Chapter 1822: Ghost Ancestor

They didn't pursue him?

After running for a long time, Xu Xiaoshou finally realized that Hua Changdeng and Moon Fox had both given up the chase. This was somewhat unexpected.

“Did they have a change of heart?” He had expected the two of them to at least split up, block his path, and intercept him!

Yue Gongli had indeed guessed wrong; Xu Xiaoshou wasn't going to Gan Shi. He had split his ‘Full Consciousness’ into two halves and decided to take a risk on this final stretch. He was going to die either way, so he chose to go to both Gan Shi and Bei Ming.

If Hua Changdeng and Moon Fox split up, one half of his Full Consciousness would inevitably encounter Hua Changdeng, and that part would, of course, be directly discarded. However, the other half would encounter Moon Fox, which presented an opportunity for manipulation.

While Yue Gongli couldn't compare to Dao Qiongcang – how many Dao Qiongcangs were there in the world? Xu Xiaoshou actually acknowledged his intelligence and knew that this guy never truly intended to be his complete adversary. If they met again, he would give himself a chance, and also give Yue Gongli a chance: he would bring up the ‘friendship fee’ matter again.

Whether or not the fee was paid, or if he went to Bei Ming, didn't actually matter. Most importantly, Xu Xiaoshou planned to unite the Han Palace Imperial Realm, excluding the Han Palace Saint Emperor, to create a fallback plan for himself and Yue Gongli. Hua Changdeng would eventually descend the Heavenly Ladder. Judging from the attitudes of his residual will in the Ghost Buddha World, once the passage opened, Hua Changdeng wouldn't come alone. After he descended the Heavenly Ladder, Saint Emperors and Ancestral Gods would likely follow. A chaotic era was approaching. There were Ancestral Gods, and there were those who wished to be enshrined as gods and ancestors. But even Xu Xiaoshou didn't know how chaotic things would become, so Yue Gongli must also be worried.

Inside the Tingyu Pavilion, under deliberate guidance, Xu Xiaoshou inquired not only about Gan Shi and Bei Ming but also got a rough overview of major events concerning the Five Great Saint Emperor Families in recent years. He heard about Yue Gongnu. Her escape and loss of contact, and Yue Gongli's attitude was to suppress the matter, preventing much discussion. “What was he thinking?” The answer was obvious: if Yue Gongnu escaped, one of her steps must have been to meet Ba Zun'an. Yue Gongli suppressing this matter proved that deep down, he still harbored a sliver of hope that the Saint Servant would win. At that time, even if he couldn't protect everything, he would at least use his sister's connection to protect a portion of the Han Palace Imperial Realm. He was a good young family head. When people had weaknesses, they were easy to exploit. In this situation, the ‘friendship fee’ didn't even need to be proactively mentioned. Just a hint about ‘cooperation,’ and Yue Gongli would likely be a thousand times willing, even offering Spirit Crystals to seek out collaborative opportunities!

“What a pity...” It was a pity Yue Gongli wasn't foolish; he didn't rush over to clarify the matter. Implicit understandings remained implicit. If this wasn't discussed, Yue Gongli would always retain half the initiative, not fully under Xu Xiaoshou's control. It was also a pity that the relationship between Hua Changdeng and Moon Fox seemed deeper than he had perceived, even reaching a point where they could have ‘heart-to-heart’ talks. Witnessing Yue Gongli's tears through the memory imprint left in Wurao Imperial Realm, Xu Xiaoshou felt a surge of emotion. These Saint Emperor Families, always fighting each other. But when it came to feelings, they truly could communicate, and genuine emotions were involved!

“So, uniting with Yue Gongli to secretly plot against Hua Changdeng after he descends the Heavenly Ladder is probably hopeless; those two are quite close...” “Since they're all close, uniting with Dao Qiongcang would likely have the same outcome... But that flamboyant old Daoist has no humanity, only the Great Dao in his heart; perhaps the result wouldn't be the same?”

Harboring these thoughts and regrets, both halves of his Full Consciousness didn't stop, each rushing towards the next destination. Life often had its dissatisfactions. It was perfectly normal for things not to unfold exactly as one wished; a relaxed mindset was all that was needed. “I've already made a killing.”

Bei Ming Imperial Realm.

The Great World Sophora tree was lush and verdant, growing high on the mountains, displaying a healthy dark green hue. Its aerial roots and branches were so dense that branches overlapped branches and leaves covered leaves; some even trailed into the soil and grew into new sophora trees. One tree was an entire forest. North Sophora, clad in white, stood barefoot on the earth, his toes spotless and mud-free, his entire being untainted by dust, not like a mortal but rather an immortal from the heavens. The entire Bei Ming Imperial Realm was his experimental zone. Within the scope of his Saintly consciousness, he knew precisely how every blade of grass, every tree, every flower, and every stone changed, whether it withered or flourished. Naturally, when an external object or force entered Bei Ming, it was like a pebble lightly tossed into the ocean, creating ripples that were clearly seen.

“They're here.” North Sophora closed his diary, lifted his gaze, and looked into the distance, a faint smile appearing on his face. Bei Ming had no guests, only enemies and Dao Qiongcang. The last time someone came was Hua Changdeng, lantern in hand, hunting ghosts, and fighting him here for three days and three nights. North Sophora then abandoned his desire to go out. He wanted the Glutton God, but couldn't get it. He wanted Xu Xiaoshou, but was too lazy to go out and search for him himself. Now, the soul fluctuation he had long awaited had come to him.

North Sophora didn't move; he smiled and spoke to the seemingly empty space beside him: “He's here, didn't you want to see him?”

Behind him, a black mist swirled, quickly forming a blurry dark figure, cloaked in black, its entire head obscured by a massive hood, a long-handled, long-bladed black scythe clutched in its skeletal hand.

“I have no such desire.”

North Sophora heard this, but merely continued to smile: “When your skill approaches the Dao, you'll want to see him. Go see him. Don't mind me; this is just a fragmented consciousness, not something I'm interested in.”

The dark figure remained silent for a long time, then repeated the same sentence: “I have no such desire.”

North Sophora smiled without speaking. He sat against the Great World Sophora, slowly opening his right hand in front of him. His fingers were like jade, his palm broad and warm, catching a dark green sophora leaf that drifted down from mid-air. He remained still, calmly observing the leaf in his hand. On the leaf, there was an adorable little North Sophora head, baring its fangs and howling. Soon, a mountain breeze blew, carrying the sophora leaf away to an unknown destination.

North Sophora smiled, pursing his lips, and didn't try to persuade further. After all, Bei Ming was a place of free coming and going, a true haven: “Then let the wind guide it.”

“Hiss!”

As a gentle breeze swept by, Full Consciousness shivered. Even though Bei Ming was clearly vibrant with spring, lush with vegetation, and teeming with life, after arriving here using Hua Zhiyao's identity jade token, he felt as if he were in the true ‘Fengdu,’ like falling into an ice cellar, his soul trembling from the cold.

“What in the world is this place...” Looking around, mountain ranges lay low like dragons, sinking into the earth and then emerging as clouds, stretching for countless miles. The mountains were densely forested, with verdant pines and ancient mulberries and sophoras. Birds chirped, butterflies flapped their wings, golden bees buzzed, and horse-like beasts galloped – it was incredibly lively. Yet, everything, despite appearing naturally formed, also gave a sense of being ‘lifelike.’ Yes, precisely: lifelike. As if nothing was real, but rather an artificially created... second world!

“Being watched, Passive Points, 9999.”

Full Consciousness didn't have a passive system, so there was no pop-up message. His main body had already fled, fearing that coming to Bei Ming would entangle him in unfavorable karma. But he knew that if his main body were here, a reminder like this would definitely pop up in the information bar. Because at this moment, Full Consciousness, standing in the forest, felt as if he was being stared at by thousands of eyes, yet he couldn't pinpoint where they were.

“Shuangshuang truly didn't deceive me!” The maid from Tingyu Pavilion was indeed right. This ghostly place wasn't for humans; the feeling of being ‘watched’ was overwhelmingly oppressive.

“North Sophora actually didn't come to find me...” Full Consciousness struggled to adapt to the surroundings, having expected North Sophora to suddenly appear like a ghost the moment he showed up, delivering a close-range attack. Then, with his usual tone, say: “Your soul is boiling...” After all, in the past, for the Glutton God, North Sophora would resort to any means, disregarding even the life and death of the Saint Emperor Qilin, only wanting to take what others cherished. Now that his main body and the Glutton God were combined, his soul fluctuations were indistinguishable from his main body's. Even if this consciousness arrived, with consciousness as the primary and physical spirit as the secondary, its level was much weaker. North Sophora should have sensed it and come to ask something. Not asking, but directly grabbing him and starting his ghost beast research—that would also be acceptable. Doing nothing at all, however, was terrifying.

“Something out of the ordinary must indicate something sinister!” But clearly, Full Consciousness was overthinking. North Sophora truly seemed completely uninterested in him, only having designs on his main body. He cautiously walked through the forest for a while, but North Sophora still didn't appear. “Fine, if you won't come, then don't blame me for being impolite.” Full Consciousness certainly wouldn't think of actively seeking out North Sophora; that would be no different from seeking death, and even then, whether he could actually die was debatable. He had come with a mission. If nothing ‘normal’ happened, then he'd create some ‘accident.’ This ‘accident,’ in other Saint Emperor Secret Realms, would be ‘normal’ — polluting Dao Qiongcang's memory imprints!

“Activate!” The Intent Dao Disk spun. Full Consciousness immediately noticed that Bei Ming Imperial Realm also had quite a few of Dao Qiongcang's ‘traces,’ but far fewer compared to other places. He could actually count them! “One hundred and eight...” One hundred and eight imprints, hidden incredibly subtly, placed in various unseen, dark corners. If not for the Intent Dao Disk's super-Dao transformation, Full Consciousness truly wouldn't have found them. “Since we're all ‘insiders’ who've paid the friendship fee, I won't be polite with you, flamboyant old Daoist.” With a thought, he immediately prepared to ‘weave,’ transforming Dao Qiongcang's imprints into ‘mine and Dao Dao's.’ But before he could even make a move, his thoughts wavered, his vision spun, and Full Consciousness’ heart skipped a beat. “Damn it, it still came.” “Not coming earlier, not coming later, but only when I'm about to act—are you afraid you won't scare people to death, huh?”

The world was gray. It somewhat resembled night, yet was vastly different from it. It was like the beginning of heaven and earth, where Yang energy rose and Yin energy descended, but without the ‘Yang energy rising’ step. Full Consciousness suddenly felt as if he had arrived in the underworld. “Fengdu?”

Hua Changdeng's Fengdu possessed eighteen layers of hell, the Yellow Spring Road, the Forgetfulness River, the Bridge of the Other Shore, the Altar of a Hundred Ghosts, and other unseen things. Ba Zun'an once said that his Fengdu was the true Fengdu. His Fengdu anomaly seemed to be more than just an anomaly; it possessed various divine and wondrous objects from the true Fengdu. But this current ‘underworld’...

“It's different!” In the gray space, nothing tangible was visible. Even what he stood on wasn't solid ground, but a semi-real, semi-illusory expanse, where a forceful step felt like falling into an abyss, while a light step allowed him to ‘float’ by drawing leverage from the gray-black mist. Looking up, there was no sun, no moon, no light, no stars in the sky; it was still a vast expanse of gray-black. A chilling sense of dread spread deep within his soul. Full Consciousness swallowed hard, actually wanting to commit suicide, but having received orders from his main body, he could only continue to watch. The more he saw, the more his main body would know. The more his main body knew, the less unknown Bei Ming would be, and when their strength was comparable, perhaps he would dare to truly attack the Bei Ming Imperial Realm.

But... “Did you ever consider my feelings?!” What ‘Full Consciousness’... What ‘trying to be human’... Full Consciousness wanted to laugh just thinking about it; his main body had never treated him, who could revive and regenerate, as a human! It was so frustrating!

“Xu Xiaoshou.” In the gray world, a soft call suddenly echoed. The voice seemed to come from the Nine Nether, ethereal and uncertain, yet so cold it made one's teeth chatter. Full Consciousness quickly turned his head in the direction of the sound.

He saw a ‘person’! It was a black figure cloaked in black robes and wearing a black hood, concealing every detail of its body, including its face and features – nothing was visible. Beneath the shadow of the black hood, only two points of eerie green ghost fire flickered, like a specter. “King Yama?” Full Consciousness forced a smile, making a dark joke. And actually, with this attire, apart from lacking King Yama's mask, this person should be one of King Yama's members, a black-masked figure?

“Good.” The dark figure remained still, and this single word drifted through the world. The last time Full Consciousness saw someone who so favored the word ‘good’ was in his main body's memories: Heavenly Ancestor, Ran Ming, and various other ancestral gods from ancient times, and so on. He fell silent. Could it be that this one before him...

The dark figure also seemed to be waiting for Xu Xiaoshou to speak first or ask questions. After a while, it seemed this human boy was too frightened to move. The ghost fire beneath the large hood began to flicker, giving the impression of a ‘smiling face appearing.’ It spoke: “Ruler of the Nine Nether, Supreme of the Underworld, Lord of Fengdu... King Yama, Death, Ghost Ancestor...” “In this world, I have no true name; all these titles are me. If you wish, you may call this Ancestor whatever you please.”

Full Consciousness finally understood why Moon Fox would make such sounds when faced with certain irresistible forces. His current state was precisely this: shocked but not overly so, wanting to calm down but utterly unable to. Caught between the constant oscillation of ‘too shocked’ and ‘unable to calm down,’ his reaction became somewhat simplistic. No reaction! Not even an expression! He stood frozen, clearly able to feel that there was no connection between himself and his main body... Actually, there still was. But only a thread-like connection remained, like lotus roots broken but still fibrously linked. If any ‘anomaly’ tried to possess him and ‘follow the vine to find the melon,’ this ‘thread’ would immediately be severed by his main body.

“The Ghost Ancestor just appeared, fresh as a daisy?” Full Consciousness wanted to cry. He had imagined ten thousand contingency plans, that the Ghost Ancestor—the master of the ‘Reincarnation’ path, either guiding North Sophora or being controlled by him—would appear in various bizarre scenarios. But it should only be a ‘fragmented soul,’ ‘residual will,’ or some other ‘fragment,’ right? The Dao and the Fiend were one; now only the Fiend remained. The Fiend's recovery process was more arduous, but its ability to materialize was understandable. Because Su Yin was the only Ancestral God who had completed the path from ‘two’ to ‘one.’ Although her actions were somewhat disheveled after recovery, due to Xu Xiaoshou's constraints, she was very strong. Aside from Su Yin, no other Ancestral God had completed the path from ‘two’ to ‘one.’ Among the Four Ancestors of Reincarnation, the Sword Ancestor, Dragon Ancestor, and Battle Ancestor were all not alive. The Heavenly Ancestor had also perished; the will on Void Island was merely the spirit of the post-Void Island, born solely for the ‘Heavenly Ancestor's Legacy.’ The true forms of gods and demons, the divine and demonic powers of the Saint Ancestor and Demon Ancestor, had influenced the Saint God Continent for eons. Yet, neither Full Consciousness nor his main body had ever encountered this one's fragmented soul or consciousness. They hadn't even heard a voice; they had only seen Dao Qiongcang put on a grand show in the God's Ruins, roughly recreating the Saint Ancestor's silhouette, but its authenticity was unknown. Medicine Ghost's creation and destruction... And the ‘Ghost Ancestor’ among them could actually materialize into a physical form, just like Su Yin, and even pull people within the Bei Ming Imperial Realm into this ‘gray’ space...

“Is this your Divine Court?” Full Consciousness asked in a flustered, haphazard manner. His main body dared to face Su Yin without fear because he had the ability, and Su Yin was weak. He currently had no combat power, an ant that would crumble if squeezed. Thus, even his questions seemed ‘arbitrary,’ asking whatever came to mind. Well, not arbitrary, just utterly bewildered.

“No.” The dark figure, the Ghost Ancestor, said, extending a pale, skeletal hand from beneath its sleeve. With a clench, a long-handled, long-bladed scythe materialized in its grasp. The Scythe of Death... Full Consciousness was terrified, retreating repeatedly, and shouted with a stern voice: “Hey, Ghost Brother, let's just talk. What's the meaning of pulling out a scythe?!”