This place is perpetually shrouded in rain and gloom, with cold winds howling incessantly. It has only two seasons: the yin season and the rainy season.
The sky here is always dark and overcast.
The world is sheltered beneath a vast canopy of trees.
The scarce light struggles mightily to filter through the dense tangle of branches and leaves.
In stark contrast to the other four great Sheng Di secret realms, Beiming Dijing gives off a cold, melancholic vibe.
Being here often makes one prone to deep reflection, and without caution, one might sink into an ocean of emotions.
These could be sorrow or grief.
Or even anger and terror.
To find an emotion like "joy" in this place, one would need to be at least at the Ban Sheng level.
This is Beiming Dijing, the inheritance realm of Sheng Di Bei Shi, a place even the other four great clans avoid.
The Bei Shi clan occupies this Sheng Di secret realm for cultivation, but their numbers are few.
It's an exaggeration to say it's a single lineage; more accurately, it's about ten generations per line.
By Bei Huai's generation, counting up and down, the entire realm has fewer than a hundred people with the surname Bei.
Moreover, most Bei Shi clan members prefer to venture outward and dislike staying here.
For instance, the new Seven Sword Immortals member Bei Bei grew up in the Yunshan Dijing of Sheng Di Hua Shi.
Da Shi Huai.
This is an ancient huai tree towering ten zhang high, with a lush dark-green canopy and a thick, black trunk—utterly ordinary in appearance.
Apart from its age, it has no other remarkable features, embodying a return to simplicity and blending in with the other trees.
Da Shi Huai has been rooted here for billions of years, surviving countless eras, its roots penetrating the entire Beiming Dijing and allowing it to transport this world through the fragmented flows of space and time at will.
Its canopy's shadow is the source of the blocking darkness in the sky and a direct expression of Bei Huai's melancholic personality.
After all, a single thought from a Sheng Di can influence an entire world.
To a large extent, Bei Huai, who inherited the Bei Shi Sheng Di position and formed a contract with Da Shi Huai, has his inner world reflected in this.
In front of this towering ancient huai tree, a young man in white robes and bare feet is currently squatting. His face is as fair as jade, and his eyes gaze vacantly at a tender sprout that has stubbornly broken through the soil beneath the tree, despite the absence of light.
"Life is so magnificent..."
He murmurs silently, his eyes as lifeless as a dry well, showing no sign of vitality.
Yet around him, there are various sounds that clash with the somber atmosphere of Beiming Dijing—slightly chaotic voices and numerous versions of Bei Huai.
"Urgh." One Bei Huai is lying on a tree branch with his belly pressed against it, folding himself in half to play with his feet. He picks at his nail, sniffs it with a disgusted expression, then continues picking and sniffing, utterly absorbed.
"Hee-hee." Another plump little Bei Huai is sitting on a wooden horse under the tree, rocking back and forth while gripping the handles, full of delight.
"Whee—" Another Bei Huai is swinging on a swing, pushed by yet another Bei Huai acting as the laborer. He flips around the branch and crashes into the one picking at his feet, sending both tumbling down.
"Ha-ha-ha, so fun, so fun..."
"Ow, you asked for it!"
"Kill me! Ahhh, kill me, or I'll kill you!"
There are Bei Huai dressed as women, Bei Huai stepping on others' feet for no reason, Bei Huai venting energy through fights...
Anything imaginable is here.
Beneath Da Shi Huai, besides the array of Bei Huai, there are various massive corpses of ghost beasts.
Some have been casually turned into nutrients for the huai tree, others await study, and those still clinging to life are trembling in fear.
Among all the strangely shaped Bei Huai, the one in white robes with vacant eyes, observing the sprout, seems the most normal.
Of course, he is also the most abnormal—he lacks the seven emotions and six desires that humans should have.
In fact, all the surrounding Bei Huai are manifestations of the white-robed Bei Huai's Sheng Di intent.
Unlike other Ban Sheng or Sheng Di, each of Bei Huai's Sheng Di intent manifestations has its own unique personality, will, and little quirks.
Some are tsundere, some depressed, some crazy, some frivolous...
Bei Huai has always been a melancholic and highly inquisitive person.
Throughout his life, he has realized every whimsical idea, ultimately leading him to focus on the fundamental question of "life."
For this, he has conducted numerous research experiments, incorporating many "Bei Huai" into himself and then separating them out again.
Yet he has never obtained a satisfactory answer.
Life seems to be an endless topic of research, and Bei Huai's interest in it remains undiminished to this day.
Sitting under the tree, leaning against Da Shi Huai, the bare-footed Bei Huai in white pulls his knees up, retrieves a yellowed notebook from his waist, and bites on a pen.
The notebook's cover is rough, or rather, it has no proper cover—only the first page bears large characters:
"Bei Huai's Life Research Diary."
In the lower left corner, there's a small red flower, likely drawn by some mischievous little Bei Huai.
Flipping to the middle, the young man quickly writes:
"Gu Huai Calendar, year 13233, weather overcast with a gentle breeze."
"The mountain air is still fresh, the gentle breeze carrying rain mist and the fragrance of earth after yesterday's rain, which is uplifting ()"
"The birth of life is always worth celebrating. I must record this—today, A Ya has sprouted (oo)"
"A Ya has high talent; I have great expectations for her, but at birth, she only has the aura of a first-grade spiritual herb, which is a bit disappointing (>.>)"
"For A Ya's third reincarnation, I specifically used a drop of Jinling Dragon's reverse scale blood, three particles of San Shi Po Jie Fruit powder, and watered with Changsheng Spring for ninety-nine days... I carefully nurtured her, protecting her from disasters and preventing the Bei Huai from messing with her... The materials were all Sheng-level spiritual items, yet after her birth, she still only had a first-grade aura. Maybe I set my expectations too high; I should reflect on that (.)"
The bare-footed Bei Huai writes with great focus.
The final section spans three full pages, detailing the process of A Ya's third reincarnation in detail.
As he is about to put down his pen, a sudden cry rings out nearby:
"Ah? How could you eat her? She's so pitiful, oh."
Bei Huai pauses, glancing over to see the Bei Huai who was just playing on the wooden horse now lying on A Ya's grave mound.
The freshly sprouted first-grade spiritual herb, A Ya, has been completely devoured.
Bei Huai parts his lips slightly, a flicker of emotion in his eyes, and soon his lips curve into a faint smile.
He continues writing in "Bei Huai's Life Research Diary":
"Very interesting—A Ya's birth actually piqued A Le's interest—she got eaten!"
"Survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle—I'll intervene minimally and won't punish them, though A Le's actions did make me angry, just for a moment."
"It's worth noting that A Le is a simpleton; previously, he had no interest in other life forms, being introverted and only liking his wooden horse."
"A Le was created from a wisp of the remnant soul of Ban Sheng Jiang Biyi from the Pu Xuan Jiang clan in the northern domain, supplemented with spirit-gathering powder and rejuvenation flower powder, and born in the body of a ghost beast called Chang Yi—which is a large snake at the Tai Xu level."
"Maybe because Chang Yi was too weak, A Le couldn't be born naturally, so I added Da Shi Huai powder, of course grinding away its spirituality to avoid increasing research variables and causing accidents."
"Accidents happened anyway."
"After A Le was born, he only liked the wooden horse made from Da Shi Huai branches and rocking on it; he had no interest in anything else and couldn't even speak."
"Today, he ate A Ya, bringing light to my world—this means A Ya must have some special quality..."
At this point, Bei Huai stops writing.
He reaches behind him and pulls out another thick, yellowed notebook.
The first page is the title page, with large characters:
"Bei Huai's Record Handbook."
Flipping through the "Record Handbook," the bare-footed Bei Huai quickly reviews all the basic life information on "A Ya," "A Le," and "Chang Yi."
After cross-referencing with his memory and finding no omissions, he makes edits, additions, and deletions to perfect the details.
Just as he finishes, the sound of pattering footsteps approaches.
Bei Huai looks up to see the chubby little A Le, only a month old, happily running around the wooden horse with his arms hugging his head.
This is highly unusual!
According to the "Record Handbook," A Le doesn't like running or even walking; he only likes his wooden horse and can't speak.
But now, A Le is running while shouting:
"Ben Sheng has grass on my head..."
Bei Huai's gaze grows increasingly dazed.
A Le can speak?
But the content is just this one sentence, repeating endlessly, and...
He looks at the chubby A Le's head, where a tender green sprout has grown—exactly the one he had observed earlier, the one that was eaten...
"A Ya?"
Bei Huai takes a deep breath, bites his pen, and falls into deep thought.
A Le seems stuck in a loop; his arms are too short to reach the grass on his head, yet he doesn't know how he discovered it and just keeps running around the wooden horse like this.
Bei Huai's train of thought is repeatedly interrupted, and irritation builds in his eyes.
"Shut up!"
A Le acts as if he can't hear, still hugging his head and running wildly around the wooden horse.
Bei Huai stands up, kicks A Le flying, and tosses the wooden horse far away, finally silencing the noise as it recedes.
"Ben Sheng has grass on my head..."
"Grass on my head..."
"Grass..."
Bei Huai flips through the "Bei Huai's Record Handbook" back and forth, his gaze finally settling on "Bei Huai's Life Research Diary." He sighs helplessly:
"Wake up."
The diary trembles, its pages rustling and flipping as if stretching and groaning.
"I need to revise the latest content."
The diary stops at the most recent page.
The words on it delete themselves one by one, back to the second line.
"Stop."
Bei Huai commands, and the diary loses its lifelike quality, leaving only two lines:
"Gu Huai Calendar, year 13233, weather overcast with a gentle breeze."
"The mountain air is still fresh, the gentle breeze carrying rain mist and the fragrance of earth after yesterday's rain, which is uplifting ()"
Bei Huai thinks for a moment, then crosses out the last few words and changes them to:
"This is ridiculous."
"Really ridiculous."
"My mood is incredibly complex right now..."
He quickly jots down notes about A Ya's birth, but focuses on A Le's sudden speech, strange behavior, and the shocking fact that he ate A Ya and then grew her.
"...Is it 'parasitism,' or 'symbiosis,' or perhaps a entirely new form of life?"
"I don't know."
"I'm very confused right now."
"There are many possible directions; I'll need to try them one by one. It will be time-consuming and effort-intensive, and they probably won't agree, but I'll persist—exploring the unknowns of life is where the fun lies."
Finally, he puts down the pen.
Bei Huai stares vacantly at the tree canopy shadow in the sky, his ears still catching the distant, grating voice:
"Ben Sheng has grass on my head..."
"Grass on my head..."
The white-robed young man sighs again:
"Life is so magnificent..."
Just then, he suddenly feels a sharp pain in his head, his brows furrowing.
At the same moment, the Bei Huai playing with his feet on the branch, the one pushing the swing, the ones fighting... even the one running around the wooden horse—all the Bei Huai stop what they're doing and turn their gazes toward him.
Thousands of eyes from near and far, from all directions, converge in a way that's startling, but Bei Huai is accustomed to it.
Da Shi Huai shakes slightly, lowering a branch as if inquiring.
"It's nothing."
The bare-footed Bei Huai in white smiles, calming the turbulent emotions of all the Bei Huai, and strokes Da Shi Huai's branch to soothe it.
"A Qi is injured."
"He's playing in the Si Xiang Mi Jing and ran into some trouble."
A portly, bald-headed middle-aged Bei Huai walks over.
Reaching the original Bei Huai, he says nothing and simply pulls open his clothes, exposing a round, smooth belly smoother than a stone pedestal—it's like a convex mirror.
The mirror shows scenes from Si Xiang Mi Jing: strange figures, beasts, and structures that look like doors... but the image is too blurry to make out clearly.
"A Shou..."
The bare-footed Bei Huai touches the convex mirror belly, knowing this Bei Huai means well, but he can only advise helplessly:
"You're... gotten even rounder."
"The images on your belly are so unclear now; I can't tell if they're the Bei Huai or normal people."
"Go back for now. Show me again once you've successfully lost weight."
A Shou huffs in annoyance and storms off, but with his clothes unbuttoned, he can't fasten them properly.
The more he tries, the angrier he gets, and he turns back furiously:
"You told me to gain weight!"
"I only suggested you use your ability to expand the surface area, so you could see more in the images..."
"I'm not listening! It's all your fault!"
Bei Huai sees off A Shou and welcomes A Mei.
A Mei gives a flirtatious wink and coils her long black tail into a circle behind her.
Within the circle, clouds form and display scenes of battles at Gong Yang Mountain.
It ends with Sheng Di Qi Lin being torn in half and the extreme giant roaring skyward.
Bei Huai's expression freezes solid.
After a long pause, a spark of light flickers in his eyes.
"This giant..."
From human form, expanding to a golden giant form, then transforming into a skeletal giant form.
And after merging with the ancient martial six paths, it gains flesh and becomes the most extreme form!
Bei Huai suddenly turns to A Mei.
A Mei shyly lowers her head.
He looks again at the other Bei Huai on the mountain.
Most of the other Bei Huai are still acting normally, shouting wildly and pulling at each other's hair:
"Revenge!"
"Revenge!"
"Revenge for A Qi!"
With a boom, the Bei Huai on the swing rips off his head, transforming on the spot into a hundred-zhang fish-headed bovine serpent, exuding a chaotic aura.
He leaps at the Bei Huai playing with his feet, knocking off his nail and exploding mid-air into a massive single-legged creature—wait, he does have a body, but it's normal human size, while the leg is a thousand zhang high!
The fighting Bei Huai, the chess-playing Bei Huai, the one picking at his rear... countless Bei Huai mutate, each taking on their true form.
These Bei Huai are all at most at the Tai Xu level, without even Ban Sheng status.
Yet their power, at its strongest, surpasses that of an ordinary Ban Sheng!
"Prepare yourselves."
The bare-footed, jade-faced Bei Huai waves his hand, ready to lead his army of bizarre Bei Huai to seek out this new giant life form.
He has a premonition that if this research succeeds, it will be more exciting than obtaining the Tan Shen.
That person...
Bei Huai pauses, flips open the "Bei Huai's Record Handbook," and on a fresh page, writes the old name of the new Bei Huai he's about to acquire:
"Xu Xiao Shou."
He looks up at the hesitant A Mei, who seems to want to say something, and after a moment of thought, asks:
"A Mei, do you like them strong?"
A Mei lowers her horned head, coils her black serpentine tail, and rubs it against the ground, letting out a hoarse, expectant voice:
"Procreation..."
Bei Huai puts away the handbook, just about to move.
With a thunderous boom, a silver full moon rises outside Beiming Dijing, faintly showing the shadow of a palace.
In the sky above, eight ancient seal characters appear:
"Sheng Shen Dalu, Bei Huai, halt!"
Bei Huai pauses and says seriously: "This time, I have urgent business, and I guarantee no innocents will be harmed."
Another boom echoes, and outside Beiming Dijing, a star chart illusion emerges, its dao principles surging.
The eight ancient seal characters reappear in the air:
"Sheng Shen Dalu, Bei Huai, halt!"
Bei Huai's face shows no emotion: "You're forcing me?"
Yet another boom, and a majestic mountain peak's projection appears.
This time, a sword-bearing figure steps out from it.
"Sheng Shen Dalu, Bei Huai, halt... This isn't just talk."
"You know full well how dangerous you are."
The figure, like a flickering candle in the wind, exudes an incredibly faint aura, as if emerging from the nine abysses.
The sword in his hand is pitted and worn, as if it would shatter at a touch.
"Hua Chang Deng..."
Bei Huai's eyes narrow, glancing toward the Underworld Heavenly Ladder, his expression turning peculiar: "Did Dao Qiong Cang send you? Are you about to break through?"
Hua Chang Deng lifts the dim lamp that screens the world.
Under the flickering candlelight, tiny dark swords gather in his eyes, and the world he sees is no longer empty.
Instead!
The hideous and grotesque Da Shi Huai's canopy is composed of endless vengeful spirits and ghosts.
Its roots are festooned with broken, desolate, indescribable, densely packed horrors.
The screams turn into howling winds.
The fine rain is drops of bleeding souls.
This isn't the human world—it's a filthy, fallen endless hell!
Hua Chang Deng shakes his head slightly, his voice steady, and slowly raises the famous sword Hunting Ghost:
"Lamp in hand to hunt ghosts, this night is long."
A new month, seeking...
[2 minutes ago] Chapter 5: Central Continent
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