Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

Chapter 137 Identity: Enma's Walker

Upon seeing the appearance of the Impermanence Messenger from the Tongxuan Division, the high-level cultivator who had just been aloof and probing Xia Dong with immense spiritual pressure turned pale and then red.

He didn't dare utter a single unnecessary word, and decisively suppressed his aura, obediently retreating to the side.

Not far away, the garrison commander of the Eagle Wolf Guard in Nanyue Province also ceded his home ground to the Unpredictable Envoy.

It's no wonder they're so wary.

In theory, the Tongxuan Division is the superior of all the departments of cultivators in the Great You Dynasty, possessing the power of life and death to act first and report later, and to act expediently.

Looking across the entire Great You Dynasty, the only entity that could rival the Tongxuan Division in terms of power was the unfathomable "Simingjian" within the Imperial Palace.

Xia Dong had seen scattered records about the Si Ming Bureau in the Eagle Wolf Guard's confidential files. The main members of the Si Ming Bureau were all eunuchs, including some cultivators and martial artists who had voluntarily castrated themselves in pursuit of power and strength.

The path of cultivation of this group of people is extremely special, and it can even be said to be full of evil.

It is said that if this type of practitioner follows the normal path of Xuanmen or martial arts cultivation, their aptitude is actually mediocre, and even after decades of arduous cultivation, they may not achieve much, and their progress is extremely slow.

However, once one has castrated oneself and severed all worldly desires, and then combined with the quick-learning secrets of the Fate Bureau, one will progress rapidly and acquire extremely powerful and terrifying strength in a short period of time.

However, this kind of cultivation method that violates human ethics comes at a great cost, causing serious defects in the cultivator's character, and most of them become dark, twisted, and unpredictable.

Next, seeing that Xia Dong was very cooperative, the two messengers of impermanence didn't waste any words. They flanked Xia Dong from the left and right, transforming into two streaks of dark light and taking him away from the sword cultivator's secret realm.

After a day of high-speed flight, the two messengers brought Xia Dong to a secluded place deep in the heart of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

After landing, Xia Dong quietly released his divine sense to perceive the surroundings.

He discovered that this massive underground building was not only extremely well-guarded, but also surrounded by incredibly sophisticated concealment arrays.

Xia Dong secretly guessed that this place was definitely not an ordinary temporary stop, but most likely a very important stronghold of the Tongxuan Division in the entire southern border region.

After passing through several dark and deep passageways, Xia Dong was led into a spacious but somewhat oppressive secret room.

The door to the secret room slammed shut, completely isolating it from all outside sounds.

There was no one else in the room except for the two black-clad messengers who always wore faceless masks.

Xia Dong stopped, his face calm and composed. He bowed respectfully, breaking the silence first: "May I ask, gentlemen, what business do you have with me, bringing me here?"

The messenger on the left didn't beat around the bush.

He strode to the stone table in the center of the secret room, and with a flick of his wrist, casually tossed two jade slips emitting a faint glow onto the table in front of Xia Dong.

"Read these two jade slips first."

The black-clad messenger's voice was crisp and cold, "After you've finished reading, choose an identity for yourself."

Without hesitation, Xia Dong picked up one of the jade slips on the table that was emitting a faint light and probed it with his divine sense.

A flood of information rushed into Xia Dong's mind in an instant. He held his breath and quickly scanned through it.

Then, he looked at another jade slip.

After reading it, Xia Dong felt a sense of shock.

This time, he truly came into contact with the deeper cultivation secrets that enabled the Great You Dynasty to suppress the immortal sects within its borders and dominate this continent!

These two jade slips represent two completely different paths that lie before him after joining the Tongxuan Division.

The first document Xia Dong had just read was the "Yanluo Messenger" system, which was the core of the Tongxuan Division.

The two messengers before us, wearing faceless masks and exuding terrifying killing intent despite having no magical power, were clearly on this path.

The contents recorded in the jade slip completely overturned Xia Dong's previous conventional understanding of cultivation.

Once you choose to become a messenger of Yama, the traditional ascetic practices of breathing in spiritual energy and cultivating your blood and qi become less important. On this strange path, "status" becomes paramount!

Indeed, the rank of a Yama's messenger directly determines the level of their absolute power.

The source of their entire system's power lies in a mysterious and unpredictable "Yama Dao Fruit".

To be precise, this "Yama Dao Fruit" directly bestows different levels of terrifying power upon each Yama messenger based on the extent of their "authority" within the system.

The higher your status, the higher you climb, and the greater the power you wield, the more formidable the power bestowed by the Dao Fruit will be.

No wonder these two messengers of impermanence didn't have any magical power fluctuations from cultivators in the square just now, yet they were able to unleash a pressure that made all high-level cultivators tremble. It turns out that their power wasn't something they cultivated themselves, but rather something that was "bestowed" upon them!

As messengers of Yama, their core and most important task is to continuously improve and enhance the essence of this "Yama Dao Fruit".

One glory and one glory.

The jade slip subtly mentions that the person who holds the most power in this Yama Dao Fruit is the Master of the Tongxuan Division.

Furthermore, that Lord of the Department is already very close to completely perfecting the Yama Dao Fruit and achieving the legendary Netherworld Fruit position at the "Ten Capitals" level.

"Shidu?"

Xia Dong silently pondered this ancient and desolate phrase in his heart, his brows furrowing slightly.

His current understanding of the cultivation world is not yet sufficient to accurately deduce from the few words on the jade slip which the "Ten Capitals" rank corresponds to which realm in the cultivation system.

Is he a top-grade Golden Core cultivator capable of sweeping across an entire region?

Or is he the legendary Nascent Soul cultivator who can move mountains and fill seas?

Xia Dong had no idea, but he was very clear that that level possessed terrifying power that he could hardly imagine at the moment.

In short, this is an extremely domineering and unreasonable shortcut.

As the Yama Dao Fruit grows stronger, all the Yama Messengers who are attached to it will automatically become stronger as well. They will not need to risk going into demonic possession and struggling to break through the bottleneck like ordinary cultivators.

In addition, the jade slip also mentioned a temptation that no one could resist: once ordained as a Yama's messenger, one would receive the baptism and nourishment of the Dao Fruit's aura, which would greatly extend one's lifespan!

No need for arduous training, no bottlenecks; simply strive to climb higher to gain immense power and a long lifespan.

Xia Dong gently put down the first jade slip.

He understood that for ordinary cultivators, being chosen to become a Yama Messenger was practically a meteoric rise to power!

Xia Dong suppressed the shock she felt at the profound depths of the Great You Dynasty and continued to digest the contents of the second jade slip.

Compared to the solemnity and eeriness of the first path, this second path, named "Yama's Journey," has much simpler and purer rules and constraints.

To put it simply, the Enma Walker is similar to a "bounty hunter" who does things for money.

Choosing this path eliminates the need for the Yama's messengers to compete for status within the Yama's Dao Fruit system.

The duty of the Yama Walker is to accept various bounty missions issued by the mysterious "Yama Dao Fruit" and search for and collect the corresponding "Dao Fruit Fragments" in the world to assist in the improvement and advancement of the Yama Dao Fruit.

As a reward for risking their lives, Yama will bestow a corresponding amount of "virtue" upon each completed mission.

These acts of good deeds are the most valuable currency within the Tongxuan Division.

Yama can directly use this accumulated merit to exchange for any resources needed for cultivation in the unfathomable treasury of the Tongxuan Division—whether it's high-grade spirit stones, rare spiritual herbs, profound cultivation techniques, or even extraordinary items that can transform a person's life.

Treasures can be exchanged as long as one has enough good karma.

This is undoubtedly extremely tempting for Xia Dong.

However, high returns are often accompanied by extremely high risks. The jade slip clearly states that the tasks issued by Dao Guo involve extremely vast and dangerous regions.

These mission locations are not limited to the territory of the Great You Dynasty, but also include the vast and unpredictable overseas cultivation world, the Great You Dynasty's hostile countries, and those unclaimed and deadly secret realms and immortal traces that have existed for thousands of years.

Upon seeing this, Xia Dong immediately understood.

Many ancient immortal sites and secret realms themselves have extremely strict rejection of great cultivators at the Purple Mansion, Golden Core, or even higher realms.

If those powerful individuals force their way in, they will be rejected by the secret realm.

On the contrary, cultivators with relatively low cultivation levels, such as Xia Dong, were able to infiltrate it without any hindrance.

And it is precisely in the depths of these perilous places that precious fragments of Dao Fruits are often found, or rare and spiritual objects that can greatly enhance the foundation of Dao Fruits.

The reason why the Impermanence Messenger of the Tongxuan Division valued him was because martial artists like Xia Dong, who break through to the True Intent of Martial Arts without relying on external objects and under the pressure of life and death, often have a will as firm as a rock, and their combat power among those of the same level is terrifying, with extremely strong survival ability.

This is exactly the kind of talent that the Tongxuan Division urgently needs.

Xia Dong held the jade slip, his mind racing.

Becoming a Yama Messenger may grant one instant ascension and extended lifespan, but all power comes from the bestowal of the Dao Fruit. This means that life, death, and freedom will be completely controlled by the Tongxuan Division, and even the greatest secret within his sea of ​​consciousness—the ancient bronze bell—is at risk of being exposed.

Becoming a Yama Walker, while involving dangerous, high-risk jobs, offers relative freedom and allows one to legitimately acquire massive resources to support oneself.

More importantly, although these two unpredictable messengers seemed to be offering him two options with a friendly smile, Xia Dong knew exactly what was going on.

There isn't actually a "don't select" option here.

The messenger of impermanence went to such great lengths to bring him to this secret underground stronghold and even showed him the absolute core secret of the Yama Dao Fruit.

If he dared to shake his head today and say, "I don't choose either one, I want to go back to Pingyang County and continue being an ordinary centurion," then this day next year would most likely be the anniversary of his death in Xia Dong.

The weak have no right to refuse.

Without much hesitation, Xia Dong gently placed the two jade slips on the stone table and gave his answer in a crisp and firm tone: "My lords, I choose to become a Yama Walker."

Upon hearing Xia Dong's unwavering answer, the eyes behind the mask of the Impermanent Messenger on the left narrowed slightly, seemingly unsurprised.

"As expected." The voice of the Impermanence Messenger carried a hint of understanding and a cold sneer. "Geniuses like you who can break through to the true meaning of martial arts on your own are inherently arrogant. Asking you to give up your lives and freedom to attach yourselves to the Dao Fruit is harder than killing you. People like you would be strange if you didn't choose the second option."

At this point, the Messenger of Impermanence changed his tone, his voice becoming deep and solemn: "However, we must remind you of something. This orthodox path of cultivation, seemingly unrestrained and offering a high degree of autonomy, often leaves one with little ability to resist the calamities that are about to befall them."

"A calamity?" Xia Dong frowned slightly. "What is this? Could it be something like the heavenly tribulation one encounters when breaking through to a higher realm?"

"The tribulation of lightning is only one aspect, and it's still far from your reach," the Messenger of Impermanence shook his head, patiently explaining, "Leaving aside the normal karmic entanglements, murders, and treasure-grabbing tribulations in the cultivation world, cultivators are inherently defying the heavens and plundering the creations of heaven and earth. The longer you live, the more creations you seize, and the heavier the karmic burden you accumulate."

"When karma accumulates to a certain degree, various calamities will come knocking on the door of heaven and earth when the time comes. These calamities are impossible to guard against and are extremely strange. For example, to give a very simple example, some great practitioners may inexplicably encounter 'alcohol calamities' when they are in seclusion or traveling."

"A robbery involving alcohol?" Xia Dong was stunned.

"That's right, he died from drinking too much." The Messenger of Impermanence uttered these words in a calm tone.

"How is this possible?" Xia Dong's eyes were filled with disbelief.

It should be understood that once one's cultivation reaches the Foundation Establishment stage or the True Intent of Martial Arts, one has already undergone a complete transformation.

Even if someone drinks a deadly poison, Qiang Jiao's vital energy and magical power can force it out.

How could mere ordinary wine, or even high-grade spiritual wine, possibly kill a banana cultivator like Chengcheng?

"Nothing is impossible before the laws of Heaven and the power of karma."

The messenger's voice carried a chilling undertone, "This is your calamity, the Wine Calamity. It's merely the corresponding death arranged for you by Heaven. For example, when the calamity descends, you pick up your wine cup and take a sip. To outsiders, you simply appear to be a drunkard, passing out unconscious and eventually dying of exhaustion. But in reality, it's possible that the moment you drank that wine, the liquid and the karma within your body produced some strange resonance, directly causing your magical power and consciousness to mysteriously disintegrate within you. Immediately afterward, your soul is forcibly separated from your body, lost forever in the world, never to return—"

Next, the messenger of impermanence went on and on, listing several extremely bizarre and strange ways in which cultivators could die in the history of the cultivation world.

Xia Dong remained outwardly calm, but inwardly she was experiencing a turbulent storm.

As a time traveler, Xia Dong found the term "calamity" increasingly familiar. It sounded very much like something from his previous life.

The so-called "Final Destination".

Or, to put it another way, if the King of Hell wants you to die at midnight, you can't be kept alive until dawn.

This means that the world itself has a set of unseen rules. When it determines that you are going to die, it does not need to send down any earth-shattering tribulations. Instead, it can manipulate cause and effect, create coincidences, and design a series of seemingly chaotic but absolutely deadly "accidents" to take your life.

It gives you a suffocating feeling of being trapped in an invisible banana net, with nowhere to escape.

However, Xia Dong quickly suppressed the chill in his heart, looked clearly at the messenger of impermanence opposite him, and asked, "Then what method is there to resolve this kind of calamity? The cultivation world has such a long history, and there are countless people with extraordinary talents. I don't believe that those powerful cultivators of the past would just watch themselves be killed by an accident without coming up with any way to deal with it!"

Upon hearing Xia Dong's question, a low laugh came from beneath the mask of the Impermanence Messenger on the left.

"In ancient times, there was indeed a way to solve this problem," the Impermanence Messenger said frankly, without hiding anything. "That was the legendary Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend Technique." This was a supreme method specifically used to deal with, resolve, and even obscure calamities brought by the Heavenly Dao. However, with the passage of time, the lineage has been severed. Even in our Jiaoyou Dynasty, only thirty aristocratic families still possess a tiny fragment of it. These families regard it as the foundation of their livelihood and would absolutely never pass it on to you."

"Wait, something's not right."

The silent messenger on the right suddenly spoke.

He seemed to have just been using some kind of secret method to communicate with the central authority of the Tongxuan Division and access Xia Dong's personal records.

At this moment, his gaze beneath the mask held a hint of surprise as he looked at Xia Dong: "This kid has a Daoist certificate. His household registration has a celestial certificate mark, and it's registered under the name of the Duke of Qi's mansion."

"Huh? Is that so?" The Impermanence Messenger on the left was also slightly taken aback. He looked Xia Dong over a few more times, then shook his head and said, "However, even if you have a Daoist certificate and are even fortunate enough to inherit the Heavenly Gang Method of the Duke of Qi's Mansion in the future, it is only a fragmented and superficial version passed down from ancient times."

"Heavenly calamities are exceptionally complex and impossible to guard against. Unless you can gather the complete Thirty Heavenly Divine Methods or the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Methods and achieve perfect balance, there will eventually come a fatal calamity that you cannot handle. At that time, you will still not escape death." The Messenger of Impermanence paused, his breathing softening slightly. "Of course, for cultivators, this time may be relatively long in coming. Even in the cultivation world, there are a very few cultivators who can live to a ripe old age without calamities. But such people are generally those with extremely profound virtue and extraordinary luck—for the few remaining cultivators, as long as they are still breathing, they will eventually encounter calamities."

Upon hearing this, Xia Dong's gaze sharpened slightly, and he pressed on with a pointed question: "Does becoming a Yama's messenger, entrusting oneself to the Dao Fruit, guarantee that one will not encounter calamities?"

"We will encounter it, but we are not afraid," the Messenger of Impermanence said calmly, his voice carrying an eerie calmness that seemed to accept death. "Our true spirits are already bound to the Dao Fruit of Yama. Even if we perish in the calamity, as long as the Dao Fruit remains, we can be reborn through its power."

Before Xia Dong could even express her surprise, the Messenger of Impermanence continued, "Of course, there is a limit to the number of times one can be resurrected."

Moreover, with each death and resurrection, a part of one's own self is forever lost.

Losing oneself? What's the difference between that and ultimately becoming a puppet who only knows how to execute the will of the Dao?

A glint of steel flashed in Xia Dong's eyes. He hesitated for a moment, then his resolve hardened: "I thank you both for your understanding. But I still choose to become a Yama's Walker."

"You're still young, and your arrogance hasn't faded yet." The Messenger of Impermanence wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, he chuckled and said, "It's alright. You chose this path yourself. If you can't continue on this path, the gates of Yama will always be open for you. You can join us anytime."

On the surface, Xia Dong appeared calm and composed, like a still pond. But in reality, his heart was in turmoil.

These two messengers of impermanence had no idea that Xia Dong possessed a complete Heavenly Gang Technique!

He once used a precious high-grade spirit stone and with the help of the ancient bronze bell to deduce the "Wind Control Technique" and the Xuan Yin Divine Water into the Heavenly Gang Technique "Calling the Wind and Summoning the Rain".

Previously, he had been secretly agonizing over the fact that the fee for using the ancient bronze bell to deduce the Heavenly Divination Technique was too expensive.

In retrospect, he really got a huge advantage!

According to the messenger of impermanence, even the slightest imperfection was regarded as the lifeblood of those thirty aristocratic families.

If he were to spread the word now that he was going to sell this complete Heavenly Gang Technique, I reckon those powerful and influential Daoist families would definitely be willing to offer a lot of high-grade spirit stones in exchange!

However, this thought only flashed through Xia Dong's mind for a moment before he extinguished it.

Of course, he wouldn't dare to sell it.

If such a heaven-defying method, which even the Xuan Si (a high-ranking official in the imperial court) covets, were exposed, it would not bring immense wealth, but rather utter annihilation.

"From now on, I absolutely cannot use my 'power to summon wind and rain' at will when I'm out in the world," Xia Dong silently admonished himself.

If someone recognizes that this is the complete Heavenly Gang Technique, it would be a complete disaster.

At the same time, Xia Dong's thoughts drifted far away.

According to the Impermanence Messenger's explanation of "calamity," the once arrogant and bloodthirsty Shangqing Shenxiao Dao was ultimately defeated by the Yuan Tu Daoist from another world, who single-handedly brought it down. In a sense, it was because they had committed too many killings and were burdened by karma that they ultimately "met their calamity."

What about Senior Lonely Moon?

She has plundered much of the world's bounty; will she also face a terrible calamity in the future?

Xia Dong couldn't help but think about it, and a sense of unease inexplicably arose in his heart. He even suspected that Senior Gu Yue's disappearance was related to this.

He immediately put these chaotic thoughts aside.

Then, following the rules of the Tongxuan Division, after completing the procedures, he solemnly confirmed his status as a "Yama Walker" with the two messengers of impermanence.

The moment he confirmed his identity.

Deep within his consciousness, the mysterious ancient bronze bell emitted a faint hum that only he could hear, and a subtle change appeared on the surface of the bell.

Xia Dong looked inward and found that the description of his condition, specifically the section on "Cultivating Body Yang," had changed. The original word "Cultivation" had been erased, and the current description read, "Identity: Qi Refiner, Yama Walker."

The text that was present at the beginning of the second line remains unchanged, quietly standing there: "Code name: Gouya".

Xia Dong looked at these words and a wave of doubt surged in his heart once again.

Even now, he still can't figure out what special meaning is hidden in "codename: Hook".