A Desperate Path to Heaven

The Immeasurable Hall was brightly lit, and the Xieling men scattered in all directions, searching for clues to the main tomb chamber.

Beside the stone bridge, Lu Yan was explaining the fundamentals of cultivation to Chen Yulou.

"The energy between heaven and earth is countless; we call the energy that can be observed and properly utilized 'Primordial Heaven Energy'."

"The key to observing and manipulating this energy is our spiritual power."

"Humans are born with spirit; this spirit refers to the fact that we possess a complete soul."

"The soul is divided into three parts: the True Spirit, the Spirit Body, and the Spirit Essence."

"Spirit Essence radiating outward is spiritual power, which can be viewed as a single entity. The beginning of human cultivation is to make one's soul reach a marvelous resonance, absorbing the scattered spiritual energy from the outside world like breathing to nourish and strengthen one's own soul."

Although Chen Yulou was learned, he was still only half-understanding, and he asked, "Master, is there any difference between this spiritual energy and Primordial Heaven Energy?"

"Of course there is."

Lu Yan shot Chen Yulou a glance before explaining in detail.

"Primordial Heaven Energy is exhaled by the world, but it is not easily used to strengthen the soul."

"Spiritual energy, on the other hand, is actually the spirit essence dissipated by life that has died since the birth of life on Earth. Generally speaking, it has no attributes and is easy to absorb."

Chen Yulou was still confused, puzzledly asking, "Master, according to what you say, shouldn't there be more and more spiritual energy? But haven't I heard that this is the Age of Dharma Decline?"

Teaching a disciple for the first time, Lu Yan felt a bit of a headache, but he patiently explained, "The Age of Dharma Decline refers to the fact that Primordial Heaven Energy is becoming increasingly thin and inactive. As for spiritual energy, there should have been more and more of it, but the 'Severing of Heaven and Earth' occurred during the Ming Dynasty, so the current concentration of spiritual energy is not as high as it once was."

"Furthermore, in modern times, human desires have become increasingly complex. The more developed a large city is, the harder it is to absorb spiritual energy there. If you cultivate there, you are prone to becoming possessed by inner demons if you are not careful, which is why it is called the Age of Dharma Decline."

As the leader of the Xieling, Chen Yulou had naturally heard the legend of Liu Bowen severing the connection between heaven and earth, so he couldn't help but ask curiously, "What exactly is the Severing of Heaven and Earth, and why did Ming Taizu order it?"

Lu Yan hadn't known much about these secret histories of this world originally, but Simu and Yixiu knew them in great detail and had mentioned them to him, so he said, "At the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming, due to the long-term enslavement by the brutal Yuan and years of continuous war, there were human tragedies everywhere. The Divine Land was filled with soaring resentment, spawning countless monsters. Many ghost kings even gathered ghost soldiers and generals, refusing to enter the underworld, intending to reopen a nether realm in the human world."

"Every sect and school sent disciples down the mountain to eliminate the demons, but the monsters were constantly fueled by the resentment, making them truly hard to defeat, and the righteous forces suffered heavy losses instead."

"Seeing that the world was about to become a nether realm, Liu Bowen presented a plan to Ming Taizu: use the God-Sealing Array left in the Primordial Heaven to sever the connection between heaven and earth, sucking in all the ghosts that had become a threat."

Chen Yulou was stunned by this secret, but he had even more questions, so he looked at Lu Yan with hopeful eyes.

Lu Yan did not keep him in suspense and continued, "The so-called Primordial Heaven is the Sea of Consciousness, the destination for the true spirits of all living beings on Earth after death. Both the Eastern underworld and the Western afterlife are located within it."

"The God-Sealing Array was an array used by predecessors to canonize deities and establish the Heavenly Court; you don't need to know too much about that."

"After a person dies, their true spirit will inevitably be sucked into the Sea of Consciousness after forty-nine days, and after assimilation, that person ceases to exist. The underworld, however, is a place of great merit; it not only balances yin and yang, but even though people will still be reincarnated after death, their true spirits will not dissipate."

"After Liu Bowen used the power of the world to activate the God-Sealing Array, the suction of the Sea of Consciousness increased greatly. It not only sucked in and assimilated the many ghosts lingering in the human world, but also sucked a large amount of spiritual energy into the Sea of Consciousness."

"Hundreds of years have passed, and although the concentration of spiritual energy has recovered somewhat, it is still far from what it used to be."

Having said this, Lu Yan looked at Chen Yulou's blank expression and, too lazy to say more, tapped Chen Yulou between the eyebrows, transmitting a set of meditation techniques into his mind.

"Enough of that. I am passing this meditation technique to you; it is the foundation, so practice it well."

Chen Yulou felt an itchy sensation between his eyebrows, and a large amount of complex and obscure symbolic information suddenly appeared in his mind. He couldn't stand steadily for a moment and staggered back two steps.

"Master, this move of yours is amazing; otherwise, I don't know how long it would have taken to learn so many things."

Chen Yulou closed his eyes to organize the knowledge in his mind, looking at Lu Yan with admiration.

"It's good you didn't turn into an idiot. It seems your spiritual power is indeed quite good; if I did this to an ordinary person, they would have become a fool immediately."

Lu Yan looked at Chen Yulou's beaming face and said bluntly.

Chen Yulou's face stiffened, he was speechless, and he simply stood to the side to sulk.

"Found it!"

"Chief, Master Lu, we found it!"

Just then, a medium-built Xieling brother ran over, panting heavily.

"Let's go, lead the way."

Chen Yulou's spirit lifted, and he assumed the air of the Xieling leader.

Walking along the path diagonally below the stone bridge, a tunnel appeared. The tunnel was filled with mist, and several Xieling brothers were waiting nearby with lanterns, not daring to enter rashly.

To win the respect of his men, Chen Yulou had always liked to lead by example, and this time was no exception. Holding the Little Divine Blade in his right hand, he paced step by step into the depths of the tunnel.

After walking for a while, he saw a stone door in the depths, and in front of the door sat a figure in a black robe with a strange attire.

But with his newly accepted master, Lu Yan, by his side, Chen Yulou was not afraid of any demons or ghosts, so he gathered his courage and walked toward the figure.

Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a stiff corpse. The man was fat and tall, with a square nose and wide mouth, and a very long beard. His eyes were still open, revealing two pitch-black, eerie holes.

Seeing that the man wore a black hat and boots with upturned toes, dressed like a ghost-catcher from a stage play, Chen Yulou's heart was pounding. But with his new master and many Xieling brothers watching, how could he show fear?

Chen Yulou stepped forward and carefully poked the corpse with the Little Divine Blade, discovering only medicine bottles, jars, and puppet-like wooden and paper men. A large bag hanging from his waist contained some pitch-black, hard beans, which made him feel even more strange.

Suddenly, Chen Yulou discovered a gold medal on the side of his waist, inscribed with four vigorous and powerful seal characters: Guanshan Taibao. He couldn't help but exclaim, "So it is the Guanshan Taibao of the Great Ming!"

Chen Yulou pondered for a moment, picked out the waist medal, and ordered, "Two of you, come here. Do not touch the corpse; drag it outside and cremate it on the spot."

"Yes!"

Two skilled Xieling men immediately used bamboo poles to hook the corpse and drag it out.

"Wait."

Lu Yan stepped forward, taking the Wooden Man, the Paper Man, and the pitch-black beans from the large bag to examine them closely in his hands.

Chen Yulou, possessing a keen eye, saw his master's interest and explained from the side, "Master, during the Ming Dynasty, there was a group of tomb raiders known as the Guanshan Taibao, who excelled in Mountain-Viewing Finger-Guidance. It is said they plundered many imperial mausoleums with remarkable skill, though their true purpose for tomb raiding remains unknown."

"These Guanshan Taibao were extremely mysterious; rumor has it they specialized in a form of puppetry involving Paper Man rituals, but beyond that, nothing is known."

"Hmm, this energy is quite interesting."

Lu Yan had already activated his Sharingan. Watching the profound aura interlinking the Paper Man and the beans, he couldn't help but reveal a thoughtful smile.