Chapter 615: Underworld

A lone smoke column rose straight from the desert; the great river’s setting sun was round.

Under the setting sun, the vast desert, with its original sense of desolation and remoteness beyond the frontier, stretched magnificently.

But in an instant, the ground was covered in blue spider lilies, appearing so suddenly. Their blue petals in the desert were crystal clear and enchanting, almost unreal.

Thin smoke rose, and mist permeated the air; everything was blue, as if a mysterious realm was opening, an ancient world appearing and connecting with the vast desert.

Chu Feng stood there, somewhat dazed. The scene he had witnessed before was replaying, and his heart was shaken.

At this moment, even the red sun in the sky had turned blue, looking extremely bizarre. It hung on the horizon, emitting a faint blue glow, illuminating everything with a shimmering blue light.

Even having experienced this once before, seeing the endless blue spider lilies suddenly bloom in the arid desert again left Chu Feng deeply shocked.

How was this formed?

Unlike before, he now possessed fiery golden eyes. As he gazed intently, when the blue pollen rose and the mist billowed, he saw an ancient land about to connect with the real desert.

It was not an illusion; the blooming spider lilies were actually opening an ancient land. A mysterious realm, refined by time, was emerging in the distance.

Chu Feng gasped. He hadn't seen these things before; had he missed something, or had he avoided a great disaster? He couldn't tell.

He didn't want any more complications. Normally, he would have a strong desire to explore, but after more than a month of suffering in the Purgatory Realm, he only wanted to return quickly and see his parents and friends.

He feared that if he explored now, he might get trapped in that ancient land.

"Huh?"

Chu Feng looked surprised. As the pollen scattered and the blue mist rose, some structures appeared in the void with clear outlines. It was a floating bridge, connecting that ancient realm to his current location.

What was going on? Was this inviting him to embark on a journey?

Chu Feng remained still, standing quietly and staring at the blue mist and the ancient land that had appeared before him.

He detected a faint fragrance. Was it the scent of the spider lilies?

"Not all pollen is beneficial for the human body or promotes physical evolution," he mused. "I encountered this vast blue sea of flowers before and didn't notice any effects."

Chu Feng frowned. He was very cautious because these blue spider lilies were too bizarre, and their timing made him particularly wary.

Chu Feng had once mentioned the blue spider lilies to Yellow Ox, who had then looked grave and told him that there was actually only one blue spider lily plant, and all the others were merely its roots transformed.

Furthermore, legend had it that the blue spider lilies were connected to a powerful being who had shaken the past and present, implying a profound mystery.

Next, the spider lilies became even more radiant, their pollen transforming into a dense blue mist, like waves of water, incredibly thick, almost inseparable.

At this point, the bridge constructed from the pollen and blue mist became even more realistic. It even bore various patterns of flowers, birds, fish, and insects, as well as carvings of divine birds and immortal beasts.

Moreover, figure after figure emerged in the void, also formed from the blue mist. They clustered around a war chariot pulled by eight blue Qilins, advancing along the bridge towards him, as if to invite Chu Feng to board.

Chu Feng gasped, truly astonished by the strangeness. Was this real? He even wondered if he had entered a dream.

The spider lilies were blooming, filling the sky with pollen, and the blue mist could actually manifest such things. Was this an invitation for him to step into that ancient realm?!

"Hm?!"

Chu Feng looked alarmed; his spirit was about to leave his body and float onto the bridge in mid-air. At the same time, the divine beast chariot stopped, as if waiting for him to get in.

His spirit was about to leave his body? He was horrified. Absolutely not!

Chu Feng immediately activated the Daoist Breathing Technique, protecting his spirit. In an instant, his spirit solidified with his physical body, dispersing into every inch of his flesh and blood, intertwining inextricably.

Simultaneously, he took out the stone box and held the black talisman paper, ready for anything.

That was quite terrifying; he had almost lost his soul, nearly being drawn onto the bridge in mid-air. If his spirit body were to leave his physical body here, who knew what would happen.

"In folk legends, there are underworld emissaries in the Nine Netherworld who are responsible for collecting the souls of the dying. Am I encountering something like that?" Chu Feng mused, his expression serious.

"No, that's not right," he thought. "My life force is vigorous. Even if such beings or strange places exist, why would they try to seize my soul?!" Chu Feng's eyes gleamed.

Afterward, he recalled another folk legend: that powerful beings in the underworld occasionally invited renowned figures from the living world to banquets, meaning their spirits would attend as spiritual entities.

Chu Feng's expression turned peculiar. Was he encountering something like this? Was a powerful entity in the mysterious ancient land of the spider lilies about to host a banquet and invite him?

He was filled with doubt and surprise. This was inconceivable. Before the great changes in the world, he wouldn't have believed any of this, dismissing it all as mere fantastical tales.

Yet now, he was actually experiencing such things. Did such strange places truly exist? Was the Nine Netherworld present in the world?

He had been to the Land of Reincarnation and witnessed the City of Light and Death. Now, the appearance of this underworld-like strange world caused his emotions to fluctuate, leaving him greatly surprised.

In Chu Feng's view, the Land of Reincarnation, the Underworld, and similar places should be the same. But now, it seemed they were related yet had uncanny differences.

He hadn't expected to encounter such a thing right after leaving the Land of Reincarnation.

Chu Feng pondered, realizing he seemed truly "destined" with reincarnation and the underworld. He recalled that it was here he had first encountered vast fields of spider lilies, and then, on his way to Kunlun, he had found the stone box at the foot of the mountain.

It was now proven that one side of the stone box was connected to the Land of Reincarnation. And the map of mountains and rivers was too mysterious to even mention; that side of the stone box even had dozens of golden symbols identical to the characters inside the grindstone of the Land of Reincarnation!

Now, having emerged from the Land of Reincarnation, he had returned to the place where the spider lilies bloomed.

This felt like a cycle, a reincarnation.

He had gone from here back then, and now he was returning from there.

At this moment, the blue mist in mid-air grew denser, and the bridge it formed stretched from his location directly into the mysterious ancient land. In the air, the eight blue Qilins neighed, shaking their heads and wagging their tails.

Furthermore, some figures were singing and dancing, glowing entirely in blue light.

Chu Feng stabilized his spirit, preventing his soul from leaving his body. He didn't want to be inexplicably led away like this; who knew what might happen.

However, at this moment, he was shocked. A divine force emanated from the bridge, drawing him upwards. This time, it wasn't his spirit leaving his body, but his physical form lifting and landing on the blue mist bridge.

His physical body entering the Underworld? In legends, this was a sign of physical sanctification, or that one's yang energy was so strong, and spirit so inseparable from flesh, that they feared no erosion from the underworld and could enter!

"Oh!"

Chu Feng let out a strange cry. He had just escaped from the Purgatory Realm, moving away from reincarnation, and now he was about to enter a place resembling the Underworld. This made him hunch his body, tense all over, and prepare to flee.

"Young friend, since you've come, why not join the banquet?"

The blue mist churned, and a voice drifted over, calming his restless heart considerably. Then, he found himself seated in the blue Qilin war chariot.

His flesh-and-blood body could actually sit on this?

He had been severely struck by lightning at the Gate of Hell and was still in intense pain, with some scorched marks on his body. Now, as he approached the mysterious ancient land, he felt his flesh ache even more, as if being cut by knives.

It was a common understanding that living people from the Yang world could not enter the underworld, yet his physical body was now entering a similar place, which made Chu Feng feel greatly uneasy.

"If you are often tempered like this, perhaps you will achieve physical sanctification in the future, able to traverse the underworld in your flesh-and-blood body as if walking in the living world," the voice came again.

Finally, Chu Feng descended from the bridge and entered a mysterious realm. It was like another world: black land, with chilling energy billowing upwards.

Along the way, many came to the banquet. For example, a group of ants collectively carried a meditation cushion, upon which sat an old Daoist priest with no color in his face, his body as cold as a ghost.

There was also a flood dragon exhaling yin mist, clearly a spirit body, breathing in the blue mist as it arrived in the underworld.

And a palm-sized stone Buddha, bleeding all over, walked towards the underworld.

These spiritual entities varied in form, each distinctive. They must have been dead for many years, yet their spirits persisted, coming to this place for the banquet.

Chu Feng, with his physical body intact, stood out like a sore thumb. He followed a large procession of unique beings deep into this mysterious ancient land, where he then saw a colossal spider lily, entirely blue, rooted there like a towering tree.

In his opinion, this must be the mother plant of the blue spider lilies; its true form was here.

Beneath the blue spider lily tree, a person sat cross-legged, shrouded in a hazy blue light, distinct from the others. This was the master of the place.

The banquet had begun, and these beings exchanged toasts, conversed animatedly, and were in high spirits.

However, Chu Feng couldn't understand a single word, because these supposed underworld spirits spoke a language completely different from the universal language of the cosmos.

What he found most bizarre was that their mental fluctuations were also inconsistent, making it impossible to decipher their meaning.

Chu Feng was dumbfounded, sitting there blankly. In the underworld, his physical body became increasingly uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the master of this place, sitting beneath the blue spider lily tree, spoke to Chu Feng.

"When the world changed," he said, "from the first moment I saw you, young friend, I felt a sense of familiarity. I deeply suspected that perhaps that person had returned, manifesting in the world."

Fortunately, this person's voice and mental fluctuations could be understood by Chu Feng; it was still the universal language of this cosmos.

"You... what do you mean? Is someone undergoing reincarnation? Do you think I am that person you spoke of?"

"No, you are not that person." The figure within the ball of light beneath the spider lily tree sighed and continued, "How could there be true reincarnation in this world?"

When Chu Feng heard these words, he was instantly astonished. If there was no reincarnation, no underworld, then what were these things he was witnessing? What was the stone grindstone he saw in the City of Light and Death, and how could that path of reincarnation be explained?

He had even personally carved words onto some super soul entities, witnessing them go to reincarnation.

"This world only speaks of evolution. Strictly speaking, there is no reincarnation; there is only the leap in life's hierarchy and the change in life forms. As for what you have seen and experienced, I can perhaps guess that it was ultimately caused by great evolutionaries using means beyond human comprehension. For example, you offer reverence and tributes to him, achieving an equivalent exchange, and then he protects you as you undergo life's nirvana and begin a new journey."

Chu Feng was momentarily bewildered after hearing these words.

He pondered for a long time but still felt it was useless, as many things were simply not explained clearly or thoroughly.

Chu Feng mused for a moment, thinking of the mud statue at the end of the path of reincarnation, which enjoyed rare offerings. Was it once a great evolutionary?

"You haven't reached a certain level yet, so just understand it as reincarnation for now. Some things might appear clearer that way," the figure beneath the spider lily said.

Afterward, he informed Chu Feng that this universe had a problem: reincarnated beings from other domains had arrived, and from now on, unrest would spread everywhere.

This was because people from other universes had finally discovered this universe, which was a ruin.

"What, a universe in ruins?!" Chu Feng exclaimed.