Transcending two realms to become an earth immortal

Fang Chen put away the altar and immediately set off back.

Although the sky above was dark and the sun was nowhere to be seen, according to the old-time calendar, it was still daytime.

In this world where Yin and Yang are reversed, although there is no sunlight during the day, many evil spirits and malevolent entities are still hiding in the shadows and have not completely invaded the mortal realm. Traveling at this time is still relatively safe.

But once night falls, the darkness rises completely, and yin and yang are completely reversed. Then it truly becomes a night of a hundred ghosts roaming and ten thousand evils being unleashed.

Let alone cultivators who have just laid their foundation, even those True Persons who have condensed their three souls and seven spirits and can travel at night might die here.

So we must hurry back while the time is still right.

Amidst the desolate graves, Fang Chen carried an ever-burning lamp, its clear light illuminating the surroundings. Wherever the light reached, even the darkness seemed to become more transparent.

As the lights flickered, even though there was nothing around, several distorted human figures appeared at the edges of the light and shadow... Those were [Shadow Gu], formed from yin energy and resentment, which specifically lurk in the shadows and devour the yang energy of the living.

After walking a few dozen steps, several rotting corpses covered with tattered talismans crawled out of the ground, their eye sockets rotting and oozing pus. These were [corpse spirits] that had been buried in the wrong place and had been corrupted by evil energy.

In the distance, faint weeping sounds drifted, seemingly coming from deep within the mountains and forests, sending chills down one's spine. This was the "Night Crying Boy," the transformed form of a mountain demon after its death...

Even a novice cultivator would have to fight hard to escape from such evil spirits.

Strangely, as Fang Chen carried the lantern forward, these evil spirits couldn't get close to him at all. No, rather than saying they couldn't get close, it's more like they were as illusory as reflections.

As soon as any evil creatures approached, they vanished like smoke.

"These are merely remnants of light and shadow from the old world, separated from the 'gap between life and death' we are in by a layer of yin and yang." Fang Chen said calmly.

As long as you hold this ever-burning soul lamp steadily, without actively responding or touching it recklessly, and keep the three yang flames above your head burning, while remaining calm and clear-headed, these evil spirits cannot harm people in the real world, just like the moon in the water or a flower in a mirror.

However, this move is only effective against ordinary monsters. If you really encounter a great demon who can reverse yin and yang and confuse life and death, even just a glance or a trace of its aura could send you straight to the deepest hell.

However, this place is close to the Dao City of the present world, and it has already been cleared out several times by the powerful beings stationed in the city. Unless something unexpected happens, it is unlikely that a ferocious beast of that level will appear here.

Following the lamplight, Fang Chen stepped onto a desolate path, its soil a dark yellow, resembling the road to the underworld.

The path led into a dense forest, where a chilling atmosphere prevailed, the trees were strangely shaped, and the forest was filled with a miasma that seemed to devour all life.

Fang Chen remained expressionless and walked straight in.

The moment I stepped inside, the world spun around me.

Once he regained his footing, he realized there was no dense forest left; he was standing in a bustling market street.

It looked like the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The streets were bustling with people and vehicles, and people from all around gathered here.

The pavilions were decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and the sounds of gongs and drums filled the air. Children ran around carrying lanterns, old people sat in teahouses drinking tea, strong men shouted their wares, and fair-skinned women sold tofu pudding... What a prosperous and bustling scene!

But as Fang Chen approached with the lantern, the dim yellow light shone down, and the hair and facial features of the men, women, and children around him began to melt. Their flesh and blood mixed with their clothes fell off with a pattering sound, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into white skeletons.

There was a little girl whose face was swollen and bluish, clearly indicating she had drowned; the woman selling tofu had rotting flesh, oozing pus and emitting a pungent stench; and the old man selling candy next to her had black blood gushing from his throat before his head rolled to the ground with a thud…

This is hardly a prosperous world; it's clearly a place where vengeful spirits gather and conjure illusions to deceive the living...

Ghost market in the mountains!

After walking a few dozen more steps, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed again.

It seemed to be dawn, the yin and yang were alternating, the sky was full of sunset glow, and purple clouds were rising in the east.

On the summit of a sacred mountain, a place of exceptional beauty and spiritual energy, dozens of ethereal cultivators were inhaling the purple aura of the morning sun, pursuing immortality and the path to immortality.

Fang Chen walked through the crowd of cultivators and headed down the mountain.

As he passed by, someone gently called out to him:

"Junior Brother Fang Chen, morning lessons aren't over yet, where are you going?"

Fang Chen didn't stop walking.

"Senior brother, why are you ignoring me?" A clear female voice rang out, tinged with reproach.

"Hey kid! Your junior sister is calling you, are you deaf?!" A furious shout came from behind.

Even more resounding, aged voices boomed like thunder:

"Fang Chen! Disobeying orders and descending the mountain will be punished according to sect rules!"

Despite repeated calls and threats, Fang Chen never turned around.

These are all illusions of inner demons projected by the light and shadow of the old world. Once you turn back and respond, the three yang flames on your shoulders will be absorbed by the illusions, and you will be trapped inside forever.

The sounds behind him gradually faded away, and the scenery before him changed like a revolving lantern, eventually turning into a desolate, deserted, and dark wilderness...

Ghost markets in the mountains, sacred mountains for cultivating immortality, demonic caves in the netherworld, royal cities in the mortal realm... countless fragments of bygone days flash by like a revolving lantern, only to vanish again.

In this world, the Central Plains of China have long since collapsed, and time, space, and all directions are in chaos.

Without the guidance of the token from Dao City, one would definitely get completely lost in these layers of old world light and shadow, wandering further and further away.

After passing through countless layers of illusion, the path beneath my feet suddenly ended.

The wick of the soul lamp in his hand suddenly blazed brightly, transforming into a scorching green flame that forcefully tore apart the last layer of chaotic light and shadow—

Looking up, Fang Chen found himself standing on a path paved with bluestone slabs.

On both sides were dense ancient forests, shrouded in the dark night.

The sky looked like dusk, but when you looked up, you could see a huge island floating in the sky, blocking out the sun. Only a few rays of light leaked through the edges, which not only failed to illuminate the surroundings but also made the environment appear even more deep and dark.

Deep in the woods, layers of thin mist drifted by, sometimes gathering and sometimes dispersing, and faint sounds of ghostly wails and deep mountain sobs could be heard, sending chills down one's spine.

In the mountains and along the roadsides, there are ghostly soldiers, their bodies emanating a chilling aura and their faces numb, patrolling and wandering, sending shivers down one's spine.

Carrying the lantern, they walked a few dozen steps more, when suddenly they saw another light source shining from deep within the woods.

A figure appeared in the light, but the person's cheeks were painted an exaggerated bright red, the body was flat and thin, and the person walked unsteadily with a strange posture... When you get closer and see clearly, it turns out to be a paper figure used to commemorate the dead!

However, this paper figure was very unusual. Not only did it float three feet off the ground, but its eyes, drawn with ink, also rolled around under the light, staring straight at Fang Chen, so eerie that it sent chills down one's spine.

Fang Chen's expression darkened.

The outside world is too dangerous; not all cultivators who go out to seek opportunities can return safely.

Some are unfortunate enough that their physical body is destroyed in an accident, leaving only a remnant soul.

In order to survive, they had no choice but to attach their souls to paper figures, puppets, and other such things, thus becoming these inhuman and ghostly beings.

In the past, when the order of heaven and earth was intact, such a spirit would have almost cut off the path to cultivation, since "it is difficult for a spirit to become a saint after countless eons".

But in this apocalyptic world where Yin and Yang are out of order and the laws of life and death are polluted and confused, the form and ability of such existence may become even more bizarre and unpredictable.

Of course, they can also easily lose their minds and degenerate into ferocious creatures that only know how to kill and devour.

The paper figure seemed to be merely confirming who had arrived. After exchanging a brief glance with Fang Chen, it slowly looked away, carrying its ancient-style soul lamp, and continued to drift forward along the path.

Fang Chen stopped where he was and waited quietly for a while. Only after the paper figure had drifted a distance away did he start to follow it again.

As they gradually left the dense forest and approached the city, faint yellow lights began to appear one after another in the deep, dark mountains and forests around them.

Bathed in light, a group of returnees, each with a distinct appearance and an air of mystery, were revealed.

Among them was a sorceress with a full head of white hair, leaning on a cane made of snake head;

There was an old man who was a corpse refiner, dressed in a tattered black robe and exuding the smell of dirt and decay.

A fox that walks upright on its hind legs like a human, with snow-white fur and bright, intelligent eyes;

You can also see lifelike wooden puppets, but with somewhat stiff joints, and offerings that float silently like the paper figure from before...

These people include cultivators, spirits, and strange creatures. They are of different races, have different cultivation paths, and their cultivation auras vary in strength.

But their only commonality was that they all carried a similarly styled eternal soul lamp, the dim yellow light illuminating their faces, which were either numb, wary, or eerie.

At this moment, they are silently converging from all directions of the mountains and forests, heading towards the city shrouded in the shadow of the floating giant island.

This silent and eerie scene was as if cultivators, demons, ghosts, and unorthodox practitioners from all directions had tacitly gathered at this crossroads of life and death at this special moment of yin and yang transition and day and night blurring, all heading together towards that thing suspended beneath the dark sky...

Yin-Yang Ghost City!