from the very beginning.

In Ji Jingqiu's eyes, the identities of these three patriarch-level masters had already been exposed one by one through the words of others.

"Apart from the Ferocious Ancestor, I've never heard of any of them. I wonder if they have any lineages or descendants..."

Ji Jingqiu's aura had already locked onto the two key figures who had been intercepted by the three patriarchs.

At this distance, the two had lost any chance of escape, and under the coercion of that damned Cangjian, they had no choice but to temporarily stop.

They didn't care much; at most, they would lose one of their clones. They were just heartbroken for the younger disciples who had joined the sect with them.

Those who can enter this place are the most outstanding members of the family, either their beloved descendants or important seeds that are expected to become the anchor of the family in the future, and they cannot be easily abandoned.

After realizing this, the two quickly changed their mindset—the other party wanted to extract information from them, and they also wanted to know who that person was!
After both sides reached a "consensus", the group arrived at the stone bridge.

The leaders were a young man and an old man, neither of whom were their true faces.

After scrutinizing him for a while, the sword master suddenly sneered, "So you're the old thief who ascended to immortality from the [Intercepting Heaven Sect]. I had no idea who you were, being so respectful to your master."

Ji Jingqiu thought to himself, "The Intercepting Heaven Sect?"
He remembered this person; it seemed that this family had two Heavenly Lords who had hit him.

But isn't the [Intercepting Heaven Sect] a pseudo-transcendent sect? The sect leader is a transcendent being who has merged with the Dao and transcended the world, and his ancestors were once wealthy.
The young man snorted coldly, showing no fear whatsoever. His gaze turned serious as he looked at Ji Jingqiu, and he cupped his hands in greeting:
"I, of the [Intercepting Heaven Sect], am ascending to immortality..."

"Who are you going to grow old with?" the sword master said bluntly. "My elder brother has a dream spanning a hundred ages. You weren't even born before he fell asleep, let alone before he did!"

Ji Jingqiu's previous achievements and the brief exchange with the other party were all in their sight.

The powerful enemy, suspected to be from the Land of Return to Truth, clearly stated that Ji Jingqiu possessed several auras they recognized, further confirming his previous statement!

At this moment, even the young man Ning dispelled his previous concerns and doubts, and even felt that his doubts seemed a bit excessive.

How could such an extraordinary individual emerge from the descendants of his Yuanchu Palace? Even if he personally taught them, let alone reaching the level of a World Honored One in the Heavenly King Realm, it would be a question whether they could even surpass him!

Upon hearing that Cangjian had revealed the information, Yu Hua's expression turned solemn. He did not rush to argue with him, but instead pondered the existence from a hundred years ago, hoping to find Ji Jingqiu's true form.

“Fellow Daoist, you are very capable. I am Mo. Since we are exchanging information, there is no need to know each other’s real names, which would only add to the causal variables. After all, this is the Chaotic Land. Once we go to the outside world, the causal influence will be too great, and we will all be in trouble.”

Another old man spoke, his voice hoarse, dressed in an ancient robe, with a snow-white beard and flowing sleeves, exuding a somewhat ancient and ethereal air.

Cang had been observing this person. He wasn't familiar with Yu Hua, but this was the person who had previously said he knew the real Yu Hua.

This person called himself "Mo," but he had never heard of anyone like him before, and his appearance was also different from what he had seen before. The other party must be hiding his identity.

And there is some truth to what he said.

Mo looked at Cang and said calmly, "Even if our avatars fight to the death, it will not affect our interactions with our true selves. Fellow Daoist should understand that."

The logic is sound, but...

Cang squinted and said, "I feel like you're deliberately hiding something."

"Fellow Daoist is still so concerned." Mo looked at Ji Jingqiu and said slowly, "However, I really don't want to have too much involvement with you. I think you all feel the same way, right? Chaos does not mean that you can do whatever you want. The backlash of cause and effect and the correction of history are something that even you and I cannot stop. There are already precedents to learn from."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, especially the Sword Master and Cang, who seemed to have made a connection to something.

Ji Jingqiu seemed to be deep in thought. It seemed that even the transcendent ancestors could hardly withstand the great karma at the level of the Boundary Sea, and similar things had already happened before.

He glanced at the Ferocious Ancestor out of the corner of his eye; the Ancestor's handwritten notes didn't mention him.

However, the letter did mention that the Path to Return to Truth was a dangerous place for all the patriarchs who returned to truth.

A clone entering the body generally won't cause significant damage to the original body, but if it involves cause and effect...

That makes sense.

Ji Jingqiu's heart was heavy as he glanced at the assembled patriarchs—

Will his entry this time change anything and cause history to deviate from its course?

Or is it that what was destined to happen had already happened in later generations, and his entry was preordained?

Ji Jingqiu immediately sensed something was wrong. These kinds of causal variables involving time were the most troublesome.

For the strong, rewriting history is not difficult, especially in normal realms. The River of Time is only equivalent to the level of a True Saint. True Saints and even Dao Ancestors can change what happened in the past, as long as they can withstand the backlash of historical changes.

The greater the entanglement, the greater the backlash.

When Ji Jingqiu was traveling against the current in the River of Time in the Chaoxia Realm, he had witnessed similar events. Powerful beings would rescue people from the River of Time and hide them in a certain place until the right time for them to emerge.

This can minimize the backlash caused by historical changes.

“I didn’t expect…” Mo looked Ji Jingqiu up and down, and after organizing his thoughts for a while, he said, “Fellow Daoist, you look so young, and you are even more spirited than my disciples and grand-disciples.”

Ji Jingqiu said calmly, "To remain unchanged for a hundred years, pure and undefiled, one must first sever the corrupt heart of worldly desires. The vicissitudes of life and the weariness of time are all stumbling blocks on the path of enlightenment."

Mo paused for a moment, then said seriously, "I have learned a lot."

The sword master nodded and said, "Since you've already learned from me, don't hold back anymore. Tell me everything that needs to be explained."

Mo's words reminded them of some secrets, so they tacitly stopped being fixated on each other's identities and even decided to erase some of their memories before returning to avoid causing any unexpected disasters.

Yu Hua snorted coldly, ignoring him, and looked at Ji Jingqiu, saying, "May I ask your esteemed name, senior?"

"World Honored One."

"World Honored One?"

Both of them were taken aback. Like the previous three, they had heard of many titles, including those of people who were "arrogant and disdainful of everyone." However, this person's title, combined with his previous behavior, made them think of certain things.

One hundred centuries ago, the World Honored One…

"Stop overthinking." As someone with experience, the Sword Master immediately guessed what they were thinking and said impatiently, "Get to the point. Didn't you see the fog surging wildly on the other side of the bridge? Who knows what might happen later?"

Ever since Ji Jingqiu beheaded the person on the other side, the once calm fog has gradually begun to boil, churning up heavy gray waves.

It seems that some terrifying entity deep within the mist is stirring everything up.

“Because now that the bridge is open, the other side is also making moves.” Mo sighed, “I never expected that His Holiness the World Honored One would possess such supernatural powers.”

To complete the stone bridge?

Ji Jingqiu recalled that what seemed like he had used the light of his sword to repair the bridge was actually a combination of multiple types of power, including the light of wisdom and the realm of reality.

It's unclear which one truly plays the key role.

Mo paused for a moment, then, having come this far, decided to get straight to the point:
"When You disappeared for many years and reappeared, he claimed that he had been to the Land of Return to Truth and brought back a fragment of a realm, which is the Road to Return to Truth under our feet."

"The special nature of this place is self-evident. The fact that the 'chaos' attribute alone can confuse and affect our cause and effect is enough to prove that what You said is true."

Cangjian interrupted in a deep voice, "Although I did not participate in the hunt for Youfu back then, I have heard that you divided up all the treasures of Youfu. Did you have control over this Guizhen Road among them?"

"Control?" Yu Hua said calmly, "If such a thing existed, the ancestors would have fought over it long ago."

“Before You was defeated, he not only sent away the core of You Mansion, but also threw this Guizhen Road into the Taixu Sea, and no one can pinpoint its coordinates,” Mo said.

Ji Jingqiu said softly, "I have never heard of the Youfu."

The group exchanged glances, thinking that if this person had truly been asleep for centuries, it was normal that they hadn't heard of him.

Mo Jian introduced Ji Jingqiu as follows:

"The founder of Youfu was named 'You'. He came from humble origins and pioneered the first spiritual system in the Boundary Sea. He is one of the Great Dao Ancestors."

Ji Jingqiu's face was deep and thoughtful, but his heart was in turmoil.

He was actually the original founder of the Mind System in the Boundary Sea!

If Qi Tian, ​​representing the Yin Spirit Realm, were to meet this person, the entire realm would likely respectfully address him as their patriarch, as they are one of the orthodox spiritual systems.

The mental system pioneered by the Netherworld is not a complete cultivation system. For example, in the Federation, mental cultivation is merely a substitute for Dao realm cultivation, and the fundamental principle still lies in martial arts.

"After this person attained enlightenment, he first suppressed and merged with the Nether Sea with his own power. However, for some reason, the Nether Sea eventually left him. At that time, he had made many powerful enemies. In order to make up for the lost combat power, he eventually found a Bitter Sea Eye, forcibly merged with the Dao, and suppressed his enemies. His strength was in the first tier at that time."

Mo spoke slowly, his expression slightly lost in thought, as if recalling the past.

Back then, Youhe was not only in the first tier. It was only after he returned from the Land of Return to Truth that the combined power of all the ancestors was able to suppress and seal him.

Less than a century later, the barrier that sealed him was breached, and his remnant soul and spirit vanished without a trace.

According to their deductions, You did not choose resurrection, but instead chose to enter reincarnation, and now it is unknown where she has been reincarnated.

Yu Hua snorted: "That guy's strength is mostly not his own, but external forces. In the end, when we took him down, we first removed all his external reliance." The Sword Master sneered: "Although I did not participate in the battle, I saw from afar that someone was pressed into the depths of the Boundary Sea by his palm, and was almost directly suppressed."

"You think you're any better? You're too cowardly to even join the battle," Yu Hua said disdainfully. "Back when he merged with the Dao in the Bitter Sea of ​​the Heavens, he only attacked and never defended. Apart from a few people, who could stop him?"

The sword master sneered, "Only a guy like you, burdened with karmic debt, would fear the boundless karma stirred up by the Sea of ​​Bitterness. I am blessed with merit and the heavens, so why should I fear the power of the Sea of ​​Bitterness!"

Ji Jingqiu ignored the argument between the guys; he almost lost his composure.

The Dao merges with the Netherworld...

Eye of the Sea of ​​Bitterness...

The ocean of suffering in all worlds is in harmony with the Tao...

The news, which was only meant to be supplementary, caused several emotional upheavals for Ji Jingqiu.

Is the Netherworld a remnant of the ancient Netherworld Palace?!
Before the Four Demons, was this person the one who entered the Dao-Merging Nether Sea?!
Furthermore, his later actions sound remarkably similar to those of the Wood Master mentioned by the Four Demons.
No, compared to him, even Master Mu is a junior!

Cang muttered to himself, "Back then, Wan Qianqiu said that although You chose to reincarnate, given his nature, he must have already made plans and would return sooner or later."

Mo continued, "That's why we proposed the covenant back then, to jointly travel to the Land of Return to Truth, and to bind those who come after us to the Land of Return to Truth."

Ji Jingqiu pondered, could the current situation in the Netherworld, the peculiarities of the two long rivers, and the existence deep within the Burial Sea all be part of this person's scheme?

"It's a pity that the area of ​​remains that You sent away back then has disappeared without a trace. Otherwise, we might have been able to discover his plans. The Eye of the Bitter Sea should also be there," Cang said slowly.

Ji Jingqiu glanced at the Ferocious Ancestor and found that he was deep in thought and did not join the conversation.

The remains of the Netherworld that these patriarchs failed to find were instead found by Ancestor Ning and the one from the Pantheon.

The Netherworld is the remnant of the former Netherworld Palace...

He roughly guessed Zhang Tiancheng's background.

This matter should be relayed to Lord Cangqing and the others as soon as possible.

"That's no good. Back then, the 'Phoenix King' relied on his innate five virtues and formed an alliance called 'This Shore' with a few others, trying to find the Eye of the Bitter Sea and bring it into the Boundary Sea. Fortunately, You got there before that stupid bird." Yu Hua said bluntly.

Phoenix King… Ji Jingqiu thought to himself. He had finally heard the name of [This Shore] again. This power was actually founded by several founders working together!
"Let's get back to the main point. What exactly is going on with this Path of Return to Truth?" the Sword Master asked, trying to set things right.

Mo looked up at the stone bridge and said:
"The path beneath our feet is the true path to our return to the origin, while the other side... the other side of the stone bridge, we speculate that is the true place of our return to the origin. Although this fragment is lost, it is still connected. Someone used great supernatural powers to lock onto this world across time and space."

At this point, Mo paused, glanced at Ji Jingqiu, and looked at her strangely.

The crowd vaguely guessed what he meant.

Under such circumstances, how did Ji Jingqiu manage to bridge the gap between the two sides?!
Ji Jingqiu remained calm; at this moment, all he needed to do was remain silent.

As expected, seeing that Ji Jingqiu had no intention of explaining, Mo could only look regretful and continue:
"There is hope of reaching the riverbank. If we sacrifice a few people, the river will calm down for a moment, which will allow us to cross safely."

The sword master's eyes flashed with hostility as he said, "You intended to use us as sacrifices?"

Yu Hua calmly said, "Aren't you curious about what kind of river this is, that makes us all so wary?"

"What's so mysterious about this river?" Cang asked.

"It is the convergence of time and destiny, and the vision of Taixu back then has been proven here."

Cang and the Sword Master's pupils shrank suddenly, realizing what kind of monster this was.

Time and destiny are two supreme paths, and their convergence represents two words—origin.

Mo continued, "The projection on the other side seems to be the real Land of Return to Truth... Since they want to cross the bridge and come to our side, we can naturally go there as well. However, we don't know what the situation is like there."

Everyone turned to look at Ji Jingqiu.

In their view, only the World Honored One probably knew the specific situation on the other side.

Ji Jingqiu said quite appropriately, "I will try to recover this fragment of the Return to Truth."

The expressions on everyone's faces changed in different ways.

"Senior," Yu Hua said in a deep voice, "what do you intend to do?"

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. Things that do not belong to this place should not be brought here; they should go to the right place."

Ji Jingqiu whispered, glancing at the opposite bank of the river.

Cang frowned and said, "The fragments of returning to truth that You brought back are just the ground beneath our feet?"

Yu Hua said calmly, "What, you think it's small? Haven't you noticed that the mass of this world is beyond imagination? Our all-out attack in the Heavenly King Domain is enough to flatten a small world of countless heavens, but here, it can only destroy the bluestone road under our feet."

Mo shook his head and said, "The rules of heaven and earth here are abnormal. All escape techniques are ineffective, and we can only move slowly. It took us hundreds of years to reach the river. It took another hundred years to travel downstream. The area is not small, but it can't compare to the universe."

"You've been gone for hundreds of years?" the sword master couldn't help but ask.

"Don't you..." Yu Hua was about to ask a question, but suddenly paused and looked at Ji Jingqiu.

"It seems like only ten days or so," the sword master muttered to himself. "Am I remembering wrong?"

“I will go to the other side to take a look. If you want to come along, you can come with me,” Ji Jingqiu said slowly.

Everyone looked solemn.

"If you are unwilling, you may leave on your own. Water is ever-changing, flowers have their end, and we will meet again."

The group fell silent for a moment.

Is this a warning to them not to "talk nonsense" even after they leave? Will they meet again someday?

"We won't go."

Unexpectedly, Mo, who had previously planned to go to the other side, spoke up.

“Venerable One, as far as we know, some people have already crossed this river to the other side. Although we may not meet them, we still want to remind them.”

Ji Jingqiu nodded.

"Furthermore, although I am not your true form, I would very much like to exchange a few blows with you."

Finally, the old man named Mo solemnly spoke, actually taking the initiative to challenge Ji Jingqiu.

Ji Jingqiu shook his head and said, "A friendly spar that only goes as far as it gets is meaningless."

“Fellow Daoist, there’s no need to hold back. It’s just a clone. I’ve already extracted some filtered memories, which I’ll hand over to my disciples to take out later,” Mo said. “I don’t want to get too involved with you, but I’m itching to do so. I want to verify things with you.”

These words made Yu Hua's eyes flicker, as if he was somewhat moved.

"it is good."

Ji Jingqiu nodded in agreement. He had already made initial progress in his Heaven-Opening Divine Power, so the battle just now could only be considered a brief encounter.

A stitched-up corpse, a remnant of true spirit, if not for the power of this world, is no match for the true attainments of these patriarchs in the Heavenly King realm.

The two walked to the side, and Mo took the lead, condensing the strongest magic seal at the moment. His whole body was flowing with the Daoist rhyme, clear and holy. Every move he made had the mystery of turning decay into magic.

"So it was this old guy..." Cang suddenly sighed.

"Who?" the sword master asked.

"This person only accepts disciples but has not established a sect. His Daoist name is Wuque, so he can be considered a wandering Daoist," Cang said softly.

The sword master frowned in thought, but couldn't find anyone relevant in his memory, so he could only shake his head and give up.

Yu Hua looked at the Sword Master: "Cang Jian, what timeline were you in when you came in?"

"What's it to you?" the sword master said coldly.

Yu Hua chuckled and said, "I just wanted to tell you that when I came in, your [Human World Pavilion] had already been swept away by a crazy woman who later founded a force called the Pantheon, and her disciples had switched from practicing swordsmanship to refining their spirits."

The sword master glanced at him coldly. This guy was telling him about the future not out of kindness, but to see if he had the courage to change the future and suffer the consequences.

Because of this path of returning to the true self, there was more than one transcendent patriarch who was suppressed in the deepest part of the sea eye by the Great Calamity of the Boundary Sea, or who had to reincarnate and start over.

Among the latter, the most tragic are those who cannot even recover their past memories.

The sword master said calmly, "You don't need to worry. My true anchor of existence is far away in the human world. As long as there is still a peaceful place in this world, I will eventually return."

Yu Hua smirked: "As expected of the Sword Master of Peace, I'd like to experience your [Peaceful Universe] again."

"Alright, I'll remember this. I won't sever this memory." The sword master said decisively, "On your future path to returning to the true self, I'll give you a sword strike!"

(End of this chapter)