346: Chapter 218: Entering the Nine Netherworld, Venturing into the Netherworld_2 346: Chapter 218: Entering the Nine Netherworld, Venturing into the Netherworld_2 And the most important Spiritual Spring had transformed from a small pond into a lake.
Yu Hua bent down, scooped up some Spiritual Spring Water, and drank it.
Its sweetness soothed the foundation that had been eroded by the Transformation Law.
She thought to herself, “This Spiritual Spring is of top-grade Spirit Vein, the same as the Three Pure Ones Main Peak.
Staying here feels much more comfortable, and I can remain longer.”
Gu Wen sat cross-legged on the ground.
Initially, he meditated seriously and operated his Qi Cultivation Skill.
After a stick of incense had burned, he opened his eyes.
It was too simple.
The normal Qi Cultivation Skill taught by Yu Hua, he didn’t actually need to learn; he only had to make slight modifications to the Yuqing Skill to practice it.
The only difference was probably the law.
Immortal Land was equivalent to the water pressure of ten thousand meters under the sea, and the Cultivation World had no “water pressure.” When Gu Wen first entered the Grotto Heaven, he felt it, but having gotten used to the heavy pressure, he felt uncomfortable when it lessened.
Gu Wen turned his head to look at Yu Hua, who was sitting cross-legged a few steps away and reading his “Cultivation World Guide.”
Her white garment and light gauze outlined her slim waist and long legs.
Her delicate fingers played with her hair, her nose was high, and her eyebrows were naturally arched.
Simple yet serene, without a trace of makeup—like a refreshing breeze indescribable and elusive.
Gu Wen quietly waited until she looked up from her writing, a slight smile curling his lips, his voice soft yet piercing.
“Your handwriting looks like ghostly scribbles, even worse than before.”
“As long as you can understand it, it’s fine.”
Gu Wen did not plan to change.
It was unnecessary and intentional.
After becoming an Immortal, cultivation became an abstract thing, no longer measured by realms and laws.
He had no path left by predecessors in front of him; he had to explore on his own, even turning to many classics of ancient ancestors from past lives.
Eventually, Gu Wen came to a plain and unadorned conclusion.
Acting according to one’s nature is indeed the ultimate principle.
Whenever his swordsmanship lacked sword light, his Golden Light Spell lacked golden light, and his Golden Core was formless and intangible, that would mean he had reached the end of his practice.
He knew he could not achieve this state now, so he settled for a lesser goal, exchanging methods through books.
Gu Wen asked, “When will you leave?”
“You’re in such a hurry to send me away?”
Yu Hua tugged at Gu Wen’s cheek, a gesture that was both affectionate and assertive.
He did not resist, but he was much more composed than before.
He said, “Immortal Land is ultimately not a place to stay long; staying here will kill you.
Now that I am familiar with the external Qi Cultivation Method, tomorrow…
later, I will see you off.”
“I will leave a month later.”
Yu Hua shook her head.
Gu Wen also shook his head, speaking firmly and incontrovertibly, “You’re leaving tomorrow.”
The two stared at each other for a long time.
Gu Wen did not budge, and suddenly, Yu Hua realized that the mudskipper before her had transformed into a True Dragon.
The hesitancy, fear, and helplessness she felt at their first meeting had vanished, and she could no longer manipulate him as she used to.
Previously, he had to listen to her; now, she had to listen to Gu Wen.
“What if I don’t go?”
“I will knock you unconscious and throw you out.”
Yu Hua let out a light laugh and released her hand, somewhat relieved, “Unknowingly, you have become the top of the three rankings, the only one to reach the top since their creation.
But I hope you indulge me this time; I wouldn’t joke with my own life.
A month is the limit, fifteen days would be no problem.”
Gu Wen pondered for a moment, then compromised slightly, “Five days.”
“Seven days.”
“Deal.”
Gu Wen no longer quibbled, and Yu Hua also smiled.
She knew him well—the little mudskipper always liked to play it safe.
If she told the truth, he might throw her out of Immortal Land tomorrow; otherwise, she could negotiate to her desired timeframe.
Changing the subject, Yu Hua said, “Yesterday I met Jade Sword Buddha; she has stabilized her mind.
She told me she is going to become a Buddha, she is very tired.”
Gu Wen was silent for a moment, then said, “A human life is like the autumn of plants and trees, not everyone can be fulfilled, perhaps this is fate.”
He had always understood a principle clearly: not everyone with talent and perseverance can succeed.
He, Jade Sword Buddha, Chi Yu Zi, Jun Yan, they all had more talent than those so-called Demi Immortals and True Immortals.
Jade Sword Buddha, with her mortal body, could withstand Buddha Demon; Chi Yu Zi, nearly crippled, cultivated an undying Taoist Body; Jun Yan won a sliver of a chance with 1% possibility.
In a fair competition, they would not lose, but fairness did not exist.
“I don’t believe in fate,” Yu Hua shook her head, “Initially, many elders in the sect did not think highly of me, considering me an unremarkable disciple who didn’t even qualify for the Inner Sect, but in the end, I still made it.”
“Can you tell me about your past?”
Gu Wen was very interested, deemed the first half of life of someone hailed as a Heavenly Girl.
From her narrative, it seemed she was not born a prodigy accompanied by unusual phenomena, then advancing triumphantly all the way.
“Do you want to hear it?
It might be boring.”
Yu Hua did not avoid the topic, looking at the drifting clouds and mists of Grotto Heaven, her voice also turned ethereal and light.
“I was born in a mortal farmer family under a small branch of Three Pure Mountain, later discovered by a cultivator to have the qualifications for cultivation and joined the sect at the age of eight, but despite cultivating for a hundred years, I remained an ordinary disciple.
In the sect’s competitions among disciples, I never ranked in the double digits, and after leaving the sect, I didn’t have any rank at all.”
“I didn’t have a great master or a tragic background, just an ordinary person standing below the stage cheering for the talented ones.
Compared to you, I fall short.”
Gu Wen slightly shook his head and softly said, “I was initially a beggar, then a servant.
Back then when you first entered the mortal realm, I wasn’t even qualified to approach the road you walked on.”
Perhaps having sat for a long time and feeling a bit tired, Yu Hua leaned slightly against Gu Wen, her breath fragrant as orchid, smiling delightfully, “What about now?”
“Now, I am no longer a beggar or a servant, but to me, you are still an immortal from the heavens.”
Gu Wen answered without hesitation; he meant nothing more, simply voiced his thoughts, yet it stirred ripples in the lady’s heart.
Although Gu Wen had seen many women prettier and more seductive than Yu Hua, and not just a few, they could not catch his eye, as none could compare to having known the grace of her.
There is always one or two moon-like entities in life that one cannot forget.
Gu Wen could never forget the scene of an immortal descending in the muddy alleys of Bianjing under the bright moon.
Yu Hua pursed her crimson lips, hesitated to speak, and eventually swallowed her words back.
She thought it unnecessary to add complications now; it was more important for Gu Wen to focus on his cultivation.
She laughed, “Back then I was so focused on your cultivation that I almost counted every hair on your head, yet I still don’t remember what Zhao Feng looked like.”
“Smells like a pile of shit, looks like a monkey.”
Gu Wen answered earnestly, then went on to recount many of Zhao Feng’s foolish acts as if reciting treasures from a cherished list.
This caused Yu Hua to laugh uncontrollably.
She wasn’t really interested in hearing about Zhao Feng but found Gu Wen’s unexpected vengefulness on such minor characters quite adorable.
On the cloud-like ground of Grotto Heaven, the two nestled and chatted leisurely, as if time could freeze in that moment.
Five days later, while Yu Hua was sleeping, Gu Wen took her to Upper Hong Bridge, and once again the myriad white jade shackles left him scarred and dragged him a hundred feet into the earth.
Every time he struggled, the shackles pulled him deeper underground.
When the Immortal Sword dug Gu Wen out a month later, he simply found a nearby river to wash himself and returned to the house in his tattered clothes.
“Aren’t you going to change your clothes?”
“Daoist skill naturally.”
Gu Wen, spouting nonsense, sat down on the ground to meditate.
The Immortal Sword didn’t interfere further and returned to its sheath.
Outside, the scenery shifted from daylight to night, from lush greens to bleak desolation, while time seemed to stop within the house.
Only the naive heirloom ran amuck in the house, sometimes jumping on tables and hitting cups, other times bringing back animal corpses, and sometimes coiling on Gu Wen’s lap.
Sounds of cup collisions, the smell of decaying corpses, some skin-pricking licks.
Throughout, Gu Wen never opened his eyes, meditating, entering meditation, cultivating Qi.
Four seasons passed like this until Gu Wen slowly opened his eyes.
The Immortal Sword unsheathed, slightly vibrating, sent a thought, “You have become stronger again, but you are still far from being a Little Saint, maybe hundreds, maybe a thousand years.”
“At least my senses have returned; thus, Chi Yu Zi’s senses can also be healed.”
Gu Wen’s nose twitched slightly, sniffing out various smells.
His body regained sensation, and his mouth seemed to have taste again, energizing him in an instant.
Unable to hide his smile, he pushed out the door, the weather-beaten doorcollapsed with a sound, followed by the entire house collapsing.
The roof beams that had hung for decades had finally fallen.