Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 158 Netherworld Passage
Zhao Yifu's Yin Spirit returned, but the bit of true Yang brought by the Yin Spirit did not dissipate, but remained in his Yuan Spirit.

His primordial spirit also began to show true yang!

To be honest, this is indeed the practice step after the Golden Core Stage.

That is, after cultivating the pure yang true fire, the yin in the soul is replaced with yang little by little. When the replacement is completed, the yang soul is achieved.

Zhao Yi Fu really had no expectations about this before. After all, he had just entered the Golden Core Stage not long ago, and even his Yuan Shen had not been well nurtured... No, his Yuan Shen was already quite strong.

Then he hasn't consolidated his cultivation in the Golden Core stage... Well, that doesn't seem right. After all, he has already untied and re-formed the Golden Core hundreds of times. People with Golden Cores that are hundreds of years old don't have as many problems as he does. The foundation of the Golden Core has long been extremely solid.

Then he hasn't seriously practiced the various magical methods of the Jindan period... This is true, but it seems normal in the Danqing Sect. Which of his fellow disciples doesn't have a realm far higher than their methods?

Well, he began to accept that he was about to develop in the direction of Yang Shen.

In fact, there is nothing special about Yang Shen. Teacher Zhou is a great proof of this.

Just as he was guessing, the picture of summoning gods jumped out happily from his sleeve again.

Zhao Yifu quickly stood up and prepared himself. When the divine summoning diagram unfolded, he bowed deeply and said, "Disciple Fu Yinzi, I greet the ancestor and the emperor."

Emperor Wenheng stroked his beard gently, but his red face remained serious.

He said, "You have learned my swordsmanship, inherited my battle formations, and studied literature with my incarnation in the lower realm. Isn't it time for you to call me teacher?"

Zhao Yifu was stunned for a moment, then looked up at the master hesitantly.

The master laughed and said, "You went to heaven earlier than me. Accepting him as your student would be a step down in rank."

Zhao Yifu said seriously, "I worship Mr. Zhou as my teacher, and Mr. Zhou is the incarnation of the Emperor... I don't dare to approach him so high, but since the Emperor is willing, I am willing to worship him as my ancestor."

He knew when to advance and when to retreat, and did not try to climb up the social ladder just to gain a higher seniority or benefits.

Emperor Wenheng was delighted to hear this. He said, "Very good, very good. Although you are learning Fuyou's method, you are practicing my way. You should become my disciple."

He seemed very happy, on the one hand because Zhao Yifu recognized their relationship, and on the other hand because he was happy that Zhao Yifu knew when to advance and retreat.

At least at this moment, He did not feel any pressure from Zhao Yi Fu and was very relaxed, which was good.

But Patriarch Fuyou was displeased. He said, "Wenheng, what do you mean by practicing your own way? Who in my Pure Yang lineage doesn't value virtue and cultivate karmic rewards?"

Patriarch Wenheng stroked his beard and laughed in relief, not at all bothered by the complaint. He said, "Fu Yinzi, it's been a while since you've offered incense to us, right?"

Zhao Yifu reacted immediately after hearing this. He hurriedly took out the incense from his sleeve, lit it, and then offered incense to the two gods in the painting.

When he was offering incense, the two emperors were very quiet and looked at him calmly with smiles on their faces.

A stick of incense burned out quietly, and Zhao Yi Fu thought for a moment before lighting another one.

After all, they are two big guys. How can they share one stick of incense?
However, Patriarch Fuyou waved his hand and said, "That's enough. We don't need your small offering. It's enough that you're so thoughtful."

"I came to see you today because I wanted to tell you in advance that after what happened last time, we have confirmed that the demon Luo's sights are on this world."

Zhao Yifu was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Then...what should I pay attention to?"

Master Fuyou said, "You should pay attention to people's hearts."

He then waved his hand and said, "Actually, you just need to continue to stick to your original intention and do it. Your two ancestors will handle all the difficulties for you."

After saying something that had no meaning to Zhao Yifu, the two ancestors rolled up again with a "whoosh" and then slipped into Zhao Yifu's sleeves.

Zhao Yifu was a little confused. What difficulties could he have?
He then put the matter behind him and handled affairs like a normal county magistrate during the day... Of course, compared to other county magistrates, his was definitely a simple mode.

A day passed leisurely, and when Zhao Yi Fu had some free time, he realized how good it was to be an official these days. In fact, if you didn't want to work, you could just leave things to your subordinates. You really had plenty of time.

But this time, he felt something was wrong as soon as it got dark.

The sun has just set, but the afterglow of the sky is still there, and some sunset remains between heaven and earth.

The cats started to cry non-stop, and many ghosts gathered around them...

Zhao Yifu was stunned for a moment, then he understood what was going on.

It must be that his act of opening the Ghost Gate yesterday attracted these wandering ghosts, and they were all begging Zhao Yifu to open the Ghost Gate again to help them return to the underworld.

Zhao Yi Fu did not dare to neglect this. He took out the seal with the letter in it and pressed it into the void. He saw a crack in space appearing where he pressed the seal.

Then this space collapsed inward rapidly, and a passage leading to the underworld appeared.

However, the Ghost Gate did not appear again, which may be related to the fact that this passage is actually a "smuggling route".

The dead souls may not be able to go directly to the underworld after arriving in the underworld, but who cares? Don’t people who die of natural causes also go to the underworld on their own and then walk to the underworld to report?
So as long as these ghosts reach the underworld, they can always walk to the underworld on their own.

That's what he thought.

In addition, after this Netherworld passage is opened, he only needs to maintain the consumption of yang and spiritual energy, so he can have some free time.

"Yiyi, make tea."

Yiyi immediately crawled out from his sleeve and busied herself with hanging the teapot.

Seeing this, the cats in the yard also became busy and began to act coquettishly around their owners, asking for hugs and so on.

Zhao Yifu happily petted the cat.

What could be happier than petting a cat?

That is to pet two cats.

What could be happier than petting two cats?
Anyway, he has a yard full of cats... Wait, why is there a person among the cats squatting on the ground and queuing up to be petted?
He said unhappily, "Linu'er, what are you doing here joining in the fun?"

Li Nuer pointed behind herself aggrievedly.

It turns out that Xiong San is also waiting in line...

Zhao Yifu covered his face and said, "At least Xiong San is also an animal, and you are a human."

Li Nuer twisted her fingers in frustration, her expression seeming to say: I don’t want to be a human anymore…

Zhao Yifu was quite helpless. Ever since he knew that Wu Zhongzhen had taken in this woman whose mind was half eaten away by the inner demon, he knew that it would be troublesome.

He was extremely helpless and was just worrying about how to solve this problem when suddenly someone came to his rescue.

"Where did you come from, you wild Taoist priest? How dare you open the Ghost Gate privately? Come back with me and apologize!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a shackle suddenly flew out from the pile of ghosts, trying to lock up Zhao Yifu.

Zhao Yifu flicked his sleeves upon seeing this, and immediately a green bamboo stick flew out and collided with the shackle, pushing it back.

At this moment, a gust of cold wind swept across the entire place, sweeping away all the gathered ghosts.

Moreover, a very cold deterrent force was transmitted, and the ghosts in the distance that had not yet arrived dared not move.

What Zhao Yifu saw was a figure with a green face and fangs, wearing a black robe, holding shackles and looking like he was ready to arrest someone at any time.

Seeing this, he said nothing and smashed the man on the head with the emerald green bamboo stick in his hand.

The green-faced, fang-toothed creature immediately roared in rage upon seeing this: "You demon, you even hit the Soul Catcher!"

Zhao Yifu said nothing as the bamboo stick fell.

There are many soul-catchers in the underworld. Apart from the four most famous ones, they seem to be similar to the land.

He can even beat the land, let alone a soul-catcher?
Of course, the most important thing is that the two ancestors said this morning that they would help him solve all the difficulties!

What else are you thinking about?
Open the shell directly!
It has to be said that it is not so easy to beat up ghost messengers like the Soul Catcher, because they all practice the Yin-attributed methods of the underworld, which is exactly opposite to Zhao Yifu's Yang-attributed methods.

He felt a little uncomfortable with this evil energy, so he couldn't help but hit harder when he beat him.

The soul-catcher tried to block the bamboo stick with an iron chain.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yifu's bamboo stick struck the iron chain, causing it to vibrate and instantly break free from the soul-catcher's hands.

The bamboo stick was just retracted and fell down again, "bang!" It hit the ghost messenger on the forehead.

Just as Zhao Yifu hated this pure yin method that came from the underworld and was full of ghostly aura, the ghost messenger was also annoyed by Zhao Yifu's pure yang method.

So he got hit hard on the forehead, and almost killed the ghost messenger...

As for the reason why he didn't send him away, it was because Zhao Yifu was using an emerald green bamboo staff with a hidden blade, which basically only hurt but didn't kill. Zhao Yifu saw that the soul-catcher was quite weak, so he swung the staff twice in succession, beating the ghost messenger to the ground.

"Stop fighting, stop fighting!"

"Please spare my life, Immortal!"

Zhao Yifu saw that the time had come and withdrew his attack. He then said in a gentle tone, "What is the name of this soul-collecting messenger? I am Fu Yinzi, and I just want to have a good talk with you."

Knocked to the ground, the Soul Catcher nearly burst into tears after being hit several times on the back, head, and buttocks. Is this how you talk? Why fight if you can just talk?

Can't we all just be civilized people?
Gou Hun pointed at his heart full of grievances, but finally got up and said, "Excuse me, Immortal, what advice do you have? I will tell you everything I know."

Zhao Yi Fu nodded with satisfaction. That's right. If he had known this, he wouldn't have been so rebellious.

He said: "This place has just been through war, and the souls of the dead have nowhere to go. The wandering ghosts have already affected the lives of ordinary people."

"I therefore opened the Netherworld Passage to allow these wandering souls to return to the Netherworld. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Not appropriate!" the Soul Catcher blurted out.

But seeing Zhao Yifu's pressing gaze, he shrank his neck and said, "There is a small problem."

Zhao Yifu said gently, "Excuse me, sir, what is the problem?"

The soul-catcher saw his gentle appearance and felt that he was almost deceived.

He said, "The main reason is that the underworld is vast. Even the underworld only occupies a corner."

"There are many powerful evil spirits running rampant in the underworld. They like to intercept the ghosts of the unjustly dead and make them their own ghost soldiers, encircling their own territory and claiming to be alone."

"Sometimes they even attack the underworld and even Hell."

Zhao Yifu asked in surprise: "Why is that? I thought the underworld was the territory of the underworld..."

Seeing Zhao Yifu's naiveté, the soul-collecting messenger said, "How could it be that easy? This world has gone through countless calamities, and countless once powerful people have fallen."

"Even mortals feel resentful after their deaths, let alone those powerful ones?"

"Their resentment is accumulated beneath the Eighteen Layers of Hell. The punishments in those Eighteen Layers of Hell are both a punishment for the sinful souls and an outlet for their resentment."

"But there's too much resentment, and it's even increasing. From time to time, some of it leaks out into the underworld."

"Once the ghosts in the underworld have this grudge, no matter what kind of ghost they were before, they will become very difficult to deal with..."

Zhao Yifu listened thoughtfully and said, "I heard that there are five ghost emperors in the underworld who rule over the ghosts of the five directions?"

The Soul Catcher said, "Without the Five Emperors commanding millions of ghost soldiers to suppress the five directions, how could there be peace in the underworld?"

Zhao Yifu roughly understood that although people go to the underworld after death, the underworld is not the entire underworld. It can only be regarded as the largest force in the underworld.

The responsibility of the underworld is actually to "judge", so the ghosts it receives are those who can be judged by the underworld.

Ghosts that cannot be sentenced in the underworld will naturally run to other places in the underworld and become the kings of the mountains.

Zhao Yifu was quite curious and asked, "If that's the case, why doesn't the Heavenly Court intervene?"

The Soul Catcher said helplessly, "I'm just a small god. How can I know why Heaven doesn't care?"

"If the Immortal has any connections, I can ask them and they can help answer the doubts in my heart."

Zhao Yifu thought it made sense, so he immediately took out the two ancestors from his sleeves.

Ahem, these are paintings by the two ancestors.

He learned from his previous lesson and immediately lit a stick of incense to worship the gods after unfolding the ancestor's painting.

The expression of Patriarch Fuyou, who had received the incense, was quite satisfied. He didn't need Zhao Yifu to ask, and answered, "This little god seems to have some grievances against the Heavenly Court?"

The soul-catcher knelt down on the spot.

"Miaodao Tianzun! Little God... Little God Meng Lang..."

He was really panicked, and at the same time, he felt speechless towards Zhao Yifu.

He suggested that Zhao Yifu ask about this matter if he had any connections. Wasn't this actually a test and a challenge?
If Zhao Yifu had been a little bit timid, he would have decided to turn around and file a lawsuit against this "evil Taoist" and let the ghost commander of the underworld who was in charge of the soul-collecting messenger come to avenge him.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yifu was so straightforward and really invited the gods without saying anything. The person he invited was such a person with a profound background and great magical powers.

He kowtowed repeatedly and said, "I have disturbed the God by being too talkative. I beg God to forgive me."

Zhao Yifu ignored him and asked, "Grandmaster, He said that Heaven doesn't care about the Underworld. Why is that?"

The soul-catcher now wants to tear this man's mouth apart. Why does he say such and such things?

But the master did not take it as an offense. He said, "This is because if the ancient resentment in Hell does not dissipate, the situation in the underworld will ultimately not improve."

"As for the claim that Heavenly Court didn't care?"

"If the Heavenly Court didn't intervene, how could the underworld maintain what is considered the strongest military system in the Three Realms?"

Zhao Yifu was surprised when he heard this, but he also felt a sense of enlightenment that "this is how it should be".

He asked, "What if the resentment in Hell can no longer be suppressed one day?"

The ancestor said, "That means the great catastrophe of heaven and earth has arrived. You and I will both be caught in the catastrophe, and perhaps even die."

There was a moment of silence in the field.

The figure of Emperor Wenheng suddenly appeared on the screen. He said, "Don't overthink it. Since the evolution of this world, those resentments have erupted three or four times. We all achieved enlightenment after the last catastrophe. Perhaps we need a catastrophe like this to temper ourselves and reach a higher level."

Master Wenheng is courage.

Zhao Yifu looked happy to learn.

Master Fuyou looked as if he had eaten a fly, after all, all the good things he said had been said by others.

"Go, go, go, don't be an eyesore here."

As he spoke, the summoning picture rolled up and slipped into Zhao Yifu's sleeve.

The ghost messenger was bewildered. He looked at Zhao Yifu and asked, "How come these two... appeared together?"

Zhao Yifu asked curiously, "They seem to have a good relationship, so why can't they appear together?"

The ghost messenger had a strange look on his face. He said, "But I heard that these two are fighting fiercely in heaven. They even destroyed two immortal palaces without stopping..."

The ghost didn't say anything else. He just looked at Zhao Yi Fu very carefully, and felt that he saw a thigh shining with golden light.

After all, these two emperors had a falling out for some unknown reason, but they could get along harmoniously with this young cultivator... This was someone who could reconcile the conflict between the two emperors!

...I can only say that this ghost messenger had a good idea, but he just got the cause and effect wrong.

Zhao Yifu is not the one who reconciles the two conflicts, but the one who instigated them!
Just when Zhao Yifu was wondering if he needed to explain, the soul-collecting messenger suddenly said seriously, "My Lord, it's better to close this passage to the underworld. I am only a kind-hearted person, but such good deeds may not necessarily bring good results."

"Why not wait for me to return to the underworld, explain the situation to the higher-ups, and ask for a Yama Order. Then the immortal can open a netherworld passage that leads directly to the underworld."

Seeing his polite and well-reasoned words, Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "That's fine. You're a professional, I'll listen to you."

As he said this, he was about to close the passage to the underworld.

The surrounding ghosts were also very anxious when they saw this, but fortunately, the Soul Catcher suppressed them with his might, so no chaos occurred.

However, just as the Netherworld passage was about to close, a roar that was neither human nor beast came from the other side of the darkness.

The roaring sound waves had an extremely high frequency, beyond the range that ordinary people's ears could detect.

But it made the people in the entire Fenglin County feel a sense of palpitations, panic and horror.

Zhao Yifu was the first to be hit, but the Shouren method on his body automatically took effect, and the Haoran robes also worked together, so he didn't feel anything.

However, the soul-catcher next to him changed his expression and said, "There's a fierce ghost general on the other side!"

"It must have sensed the opening of the Netherworld Passage and wanted to crawl back to the living world against it..."

(End of this chapter)