Chapter 86 - 83: Spirit of the Netherworld
"Third Prince, do you want to go fight for a fruit?"
Su Youwan glanced over; plenty of Cultivators had already rushed up. She shook her head. "I don’t need one. We should leave them for the others."
Lu Changyuan smiled. "Let’s go. We’re heading to the Royal Palace."
The conflict in the sky had nothing to do with them.
Su Youwan looked at the surrounding Spirits. "What are these Spirits waiting for?"
The surrounding Spirits were staring blankly at the sky.
Lu Changyuan didn’t answer directly. "Third Prince, do you know how Three-Life Fruits are formed?"
The Silver-haired Maiden was about to point out that Young Master Lu enjoyed answering questions with more questions, but she thought better of it and just shook her head.
"The Spirits inside the Netherworld were originally created when the Nether Monarch collected the spirits and resentment of the dead and Transformed them into Life. You could say these Spirits are the last lingering obsession of the deceased, or perhaps their final hatred."
Lu Changyuan pointed to the fruit on the tree. "The three fabricated lives a Three-Life Fruit gives someone don’t come from thin air. They are all the memories of these deceased Spirits from when they were alive."
Su Youwan stared blankly at the crowd of Spirits.
Lu Changyuan continued, "To gain is to give. Fighting for the fruit will inevitably lead to injuries, and in the Netherworld, getting injured means losing a part of your own Spirit. Those Spirits are waiting for the blood and flesh of Cultivators to devour. In a unique place like the Netherworld, this gives them a chance to escape their confusion and be reborn as new life."
Su Youwan asked, puzzled, "Resurrection from the dead?"
"Not quite. It’s more akin to becoming a new life."
A brand-new life, generated from rotting flesh.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Amidst the vast Nether clouds, the Three-Life Tree fully solidified.
Darkness.
Endless desire slowly took form, and the very air of the Netherworld shuddered violently.
The Cultivators in the Netherworld were nearly all driven mad.
"Quick, seize a Three-Life Fruit!"
They ran like madmen toward the Three-Life Tree.
The tree seemed to possess a demonic magic, exuding an aura of the Dao amidst the Nether Qi, an aura that drew everyone in.
Just get close to the tree, eat the fruit.
And you can Enter the Dao.
And get everything you’ve ever wanted!
Mei Zhaozhao steadied her mind, activated her Heart Method, and suppressed the tremor in her heart.
She murmured, "What powerful temptation."
’This tree is tempting everyone, manipulating their emotions.’
’Once everyone goes mad, they’ll slaughter each other. For the Netherworld, it would be best if all these Cultivators died here. But, constrained by the Nether Monarch’s decrees, they can’t act directly, so they have to resort to this roundabout scheme.’
’The fruit of the Three-Life Tree comes from the Spirits of the Netherworld.’
’Cultivators want to eat the Three-Life Fruit.’
’The Spirits of the Netherworld want to eat the Cultivators.’
’You eat me, I eat you. This is the eternal, unchanging principle of the Cultivation Realm.’
Mei Zhaozhao took a deep breath, her mind clearing completely.
As the masters of temptation themselves, the Hehuan Sect’s Heart Method was exceptionally effective at resisting it.
This proficiency had reached its apex over a thousand years ago.
Back then, the Chang’an Daoist had given the Hehuan Sect Master a sound beating, lecturing the sect about the need for propriety. This incident prompted the Hehuan Sect to alter its Heart Method, which also led to its split into two factions.
One was Desire Destruction, the other Desire Release.
The members of the Hehuan Sect who followed Desire Destruction primarily cultivated the Yin Yang Path, focusing on the harmony of yin and yang. They were a newer branch, and their Heart Method was stronger than that of the Desire Release practitioners.
In contrast, the followers of Desire Release specialized in tricking people to siphon their Magical Power. Although their Heart Method was slightly weaker, they were exceptionally skilled in the art of draining it from others.
Mei Zhaozhao followed the path of Desire Destruction.
Unlike most, on the order of the previous Sect Leader, her desires had been even more thoroughly extinguished.
"Saintess."
Wang Lian stared at the tree in the sky, her eyes filled with longing.
Mei Zhaozhao said coolly, "Go if you want to. But if you die in the Netherworld, I won’t be able to save you."
"I know."
With permission granted, Wang Lian transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the Three-Life Tree.
Mei Zhaozhao remained in the room. She glanced at the three incense sticks inside, which had now burned more than halfway down.
Xiao Hai shuffled out timidly and also looked up at the sky.
"What are you looking at? You want to go, too? You wouldn’t even know what hit you."
Xiao Hai could only retreat back into the room.
Mei Zhaozhao found a clean spot, closed her eyes, and began to regulate her breathing and spiritual energy.
She had yet to enter the Fifth Realm.
But she had no intention of relying on external objects for her breakthrough.
Xiao Hai suddenly spoke up. "My lady, my ancestor... he isn’t dead, is he?"
"Correct."
Mei Zhaozhao didn’t even glance at Xiao Hai.
Her very purpose on this trip was to find Xiao Hai’s ancestor, Xiao Qingfeng.
He had some connection to the Hehuan Sect, having once been the Dao companion of one of the sect’s Elders. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, despite being a Sixth Realm master, Xiao Qingfeng entered the Netherworld and was never heard from again.
’He shouldn’t be dead.’
’I just don’t know where he’s hiding.’
Waves of battle cries echoed from the distance.
Wang Lian had charged in. Even as a disciple of the Nine Gates and Twelve Palaces, she couldn’t resist the temptation of the Three-Life Fruit.
Unlike the supremely talented Mei Zhaozhao, she was only in the Third Realm, and the Fifth Realm was still a distant dream. If she could seize a fruit, however, she could secure her future path.
"The Three-Life Fruit is mine!"
A cultivator in the sky roared, snatching a fruit into his pouch. With a single slash of his blade, he lopped off the head of someone else trying to grab it, a savage grin spreading across his face.
Scarlet blood rained down, dyeing the Netherworld crimson.
Cultivators battled fiercely in the sky. Every so often, severed limbs would plummet to the ground. Blood and body parts mixed together, becoming food for the Spirits.
A red glint flashed in the eyes of the man who had seized the fruit, his expression one of crazed obsession. He then transformed into a streak of light and fled.
Wang Lian concealed herself in the darkness, tailing the man who had taken the fruit.
After a moment, once he had rounded several corners, the man’s figure came into view again. Seeing her chance, Wang Lian quickly closed in. "My dear brother..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a chaotic flurry of lights swarmed them.
’This is the way of the Cultivation Realm. You never know how many people are watching from the shadows, waiting for the moment you relax to tear you limb from limb and devour you.’
Wang Lian had no choice but to fall back.
"Kill!"
Suddenly, a Fourth Realm Cultivator appeared behind Wang Lian—it was the very man who had rented them the room the previous night.
Something had clearly happened to him. The Cultivator’s face was pale, his eyes were vacant, and he just kept muttering, "Kill!"
Nether Qi swirled around the Fourth Realm Cultivator as two new arms burst from his flesh. Then, he transformed into a bloody tempest and shot into the sky.
Wang Lian’s pupils contracted to pinpricks.
She snapped back to her senses.
’That Fourth Realm Cultivator isn’t here for the fruit. He’s here to slaughter. He wants to kill everyone!’
’Why would someone do this!?’
The bloody storm raged anew. In the ensuing chaos, strangely, no one paid any mind to the Three-Life Fruit. It even tumbled from the sky and landed unnoticed in a corner.
Chaos.
Slaughter.
On the scarlet street, someone was slowly walking.
"How come no one picked up this fruit?"
Lu Changyuan crouched down and picked up the Three-Life Fruit from the bloodstained paving stones. "I was just thinking that it seemed like nobody wanted this fruit. Third Prince, our luck is pretty good."