Chapter 773: Changes in the Netherworld
Chapter 773: Changes in the Netherworld
Due to the return of the Golden Winged Great Peng after crossing the tribulation, Qin Feng and the others rode the Great Peng back to the Imperial City in just one day and one night.
Accompanying them back was Su Tianyue’s clone.
The latter gave a simple reason: there was still the Fox’s Whisper Pavilion in Imperial City that needed to be managed. For Tushan, this business brought in a significant income every year, so she couldn’t neglect it.
Upon hearing this, Liu Jianli remained calm, but Cang Feilan furrowed her brows slightly, feeling that there was more to Su Tianyue’s intentions.
After bidding farewell to Su Tianyue, Qin Feng returned to the Qin residence with his two Wives.
Seeing the safe return of everyone, Second Mother’s worried heart finally relaxed.
“During our absence, has anything unusual happened in the Qin residence?” Qin Feng asked as he put down his teacup in the main hall.
Lan Ningshuang shook her head. “Everything is normal, but there are more and more people coming to propose marriage to the Second Young Master.”
Qin Feng looked towards his younger brother, who pretended not to hear and hastily started eating his meal.
“Who are these people?” Qin Feng asked with a smile.Qing’er didn’t say a word and brought out a pile of scrolls left by the matchmakers.
These scrolls depicted women who were not only lifelike but also included the names, birthdates, family backgrounds, and other information of the women beneath each painting.
Ancient-style matchmaking?
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow, looking at the stunning women depicted on these scrolls. He couldn’t help but wonder if they had hired skilled artists to enhance their beauty.
“Do you have your eye on any of them, Second Brother?” Qin Feng asked with a smile.
Qin An looked up with a serious expression. “Brother, please don’t joke. I am currently focused on cultivation and have not thought about such matters of men and women.”
The Second Mother, who was holding Qin Lan, frowned upon hearing this. “How old are you now? You haven’t considered these matters yet? When will you consider them? Look at Feng’er, he’s even had a child! Moreover, Feng’er married both Jianli and Feilan without neglecting his cultivation. Why can’t you?”
“This…” Qin An opened his mouth, not knowing how to refute.
Qin Feng sipped his tea, suppressing a smile.
The way of heaven is fair, sparing no one. Before he came to this world, the original host was overshadowed by his younger brother. Now, his younger brother was sinking into deep self-doubt.
Qin An glanced at Qin Feng, whose mouth twitched, and spoke firmly, “Brother has extraordinary talent. I naturally cannot compare myself to him. I won’t consider these matters until I reach the third rank in cultivation.”
Second Mother, filled with anger, said, “Feng’er, you say something to him too!”
“Second Mother, please calm down. Matters of the heart cannot be forced. Since the Second Brother is devoted to cultivation, we should respect his decision.”
“Brother!” Qin An looked touched.
However, Second Mother’s brows furrowed, appearing resentful that her Eldest Son didn’t support her.
At this moment, Qin Feng changed the subject. “But there’s one thing Second Brother doesn’t quite understand. If it’s for cultivation, why not leave the Imperial City and go to the Southern Domain to find Senior Zhen Tianyi?”
“If I remember correctly, I mentioned to you last time when I returned that Mad Blade asked you to find him as soon as possible.”
Qin An hesitated, struggling to speak.
“Are you so fascinated by that little girl Bai Qui that you don’t want to leave Imperial City?”
As soon as these words were spoken, Qin An’s cheeks turned red.
The Second Mother suddenly realized that after Father Qin’s death, she had been too preoccupied to remember this pretty girl.
She had thought that her son, Qin An, was solely focused on cultivation and had no interest in matters of love, but it turned out he was just uninterested in the suitors who came to propose marriage!
Qin Feng spoke with earnestness, “Second Brother, let me give you a piece of advice. Your current relationship with Bai Qui is like a thin layer of paper. Someone needs to take the initiative to break through it, and in such situations, it should be the man who takes the initiative. Do you understand?”
“But, big brother, I don’t know what to do,” Qin An said, looking troubled. Naturally, he also wanted to express his feelings to Bai Qui as soon as possible!
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you,” Qin Feng assured him, “but I’ve just returned to the Imperial City, so I’ll be busy these next few days. I’ll talk to you about it later.”
“Okay.” Qin An’s eyes lit up. He had always had unwavering trust in his big brother.
At this moment, Qin Feng felt his two wives cast scrutinizing glances at him.
Cang Feilan said lightly, “Indeed, my husband is quite knowledgeable.”
Qin Feng’s expression stiffened, then he cleared his throat and said, “It’s all thanks to the teachings of our father.”
Second Mother’s eyebrows furrowed, and she subconsciously wanted to pinch Father Qin’s waist, but halfway through, she realized that he was no longer there.
A flicker of sadness flashed in her eyes.
Seeing this, Qin Feng couldn’t help but feel guilty. If he had known, he wouldn’t have shifted the blame onto Father Qin.
He hesitated whether to tell the Second Mother about Father Qin’s situation down below, but thinking of Father Qin’s words in the Netherworld, he ultimately dismissed the idea.
Meanwhile, in the Netherworld, in the hall of the Ghost Emperor of the Southern Domain, Father Qin felt a sense of something and looked up at the hazy sky, murmuring to himself, “Could it be that Madam is thinking of me again?”
Clatter, clatter, clatter!
A hurried footsteps resounded.
Father Qin followed the sound and concealed the melancholy on his face, transforming the pitch-black ghost energy into a mask to cover his features.
The visitor was Tubo, who was responsible for guarding the Gate of Hell.
Was there another disturbance at the Gate of Hell?
With the balance of life and death disrupted and the souls of the deceased unable to enter the Netherworld completely, it had caused unrest among the ghosts.
Such incidents have been happening frequently recently.
“What’s the matter?” Father Qin asked in a deep voice.
“Reporting to the Ghost Emperor, the Ghost Lord has issued an order for the five Ghost Emperors of the Five Regions to gather.”
After the barrier outside the Negate Bridge severed the connection between the world and the Netherworld, the five Ghost Emperors each presided over one region and rarely met.
As a Ghost Emperor descended from the mortal realm, Father Qin had met the other Ghost Emperors before.
But as they were originally from different worlds, they didn’t get along, nor did they have any acquaintances.
In fact, if it weren’t for the Netherworld realm that respected the strong and Li Yang’s advice, he wouldn’t have become the Ghost Emperor of the Southern Region.
In the past, they wouldn’t usually seek me out. This time, they even summoned me. It seems that the situation in the Netherworld is not optimistic. Father Qin thought to himself, “I understand.”
With those words, he transformed into a shadow and flew towards the north.
Inside the grand palace, the dense Netherworld Qi almost solidified, with neat rows of troops standing on both sides. Each presence exuded formidable energy.
They were all powerful ghost generals from the Netherworld!
In the center of the palace, on a platform, several figures stood quietly. Their aura far surpassed that of the ghost generals below. They were the Ghost Emperors of the Netherworld, excluding Father Qin!
On the ink-black table of the platform, the Ghost Lord, a little girl, sat upright with her eyes closed.
At this moment, a sound of breaking wind rang out, and Father Qin’s figure appeared on the platform, nodding to the Ghost Lord in acknowledgment.
The others cast their gazes towards him, with expressions ranging from some with contempt, some envy, some disdain, some indifference, and so on.
Father Qin scanned the people on the platform. There were Ghost Emperors Shentu from the east, Zhao Wenhao from the west, Yang Yun from the north, and Zhou Qi from the central region. None were absent.
He couldn’t help but wonder, with all the Ghost Emperors present, who was guarding the Negate Bridge?
After becoming the Ghost Emperor of the Southern Domain, he had gained some understanding of the situation in the Netherworld. Thus, he knew what terrifying existence lurked outside the Negate Bridge, eyeing the Netherworld.
As he contemplated, Elder Zhou Qi nodded slightly towards him. Father Qin respectfully returned the gesture.
This elder was a legend within the Netherworld, existing since its inception, with profound and unfathomable strength.
The first time Father Qin saw Elder Zhou Qi, he even had the illusion that he was standing before a mountain of corpses, sending shivers down his spine!
And at that time, he had already reached the transcendence realm!
‘This elder is as inscrutable as a teacher. I wonder who is stronger, him or the Ghost Lord,’ Father Qin speculated.
The Ghost Lord stood up, her voice cold. “Since everyone is here, let’s begin.”
Even in the guise of a little girl, she still commanded respect without anger. The previously bustling hall suddenly fell silent.
Zhao Wenhao, with the appearance of a scholar, stepped forward and recounted the recent disturbances in the Netherworld. After hearing his words, everyone’s expression grew solemn.
Father Qin furrowed his brows. Indeed, the situation in the Netherworld had reached a critical point. The balance between life and death had been disrupted, causing fluctuations in the barrier set up by the Ghost Lord outside the Negate Bridge.
If this continued, those eerie and terrifying entities would be able to tear through the barrier and invade the Netherworld, sparking another major war.
What worried Father Qin even more was the impact on the boundary between life and death, where souls returned and the dead were resurrected. Just the thought of it was horrifying, akin to a scene from hell.
At this moment, he only hoped that his family would remain safe and sound.
Zhao Wenhao closed the scroll in his hand and spoke again, “The laws of the Netherworld have been disrupted. If the balance between life and death continues to be destroyed, the entire Netherworld may crumble into nothingness. At that time, we will have nowhere to go.”
Yang Yun, the Northern Ghost Emperor, had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, and his aura was as sharp as a sharp sword. He said coldly, “The subversion of the balance of life and death and the disorder of the laws of heaven and earth are inseparable from those guys.”
“In that case, why don’t we break the barrier and take the initiative to attack?”
Zhao Wenhao frowned and said, “After battling them for thousands of years, you should know that this method is simply not feasible.”
“They are powerful, and they possess immortal powers, sealing them away is the only way.”
“But Lord Ksitigarbha’s golden bowl has sealed an extremely important existence among them. How can it be opened at will? ”
Yang Yun closed his eyes. “So, according to you, are we just supposed to wait for death?”
Zhao Wenhao hesitated to respond, instead, he looked towards Ghost Lord and Zhou Qi, unsure of what to do.
At this moment, Shentu, who had been silent, spoke: “It’s not that there is nothing we can do.”
“What can we do?” Zhao Wenhao turned his head and asked.
The others also looked over with interest.
“Since the Netherworld is already on the brink of collapse, why not abandon this world and, through the baptism of the Yellow Springs, step into the realm beyond through the Gate of Hell!”
With this statement, shock reverberated through the crowd!
The ghosts below started whispering among themselves.
Shentu continued, “Since the day the rift appeared, I have instructed my subordinates to continuously attempt this method. Now, we have found a foolproof plan to enter the realm beyond.”
“But to allow all beings of the Netherworld to enter the realm beyond, we need the combined power of the five Gates of Hell.”
Some of the ghosts were intrigued, but also worried, and one asked, “The laws of heaven and earth in the Three Realms are exclusive. The living cannot enter the Netherworld, and the dead cannot enter the Immortal Realm.”
“Who knows if the laws of the mortal realm are the same?”
“The laws of the mortal realm are weak and cannot suppress us. With our strength, we can easily dominate that world, then recuperate and look for opportunities to make a comeback.”
“Or, we can transform the realm beyond into a new Netherworld!”
These words were directed at the Ghost Lord and the other Ghost Emperors, revealing his ambition.
The ghosts below began to stir. If this method truly worked, it could indeed solve the current crisis.
If there were any other way out, who would be willing to fight those monsters to the death?
As for how the beings of the mortal realm would fare, what did it matter to them?
However, they were just ghost generals, with no decision-making power. They could only turn their gaze back to the stage.
At this moment, Father Qin spoke up, “I disagree!”
All eyes turned to him.
Li Yang among the ghost generals frowned upon hearing this. Naturally, he did not want the mortal realm to be in danger, but Qin Jian’an’s opposition at this moment was too reckless and was bound to attract criticism!
And indeed, that was the case.
Shentu said lightly, “Does Master Qin have a better solution?”
Qin Jian’an had only been in the Netherworld for less than a year, how could he have any good solutions?
“Invading the mortal realm to protect oneself, how is this any different from those guys outside the Negate Bridge?!”
“I thought Master Qin had something important to say, turns out it’s this.” Shentu approached slowly, his voice suddenly rising, “Master Qin, don’t forget, you are no longer a person of the mortal realm, but a Ghost Emperor of the Netherworld!”
“Your every word and action should prioritize the beings of the Netherworld!”
As these words came out, the ghost generals below echoed in agreement.
“At a time like this, you are still worrying about the mortal realm, and yet you dare call yourself a Ghost Emperor?”
“How can a guy from the mortal realm stand with us? I opposed him when he was appointed as the South Ghost Emperor.”
“This guy is not worthy of being a Ghost Emperor!”
“Let him step down!”
The clamor was like a tsunami, mixed with a terrifying atmosphere.
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Ghost Lord’s expression turned cold, and Old Man Zhou Qi shouted in a deep voice, “Silence.”
With his words alone, the tumultuous waves were silenced, and the ghost generals fell silent.
Zhou Qi said lightly, “Everything will be decided by the Ghost Lord.”
The Ghost Lord glanced around and spoke, “They disrupted the balance of life and death in the Three Realms, surely they must have some purpose. If we abandon this world and intrude into the mortal realm, it will play right into their hands.”
“Moreover, the laws of the mortal realm and the Netherworld are completely different. Wanting to accommodate all the beings of the Netherworld there is nothing but a fool’s errand.”
“Ghost Lord, your words make sense,” Zhao Wenhao chimed in.
The ghost generals, upon hearing this, also realized and began to analyze the pros and cons.
At this moment, Shentu spoke again, “Since this method won’t work, then we can only find a way to restore the balance of life and death in the Netherworld.”
“Shentu implores Ghost Lord to temporarily imprison the Southern Ghost Emperor Qin Jian’an in the Abyssal Prison!”