Chapter 944: The Connection Between the Living and the Dead

In a spacious residence within the capital of Yu, Grand Ancestor Fuyou sat leisurely in the courtyard, sipping tea and admiring the moon. Several plates of pastries were laid out on a table. He seemed pretty content.

Sitting across from him was Du Wuhen. The young man held a Circle of Immortal Friends token in his hand, wanting to see if there were any female cultivators nearby in the capital that he could casually fool around with.

After their previous housing dispute, the two brothers managed to rightfully claim their residence and were finally enjoying a few peaceful days in the capital.

In the mornings, Grand Ancestor Fuyou liked to stroll through the morning markets, while Du Wuhen fooled around with female cultivators. At noon, Grand Ancestor Fuyou liked to take a walk, look at birds, and tend to his flowers, while Du Wuhen fooled around with female cultivators. And in the evenings, Grand Ancestor Fuyou enjoyed river cruises and musical performances, while Du Wuhen... continued fooling around with female cultivators.

Now wealthy and idle, the two brothers were enjoying the good life.

"Elder Brother, something feels off."

Hearing Grand Ancestor Fuyou speak, Du Wuhen finally looked up. "What is it, Little Second Brother?"

Grand Ancestor Fuyou was looking up at the night sky. He had been gazing at a full moon before, but now he could only see the faint arcs of the moon's outline.

It looked like dark clouds had passed over the moon, but people at Grand Ancestor Fuyou's cultivation level could tell that it was no mere cloud. That was an open gateway.

"The realms of the living and the dead have connected. This must be the work of the Dao Master of Profound Darkness. That is the only Great Dao that can open a gateway between the two realms. Elder Brother, the capital of Yu is about to descend into chaos."

"Huh?" Du Wuhen skeptically raised a brow. "This is the capital of Yu. Even the Demon God couldn't gain the upper hand here. Not even the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten have stronger defenses than this place. Little Second Brother, you—"

Whoooooom!

Before Du Wuhen could finish his sentence, countless ghostly figures surged out from the gateway. Among them, a massive ghost with a green face and sharp fangs plummeted from the sky and crashed into their courtyard with a deafening thud!

The shockwaves from the crash landing nearly knocked over Du Wuhen. He did a flip and landed on the ground.

"Whoaaaaa! They really dared to show up."

"It means no harm," Grand Ancestor Fuyou said, raising a hand to stop Du Wuhen from attacking the ghost.

He flicked a Mayfly Seed onto the ghost, instantly seizing control of its mind.

He asked, "Where did you come from, and why have you descended upon the human world?"

"Evil Ksitigarbha... netherworld... slaughtering... everything..." the ghost stammered, struggling to speak in human language.

The ghost spoke awkwardly, but the two brothers quickly grasped what it was trying to say.

Evil Ksitigarbha had awakened and was slaughtering indiscriminately in the netherworld! The ghosts did not dare to stay there. The gateway between the realms of the living and the dead happened to open right then, so the ghosts fled in a panic, pouring into the realm of the living.

The realm of the living wasn't exactly well suited for ghosts to reside in, but it was night at the moment, so they could at least survive. If they stayed in the realm of the dead, they would be annihilated for sure.

"Evil Ksitigarbha?!" Du Wuhen exclaimed in shock. "Isn't that the Dark King Sect's legendary artifact? There really was a primordial spirit sealed in the netherworld?!"

"What terrifying spiritual energy..." Grand Ancestor Fuyou remarked as he looked up at the gateway in the sky.

Ghosts were still pouring out in a seemingly infinite tide, but that wasn't the most frightening part. Behind the tide of ghosts, there was spiritual qi so terrifyingly powerful that even the gateway between the two realms couldn't stop it from getting through.

When Evil Ksitigarbha was released, his spiritual qi contained such intense murderous intent that the netherworld trembled in fear. By the time his spiritual qi entered the mortal realm, it had lost most of the murderous intent it had at the start. However, cultivators at a high level could still sense it clearly.

A moment later, screams rang out all across the capital of Yu.

"

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

"

For the first time ever, this capital city of the nine provinces faced an assault of such a grand scale. Countless ghosts were descending into the city!

Perhaps the ghosts were truly just fleeing for their lives, but how could they not trigger mass panic with their descent into the city? Humans and ghosts could not coexist. It was inevitable that a great battle ensued, quickly filling the capital with bloodshed and death.

Clearly, whoever opened the gateway there had done so with the malicious intent of using the ghosts to attack the city.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Another huge wave of ghosts descended, flattening many residences around the Du Wuhen and Grand Ancestor Fuyou's residence. The devastation outside their residence was now in full view for the two brothers to see. The people in the capital of Yu fled in all directions, only to be swallowed by malicious spirits. Blood-curdling screams rang out all over the capital.

Du Wuhen's expression darkened, casting a visibly gloomy shadow over his dark complexion. He let out a long sigh. "We only just started living the good life... We

just

bought this house!!"

...

When the Noble Dharma ordered Lin Poyun to open the gateway between the realms of the living and the dead, even the infamously wicked sect leader of the Dark King Sect was startled.

The Dao Master of the Profound Darkness did indeed possess the authority to do that. Perhaps, it was more accurate to say that connecting the realms of the living and the dead was the Dao Master of the Profound Darkness's most powerful ability. However, the previous Dao Masters of the Profound Darkness had never dared to even consider using that ability.

There was little benefit in connecting the two realms. The gateway would be sealed again shortly after being opened, so opening it would just draw unnecessary hostility. Furthermore, if it were opened during peaceful circumstances, it wouldn't cause much real harm to the realm of the living anyway.

Nevertheless, that wasn't the case this time.

Evil Ksitigarbha was rampaging through the netherworld, sending countless wandering souls scattering in a frenzy like headless houseflies. Even the ten ghost kings could no longer keep them under control.

Now that the gateway had been opened, and with it being nighttime in the realm of the living, the ghosts would undoubtedly rush into it. Additionally, since the gateway had been opened right above the capital of Yu, the heart of the nine provinces would be drowned in a sea of countless ghosts in mere moments.

Even if the ghosts were just passing through, the death toll for the living would be unimaginable. It was clear that the Noble Dharma had planned for this a long time ago. His ruthlessness left even Lin Poyun in awe.

Lin Poyun had spent his whole life doing evil, yet all of his evil deeds might not measure up to this one act. The Noble Dharma had spent a lifetime posing as a saint, yet at his core, he was the total opposite.

After the first wave of ghosts rushed into the realm of the living, the Noble Dharma, Lin Poyun, and Evil Ksitigarbha flew out of the gateway too. However, instead of heading for the capital, they sped off to another location—the place where Ksitigarbha's true form had been sealed.

It lay beneath an unremarkable peak of an obscure mountain in the Central Region. The peak appeared ordinary on the surface, but it concealed the many layers of seals the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten had worked together to construct. These seals held down the legendary artifact of the Dark King Sect, which was recorded in the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures as the True Form of Ksitigarbha.

As the Noble Dharma passed by the capital of Yu, his exhausted state improved quickly. By the time they reached their destination, he had almost fully recovered.

Watching how rapidly the Noble Dharma regained his strength, Lin Poyun seemed to realize something.

Glancing toward the distant capital city, he asked, "Can you absorb the vital energy that spills out when living beings die violently?"

The Noble Dharma chuckled and made no effort to hide it. "The key to longevity is to plunder. My Great Dao sustains my long lifespan, but where does the spiritual qi for the Great Dao come from?"

"So, the more violent deaths there are in the world, the longer the Great Dao of Longevity sustains your life.

You

are the one who truly thrives on chaos," Lin Poyun muttered, in awe of how deeply this old man had hidden his true nature. He continued to think and realized something. "Then all those incidents involving the Celestial Charm Sect over the years..."

Instead of responding, the Noble Dharma just laughed, "Haha."

Then he turned his head and pointed to the mountain ahead. "Esteemed Ksitigarbha, that is where your corporeal body was sealed."

The Noble Dharma hadn't needed to say that. Evil Ksitigarbha, currently in control of Ghost King Zhuan Lun's corporeal body, had already closed his eyes. He could sense the presence of the corporeal body he had been separated from for tens of thousands of years.

"

Huu...

" Evil Ksitigarbha let out a long breath. Then his eyes snapped open, and he roared, "Return to me!!!"

Rumbleee.

The mountain range shook, the ground quaked, the stars vanished from the sky, and the moonlight dimmed to a ghostly gloom.

The Evil One had returned!

In that instant, every living being in the world jolted awake from their dreams.