受命于天，既寿永昌。

These were eight heavy words from a past life, yet they felt equally weighty in this world.

From the moment they first appeared on the Nameless Treasure Seal, Hu Ma had been pondering why Lao Junmei would leave such a treasure, and why the first four characters appeared after he had killed Old Master Yan.

And where were the last four characters?

What Hu Ma found even more amusing was that the Nameless Treasure Seal was left by Lao Junmei, and the rebellious Non-Eating Ox was also left by Lao Junmei.

As a result, the treasure seal had these eight characters representing the orthodox mandate of heaven, while the Non-Eating Ox disciples believed in the sixteen-character maxim: "The azure sky is dead, the yellow sky shall rise. In the year of Jiazi, great fortune will descend upon the world."

Thinking about it carefully, it was quite interesting.

Of course, for Hu Ma now, the most important thing was to understand what the characters on the seal represented. The first half, "Shou Ming Yu Tian (Entrusted by Heaven)," although it was four characters, the key lay in "Ming (Destiny)" and "Tian (Heaven)."

Thinking about it, he already possessed these two characters, so the first half of the sentence appeared on the seal. As for the second half, would it only appear on the seal after he possessed "Shou (Longevity)" and "Chang (Prosperity)"?

Did Lao Junmei already have them, but he simply didn't have enough skill to see them, or were the last four characters simply not there, and he needed to find them himself?

He sighed inwardly.

This matter was not so easy to figure out, otherwise, he wouldn't have waited until now.

The foundation for crossing the bridge had already been laid when his Shou Sui (New Year's Eve Vigil) technique in the City of Wrongful Deaths was completed, but crossing the bridge was a crucial step in transforming from a "human" to a "non-human." It involved too much, and his mind was in chaos, so he didn't dare to rashly take this step, wanting to observe more.

Of course, doubts were doubts, but the effect of these two characters was also obvious.

The character "Ming" allowed him to stand firmly in the human world, even those who had crossed the bridge couldn't pull him. Standing firm in the human world, and the character "Tian" could suppress the Purple Grand Duke, which made Hu Ma extremely special now.

He hadn't crossed the bridge, but what he feared were only the methods related to evading destiny and the Purple Grand Duke. Anything within these two categories would suffer a great loss if they encountered him.

"You… you…"

Hu Ma was clear about his own capabilities, but Cui Magu couldn't possibly know. At this moment, the panic in her heart had reached its peak.

How could this legendary Zou Gui (Soul Walker) Grand Executioner suddenly transform into that person?

Why would the dignified Young Master Hu disguise himself as her executioner?

Then, if he was the executioner, who was the person who fought with the Grand Master in the City of Wrongful Deaths and won?

Her heart was filled with fear, but she couldn't care about it. A thousand illusions and falsehoods, but a person's destiny couldn't be faked. Having determined Hu Ma's identity in her heart, her mind was already in chaos.

She used her skill of crossing the bridge, but couldn't pull this person onto the bridge. She didn't hesitate to use her Purple Qi Refining Soul technique, but her most prized skill, the rarest Purple Qi in the world, was scattered before she could even see the opponent's move clearly.

At this moment, she was utterly flustered, completely losing the courage to attack Hu Ma. In despair, her body retreated slightly, and the hemp clothes on her body tore with a "chi la la" sound.

A cold face already revealed a fierce determination, a willingness to die.

"Hua la la…"

Worried that Hu Ma would step forward, she first untied her hemp clothes. Wisps of clothing fluff flew all over the sky, like paper money dancing, with a sense of gloomy strangeness.

And under the hemp clothes, her body suddenly turned into countless ones, some to the left, some to the right, some forward, some backward. What was originally a solid body now seemed to turn into a light shadow.

Each shadow was pale and dim, like a dead person, appearing in every corner within thirty zhang. Some were on trees, some were underground, some were in front, some were behind.

This was the unique skill she cultivated, the Twenty-Three Bodies.

She was originally a true body, a living person, weighing eighty-seven jin and three liang, but now she was divided into twenty-three, each shadow becoming extremely light and yin, between human and ghost.

Divided, they were ghosts; united, they were humans.

And now, three of these twenty-three bodies had already been split off, one lying on the back of the Fourth Miss Zhou, one lying on the back of Zhao Sanyi, and one lying on the back of Chen Abao.

The other twenty bodies, one retreated backward, prostrating on the ground, and the other nineteen all climbed onto Hu Ma's body.

Having a single dharma body lying on the opponent's back would allow them to carry it unknowingly, their body becoming heavier and heavier, their Dao practice becoming lower and lower, and even their minds would be increasingly affected by their dharma body, then doing what they wanted him to do.

This was originally one of the most brilliant methods in the Negative Spirit Sect, besides Meng Family's worshipping of their ancestors.

Originally, in this martial world, no one except the ten surname families was worth her using this skill, but now she didn't have the slightest bit of arrogance, but was ready to disappear at any time, simply resolutely obeying orders.

"I'm here to apologize for Young Master Meng…"

Successfully attaching her nineteen bodies to Hu Ma's back, she even felt a bit fortunate, and slowly opened her mouth. The dozen or so pale women crawling on Hu Ma's body simultaneously opened their mouths in his ear: "Accept that disaster, and both families can live."

"Accept that disaster, and the Hu-Meng grievances will be settled…"

"Accept that disaster, and we all have hope of becoming immortals…"

"…"

At this time, Hu Ma still had the Great Might Heavenly General Dharma Body, but it looked extremely strange, a tall, grim, fierce god's appearance, with a dozen pale bodies hanging on him, all chattering in his ear.

"This is the unique skill of the Negative Spirit Grand Executioner?"

Hu Ma could also feel his back getting cold, his body becoming heavy, and even his thoughts were constantly trying to change.

He didn't answer, didn't move, just looked faintly at the shadow in front of him that had become extremely faint, and said softly, "If you had used it earlier, I would have respected you a bit more!"

"…"

"You still refuse to accept the disaster?"

Listening to Hu Ma's words, a look of despair flashed across Cui Magu's face, and a shadow of a bridge gradually emerged behind her.

Hu Ma even saw for the first time so clearly what this bridge, which every sect regarded as a goal, actually looked like. He even saw that in the hazy mist, on a bridge leading straight to the depths of the underworld, faint shadows could be vaguely seen.

Each person held a high incense stick, ready to bow down to him at any time.

It turned out that even this dignified Negative Spirit Grand Executioner, using her ultimate skill, wasn't really a backup plan to deal with "Young Master Hu." She was just a fuse.

Borrowing the last foundation of the Negative Spirit Sect, a united bow,削福毁寿(削福毁寿) (削福毁寿 - Shāofú huǐ shòu - diminishing fortune and destroying longevity), and decay of both heaven and man.

The people on the bridge were all non-human, with mysterious destinies and transcendent identities. A bow to someone in the human world could destroy that person's established destiny, fortune, and lifespan. So, what if it was the entire sect, all those who had crossed the bridge?

More importantly, even if he still had a way to survive, the subsequent events would no longer be under his control. Now the Twelve Disasters were blocked outside the mountain, but they still hadn't returned to the cave.

The Mountain Lord led the Old Yin Mountain numerous Pond Gods could block them, that was his blessing. But if he was bowed to by those who had crossed the bridge, then, perhaps those twelve disasters would also have the opportunity to bypass Old Yin Mountain and instantly fall upon him.

This was the most decisive and ruthless move, and also the last biting method of that Young Master Meng.

Of course, Cui Magu wouldn't survive either. She was just risking her life to ensure that Young Master Hu would fall for this trick.

But at this time, with a face full of determination to die, she was not afraid of anything. She didn't believe that Young Master Hu had the ability to withstand this move, but she strangely didn't see any panic on the other party's face.

The other party even showed a smile.

The dharma body was tall, mysterious, fierce, and imposing, looking down at her and saying words that seemed very gentle:

"Bridge?"

"Meng Family, where do you still have a bridge?"

"…"

Cui Magu paused, her face suddenly changed drastically, realizing some kind of uncontrolled and terrible thing. The twenty-three bodies turned their heads at the same time, looking towards the ethereal bridge.

……

……

At the same time, all the Soul Walkers in the world were fighting with the Negative Spirits who had received orders from the Meng Family.

In the eyes of those in the sects, this was a fierce battle between the Soul Walkers and the Negative Spirits, two sects that looked down on each other. But in the eyes of those outside the sects, it was the common people praying for blessings, and the tyrants causing trouble.

Such an extremely chaotic battle was naturally without suspense, breaking out everywhere. For a time, countless people were fighting.

The only problem was that the Soul Walkers were attacking in anger, while the Negative Spirits were mostly acting on orders.

With the ebb and flow, the Negative Spirit's momentum gradually weakened.

And in various prefectures, those wandering gods and ghost generals who went to the Blessing Assembly to cause trouble encountered tough nuts. The Non-Eating Ox demons were all heroes who roamed the martial world. Those who knew each other were okay, but those who didn't know each other directly engaged in a fierce battle.

While the two sides were fighting, and it was difficult to determine the outcome for a while, outside Old Yin Mountain, one hundred and eight gold-armored warriors blocked the Prefecture Lord who wanted to enter the mountain.

A golden light and a group of white lanterns collided with each other, already stirring up layers of terrifying evil wind outside Old Yin Mountain. Even the Mountain Lord, who was being sacrificed to, was moved a few times, but after all, it was Hu Family's property, and he shouldn't overstep his authority.

But while he was still a little tangled, at the place of offering to the mountain, a ghost servant with pigtails tied up was laboriously climbing onto the incense table amidst the worship of countless people, panting heavily.

"Ne!"

She sat on the incense table and took out something from the basket hanging on her arm, saying, "Brother Hu Ma gave it to you."

"He said he's just borrowing it for you to use, and you have to return it after you're done."

"…"

The Mountain Lord looked down and his eyebrows trembled slightly.

He recognized this thing, it was the Golden Armor Collection, one of the three books in the Demon Suppression Prefecture.

One who holds the Golden Armor Collection can command the Golden Armor Warriors.

Just how big is this kid Hu Family's heart, that he actually dares to lend this thing to himself?

(End of Chapter)