Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 427 Everything is ready
Zhao Qi blinked repeatedly as he listened, and seizing the opportunity when Li Wuxiang paused, he quickly asked, "Hey, wait a minute, Li Wuxiang, what about Mei Qiulu? Should we still listen to her? She's the leader of the Taiyi Sect!"

"Tell me, if one day the whole world belongs to our Sword Sect, what will the Taiyi Sect say? What if they want to call the shots?"

Li Wuxiang looked into the distance: "Senior Sister Mei wouldn't think that far ahead. Even if that day really came, she probably wouldn't be interested. Zhao Qi, have you ever thought about unifying the world? Even in your boldest moments, in your dreams?"

Zhao Qi was taken aback: "Why should I think about this?"

"Yes, that's the problem. People in this world have no obsession with unifying the world, and they don't think it's important. The Great Emperor Taiyi is a god, and the Ye Dynasty is too far away and only existed for a short time. No one would think it's a matter of course."

"It's like nobody thinks there's anything wrong with the world right now—there's backstabbing and infighting outside the church, dangers everywhere, and people have to be wary of each other, but nobody thinks it's wrong. Inside the church, everyone has their own perverse rules, but they're all taken for granted, and nobody thinks it's wrong either."

"Everyone has forgotten the past—people lived much better lives when the Ye Dynasty was still in power. But people in this world don't see that as normal; they see it as abnormal and unsustainable. Senior Sister Mei is from this world, so she doesn't think much about it. The Taiyi Sect has only ever wanted to free Taiyi from suppression. As for what to do after that, they haven't thought about it. They think that at that time, everything will be handed over to Taiyi, and they just need to follow him."

"Everyone is like this, no one feels that the responsibility lies with them—because even if there really is a god in this world, it is not their place. So the world is like this, getting worse and worse, supported only by a few groups of people. And then not long ago, even the last Taiyi Sect could not hold on any longer."

Li Wuxiang sighed: "I didn't understand what this world was like before. I've slowly come to understand it over the past year, and I've realized that the world is too small. Even if I wanted to live a carefree and happy life, I have nowhere to go."

“I’m not saying the mountains and rivers aren’t vast enough, but I’m talking about freedom. There are so few things in this world that we can do freely. There are gods above and treacherous world below. If we want to live happily, we have to change the world. Alas, I didn’t want to do this kind of thing, but I found that if I don’t do it, it seems like no one else will.”

Zhao Qi couldn't help but glance at Xue Baoping before whispering, "Li Wuxiang, I can't say for sure. I feel something's wrong with you—a cultivator should guard their mind and transcend worldly affairs, but what you're saying doesn't seem like the mindset a cultivator should have. You can't even talk about guarding your mind; instead... instead, it's all scattered outwards."

"But it also seems quite right... You have too much luck on your body, and the luck of a calamity star, so it seems you should indeed have this kind of spirit. I think if Li Ye before he became a Daoist had said what you just said, I wouldn't have found it strange. Bao Ping, do you think so too?"

Xue Baoping shook her head: "Li Wuxiang is right."

Zhao Xiaoqi sighed, "Alright, then so be it. You two are both weirdos. But anyway, everyone in this sect is weirdo, so it's not surprising. Haha, I'm not human either!"

While they were talking, Li Wuxiang stopped speaking and gazed at the fields in the distance illuminated by the rising sun, muttering to himself as if he were considering the future.

As Xue Baoping looked at his profile and thought about what he had just said, her heart skipped a beat.

She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but ever since she became obsessed and then came to her senses, or rather, ever since she defeated Xu Zhen and met the Great Lord Tai Zhuo, Li Wuxiang seemed to have changed a bit—compared to before, the Li Wuxiang in Jinshui was more lively.

Li Wuxiang in Jinshui... She recalled those times... She felt he was somewhat like a puppet, or "truly deserving of the name"—only a layer of human skin.

Looking back now, I realize that he could laugh and move around back then, but his inner self seemed quite different from his outward appearance. His exterior was colorful, but his heart was gray, perhaps even a little black.

That's why, after she broke free from Xu Zhen's spell, she felt like she didn't like him as much anymore. A large part of the reason was that she realized then that it was difficult to discern which of Li Wuxiang's words were true and which were false.

He often said, "Judging by actions, not intentions." Xue Baoping felt that when interacting with others, it might be enough to only look at their actions without investigating their underlying thoughts. However, when it comes to two people who like each other, "intentions" often seem to be more important than "actions."

She just couldn't understand Li Wuxiang's heart—if he had been rescued by Yang Baoping or Tang Baoping instead of Xue Baoping when he came out of the stove, would he have said the same things he had said to her?

She thinks... yes.

Li Wuxiang is a good person, but not "lifelike".

So when she returned and saw him again, Xue Baoping really didn't know how to get along with him. He clearly sensed her coldness and aloofness, so he was as understanding as before, without questioning or pressuring her, and naturally maintained a close but not intimate attitude, as if the previous incident of sharing a bed had never happened and he didn't mind.

Xue Baoping felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders, and even enjoyed a brief period of contentment. But as she gradually came to her senses, regret began to creep into her heart. Sometimes, she would secretly gaze at Li Wuxiang's profile from the shadows, recalling the past, and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

She couldn't tell, but she felt that the sadness wasn't necessarily for Li Wuxiang as a person, but for the events themselves—they had once shared joys and sorrows, been bound together in life and death, but now it had all vanished like smoke? Where exactly did the problem lie?
However, just now, after hearing what Li Wuxiang said, her heart suddenly felt clear, as if a ray of sunshine had shone in.

What he spoke of had nothing to do with romantic love; it was a plan that sounded distant and grand. But only Xue Baoping understood what these words meant—Li Wuxiang no longer saw himself as a passerby in this world; he began to care about this world, wanted to change it, he became a part of this world, he lived.

……

Over the next few days, Li Wuxiang's physical body carried the entire sect toward Bixin Lake, while his Yin spirit tidied up the internal affairs of the Daoist temple.

First, several sect rules were issued.

The first rule is the same as that of the Taiyi Sect: fellow disciples must not kill each other. The Taiyi Sect's rule of not killing fellow disciples is firm and leaves no room for compromise. No matter what mistakes the swordsmen have made, they must wait for the sect leader and the sword master to discuss and determine the punishment before any other person can take action.

Li Wuxiang relaxed this rule of the Sword Sect. If one's own life is threatened, one can naturally take action, just like the Taiyi Sect. The difference is that if a fellow disciple violates one of the other five precepts, all Sword Sect disciples can also intervene. The first of those five precepts concerns force and justice.

If faced with a life-or-death threat from a fellow disciple, one may defend oneself. Once the opponent surrenders, further killing is forbidden. If the opponent is killed, their soul must be retrieved and brought back to the sect for further evaluation.

If, within a thousand miles of the sect's location, one encounters an evil cultivator slaughtering mortals, anyone of comparable cultivation level must step forward to uphold justice. If the enemy outnumbers them and they are no match, one should record the evil cultivator's appearance and name and report back to the sect.

When fighting against evil cultivators, it is strictly forbidden to involve innocent mortals.

The second point concerns faith and loyalty.

Sword Sect disciples are strictly prohibited from revealing the location of their sect's dojos. Violators will be considered to have betrayed the sect and will have their cultivation suspended pending further investigation.

Sword Sect disciples must watch over and help each other when they are out in the field. If they see a fellow disciple in danger, they must lend a helping hand unless there is absolutely no reason why they cannot help. Those who fail to help when their fellow disciples are dying are considered to be killing each other.

If a person's personal mistake causes enemies for the sect and brings trouble upon it, they must report it to the sect and must not conceal it.

The third point concerns the pursuit of the path and power.

It is strictly forbidden to spread the sect's techniques outside the sect, to practice the techniques of other sects, or to covet rare and precious materials, elixirs, or divine weapons that already belong to someone.

Article 4 is the regulation for daily practice, and Article 5 is the regulation for the hierarchical inheritance and dissemination of skills within the sect.

In addition to these five points, there is one more: When encountering natural disasters beyond one's control or demons far exceeding one's own level, disciples of the sect should prioritize preserving their own lives. However, they must afterwards give a detailed account of what happened to the sect, and the sect will then judge whether their actions were appropriate.

Compared to the laws and regulations that Li Wuxiang had to follow in his previous life, the first precept and the remaining five admonitions were quite simple and crude, even incomparable to the laws of the Ye Dynasty.

But the world has been lawless for too long. Although these disciples in the sect are considered to be relatively kind-hearted wandering cultivators in the world, if they were in their previous lives, they would all be considered to be "a group of gangsters who are quite loyal to their cause." Such constraints are sufficient for them, at least for the current stage.

Li Wuxiang admired the spirit of Taiyi Swordsmen who used to help those in need, but after dealing with Senior Sister Mei and Lou He, he had heard a lot of inside stories. Sometimes, the conflict was caused by misunderstandings or embarrassment, and both sides were in the wrong.

But the swordsmen would still come to the rescue from all directions, showing no mercy and inflicting severe punishment. In Li Wuxiang's view, this seemed to blur the lines between right and wrong, something he didn't particularly like.

There are other cases, such as Zeng Jianqiu's actions in Jinshui—in order to get rid of Zhao Kui, he planned to sacrifice himself to save the people of Jinshui Town.

This is a topic that has been debated endlessly since ancient times, and disciples within a sect will certainly have different opinions.

Therefore, he said, "When fighting against evil cultivators, it is strictly forbidden to involve innocent mortals." He also said, "When encountering natural disasters beyond one's control or demons far beyond one's own level, disciples of the sect should prioritize preserving their own lives." If Zeng Jianqiu had been a member of the sect at that time, he should have left Jinshui, returned to the sect, and then had more swordsmen work together to eliminate the demons.

Given the circumstances, Zeng Jianqiu's actions would have been too late. By the time he gathered enough people to return, Jinshui would likely have become a dead zone, but he would certainly have survived.

Compared to the swordsmen of the Taiyi Sect, the swordsmen of the Sword Sect, bound by their precepts, might appear more timid and restrained, but they would also seem more sensible and tolerant. In the early days of the sect, Li Wuxiang hoped his disciples would live longer, rather than burn out like the swordsmen of the past, like blazing flames.

To Li Wuxiang's surprise, when these precepts and regulations on how sect disciples should be promoted were promulgated, not a single person had any objections. On the contrary, they seemed to be very happy. They seemed to feel that the sect finally had the appearance of a sect, and they saw their own path to advancement within the sect. They also felt that the identity of "swordsman" was legitimate, and thus they suddenly had hope and expectation.

Next, the sixty-four disciples of the sect began to choose their cultivation paths. Apart from Tu Nan, thirty-six people chose to cultivate the Guang Chan Zi, while the other twenty-seven people waited for Li Guichen to return so that he could reshape their physical bodies.

When Li Wuxiang said that he would personally teach the Guangchanzi method to those who practiced it, seventeen out of the remaining twenty-seven people chose this option, leaving only ten who wanted to naturally refine their bodies.

So Li Wuxiang first passed on Guang Chanzi's three-stage cultivation method to them, and then distributed some of the low-level magic treasures he had confiscated the previous night. However, the so-called "low-level" was only relative to his cultivation level. This wave of corpse demons from the Blood God Sect were mostly disciples of the Thirty-Six Sects, mixed with demonic corpse demons. Since they could usually hide in the Central Continent, each of them had unique skills, and the treasures they carried were not ordinary items.

These magical treasures contained abundant spiritual energy, far surpassing the life-preserving pills Zhao Kui possessed. Thus, through arduous cultivation day and night, these fifty-three individuals reached the "awakening of the true seed" stage in just three days.

Li Wuxiang took out a Dao-Merging True Person's Dharma Body given to him by Zhou Xiang, and with the abundant and powerful spiritual energy within it, he enabled these fifty-three people to reach the "Unraveling the Nine Palaces" stage within five days.

Afterwards, he used fifteen more Dharma bodies. By the time he had led the entire sect to a location within 500 miles of Bixin Lake, all 53 people had advanced to the "Golden Glow" realm, which could be considered the great success of Guang Chanzi.

When Li Wuxiang first met Lou Heshi in the Coffin City, Lou was already at the Golden Cloud Realm, and at that time he was already extremely difficult to deal with. The fifty-three members of the sect did not have his knowledge, experience, or understanding of profound techniques, so they naturally could not compare to him. However, to the wandering cultivators of the martial world, these fifty-three could all be considered unfathomable old monsters.

There are still eleven days until he reunites with Mei Qiulu, and the sect has enough manpower available. Now Li Wuxiang is starting to plan for himself, to collect incense offerings and vows, and to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage within these eleven days, accomplishing what Zhou Xiang considers utterly impossible.

(End of this chapter)