When humans died, they became ghosts; when ghosts died, they became Guǐ; when Guǐ died, they became Xī; when Xī died, they became Yí; when Yí died, they became Wēi; when Wēi died, they became formless.
Without color, it was called Yí.
Without sound, it was called Xī-
This was, in fact, also a path of cultivation within the Netherworld Ghost Dao.
The origins of yin ghosts in this world mostly fell into just three categories.
The first was when a cultivator's fleshly body deteriorated beyond use, but their Origin Spirit refused to enter the Yellow Springs to reincarnate. Instead, they absorbed the qi of turbid yin and declining punishment, departing from their original nature and changing their substance to refine themselves into yin spirit ghosts.
By switching to the Netherworld Ghost Dao, they could attain another lifetime of longevity.
This method was very common in certain Landmasses and Realm-Voids. Within a clan or sect, humans and ghosts gathered under one roof, and ghost mothers shared rooms with human sons; none of this was anything unusual.
But Xudu Heaven belonged to the ranks of the Heavenly Firmaments, far beyond comparison with Landmasses or Realm-Voids. Moreover, this was an age when the Immortal Dao manifested its divine might, its splendor suppressing all the myriad other mysterious paths of tribulation.
It enclosed heaven and earth, breathing yin and yang.
It guided the four seasons and governed the eight extremities-
The cultivators of this Heavenly Firmament were all extraordinarily proud. If their fleshly bodies were damaged, most of their Origin Spirits would choose reincarnation, hoping to enter the Immortal Sect’s lineage again in their next lives, rather than refine their Origin Spirits into a lesser state and continue cultivating as yin ghosts.
The second was places of turbid yin such as the Earth