Yefutidaolu

Chapter 336 City
He has already mastered everything required for the Seven Realms.

It's time to head into the inner sanctum of the Netherworld and stir things up.

Gao Jian got up, pushed open the door, and the biting cold air mixed with the ever-present chill of the outside world rushed in, but it could no longer make him feel uncomfortable. At this moment, he was able to resist this ordinary cold.

Following the path of the flowing yin energy in his memory and perception, he headed towards the more "lively" area inside the Netherworld. After passing through several twisted stone forests and ravines, the scene before him suddenly changed.

Contrary to expectations of numerous caves and ghostly figures, what came into view was... a city?
It's quite a large area! Rows of black stone houses and wooden buildings stretch along the wide streets, forming several crisscrossing market streets. The streets are bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder! There are peddlers carrying loads on their shoulders, vendors hawking their wares along the street, customers haggling in front of the shops, and even children chasing and playing!

The wide, smooth black stone-paved streets stretched in all directions, lined with rows of shops and buildings. The architectural style was not the gloomy and eerie place one might imagine; on the contrary, it incorporated characteristics from various parts of the Divine Dynasty.

The upturned eaves of the restaurant are adorned with signs and banners, and the enticing aroma of food wafts out.

Fabrics were displayed in the windows of the silk shop; the clanging of metal and sparks flew from the blacksmith's shop; and there were also bookstores, teahouses, and theaters...

Pedestrians thronged shoulder to shoulder, carriages and horses moved about, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares, chatting, and children chasing and playing filled the air. If it weren't for the eternally gray, moonless sky overhead and the ever-present, faintly pervasive, chilling atmosphere in the air, seemingly restrained by some force, the bustling scene here would be no different from any other prosperous county town in the inland of the Divine Dynasty!

Children chased after strange butterflies that emitted a faint phosphorescence on a street corner; vendors shouted, "Freshly baked buns, piping hot!"; a young couple bickered in front of a silk shop over which fabric to choose; and several old men sat on bamboo chairs outside a teahouse, leisurely basking in... well, in the hazy sunlight, playing chess.

If it weren't for the eternally gray sky overhead, the faint gloom in the air, and the distant cawing of crows, this scene would almost make one think they had returned to a bustling town in the Divine Dynasty!

There's no doubt something's fishy about it.

We need to ask them carefully.

So Gao Jian went into a restaurant.

On the stage of the restaurant, a storyteller was speaking eloquently, recounting tales of talented scholars and beautiful women.

The streets remained bustling, the aroma of wine wafting from the restaurants—everything wove a facade of "normality." The residents here wore expressions of contentment and peace, their eyes showing no awe or fear of the "Netherworld." They talked of daily necessities, of family matters, as if this were simply a prosperous, self-sufficient city isolated from the world, completely unaware that the colossal "Netherworld" loomed over their heads.

Gao Jian's perception spread like an invisible net. He keenly captured every flow of energy in the air, every subtle fluctuation of the soul. Beneath the seemingly ordinary surface of the bustling city, he saw many things.

Gao Jian remained calm and followed a faint, chilling aura into a relatively secluded back alley.

At the end of the alley was a small shop with a sign that read "Old Zhang's Fish Balls". An honest-looking old man with a wrinkled face was slowly stirring a pot of steaming fish ball soup, the aroma filling the air.

Gao Jian walked up to the stall.

"A bowl of fish balls." His voice was very calm.

"Alright, please wait a moment, sir." The old man didn't even look up, his voice was hoarse, and his movements were slow.

The old man lifted the pot lid, and steam rose from it.

"The fish ball soup smells delicious," Gao Jian said, taking the bowl.

Then he asked, "I just don't know what Youming is doing in this place. I find it a bit strange."

"!!!"

The old man's hand, which was stirring the soup, suddenly froze! His cloudy eyes instantly turned sharp as knives, and a chilling killing intent mixed with a cold internal energy suddenly erupted, locking onto Gao Jian! The surrounding air seemed to freeze, and even the steam from the fish ball soup distorted slightly.

"Who are you?!" The old man's voice was no longer hoarse, but deep and dangerous, filled with shock and anger at having his pretense exposed. "Talking about this in the captive area? You want to break the rules?"

“I don’t know what your rules are, but something just seems off to me.” Gao Jian sat down and ate fish balls as he spoke. “The residents here are all very healthy, but their blood and energy seem full, yet they lack the resilience and vitality of natural growth and hard work. Instead, they have a kind of artificially fattened, superficial feel, like flowers carefully cultivated in a greenhouse.”

"Moreover, I have counted the number of elderly people, children and adults here, and it is a 'perfect' distribution of two, three and five, maintaining a kind of morbid 'balance' and 'abundance'."

"In addition, the city's ubiquitous nodes and layout subtly resemble a kind of spirit-gathering and soul-locking formation. Some inconspicuous street corner stone carvings, the edges of ancient wells, and even the roots of an old tree all emit extremely faint and imperceptible fluctuations of yin energy, like countless tiny tentacles, which are definitely absorbing and harmonizing something."

"So isn't it easy to tell what you're doing? Besides, Youming has been doing this kind of thing for a while now, so isn't it normal for me to have some suspicions?"

The old man was furious: "Stop talking nonsense. It's your business to have doubts, but why interrupt me? Do you know how much this affects my work? If it's exposed, and the fear spreads, the meat quality will be much worse. When they hold me accountable, I won't be able to escape, and neither will you!"

The old man roared angrily, but Gao Jian seemed oblivious to the oppressive hostility. He calmly blew on the steam in his bowl, his tone as indifferent as if discussing the weather: "Compared to these mortals, you are truly pathetic. No wonder you're so old and frail despite cultivating the methods of the Netherworld. Your vital energy is weak and feeble, your foundation grafted, relying on absorbing the life essence of these mortals below to maintain your cultivation. Your blood sea is overflowing, your Netherworld Aperture trembles incessantly, and at the moment of merging of the meridians, your dantian feels like it's plunged into an ice cave. Your soul suffers from the cold and deprivation of vital energy. How does it feel? How long can you endure? Five years? Or ten?" Upon hearing this, the shock and anger on his face were instantly replaced by extreme fear and disbelief! The previous hostility vanished, leaving only a deathly pale face and violently contracted pupils!
Every word was like a cold awl, piercing his heart!
The stranger in front of him was talking about the cultivation technique he practiced, which required him to devour souls to maintain his identity as a shepherd and to forcefully raise his realm using human souls after all hope of improvement in cultivation had been lost.
This was a top-secret secret known only to him, tormenting him day and night, pushing him to the brink of collapse! And this person before him... actually recounted it with perfect accuracy, as if he had experienced it firsthand?!

"You...who exactly are you..." The old man's voice trembled, and the murderous aura and inner energy he had gathered deflated like a punctured balloon. He looked at Gao Jian as if he were looking at a terrifying monster.

"What? The Netherworld has been raising living beings since ancient times, feeding them with souls and building their foundations with spirits. Isn't that a matter of course and beyond question in the Netherworld's view? Why won't you let me say a few more words?" Gao Jian put down his bowl, his gaze as cold as ice, staring directly into the other party's flustered eyes. "So, I've hit a nerve?"

The old man was chilled to the bone by Gao Jian's all-knowing gaze, especially by the way the other man so casually exposed his greatest secret, leaving him utterly devoid of any thought of resistance. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his fear, and growled in a low voice, his voice laced with bravado: "So what if it is?! This is the very foundation of my Netherworld! It has existed since ancient times! These mortals are already incredibly fortunate to live under the protection of my holy land and enjoy peace! You... what exactly do you intend to do?!"

"What do you intend to do?" Gao Jian's lips curled into a cold smile. "I was just passing by and saw that you were on your deathbed, and I just mentioned it casually. Your acupoints are like rotten wood, and the evil energy of the Yellow Springs is backfiring on your soul. If there is no external force to guide it, the next time the meridians meet, it will be the time when your foundation collapses and you fall into a lower realm."

"External intervention?!" The old man seemed to grasp at the last straw. The fear in his eyes was instantly replaced by a strong will to survive. He took a step forward, his voice filled with desperate pleading, "Senior! Senior, you can see through my predicament, you must have a way to save me! Please have mercy, senior! Guide me through my confusion!"

Gao Jian looked at him, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly said, "Disperse those strongly gathered souls, seal the Tanzhong acupoint, and cross the Dazhui Bridge. Every day, use yang treasures to temper the space between your eyebrows and the Yintang point for three hours, guard your spirit platform, and abandon distracting thoughts. Within seven days, you can temporarily keep your spirit platform intact. But the premise for doing all this is that you can no longer consume the souls here. Instead, gather human energy and let them live peacefully. Use their vitality and yang energy to transform the surroundings, and use the people here as a 'furnace of yang energy' to nourish yourself. Use the city as the core to balance your yin and yang. In this way, you can be temporarily worry-free. But if the city falls and the mortals in this city are corrupted by yin energy, whether you can survive the backlash depends on your own fate." He still offered a method of relief, but it was enough to give the other party a glimmer of hope.

Moreover, this glimmer of hope can only be obtained by maintaining the vitality of the city.

Gao Jian's opening remarks were based on this method of cultivation, which was clearly an exchange, binding the city's fate to his own cultivation level.

The disciple, as if hearing heavenly music, trembled with excitement and knelt down with a thud, repeatedly kowtowing to Gao Jian: "Thank you so much for saving my life, senior! Thank you so much, senior! I will never forget your great kindness!"

"Get up." Gao Jian said indifferently, "I have been entrusted to come here to visit old friends. I have heard that the disciples of Youming Land are all cultivating in seclusion in blessed lands. I wonder where the real place of cultivation is? This place is too noisy and disturbs people's peace."

At this moment, the disciple regarded the expert's insight as a lifeline, so how could he dare to conceal anything? He quickly got up and said in a very respectful voice, "Reporting to Senior! This place is merely an outward pasture! The true sacred place for cultivation is the Thousand Caves Cave Mansion, which is the treasure land where spiritual energy gathers and evil essence condenses! Disciple... Disciple dares to ask if I can draw a route map for Senior?"

"No need," Gao Jian waved his hand. "Just point me in the direction."

"Yes! Senior, if you go straight from here and cross the three main streets, you will see a forest shrouded in black mist..." The disciple pointed out the direction in detail and even pointed out the potential obstacles.

Gao Jian nodded slightly, said no more, and turned to leave.

The disciple watched Gao Jian's figure disappear into the alleyway, still feeling lingering fear, yet also a sense of relief at surviving a close call.

He felt the lingering pain within his body, glanced with a complex expression at the still "bustling" streets and "ignorant" residents outside, and finally let out a low sigh before turning to pack up his fish ball stall. He needed to immediately try Gao Jian's method; it was his only way out.

Gao Jian then walked steadily in the direction the other person pointed.

The bustling streets were left behind; all that remained in his eyes was the path beneath the gray sky leading to the true heart of the Netherworld, a path permeated with an ominous aura.

Gao Jian walked steadily, like a shadow blending into this false prosperity, heading in the direction the disciple pointed. He deliberately avoided the busiest main street, choosing relatively quiet alleys and peripheral paths, his senses like invisible tentacles, keenly scanning every corner of this huge "Pastoral Garden".

They quickly left the city and entered the wilderness.

Keep going, and there's another city!
The city's style was slightly different, seemingly because as he ventured deeper, its structure and appearance subtly changed. The initial area was bustling and vibrant, lined with shops and brimming with the lively atmosphere of everyday life. But after crossing several wide moats, the water shimmered with a faint, ethereal glow, clearly the result of some special treatment.

Whenever I enter a more orderly residential area with a more uniform architectural style, the atmosphere becomes more peaceful, even somewhat rigid. The residents here are still well-off, but the smiles on their faces seem less genuine and more numb and routine.

His insightful observations didn't stop there. His goal lay deeper.

However, what weighed heavily on his heart was that this was not the end. After leaving the core area of ​​the second city, he crossed another wilderness, and what appeared before him was yet another city surrounded by towering black walls!
The style is similar to the previous one, but it seems to be larger in scale, with wider streets, taller buildings, and even areas resembling small market towns. The same flow of people, the same bustling atmosphere, children playing in designated squares, vendors hawking their wares… everything is like a meticulously copied template.

If it weren't for the subtle fluctuations in the array nodes and the residents' vital energy, it would be almost impossible to tell the difference.

Gao Jian frowned slightly, silently counting in his mind. He didn't enter the core of these cities, but only walked along the edges or through the connecting passages. One, two, three...

Seven in total!

On the path leading to his cultivation cave, he actually passed through seven “cities of captivity” that were no smaller than prefectural cities and separated by high walls!
How vast is the Land of the Dead and the Realm of Light?!

How many cities did they build?

(End of this chapter)