Bodhisattva, please help me in my spiritual practice!

Like a white horse flashing with lightning, it traverses the netherworld.

Ao Peng didn't even get a clear look at his surroundings before he landed in front of a temple in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Simply calling it a temple isn't accurate. This temple is built against the mountain, resembling a magnificent city. The gate alone is a thousand feet high, adorned with millions of rivets. While earthly emperors use bronze rivets to display their wealth, in this netherworld, each rivet is actually nailed with the head of an ancient ghost or god! These are gods from ancient times to the present who dared to defy the laws of the netherworld. They haven't even left behind their names, yet they still suffer here. Just seeing the temple gate terrified even a ghostly messenger like Chi Bofu, who dared not utter a sound. However, having seen the world with Ao Peng, he didn't collapse to the ground in fear.

After the white horse landed, Ao Peng heard a gloomy bird cry.

Because Xiao Xuan Nu also spoke bird language, he learned some of it. The bird's song said, "In the secular world, there is a saying: 'Is it not delightful to have friends coming from afar?'" Ao Peng turned his head to look at the source of the bird's song.

The creature was eight feet tall, humanoid in shape, and covered in black feathers. Two wings sprouted from its shoulder blades; when folded, they hung down its back like a cloak; when spread, they could block out the sun. Its hands and feet each had three claws, curved like hooks and sickles, the fingertips gleaming with a ghostly blue light. It wore a deerskin belt around its waist, and a jade pendant, dark blue-green in color, hung from its chest. A bone flute hung from its waist; when a cold wind blew through it, it sounded like the mournful howls of a hundred beasts.

Having asked for a favor, Ao Peng first bowed and said, "Ao Peng, a mortal cultivator, greets the venerable deity. May I ask the name of the venerable deity?"

The ancient god of the underworld laughed, "Names are something you humans use. In our time, we didn't have names. I was the first bird born in this underworld, so you used to call me Black Bird. But later, as more and more Black Birds appeared, you gave me names like 'Patroller of the Underworld' and 'Guardian of the Underworld.' I used those names when I was serving in this underworld, but now that I'm no longer serving, I naturally don't use them anymore." Ao Peng thought to himself that the ancient gods really did think differently from modern people. No wonder even Sun Wukong couldn't find out Chi's name.

Ao Peng, sensing the ancient god's straightforward nature, quickly got to the point, "You've been waiting for me here, is there anything you can teach me?" The Black Bird God laughed, "It's not that I'm teaching you, but rather that you've responded to the rules of this Netherworld, which is why you found me."

Ao Peng arrived in the Journey to the West world half a year ago and planted peach trees in Chengdu. Now, these trees have evolved into Peach Capital Mountain, which suppresses all ghosts and has caused new changes in the rules of the underworld.

This is a change in the rules themselves, far stronger than the authority bestowed upon Yama, so the Ten Kings of Hell have not yet noticed anything amiss, but the black bird that serves the rules of the underworld has already sensed Ao Peng's arrival.

This ancient god of the underworld was also a pragmatic god. Upon meeting Ao Peng and confirming that the other party truly intended to resolve the suffering of the people and the chaos of the inverted world, he didn't waste any words and said to Ao Peng, "You two come with me."

After saying that, Chi walked to the gate of Youdu, opened a small door from the side, and then turned to Ao Peng and said with a smile, "Your virtue is not enough today, so you can only follow me through the small door. When your virtue is enough in the future, come to Youdu and I will personally open the main gate for you."

Ao Peng didn't care about the size of the door or the size of the gate; it was already a favor that others showed him by letting him in.

Chi Bofu, standing beside him, slightly opened his mouth.

He worked in the underworld, but he had heard how the main gate of Youdu was opened. He had heard that when the Ten Kings of Hell came to this underworld to visit the Earth God, none of them were able to enter through the main gate.

I never imagined that my "brother" would have the chance to enter Youdu through the main gate!

After entering through the small door, the black bird led Ao Peng to a side hall. The side hall had twelve pillars, each about a hundred feet high. On a huge, mountain-like throne sat two ancient divine generals, who were even more magnificent than mountains. However, their eyes were closed, and they were neither alive nor dead at this moment.

Blackbird looked at the two gods, his eyes showing a rare look of nostalgia, and said, "The two of you were originally guarding the gate of Youdu. In a great battle, you were seriously injured. The injury touched your very essence, so you had no choice but to leave your true self here and, with the help of Tu Bo's power, fall into a state between life and death."

"Who are these two?"

"Shen Tu and Yu Lei".

Ao Peng thought to himself, "Just as I thought." In fact, he had a vague feeling when he established Taodu Mountain. He knew that establishing Taodu Mountain would naturally involve these two great gods. However, he did not expect that these two great gods would be seriously injured and fall into a state of neither life nor death.

Blackbird then looked at Ao Peng, "Now that you are in the midst of this persecution, do you understand the reason for it?"

Ao Peng has now cultivated for half a year in his mortal body, and with his previous accumulation, he has actually completely deduced the source of the Dharma calamity.

"Those who cultivate themselves seek the Dharma but do not practice the Way, hence this difficulty arises."

Blackbird paused for a moment, then laughed, "I originally wanted to give you some pointers, but now it seems you already know. So you can cultivate here and overcome the tribulation of the Dharma. I will personally send you back to the mortal realm."

After saying that, the black bird glanced at Chi Bofu and said, "Your divine body has been demoted. It is fate that you meet me today. You have come with me."

Chi Bofu nodded hurriedly and followed the black bird out of the side hall, leaving Ao Peng alone facing the two ancient underworld guardians.

He sat down cross-legged.

The third difficulty in spiritual practice lies in the fact that if a practitioner single-mindedly pursues supernatural powers without understanding their true nature, they will encounter the hardship of losing all their magical power and regressing in their spiritual progress. Further analysis reveals that supernatural powers are merely the outward appearance; the core lies in the rules and principles inherent within them. A practitioner must not only cultivate supernatural powers but also practice the Way.

Take Ao Peng's "Return to Truth of All Things" for example. The gods in the painting possess supernatural powers, but if Ao Peng becomes obsessed with them, even if he gathers together all the ghosts and gods in the world, he will stop there.

When he uses the god in the painting to restrain the ghosts and separate the chaos between the underworld and the mortal world, that is true righteousness.

Therefore, even without magical power, as Taodu Mountain was gradually established, Ao Peng's [Myriad Phenomena Return to Truth Diagram] became increasingly miraculous, because it was already practicing the Dao.

An ordinary practitioner's practice benefits no more than a hundred people, and their virtue extends only to one village.

Therefore, as long as one studies diligently, overcoming the difficulties of the Dharma is not difficult.

However, Ao Peng was no ordinary person. He cultivated the most advanced techniques and had karmic ties with many gods and Buddhas. His tribulation was a test given by Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, and it was naturally even more difficult for him.

However, for those who cultivate the Tao, wealth, companions, methods, and environment are all indispensable.

Since Ao Peng made a great vow, he naturally had like-minded people to help him, which is why he was guided to these two great gods today.

Ao Peng took out paper and pen, carefully ground them, and put all that he had seen in the past six months into his mind. Then, his pen flowed with divine inspiration.

In an instant, countless ghosts roamed the earth, and the people were displaced. Even the shadows around him began to spawn demons and monsters, who looked at him with greedy and hateful eyes, wishing they could devour his flesh and blood and gnaw on his bones.

As the scene of countless ghosts and demons appeared, the palace lanterns above Ao Peng's head dimmed, and his body, which he had only been nurtured for half a year, began to wither, like a skeleton in a tomb.