Normally, Jing Jiu would just stand up and leave after having thought of this, but he didn't. He was sitting by the river of lava in a stupor.

He left Green Mountain to look for the whetstone for his right arm. But the demon bone found in the Fiend Prison had been used up, and the demon bones at the bottom of the Gathered-Soul Valley had turned into dusts. Where should he go to find more whetstones?

Jing Jiu was still the same person who didn't know that much about the mortal affairs, and he had changed a little bit in certain aspects. For instance, when he occasionally left Green Mountain to travel around the world, he would bring somebody with him, be it Gu Qing, Guo Dong, or Zhao Layue. He was not used to being all by himself now, and he felt a bit lonely now.

He didn't take out the bamboo chair, because the temperature of the lava was too high. It would be a pity if the lava splashed onto the bank and set the bamboo chair ablaze.

He didn't bring out the ceramic plate either. It was unclear when he started playing less of the game of sand piling.

Jing Jiu suddenly stood up, put away the white cloth, and waded into the lava, the Sword of the Universe following close behind quietly.

He wasn't going to burn himself to death by committing suicide in the lava after feeling despair thinking of the effect of ten thousand years; all he wanted to do was take a bath in it.

The fire-like lava looked like golden water. He cupped the lava in his hands and poured it onto his face, lava dripping down his body and creating hundreds of fire sparks on the surface of the river.

None of the fire could harm him, including this hot and dreadful lava, save for the sun fire produced by those Daoist stoves and magic treasures in the Fairy State.

The lava was quite hot, and with his eyes shut, Jing Jiu could sense its heat. In the next moment, his body felt a slight pain, which was rather rare, but soon he quite enjoyed bathing in the river of lava.

The steamed bath had no effect on his body, nor did any kind of ma.s.sage. Unexpectedly, he found that the bath in the underground lava river had an effect similar to the ma.s.sages enjoyed by others.

Feeling so comfortable while standing in the river, Jing Jiu chose to lie in the lava and enjoy it fully. He folded both of his hands behind his head, and looked up at the figures projected by the twilight on the roof of the cave, mesmerized.

…

…

In fact, many Cultivation pract.i.tioners hadn't thought it through; ascension and the longevity didn't have an absolute connection.

Ascension didn't mean longevity. Those ascended immortals of the previous generations in Chaotian had probably died a long time ago.

One didn't have to ascend to obtain longevity. According to Jing Jiu's observation, the Round Turtle on Tianguang Peak could at least live another ten thousand years, maybe more.

The purpose of longevity was to live.

The purpose of ascension was to escape.

The goal of living or escaping is to continuously seek out new experiences.

These new experiences included gaining knowledge one hadn't had before or rules and principles one hadn't known, and understanding aspects of the world one hadn't previously imagined besides the enjoyment of life itself. Taking a bath in the lava, which was similar to regular folks taking a bath in the hot spring, was one of such enjoyments.

Given Jing Jiu's temperament, he wouldn't indulge himself in such an enjoyment for too long even if he liked such an experience once in a while.

It was because he could predict and calculate this sort of new experiences; it was within his expectations.

He had lain in the lava for a long time that day.

Before entering the underground, Jing Jiu had sat by that natural lake the whole night.

Back when he was at the Heavenly Well by the East Ocean, Jing Jiu looked down into the well for a long time.

It was because he was hesitant.

He had predicted before his departure that it was hard to find any suitable demon bones at the bottom of the Gathered-Soul Valley, and that it would be dangerous for him to come here, but he decided to come nonetheless.

It was because this place was close to the Abyss, and the Underworld was on the other side of it.

He was not willing to go to the snowland, because it was dangerous there, and he was even less willing to go to the Underworld, because it was even more dangerous there.

Normally, he should turn around and leave without hesitation; but why did he look at the twilight while lying in the lava and being dazed?

…

…

Few people knew what Jing Jiu liked.

Liu s.h.i.+sui only knew that Jing Jiu liked lying on the bamboo chair. As such, he always remembered to plant a few bamboos regardless of whether he was on Tianguang Peak or at the Fruit Formation Temple in order to use them someday to repair the bamboo chair.

Gu Qing only knew that Jing Jiu liked watching snowy scenery. As such, he and Yuan Qü would move out of the Daoist Hall to let his Master have the spot by the window whenever the snowfall occurred on the peak.

Zhao Layue only knew that Jing Jiu liked her black and smooth long hair; but she didn't want to keep the long hair herself, even though she let him comb it.

These three people didn't know what Jing Jiu truly liked.

There were many things he didn't want to do; it was either because he was lazy, or because he thought it was meaningless. But it didn't mean he didn't like those things.

Taking eating hotpot as an example, though he thought that eating hotpot was meaningless, it didn't mean that he didn't like hotpot.

Back when they were on Shangde Peak, he liked watching them from the side while his Big Brother, Yuan Qijing and Liu Ci were eating hotpot.

This habit continued even now.

He liked watching Zhao Layue eat hotpot.

He had watched the white soup become dry in countless restaurants in Chaotian.

Guo Dong was the only one who knew why.

The thing Jing Jiu disliked the most was being indebted to someone.

He disliked owing someone friends.h.i.+p, money…anything .

Back when he was in the distant outside world after the cloud and smoke dispersed, there was a sliver of mortal energy left in his body.

It was due to the unfinished cause and effect and an unresolved connection.

The failure of his ascension was caused by this factor; he disliked it very much.

As a result, he paid a great deal of attention to this aspect after his rebirth. He wanted to repay past debts, but unexpectedly, he had acc.u.mulated even more new debts.

The most important debtor was the Underworld Emperor.

Back when he was in the Fiend Prison, the Underworld Emperor taught him the Control of Spirit Soul, and he promised to find an heir for the Underworld Emperor and give the Seal of Underworld to that person and teach him the Control of Spirit Soul.

Thirteen years had pa.s.sed, and he still hadn't fulfilled his promise yet.

He put away the Sword of the Universe, closed his eyes, and sank toward the bottom of the lava river.

The lava had a high density. If it were a regular pract.i.tioner, they wouldn't be able to sink to the bottom, even if they were not burned to ashes. But Jing Jiu was different.

He drifted along with the current of the lava to the distance, just like a piece of rock.

The river separated into two branches a few miles downstream; one flowed upwards, and the other flowed downwards.

The river made the decision for him whether he should flow along with the current or against it.

Did he choose to flow along with the current because he was irresponsible? Or did he do it because he simply followed his destiny, which was often mentioned by the monks of the Fruit Formation Temple? Or did he do it because of his laziness?

It was probably that Jing Jiu didn't even have an answer himself. He could only sense that the temperature around his body grew hotter as he sank deeper into the lava, and that his right arm became a bit softer, which was the effect he desired.

He had been drifting along the river of lava for a long time; all of a sudden, he b.u.mped into an object. He opened his eyes and found he was blocked by a wall.

The wall was transparent.

The river of lava couldn't flow forward when it encountered the wall, with the river being hurled backwards when bouncing against the wall, forming countless small whirlpools and fire sparks and looking like thousands of fire holes in a stove.

If he returned to the ground, he could merely see the sky, not the wall, which meant that this was the bottom of the underground.

He walked to the front of the transparent wall with his hands folded behind his back, looking straight ahead.

This wall was very high, and extended many miles; there was no way he could see the end of it.

The gloomy and dark Abyss was on the other side of it.

The Underworld was situated on the other side of the Abyss.

To become the leaders of the human orthodox Cultivation sects, being powerful was a prerequisite, but it was not the only requirement. They also had to take up more responsibilities for the human race and were willing to pay a high price, like guarding the pa.s.sage between the human world and the Underworld.

Those Cultivation sects that was famous and had a long history in Chaotian all had such a pa.s.sage for them to guard against.

The No-Mercy Sect guarded the pa.s.sage under the Longevity Mountain; the Heavenly Well by the East Ocean was jointly guarded by the Water-Moon Nunnery and the Fruit Formation Temple; and the One-Cottage House guarded the Thousand Mile Windy Corridor.

Since the Center Sect had the highest status and power, they had the most responsibility. The Old Dragon had turned his body into the Fiend Prison to guard Zhaoge City, and had been also responsible for guarding the pa.s.sage of the Gathered-Soul Valley.

This long transparent wall should be the seal of the Center Sect. Judging by the energy exuded from the wall, it was indeed very powerful and impossible to be broken through.

The Green Mountain Sect didn't have any pa.s.sage to guard against, because the water was abundant in the south and the earth cracks were all filled by the water. But, they had given a great deal for their leaders.h.i.+p in the Cultivation world.

If the Center Sect offered their divine animal and powerful magic treasures and formations to sh.o.r.e up the seal, what the Green Mountain Sect offered were their swords and blood.

Standing before the transparent wall with his hands folded behind his back, Jing Jiu gazed quietly at the Abyss on the other side of the wall.

Thirteen years ago, the Underworld Emperor also gazed quietly at the Abyss on the other side of the transparent and unbreakable wall.

The gaze in the Underworld Emperor's eyes contained the nostalgia he had of his home, but Jing Jiu's gaze was much more complicated in comparison.

His gaze pa.s.sed through the Abyss and reached the distant Underworld.

The landscape and sky of the Underworld were similar to those on this side of the wall, with many ragged mountain peaks, but it didn't have the sun. As such, it was very dark in the Underworld, and the earth fire was the only of illumination.

A slightly bright river snaked amongst the mountains, offering the light and hope for the lives on both banks of the river.

Jing Jiu drew back his gaze and looked at his own right hand.

After having soaked in the lava for such a long time, his right hand was a bit soft now.

He had actually been rubbing the forefinger on his right hand with his left hand when he folded his hands behind his back.

The right forefinger looked almost the same, but it was actually much sharper now, and had almost totally recovered.

Jing Jiu held out his right forefinger and prodded at the transparent wall.

The wall seemed to have no depth or any flexibility.

Though it sounded ordinary, it was actually quite dreadful if one pondered it more deeply; it was in fact beyond what one could normally imagine.

It was unclear what formations the immortals of the previous generations of the Center Sect had employed and how many magic treasures they had used when sealing off the place thirty thousand years ago.

With a faint cracking sound, Jing Jiu's fingertip touched the transparent wall.

Sensing the feedback from his fingertip, Jing Jiu arched his eyebrows as the sword wills suddenly generated throughout his body.

Thousands of tiny and formidable sword wills came out of his body, and this looked like the willow leaves being blown by the wind, whirling in the air.

The black stones under his feet were crushed to pieces, and the surface of the lava in the river had countless cracks, unable to close up.

Even when he faced the attack of the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect at the Fruit Formation Temple, he hadn't been in such a dire situation; yet when he encountered the sneak a.s.sault from Monk Duhai, he was unexpectedly affected by the Fairy Book.

This was the first time he had displayed his full power since his rebirth.

In an instant, his face grew exceedingly pale.

Pah!!!

His finger seemed to have poked into the transparent wall, and it also seemed that nothing had happened.

One wouldn't be able to find anything different while checking with their naked eyes, and one wouldn't be able to do so even when they looked closely at Jing Jiu's finger.

Jing Jiu was quite tired now; it seemed that poking through the wall had almost exhausted his sword source.

He sat down with his legs crossed, and closed his eyes to recuperate.

The huge transparent wall was right before his eyes, displaying the Abyss clearly and the distant Underworld. It was like a huge painting waiting to be appreciated by him after he woke up.

Five minutes later.

The river of lava suddenly became lighter; and a dark shadow had suddenly appeared from nowhere and arrived by Jing Jiu's side.

Jing Jiu opened his eyes and looked at the other side of the huge transparent wall.

The dark shadow had a very gloomy and peculiar energy, but Jing Jiu was not unfamiliar with it.

This was a shadow cast by an important figure of the Underworld.

If the Underworld wanted to influence Chaotian, this was almost the only method they could use. Back when the elder Wei Chenzi of Center Sect, in his Yuanying State, failed to a.s.sa.s.sinate Zhao Layue, he was killed by the shadow of the third disciple of the Underworld Master while fleeing. The Green Mountain disciple Jian Ruoshan was killed in the same manner in the ruined temple outside Jianli City when he was investigating the murder case of Zuo Yi.

This important figure of the Underworld was very powerful; his Cultivation state was much higher than Jing Jiu's current state. It would be easy to kill Jing Jiu with his shadow.

Yet, no fear could be detected on Jing Jiu's face; not even a hint of caution showed on his face.

It was because he had known that this person would come.

It was Jing Jiu who had bidden him to.

…

…

"Who are you?"

A person appeared on the other side of the huge transparent wall.

That person narrowed his eyes, and his face, devoid of eyebrows, had iridescent lights flowing within. But the colorful lights couldn't overwhelm the color of his clothing.

He was wearing a blue colored cloth, which was very bright. It was exceedingly noticeable against a background of black and white colors and gloomy light.

The Underworld didn't have the blue sky and green fields. What it had was the boring black and white colors and a grayish feel, and the common folks had mostly the same color of clothing. The n.o.bles of high status were the only ones who could be clothed in rich colors.

Back when Jing Jiu met the Underworld Emperor in the Fiend Prison, the emperor wore the rainbow-colored clothes.

The clothes this person wore were very colorful, meaning that he had a high status in the Underworld.

Receiving Jing Jiu's message, he had pa.s.sed through the Abyss and arrived here in five minutes, indicating his traveling speed was outstanding.

They hadn't met for three hundred years, and his prowess was much stronger.

Thinking of this, Jing Jiu felt sentimental.

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That person displayed a slightly grim expression, giving off a powerful energy.

Like the majority of the inhabitants in the Underworld, he was short, about four feet tall, but it felt as if he was extremely tall as he exuded a powerful energy; it seemed that the transparent wall couldn't even block him.

The energy was so powerful that few people in Chaotian were his equal. His Cultivation state was probably similar to Liu Ci's.

"Since you know the origin of the mosquito, you should be able to guess who I am," Jing Jiu said. "I can't believe that Taiping didn't tell you about what had happened in the Fiend Prison."

That man looked at Jing Jiu quietly and demanded, "Who are you really?"

"I'm the holder of the Seal," replied Jing Jiu.

The mosquitoes.

The Seal.

After a long pause, the man asked, "Is His Majesty still alive?"

Jing Jiu shook his head.

The man pressed, "If His Majesty is dead, why do the mosquitoes still have his soul fires in them?"

"As I said, you should have known that I was right by his side before his death," Jing Jiu said.

The man fell silent for a long time again while looking at the serene Underworld River below the Abyss, saying, "If you hand me the Seal of Underworld Emperor, I won't kill you today."

"Do you really think I should fear you?" Jing Jiu demanded.

The man lifted his head and stared into Jing Jiu's eyes as he asked Jing Jiu expressionlessly, "Do you know who I am?"

"I of course know you are the Underworld Master," Jing Jiu replied. "And I also know a few other things about you. Do you want me to tell you?"

For instance, he was nearly killed by someone's sword three hundred years ago.

Undoubtedly, this man with profound and formidable energy was the strongest swordsman of the current Underworld, the Underworld Master, who had the same Cultivation state as Liu Ci.

Looking at Jing Jiu quietly, he suddenly asked, "What do you want?"

Jing Jiu said, "That mosquito has the Underworld Emperor's soul fire, which would be able to prove your legitimacy and help you end the wars between various sections of the Underworld. You should select a suitable heir of the emperor as soon as possible and send him to the human world to let me check him out."

The Underworld Emperor narrowed his eyes even more as he demanded, "Do you even know what you are talking about?"

"This is what the Underworld Emperor told me to do before his death," Jing Jiu said.

The Underworld Master said expressionlessly, "His Majesty went to the human world back then, and hadn't come back. Do you think this sort of thing will happen again?"

Jing Jiu said, "If the new emperor didn't get my approval, the Seal of Underworld Emperor wouldn't go back to the Underworld, period."

"If this were the case, you would have done a great favor for the Underworld; but…what do you want in return?" the Underworld Master wondered.

It was the similar question he raised earlier.

Jing Jiu asked the Underworld Master, "Have you ever thought of colluding with the Green Mountain Sect to get rid of Taiping?"

"Do you really know what you are talking about?" the Underworld Master pressed with a small smile.

"As I said," Jing Jiu replied, "I know more things about you, like you are Taiping's disciple in the Underworld."

Upon hearing this, the expression changed slightly on the Underworld Master's face.

Jing Jiu continued, "Based on when you were taken on by Taiping, you should be after Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing, so you are number three."

The Underworld Master narrowed his eyes into two lines, as he demanded, "Now that you know the relations.h.i.+p between us, why do you still try to persuade me to collude with the Green Mountain Sect?"

"It's because I'm very good at persuading his disciples to betray him," Jing Jiu said evenly.