Chapter 1 A Standpoint?

It must be said that when Hu Ma heard Old Mrs. Li's words, he initially found them a bit bizarre. As he listened further, he even felt as if he was hearing the world's biggest joke.

The Ten Families, who wholeheartedly desired to become immortals, would actually be on the same side as those who chased after the Mandate of Heaven and slaughtered the Grand Duke Jupiter?

If that were truly the case, why would their actions be so difficult?

However, even though he found it odd in his heart, this time he had forced the Li family to show themselves and meet for two reasons: first, to question them, and second, to engage in a magical duel to determine the ownership of the trấn vật (talisman).

Since she had opened her mouth, Hu Ma had to listen more carefully.

And Old Mrs. Li seemed to know that it was difficult for people to believe such words when she suddenly said them, so she gave a wry smile: "I dare not speak rashly, everything I said is the truth."

"Moreover, to be honest with you, Grand Master, I came here this time with the intention of admitting our guilt. The God-Given King was indeed supported by the Li family, but now that it has reached this point, it is not what the Li family wanted. In fact, we find this person to be a headache."

"Alas, if it weren't for such a big handle being grabbed by the Zhao family, the Li family wouldn't have been forced to be the first to meet with you."

"However, being the first is fine. Someone has to start, so I've prepared a few heartfelt words. I wonder if Grand Master Hu is willing to listen?"

"..."

Hu Ma frowned and only said, "I should respect the elderly. Please."

Old Mrs. Li slowly exhaled. Now that she had been given permission to speak, she became silent for a while. After a long time, she whispered, "Grand Master Hu, aren't you curious as to why, when the National Preceptor built the Baiyu Jing (White Jade Capital), despite the existence of the Stone Pavilion Covenant, none of the families were enthusiastic?"

Hearing her mention this point, Hu Ma was indeed slightly taken aback, and then nodded.

Previously in Shangjing (Upper Capital), Hu Ma had indeed had doubts in his heart. Originally, the National Preceptor had summoned the heads of the Ten Families, and was going to use his body to invite the Twelve Ghost Altars to meet with the transmigrators and settle things.

However, firstly, he had given the *Zhen Sui Shu* (Book of Suppressing the Grand Duke) to Erguotou (Double Pot), burying a trap in advance, and secondly, it seemed that the Zhou family, Li family, and others in Shangjing were focused on participation, but did not put in much effort.

It could be said that they didn't have a chance to act, but thinking about it afterward, it always felt awkward.

The one who truly exerted effort should be like the Wang family, who bet the fate of their entire family.

But the other families, during the magical duel, neither gave their full strength, nor did they bear any responsibility after the National Preceptor was defeated and fled. They even showed an ambiguous attitude towards the failure of the entire Shangjing Dharma Assembly.

"Dongxuan is a person with great abilities..."

Old Mrs. Li looked at Hu Ma's young face, seemingly with some emotion, and sighed softly, saying, "But he is also very naive."

"He actually really wants to become an immortal!"

Hearing her comment, Hu Ma couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly, feeling that these words seemed very interesting.

The National Preceptor wanting to become an immortal was true, but weren't the Ten Families the same?

"Calling him naive is not a mocking remark."

Old Mrs. Li said, "Because he is too smart. He is erudite and only focuses on studying various *famen* (esoteric practices), and even really wants to be a carefree immortal, and is striving for that goal."

"So twenty years ago, after he destroyed the Qi (vital energy) of Duyu, he hid himself, enduring the hardships of wind and snow, alone and isolated, focusing only on scheming and calculating, only for transcendence. Unlike the Ten Families, who secretly sit on the dragon throne, and rule the world with jianghu (martial world) methods, rolling around in this dirty altar for twenty years."

"Ruling the world is not an easy task, even if it is just maintaining it with difficulty, one sees all kinds of filth. He avoided this tranquility, so he can focus on cultivating Dharma, but also because he avoided the tranquility, so he is not thorough."

"A person who is detached from the world, no matter how smart, if he doesn't roll around in this mundane world, he will never truly understand the thoughts of people's hearts."

"Because he doesn't understand this world, nor does he understand worldly wealth."

"Speaking of becoming an immortal, do you know why they not only want to become immortals, but also want to build the Baiyu Jing?"

"..."

Hearing her words, Hu Ma was slightly moved, and slowly opened his mouth: "Isn't it because after becoming immortals, they will still have a city of people serving them?"

"That's right, that's it."

Old Mrs. Li sighed, saying, "It's just that even the idea of the Baiyu Jing was actually proposed by the Wang family. The National Preceptor only made slight concessions for the sake of us mortals."

"He only pursues becoming an immortal, cutting off that last bit of attachment to the human world, traveling through the Great Thousand Worlds, carefree and unfettered. But he never thought..."

"What's the point of being a lonely immortal?"

"The Wang family understands a little, so they not only want the Ten Families to become immortals, but also want to build the Baiyu Jing together. Only in this way, after becoming immortals, they can still be high above in the Baiyu Jing, and still enjoy the ultimate pleasures of the world."

"It's just a pity, their thinking is too narrow. What can a Baiyu Jing do?"

"..."

Speaking to this point, she actually sneered, her expression looking somewhat mocking: "Immortality is the greatest freedom in the world, not the greatest suffering!"

"If they really follow their ideas and build the so-called Baiyu Jing, and the Ten Families are all squeezed inside, drifting and swaying, not knowing when it will end, then is that really becoming an immortal, or building a cage to lock themselves up?"

"This..."

Hu Ma was stunned for a moment, and had to admit that what she said made sense.

"So..."

Old Mrs. Li, having reached this point, could see that Hu Ma already understood, and then slowly opened her mouth, saying, "Expelling the Grand Duke Jupiter is not just your wish."

"The Ten Families, at least a few of us old fellows who have communicated, also think so."

"We not only think so, but we also believe that when the new emperor ascends the throne, and the people are of one heart, at the time of đổi trời thay đất (changing the sky and the earth), there will definitely be enough *qìpò* (spirit) to expel the Grand Duke Jupiter."

"Of course, before Shangjing, we were not so sure. Until we saw your ten incense sticks, saw the path left by the Great Virtuous Teacher, and understood what you were going to do, then we had a concrete idea of the path outside the Baiyu Jing."

"..."

Hearing her words, Hu Ma even felt a bit surreal.

She was the old mistress of the Li family, representing the most stubborn and most discerning group of people in this world, but she spoke of the transmigrators' ideas of chasing the Grand Duke Jupiter and fighting for the Mandate of Heaven with such confidence?

Even more confident than when he had told Iron Guanyin about this plan.

But if that was really the case, then they would have hit it off long ago and could have confronted the Grand Duke Jupiter, so why was there this magical duel?

"It's a good thing that Old Madam believes in this world."

His heart was also filled with intertwined machinations, knowing that it wasn't that simple. He slowly exhaled, looked at Old Mrs. Li with a serious expression, and said, "Now, you should tell us your conditions."

"Everything can be given to you."

Old Mrs. Li did not hide anything, and slowly and earnestly said, "But we want to keep the skills in our hands, and even, the skills after breaking the obstacles on the bridge."

Hu Ma narrowed his eyes, facing these somewhat strange words, and only said, "What does this mean?"

"The skills of the Ten Families, except for the Hu family, are mostly not only in the human world."

Old Mrs. Li looked at Hu Ma and whispered, "When the Grand Duke Jupiter descended, there was chaos among the demons and monsters in the human world, and the people fought to eat the Grand Duke Jupiter, and gradually evil forces were born, ghosts and gods roamed, and monsters were everywhere. The yin and yang were unclear, and it was a chaotic mess."

"Most of the skills in our jianghu (martial world) came about in this way."

"So we are actually very clear that if one day, the Grand Duke Jupiter is expelled, the blood food of the human world will also disappear, and the skills and *famen* (esoteric practices) brought about by the blood food will also lose their foundation and gradually become useless."

Hu Ma nodded. This was actually something that everyone in the martial world knew very well.

Now this world can be called a flourishing of magic, but this is because of the Grand Duke Jupiter. After the Grand Duke Jupiter is expelled, everything will return to its original state, and there will never be so many strange *famen* (esoteric practices).

Perhaps there will be a few left, like before Duyu entered the pass, but there will definitely not be so many powerful *famen* (esoteric practices) anymore.

"But besides these *famen* (esoteric practices), there are also skills for crossing the bridge."

Old Mrs. Li's expression was solemn, as if she were speaking of heavenly secrets: "The Ten Families all have some skills that have surpassed entering the mansion and reaching the bridge. This is already the beginning of stealing the authority of heaven and earth, not the power of the human world."

"Because of this, the first step out after crossing the bridge is the 'Non-Human' realm."

"In theory, even without the Grand Duke Jupiter, these skills for crossing the bridge are still there."

"..."

Hu Ma nodded.

Crossing the bridge is equivalent to exploiting the loopholes in heaven and earth, no longer taking the blood food of the Grand Duke Jupiter as the foundation, so naturally it can be retained.

However, she left out one point:

To expel the Grand Duke Jupiter, it is necessary to change the heavens and the earth.

At that time, the skills for crossing the bridge will also be blocked, which is equivalent to the loopholes between heaven and earth disappearing, the authority being recovered, and the skills for crossing the bridge will also disappear.

So, he didn't quite understand what this Old Mrs. Li meant.

"Grand Master, your *zhen sui* (suppressing evil) skills come from folk incense and dynastic decrees."

Old Mrs. Li, having reached this point, also became solemn, paused slightly, and then asked, "Do you know where the Li family's skills come from?"

Hu Ma did not interrupt, but only cast an inquiring gaze.

"The Li family, back then in the Duyu court, or rather under the arrangement of the Da Luo Dharma Sect, was responsible for beheading the *ren xiao* (human monsters)."

Old Mrs. Li said, "The Li family has *Zui Si Die* (Bureau of Sins Edict), which is what outsiders call the *Zui Ren Pu* (Register of Sinners). All those in the world who have committed sins and ruined their Yin virtue will be led to the Blood Filth Pool in the underworld to be cut with a knife."

"The Blood Filth Pool, one of the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, is formed by the blood that flows out after the sinners in the world are beheaded. Therefore, it is extremely poisonous, extremely resentful, extremely evil, and extremely violent."

"And besides the Blood Filth Pool, there is the Ghost Gate Pass that determines life and death, the Skinning Pavilion that peels skin and draws bones, the Naihe Bridge that goes from death to life, the Evil Dog Village that splits souls and seizes spirits, the Looking-Home Terrace that creates fortune and generates blessings, the Broken Coin Mountain that governs wealth and silver, and the Meng Po Shop that resolves cause and effect..." "These Eight Views of the Yellow Springs all belong to this category, originally created by heaven and earth, and are also the foundation of the human world."

"..."

Hearing her say these things, Hu Ma nodded slowly.

After Shangjing, he obtained the ten incense sticks, his cultivation base rose naturally, his skills also grew, and his vision also became higher. In addition, he had discussions with Lao Suanpan (Old Abacus) representing the Da Luo Dharma Sect, Erguotou (Double Pot) and other transmigrators along the way, so his knowledge naturally deepened.

They all knew that to fight with the Ten Families, they had to know the skills of the Ten Families. The strongest skill of the Ten Families was the mother form of each sect.

And the foundation of the Ten Families, in addition to this human foundation, was the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs.

He had been to the City of the Unjustly Dead, and also knew of the existence of the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, but on the other hand, to understand the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, one also needed to admit that these places were actually non-existent.

It was like if a living person did not have the means to travel to the underworld, and did not have the ability to transform into a ghost, then they would never be able to enter the underworld.

If they couldn't enter, then it didn't exist.

It was only because this world was affected by the Grand Duke Jupiter that it could create something from nothing. Therefore, living people's souls could leave their bodies, and after people died, they could still travel back and forth between yin and yang. At this time, one could see the underworld.

Since the underworld was really seen, then some legends in the underworld also existed in reality.

If he had to describe it, Hu Ma borrowed the principles of the other world to understand that this underworld Yellow Springs was originally similar to a spiritual world. It did not exist in reality, but it did exist in the spiritual world, and all kinds of legends had been circulating.

For example, the Ghost Gate Pass determined life and death. After passing the Ghost Gate Pass, one was dead. If one did not pass the Ghost Gate Pass, then one's death would not be solid. After passing the Ghost Gate Pass, one would truly be erased from the world.

For example, the Looking-Home Terrace was the place where the ancestors in the underworld looked back at the human world.

On this platform, if the ancestors cared for their descendants, they could create fortune and generate luck for their descendants, and protect future generations.

Another example was Broken Coin Mountain, which had a furnace for melting iron and making coins. There was a furnace in the underworld to make money for people in the yang world, so that people in the yang world could earn money.

Another example was the Skinning Pavilion, which was said to be the place for dividing livestock. Whether one was reincarnated as a human or as livestock depended only on what one peeled off there, and then what one put on.

The other scenes were also the same, with various rumors.

These things that should have existed in legends, or rather in the spiritual world, were all because the Grand Duke Jupiter descended into the world, thus blurring the boundaries and vaguely appearing in the world, and thus became the underworld that Hu Ma had seen before.

And the influence of these Eight Views of the Yellow Springs on the human world was somewhat like the kernel of a huge database.

All the magnificent and complex things in the world were due to that algorithm. If the data there changed, then this world would have all living beings, and there would be wealth and poverty, being livestock and being human, all sorts of differences.

……

……

"The Li family began a hundred years ago to punish evil on behalf of heaven, arrest the wicked in the human world, and protect this heavenly principle of peace."

"Therefore, the Li family has the responsibility of arresting criminals and questioning them, and also has the ability to enter and exit the underworld, calling names and walking in the yin, and punishing gods and souls. In fact, in the end, it all comes from the Blood Filth Pool."

Old Mrs. Li said, "The Ten Families are the most skilled. Except for the Hu and Meng families, the others, after crossing the bridge, involuntarily entered the underworld, and also caught a glimpse of the foundation of the skills of each sect."

"For example, the Broken Coin Mountain of Nobleman Zhang, the Naihe Bridge of Undying Wang, and the Ghost Gate Pass of Life-Nurturing Zhou, and the Skinning Pavilion of God-Hand Zhao. Compared with others, this is what the Ten Families value."

"Of course, also because it is too important, so the fates of each sect of the Ten Families are different."

"Besides the Hu family and the Meng family, who do not enter the underworld, why did Nobleman Zhang and Undying Wang fall from power first?"

"To put it bluntly, the Undying Wang family is because the Ten Families sealed reincarnation as early as twenty years ago. With reincarnation sealed, the Naihe Bridge in the underworld became useless, so the skills of the Undying Wang family grew the slowest, and they could only place their hopes on the National Preceptor."

"And the Nobleman Zhang family, because they were allocated the Broken Coin Mountain, could have an endless supply of silver to spend, but in this chaotic world, money is useless, and their family does not cultivate the sect, so they lost their foundation."

"Later, that evil... the arrow of the Outsider cut off the connection between the Zhang family and the Broken Coin Mountain."

"Without the underworld making money, the Zhang family's children and grandchildren are destined to be without wealth, therefore doomed to be beggars for generations, without wealth, and even suffer the torture of the Duyu royal family's Yin ghosts."

"..."

Regarding the "underworld" and "Eight Views" theory, there were too many empty and floating points. Even Hu Ma could only listen, slowly raise his head, and ask, "What does this have to do with what the old lady is talking about?"

"The relationship lies here."

Old Mrs. Li, having reached this point, had also become extremely solemn, saying, "There are many transmigrators who have crossed the bridge, but do you know how it is calculated among the Ten Families?"

"Crossing the bridge is the realm of non-human beings, and only by coming into contact with the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs can one be considered the realm of non-ghosts."

"If the skill grows again, and begins to affect the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, then it is non-god."

"But for the current Ten Families, they can only affect the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, but have not yet reached the point of controlling the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs."

"Even if each sect has sent down many people, even if each sect has spent the efforts of several generations, now they can only be considered to be serving the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, but they are far from being able to hold them in their hands."

"..."

Hearing her say this, Hu Ma suddenly understood.

For a moment, his heart beat faster, his eyes became a little unbelievable, and he looked at her. After a long time, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "So..."

"You want to completely control the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, and even...replace them?"

"..."

"That's right."

Old Mrs. Li, seeing that Hu Ma had understood, seemed to have some brilliance flashing in her old eyes, and lowered her voice, saying, "You want to change the world and expel the Grand Duke Jupiter. We all agree."

"Even, you need the hearts of the people of the world, we will help you. You need the strange *famen* (esoteric practices) of the world, we will not hide them."

"But we also want to leave something for our children and grandchildren!"

"After expelling the Grand Duke Jupiter, the various strange arts will disappear, and the method of crossing the bridge will also disappear. But the things left in the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs will not disappear. This is a method that will exist forever in the human world, and also the original destination of all things in heaven and earth."

"This is what the Ten Families understand as..."

"...Homecoming!"

"..."

"Buzz!"

Hearing the words of this Old Mrs. Li, Hu Ma even felt his scalp tingle slightly. For a moment, he felt extremely absurd, and for a moment, he felt that it should be so.

"No wonder you don't want to become immortals, and don't want to help the National Preceptor build the Baiyu Jing..."

His eyes were stern, looking directly at this old lady, and he seemed unable to control his smile, and said in a low voice: "You嫌 (dislike) his plan, too lonely, too unhappy, not as good as the wealthy days you have been used to for the past twenty years..."

"So, you don't want to become that immortal..."

"What you are thinking about is, after changing the world, in that prosperous human world, to be the living immortals for all eternity..."

"..."

He had underestimated the Ten Families after all.

If you control the Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, then someone can make money in the underworld, and the children and grandchildren will never be poor, someone can forgive souls and forgive sins, and will not be punished by Yin virtue, and someone will specialize in creating fortune and generating luck, and will always have soaring luck...

He should have thought that the National Preceptor did not get their support in Shangjing, not because they had a good conscience, but simply because the National Preceptor did not satisfy their appetite...

And facing Hu Ma's somewhat mocking words, Old Mrs. Li's expression was calm and composed.

After waiting for a long time, she slowly said, "Then what do you think?"

"The Eight Views of the Yellow Springs, there are still two views left, enough for you to share."

"Besides, how can fighting with the Ten Families be a simple matter? But if you are willing to help, help us break the obstacles on the bridge, not only will this world be yours, but your plans to establish a new emperor and expel the Grand Duke Jupiter will also be very fast..."

"..."

In her voice, there was already an endless bewitchment, but Hu Ma suddenly reined in his smile, looked at her seriously, and said, "Impossible."

Old Mrs. Li was slightly startled, and lost her voice: "Why?"

"Because you still don't understand our plan..."

Hu Ma sighed for a long time, raised his hand to stroke his forehead, and said, "To fight against the Grand Duke Jupiter, we must gather the power of the world, the will of the people, leave no way out, and fight with that behemoth for a glimmer of hope."

"Now that the Mandate of Heaven has not been achieved, you come over to ask for this and that, dreaming of becoming a living immortal..."

Speaking of this, there was even some desolation and ridicule on his face: "Heh, you leave five kilograms, I leave five kilograms, and before we even start, we have already divided it cleanly. Then what are we fighting with the Grand Duke Jupiter for?"