Chapter 234: The Immortal Light Stirs Again, Malevolent Ghosts Break Free

There truly wasn't a moment of peace. Right after they had dealt with the Hidden Earth Sect, the Nether Realm underwent a drastic change.

It didn't happen out of nowhere, though. Around 10:00 PM, immortal light surged once more from the Nether Gate on Mount Pingdu, and the surrounding areas began to tremble repeatedly.

The immortal light lasted over ten seconds. This time, it did not shoot into the sky, and the tremors across Mount Pingdu were also less intense than before. Monitoring systems within the transfer station inside the Nether Gate detected the light as violent energy fluctuations erupted throughout the Small Nether Realm. Once the light faded, ghostly qi around the Nether Gate quickly thickened, and from inside the gate came frequent roars of beasts.

While the authorities had been negotiating with the Hidden Earth Sect, military drones had completed a basic topographical survey. The Small Nether Realm, which Great Emperor Ziwei had created, stretched one thousand three hundred kilometers deep and over three hundred kilometers wide. Upon piecing together the aerial images, they discovered that it was shaped like a coffin.

In the drone footage, the source of the immortal light clearly originated from the deepest rift within the realm. A fierce battle seemed to have taken place beneath the rift. Moreover, it was confirmed that the female corpse was still the source of the second burst of immortal light.

No one knew what such a powerful figure was doing underground or if she had truly gone mad due to her failure to reincarnate. If that were the case, the seniors of the Special Warfare Unit would probably go down and advise her with something like, "What joy is there in life, what sorrow in death?"

However, based on the research institute's analysis and predictions, the Small Nether Realm was beginning to merge with the space around Mount Pingdu, starting from the Nether Gate, because of the two consecutive eruptions of immortal light.

If the eruptions continued, the entire realm would emerge into the mortal world. Stretching southeast from Mount Pingdu, an area one thousand three hundred kilometers long and over three hundred kilometers wide would suffer an unimaginable catastrophe.

It would be a complete and utter disaster!

Fortunately, after the most recent eruption of immortal light, the Small Nether Realm stabilized once more. The Nether Gate remained on Mount Pingdu.

However, the mountain had already undergone some changes. Although the terrain had not shifted, hundreds of "yin springs" had formed all over it, releasing constant streams of yin qi.

Although the mountain's primal qi had temporarily scattered the yin qi, Mount Pingdu would truly become shrouded in yin qi and live up to the name "Youdu[1]" if the situation persisted much longer.

The team from the research institute, along with masters and elders of the Daoist sects with inherited lineages, studied ways to stabilize the Small Nether Realm, sink the Nether Gate back underground, and seal it again with formations. However, a warning soon simultaneously arrived from the transfer station within the Nether Gate and Qing Yanzi, who was still at the Hidden Earth Sect.

Qing Yanzi sounded calm during the call.

—The Hidden Earth Sect's secret treasure shows that a large number of malevolent ghosts have burst out from the Eighteen Levels of Hell and have entered Fengdu City. They seem to be gathering toward the Nether Gate.

At the same time, a Special Warfare Unit officer who had just fled from the Nether Gate—drenched in cold sweat because of the vanishing green claw—shouted at the nearby signal officer, "Massive energy readings are coming from the rift in the deepest part of the Nether Realm! The drones captured some footage. Countless non-human entities are pouring out!"

The atmosphere instantly tensed up. Although it was not yet clear whether the target of the malevolent ghosts was the Mortal Realm and Fengdu City was still over a thousand kilometers away from the Nether Gate, the situation demanded early preparation.

The Special Warfare Unit decisively ordered all soldiers who were stationed near Mount Pingdu and could enter the Nether Realm to prepare for combat. Their senior officers planned to have them enter the Nether Gate with various advanced and highly automated weaponry and establish the first line of defense within the Nether Realm.

All non-combat personnel were evacuated from the vicinity of the Nether Gate since the area around it would be covered with precision strikes. If the defensive line inside the gate failed and malevolent ghosts broke through, conventional weapons would tear apart those with physical bodies. Those that didn't would be left to the cultivators of the Daoist and Buddhist sects, who were already on their way.

***

1:00 AM, inside the front cabin of a military transport plane headed toward Mount Pingdu.

Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan stood behind Qing Yanzi's seat, looking at the photos on their master's phone. Wang Sheng had a grave expression, while his senior sister's expression was full of forced courage.

Many elders stood on their toes to look at the screen. Other than the martial siblings pair, all present were cultivators above the Golden Core Realm.

Shen Sui'an, his sect's elders, and the Daoist elders who had visited them were all traveling together to Mount Pingdu.

The photos on Qing Yanzi's phone were high-resolution images that military drones had taken. They could clearly see grotesque, malevolent ghosts crawling out of the rift and moving toward Fengdu City. The ghosts appeared in three main forms, seemingly corresponding to the first three layers of the Eighteen Levels of Hell, but it was still under analysis.

The next photos showed the general movement patterns of the malevolent ghosts. Fengdu City was completely empty at the moment, with no ghost soldiers guarding it. The malevolent ghosts stormed into the city and headed straight to the gate on the other side.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"They're probably targeting the Nether Gate." Qing Yanzi handed the phone to Shen Sui'an. The Daoist elders immediately began passing it around.

Shen Sui'an said, "If not now, when else should we unseal the ghost soldiers? I will go gather the elders to release the seal!"

"Hold on, Brother Shen," Qing Yanzi interrupted. "There is no need to rush. According to the energy readings from the institute, these malevolent ghosts are not particularly powerful. They are likely only as strong as Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators.

"The Special Warfare Unit has already dispatched bombing drones to test their effectiveness. If modern weaponry proves useful, then it is better to conserve the ghost soldiers for now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the ghost soldiers of the Hidden Earth Sect are a form of talisman troops like the 'Yellow Turban Strongmen,' which mostly come with a time limit."

Shen Sui'an paused in thought, then nodded solemnly. "You're right, Brother Qing."

The two had already begun addressing each other as brothers.

Qing Yanzi smiled serenely, his gaze remaining composed. "Do not underestimate the strength of the Hua Republic. For now, let us remain calm."

Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan also returned to their seats. Mu Wanxuan was still slightly pale.

"Senior Sister, don't be afraid. These are just monsters," Wang Sheng gently said.

"

Mm...

" Mu Wanxuan frowned slightly. She kept reminding herself that she was a Golden Core Realm cultivator, but fear rose from a gap in her mind. There was a shadow in her heart that not even a perfected Dao Heart could suppress.

Beside her, Xi Lian yawned and kept scrolling through her phone to follow her favorite show, completely unfazed. "There are so many people in the cultivation world. It's not like you two are definitely going to be the ones fighting. Don't stress, Little Xuanxuan."

"Fei Yu." Liu Yunzhi handed over a stack of yellow paper talismans. "These are Mount Mao exorcism talismans. I've long heard that Fairy Bu Yu is afraid of ghosts. Turns out it wasn't just some baseless rumor. Just carry these with you. When you encounter ghosts or monsters, the talismans will activate automatically."

Mu Wanxuan smiled gratefully. Her delicate hand blurred as she swiftly grabbed the stack of exorcism talismans, but they unfortunately failed to bring her much comfort.

Qing Yanzi turned to his first disciple. "Little Xuan, if it's too much for you, you can just sit this one out. I'll handle the rest."

Mu Wanxuan pressed her lips together and determinedly shook her head. With a firm gaze, she raised her small fist slightly to show that she still wanted to help.

However, as soon as Qing Yanzi turned back around, Mu Wanxuan's spirit seemingly deflated. Just thinking about the photos that she had seen moments ago made her tremble uncontrollably.

Wang Sheng reached out with his left hand and gently held hers. "I'm here. Don't be afraid."

Mu Wanxuan looked down at his fingers, seemingly feeling less anxious all of a sudden. Her mind gradually calmed as she softly gripped his hand in return.

From the front seat, Qing Yanzi smiled faintly and closed his eyes to rest.

Wang Sheng felt a slight tremor in his Dao Heart. His palm was slightly tense. He worried that if he squeezed too hard, he'd hurt his senior sister's soft and delicate hand.

In a hushed tone, a Daoist elder asked, "By the way, what exactly is that female immortal doing? Has she really gone mad?"

Qing Yanzi pondered for a moment. "From our perspective, the immortals of the Heavenly Court are not evil. At the very least, when they passed down their Daoist heritage, they established many rules to make sure we uphold justice and protect the people.

"As a member of the Heavenly Court, even if she has been reduced to a scattered divine soul with no chance of reincarnation, she would not act erratically. On the contrary, I believe she may be in trouble, fighting against some unknown force. The aftermath of that battle may be leaking out, which led to the Nether Gate appearing in the world and the seal on the Eighteen Levels of Hell breaking."

"I think so too," said another elder.

"That is unlikely," Shen Sui'an countered. "The Nether Realm has areas for sealing devils and most of the sealed beings are immortals who committed crimes in the past, but not one of them deserves death.

"If your guess is correct, Brother Qing, then the female immortal's power should be at least at the Heavenly Immortal Realm, which is quite high even for those walking the immortal path. No one in the Small Nether Realm should be able to match her. Moreover, those sealed places should have already completely suppressed any devils or monsters within."

Qing Yanzi nodded gently and fell into deep thought.

Mu Wanxuan suddenly stood up and looked around. Her small hand tightened, and Wang Sheng immediately felt her tension spike. She almost crushed his bones.

"Senior Sister, what's wrong?"

Mu Wanxuan bit her lip, sat back down, and released Wang Sheng's hand. She then pulled out her phone and quickly typed.

Mu Wanxuan: She's looking for me. She needs help.

"Who?"

Mu Wanxuan was eager to express herself but hesitated to say the words "female corpse," feeling it would be disrespectful.

Instead, she let her long hair fall over her forehead, made muffled sounds, then let waves of multicolored light surge around her. She then fixed her hairstyle and gazed solemnly at Wang Sheng.

Frowning, Wang Sheng called out to their master.

1. Youdu means city of hell. ☜