Chapter 156 Returning

“The place where the Celestial Master attained enlightenment, but apart from these thirteen characters, I can't feel any other divine power. The Qing Qiang sacrifice and this stele shouldn't be related. If it's said to be a stele left here for suppression, the inscription doesn't seem to be playing any role."

The Dao of Taiqing Xuan Yuan is the main cultivation method of Taiqing cultivators. It was passed down by the Celestial Master Zhang Daoling and is said to have been received from the Supreme Lord Lao, obtaining the twenty-four chapters of the Taiqing Daoist Book.

Ji Xiang pondered for a moment, and then white smoke surged from his body, covering the stone tablet and peeling off the form and spirit of the thirteen characters.

As the form and spirit of the thirteen characters were lost, these thirteen characters gradually became invisible to people and began to fade into obscurity. Ji Xiang released his immortal divine sense, sensing the surroundings, but found no changes.

"Just in case."

This place is the real Mount Emei, the true face of Mount Emei. It is not particularly rare for famous mountains and great rivers to have restrictions or illusions concealing their true appearance within a grotto-heaven or Dharma realm. For example, the true form of the Qingliu Mountain of the Lu Mountain Sect is in another world, not in the human realm.

There must be great danger in the mountain. Carrying the stone tablet inscription from the moment the Celestial Master attained enlightenment may turn misfortune into good fortune at a critical moment.

He stepped forward, past the stone tablet.

Suddenly, a voice appeared in his heart.

[Returned.]

Descending from the dark, not coming from any of the eight directions of heaven and earth, Ji Xiang stopped abruptly, turned back again, and the Zhang Daoling Stele had disappeared!

As for the Ghost of Ten Thousand Zhangs in the High Heavens, it did not appear, so naturally this voice did not come from it.

Ji Xiang was shocked and quickly walked back to where he had been, but the scenery he saw had changed. In an instant, the clouds and mist cleared before his eyes, and an endless expanse of high sky and a great river appeared. The river water was wide and flowed endlessly, but outside the world's borders of the great river, there were still layers of heaven-reaching arrays covering it, preventing all living beings from entering or exiting.

The immortal Qi here was unusually rich, and the demon Qi soared to the sky. The spiritual energy surged and was very abundant.

This was not the human world!

"The level of spiritual energy here..."

Ji Xiang tried it out. Just a casual display of thunder magic suddenly caused rumbling thunder in the sky. Using the Golden Light Spell again, the light shone brightly, and the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy gathered around him. With just a slight intake and exhale, he felt as if he had grown three heads and six arms. The surrounding spiritual energy could be infinitely extended and arbitrarily changed under his control.

An unbelievable thought arose in his heart.

"Could this be...the Reverse World?"

There was indeed a path to enter the Reverse World in front of Mount Emei, but he didn't expect that crossing the Zhang Daoling Stele would allow him to enter, completely isolated from the human world. And looking at the array wall outside the great river, it seemed that in the Reverse World, Mount Emei was also extremely special, even... perhaps even Tianxin (Celestial Heart) experts could not enter.

In the Reverse World, it was also considered a forbidden land?

"Strange, strange! The passage between the Outer and Reverse Worlds is cut off. Could it be that the only entrance to Mount Emei is through the Zhang Daoling Stele from the human world?"

Immortals in the Reverse World were like fish in water, but at the same time, they were further away from the Heavenly Dao. Ji Xiang could sense this. The responsiveness of the Demon King was gradually decreasing. Although the power of his spells had greatly increased and his immortal Qi-enhanced supernatural powers had probably grown, he could no longer mobilize the "Dao" between heaven and earth to help himself.

Fortunately, the Tai Xuan Thunder Sound was a new path. Ji Xiang tried it out and spoke softly, and the thunder sound was still there, which put his mind at ease.

Thunder magic without the Dao was only left with considerable power. Without the nature of the "Dao" within it, it meant that thunder could not kill evil spirits, and water could not extinguish fires. The principles of all things in the world faded away, and even if there was a drought or a flood, it would not burn or drown mortals.

Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth were only left with the forms of the five elements and their mutually restraining attributes. Thunder could not be the wrath of heaven, and yin and yang could not harmonize with each other. Ghosts could travel in the daytime, and demons were not afraid of Buddhist Dharma and thunder sounds.

In this way, it seemed that the Tianxin experts of the Reverse World had each divided up a territory, perhaps precisely because there was no Dao. Therefore, they achieved Tianxin and existed as substitutes for the "Dao". The human heart replaced the heavenly heart, formulating the rules of the territory and supplementing these missing Daos, so that the Reverse World's laws did not ultimately become one path, but still maintained most of its original appearance.

Buddhism was still Buddhism, Daoism was still Daoism, Fangshi (Taoist practitioners) were still Fangshi, and Confucianism was still Confucianism.

Otherwise, if the nature of the Dao was lost, Buddhism would have been Daoism. Daoism would have come from Confucianism, and Confucianism would have mixed with Fangshi, and the three teachings would have truly become one family.

Pa...

The demon Qi in the mountain surged, very active, as if some monster was awakening. At the same time, the voice of the Ghost of Ten Thousand Zhangs in the High Heavens reappeared. The First Sacrifice had not yet ended, and now that he had recovered, those hanged corpses reappeared in the sky.

Ji Xiang frowned. Engaging in a fight with the Ghost of Ten Thousand Zhangs was already an unwise decision, and the transformation technique was immediately used.

Demon Qi began to rise from all corners of the mountain, forming one demon soldier after another in Ji Xiang's perception. But they were very different from the demons of the present world. They were all ten zhang tall, extremely ferocious, with hideous faces of various shapes, one hand holding an axe and the other dancing with a snake.

E'er Liang Qing She (Baiting Two Green Snakes)!

However, the expected attack did not come. After these demon soldiers appeared, they collectively moved in one direction, more and more, like believers going to participate in a pilgrimage. Ji Xiang followed them to the deepest part of Mount Emei and saw an ancient temple.

Outside the temple, demon soldiers gathered. What shocked Ji Xiang was that to the west of the temple, there was a blue bronze sheep as huge as an ordinary mountain, its horn broken and its corpse lying there, but the immortal Qi on its body had not dissipated even after countless years.

There was a gash on its head, as if it had been killed by a sharp weapon.

Inside the temple, there was an empty altar.

Ji Xiang遁遁遁 (Dunjin - Stealthed) into it, approached the altar, but suddenly a force burst out from his body, attracted by the altar. Subsequently, his external appearance also changed, and he actually transformed into the White-Faced Zhenwu.

[From the time of the Yin and Zhou dynasties, the turtle was worshiped by all living beings as the god of the underworld and the god of the earth. Later, it was also regarded as the god of darkness and the god of the north, the master of the netherworld and the bright world, and the embodiment of yin and yang as one. In the Qin and Han dynasties, the divine turtle guarding the north was called Xuanwu. Xuanwu often carried a feathered man on its back. This feathered man held an immortal herb in his hand, and the Yellow Dragon Zhi (fungus) bloomed all over his body, which was worshiped by the Han people.]

[Xuanwu is the master of the underworld, in charge of the death of the underground; the feathered man is the master of the bright world, in charge of the life of the world.]

That strange voice rang out again, and at this time, Ji Xiang had already discovered who was speaking.

It was himself.

To be precise, it was the form and spirit of the White-Faced Zhenwu!

Without hesitation, Ji Xiang wrapped himself in the Tongtian Mingyan (Clear Flame) and then peeled off the form and spirit of the White-Faced Zhenwu from his body. And as expected, after the White-Faced Zhenwu left Ji Xiang, as the form and spirit that existed, it clearly possessed its own will. In those majestic eyes, a bright light gradually rose, as if containing the sun, moon, and stars.

"Ancestral God?"