Chapter 335: The Place at the Boundary Between Life and Death

After Aitu finished speaking, he looked up and saw Alaigu and Hundolun staring at him with strange expressions.

"The Other Shore Flower you speak of is the Other Shore Flower I know!"

"Exactly — the Other Shore Flower you speak of is the same as the Other Shore Flower I know!"

Alaigu and Hundolun spoke at the same time, their gazes burning bright.

Then Hundolun exhaled a breath, steadied his emotions, and said in a low voice:

"Regarding the Other Shore Flower, I reckon not many people in our realm know of it."

The god-demon Gu Yun, who had come from the same world as him, spoke bluntly: "When it comes to precious medicines, I have always dabbled, yet I have never heard of the Other Shore Flower."

Hundolun, on the other hand, said:

"Actually, I'm much the same as you. If not for a chance encounter, I too would not have known of the Other Shore Flower. I wonder, Gu Yun, do you still remember the emergence of the Wheel-Turning Saint King's tomb five hundred years ago?"

Gu Yun nodded:

"Of course I remember. The Wheel-Turning Saint King, one of the oldest god-demons of our realm — legend has it he lived at least a hundred thousand years, his strength piercing through the heavens. Five hundred years ago, the emergence of his tomb drew fierce contention among the great overlords of our kind.

Even those old undying ones who had sealed their blood, shut their lifespan, and preserved their vitality awakened from their coffins, wanting to seize the Wheel-Turning Saint King's tomb and obtain the secret of his long life.

I took part in that occasion as well, but unfortunately I had some matters and left the Wheel-Turning Saint King's tomb early.

Speaking of which, to this day no one knows who seized the Wheel-Turning Saint King's inheritance and the secret of his long life in the contest for his tomb.

Hundolun, you bring up the Wheel-Turning Saint King's tomb — could it be that your information on the Other Shore Flower came from the tomb itself?"

In the past, Hundolun naturally would not have said these things to Gu Yun, after all they belonged to different factions and their foundations were not to be shared.

Now they had an extra segment of false memories, working for Kamikawa Mitsu. Naturally Hundolun held nothing back; he inclined his head and spoke:

"Correct. In that Wheel-Turning Saint King's tomb, I did not obtain the Saint King's secret, but I did obtain a diary the Wheel-Turning Saint King had written during his lifetime.

The diary recorded information about the Other Shore Flower. The reason the Wheel-Turning Saint King knew of the Other Shore Flower was that, due to an accident in his early years, he went to that place at the boundary between life and death, and moreover…"

At this point in his words.

Hundolun's speech paused, his expression solemn, and he said in a low voice:

"The Wheel-Turning Saint King said that the reason he bore the name Wheel-Turning Saint King, the reason he lived so long, the reason he reached such achievements — all was because he went to this place at the boundary between life and death. He obtained a tremendous opportunity there, and the reason he came to be called the Wheel-Turning Saint King was precisely because of that opportunity."

Alaigu and the others changed color, a look of astonishment in their eyes.

God-demons, for all their might, are not truly unaging or undying — they merely live far longer than ordinary folk. However long, they still have a lifespan. Ordinary god-demons live a few thousand years; the greater ones, ten thousand or tens of thousands.

Without special circumstances, without reaching the true immortal Seventh Step of the Divine, it is impossible for a god-demon to live past a hundred thousand years.

The Wheel-Turning Saint King lived a hundred thousand years before dying. He was most likely not an immortal of the Seventh Step of the Divine — otherwise he would not only have lived a hundred thousand years, but could have lived on into eternity.

Not immortal, yet he lived a hundred thousand years — truly inconceivable.

And the secret of his long life being attributed to the place at the boundary between life and death — it is highly possible that this is the very world within the mysterious fog they currently find themselves in!

Tokyo, Japan.

Kamikawa Mitsu was likewise taken aback, though he was not curious about the Wheel-Turning Saint King's longevity. What truly surprised him was the name "Wheel-Turning Saint King" itself.

In his previous life, as a medical student, he was naturally interested in the greatest field of medical research — human life and death.

Speaking of death, one could hardly avoid folk legends such as reincarnation and the underworld; he had even taken the trouble to look into them.

At this moment, Kamikawa Mitsu was astonished.

If he remembered correctly, the name "Wheel-Turning Saint King" had appeared in the myths of Hua Country.

The Wheel-Turning Saint King, also known as the Wheel-Turning Saint Emperor or the Wheel-Turning King, is one of the ten rulers who preside over the ten courts of the underworld in Hua Country's mythology — the king of the tenth court, the 'Wheel-Turning King' among the ten Yama Kings!

First the blood-yellow long river, then the Other Shore Flower, and now the Wheel-Turning King — every clue points to the Netherworld.

It can almost be affirmed that this strange heaven and earth must be related to the Netherworld.

"The Wheel-Turning Saint King of Hundolun's world went to the place at the boundary between life and death and obtained an opportunity, and only then came to bear the name Wheel-Turning Saint King. It is quite possible that this opportunity was the inheritance of the tenth court's Wheel-Turning King."

Kamikawa Mitsu murmured.

If what the Wheel-Turning Saint King obtained was an opportunity such as the inheritance of the Wheel-Turning King of the underworld's tenth court, then his living a hundred thousand years would be understandable.

Legend has it that the Netherworld's underworld is the place that governs life and death. Hua Country's mythology even has the saying, 'When King Yama decrees your death at the third watch, no one may keep you past the fifth.'

For the Wheel-Turning King of the underworld's tenth court, something like extending lifespan would likely be a trivial matter.

"It is necessary to have Ashina Tou and the others, while pursuing the experimental lifeforms, also investigate whether every other realm has information about the Other Shore Flower or matters related to the Netherworld." Upon learning that the strange heaven and earth within the mysterious fog might be the Netherworld, Kamikawa Mitsu suddenly thought of a possibility.

Mysterious fog, strange heaven and earth.

Alaigu and the others, upon learning of the Wheel-Turning Saint King, were astonished and could not help but ask Hundolun.

"Hundolun, besides the Other Shore Flower, did the Wheel-Turning Saint King's diary say anything else?"

Hundolun shook his head.

"That diary was one I seized amid the contest with other overlords. During the struggle it was partly damaged by the other overlords, leaving only a fragmentary copy. The contents recorded are incomplete. Apart from the Other Shore Flower, the rest of the text is tattered and broken, coming in disjointed bits — not whole."

As he spoke, he looked toward Alaigu.

"Lord Alaigu, didn't you also know of the Other Shore Flower? How did you come to know of it?"

Hearing this, Alaigu spread his hands.

"Regarding the Other Shore Flower, it has been passed down in our realm since ancient times. As for when the transmission began, there is no way to trace it. My knowing of the Other Shore Flower is a bit different from yours — I merely saw it in the ancient and modern books recorded by my clan. These are old texts that record the strange tales and anecdotes of history, and many ancient clans and old factions possess them."

The other two god-demons from the same world as Alaigu chimed in one after another.

"Indeed. My knowledge of the Other Shore Flower came from a book recording ancient and modern strange tales and anecdotes in my faction's library."

"My sect has one too. I recall that the old text recorded the Other Shore Flower as something obtained by a woman named Meng Popo, and from her the legend of the Other Shore Flower spread."

Meng Popo??

Kamikawa Mitsu's brow twitched.

Meng Popo? Meng Po? The Netherworld's Meng Po, the yin envoy specifically in charge of erasing the memories of living souls?

It couldn't be such a coincidence.

A Wheel-Turning Saint King, a Meng Popo — both connected to the Netherworld.

Alagu and the others had no idea what Kamikawa Mitsu was thinking, and went on chatting among themselves.

"The Wheel-Turning Sacred King went to the borderland between life and death, obtained the Other Shore Flower, and gained an enormous opportunity. So if this Meng Po also went to the borderland between life and death and obtained the Other Shore Flower, wouldn't she have gained an enormous opportunity too?"

The gods and demons present all looked toward Alagu and his two companions.

……