Volume 1, Chapter 353 – The Yellow Springs Underworld

The world was dim and overcast. The yin fiend death qi leaking out from the opening of the Yellow Springs had gathered in one place and lingered for a long while without dispersing.

“Are your injuries serious?”

Looking at Taishi’s half-white hair, Liu Yunzhen’s expression carried a trace of worry.

Taishi had only recently returned from beyond the realm, and had then fought another battle in the Chengtian Domain against the Demon Emperor and Demon Venerable. His injuries had already been far from light, and his current condition was truly alarming.

“At least I still have three hundred years.”

Taishi was silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

To mortals, three hundred years might be a very long time, enough to span eighteen generations of a family. But to an Emperor, it was no more than the span of a finger snap.

Liu Yunzhen’s pupils contracted slightly. He reached out to steady Taishi, and did not speak again.

“Fortunately, I brought Lingchu back. Three hundred years is barely enough.”

A faint smile appeared at the corners of Taishi’s mouth, and something like flames seemed to flicker in his eyes.

In midair, the heaven-reaching treasure scroll slowly unfolded once more, and a figure shrouded in black-and-white light gradually descended from within it.

The light slowly faded, revealing a boy of about thirteen or fourteen. His features were youthful and immature, and he wore a simple set of dark roughspun clothes. His skin looked as though it had not seen sunlight in ages, carrying an almost sickly pallor.

Most striking of all was his waist-length hair, half black and half white, with the black occupying the greater part, much like the black-and-white light that had wrapped around him moments earlier.

Liu Yunzhen strode forward quickly and ran his hands over the boy’s bones and meridians from head to toe. The astonishment in his eyes only grew stronger and stronger.

“The Yellow Springs and the Nine Nether truly are miraculous. After several thousand years, Lingchu’s bone age hasn’t increased in the slightest!”

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It was as if time itself had been frozen. It was simply inconceivable.

Rumble…

At some unknown point, a mass of pitch-black storm clouds had gathered overhead. Lightning flashed and thunder roared within them, the scene so terrifying that heavenly punishment seemed ready to descend at any moment.

Taishi’s gaze sharpened. He raised a hand slightly, shattered the tribulation clouds across a thousand miles, then immediately used a peerless Imperial Art to shift the entire stretch of space.

…

Illusory Star Domain, on a life-bearing star.

Taishi appeared within an unnamed mountain range together with Liu Yunzhen and the still-slumbering boy.

Liu Yunzhen swept his gaze around, then slowly closed his eyes. A terrifying divine sense, vast as an ocean, swept across heaven and earth. A moment later, he abruptly opened his eyes and looked toward Taishi, disbelief written across his face.

“So this was your real reason for seizing the Illusory Star Domain?!”

“No…”

Taishi shook his head. In the end, the reason he had gone to war once more was still because he had been unwilling to accept it. He had wanted to burn one last time as his lifespan neared its end, to try crossing that insurmountable chasm, only to fail in the end. The Illusory Star Domain had merely been the second fallback route he had prepared.

“Although the Illusory Star Domain belongs to Lingyang, the Heavenly Dao’s oversight here is not yet so strict. It is enough to let Lingchu grow here until he reaches the Emperor level. After that, he can travel the starry sky beyond the realm, and one day he will naturally return after completing his cultivation.”

It was commonly said that since ancient times, the Yin-Yang Sacred Body had incurred Heaven’s jealousy and was an ominous physique. Once such a body appeared in the world, heavenly punishment would descend upon it.

Yet the world knew only one side of the matter and not the other. In truth, this was merely the Heavenly Dao’s way of protecting itself.

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The Lingyang Realm of today could no longer withstand warfare on the level of a Great Emperor.

Liu Yunzhen crouched down and gently stroked the boy’s head, sighing inwardly as he stared blankly into space.

To place the burden of the human race’s future entirely on the shoulders of a single boy was simply too heavy.

The road ahead was shrouded in uncertainty.

Taishi slowly lifted the boy in his arms and walked toward the depths of the mountain range. His voice drifted back from afar.

“Lingchu stayed in the underworld for too long. The yin and yang within his body have fallen out of balance. His yin essence far outweighs his yang essence, so he needs a great deal of pure yang qi to make up the deficit and maintain equilibrium. From here on, I will personally teach him. I will leave only a single incarnation behind to watch over the Imperial Palace. You will have to bear a greater burden in the days ahead.”

“I shall obey the Sovereign’s decree.”

Liu Yunzhen bowed, said no more, and turned to leave.

…

Central Heaven Domain, Yisha Prefecture.

Shi Lan stood in midair, gazing from afar toward the direction of the Imperial Palace, her expression uncertain.

She had naturally sensed the violent fluctuation in the world’s vital energy just now. But what truly unsettled her was that within that surge of vital energy, she had felt a strange, inexplicable sense of summons, even though it had lasted for only a brief instant.

“A Supreme opened the boundary between life and death and returned from the Yellow Springs.”

Samsara’s voice sounded by Shi Lan’s ear, speaking of the change that had just occurred.

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Shi Lan was not surprised by the mention of the Yellow Springs. Deep within her memories, she still retained a few faint traces of the Yellow Springs Road.

“Samsara, if one can travel freely between yin and yang, does that mean anyone can be revived, as long as you want them back?”

Unable to suppress the doubt in her heart, Shi Lan asked silently.

“In principle, there is no problem with that, so long as the person you wish to revive has not yet stepped onto the Road of Reincarnation, and your lifespan is enough to withstand the corrosion of yin qi while you fight and employ your methods in the underworld.”

“The Road of Reincarnation?”

“All living beings are bound to reincarnation. Once one enters rebirth, all karmic ties from the past are severed, and everything from one’s life becomes no more than fleeting illusions…”

“Then is it possible for someone to retain the memories of a past life?” Shi Lan asked instinctively.

“There are exceptions to all things. There are indeed those who reincarnate with memories of a previous life, or even use great divine powers to deceive Heaven, graft the Dao fruit of a past life onto a new life, and live again. But such cases are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Without exception, they are all mighty beings of heaven-shaking power.”

“So ordinary mortals could never encounter such a thing?”

“Absolutely impossible. If it truly happened, then there is only one possibility: he never walked the Road of Reincarnation.”

Shi Lan stopped asking. She cast one last look toward the direction of the Imperial Palace, then turned and continued on her way.

The Yellow Springs underworld undoubtedly concealed enormous secrets, but she was still not qualified to touch them.

…

Following the directions given in the secret letter, Shi Lan traveled for nearly a day before arriving outside a city called Liuyuan.

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It was a great city, with martial artists constantly coming and going. As she drew closer, Shi Lan could already vaguely sense several bloodline auras of the same origin.

The growth of her cultivation had also invisibly sharpened her spiritual perception.

A short while later, Shi Lan arrived before a residence of three successive courtyards. A group was just preparing to head out through the gate, and at the front was Shi Tianlu.

After not seeing him for some time, Shi Tianlu seemed to have aged considerably, and his eyes were filled with fatigue.

Shi Lan did not conceal herself, and Shi Tianlu quickly noticed her presence. He froze where he stood and said uncertainly,

“…A Lan?!”

“Father.”

The corners of Shi Lan’s eyes curved slightly. The coolness on her face gradually melted away, and a gentle smile spread from her lips.

Shi Tianlu froze again. He could no longer remember how long it had been since Shi Lan had addressed him with such intimacy. In his memory, she had always kept a distant reserve, using only the formal word father.

Unable to stop himself, he stepped forward and raised a hand. His fingers trembled lightly, yet for a moment he found himself unable to speak.

“I’m back.”

Shi Lan reached out and took Shi Tianlu’s rough hand in hers. Her clear eyes, limpid as water, were full of openness, carrying a gentle warmth that no longer hid behind any disguise.

“It’s good that you’re back.”