Chapter 1 Lost in Dreams, Forgetting the Mortal Realm

Faintly entering a dream, he seemed to forget the mortal realm.

In the past, when Hu Ma dreamed, he only entered his natal spirit temple or fell into deep sleep.

But this time, he deliberately retained his consciousness, truly just taking a light nap, letting himself dream.

Only in this way could he allow those who wanted to "send him a dream" to find a chance to enter his dream.

Regarding the knowledge within the mysteries, dreams are manifestations of an unstable soul, wandering in the entanglements of cause and effect between heaven and earth. Therefore, there is also the saying that evil spirits seize the opportunity to enter dreams, entangling the living.

Before entering the manor, Hu Ma had also received dream messages from wandering spirits. However, later, as his abilities gradually increased, his soul became firm, and his fate became heavy. He gradually developed the ability to no longer dream, with evil spirits unable to invade his mind.

This was not a great skill. Many people in the Shousui sect should be able to do it.

What Great Master Zhou said about the "impervious golden body" also included the meaning of being difficult for external evils to invade and sleeping soundly without dreams.

Of course, this time, Hu Ma took the initiative to invite external evils into his heart, not only not suppressing them, but even constantly keeping the words "Ming Palace" in his mind, silently thinking about what the ten emperors of Duyu must have looked like and what the Ming Palace truly belonged to.

And because he was thinking about it, he really did have a dream in a daze.

Drifting leisurely, his body like duckweed, muddle-headed and unaware of his location, when he opened his eyes, he saw that he seemed to have arrived in a magnificent golden palace.

Looking up, he saw beneath the palace, on both sides, were civil and military officials filled with a gloomy, baleful aura so heavy it was frightening. At the very top, on the dragon throne, was a blurred figure wearing a jeweled crown.

In this dream, that figure was incomparably huge, larger than mountains and rivers, high above, looking down on him like an ant.

Cold eyes like lightning bolts pierced through his body, as if seeing through everything. Then, a heavy voice sounded:

"Descendant of the seal-holding petty official, upon seeing Our presence, why do you not kneel?"

"..."

This voice directly suppressed people's minds, causing countless distracting thoughts to arise, with countless fragmented images flashing through his mind.

It was as if, in his bloodline, there really had been an ancestor who, at this moment, stood tremblingly in this golden palace, facing the emperor high above, fearful and apprehensive, his knees weakening, about to kneel down.

However, after all, he possessed Daoist cultivation, and when he felt the earth-shattering pressure pressing down on him, his body seemed to be entwined with faint golden light. Although not very obvious, it immediately offset a lot of the pressure.

Not only did he not kneel down, but his mind even flickered slightly, and he had already clearly realized where he was and what existence he was facing now.

He stood even more steadily, slowly placing his hands behind his back, looking left and right, and examining the many Yin spirits in this hall.

Finally, he looked up at the dragon throne and suddenly spoke, "Which emperor of Duyu are you?"

"Bold!"

Seeing the faint golden light on Hu Ma's body, the existence on the dragon throne seemed to be enraged. Rolling black Qi surged from his body, and in the boundless darkness behind him, huge tentacles could be vaguely seen.

His voice carried an inviolable chill: "We are the Great Virtue, Central Paragon, Scripture-Venerating, Martial-Benefiting, Benevolent, Filial, and Wise Emperor. To see Us and not bow, to dare ask Our name, is the height of rebellion."

With this shout, a gust of Yin wind suddenly arose in the court. The civil and military officials on both sides all moved at once. The sound of Hu boards colliding with armor plates resounded in unison, like the roar of heaven and earth, and rolling baleful Qi gathered.

"So, you're the penultimate emperor of Duyu?"

"The one who was skinned alive, that was his son."

Hu Ma remained unmoved, but he also made the connection in his mind.

Of the eleven emperors of Duyu, the last one was skinned alive and lost the empire. Naturally, he was not qualified to enter, so there were ten imperial ghosts in the Ming Palace. When he first entered the dream, he didn't know which one he would see first, but now he knew who this guy was.

Of course, these emperors' posthumous titles were conferred after their deaths. They didn't know them during their lifetimes.

They were announced by their sons and grandsons after the grand burial. Whether the title was good or bad, they had to accept it.

"Rebellion?"

Having his first contact with the Ming Palace, Hu Ma also wanted to test the other party's level, so he sneered, "Do you really think you are still alive, still the emperor of the people of this world?"

"Not to mention that you are now just a dead ghost, even if you were really alive, with the things Duyu has done, what qualifications do you have to call yourself 'We' and demand that I kneel before you?"

"Look closely. I am the chief priest of the Great Luo Dharma Sect, the chief manager of the Zhensui Hu clan, in charge of the Zhensui Bureau, leading the golden armor warriors, and sitting in charge of Yin and Yang. Your Duyu lineage lost your dynasty long ago, and your descendants are all dead. This is the result of karmic sins and retribution."

"Instead of reflecting on yourselves here in the Yellow Springs, you dare to send a dream message to me?"

"Don't you know that my Zhensui Bureau manages the Yin-Yang boundary and does not allow the dead to harass the living? Otherwise, we will cut off your heads!"

"..."

"Audacious!"

As soon as these words came out, it was like stirring up a hornet's nest. Not to mention the one on the dragon throne, even the civil and military officials on both sides were immediately enraged.

Countless ministers and generals whose faces could not be seen rose and shouted angrily: "The Hu family is just a seal-holding petty official, how dare you covet the power of the Zhensui Bureau?"

"Treason is an unforgivable crime! Seize him immediately!"

"Guards, seize him!"

They were really impolite, perhaps truly believing that this was right and proper. As soon as they gave the order, people immediately rushed forward, wielding knives, spears, and yokes, directly attacking him.

Hu Ma glanced over them and saw that every figure and every face in this palace looked extremely strange. Some were like white, green paper figures with stiff eyebrows and eyes, and others were covered with yellow paper, unable to see their features.

It could be said that their official robes and armor were infinitely exquisite, but the people inside were stiff and strange.

They were not as lively and lifelike as the maids serving with lanterns on both sides of the golden palace.

After a little thought, he understood the reason.

Even after death, these emperors wanted to continue their rule.

They could slaughter the emperor's concubines, eunuchs, palace maids, servants, laborers, and slaves to serve the emperor, but when it came to themselves, they mostly replaced them with paper figures.

Having seen through these guys' secrets, he was not afraid at all. Instead, he sneered and suddenly opened his mouth, spitting out a Yuan Yang arrow.

As a Shousui, even in a dream, his Yuan Yang was still vigorous and powerful!

With a booming sound, the hall was filled with fire, like a blazing sun descending, scattering the evil flames of the golden crow.

These civil and military officials who were baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, rushing towards him, were immediately blown away by him. Many of them even caught fire, and the rows of armor on the generals' bodies melted rapidly at this time.

No matter how special the Ming Palace was, it was still a kind of underworld, and the beings here were still ghosts. How could they withstand his Yuan Yang arrow?

However, although the move was effective, he was still being careful, knowing that the Ming Palace was strange and extraordinary. Although he sneered on the surface, he did not dare to underestimate the ghosts in the Ming Palace in his heart.

Sure enough, the figure on the dragon throne, seeing this scene, was furious and shouted, "Rebellious!"

He slapped the dragon throne, and the person at the front of the two rows of maids beside him, carrying two blue and gloomy palace lanterns, raised them upwards, illuminating the hall. The two palace lanterns suddenly turned purple.

Immediately, rolling purple Qi surged forward from the palace lanterns. At this moment, those burned and melted civil and military officials suddenly turned into living people.

Their flesh and blood were real, their faces full of dignity, and their bodies were all in the high and mighty appearance they had had in life.

The civil officials opened their mouths at the same time, their mouths opening and closing, unable to hear what they were saying, but it was clearly a ghost curse, recited to make people panic, as if the vitality of the whole body was to be stripped away and trapped in the dream.

The military generals drew their sabers from their waists one after another and slashed fiercely at Hu Ma's body. The blade passed, and his skin felt cold, his life in danger.

"Seize him, seize him."

"Such a one who delivers himself to our doorstep is better than the sacrifices prepared by those people."

"The descendant of the seal-holding petty official dares to deceive the emperor. We will borrow his body to return to the mortal realm!"

The surrounding air was chaotic, and countless voices seemed to drill into his ears, making him irritable. But Hu Ma understood why they wanted to seize him.

Now they were only sending a dream message, and their connection with him was weak. Therefore, they wanted to capture him in the palace. Seizing him would be equivalent to giving the Ming Palace a hope of returning to the mortal realm.

Now the Ming Palace had become a tree without roots in the mortal realm. Although its prestige was still there, it had become a childless family in the mouths of the people.

To continue to enjoy the incense of the mortal realm or influence the mortal realm, it needed to find the corresponding bloodline.

However, Duyu was, after all, a royal family. Although there must be some bloodline left in the mortal realm, just like the Qingyuan Hu family in the past, who had found one, those bloodlines had long lost the identity of being recognized by heaven and earth, which was equivalent to having no relationship with the Ming Palace.

Having said that, the reason why these bloodlines left in the mortal realm could escape Mr. Longjing's curse was precisely because they no longer had any relationship with the Ming Palace.

"Indeed..."

As the purple Qi surged, Hu Ma's heart sank, and he could not help but take a step back.

Looking up, everything in this palace was incredibly real, feeling like mountains pressing down on him. This was the pressure he had not felt for a long time since he became skilled.

After all, he already had the tenth incense stick, and this tenth incense stick was snatched from heaven and earth.

The power of the Shousui came from the earth, and Hu Ma, borrowing this tenth incense stick, could reach a state of blending with heaven and earth, allowing this heaven and earth to help him share the pressure. So no one could shake him, and all kinds of methods would be drawn to him.

But at this time, firstly, he was not in the mortal realm, and secondly, the purple Qi he was facing now was unprecedentedly powerful, even stronger than that in Shangjing.

In terms of magnitude, it could be said that the weight of a Shangjing city was directly砸(za)hitting him in the face.

Intuitively, every figure in front of him had become incredibly huge, and even a wisp of purple light from the lantern was as heavy as a mountain.

This Ming Palace was inherently different from anything he had seen in the mortal realm.

The tenth emperor of Duyu had also been in power for seventeen years, enjoying the Qi luck of the world for seventeen years, and stealing an unknown amount of weight from heaven and earth. His fate and incense were far beyond his own.

If a Shousui lost his footing, it would be equivalent to losing 90% of his ability.

But just as he, a Shousui, was losing his footing and about to retreat, he suddenly felt a chill behind him.

A force came from nowhere, supporting Hu Ma's lower back.

Hu Ma was in a dream, so he didn't need to look back to see who was behind him. He was surprised for a moment in his heart.

It was Little Hongtang.

She did not know when she had followed him into the dream. Now her face was pale, hiding behind him, shivering.

She was clearly extremely afraid, but she still came, and she helped him stop his retreat.

Most importantly, Little Hongtang usually wore a red dress, and in this place, that red dress was even brighter, even purplish.

Compared to the purple Qi surging in the hall, it was not inferior.

Hu Ma had cultivated until now, and his abilities had become greater and greater, but he had not obtained much purple Qi. Little Hongtang now seemed to be made of purple Qi, precisely filling this gap. Immediately, he gained a foothold in this Ming Palace.

"Audacious!"

Suddenly seeing Little Hongtang appear, the knives and spears that had already been forced close to Hu Ma also stopped.

The civil officials on both sides stopped their mouths, including the black shadow on the dragon throne in front, all looking at her with a gloomy gaze, their eyes showing surprise, but immediately followed by anger.

They all shouted sternly: "Little maidservant, a burial object, having entered the mortal realm by imperial decree, but abandoning the sacred command and escaping the punishment, how dare you return now?"

In this Ming Palace, such scolding and accusations were substantive, surging towards Little Hongtang.

Faced with these people, Little Hongtang was clearly extremely afraid. Her two little short legs, barely standing, went limp. She sat down on the ground with a plop, tightly hugging Hu Ma's thigh, wanting only Hu Ma to shield her.

The maids on both sides of the dragon throne, carrying palace lanterns, also stared intently at Little Hongtang, their mouths opening and closing, as if silently cursing, while raising the lanterns in their hands high.

It could be seen that the purple light in the lanterns became brighter again, as if it had the same origin as the purple Qi on Little Hongtang's body. With their actions, the purple Qi on Little Hongtang's body vaguely fluctuated and began to be sucked away by the lanterns, thread by thread.

"What?"

If they were in the mortal realm, things would be chaotic at this time, and it would be impossible to ask what was happening.

But now they were in the Ming Palace, and Hu Ma was in a dream. These people were even more contaminated with Yin spirits. Intertwined with each other, Hu Ma immediately understood what Little Hongtang had experienced.

His face suddenly darkened, and endless hatred burst out in his eyes.

Little Hongtang had indeed escaped from the Ming Palace.

She was one of the boys and girls who had been buried with the emperor. Having arrived in this underworld, because she had been ignorant in life, she was naturally bullied by the big ghosts after death.

Originally, she should have lived in such darkness, but because the Duyu bloodline in the Yang realm had been cut off, the Ming Palace had become a tree without roots.

And she was a real living person buried, a truly clean living soul. Therefore, she had been chosen by this imperial ghost, blessed with purple Qi, and sent to the mortal realm to be reincarnated, in order to become one of the guides for opening the passage between the Ming Palace and the mortal realm in the future.

However, Little Hongtang took the wrong path on the way to reincarnation and came at the wrong time. Therefore, she ended up wandering in the mortal realm and was eventually encountered by the grandmother returning to Shangjing, who took pity on her and brought her back to Old Yin Mountain.

In fact, in recent years, the Ming Palace had sent out many people using this method, but none of them seemed to have succeeded.

Either they were lost, or they were secretly eliminated by others. Over time, the Ming Palace also gave up this idea.

But now they saw Little Hongtang appear and were immediately furious. One was to take back the purple Qi, and the other was to seize her and punish her.

But now, Hu Ma was watching by her side.

Before, he had always wanted to know Little Hongtang's background. Why did this little girl have so many differences from others?

She was incredibly strong, but she didn't dare to fight with people and wouldn't hurt people.

She had an extraordinary ability to restrain herself from eating blood... Of course, a person made of purple Qi had an extraordinary ability to restrain herself from Zisui.

But knowing it before was okay. After knowing it, he only felt a surge of shock and anger rising instantly from his heart.

Thinking of how she had been forced to be buried alive when she was still ignorant in life and bullied after death, now looking at the little girl sitting on the ground, her face pale and almost transparent, he felt a raging fire burning in his eyes.

Suddenly, he waved his sleeve, blocking the two lanterns illuminating Little Hongtang.

Then he slowly helped her up, shielding her with his body, and said in a low voice, "Don't be afraid, Little Hongtang. I'll vent your anger for you!"

"You can't even protect yourself, what are you talking about venting anger?"

"Seize him. If we can't do that, we must leave that little girl here!"

In the Ming Palace, a group of evil ghosts shouted loudly. The ghosts in the Ming Palace were, after all, different from those in other places. Most of the ghosts in other underworlds had lost their spirituality and only knew about gloom and violence. At most, they only knew some awe and instinctive fear.

But the ghosts in this Ming Palace, perhaps because they were nourished by purple Qi, actually retained most of the thinking of living people.

They were afraid that they would not be able to seize Hu Ma, but they saw that he felt sorry for Little Hongtang, so they had a plan.

As long as they seized her, they would not be afraid of not being able to catch Hu Ma.

In the midst of shouts, they howled like flies, forming groups and pieces, turning into gusts of Yin wind, and rushing towards Hu Ma.

...

...

"Could it be that even you cannot withstand this Ming Palace?"

At this time, on Mount Da'ai, the National Preceptor was staring intently at the ten incense sticks he had lit.

He clearly saw that among the ten incense sticks, one was burning extremely vigorously, and its incense Qi was also stronger than the other incense sticks. It had already formed a continuous stream, like clouds and mist, covering Hu Ma.

And beneath Hu Ma, the soil had begun to soften and sink, as if he was sinking into the ground little by little.

He knew that this was the Ming Palace wanting to grab Hu Ma in the dream, pulling him from the mortal realm into the Ming Palace.

However, because he had gone too far on the bridge, he had no way to deal with the Ming Palace. But Hu Ma had unprecedented ten incense sticks of Daoist cultivation. Could he be so vulnerable?

Just as he was surprised and suspicious, he suddenly saw that Hu Ma in the dream suddenly clenched his teeth, his jaws popped as if he was talking in his sleep, and he said in a low voice: "I transform my body into a bridge, drawing the mortal realm's killing tribulation to the Ming Palace!"

Boom!

Before the voice fell, a blood-colored lightning bolt suddenly appeared from the other side of the sky, suddenly drawn to the mountain, and landed beside Hu Ma.

The next moment, a strong wind rose, and blood Qi filled the air.

...

...

In the Ming Palace, Hu Ma held Little Hongtang with one hand, and with the other hand pointed towards the mortal realm. His arm and shoulder formed a bridge.

The next moment, the Ming Palace and the mortal realm seemed to be separated by him, forming a bridge. Indescribable rolling bloody storms suddenly poured into the Ming Palace from the mortal realm. The countless civil and military ministers were torn to pieces by the storms.

Even the rolling purple Qi in the palace was impacted by this blood Qi, instantly losing its form and rolling back.

He, however, held Little Hongtang with one hand, his whole body wrapped in bloody rain, step by step, walking straight into the palace, intimidating the civil and military officials, their faces panicked, his voice like a fierce god scaring evil ghosts:

"The mortal realm is now rising in killing tribulation, destroying this world's unjust fate. You are the ones who have benefited the most from fate. How can I spare you?"

"..."

While speaking, he slowly raised his hand, and a hideous and fierce saber could be seen falling into his dream from the mortal realm, and from the dream, coming to his hand in the Ming Palace. The blade was ferocious and evil, and on the handle, a ghost head was emitting endless baleful Qi.

Hu Ma held the saber, his voice low: "Once it was a saber full of baleful Qi, today it will be stained with blood Qi."

"I will rename you, changing you from a penal officer to a Xiaohuang. Today, accompany me above the Ming Palace, specializing in beheading the fate of emperors. Are you willing?"

"..."

The Xiaohuang saber suddenly clanged, like the wild laughter of an evil ghost.

(End of chapter)