Chapter 398: The White Phoenix Spreads Its Wings and Flies to Penglai

The Ancient Firmament had long ago issued instructions to Lingxiang regarding what was happening in the Human Realm, and Lingxiang had long since guessed that the current situation would occur, yet she had not expected this matter to implicate her own people.

This must be what is called "pain that cuts to the bone"! Only when things truly happen does one realize just how absurd it all is.

No wonder Boluohui could not enter her Dharma Array; no wonder he had no reaction at all when Guihua trampled on him; no wonder he had followed her for so long yet remained completely unaffected by the Nether Qi.

Because he is a Living Corpse!

A Living Corpse has no feelings; in essence, it is an existence between the Ghost Path and the Demon Realm, which is why he could move through the Netherworld as if it were an uninhabited place.

Boluohui became a victim of the Demon Race's schemes, dying in that court struggle, and Wumin Jun, knowing he was a disciple of Yuanqing, determined he would be of use in the future, so he went to great lengths to keep his soul in his physical body, making him a Living Corpse.

Fortunately, not long after, Boluohui arrived in the Netherworld, and under the influence of the Nether Qi, he would not rot or stink like a Living Corpse in the Human Realm; if one did not observe closely, he was no different from an ordinary person, which is why Lingxiang had never noticed.

During that court struggle in Manzhou, Wumin Jun saved his mother and younger brother and helped resolve the tribal disputes, leaving his mother and brother with no worries, which is why Boluohui was willing to sell his life for Wumin Jun.

No...

It was selling his body...

"Hmph! As expected! He isn't a good bird either!" Lingxiang glared fiercely at Wumin Jun.

It was just that Boluohui was already dead after all; although he was now nourished by Nether Qi, after a long time, he would turn into a Corpse Demon, and if an obsession were to arise in his heart, he might even fall into the path of demons.

Lingxiang understood that she should not indulge this matter, but she truly could not bring herself to act.

She was not a person with a heart of iron and stone to begin with, merely pretending to be cold-hearted; how could she truly be indifferent?

"Fucang Elder need not worry. My heart's affairs are settled. Once the debt of gratitude is repaid, I shall return to dust, and I will never cling to this physical husk."

For such a fine man to end up in this state was truly sigh-inducing; fortunately, Boluohui was open-minded and could even smile and joke about it.

"Becoming like this isn't entirely bad; at least it doesn't hurt when I fight."

Seeing Lingxiang's worried face, Boluohui instead comforted her, but these words only made Lingxiang feel even more heartbroken.

However, now was not the time for sadness; there was still a very important matter that needed to be resolved.

Because of the Half-Demon Body mentioned by the Ancient Firmament, Lingxiang was able to adapt to the Netherworld when her soul was incomplete, and when Maidong entered the Demon Realm, her consciousness was in Chaos, so the Nether Qi posed no threat to her either.

Now that Maidong's consciousness was clear and her Three Fires were back in place, her body was still very weak; if she stayed in the Underworld for too long, not only would she easily attract evil spirits, but Nether Qi would enter her body, leading her astray into a deviant path.

But the Ghost Gate had collapsed, severing the passage to the Human Realm; how could she send Maidong back to the human world?

At the thought of this, Lingxiang's head throbbed, and she could not help but blame herself: she had known the Demon Race would not keep their promise, yet she had believed the Demon Lord's nonsense; she was truly foolish to the extreme!

Back then, Lingxiang had made an agreement with the Demon Lord that no Demon Race members were allowed to linger in the Human Realm, but she had not expected the Demon Lord to destroy Humoukou.

At that moment, Lingxiang realized that the culprit who had caused the suffering of all living things in the Human Realm was actually herself.

The connection between the Human Realm and the Underworld was severed, the balance of Reincarnation was destroyed, life and death withered, souls had no place to return to, and spirits had nowhere to go; the dead could only linger in the Human Realm, and the living would also suffer the poison.

If this continued for long, a demonic transformation would be inevitable!

Admittedly, the Demon Lord had indeed taken away all the Demon Race, but having become like this, how was it any different from the Demon Race being in the Human Realm?

Hmph! When it came to cunning, she had truly underestimated the Demon Lord!

Lingxiang cursed the Demon Lord inwardly, but this could not solve anything; the most urgent task was to let Maidong leave the Netherworld as quickly as possible.

But...

How could this be done?

Everything in the Underworld originated from Mother Houtu, but ever since that Witch-Demon War, Mother Houtu had transformed into the Six Paths, and the one currently in charge of the Underworld was Fengdu Dadi.

Yet, with such a major event occurring, she had not seen Fengdu Dadi step forward! Could it be that the Seventy-two Offices were all just a bunch of good-for-nothings?

She couldn't exactly beg him; the Underworld was not so easy to enter, and before even reaching the Yama Hall, the minor ghosts on the road alone could make one lose several layers of skin.

Lingxiang shook her head heavily, shaking off these unrealistic thoughts.

She was merely a small cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, and unlike Guihua, who had thick skin and many lives, how could she have the life to break into Fengdu!

But she could not just sit and wait for death! Lingxiang could afford to wait, but Maidong could not!

In her dilemma, a cry interrupted Lingxiang's deep thoughts; she turned her head to look, and Xiaobai was holding its head high, gazing into the distance, but following its gaze, there was nothing but pitch blackness.

There was no sky in the Netherworld at all; what was Xiaobai looking at?

In her confusion, she saw Xiaobai shake its body, spread its wings, and kick its two claws, looking very impatient.

Seeing this, Lingxiang's brows furrowed even tighter.

The books say that the phoenix is an auspicious creature, noble and self-restrained, and even when facing life and death, it will view them with indifference.

But why was Xiaobai so restless? Could it be that because of the Soul Transformation, it was not considered a true phoenix?

That was truly embarrassing! After all, it was Lingxiang herself who had boasted that Xiaobai would be able to break away from the demonic path in the future; what was this current state supposed to be?

But in a flash, Lingxiang felt relieved again.

In any case, Xiaobai's soul had already scattered at the time, and it was only thanks to her grandfather's intervention that it did not vanish from the world; to have this chance at life was already a great fortune.

Forget it, forget it; she would just consider it as having raised a chicken, and at worst, she would supplement it with a Pill later to help it take human form.

Just as she was thinking this, Xiaobai suddenly flapped its wings and took flight, heading toward an unknown direction without looking back.

"Hiss!" Lingxiang took a long breath.

When she had persuaded Xiaobai to undergo Soul Transformation into an egg, she had said that this method was no different from reincarnation, but in truth, it was still somewhat different.

Generally speaking, after a person dies, their soul returns to the Underworld, is judged for good and evil by the Ten Halls of Yama, the good enter Reincarnation directly, and the evil suffer in hell; after paying off their sins, they are fed a bowl of Mengpo soup, cross the Naihe Bridge, and are then cast into the Reincarnation Path by a Ghost General.

This is reincarnation.

It is rumored that all of this was a rule set after Fengdu Dadi took over the Underworld, so for thousands of years, the events of the ancient Witch-Demon War never occurred again.

But Xiaobai's case was neither reincarnation nor incarnation; if one were to really analyze it, it would be better described as rebirth.

Those who are reborn bypass the Underworld, are not judged for good or evil, and do not enter the Reincarnation Path; it is merely a simple gathering of the soul to be reborn. Although they barely enter the world, they are swayed by the memories of their past life, and if they encounter an extremely evil person, it is not guaranteed that they won't cause a disaster in the Human Realm.

Therefore, Fengdu strictly prohibited this method, and Lingxiang had taken a huge risk to come up with this trick.

If Xiaobai had transformed its soul into an ordinary living body, once Fengdu discovered it, they would certainly take measures to forcibly end its life and drag its soul to the Underworld, and it might even result in punishment. But a phoenix is a divine beast; once it fully undergoes Nirvana, it becomes an object of the Divine Path, and Fengdu no longer has the authority to intervene.

But all the blame for this would fall on Lingxiang; after all, since she had plotted the cause of Xiaobai, she would have to bear its fruit.

The Divine Path?

Wait!

Lingxiang suddenly remembered something.

That's right, that's right, how could she have forgotten about this?

The "Records of Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas" states: The phoenix is five-colored and an omen of good fortune; a dependent of the Yaochi Pool, it undergoes nirvana seven times seven, then returns to Penglai.

Xiaobai is flying toward Penglai!