Dharma Aspect

On the dimly lit platform, two figures stood waiting, chatting idly.

"I've discovered that taking the Ghost Subway is incredibly expensive; it costs 10 yuan, which is enough to buy a pack of Heitashan cigarettes."

"Yeah, intercity buses are very expensive, so I've never taken one."

"You've never ridden it? Not even once?"

"Yeah, this subway hasn't been open for very long, less than half a month, I think. The farthest I've ever been was from here to Demon Metropolis, but that was to the Yang World, so it was more expensive—one hundred ghost money per trip."

"So, you haven't actually been to any other ghost towns?"

"Well, generally speaking, we delivery drivers are also very reluctant to go into other people's territory."

What exactly are the taboos?

"I've heard that if you go to someone else's territory and get wiped out, they can recreate 'you' using your identity. This is what's called the merger of websites. There's a legend that if you swallow up all the websites on a line, you'll automatically become the website owner."

"So brutal? Is nobody doing anything about it?"

"That's why we're outsourcing; we have no human rights or human rights whatsoever."

Chen Xiaosan paused for a moment, then said:

"However, this has never happened on our line."

"Why?"

"Because the strongest people on our line are Sister Yan and Old Ironhead. Sister Yan doesn't seem to want to advance in this way. As for General Tie, Old Ironhead is an upright man. It's said that when he was alive, he was the garrison commander of Iron Gate Pass. I can't remember which dynasty it was, but anyway, he died defending against foreign invasions. He didn't surrender and the city and its inhabitants perished. With the two of them around, our line is relatively safe."

"Is that so?"

"They both knew I had been selected for the 'Immortal Ladder Project,' and they took extra care of me. I learned a lot of inside information from them."

Hu Mang smacked his lips and changed the subject.

"By the way, I went to the convenience store the other day and found that prices in your Underworld are still stuck 30 years ago, back when the Heavenly Gate had just opened. So your 3,000 yuan should go by pretty well, right? Then why do you keep complaining about being poor?"

Chen Xiaosan gave Hu Mang a long, meaningful look.

"There's a lot of money, but there are even more places to spend it, Second Brother. Do you know what the biggest benefit of joining the Underworld Bureau is?"

What is it?

"It's Yin Virtue, Second Brother. You can exchange Yin Virtue. A thousand yuan can get you one point. I can get at least three points a month. Do you think I'll still have money left?"

"What?"

Hu Mang was taken aback. It wasn't that he didn't know what Yin Virtue was; it was one of the Five Virtues, and the Immortal Ladder Project taught about it. He had even experienced it up close.

Only--

"Isn't this something that can only be trained within the system? Can it be outsourced too?"

"Yes, but the price is extremely high risk; you could lose your life at any moment. And second brother, among the 26 official departments in the Immortal Ladder Project back then, was one of them called the Underworld Bureau?"

Hu Mang recalled carefully,

"It seems there really isn't."

"Right, so I'm not sure whether my department is officially affiliated or not. Luckily, I'm just a small outsourced worker, so it doesn't really affect someone like me."

So, is the Underworld Bureau the private office of the Ghost Lord?

Just like the Five Great Households, are they all the Ghost Lord's secret agents?

But could a mere private government office control a Ghost Dragon Vein of this level?

Do the other nine agree?

Hu Mang lost interest in talking for a moment and waited silently. The air was filled with a damp smell, a mixture of metallic rust and overheated electrical equipment, which carried a slightly bitter taste when inhaled.

As the time on the electronic display screen drew closer...

The Hu Mang noticed that a few passengers were scattered around them, as if they had appeared suddenly, and the Hu Mang had no recollection of when they had arrived.

Moreover, they cast no shadows.

"Second brother, be careful, don't look around carelessly. There are often stories of delivery drivers disappearing in the subway."

The voice of the Old Third rang in Hu Mang's ears.

The sound was very low, almost drowned out by the roar coming from the tunnel.

Hu Mang glanced at the other party and raised an eyebrow—if he weren't so familiar with it, he would have really thought that the person standing next to him was a ghost.

Dense, ghostly patterns covered the Old Third's body. The patterns were a dark blue color, like some kind of ancient totem. They spread from his neck to his cheeks, wrists, and the backs of his hands, sealing all his pores and obscuring all his yang energy. At this moment, Chen Xiaosan looked almost no different from the shadowless passengers on the platform.

Before he could reply, a deep rumble came from the depths of the tunnel in the distance, as if some enormous creature was emerging from the earth.

The ghostly runes on the tracks began to light up one by one, the dark red light extending forward along the track like a lit fuse, rapidly approaching the platform.

A stronger gust of cold wind surged out of the tunnel, causing the hems of the clothes and hair of the passengers on the platform to flutter slightly, but they did not react and remained in their respective postures, as if they were already used to this way of welcoming the train's arrival.

As for the Hu Mang, the heat in its body dropped rapidly until it reached a freezing point. The yang energy within its twelve meridians and eight extraordinary vessels was suppressed by this yin wind and became completely immobile.

"No wonder Old Third said that deliverymen often disappear in this Ghost Subway. If a deliveryman is alive, he'll be nine-tenths gone after being blown away by this eerie wind."

However, there are also unaffected meridians within the Hu Mang's body— the Cauldron-Boiling Devil Meridian.

This demonic vein's characteristics are inherently biased towards the Yin Fire path, so the Yin Wind is not weakening him at all; on the contrary, it's like adding fuel to the furnace.

As soon as Hu Mang had a thought, the Profound Yin Devil Fire hidden in his demonic veins was ignited. A black flame emerged from his chest and then quickly spread out, covering his entire body and forming a thin layer of black fire.

The flames had no heat, yet they carried an aura that instilled instinctive fear in ghosts. Wherever the flames passed, several ghostly figures that had been quietly approaching recoiled as if burned, emitting a series of soft squeaks, like mice having their tails stepped on.

Amidst the firelight, even chirping sounds could be heard.

Wow, so many ghosts!

Can I eat a few?

"Is it tasty?"

"It's not very tasty, a bit salty. The souls of living people are the best."

Previously, when dealing with that Mechanical Devil Cult, the true power of the Profound Yin Devil Fire was not revealed at all.

That is its ability to deal with life—whether it's life in the Yang World or life in the Underworld.

For the living, it burns yang energy, Qi and Blood, and life force; for ghosts, it burns Yin Qi, soul power, and the very foundation of their existence. Whether it is a physical body in the Yang World or a soul in the Underworld, before the Profound Yin Devil Fire, they are merely different types of fuel.

Then, to Chen Xiaosan's astonishment, the subway doors swung open, and an even stronger gust of yin wind blew in. As the yin wind blew, the yin fire on Hu Mang's body surged even more, resembling a human torch.

This caused the ghostly figures around to run even faster. By the time Chen Xiaosan walked in, Hu Mang had already cleared out the ghosts from the entire carriage.

"Please sit down."

Hu Mang casually sat down in a seat.

Chen Xiaosan gasped. "Your second brother is indeed your second brother. Even after being seriously injured, he's still your second brother."

Is it that powerful?

You didn't come here to hear tales of the Underworld; you came here to become a legend of the Underworld.

Deep within the Iron Gate Pass, on the ruins of the city lord's mansion, now reduced to ashes, Eighth Master Hui silently took out three cigarettes and lit them.

"It seems you know the General Tie once guarded this place, the famous general of the Martial Temple who resisted the foreign invaders, was he called Iron Wall General?"

Behind Eighth Master Hui, a middle-aged man stepped out; he was wearing a faded white business jacket with frayed cuffs, and his face carried a weary look of someone who had been through many hardships, but his eyes were unusually bright, like two lamps burning in the darkness.

It was none other than Minister Hong, who had infiltrated the Underworld.

"Do you admire his name or have you actually seen him? You're a rat spirit from the Yu Dynasty; perhaps you really have met this famous general from the Chen Dynasty."

Minister Hong said with a piercing gaze.

"You're trying to pry into my past and interfere with my emotions; that's not a good habit," Eighth Master Hui laughed.

"It's a professional habit, I can't change it."

Eighth Master Hui nodded.

"I understand. Before the Second Heavenly Emperor fell, he created your Dragon-Slaying Department and gave you eight words of advice: Be ruthless towards family and friends, and have no taboos."

"Minister Hong, you've truly gone all out, braving all taboos. Without asking permission, you single-handedly ventured into the Ghost Dragon Vein under the jurisdiction of the Underworld Bureau, and even attempted to investigate the last remaining Ghost Lord among the Ten Lords of the past."

"But, Minister Hong, are you truly capable of ruthlessly disregarding even your own family?"

"You've come here so aggressively, is it for public or private reasons? Is it to investigate the Ghost Lord in secret, or to resurrect your wife who died at the hands of the Dragon Disruptor?"

Minister Hong's face twitched violently, and the next moment, his aura Nascent Soul Late Stage was unleashed without reservation! The rubble and ashes on the ruins of the entire Iron Gate Pass were stirred up by that shockwave, as if they had encountered an invisible storm, and scattered in all directions.

But what is truly breathtaking is the Dharma Aspect that rises behind him.

The Dharma Aspect did not rise from the ground, but descended from the sky.

The gray sky above Iron Gate Pass, which had just been torn apart by the rain of swords, cracked open again with a huge gash. Space itself was ripped open by some force; from that crack, a gigantic hand reached out first, its five fingers spread wide, each as thick as a palace pillar, with distinct knuckles, covered with dark blue armor scales, the fingertips gleaming with a cold light, aimed at Iron Gate Pass, or more precisely, at the head of Eighth Master Hui.

Eighth Master Hui did not move his feet, but a blurry ghost image appeared above his head, blocking the other party's palm.

He seemed oblivious to the fact that this was a deadly attack, and continued to laugh:

"The cultivation technology of this era is truly incredible; they can even create Artificial Dharma Aspect. Your Heavenly General Dharma Aspect is the same one that was built for the military back then, right? You were among the first batch to be created. It's said that out of 100 chosen candidates, only eight succeeded, and you were one of them. They are now the younger generation of representatives in the military."

"And you are the only one who didn't stay in the military, but instead transferred to the Dragon-Slaying Department. Is this transfer to avenge your deceased wife or to slay dragons for Heavenly Gate? Do you know the difference?"