The Grotto-Heaven Project

"... So, Second Brother, the reason you disappeared wasn't because you were killed by someone, but because you found the Yin-Yang Passage at Iron Gate Pass and returned to the Yang World?"

"Yes."

"... Although that's a bit of a lie, since you've said it, I have no choice but to believe you."

"You've trusted me. I'll talk to my mother about your promotion later. I'll need you to take that kid Huang Jiayou with you."

"OK."

After hanging up the phone, Hu Mang turned to look at his Mama Hu, who was still enthusiastically gathering wild vegetables.

"Mom, I remember you mentioning that Xie Xianyu used a famous formation during his Northern Expedition, the one that defeated 50,000 cavalry with only 3,000, called the Receding Moon Formation, right?"

"Yes."

"This Receding Moon Formation is a variant of the Crescent Moon Formation, right?"

"Yes, what's wrong?" Mama Hu said without looking up.

"Standing by the water, turning death into life, that's truly amazing," Hu Mang sighed. Even without seeing the complete version, the first version alone was exaggerated enough.

"Xie Xianyu must have died with his eyes wide open in disbelief," he sighed again.

If he had died peacefully, would he have needed to rise from the dead in the Underworld?

"Huh?" Mama Hu turned her head, looking puzzled.

"It's nothing, wait, why do you look so relaxed? We still have a bunch of messy things to deal with at home."

"It's all settled. We don't need to worry about Pine Peak Security anymore," Mama Hu said with relief.

How did you know?

"The Ghost Lord just called me and told me that the matter is resolved, and we can go back whenever we want now."

"..." Hu Mang was stunned for a moment. "You still have the Ghost Lord's phone number? He can make phone calls?"

Mama Hu rolled her eyes.

"What era are we living in? Everyone has a telephone."

The Underworld, the Iron Gate Pass

Eighth Master Hui slumped to the ground somewhat disheveled, glanced at his claws that had been exposed in their true form, then looked at the two people in front of him, and laughed:

"One Nascent Soul Late Stage fighting two Nascent Soul Late Stage is indeed too much of a stretch, especially since I'm a Demon Cultivator."

"Since you can't beat us, come with us," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

"Don't worry, at worst you'll go to jail, it won't really cost you your life. There are still rules among the Ten Lords."

Eighth Master Hui shook his head, looked at Uncle Hong, and said, "The Military Department's killing fist is still as powerful as ever. However, Uncle Hong, sometimes when people leave the military for a long time, they become unaware of a lot of information. Even if your former colleagues wanted to pass on information to you, it wouldn't be convenient. After all, the Military Department is a special department. Unless the Ten Lords issue a permit, it's not easy for the Dragon-Slaying Department to go in and investigate."

Minister Hong frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Eighth Master Hui chuckled, "It's nothing much, it's just that you probably don't know, but the Underworld has been communicating with the outside world for a long time. Let me show you."

Eighth Master Hui reached into his pocket and pulled out a black box about the size of a fist.

"Although the plan to explore extraterrestrial Spirit Vein failed, it wasn't without any gains. For example, this spatial storage box—I've heard that in the ancient cultivation Immortal Realm there was something called Storage Bag, and this is a replica of it. However, its capacity is limited, and it can't even hold items with Spiritual Qi. I wonder which technical difficulty we couldn't overcome."

Under the watchful eyes of the two Nascent Soul stage experts, Eighth Master Hui actually pulled out a television set, muttering to himself as he did so.

"So now there's a signal in the Underworld, you guys don't know, it was so boring staying here before."

Eighth Master Hui switched the TV directly to the official channel, where the host was reading a script in a serious broadcasting tone.

"... Initiated by the Ghost Lord and following a referendum by the Ten Lords, it has been decided to launch a new talent selection program called the 'Heavenly Ladder Project,' in addition to the 'Immortal Ladder Project Grotto-Heaven Project' and the 'Immortal Ladder Project.' This program will abandon the past talent selection methods that primarily focused on academic performance and qualifications, and will instead select individuals proficient in astrology and horoscopes, contributing to the future era of big data cultivation and artificial intelligence cultivation..."

"What do you mean?" The middle-aged man frowned.

Eighth Master Hui took out an old pipe and shakily lit it with his paw.

"The internal report has arrived. You'll understand once you read it. But I can also briefly explain it to you: reincarnation, in the literal sense, the kind of reincarnation you understand."

"Ten Lords, to be precise, when Ghost Lord was researching the Ghost Dragon Vein, he discovered that if the Dragon Vein is manipulated in a special way, some historical figures associated with the Dragon Vein can be reincarnated into this world by unlocking the 'Secret of the Womb'."

"To put it simply, it's like a living person suddenly gaining a strange memory, except that this memory comes from ancient times."

"However, this matter will definitely impact the existing values and order of Heavenly Gate, so it will only be a small-scale experiment, and it will be tested first through the Ghost Dragon Vein."

"Because the Ghost Dragon Vein is ultimately just a shadow of the Dragon Vein; if problems arise, intervention can be carried out in advance."

"And the Five Great Households, as well as the monsters of Pine Peak Security, are all test subjects for this plan."

"So, the Ten Lords actually knew about this plan all along?" Minister Hong frowned. "Then why didn't our Dragon-Slaying Department receive the corresponding intelligence?"

"Experiments always have their problems. If everything had to be compliant and legal, then nothing would be done. So at first, Ghost Lord was the one manipulating things in the Underworld, and I was responsible for carrying them out in the Yang World. Later, Ghost Lord brought in these two, and only after they had achieved certain experimental results did they submit them to the Ten Lords Meeting for review," Eighth Master Hui laughed, without any intention of hiding anything.

"What I managed to gain was just this much time. Now that the Ten Lords' resolution has been passed, everything is compliant now, regardless of whether it was before. You two, if you still want to drag me along for the investigation, I can go with you. It's fine, since someone will reimburse my travel expenses. But if you, or the people behind you, have any other ideas, then I'm sorry to disappoint you somewhat."

The middle-aged man frowned and said:

"Wait, I still don't understand. Whether you're talking about reincarnation or unraveling the mysteries of the womb, who exactly is being reincarnated?"

"Who could be associated with the Dragon Vein? We can't really resurrect the emperors of the Five Dynasties and the Old Heavenly Gate, can we? There are no emperors in the new era, and the Five Families' lineages are still intact. Bringing their ancestors back without their consent doesn't seem like a good idea."

Eighth Master Hui exhaled a smoke ring and laughed:

"It's better to leave those unproductive old fogies in the past; those who can be brought back are all talented individuals."

What kind of talent?

"The Seventy-Two Sages of the Martial Temple, the Ten Great Generals of the Steam Age, and some top experts in related fields of the Electronic Cultivation Era—of course, not everyone can be resurrected. This requires the Dragon-Slaying Department Division to carefully screen them; it's a huge undertaking."

Minister Hong remained silent, but he was already 80% convinced.

Or rather, he was still in awe of this massive project that had been brought back from the brink of collapse.

"Oh, by the way, most of those related to the military will enter the Military Department. This is also a condition we agreed to. Right now, all Ten Lords are scrambling for talent. What could be more valuable than talent proven by history? Fans of famous generals should be overjoyed. After all, it's a real test of which sword is sharper between the previous dynasty and the current dynasty."

"Oh, by the way, Minister Hong, there should be some ancient talents flowing into your Dragon-Slaying Department. Didn't your Minister Huang keep complaining to the higher-ups that your Dragon-Slaying Department was short-staffed? Well, now, they've sent you a wave of talent."

"Can the first and second generation of the Ten Lords be resurrected?" the middle-aged man pressed.

"Those who have guided humanitarian revolutions are not within the scope of Dragon Vein reincarnation," said Eighth Master Hui, his expression turning serious. "Moreover, I don't believe those humanitarian leaders would be willing to do so."

He paused, then chuckled, "But I still want to apologize to Minister Hong. There's really no way I can bring your man back to life."

"Those monsters from Pine Peak Security?" Minister Hong took a deep breath and asked.

"The demonic art of soul transference, the ignorance of the demons themselves, the remnants of souls from the Underworld, and some modern cultivation techniques have created a group of modern spirits who believe themselves to be ancient demons."

"In other words, apart from the Five Great Households, all those monsters who consider themselves ancient are actually modern beings."

Minister Hong remained silent for a long time, then turned and left.

The middle-aged man, however, remained where he was and continued to press for answers.

"The Demonic Dao Soul-Transferring Great Technique —that falls under the category of forbidden Devil Cultivation Method, doesn't it?"

Not all demonic Cultivation Method are impossible to cultivate, but there is one type of Devil Cultivation Method that is strictly forbidden to cultivate: the forbidden-level Devil Cultivation Method.

It is not classified by level of power, but by criteria such as destructiveness, subversion of ethics, and the formation of a typical antisocial personality after cultivation.

For example, the most classic example is the demonic blood sacrifice technique.

"Hmm, so it's only for testing on demons. You're not going to argue with me about this, are you? Are you from the Demonic Dao Reform Committee or the Demon Protection Association?" Eighth Master Hui laughed.

The middle-aged man gave the other person a deep look, then turned and left.

Eighth Master Hui shook his head and continued sitting on the ground smoking. He smoked a whole pipe before stopping, as he still had a mess to clean up.

He first found the location of Old Ironhead's corpse, and looking at the ghostly remains, he said:

"Thank you for helping me block that kid from the Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin. However, your true self is about to be resurrected. If you die now, you might still retain this memory."

Then they found the Soul-Binding Willow, bypassed the dozen or so deliverymen who were fighting over it, and directly entered the Soul-Binding Willow through the highest level of Underworld access, finding Liu Manqing.

"Liu Wuniang?"

Liu Manqing looked at the other person with a puzzled expression.

"Liu Manqing?"

Liu Manqing still looked completely bewildered.

Eighth Master Hui sensed it for a moment and sighed:

"It seems that the personalities of you two, mother and daughter, have merged to create a new personality. Alright, since this matter arose because of me, you will work for me from now on. It just so happens that the Military Department and the Dragon-Slaying Department are both recruiting, and our Underworld Bureau should also expand its recruitment."