Are There Only Demonesses Left in the Cultivation Realm?

Sea Demons are a bizarre type of creature. If one had to classify them, they could be considered part of the Demon Race.

They are social creatures that feed on fish.

Normally, Sea Demons don’t attack humans. But today, this school of them seemed to have gone mad, rushing forward to devour the whale.

The waves receded.

Revealed was a group of monsters with blue skin, humanoid forms, and two fins sprouting from their backs. They held Bone Forks, shrieked in an unintelligible language, and charged onto the whale’s back.

Soon, the horde of Sea Demons was locked in a chaotic battle with the Cultivators.

Amid the chaos, Xiao Hai clutched an ancestral tablet and hid in a panic. He could feel the tablet still vibrating and gave a bitter smile. "Ancestor, please stop moving. I’m about to die."

The whale shrieked in pain and violently flipped over. Of the people riding its back, some were thrown directly into the water, while others had to summon their Magical Artifacts to stand upon the waves.

At some point, a milky-white fog had begun to blanket the area.

Lu Changyuan frowned. ’Have these Sea Demons been corrupted by the Desire Demon, too?’

The Desire Demon didn’t just corrupt Cultivators. Any Demon that gained sapience and developed desires had to be wary of it.

The attacking Sea Demons had crimson eyes, as if they too had been corrupted by the Desire Demon.

’It would be one thing if it were only one or two, but have hundreds, even thousands of them all been corrupted?’

Lu Changyuan raised Broken Thought and beheaded an oncoming Sea Demon in a single strike. Blue blood dripped onto the whale’s back, corroding its flesh. "This is wrong," he said. "It’s not the Desire Demon. It’s the Netherworld. When Nether Qi enters the body, it makes any creature with a spirit yearn for death."

The Netherworld was a kingdom formed from the "death," "spirit," and "resentment" of living beings, all collected by the Nether Monarch. Those with insufficient willpower would be consumed by the Netherworld’s aura and become one of its Spirits. Thereafter, they would be forever trapped between life and death.

SLICE.

Not far away, a Cultivator clutched his head, then drew his sword and sliced his own head off. His headless body swayed for a moment before collapsing with a thud.

But it wasn’t over. Countless fleshy tendrils sprouted from within his body. Soon, the tendrils crawled out, one by one, and melted into the fog.

Another whale cry echoed.

The Beast Taming Palace’s Heaven-Swallowing Whale closed its eyes for the last time and sank into the depths of the sea.

Whales are said to be the most ancient creatures in the world, their songs imprinted on the Dao of life and death. Legend has it that if you listen to a whale’s final song at the very moment of its death, you can travel back to a bygone age.

RUMBLE!

For an instant, it was as if heaven and earth had flipped upside down.

After the whale’s death, a hazy pillar shot toward the sky. Soon, something within the mist began to circle the pillar, blotting out the sun like a giant bird.

"Fall back!"

Lu Changyuan grabbed Su Youwan’s hand, and they sped backward across the water’s surface.

In an instant, the spot where they had just been standing was abruptly covered in mounds of white bones. There were human bones, demon bones, and even a Snake Bone that stretched for a thousand li.

’Bones, rising from the seabed to cover the surface of the ocean?’

Lu Changyuan had no time to think. He raised his sword again, beheaded a charging Sea Demon, and then shot backward.

’Something’s not right.’

’Something is wrong with the Netherworld this time.’

Lu Changyuan had only been to the Netherworld once, back when he first began his Cultivation. The Chang’an Daoist had achieved Entering the Dao at age fifty and, not long after, had entered the Netherworld during that cycle’s opening, remaining inside for a full hundred years.

But the opening of the Netherworld back then hadn’t been nearly as grandiose as this one.

No.

In fact, no recorded opening of the Netherworld had ever been on such a scale.

The path into the Netherworld, as Lu Changyuan remembered it, should be in the middle of the ocean. One had to wait until the sun split in two, half black and half white. Then, an illusory door would appear between heaven and earth. Stepping through that door was how one entered the Netherworld.

Although each opening of the Netherworld was slightly different, the fundamentals shouldn’t have changed much. Ultimately, you had to pass through that door to enter the Netherworld.

But this time, forget the door—this all-encompassing fog made it impossible to get one’s bearings.

The Third Princess said, "Young Master Lu, the mist here is draining our life force."

"Keep falling back!"

An unidentifiable shriek echoed from within the dense white mist. It was as if some creature from a primordial age had left its cry behind in the annals of time, and only now had it crossed the ages to manifest in the present.

"Don’t let go."

The mist persisted. A hazy fog, formed from Nether Qi, flooded the surface of the sea. Everyone seemed to vanish within it.

The Third Princess said softly, "Okay."

Suddenly, Lu Changyuan felt as if he were stepping on solid ground.

He looked down at his feet.

White bones.

A road constructed of white bones had appeared beneath their feet. Eerie blue lights flickered along the sides of the path, as if to light their way.

The mist abruptly parted. When they looked up at the sky, the sun was gone, replaced by a single black-and-white sphere.

The sky had been completely devoured by darkness. To be more precise, it was as if it had been smeared with black dye, crudely obscuring the original heavens. Even Jian Guyang’s Sword Mark was gone without a trace.

On the line between life and death—that is where the Netherworld lies.

"Young Master Lu, don’t move."

"Hm?"

The Silver-haired Maiden suddenly leaned in, studying Lu Changyuan’s face intently. Then, she reached out and cupped his cheeks.

"Third Prince?"

"I thought I saw a flash of red in your eyes, Young Master Lu."

Lu Changyuan couldn’t help but laugh. "A red light? Don’t tell me I’ve become like you, Third Prince?"

Red eyes signified corruption by the Desire Demon.

Su Youwan shook her head. "Perhaps I was mistaken."

"Let’s go, Third Princess," Lu Changyuan said. "Let’s see what lies at the end of this White Bone Road."

The Netherworld has two roads.

One is the path of life.

And one is the path of death.

Lu Changyuan had walked the path of death before, turning it into a path of life. The path of life, then, was likely this one beneath his and Su Youwan’s feet.

This actually piqued Lu Changyuan’s interest.

The Netherworld’s path of life had always been a thing of legend, but there were no actual records of it. This would be a novel experience.

"Are you familiar with this road, Young Master Lu?"

"Not really," Lu Changyuan replied. "It’s just that there’s a stone monument inside the Netherworld. It says, ’Those who walk the path of life are without sin and may have an audience with the Nether Monarch.’"

The Silver-haired Maiden paused. "If there’s a path of life, then what about the path of death?"

A faint smile touched Lu Changyuan’s lips. "Those who walk the path of death are the guilty. If they can walk it to the end, they can earn a pardon. Of course, the Netherworld is now in ruins. The paths of life and death have long since lost their original purpose."

Su Youwan had heard some stories about the Netherworld as well. "But the Nether Monarch is supposed to be dead."

"No. The Nether Monarch most likely isn’t dead."

Lu Changyuan said, "The subjects of the Netherworld have waited for a thousand years between life and death. Eventually, they will welcome back their monarch."

"You sound like a storyteller now, Young Master Lu. How can the dead be resurrected?"

’Between life and death lies the Dao.’

’Death can also be called returning to the Dao.’

’It’s true that no one in this world has ever truly been resurrected from death.’

Lu Changyuan said softly, "But I, at least, believe it. The Dao that the Nether Monarch comprehended is called... Death."