Chapter 233.1: “…destroy it at once!”
Cheng Qisheng watched as the grand spectacle finally came to a temporary close.
Yun Xiangyi had never actually died. He had merely fainted, and an Old Eighth, who also served as a ghost messenger, had hurriedly rushed him down to the Underworld while he was unconscious.
But so what? The Underworld was Blue Sea territory, after all. As long as everything looked proper on the surface and all the procedures were followed, that was good enough.
As for the so-called Soul-Returning Pill, that was naturally something Blue Sea had made up.
However, now that the Soul-Returning Pill had made its debut before the public, perhaps once the Heavenly Court had completely replaced the Heavenly Dao in the future, the local immortals might actually be able to refine real Soul-Returning Pills.
After all, in this world, as long as you had energy, there was nothing you couldn’t accomplish.
Judging by the current situation, it seemed the candidates for the “Journey to Obtain the Scriptures” would no longer be chosen from among the native residents of Blue Sea.
After all, Blue Sea residents were more than happy to put on a cool and imposing act. They could practically play themselves.
If they were asked to put on a “fight,” they would throw themselves into it with even greater enthusiasm.
But when it came to acting out more nuanced scenes involving emotional performances, Blue Sea residents weren’t particularly skilled.
That was why, in this particular production, ‘The True Crown Prince’s Soul Returns to the Underworld’, and ‘The Heavenly Court’s Gods Cannot Bear to Let Him Return to Life’, most of the characters who appeared were natives of Fallen Heaven Star and its local deities.
There was no need to mention the father-and-son duo from the Yun royal family. Lu Luo had played the judge, Ming Moyu had come to rescue the prince, and on the side where Yun Xiangyi had supposedly “died,” there had also been a whole crowd of cultivators serving as witnesses, along with Luo Shuqing.
A fake was still a fake. It could only pass without a single flaw if everyone involved genuinely believed it to be real.
“We need to hurry…”
Cheng Qisheng lay on the sofa, playing with a ball of mental power in her hand.
She had used up some of her mental power earlier to help Song Xi intimidate the Black Tortoise. Although she was still speaking slowly and sluggishly, she had at least recovered enough to manage her daily life.
And so, the great Creator God of Blue Sea was back on her feet, once again making a comeback. She had begun using her leisure time to train her mental power, multitasking as she did so.
After all, she had never stopped worrying about the Great Annihilation.
Fallen Heaven Star was now like a house on the verge of collapse, and Blue Sea was taking advantage of the time it had left to carry out emergency repairs as quickly as possible.
At this point, Fallen Heaven Star not only had to worry about collapsing on its own, but also about the possibility of a huge truck (the Great Annihilation) suddenly barging in from outside and smashing it to pieces on the spot.
There was only one thing wrong with Fallen Heaven Star: evacuating its residents back to the Safe City took far too long.
The worst-case scenario Cheng Qisheng was currently preparing for was this: if the Great Annihilation really did return for another attack, she would imitate the Heavenly Dao and use her mental power to hold it back for a short while, buying the residents enough time to evacuate.
Cheng Qisheng sent a divine oracle to the believers involved in this operation:
“All right~ We’ve done enough groundwork. Send the Crown Prince back to life directly and kick off the publicity campaign!”
Above the Heavenly Court, below the Underworld, and in the mortal world—
Countless deities bowed their heads respectfully in unison.
“Yes, my God.”
…
Only after Yun Ying learned that his eldest son could still be brought back to life did he finally feel at ease.
But then he remembered the two fiendish beings Yun Xiangyi had told him about, and his nerves immediately tightened again.
Yun Ying didn’t even bother maintaining the dignity of his imperial status. He hurriedly and respectfully turned to Ming Moyu for advice.
In his eyes, a Daoist priest who could descend into the Underworld while still alive had to be an extraordinary expert among experts.
“Daoist Priest, I wish to eliminate those two evil beings. May I ask what method I could use?”
Judging from his earnest expression, he clearly believed that this eminent expert must have a solution.
Ming Moyu, the young cultivator on her first journey down the mountain: “…”
However, the Yun Kingdom was the homeland of all of them, and none of them wanted to see it descend into chaos under the influence of evil beings.
Remembering that the Patriarch had once told them to seek his help if they encountered any problems, she said:
“I’m not sure either. How about this? I’ll ask someone on Your Majesty’s behalf.”
Ask someone?
Could she mean that once they returned to the mortal world, she would consult some senior experts from their Daoist sect?
Yun Ying’s anticipation grew even stronger.
He had even begun considering whether they could make arrangements right now and request those senior experts to travel to the capital, where they could eliminate the evil beings in person. He was already mentally drafting how to thank these eminent experts and how much actual gold and silver he ought to offer them in return.
But then he saw Ming Moyu take a large bundle of incense sticks and candles from her robes and hand them to the ghost messenger.
“May I trouble you to help me with something, Sir? If the Hour of the Rat is nearly over and I still haven’t returned, please escort the Crown Prince out through the Ghost Gate.”
This particular arrangement didn’t come as much of a surprise to the father and son from the Yun royal family.
Ghosts had been human when they were alive. They had eaten food in life, so naturally, after death, they would need incense and sacrificial offerings instead. Giving someone a little something in exchange for their help was perfectly reasonable.
Yun Ying silently made a mental note of it. Perhaps these eminent experts didn’t care much for worldly formalities, but once he returned to his body, he would certainly repay Ming Moyu a hundredfold, even a thousandfold, for everything she had given.
As he pondered whether he could appoint this eminent expert to an official position within the Daoist establishment, or perhaps fund the reconstruction of her sect’s temples, he saw Ming Moyu hurry off, turn around, and head straight back toward the Underworld.
She already held the position of a ghost messenger in the mortal realm and had performed quite a few duties in the short time she had been there. On top of that, she possessed an official token, so entering and leaving the Underworld was fairly convenient for her.
Yun Ying: “?”
Yun Xiangyi: “?”
Unable to hold back, Yun Ying asked, “Is that also a road leading back to the mortal world?”
The black-clad ghost messenger had somehow produced a stone tablet and was busy scribbling on it. Hearing the question, he replied:
“No. That road leads back to the Underworld.”
Yun Ying: “…Didn’t Daoist Ming say she was going to ask someone for advice? Why did she go to the Underworld?”
Without even looking up, the black-clad ghost messenger answered, “Her Patriarch is a Merits Judge in the Underworld. She’s probably gone to ask Lord Judge for advice.”
Yun Ying: “!!!”
He had guessed that Ming Moyu’s elder was an extremely powerful figure, but he had never imagined that powerful meant being an official deity of the Underworld itself.
Yun Xiangyi, on the other hand, wasn’t particularly surprised. He pulled his father aside and whispered something to him. He told him about how they had previously been attacked by a powerful tiger demon while surrounded by an entire city’s worth of changgui. Back then, Ming Moyu had simply used a single divine-invocation technique to summon a mighty deity into her body, and that deity had effortlessly dealt with the tiger demon.
“Most likely, the one she summoned back then was none other than this Lord Judge.”
Yun Ying was secretly thrilled. He quickly grabbed Yun Xiangyi’s hand and whispered:
“Such an eminent expert! If we can retain someone like him with an official position, we absolutely must!”
It was one thing for an expert to possess great abilities. But this expert also had powerful connections!
Before, Yun Ying hadn’t known the full story. He had thought there were simply more natural and man-made disasters than usual. But this trip to the Underworld had revealed to him that the Heavenly Dao had perished. The enormous sense of impending crisis that came with this realization had not let up for even a moment since.
That was the Heavenly Dao!
No wonder! No wonder the demons and monsters had become so rampant. No wonder natural disasters had been occurring one after another recently.
The current situation was roughly equivalent to this: in the past, everyone on Fallen Heaven Star had the Heavenly Dao as their backing. But now that their backing was gone, it wouldn’t be long before the people of the world became helpless prey, at the mercy of others.
At present, the Yun Kingdom might appear perfectly fine, and with the help of an eminent expert, it even seemed that the evil beings could be eliminated. But in Yun Ying’s eyes, even if they survived this particular calamity, there was little hope of enjoying peace in the days to come.
At a time like this, if he could secure the services of a Daoist priest with powerful connections to serve within his dynasty, perhaps that person could help protect the Yun Kingdom through the countless calamities ahead.
Meanwhile, the emperor was already thinking about how to build connections with Ming Moyu and the Fenglu Sect behind her, with the ultimate goal of establishing a relationship with the Underworld’s Judge.
…
Elsewhere, Ming Moyu had already made her way to the Merits and Transgression Office with practiced familiarity, hurrying along at a brisk pace.
Lu Luo had been buried in his work, listening with divided attention as a junior cultivator from his sect explained what had happened.
Halfway through the explanation, he suddenly raised his head.
“What? The Heavenly Court?”
Of course Lu Luo knew about the Heavenly Court.
He was a judge, and the documents he reviewed and adjudicated were all sent to the Hall of the Ten Kings. According to what he had heard, the Hall of the Ten Kings would compile the total number of all living beings who had died and entered reincarnation, then submit that figure to the Heavenly Court.
From Lu Luo’s perspective, Youdu was probably something like a major prefectural city governed by the Heavenly Court.
Just think about it. Youdu was already so powerful, and yet there was an entire Heavenly Court above it. Just how powerful must the Heavenly Court be?
Ming Moyu was also very curious about the Heavenly Court.
“Patriarch, you know about the Heavenly Court? That divine official truly possesses an abundance of divine power, and unlike ordinary deities, he doesn’t seem to be confined to a single place. But why have I never heard of the Heavenly Court before?”
“What would a little girl like you know?”
Although Lu Luo himself had only learned of the Heavenly Court after becoming an official deity of the Underworld, that didn’t stop him from lecturing his junior.
“The Heavenly Court lies far above the clouds. How could ordinary mortals possibly catch a glimpse of it in their daily lives? If not for this great calamity between Heaven and Earth, which forced the Heavenly Court’s divine officials to step forward and help avert disaster, I’m afraid neither you nor I would ever have known that there was an Underworld beneath our feet and a Heavenly Court above our heads.”
Mortals were, after all, just mortals.
As long as the gods had no wish to reveal themselves, ordinary people would naturally go their entire lives without ever encountering them.
But fortunately, he had been lucky. After dying, he had cultivated himself into a ghost deity, entered Youdu, and become a divine official. As the saying went, when one road comes to an end, another opens up.
