Only at the Mahayana Stage Does the Reversal System Appear - Chapter 367

Chapter 367 The Origin of the Ghost Immortal

After Du Ping and Ji Kongkong left, Jiang Li called Qi Ming over.

“I have something to say.”

“Human Emperor, please speak.”

“I have a selfish motive for Xiaofang’s meeting with you. I couldn’t bear to see you both in the same city, only to miss each other by chance, so I brought Xiaofang here.”

“But Xiaofang is a ghost after all, and she’s one step away from reincarnation.”

“If the underworld ever comes knocking, Xiaofang might be forced to reincarnate. Be prepared.”

Qi Ming nodded with difficulty.

“But don’t worry too much. I’ll help with this matter and see if there’s any way around it.”

Qi Ming bowed to Jiang Li again.

…

Jiang Li brought the ghosts and Qi Ming to the Human Emperor Palace.

Commander Liu looked as if he had seen a ghost.

“Palace Master, you’ve just been away from the Human Emperor Palace for half a day, and you’ve already caused such a big incident.”

Commander Liu hadn’t expected trouble to happen even in the underworld. It seemed even the dead weren’t safe.

“You will build a city near the Human Emperor Palace. Set up a Yin-Gathering Array beneath the city and a Yang-Suppressing Array above it to protect the ghosts from being burned by Yang energy.”

“Okay,” Commander Liu agreed. This shouldn’t be difficult.

“Also, I’ll appoint Du Ping as interim commander. He’ll be responsible for finding the ghosts hiding throughout Kyushu.”

“…Okay.” Commander Liu hesitated for a moment, then acknowledged his understanding.

Commander Liu was troubled. Du Ping wasn’t someone to worry about. Why had he considered him a candidate for commander in the first place?

And why did the Palace Master fall for him?

Commander Liu was deeply exhausted. In the vast Human Emperor Palace, from Palace Master to Commander, he was the only one who was normal.

Jiang Li approached Immortal Elder Changcun again and told him about the underworld. However, Immortal Elder Changcun also showed a rare look of confusion.

“Conflicts between the Ten Kings of Hell? I’ve never heard of that, but it makes sense they would.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know how the ghost immortals in the underworld come from?”

“I don’t know.”

Immortal Changcun smiled and stroked his white beard. “After death, immortals enter the underworld. They have two choices: one is reincarnation, cleansing their memories and starting over, the other is to remain in the underworld and become ghost immortals.”

“Doesn’t that mean all immortals have to stay in the underworld?” Jiang Li was surprised. After cultivating to the immortal realm, who would be willing to give up their cultivation, forget everything, and start an unknown next life?

No matter how good their next life is, can it be better than that of an immortal?

“Of course not all immortals are qualified to stay in the underworld. Only those with deep Yinde are allowed to transform into ghost immortals and become part of the underworld.”

“If you haven’t become an immortal, but if you die, you should also be qualified to stay in the underworld. I should be able to do it too.”

“So you know, there are no native ghost immortals in the underworld. They all died from the immortal world, and the Ten Kings of Hell are no exception.”

“Immortals are stubborn and like to fight for power. They still maintain this character after death. It is normal for the extraterritorial demons to break the balance between life and death and intensify the contradictions between the Yamas.”

“I understand, but what is the difference between Yinde and merit?”

“Yinde is the calculation of good and evil in the underworld. Yin and Yang are separated, and the underworld must try to reduce its connection with the world of the living, so it came up with a set of merits for the underworld.”

“I don’t know the specific calculation standards.”

“Then the immortal world turns a blind eye to the invasion of the heavens and all worlds by the extraterritorial demons. Doesn’t that damage Yinde?” Jiang Li was puzzled. Immortals value Yinde, but wouldn’t the actions of the immortal world reduce Yinde.

Immortal Changcun was silent for a moment, then organized his words and said, “The underworld has its own set of values, which may not be the same as those in the world of the living. Perhaps they think that the invasion of the heavenly demons from outside the domain and the death of living beings are natural. Life and death are predestined, and one will die eventually.”

“Including causing an imbalance between life and death?”

Immortal Changcun smiled strangely, “The increase in the number of dead souls, doesn’t this give the underworld a reason to expand?”

“The underworld’s domain surpasses the world of the living, reversing yin and yang, turning the underworld into the world of the living, and the world of the living

into the underworld.” “Don’t forget, the Ten Kings of Hell were all immortals. When it comes to fighting for power, what could be greater than fighting for power between the two realms of yin and yang?”

Jiang Li was silent. Immortal Changcun thought he had scared Jiang Li, so he continued, “Of course, this is the worst possibility, not necessarily a necessity.”

“The battle in the underworld cannot be ruled out because the heavenly demons from outside the domain want to invade the underworld.”

“Immortal knows a lot about the underworld.”

“It’s all hearsay, a lot of it is just speculation. I’m just speculating about the underworld based on the immortal world’s thinking. Perhaps the real underworld is not like this, and the Ten Kings of Hell are all selfless.”

Jiang Li thanked the immortal and turned to leave.

The immortal watched Jiang Li go, smiling the whole time.

…

Jiang Li received a new mission.

[New Quest: The once-a-century Buddhist Secret Realm of All Living Beings has opened, causing a sensation across the Nine Provinces. Even the most gifted cultivators of the previous generation have flocked to participate. Geniuses, from the Golden Core stage to the Divine Transformation stage, and all living beings, in their thousands, have gathered before the Secret Realm. As a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, you possess impressive cultivation, but lack fame. Some cultivators of the previous generation believe you are merely a nobody who inherited the skills from their ancestors.]

[Please obtain the inheritance of Manjushri Bodhisattva in the Secret Realm of All Living Beings.]

[This quest is unforgivable.]

[Quest Reward: Half a Century of Cultivation, Golden Chain Mail, and the untold Daoist secret “One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones.”]

“The Secret Realm of All Living Beings?” Jiang Li ignored the system rewards, believing them to be worthless. However, the Secret Realm of All

Living Beings reminded him of something. The Secret Realm of All Living Beings was renowned throughout the Nine Provinces. It contained numerous inheritances left behind by Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats from the immortal realms. Here, the Fragrance Elephant Bodhisattva acquired the method for cultivating his clairvoyance, the Dragon Subduing Arhat received the Dragon Subduing Arhat inheritance, and the Unsubdued Arhat received the Tiger Subduing Arhat inheritance.

Five hundred years ago, Jiang Li and the Saintess of Pure Heart journeyed to this secret realm together. However, just as he was about to enter, he was driven out by an Arhat, who claimed that he had killed too many demonic beasts in the Bai Ze Dynasty, violating the harmony of nature and Buddhist etiquette.

Furious, Jiang Li engaged in a debate with the Arhat, stating that after entering the Bai Ze Dynasty, it was the demonic beasts that attacked first, and that he was merely defending himself. The Arhat, however, argued that while defense was acceptable, it didn’t require Jiang Li to kill the Arhat.

Jiang Li accused the Arhat of being presumptuous and unable to empathize. The Arhat accused him of being cruel and inconsiderate of the demonic beasts he had slain. The two argued for days, continuing until the Secret Realm of All Living Things closed, and Jiang Li lost his chance to enter.

The Saintess of Pure Heart, feeling this was unfair, joined Jiang Li in the argument with the Arhat outside.

Later, upon hearing of the incident, the Old Buddha Xumi reprimanded the Arhat, deeming him excessive, and gave Jiang Li and the Saintess of Pure Heart some Buddhist scriptures and rare treasures as compensation.

Later, Jiang Li became a candidate for the Human Emperor, and he no longer paid attention to the Secret Realm of All Living Beings. He never visited it when it was reopened.

As for the Arhat he had argued with, he passed away two hundred years ago.

“Then let’s go.”

Jiang Li didn’t know what the legacy of Manjushri Bodhisattva was. According to ancient texts, Manjushri Bodhisattva was in charge of wisdom, so perhaps his legacy was related to wisdom.

(End of this chapter)