Zhen'ezi

The Gourd Daoist looked at the other person with a bewildered expression. He didn't know why, but guided by instinct, he had appeared here.

They don't even know how they got here in the first place.

Hearing the other person's shout, he looked at the charred wooden puppet opposite him in surprise, feeling for some reason that the puppet looked somewhat familiar.

Rogue Person Yunxiu stared at the other person, his eyes shining brightly. After a long while, he sighed and said, "So that's how it is. My three souls and seven spirits were scattered, and my physical body disappeared. Fellow Daoist, it is that your soul and spirit left your body, and your physical body automatically evolved a new consciousness."

"A new consciousness, me?"

"Fellow Daoist, do you still remember what happened before you came to this Demon-Subduing City?" asked Rogue Person Yunxiu.

The Gourd Daoist thought about it carefully, and then he suffered another splitting headache, his face turned pale, and he quickly opened the gourd and drank it down.

But Rogue Person Yunxiu was not surprised, but rather delighted.

"Fellow Daoist Yunxia, your symptoms indicate loss of soul. This means that your three souls and seven spirits were not scattered, but rather absorbed into the Three Flowers and Five Qi and taken away together. Otherwise, you wouldn't be experiencing such severe loss of soul, and even the slightest thought would cause you excruciating headaches."

"Is this a good thing?" the Gourd Daoist asked hoarsely.

"Of course it's a good thing! This means that once your Three Flowers and Five Qi return to their proper places, you will naturally be able to restore your memories and cultivation. Unlike me, my Three Flowers are reduced to the Flower of Spirit, and my Three Souls and Seven Spirits have been shattered into pieces. I don't know when I will be able to gather them together, and I'm afraid I will never be able to advance any further in this life."

Rogue Person Yunxiu sighed with emotion.

"Let's go. Since you've been led here, the person behind this will likely reveal themselves soon."

After speaking, the Rogue Person Yunxiu took the lead, and the Gourd Old Daoist on the opposite side hesitated for a moment before following him and asking questions.

"You say you know me, then who am I, and what brings me here?"

"Fellow Daoist is called Pillow-Cloud Zongfengzi Immortal Guest Zhenxia. Together with myself and Fellow Daoist Zongfengzi, we are known as the Three Friends of Heavenly Mist. We cultivate the Dao together on Heavenly Mist Mountain. One day, we received a request from our friend, Yun Shuo, a disciple of the High Heaven Sword School and one of the Six Swords of the Southern Dipper, to help us investigate a matter. Because this matter involves internal strife among righteous disciples, he cannot directly participate—"

"----That Zhen'ezi was quite capable, holding out until our arrival. However, just as we temporarily repelled those four old ghosts from the side sects, an unexpected event occurred. The Thunder God here suddenly attacked, first Zongfengzi into nothingness, then using lightning to shatter your and my souls. After my soul was scattered, my main soul merged with the Flower of Spirit, drifting within this Demon-Subduing City, where it happened to merge with a wooden puppet. Through a series of fortuitous opportunity, it was awakened."

"As for you, fellow Daoist, it's highly likely that after your soul left your body, it left very completely, but your physical life force wasn't completely severed, so a new consciousness automatically evolved. It's just that I didn't expect you to have such a fortuitous opportunity to become the Fire Official of this Divine Dynasty. However, it's not surprising that you're supplementing your yang with your yin deficiency. Fortunately, this Fire Official isn't a deity in the Thunder God lineage, otherwise it would have been a real problem."

As Rogue Person Yunxiu spoke, more and more fragments of memory appeared in the mind of Gourd Daoist, also known as Immortal Guest Zhenxia. He believed ninety percent of what the other party said, but when he heard the divine official's interpretation, he couldn't help but blurt out.

What happened to Thunder God?

"The Thunder God here is a false god in this world. Logically speaking, since the fall of the Jade Firmament Divine Dynasty, the divine positions related to this dynasty have long been divided between the righteous and demonic paths. However, as the forty-nine Orthodox God of the Azure Mysterious Realm have achieved their merits and ascended one after another, the number of false gods in this realm has also increased, such as the Thunder God here."

"The problem is that, according to the evolutionary principle of this false god, this fake Thunder God cannot take form and appear in the world in the first or second stage. Only by absorbing the distracting and false thoughts of the people in this city, and by controlling the remaining Thunder Net power of this Demon-Subduing City, will this Thunder God truly manifest in the world, instead of suddenly attacking us like before and catching us off guard."

Following Rogue Person Yunxiu's words, the two officially stepped into the fourth level, also known as the Mystic Gate Law Prison.

As soon as they stepped down the stone steps, the previously cold and damp Demonic Qi suddenly cleared away, replaced by a chilling and piercing pure yang energy that could destroy the Dao.

At first glance, this place looks more like a celestial cave abode than a prison.

The entire floor is paved and carved from flawless warm jade, its surface as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the flowing light of the dome.

The cells on both sides were no longer cold, heavy black stone and iron cages, but exquisite and elegant white jade pavilions and corridors.

The carved jade railings are exquisite and translucent, the eaves are elegantly arranged, and the corridor is adorned with jade-like stamens and spiritual herbs.

Streams of soft, silvery light cascaded down from the dome, transforming into ethereal mists, creating a scene of exquisite Immortal Qi and otherworldly elegance.

However, upon closer inspection, it was discovered that this place was even more dangerous than the previous three levels.

The ground beneath my feet, warm and smooth as jade, was forged from Heavenly Thunder Pure Yang Jade Sand. It appeared soft and cool, but in reality, it was incomparably domineering.

The moment a cultivator's feet touch the ground, the true essence and Daoist aura flowing around their body are instantly locked in place.

Those exquisite white jade railings, pavilions, and pillars are all engraved with layers upon layers of True Yang Dao-Locking Runes, the patterns hidden in the texture of the jade, making them difficult to discern with the naked eye.

Ordinary prisons rely on iron chains to bind the physical body, but here, immortal energy is used to calm the mind. Once a prisoner approaches the jade railing, the protective spiritual light around their body and the foundation of their cultivation will be quietly devoured and peeled away layer by layer by the jade energy.

The soft light floating above the dome was not Spiritual Qi from cultivation, but rather the Heavenly Punishment Pure Yang Wisdom Light.

This light does not harm the physical body; it shines only on inner demons, dispels false doctrines, and shatters illusions.

Those self-righteous cultivators who claim to be on the righteous path, living in this illusory cave abode, are bathed in pure Yang wisdom light day and night. Their hypocrisy, obsessions, and evil thoughts will be peeled away layer by layer, turning into endless inner demons that will wear down their foundation day and night.

The seemingly open and elegant pavilions and corridors of the prison cells are actually airtight, deadly cages with no flaws and no chance of survival.

At the core of this fourth level, a ball of lightning resides, with Yin and Yang energies swirling within it, exuding a powerful Daoist aura. Even within this impenetrable cage of the Dao, the vitality of this lightning still surges forth, threatening to engulf the entire universe.

Upon seeing the lightning bolt, Rogue Person Yunxiu, who had been on tenterhooks, finally breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed completely.

"Fellow Zhen'ezi, it's been a long time."

As he spoke, the lightning contracted layer by layer, transforming into a semi-transparent lightning figure, from which one could vaguely discern the face of a young cultivator.

Upon seeing this, Rogue Person Yunxiu was startled once again and blurted out, "Fellow Daoist, you have completely abandoned your physical body and embarked on the path of the Ghost Immortal!?"

It should be understood that even among immortals, there are different ranks and levels.

Through his interactions with some righteous people, he also learned that Ghost Immortal did not rank so high among immortals.

Of course, for a cultivator like him who hasn't even grasped the Qi Training to Spirit Transformation, any kind of immortal, even the lowest level of Loose Immortal, is a heaven-like existence.

But for Zhen'ezi, the senior disciple of the new thunder lineage, this situation is like having the potential to be admitted to a top-tier academy, but instead being admitted to a first-rate university ahead of time, which is somewhat regrettable.

Moreover, how can one cultivate into Ghost Immortal using Thunder Method?

He had never heard of this method of practice before.

However, Zhen'ezi was quite content, his voice gentle and refined, showing none of the domineering and forceful impression that Thunder Sect gave to outsiders.

"This calamity also presents both danger and opportunity. Otherwise, I would not have been able to comprehend the principle of Yin-Yang transformation in this Thunder Method, turning Yang into Yin, and using Yin Spirit to evolve the Three Flavors of Ghosts and Gods."

"Moreover, this fourth level uses a celestial cave abode as its shell and the pure yang heavenly might as its instrument of torture. Every day, one sits upright in the ultimate celestial scenery, watching the celestial aura of the Great Dao within reach, while one's own Dao foundation crumbles inch by inch and one loses all of one's Dao techniques."

"Though living in a celestial realm, the path to immortality is forever severed; though gazing upon the essence of the Dao, the heart for the Dao is forever lost."

"I was able to attain enlightenment here thanks to this prison; otherwise, I'm afraid I really wouldn't be willing to part with this physical body."

Zhen'ezi's eyes were clear and bright, like a spring, a clear indication of his great progress in cultivation.

Rogue Person Yunxiu was filled with awe.

"Fellow Daoist, you have truly undergone a complete transformation. No wonder the fourth layer of restrictions had no effect on you; I never expected you to dissolve them all."

Zhen'ezi shook his head and laughed, "It's just that he was lucky enough to comprehend a third of its evolution because the prison was unguarded."

His gaze then fell upon Immortal Guest Zhenxia. After a moment's hesitation, he said apologetically, "I failed to protect you properly, which led to your Primordial Spirit being forced to leave your body. It was my fault. However, after cultivating the Three Flavors of Ghost Immortal, helping you retrieve your Primordial Spirit in this city will not be a problem."

After a cultivator reaches the Three Flowers Gather at the Cauldron and Five Qi Converging at the Origin realm, they can refine their Primordial Spirit: after the Primordial Spirit comes the Yin Spirit, and only after the Yin Spirit is attained can one cultivate the Yang Spirit.

These Three Friends of Heavenly Mist lacked natural talent and were too old, so they only managed to condense a portion of their Primordial Spirit. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been struck by heavenly lightning, resulting in either their souls being scattered or their Primordial Spirit leaving their bodies.

Those who truly Spirit Transformation stage are not that weak.

The Immortal Guest Zhenxia nodded blankly.

"As for Fellow Zongfengzi, once Brother Yun Shuo and I gather enough soul fragments for him, we will definitely send him to be reincarnated, and he will have a good outcome in his next life."

Upon hearing this, Rogue Person Yunxiu breathed a sigh of relief. The Three Friends of Heavenly Mist were like brothers, and although they had suffered this calamity, at least there was a resolution.

However, he couldn't help but ask.

"Fellow Daoist, what exactly happened to the Thunder God here? Why did he appear prematurely? Could it be that Fellow Mingting..."

The old thunder and the new thunder, the current new methods of the Thunder Sect and the legacy of the Jade Heaven Sect from back then, are all quite remarkable.

Although Rogue Person Yunxiu hesitated to speak, Zhen'ezi immediately understood what he meant.

"Although our methods differ, we are still from the same sect, so they wouldn't dare to harm me. Moreover, after I was seriously injured, if Junior Brother Mingting hadn't deliberately released his lightning energy, causing those old ghosts from the side sects to mistake him for me, they might have already managed to sneak into this place."

Rogue Person Yunxiu was an outsider, so naturally he couldn't say much.

Moreover, he was on good terms with Yun Shuo of the High Heaven Sword Sect, but he had only met this person a few times. If they hadn't suffered together before and developed some friendship, he wouldn't have said those words at all.

Seeing this, he sighed and stopped discussing it, changing the subject instead.

"Fellow Daoist, what exactly is wrong with the Thunder God here?"