Becoming a Fox Spirit from Under One Person.

The further you go, the stronger the feeling of "distortion" becomes, as if you are being pressed into a dusty bronze mirror, where the touch and weight are blurry and unreal.

Immediately, yin energy entered through the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of the foot.

Zhao Yan and Shangguan Xiao shivered, but the feeling wasn't cold; it was a kind of "heaviness," as if someone had pressed the weight of an entire mountain into their bones.

Left with no other choice, the three had to use their magical powers to resist this erosion.

Then, the whole world turned upside down.

The stone steps beneath my feet remained steady, but the azure sky above suddenly vanished, replaced by a heavy, churning expanse of "earth"—a black rock formation stretching to the horizon, like an inverted continent.

Wandering spirits surged out from all directions, guided by an invisible river, densely packed as they passed through the inverted rock walls. Some drifted like smoke, some solidified like shadows, and some wore shackles and chains, being dragged forward by human figures resembling underworld officials.

Occasionally, one or two crimson talismans would drift down from above and land on the forehead of a wandering soul, causing that soul to suddenly turn and join another queue.

Everything was orderly, cold, and imposing...

This is the order of the underworld.

"sharp."

"As expected of you," Jiang Mingzi exclaimed in shock.

"Mount Tai after the boundary between Yin and Yang".

The lush, incense-filled Eastern Peak that mortals walk upon is Yangshan; the dark, mysterious land beneath their feet is Yinshan.

Yangshan is above, Yinshan is below, they are inside and out, but they will never communicate.

Even if mortals traverse every stone step and every palace and temple, they cannot touch even a fraction of this land. And even seekers of the Dharma with supernatural powers, once they step into this place, must constantly endure the corrosive influence of the yin energy like a tidal wave.

In a daze, Zhao Yan saw a grand hall that stood out of thin air, without walls or pillars.

In the center of the hall, a person sat high up.

Chen Ruoan pointed below and said, "Xiao Mingzi is outspoken and disrespectful to his elders. He is sentenced to have his tongue pulled out and his eyes gouged out."

Ok?

Jiang Mingzi raised his hand and grabbed the hilt of the longsword behind him: "Trying to play these tricks on me is just the right time for me to test your strength."

As soon as he finished speaking, a pair of fox-like hands emerged from Jiang Mingzi's eyes, instantly obscuring his vision. Then, a hand reached out from his throat and covered his unrestrained mouth.

"Hey?"

Jiang Mingzi tried to move, but found that his Dharma body could not touch the fox hand that was protruding from his eyes and mouth. Not only that, a blurry black shadow shrouded his eyes, the sounds around him became indistinct, and his five senses were gradually being deprived.

What is this?

"My master never taught me that."

Swish!

Chen Ruoan raised his hand, flicked his finger, and a surge of magical power struck Jiang Mingzi's head. The boy was quickly sent flying out of the main hall and crashed into the mountains on both sides of the Netherworld Path. The surging Yin energy seemed to grow even stronger.

"Hmm—" Zhao Yan and Shangguan Xiao stood there dumbfounded, swallowing hard in unison. "We two juniors have never said anything out of turn."

"I know."

Chen Ruoan examined the two of them. This was their second encounter. Now that the Netherworld had been opened up, perhaps this time the outcome would bring about some positive changes.

Chapter 290 Reincarnation and Continued Fate

"Don't be nervous. I have great patience for well-behaved and sensible juniors. You are free to wander around, but remember not to go too deep or too far. There are still undeveloped areas in the Netherworld," Chen Ruoan said.

Shangguan Xiao pointed outside the hall: "That Xiao Mingzi..."

"That guy's tough, let him go."

"Oh." Zhao Yan pursed his lips, not wanting to say anything more, and looked up at the wandering spirits traversing the mountains and rivers.

At that glance, a question flooded my mind.

"Fox Immortal Lord, may I ask if the number of souls is fixed, or if it will decrease? If the number remains unchanged, after countless millennia, won't the underworld eventually become full?"

Shangguan Xiao remembered the inscription on the stele: "Dividing the six realms of reincarnation, is such a thing really possible?"

"Why can't it be done? The True Blood of Myriad Causes allows great supernatural beings to undergo Nirvana, and their memories from their previous life, even their primordial spirit, will reappear. With just a slight modification to this ability, a channel for reincarnation can be established."

Chen Ruoan gestured to the underworld officials escorting the wandering souls: "Of course, the framework of reincarnation is not very mature. Assessing a person's merits and virtues in their lifetime is a big problem."

At a time when manpower is in short supply, over the past ten years, the fox has secretly observed many people in the mortal world through dreams. Many capable individuals have joined the underworld, but the workforce is still stretched thin.

"You two little ones, how about considering taking up positions in the underworld?"

Zhao Yan cupped his hands and said, "This junior would be more than willing. But that's something for after death, isn't it?"

"No rush, you can die slowly."

"Oh...oh oh!" Zhao Yan and Shangguan Xiao felt that something was off.

"This is a rare opportunity, so I'll show you around." Chen Ruoan led Zhao Yan and Shangguan Xiao back to Mount Tai in the Yang Realm and arrived at a slightly gentle hillside.

On the slope grows an extremely old and enormous banyan tree, its canopy spreading out over half an acre, its aerial roots hanging down densely, like a natural curtain.

But what truly catches the eye are the colorful ribbons fluttering in the trees and the layers upon layers of wooden signs.

Red silk, pink ribbons, and bright yellow silk draped down from every branch, tied with countless prayer plaques, fluttering and overlapping in the wind, making a soft, continuous rustling sound.

"Wishing tree?"

Zhao Yan moved closer, raised his hand to part a red silk ribbon hanging down, and his gaze fell on the wooden signs.

The handwriting varied, some neat and some messy, but the content made him pause slightly.

"Li Qiaoyun and Zhang Heng, may you still be husband and wife in the next life."

"May we be bound by fate in the next life, and continue our vows in this life."

"If we cannot grow old together in this life, I hope to meet you in the next."

"I hope to meet you again in the next life, and never be separated again."

···

One, two, ten, a hundred... piled up from the roots of the tree to the highest point that a person could reach, a dense string of wishes strung together, with the words "next life" written on almost every plaque.

Occasionally, one or two messages would appear to say "Parents are healthy" or "Home is safe," but they would seem few and far between, almost invisible amidst the overwhelming wishes for marriage.

Shangguan Xiao stood under the tree, looking up at it for a long time.

A breeze blew, and the ribbons brushed against her hair. She reached out and picked up a pale pink silk cloth, on which were written in ink:

"Jiang Yunniang wishes to reunite with her deceased husband Liu Yuanshan, so that they may not be separated by poverty in the next life. She hopes that the Lord of Mount Tai will have mercy on her."

The handwriting has faded somewhat, and the edges of the silk are frayed, as if it has been hanging there for many years.

She stared at it for a long time, then gently pressed her fingertip on those words without saying a word.

Standing on the outer edge of the shade, Chen Ruoan said, "Speaking of which, this is one of the newest businesses that Mount Tai has started. The living do not know about the afterlife, but the idea of ​​'continuing the bond' has been preserved as an expectation and a belief."

Zhao Yan asked, "After reincarnation, is she still the same person she was before?"

"After Nirvana, will the person you thought you were still the person you thought you were?" Chen Ruoan asked rhetorically.

"I..." Zhao Yan couldn't give an answer.

Carrying memories into the next life would cause trouble for future generations, so the fox arranged for a special team to clean up the wandering souls, but ensured the possibility of activating those memories in future lives.

During their time together, at some point, they might suddenly recall past scenes, causing memories of their previous lives to flash through their minds for a moment.

"Thinking about it this way, when people remember it, they probably feel a strange sense of relief or loss," Chen Ruoan said, looking up at the fluttering colorful ribbons.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Shangguan Xiao said. “I’m looking forward to the moment when all order is established.”

“Hmm.” Zhao Yan nodded in agreement.

After a moment of contemplation, he thought of a question—

After the phenomenon of "the soul returning to Mount Tai" occurs, the primordial spirit no longer wanders outside, and the mechanism for generating true blood of all deeds changes, so the number of Nirvana corpses will obviously decrease!

"No wonder the Immortal Sect Trials are much easier than before! If this continues, won't the causal battles that everyone in the major immortal sects fears become an extremely easy mode?"

Zhao Yan asked, "Fox Immortal Lord, won't your attack on the True Blood of Myriad Professions incur the hatred of the Myriad Professions believers?"

"I've considered it, but there's no rush."

"No need to rush?"

Chen Ruoan replied, "The one who is anxious is the other side. Since the opening of the Netherworld, the enemy's combat power has declined sharply. In another ten or a hundred years, there may not even be such a thing as a Nirvana Corpse."

To prevent the most extreme scenario from occurring, the only thing the remnants of the Wanye Party can do now is to gather all their existing strength and fight to the death, just like Baili Yuan in the future.

What was impossible in the past, the chances of doing now are even slimmer.

According to the fox's assumption, the remnants of the Wanye Party are probably hiding in some dark corner, worrying about their boss's future.

Zhao Yan continued, "Then... is there anything we juniors can do to help?"

"No. Just continue to punish evil and promote good, and uphold justice, just like worldly heroes."

"Hmm." Speaking of his travels, Zhao Yan recalled a few old stories.

“I heard from the elders in the sect that there is a kind of correction of the law of cause and effect in the world. In years of disaster, no matter how much the seeker tries to use the law, the disaster can never be eliminated, but will be transferred to another place.”

"Please enlighten me, Immortal Lord. If I were to encounter this matter again in the future, what should I do?"

Chen Ruoan picked up a twig, drew an outline in the open space, and replied, "There's no need to worry about that. My coverage of causality is almost complete. At the very least, the disaster won't be transferred to my own land."

“Since you’re operating on the coast, the disaster will likely spread to this place, which is the closest to it—” The fox pointed to two spots outside the outline with a twig.

The Three Han Kingdoms, and Japan.

"Transferring disaster to neighboring countries... it just feels a bit..." Zhao Yan hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

Chen Ruoan said, "If you can foresee what will happen on a certain timeline in the future, you won't have any psychological burden. If you can use the law of cause and effect to transfer disasters, then the blessings of this land will naturally be added to your body."

Chapter 291 The Legendary King of Resilience

"Such a good thing?" Zhao Yan felt as if the heavens were encouraging evil, but if what Fox Immortal Lord said was true, then it was easy to explain that the existence of some forces was wrong from the beginning.

Now, Zhao Yan really doesn't have any psychological burden anymore.

"Thank you for your explanation, Immortal Lord." Zhao Yan and Shangguan Xiao bowed in unison.