Ning Caichen also sided with Xiaoqian and pleaded for her.
Logically speaking, although Nie Xiaoqian was forced into harming people, she could still be considered an accomplice. Given her looks and demeanor, and her willingness to actively seduce men, how many men could resist?
Using this as an excuse to kill someone and then labeling them as "lustful," how can Nie Xiaoqian be considered innocent?
But after Nie Xiaoqian and Ning Caichen rambled on and on, Yan Chixia's murderous intent quickly dissipated, and he actually let Nie Xiaoqian go in the end, even thinking that Xiaoqian was a "good ghost"!
Golden light flashed in Wang Xuan's eyes. He could see everything clearly. He saw that the golden carp destiny above Ning Caichen's head and the little red bird above Nie Xiaoqian's head echoed each other, pressing down on Yan Chixia's luck at the same time.
Even though Yan Chixia's luck was strong, how could it compare to the combined luck of Ning Caichen and the other two? He was quickly misled by luck and made the wrong judgment, which is why he let Nie Xiaoqian go.
"The Way of Destiny is truly terrifying! Moreover, in this world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, the effects of Destiny are not suppressed in the slightest, which is why it can exert its greatest effect." Wang Xuan thought to himself with vigilance, having also seen the difference between the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio and the world of Xuan Tian.
In the Xuan Tian world, even though Yang Guang initially condensed purple fortune, the effect was far less than that of Ning Caichen. Later, Yang Guang's three campaigns against Goguryeo and the construction of the Grand Canal, along with his abuse of manpower, led to widespread resentment. Even with his purple fortune, he couldn't withstand the backlash of karma, and he ruined the once-great Sui Dynasty!
While Yang Guang's own actions certainly contributed to this, it was also because the Xuan Tian World exerted a slight suppression on the Dao of Destiny, preventing it from reaching its full potential. Otherwise, the Sui Dynasty would never have perished after only two generations.
"No matter what, to deal with Ning Caichen and other protagonists from the Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, we must first use methods to wear down their luck before we can throw them into the abyss and prevent them from causing me any more trouble."
Wang Xuan's mind was filled with dark thoughts, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he walked over with a smile and helped Nie Xiaoqian and the others distract Yan Chixia: "Master Yan, I see that there are quite a few female ghosts in those haunted houses ahead. Most of them are ghosts who are full of resentment and deserve to die. Why don't you go and pray for them to be released from their suffering?"
Ning Caichen quickly returned Wang Xuan's grateful look.
Yan Chixia looked back at the haunted houses and felt that what Wang Xuan said made sense.
He sighed one last time, looked deeply at Ning Caichen, and said, "I'll give you one last piece of advice: humans and ghosts are different. If you keep getting entangled with a female ghost, it will definitely not end well."
Ning Caichen remained silent, clearly ignoring Yan Chixia's warning.
Yan Chixia didn't say anything more. He took the Xuanyuan Sword and left, heading towards several haunted houses not far away.
Those haunted houses were all conjured by the Tree Demon Granny using her demonic power, specifically for raising ghosts. A large number of female ghosts under the Tree Demon's command lived there.
Without the protection of the thousand-year-old tree demon, it would be a piece of cake for Yan Chixia to exorcise a group of female ghosts.
Chapter 124 The City of the Unjustly Dead
Yan Chixia dealt with the female ghosts in no time. He directly destroyed all the female ghosts who had done bad things and were burdened with karma.
As for the female ghosts who hadn't done much bad, Yan Chixia simply opened the gate between Yin and Yang, performed a ritual to help them pass on and be reincarnated.
While Yan Chixia was performing the ritual to deliver the female ghost, Wang Xuan watched quietly from the side. He only saw Yan Chixia slash through the void with the Xuanyuan Sword, directly tearing open the void, separating yin and yang, and opening a passage to the underworld!
The reason he opened the Yin-Yang passage so easily was firstly because the level of the Liaozhai world was far lower than that of the main world, and its space was relatively weak and easy to penetrate.
As for the other reason, it's simply the Xuanyuan Sword in Yan Chixia's hands!
The legendary Xuanyuan Sword is a sacred sword of humanity. It is unknown whether Yan Chixia's Xuanyuan Sword is just a coincidence of the same name or the sacred sword of humanity from the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
In short, this Xuanyuan Sword can communicate between Yin and Yang, which is equivalent to a key to open the Yin-Yang passage! Without the help of the Xuanyuan Sword, one would need at least a cultivation level comparable to the Transcendent Realm to open the Yin-Yang passage.
After all the female ghosts except Nie Xiaoqian were sent to the underworld, Yan Chixia prepared to close the passage between Yin and Yang, but then a sudden change occurred.
A large red sedan chair floated out of the underworld, with a pair of little ghosts appearing and disappearing around it.
"Ghosts carrying a sedan chair? Is a ghost king getting married?" Yan Chixia was greatly surprised when the group of little ghosts arrived in the mortal world carrying a bright red sedan chair.
Suddenly, several chains rushed out from the bridal sedan chair, tightly binding Nie Xiaoqian and dragging her into the sedan chair.
"Not good!" Yan Chixia only came to his senses at this moment and was about to stop them, but after the group of little ghosts took Nie Xiaoqian away, they carried the bridal sedan chair directly into the Yin-Yang passage and returned to the underworld.
Yan Chixia hesitated for a moment, unsure whether he should chase after them.
After all, Nie Xiaoqian is a female ghost, and the underworld is where she should go. On the contrary, if Nie Xiaoqian lingers in the mortal world and gets entangled with Ning Caichen, that is what Yan Chixia least wants to see.
His hesitation caused him to miss the best opportunity to rescue Nie Xiaoqian.
Ning Caichen stood there stunned for a moment, then burst into tears: "My Xiaoqian! Give Xiaoqian back to me!"
Crying and shouting, he rushed towards the still-open passage between Yin and Yang, determined to rescue his Xiaoqian.
The underworld is filled with death energy and yin energy, and ghosts and monsters roam everywhere. If Ning Caichen were to rush in headlong, he might be eaten by the ghosts and not even a trace would be left.
Yan Chixia couldn't bear to watch Ning Caichen go to his death, so he quickly reached out and grabbed him, forcibly dragging him back.
Only then did Ning Caichen remember that there was a great master named Yan Chixia beside him. He immediately felt as if he had found his pillar of support and hugged Yan Chixia's sleeve, crying out, "Master Yan, you must help me save Xiaoqian!"
Yan Chixia felt a great headache coming on. He was so pestered by Ning Caichen that he had no choice but to agree to help him go in and rescue Nie Xiaoqian.
Not only that, Yan Chixia originally planned to go to the underworld alone, but Ning Caichen insisted on going with him.
In fact, it would be easier for Ning Caichen to succeed in rescuing Nie Xiaoqian if he went with Yan Chixia than if Yan Chixia went alone. After all, Ning Caichen has good fortune and can turn misfortune into good fortune.
But Yan Chixia didn't know that, in order to be absolutely sure, he turned to look at Wang Xuan.
He had witnessed Wang Xuan's abilities before. Although Wang Xuan was not as good as him, he was still a powerful figure. If Wang Xuan was willing to go with him, their chances of winning would naturally increase significantly.
"Brother Wang, would you mind coming with us to the underworld?" Yan Chixia invited Wang Xuan.
Wang Xuan's face showed a hint of interest. He had never been to the underworld and was extremely curious about the so-called netherworld.
Moreover, the underworld is an important part of the world of Liaozhai. To conquer the world of Liaozhai, one must not only eliminate the masters of the mortal world, but also not let the underworld go unpunished.
Yan Chixia, observing the situation, quickly gave Ning Caichen a push. This time, Ning Caichen finally showed some intelligence and pleaded with Wang Xuan, "Young Master Wang, you must help me this time!"
Wang Xuan frowned slightly. He sensed a hidden force coming from above Ning Caichen's head, trying to influence his thoughts.
That power was naturally Ning Caichen's innate destiny, which would be invincible against anyone else. However, Wang Xuan had the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth suppressing his destiny, so even if Ning Caichen's destiny were a hundred times stronger, it wouldn't affect his judgment.
Wang Xuan even vaguely sensed that all the luck that Ning Caichen had sent over to try and influence him had been absorbed by the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth, which could be described as accepting all comers.
"The Tower of Eternity has such an effect?" Wang Xuan couldn't help but chuckle. If this continued, he only needed to stay by Ning Caichen's side, and even without doing anything, he could slowly weaken Ning Caichen's luck!
"Fine, I'll go with you then." Wang Xuan didn't refuse and followed Yan Chixia into the Yin-Yang passage with a mix of reluctance and resistance.
Stepping into the other side of the Yin-Yang passage, a completely different world unfolds before your eyes.
This world is extremely dark, with no sun or moon, and the earth is barren. Occasionally, a few plants can be seen, but they all appear grotesque and strange, quite different from the plants in the mortal world.
Yan Chixia cast a few spells, and a paper crane about an inch in size appeared in his hand. It seemed to come alive instantly, flapping its wings and flying forward.
Nie Xiaoqian has been captured for some time now, and she's probably already far away, so Yan Chixia is using paper cranes to track her scent.
They followed the paper crane for about half an hour. The surroundings were no longer desolate and lifeless, but they could occasionally see some illusory figures passing by.
Those were all ghosts that had been transformed from human beings after they died, and they survived in this underworld by breathing in the deathly energy of the netherworld.
Ghosts like to suck the yang energy of the living. These three living people came to greet them, like light bulbs in the dark, attracting ghosts wherever they went.
However, Yan Chixia had already made preparations. She prepared several talismans in advance and put one on each of Wang Xuan and the others.
This talisman can conceal the life force of the living, preventing them from being coveted by ghosts.
After walking a distance further, a ghost town appeared ahead. With Wang Xuan's eyesight, he could see three large characters engraved on the city gate from a great distance: City of the Wrongfully Dead!
"Is this the City of the Wrongfully Dead? The ghost city that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva created for the souls of those who died unjustly!"
Chapter 125 The Black Mountain Demon
As Wang Xuan and his companions entered the City of the Wrongfully Dead, they saw that the place was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, as if there were some joyous occasion.
Yan Chixia stepped forward to inquire, and a little ghost replied, "The Black Mountain King is about to marry a bride, don't you know? Ghosts from hundreds of miles around have all come to offer their congratulations. Aren't you here to offer your congratulations?"
Wang Xuan and Yan Chixia exchanged a glance, both knowing that the bride must be Nie Xiaoqian. Ning Caichen also guessed this, and his face immediately turned ashen, as if he had been cuckolded.
"And what kind of existence is the Black Mountain King? How can he create such a big commotion?" Yan Chixia continued to ask, somewhat puzzled.
Legend has it that those who died unjustly are gathered in the City of the Unjustly Dead and imprisoned until their predetermined lifespan ends. To put it bluntly, the ghosts in the city are essentially prisoners. How dare they openly feast on ghosts from all directions? Doesn't the underworld care about this?
The little devil looked at Yan Chixia with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot and sneered, "The underworld has been gone for hundreds of years, and King Biancheng, the Sixth King of Hell who was in charge of the City of the Wrongfully Dead, has also disappeared without a trace."
"The City of the Wrongfully Dead has now been captured by the Black Mountain King, who is now the true master of this place! You must not mention the Underworld again, or you will anger the Black Mountain King's men and suffer the consequences!"
"What?! The underworld disappeared hundreds of years ago?!" Wang Xuan and the others were all shocked.
The world of Liaozhai contains legends of the underworld and the heavenly court, but demons and monsters roam freely everywhere, and even the City of the Wrongfully Dead has been occupied by the Black Mountain Demon. If the heavenly court and the underworld still existed, they certainly wouldn't ignore it.
But now no one cares, which can only mean that the Heavenly Court and the Underworld no longer exist.
"It seems that a tremendous upheaval must have occurred in the world of Liaozhai hundreds of years ago, leading to the collapse of the Heavenly Court, the disappearance of the Underworld, and even a drop in the world's ranking." Wang Xuan became increasingly certain of his previous guess: the world of Liaozhai was definitely not an ordinary martial arts world!
To create the Netherworld and establish the Six Paths of Reincarnation, one would need at least a high-level martial arts world, or even a world of gods and demons like the main world!
Thinking of this, a strange smile appeared on Wang Xuan's lips. Since his rebirth, he had only traveled through four worlds. The main world, of course, goes without saying; it was a mythical world that could give birth to gods and demons.
The Water Margin world and the Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio world are both high-level worlds that have fallen to lower levels. Even the original Tang Dynasty world was on the verge of advancement, but Wang Xuan took the credit.
If it only happened once or twice, it could be considered a coincidence, but since it happened every time, Wang Xuan absolutely refused to believe it was an accident.
It seems that before Wang Xuan used the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth to travel through the worlds, the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth autonomously selected the worlds he traveled through each time, ensuring that each world was most beneficial to him.
Wang Xuan wasn't the type to complain after getting a good deal. He secretly gave himself a thumbs up for his amazing ability, then discussed with Yan Chixia and Ning Caichen how to rescue Nie Xiaoqian.
After scouting around the City of the Wrongfully Dead, they decided that Yan Chixia would lure away the Black Mountain Demon, while Wang Xuan would take Ning Caichen to bring Nie Xiaoqian out.
Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for the Black Mountain Demon to marry Nie Xiaoqian.
As soon as the Black Mountain Demon appeared, his powerful aura swept across the surroundings, instantly silencing the demons and monsters around him.
"The Black Mountain Demon's strength is roughly equivalent to the mid-stage of the Transcendent Realm!" Wang Xuan sensed the oppressive aura and compared it with the generals of the main world, instantly judging the old monster's approximate strength.
"If it's just the strength of the mid-stage of the Transcendent Realm, it wouldn't be difficult for me to kill it by using my Profound Yin Avatar to activate the Burial World Copper Coffin."
To be on the safe side, Wang Xuan still used his Golden Eyes of Fortune to observe.
Looking up, one could see a cyan aura bursting forth from the Black Mountain Demon's head. Although it couldn't compare to Ning Caichen's purple natal energy, it was no weaker than the aura of Yan Chixia and Nie Xiaoqian.
Not only that, the aura above the Black Mountain Demon's head is clearly connected to a black mountain behind the City of the Wrongfully Dead, and there is a purple aura brewing within that black mountain!
"Good heavens, the Black Mountain Demon's true form is indeed a giant black mountain. This is probably just an avatar of his!" Wang Xuan couldn't help but gasp, because the fortune contained in the Black Mountain Demon's true form was not much weaker than that of Ning Caichen!
If Ning Caichen is a hidden dragon of humanity, with the potential to become the ruler of humanity in the future, then the Black Mountain Demon has the potential to become the Ghost Emperor!
Now that the underworld no longer exists in the world of Liaozhai, with the Black Mountain Demon's thousand years of cultivation, his true form, the Great Black Mountain, has already reached the full strength of the Transcendent Realm, making him the most powerful being in the underworld.
As long as his true form can break free from its constraints and fully manifest, he can completely unify the entire underworld and become the next Netherworld Ghost Emperor!
"If Yan Chixia were to confront the Black Mountain Demon head-on, even if it were just one of the Black Mountain Demon's avatars, he would most likely be doomed!" Although he could see this, Wang Xuan had no intention of reminding Yan Chixia.
The duel between Yan Chixia and the Black Mountain Demon can be seen as a clash between the human and ghostly paths in the world of Liaozhai. Wang Xuan would love for them to be beaten to a pulp, since in the end, it would be the world of Liaozhai that would be weakened.