Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 321 The Underworld
With a complicated expression, Yan Chixia wiped away the blood-red Tai Chi pattern in his hand, slowly walked to Niu Yi's side, and looked at the huge pit left behind by the thousand-year-old tree demon after it fled.

The deep pit was filled with countless white bones and urns sealed with yellow talismans, which looked quite eerie.

“This thousand-year-old tree demon has already fled into the underworld. If you want to chase it now, I still have a way to separate the rift between the Yin and Yang realms, but I see that you don’t have much magic power left.”

Niu Yi slowly shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the urns below.

"I have already damaged her foundation this time, so she won't be able to cause any trouble for a while."

He still lacks magic power; despite possessing formidable spells, he can only unleash a few before they become duds.

But Niu Yi had no intention of letting this thousand-year-old tree demon go. He was just waiting for him to cultivate for a while longer and accumulate more magical power before going to the underworld to slap this old tree demon to death!

To be honest, this thousand-year-old tree demon is only slightly more powerful than a demon general with a thousand-year lifespan in the Three Realms.

He was only a mid-to-lower rank among the many little bull demons of his Golden Gourd Mountain, but in this world, he seemed to be quite a powerful being.

However, this world shouldn't be that simple.
As Niu Yi pondered, his eyes swept over the many urns containing ashes in the pit, but he still couldn't find the one he wanted to see.

"Were they taken away?"

Niu Yi murmured, then looked at Yan Chixia beside him and said:

"Senior Yan, isn't Senior Xiahou with you?"

"Xiahou seems to have discovered something in that house and didn't follow."

In the dark and sunless underworld, the thousand-year-old tree demon, disguised as an old woman, threw Nie Xiaoqian, whom she was holding, to the ground!
"what!!!"

"You bitch!! Did you lure Yan Chixia and that brat here?!"

"No, Grandma isn't me!!"

"Hmph! Don't think I don't know what you're up to! Let me tell you, from now on you'd better behave yourself, and if you dare to make any more moves, I'll beat you to a pulp!"

The tree demon's face alternated between black and red, her eyes filled with a cold light, making her look extremely fierce, but only she knew that she was trying her best to suppress her injuries.

Despite her still-powerful demeanor, the two bolts of lightning that the boy suddenly summoned nearly pierced through the tree trunk.

At this moment, that extremely yang and powerful aura was still eroding her foundation. If she didn't find a way out, she was afraid that not only would her foundation be damaged, but her life would also be in danger!
"Damn brat, you just wait!!!"

The Tree Demon Granny grabbed Nie Xiaoqian from the ground and flew away into the distance.

the other side.

Before long, when Niu Yi and Yan Chixia returned to Lanruo Temple, they saw Xiahou the Swordsman in the main hall, using his long sword to corner a group of female ghosts.

Xiahou Jianke glanced at the two people who stepped in, his gaze lingering on Niu Yi for a moment before continuing to stare at the group of seemingly pitiful female ghosts in front of him.

"You're back. How is the tree spirit?"

Yan Chixia picked up the wine gourd, took a sip, and smacked his lips in satisfaction.

"It was severely injured by our combined attack, but it still managed to escape into the underworld. However, it shouldn't cause any more trouble for the time being."

This was Yan Chixia's idea. To him, Niu Yi's move was simply too astonishing. He himself could choose not to pursue the matter, but it would be best if only the two of them knew about it.

Niu Yi naturally understood this principle as well: the tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind. He had not yet figured out the true nature of this world, so he certainly did not think that he would be invincible after cultivating in this world for a month.

He trusted Yan Chixia, but his relationship with the swordsman Xiahou was not at the level of trust.

Xiahou the swordsman nodded slightly, unsuspecting, and looked at the white-clad female ghosts staring at him with pitiful expressions, saying:

"What should we do with these female ghosts?"

Don't be fooled by the way these female ghosts look now; when they fought him earlier, their moves were ruthless and merciless, aimed at taking his life.

Although these women were all quite attractive, he knew they were female ghosts who had killed countless people. Compared to his own life, what did a little bit of attractiveness matter?

Yan Chixia stepped forward, looked at the female ghosts, and sighed slightly.

"The tree spirit used to control them by their corpses, but now that the tree spirit has left, there is no longer any control over them."

"Humans have their own world, and ghosts have their own realm. Let's send them to the underworld to be reincarnated. Once they're there, the judges will decide what should be done to them."

"Guangyi, let's set up an altar together and perform a ritual to help all the dead souls beneath Lanruo Temple find peace."

"Yes, Senior Yan."

As evening approached, in the small courtyard in the woods, Ning Caichen put down the book in his hand and paced back and forth anxiously.

Xiao Hai stood to the side, his gaze following Ning Caichen's figure as he moved back and forth. After a moment, he couldn't help but feel a little dizzy and rubbed his head.

Although he was also somewhat worried about his young master, he still comforted him:
"Young Master Ning, please rest assured. My young master never does anything unprepared, and with Hero Yan and Hero Xiahou here, there will definitely be no trouble."

Ning Caichen stopped and smiled apologetically at Xiao Hai.

"Xiao Hai is right, he's right."

Ning Caichen walked to the wooden table and sat down on the stool, but he still felt anxious. When his eyes caught sight of the venomous sorcerer teasing the patterned golden scorpion in his hand, he couldn't help but shudder. He didn't know what was wrong with this person. Apart from drinking a foul-smelling medicinal soup that made one dizzy just from smelling it, he spent the rest of his time teasing various venomous insects.

He had never heard of most of those Gu worms, but the few he recognized were highly poisonous.

The other toads and centipedes with their brightly colored patterns are likely also highly poisonous insects.

Ning Caichen felt a little uncomfortable and got up again. Fortunately, after a short while, he heard the sound outside the courtyard gate, followed by the figures of Niu Yi and the other two.

"Brother Guo, Senior Yan, Hero Xiahou, are you alright?"

Niu Yi looked at Ning Caichen, who was approaching excitedly, and then at the poison shaman not far away who was putting the scorpion into his robe. He nodded knowingly and smiled.

"Brother Ning, rest assured, I am going with the two seniors, so there will naturally be no trouble."

"Good, good, it's good that you've all returned safely. I just wonder what happened to Lanruo Temple?"

Niu Yi's expression turned serious, and he said to Ning Caichen:

“Brother Ning, that monster is a locust tree demon that has cultivated for a thousand years. This monster is extraordinary. Although the three of us tried our best, it still managed to escape to the underworld.”

"Although she was severely injured by us, there is no guarantee that she will not return to Lanruo Temple. So, Brother Ning, you might as well stay with me for a while longer before the big exam in Jinhua."

Ning Caichen looked back and forth, then hesitated and said:

"Wouldn't this be too much trouble for Brother Guo?"

He had already eaten and stayed at their place for free for a day; how could he take advantage of someone he had no relation to?

But when he heard that the monster at Lanruo Temple was not dead and might return, he hesitated again.

Niu Yi laughed:

"Don't worry, it's just a matter of building two more wooden houses, it's very simple for me."

"No, no, no, isn't that..."

Before Ning Caichen could finish speaking, the long sword in Niu Yi's hand flew out swiftly, turning into a white light that flashed past the surrounding trees.

In just a moment, the trees that had been touched by the white light fell one after another, and Ning Caichen's mouth gradually opened wide, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Don't worry, Brother Ning, the wooden house will be built soon, and it will be very safe here."

Safety
Ning Caichen looked at Niu Yi and nodded stiffly.

Niu Yi kept Ning Caichen around because he found the scholar quite pleasing to the eye; when he went out to entertain him, he probably felt a bit of the joy of seeing a character from a book.
As for whether Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian can get together, that's none of his business.

He's not the matchmaker, so he doesn't care about human love or forbidden love between humans and ghosts.

Moreover, Nie Xiaoqian's remains have not been found; she was probably taken to the underworld by the tree demon long ago.

Xiahou the swordsman watched as Niu Yi made this move, and his eyes lit up slightly.

This was also the first time he had seen Guangyi make a complete move, and it truly felt like he was handling heavy tasks with ease.

Whatever secrets this kid may have, he is definitely an excellent swordsman.

Xiahou stepped forward and said to Niu Yi:
“I’ll do it. I’ll build two more houses and stay here a while longer. You two don’t mind, do you?”

Niu Yi turned to look at Yan Chixia, who was drinking, and saw Yan Chixia casually wave his hand. Niu Yi then smiled and said:

"Senior Xiahou, please feel free to stay here. If you would like to stay here, Senior Yan and I would be very happy to do so."

Xiahou the swordsman praised:

"Good! Not bad, not bad at all, much more satisfying than your Senior Yan!"

Yan Chixia rolled his eyes and simply ignored the man.

After the tree demon grandmother fled into the underworld, the pile of white bones beneath Lanruo Temple was discovered by passersby.

In Jinhua City, the story of a monster eating people at Lanruo Temple began to circulate. However, the story varied greatly and was changed into countless versions by storytellers, so no one knew whether it was true or false.

The only certainty is that Lanruo Temple is definitely not a good place, and the piles of human bones that resemble a sea of ​​white bones are all real.

With the major exams approaching in Jinhua, another incident has occurred near the city, causing tension throughout Jinhua.

However, all of this had little to do with the people in the mountain courtyard. Niu Yi and Xiahou Jianke had a competition, and they directly converted the three small wooden houses into a two-story pavilion with about ten rooms.

In the end, Niu Yi was quite disappointed to lose to Xiahou the swordsman. Even Yan Chixia praised Xiahou, saying that even if he stopped being a swordsman, he could switch to building houses.

After more than ten days, Niu Yi's progress showed no signs of slowing down; on the contrary, it became faster and faster.

The spiritual energy he could draw upon during his daily cultivation rapidly expanded from a radius of ten miles to a radius of thirty miles, causing Yan Chixia to look at him with increasingly strange eyes.

The Poison Witch recuperated here, and every time she sensed that terrifying vortex of spiritual energy, she was amazed and became even more certain of her previous guess.

(End of this chapter)