"Yes, but not many. It's different from demons like tree spirits and centipede demons. This guy is originally a ghost from the underworld, and he has to pay a price to come to the human world. But even so, we can't let our guard down. Over the years, the ghost mark on Xiaoqian's body has become very weak. But it hasn't completely disappeared. Just to be on the safe side, let's kill it before it makes its next move."
“That’s a ghost in the underworld that’s almost at the level of Yama. We might be able to deal with it in the human world, but it’ll be difficult to deal with it in the underworld.”
"Hehe, that's a matter for the underworld. We can only help out at most. Brother Yan, can you contact the underworld? Tell them we can enter the underworld and help them hunt down the Black Mountain Demon. But the underworld has to agree to one condition."
Asking the underworld for favors made Yan Chixia's lips twitched involuntarily. Ordinary cultivators wouldn't dare make such a request. After all, even cultivators mostly couldn't escape death. Once they died and entered the underworld, they'd be at the mercy of others.
However, Lu Xuan wasn't interested in this. He figured he'd most likely travel to the next world after he died anyway, so there was no need to fear the underworld of this world. Besides, he didn't think much of the so-called underworld. After all, an underworld that had its power usurped by a ghost was truly humiliating.
“Alright, I can contact my sect and ask them to discuss this matter with the Underworld.”
Lu Xuan had never considered that the Underworld would refuse their help. As mentioned before, this Underworld administration was utterly incompetent. Even though order had been restored and Black Mountain's power was waning, they were still not confident in taking him down. Moreover, that guy had slaughtered three towns in the human world, greatly replenishing his strength, and was now almost at his peak, making him even more difficult to deal with.
Sure enough, Yan Chixia replied two days later.
"The Underworld has replied. They have agreed to your request." There was nothing the weak Underworld could do; they had absolutely no reason to refuse the help of a Golden Core expert.
Although Lu Xuan spoke lightly, he was actually very serious. The last time they attacked the centipede demon, it started strong but ended weakly, and they gained nothing in the end. This frustrated Lu Xuan for a long time. This time, if Lu Xuan didn't prepare to plunder extensively when he went to the underworld to attack the Black Mountain Demon, wouldn't it be a waste of his collecting tendencies?
Three days later, Lu Xuan, Hong Yu, and Yan Chixia joined forces and, guided by the messengers of the underworld, entered the underworld.
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Chapter 390 Why did the Underworld fall?
The underworld.
This was Lu Xuan's first time here. In fact, most cultivators wouldn't come to the Underworld casually. However, Yan Chixia was an exception; this guy had various powerful backers, and his influence and connections made him a force to be reckoned with. He still had connections in the Underworld, so he knew his way around easily.
The underworld wasn't the eerie place Lu Xuan had imagined, filled with gusts of wind and the wailing of ghosts. It was simply dark and cold. But these weren't problems for the ghosts.
The key problem is that the underworld is filled with extremely heavy yin energy. This is what makes it most unfriendly to the living. When normal people are corrupted by this yin energy, they quickly turn into the dead.
Because of the urgency of the situation, Lu Xuan and his group did not enter the city. Instead, they directly joined up with the Underworld's army in the wilderness. This time, the Underworld had clearly gone all out. From afar, Lu Xuan could sense more than one being, whose cultivation was second only to his own. Behind them was a densely packed army of ghosts.
To quell this rebellion, the underworld mobilized an army of over 100,000. They marched in a vast and imposing force, their intention being to overcome all obstacles with brute force and sweep through the enemy lines.
Meanwhile, Black Mountain had retracted all its tentacles, fiercely defending the City of the Dead. It must be said, the City of the Dead, run by the Black Mountain Demon, was quite interesting. From a distance, it didn't appear evil at all; instead, it exuded a grand and imposing aura.
Lu Xuan had never seen the real City of the Wrongfully Dead. Yan Chixia had told him that the real City of the Wrongfully Dead was currently being rebuilt. The Underworld considered it shameful and generally didn't allow people to visit it casually. However, the City of the Wrongfully Dead in Black Mountain even gave the impression that it was the real one. Clearly, the partial control it had seized from the Underworld had played a significant role.
This is why the Underworld must defeat Black Mountain. Without Black Mountain's demise, the Underworld cannot reclaim all its power. The Underworld will never be truly rebuilt.
As the army drew nearer, Lu Xuan felt an increasingly heavy sense of oppression approaching. This wasn't due to differences in individual cultivation levels, but rather a suppression on a much larger, more macroscopic level. Its source was the entire City of the Unjustly Dead.
"So that's how it is. Black Mountain used the power he seized from the Underworld to build this City of the Wrongfully Dead. No wonder it gives people the feeling that this is the real thing. In a sense, this is indeed the City of the Wrongfully Dead. Because it is recognized by the Underworld."
Lu Xuan's words caused one of the ghost generals beside him to turn pale. Although his face wasn't pale to begin with, it became even darker. Lu Xuan and these ghost generals hadn't actually introduced themselves to each other. Since they clearly didn't like them, Lu Xuan and his companions weren't going to bother trying to ingratiate themselves.
Perhaps these ghost generals thought that they didn't need Lu Xuan and the others' help to subdue the City of the Wrongfully Dead and destroy Black Mountain.
In fact, Lu Xuan only recognized two people in the entire group, one in black and one in white. Undoubtedly, they were the infamous Black and White Impermanence, Master Xie and Master Fan. However, their status in the underworld didn't seem particularly high. They seemed to be just mid-level officials, not someone Lu Xuan could get close to. Lu Xuan didn't even bother to approach them.
Leading the vanguard were six ghost generals. The other scouts referred to them as King Qin Guang or something similar, seemingly the legendary Ten Kings of Hell. Lu Xuan had always assumed the Ten Kings of Hell were the highest commanders of the underworld. But here, they were merely second-tier generals.
The true core of the organization consists of three entities known as the Heavenly Palaces. Yan Chixia secretly told Lu Xuan that these three are the Zhou Jueyin Heavenly Palace, the Tai Sha Liangshizong Heavenly Palace, and the Ming Chen Naifanwucheng Heavenly Palace.
Lu Xuan said he had never heard of any of them.
"Don't even mention you, I've only heard about it, I've never seen it. These three are from the Six Heavenly Palaces of Luo Feng. Above them are the Five Ghost Emperors. Above that is the Great Emperor of Beiyin Fengdu. That is the true god who governs the underworld. His cultivation is unfathomable, comparable to the high-ranking gods of the Heavenly Court."
"Really? If it's that powerful, why was some of the Underworld's power taken away?"
"..." Yan Chixia was speechless. This should be a secret of the underworld. No matter how strong his connections were, he was still an outsider and naturally could not know it.
As the two chatted, they arrived at the city wall of the City of the Wrongfully Dead.
Lu Xuan felt the surrounding Yin energy suddenly thicken. At the same time, some unknown change occurred. Before he could react, Zhou Jue Yin Tian Gong beside him let out a cold snort.
"Hmph, Yin Sha Ghost Realm. Black Mountain Demon, you think you can trap us with your ghost realm? You're delusional. Nine Netherworlds, take us in."
With a shout, a white cloth bag flew from his waist, growing larger in the wind like in a classic fantasy drama, transforming into a giant bag that directly sucked in the surrounding yin energy. In moments, the Black Mountain Demon's ghost realm was on the verge of collapse. For a spellcaster, having their ghost realm forced to collapse is a devastating blow.
"Good..." The surrounding ghost generals and soldiers cheered and encouraged them. Only Lu Xuan and his two companions looked on with strange expressions. Yan Chixia spoke up.
"Something's not right. It's too easy. The Black Mountain Demon has fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Over the past thousand years, its experience in combat is unparalleled in the entire underworld. How could it make such a basic mistake?"
"It wasn't a mistake. Look, although that Yin energy was absorbed, it wasn't completely severed from the Black Mountain Demon. How could this Heavenly Palace not see such an obvious trap?"
Lu Xuan was genuinely puzzled. He had hardly ever delved into the ways of the ghosts, yet he could still discern certain things through experience. But why did this Heavenly Palace figure, who was even higher than the Ten Kings of Hell, seem somewhat simple-minded?
Before he could figure out why, he heard a scream from the Heavenly Palace.
"My magic weapon."
The next second, surrounded by an army of 100,000, his cloth bag, named Nine Netherworld, flew towards the City of the Dead in Black Mountain.
The cheers of 100,000 people abruptly ceased. The crowd, or rather the ghosts, were completely caught off guard and could only watch helplessly as the thing flew into the City of the Wrongfully Dead. Afterwards, the deep voice of the Black Mountain Demon echoed from within the City of the Wrongfully Dead.
"This bag is quite nice. I can use it to hold the souls of a few living people and keep it as a snack. Hahahaha..." This burst of wild laughter completely humiliated the underworld army, which had just been riding high on morale. Almost all of the underworld army were staring at the three leaders at the forefront.
Finally, a celestial being stepped forward. He held a candlestick with a cluster of eerie blue flames rising from it. Then, he floated directly above the City of the Unjustly Dead.
Lu Xuan, watching this person's bizarre actions from below, looked utterly exasperated. He turned to Hongyu and Yan Chixia and said...