Xu Ying stood at the bow of the ship and gazed toward both banks. He saw the mountains and rivers along the Nai River trembling without end. The Netherworld was still invading the Mortal Realm, with new mountains and rivers continuously surging out of another world, squeezing against the original mountains, rivers, and land on both sides. The momentum was astonishing!
The tower ship sped across the water, its pace growing faster and faster. The mountains and rivers on both banks flashed past in a blur. Xu Ying was secretly startled. At this rate, it probably won't be long before this ship can cover a hundred li!
The farthest place he had ever been was only a hundred li away. Now, standing aboard the ship, he suddenly felt uneasy. If she doesn't take me back, will I still know the way? I've also heard that some people sell children...
In his mind, Great Bell gave a cold laugh and thought, This boy doesn't even realize he's being sold by the demoness! The demoness must have another motive. I wonder what she sees in Xu Ying.
Xu Ying had no idea what it was thinking. He asked the Maiden in the Coffin, "What does visualization mean?"
Great Bell was furious. "You brat! You asked my enemy instead of me! If you'd asked me, how could I have refused to answer? Wait, he seems to have asked me before. I forgot to tell him and only told him how to practice inner contemplation. Careless of me—I let the demoness get there first."
The Maiden stood at the bow, her bearing graceful and outstanding. "You don't know what visualization means? I see. By your generation, the lineage of Qi Refiners has already declined severely, so it's understandable that you don't know. In fact, by my generation, many things had already been lost. The Great Villain's influence was simply too great."
She paused, then continued, "Visualization means establishing an image from nothing, using it to stabilize the spirit and consciousness. To establish an image from nothing means using your spirit and consciousness to visualize a manifestation of the Great Dao within the void, subduing the mind-monkey and tethering the heart-horse. When visualizing, you must create something from nothing and refine the false into the real. Only by using this to cultivate spells and divine abilities can you attain the Dao."
Xu Ying's heart stirred when he heard this. "The method of cultivating visualization sounds somewhat similar to Hidden Scenery."
The Maiden asked in puzzlement, "What is Hidden Scenery?"
Xu Ying took out that volume of the Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method. "This Nu Master technique says that Hidden Scenery is a manifestation of the Great Dao, refined by drawing on the power of the Ni Wan Secret Treasury. Hidden Scenery also creates something from nothing and refines the false into the real. It can be refined into spells or divine abilities!"
He unfolded the Qi Refining Method, only to see a strand of hair fall onto the open page. Xu Ying looked up and found that the Maiden had come to his side at some point and was tilting her head to study the Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method in his hands.
Her hair fell over her shoulder and landed on Xu Ying's shoulder.
Her skin was snow-white, and her neck slender. Set against her black hair, it looked even whiter. She hardly looked like an old corpse that had been imprisoned for a thousand years.
To Xu Ying's surprise, there was no corpse stench on her. Instead, she carried a faint, pleasant fragrance that made him unable to resist taking two more breaths.
This was the first time Xu Ying had been so close to her. His heart and thoughts wandered as he slowly turned the pages, letting her examine them carefully.
The Maiden was extremely serious. Xu Ying secretly studied her and felt that her profile was even prettier than her face from the front. Her eyelashes occasionally fluttered, her eyes were like jewels, the tip of her nose was delicate and straight, and her lips were cherry-pink and alluring.
Xu Ying felt his heart race and hurriedly looked away. "The Female Ghost isn't just polite—she's beautiful too."
After all, he was still a boy of fourteen or fifteen. When he saw a beautiful member of the opposite sex, his heart and thoughts naturally wandered, even though that person might be a Female Ghost or a female zombie.
In Xu Ying's mind, Great Bell secretly sneered. This brat doesn't know how to visualize. He starts mooning over any pretty woman he sees. His self-control is pathetic. He probably has already thought of what to name their children!
Despite saying that, it still worried that the Maiden might discover it. The mouth of the bell silently covered that chaotic round egg, and it thought, If I cover the Ni Wan Secret Treasury, the demoness will think I'm a Chaos Egg and won't discover me.
The Maiden quickly skimmed through the Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method, closed the scripture, and pondered for a moment. "It is indeed rather crude. The Hidden Scenery in this book is an incomplete method. Cultivating it will lead you astray, needlessly consuming your lifespan. It is extremely sinister. Don't cultivate it."
"Consume my lifespan?" Xu Ying's heart jolted.
The Ni Wan Hidden Scenery Qi Refining Method was a cultivation method the Zhou Family had passed down to its disciples. How could the Zhou Family not know that it contained such a huge flaw?
The flaw in the book definitely wasn't left behind by the Master of Ni Wan Palace. Then the only possibility is that the Zhou Family deliberately taught its disciples this incomplete method!
Cold sweat broke out on Xu Ying's forehead. The Zhou Family used these disciples to throw their lives away for it, then used this cultivation method to consume their lifespans. Its intentions were truly vicious!
That way, the Zhou Family's Nu techniques would never spread beyond the family. Even if they did, what was passed on would be a method that caused a swift death. The Zhou Family used this method to preserve its own status! he thought.
The Maiden continued, "Although the Hidden Scenery in this book contains enormous hidden dangers, its underlying concept is excellent. It is not inferior to the cultivation principles of Qi Refiners—in fact, it may even surpass them. Judging from this crude cultivation method, Hidden Scenery may not merely be used to refine spells. It may be a method of latent transformation."
She frowned slightly, puzzled. "Have the cultivation methods of Qi Refiners been eliminated? But I don't think latent transformation through Hidden Scenery can surpass the methods of Qi Refiners. What caused the extinction of the Qi Refiners?"
She had been imprisoned for several thousand years, and everything in the present era felt unfamiliar to her.
Xu Ying asked, "Miss, what does latent transformation through Hidden Scenery mean?"
The Maiden said, "Judging from this cultivation method, the purpose of a Nu Master cultivating Hidden Scenery is to refine a miniature immortal realm inside their body, then ultimately transform and conceal their form within it, achieving eternal life. It's just that this cultivation method is too shallow and never explains how to accomplish latent transformation through Hidden Scenery."
Xu Ying's eyes shone. To refine a miniature immortal realm inside his body and conceal his form within it—could that make him deathless and indestructible?
Wouldn't that make him an immortal?
The inheritance of the Master of Ni Wan Palace sounded not so bad after all.
"Then how is Hidden Scenery cultivated?" Xu Ying suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked.
The Maiden was somewhat displeased. She said indifferently, "You and I walk the same path. Your inheritance is no weaker than mine, so why bother learning latent transformation through Hidden Scenery?"
Xu Ying stood dumbfounded. Only after a long while did he come back to himself. "My inheritance is that powerful? Wait, what inheritance do I have? Is it the Taiyi Guiding Technique?"
He was confused. The Taiyi Guiding Technique only contained guiding exercises for the Qi Gathering Stage and had no subsequent methods.
Suddenly, the tower ship headed west. By the middle of the night, its speed gradually slowed. Xu Ying no longer knew how far the ship had traveled along the Nai River. It must have been at least two or three thousand li.
"Is this Huaihua or Tongren? No, Huaihua is just west of Yongzhou, and Tongren is only a few hundred li from here."
He had no idea where the tower ship had reached. He was only a country boy, and the farthest places he knew were the prefectures and commanderies around Yongzhou.
Xu Ying looked ahead. The Nai River suddenly divided here, forming hundreds of tributaries that spread in all directions like the veins of a leaf, flowing into the vast darkness.
Along the banks passed by the tributaries, Ghost Fires flickered here and there. From a distance, Ghost Fires covered an area over a hundred li in every direction, scattered like stars across the sky, resembling a world of ghosts!
Legend said that the Nai River guided souls into the Netherworld, sparing them the torment of wind and sun.
When a person first died, their soul left the body and became a ghost. The slightest breeze could tear a soul apart, while the slightest sunlight could scatter it into nothingness. Even the yang energy on an ordinary person's body could strike at a ghost.
Only after entering the Netherworld could ghosts be considered safe.
Xu Ying looked around, but it was deep into the night, and he could not see very far. All he could see were endless Ghost Fires.
"Why are there so many Ghost Fires here?" he asked in a low voice.
The tower ship slowed down and entered the main channel among the hundreds of tributaries of the Nai River. Ghost Fires glowed dimly along both banks, and villages and walled cities could faintly be seen.
Perhaps because it was nighttime, there was no sign of human activity.
The Maiden opened the upright Black Coffin and lifted its lid. After rummaging around inside for a moment, she took out a whip two or three zhang long and handed it to Xu Ying. "Stay on the ship. When the tower ship stops, set it on fire. After the tower ship begins burning, take this whip and lash the sky. Keep lashing until you have exhausted your strength."
Xu Ying examined the whip. It was utterly ordinary, woven from thin hemp rope. A strand of golden-yellow tail hair hung from the tip, though he had no idea what animal it had come from.
"Will this really send the gods away?" Xu Ying asked doubtfully.
The Maiden smiled, her eyes curving like crescent moons and utterly captivating. "Naturally."
Xu Ying let out a long breath and smiled. "Leave it to me. You can rest assured."
But the Maiden was not reassured. "I refined this ship three thousand years ago. Ordinary fire cannot ignite it. I'll give you a flame as well."
Behind her, the Maiden's Primordial Spirit extended her right hand. The tips of her thumb and ring finger touched, and a faint flame appeared at her fingertips. She brought it before Xu Ying.
Xu Ying did not know how to receive the flame. But the Maiden's Primordial Spirit extended her right hand into his Realm of Serenity. Her thumb and ring finger parted, and the flame quietly floated in the air.
"This flame is the Pure Yang Strange Fire I found. It was formed by Heaven and Earth and can aid your cultivation."
The Maiden disembarked and drifted away. Her clear voice came from the distance. "You only need to circulate your spirit and consciousness into the flame to control its movement. After setting the ship ablaze, refine this fire. Use the true yang within it to temper your body and soul. It can help you cultivate a pure-yang body."
Her figure quickly vanished into the darkness, and her voice grew fainter and fainter. "Wait half an hour, then set the fire and lash the whip. After that, you may leave on your own. This place is dangerous, so don't stay long. Once I finish my business, I will find you and send you back to Mount Wu Wang!"
Xu Ying watched her leave, feeling warmth spread through his body. The Pure Yang Strange Fire in his Realm of Serenity radiated waves of yang energy. Its effects were surprisingly similar to Thunder Sound Body Tempering and Great Sun Body Tempering—it could temper the physical body!
What astonished him even more was that when his primordial qi passed through the flame, it grew purer and purer!
"It can even temper primordial qi!"
Xu Ying was astonished and tried tempering his spirit and consciousness. To his surprise and delight, his spirit and consciousness were tempered as well, becoming tougher and purer!
"If I can use this fire to temper my body, spirit and consciousness, and primordial qi, my strength will definitely increase greatly!" Xu Ying stood at the bow, facing the sinister wind over the Nai River, filled with high spirits.
Great Bell flew out from behind his head and said eerily, "A Ying, what are you going to name your children?"
Xu Ying asked in puzzlement, "Children? What children?"
Great Bell sneered. "You and the demoness were being all lovey-dovey. Didn't you think about having children with her?"
Xu Ying's face flushed. "How could that be? Besides, how are children made?"
"You use your..." Great Bell realized what it was saying and hurriedly stopped. "Never mind!"
At that moment, Xu Ying saw a ragged man with a sallow face emerge from the forest on the left bank of the Nai River, leaning on a wooden staff and struggling forward.
Behind the ragged man, the forest shook, and several more shabbily dressed old men and women emerged. They too leaned on wooden staffs and trudged forward with difficulty.
More and more people came out of the forest—men and women, old and young, entire families dragging themselves along, supporting one another as they walked forward in silence.
By the light of the Ghost Fires along the Nai River, Xu Ying could see shocking, pus-filled sores where their clothes had torn. Flies buzzed around them in swarms.
Xu Ying looked in the direction they had come from and saw a mighty procession of refugees stretching for several li like a winding black dragon.
"They are..." Xu Ying murmured.
Great Bell's voice carried a hint of gravity. "They are plague victims. They've contracted an epidemic."
Xu Ying looked farther away. That was precisely where the Ghost Fires spread for a hundred li. The plague victims must have come from there.
"Where they came from, there was most likely a flood, a war, or a famine," Great Bell said in a low voice. "I've hung alone in the Stone Mountain Desolate Temple for three thousand years. I've seen this happen many times."
Suspended in the Stone Mountain Desolate Temple, it had witnessed countless floods, wars, and famines over the past several thousand years. Corpses had covered the ground, unburied, and epidemics had always bred in their wake.
The tower ship continued forward unhurriedly. More and more plague victims appeared on both banks of the Nai River. They filled the mountain villages and walled cities—everywhere was crawling with them.
The plague victims trudged onward, following the riverbank toward who knew where.
People kept collapsing. After their bodies twitched a few times, they completely stopped breathing.
Yet the others acted as if they saw nothing and continued walking on their own. Their gazes were dull, as though they were walking corpses.
"A Ying, this should be the source where the Nai River changed course."
Great Bell's voice was deep. "Someone came here to rescue the demoness and slaughtered people on a massive scale, causing the epidemic to spread. A Ying, the demoness definitely has ill intentions in asking you to help her this time. She must be plotting something!"
Xu Ying remained standing at the bow, staring blankly at the plague victims.
He had cultivated the Heavenly Eye. Through it, his view of the world became completely different.
In the sky, thick flesh-red tentacles floated, drooping down soundlessly.
These flesh-colored tentacles were incredibly nimble, as though they had extended from the depths of another space. Their source could not be seen.
They came behind the plague victims and split into countless tiny tentacles, which pierced the pus-filled sores of those sallow-faced people, writhing and sucking slowly.
Xu Ying looked into the distance. Ghost Fires covered the land, and in the skies above those places, countless tentacles also reached out from another space, descending from the heavens and sinking into the darkness below.
One flesh-red tentacle after another came from another world. They crisscrossed through the dim sky, covering it and blocking the stars of the night. They split into even more tentacles, swelling and shrinking, then swelling and shrinking again as they sucked away the life force of the plague victims.
The scene was extraordinarily real—and extraordinarily unreal.
This was the sight revealed by his Heavenly Eye!
Xu Ying struggled to move his gaze. His Adam's apple bobbed. "Heavens..."
Everywhere his eyes reached, the entire dim and indistinct sky was covered by endlessly writhing red flesh. He could not see its end.
An inconceivable creature shrouded the sky, lowering countless flesh-colored tentacles toward the people in the lands to the west.
Before you continue