Netherworld and Azure Sky, Both Unseen

Deep within the Nine Nethers, the Ghost Gate Pass—which in some sense represented the boundary between life and death—had actually appeared in the mortal world!

This explained the thick fog that had refused to disperse. The fog was not man-made, but a natural condensation of the heavenly principles and earthly laws.

Because the Netherworld and the Azure Sky could not meet. If the Ghost Gate Pass appeared in the mortal world, concealment was inevitable.

The wandering souls gathered here, far outnumbering the living who had once inhabited Small Forest Town, now also had a reason for their presence. Wandering souls gravitate toward the Ghost Gate Pass—an instinct unrelated to consciousness. The wandering souls of the entire Maple Forest City domain had likely all converged here. And it was foreseeable that as long as the Ghost Gate Pass remained, the gathered souls would only grow more numerous and stronger!

But how could the Ghost Gate Pass appear here?

Wei Yan, without a moment's hesitation after grasping the meaning of those three characters, pulled a crimson, archaic-looking incense stick from his robes and thrust it toward Zhao Lang. "Quick!"

—Of course, he carried flint on him, and he was no stranger to fire-element techniques. But none were as fast as Zhao Lang.

Having partnered with Wei Yan for years, their tacit understanding went without saying. The moment the crimson incense was handed over, Zhao Lang rubbed his fingers together, a spark leaping to the incense, which burned through the not-insubstantial stick in an extremely short time.

Only then did he speak, his expression somewhat grim. "That was your last red incense."

In the Zhuang Kingdom's military, incense sticks were divided into three types: black, red, and yellow. Only those of a certain standing could possess them—they were rare strategic items. When the black incense burned, it signaled the entire nation to fight to the death; few in all of Zhuang were qualified to light it.

When the yellow incense burned to ash, it meant the lighter was trapped in a desperate situation.

Between these two, the red incense signified the danger of a city's fall or territory's loss!

Once the red incense was lit, the entire Maple Forest City would be shaken, and Wei Quji would certainly be alerted.

At present, both the City Guard and the Criminal Investigation Bureau within Maple Forest City were tied up, and Wei Quji, stationed at the City Lord's Mansion, was a single thread that moved the whole web. Was a town like Small Forest Town, where no enemy beyond wandering souls had yet appeared, worth Wei Quji's personal visit? Or rather, if Wei Yan's judgment proved wrong, and Wei Quji's departure caused problems in Maple Forest City, could he bear that responsibility?

But there was no need to dwell on these questions in the face of those three characters.

Because... that was the Ghost Gate Pass.

It appeared in countless legends, a faint echo of the mythical age.

In fact, the moment the phantom of the red incense flared before him, the lord of the city, Wei Quji, had already launched himself into the air without hesitation!

He soared into the sky, his entire form wrapped in a gale, howling as he sped toward Small Forest Town.

Almost simultaneously, Dong A, who had been in quiet cultivation, suddenly opened his eyes. No matter the time, a powerhouse of this level must remain stationed within Maple Forest City. Since Wei Quji had gone, he could not leave.

He did not move, but his authoritative voice had already carried beyond the chamber. "Order every disciple who can be reached—regardless of what mission they are on or what cultivation they are performing—to cease immediately and return to Maple Forest City!"

Indeed, the Daoist Academy nurtured the hope of Zhuang Kingdom, but that came with a long process of growth. Yet when the nation's territory was in peril, everyone had to fight for it.

Meanwhile, the current vice-head of the academy, Song Qifang, sat cross-legged before a furnace, gently waving a palm-leaf fan to tend the flame. A very low, very soft sigh escaped him. "Old, eh..."

In Small Forest Town, Wei Yan did not pause after lighting the red incense. Instead, he immediately swept his long blade horizontally, a sharp blade-light nearly cutting through the air before dissipating against that archway.

Yes, it vanished without a sound, without a ripple.

The subsequent attacks were the same. Whether fire or wind, every technique hurled at it sank like a stone into the sea. Ling He even threw his own sword at it, but it too disappeared without a trace.

It was as if it did not exist—and not only it, but everything that touched it also did not exist.

Huang Azhan stood before the Ghost Gate Pass, hesitating and pacing for a long time. He had unwavering confidence in his own boy's urine, but after seeing Ling He's sword vanish, he very regretfully chose to give up.

"This vortex... should be connected to the Netherworld. Using all these wrongfully dead souls here... our attacks all land in the Netherworld, not in the mortal realm." Wang Changxiang furrowed his brow, analyzing. "What appears before us is probably a reflection of the Ghost Gate Pass—and even that reflection hasn't fully formed."

Not fully formed?

The characters on the plaque—Jiang Wang had seen them in the Great Void Illusion Realm and knew they were Dao script, characters that expounded the principles of heaven and earth. He had been pondering what the appearance of the Ghost Gate Pass in Small Forest Town signified, but it was only upon hearing Wang Changxiang's analysis that a chill ran through him.

Then, when would the true reflection of the Ghost Gate Pass fully take shape, and in what manner? And ultimately, what would it bring to this place?

The answer came quickly.

It was the countless wandering souls that had filled Small Forest Town—endless to kill, impossible to eradicate. But now they swarmed in, converging at the center.

The group could no longer spare attention for anything else. They could only repeat their earlier tactic: retreat a distance, then use fire-element techniques to draw a circle, fortifying their position within.

If anyone could pierce the fog and look down from the sky, they would see countless wandering souls charging forward, drawn by some force—a vast, surging river of wandering souls, pouring in like a hundred streams into the sea!

And the disciples of Maple Forest City Daoist Academy, along with Wei Yan and Zhao Lang, were like bitter, jagged rocks being scoured by that river.

Unable to move, unable to resist, with no end in sight!

"The wandering souls of the entire Maple Forest City domain are being drawn here. Maybe... we're going to die here?" Wang Changxiang gave a bitter laugh.

These wandering souls were not particularly strong on their own; earlier, within the formation, they had moved freely among them. But that was only because the souls had been wandering mindlessly, attacking only when the living drew near. Now, as they converged on one place, the group happened to be blocking their path.

Too many—nearly endless!

At least in the brief glimpse Wang Changxiang managed to clear with his vision, he saw no end to the wandering souls.

What they did not know was that, if before this place had only gathered the wandering souls of Small Forest Town's deceased over the years, while sporadically attracting souls from farther away, now the un-dispersed wandering souls of the entire Maple Forest City domain were converging here. At speeds far exceeding what they could achieve on their own.

The dense lines of wandering souls streaking across the sky formed a cobweb-like pattern in spiritual sight across the entire Maple Forest City domain—a sight that moved countless powerhouses.

"No," Wei Yan said coldly, his heart equally so. "The City Lord will arrive soon."

No one knew how much he had not wanted to light that red incense, how much he had not wanted that man to see him in a state of weakness, asking for help. But he could not. Faced with a legendary existence like the Ghost Gate Pass, he could not gamble the safety of all Maple Forest City for the sake of his own pride.

Jiang Wang also watched the wandering souls that bypassed the "rocks," howling as they rushed toward the Ghost Gate Pass, only to be absorbed and dissolved in an instant. His feelings were complex, beyond description.

These wandering souls likely had no consciousness. So there was no struggle, no howling, and it seemed no regret, no pain.

But they had all once been living people. They were all souls of the living that should have been laid to rest!

Among them, perhaps there were those who had once brushed past him, or people he had known, or his neighbors, his grandparents, or his father.

He strained his eyes among the dense throng of wandering souls, searching for his father, who had died sick in bed—that man who was not tall but had always held up his sky.

Those wandering souls flashed by in an instant, like lightning streaking past from every direction. He stared only at the direction from Phoenix Creek Town, his eyes reddened from straining, but he simply could not see clearly.

Having lived alone all this time, he did not want to show weakness. Later, with An'an to care for, he had to be strong as an older brother. He had almost never said it, but he truly, truly missed him!

Jiang Wang longed to see him one more time, yet he was terrified of seeing him.

Terrified of that helplessness before the Ghost Gate Pass.

Suddenly, as if reaching some critical point, the vast River of Wandering Souls was emptied in an instant by some force. And the phantom of the Ghost Gate Pass above the vortex became incomparably clear and solid.

In the next moment, Maple Forest City Lord Wei Quji descended from the sky, wreathed in a tornado. But the phantom of the Ghost Gate Pass vanished in a flash at the same time!

Vaguely, Jiang Wang seemed to feel a wisp of breeze brush his cheek, but after a dazed moment, everything before his eyes had changed.

The massive vortex was gone, and the mist that had gathered over Small Forest Town immediately dispersed.

Everything dissipated—neither the Netherworld nor the azure sky could be seen!