Chapter 161: Double Ninth! The Woman Without a Nascent Soul

The ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the Double Ninth.

In the Daoist sects, whenever this day arrives, a great sacrifice must be held, taking yellow earth and heavenly dew to feast the Heavenly Emperor, in order to respect the Heavens.

Because the ninth day of the ninth lunar month is regarded as the best time to "ascend to heaven and become an immortal."

Nine is Yang; double nine is the Double Ninth. On this day, clear Qi rises and turbid Qi sinks. The higher the terrain, the more clear Qi gathers, and people can ride the clear Qi to ascend to heaven.

Therefore, the Double Ninth Festival has the legend of ascending by climbing high.

Throughout history, figures like the True Martial Great Emperor, the Yellow Emperor, and the Daoist Ancestor Zhang Daoling all ascended in broad daylight and feathered into immortals on the Double Ninth Festival.

It is said that on the Double Ninth day, the immortals ascend to heaven.

Besides this, for the current Daoist sects of the world, the Double Ninth has another special meaning, which is that over eighty years ago, the Great Putian Dajiao, the great calamity of the Daoist sects, also happened to fall on this day.

Clang... clang... clang...

Mount Zhongnan, Chongyang Palace.

The sound of bells drifted, echoing in all directions, and a wisp of incense smoke rose, like clouds entwining, occupying the long sky.

The sound of Daoist priests chanting scriptures rose slowly, melodious and profound.

On the mountain peak, under the green pine, a tall figure sat cross-legged on a rock as round as a millstone, looking at the Chongyang Palace in the distance.

"Junior brother, the ceremony has already begun. Are you not going?"

Just then, an aged voice came from behind. The middle-aged Daoist did not look back, his gaze lowered, his expression slightly lonely.

"Senior brother, you should know that I don't like to join in the fun."

"The ceremony of respecting heaven and worshiping gods has become fun in your mouth."

In the fierce mountain wind, an old man walked over, with crane hair and a child's face, his expression kind. His gentle gaze fell on the middle-aged Daoist, and he couldn't help but sigh deeply.

Ye Beichen, the youngest Celestial Master of Mount Zhongnan, known as the "Double Heavens" along with Liu Liu Nan Xu of Zhenwu Mountain, had long since ranked among the great experts of the world.

Logically speaking, reaching this realm, not a single thought arises, ten thousand dusts have fallen, and one is long since unaffected by the turbid red dust. The mind is like flowing water, drifting with the waves, yet in harmony with nature.

But every Double Ninth Festival, he would be alone, watching the clouds roll and unfurl, watching the wind rise and fall, his expression lonely, sitting for an entire night.

"Ten years have passed. It has been ten full years. If you cannot let go like this, I fear the calamity is not far off." The old man with full gray hair narrowed his eyes, revealing a look of worry.

Ye Beichen, still young, achieved the position of 【Celestial Master】 before the age of fifty. He is the hope of Mount Zhongnan and is qualified to impact the Pure Yang Limitless Realm in the future.

Zhenwu Mountain produced a Chu Chaoran, Pure Yang Limitless, winning a hundred years of luck for Zhenwu Mountain, faintly holding the bull's ear of the world's Daoist sects.

If Mount Zhongnan could also produce such a figure, the glory would be eternal, and the Great Dao would surely flourish.

But Ye Beichen's heart seems to have an obsession; this root is planted deep, and it will surely bear evil fruit.

The calamity brought by a Celestial Master's obsession is terrifying.

"Forgetting feelings in the Supreme is not being heartless. Planting an obsession, cutting off emotional ties... this is also a kind of practice."

Ye Beichen murmured softly, his gaze as deep as an abyss, without a ripple, seemingly entering an extremely mysterious realm.

The old man looked at him but remained silent.

"Ten years... Ten years ago, it was also the Double Ninth Festival, the Dragon and Tiger Red Moon. She was such a brilliant figure, yet she perished like a flower in the rain."

Suddenly, Ye Beichen spoke, a trace of loneliness in his eyes.

"Li Linglong!"

The old man's gaze narrowed. Mentioning that name, a fierce killing intent surged in his turbid eyes.

"Who could have thought that the little girl back then was a Wu Wei person. You invited a wolf into the house, actually letting her live on the mountain for half a year, almost destroying the foundation left by the Ancestor."

Speaking of this, the old man's look at Ye Beichen had a bit more resentment.

"But she didn't..."

"That was because the Ancestor protected us, avoiding a great disaster." The old man gritted his teeth.

"Why blame her for things that didn't happen? She is already gone..." Ye Beichen murmured softly, the look in his eyes becoming more lonely.

"That demoness was indeed your great calamity. Fortunately, she is gone." The old man said in a deep voice.

"Fortunately!?"

Rumble...

Wild wind rose around Ye Beichen, like the emotions of the Heavens, blowing away the flowing clouds in the valley before him.

"That man didn't protect her well... 【Divine Demon Holy Fetus】, it really became a joke." A trace of indifference appeared in Ye Beichen's eyes.

Once these words were spoken, the old man's face trembled slightly, looking at Ye Beichen with deep meaning.

"Great Sect Spirit King is indeed a figure. He faked his death for ten years, he is escaping the calamity... This time, the Bai He Temple surrounded him on Mount Ailao, thinking they could solve it once and for all, but they suffered heavy losses..." The old man's voice became lower.

This news had spread throughout the ten great Daoist mountains of the world half a month ago, and naturally, it had reached Ye Beichen's ears.

Therefore, on this special day, the old man came specifically, fearing that he...

"I will not go down the mountain." Ye Beichen seemed to see through the old man's thoughts and shook his head.

"That man has already escaped the fifth 【Great Night Not Bright】 calamity, with great supernatural powers, and the Holy Fetus is already formed. I am no match for him."

Ye Beichen's voice was as calm as a pool of stagnant water. His emotions were intertwined, his memories complex, but he was more silent and terrifying than ever.

That pair of eyes seemed to pierce through the clouds and mist, seeing through the reality of the human world.

"Great Sect Spirit King, he faked his death for ten years, escaping the calamity. I fear the world will not be peaceful from now on."

The old man's aged face revealed a look of worry.

The world is naturally not peaceful. Ten years ago, Zhang Lingzong reopened Long Hu Mountain, retreated unscathed, and the items brought out from the mountain are still missing.

That thing concerns the great calamity of the Daoist sects. Back then, for that thing, countless experts gathered under Long Hu Mountain.

Now, that man is not dead. Whether it is new hatred or old grudges, or for the whereabouts of that item, the world is naturally not peaceful.

"The Dao of life and death of all things, where there is strength, there is restraint..."

Just then, Ye Beichen spoke, his voice pulling the old man's thoughts back.

"He is not invincible in the world. In his life, he has had great enemies..."

"You mean..." The old man's heart moved, as if thinking of something.

"That old friend in the North is his nemesis..."

The old man remained silent. Since the Great Spirit King emerged, his path of rise seemed to have a great enemy, just as mysterious and just as powerful as him.

"That old friend is also surnamed Zhang..."

Ye Beichen's gaze narrowed into a line, speaking in a deep voice: "If he knows the Great Spirit King has escaped the calamity, he will not remain indifferent."

As he spoke, Ye Beichen looked at the vast sky.

Since ancient times, the Heavenly Dao has favored the weak and disliked the strong. With an existence like the Great Spirit King, how could there not be a figure to restrain him in the world? The Dao of Heaven damages the excess to supplement the insufficient; this is the principle.

"I understand." The old man nodded.

Now, what Mount Zhongnan needs to do is nothing.

"Senior brother, you go. I want to be alone for a while." Ye Beichen said in a low voice.

The old man looked at him deeply, said nothing, and turned to leave.

On the vast mountain peak, only that lonely figure remained.

"I originally had no intention of provoking the startled swan, but the startled swan entered my heart."

White clouds in the daylight, green pines and rocks, Ye Beichen placed his right hand in his bosom, his five fingers closed, as if holding something important, his murmurs gradually dissipating in the sobbing wind.

Yujing City, suburban cemetery.

Zhang Fan rushed over early in the morning, bringing incense, candles, paper money, fruit offerings, and sacrifices.

Today, the Double Ninth, is both his birthday and the death anniversary of his mother, Li Linglong. Years ago, Zhang Lingzong told him that his mother died in a car accident ten years ago.

But now, Zhang Fan is no longer an idiot. Since coming down from Zhenwu Mountain, bit by bit, clues... especially after merging with the Fierce God and meeting Si She Bai Yujing at the Xuanmiao Temple...

He already knew the truth of many past events.

If what Si She told him is true, then his mother was the previous generation's human-shape, and she didn't die in a car accident, but in the Red Moon of Long Hu ten years ago, in that great battle.

Regardless of what the truth is, today is indeed an important day.

Li Linglong, ten-year death anniversary.

Zhang Fan dialed Zhang Lingzong's mobile phone as usual, and it was still unanswered.

"Too outrageous."

Zhang Fan felt dissatisfied. It was one thing to not care on ordinary days, but on such an important day, without a sound, not only did he not return, but he didn't even make a phone call.

As a father, as a husband, it was indeed a bit too much.

"If Mom weren't dead, she would probably beat Dad to death."

Zhang Fan murmured softly, delusions arising in his heart, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

If Mom weren't dead, Dad wouldn't need to come back.

Pity...

"Ten years..."

Zhang Fan's expression was a bit lonely. Although his impression of Li Linglong had become increasingly faint, since the change ten years ago, he had never celebrated a birthday again.

"Hmm!?"

Zhang Fan had just arrived at the cemetery, still in the distance, when he saw someone standing in front of Li Linglong's tombstone, incense burning in the censer.

Zhang Fan stood dazed in the distance, scanning up and down.

It was a man, about forty or fifty years old, his figure and height were similar to Zhang Lingzong's, just a bit sturdier, wearing a pair of black sunglasses.

"May I ask who you are..."

Zhang Fan walked over, filled with a trace of doubt.

Over the years, apart from the father and son, no one else had come to worship at Li Linglong's tomb.

"You are Zhang Fan, right."

Just then, the man took off his sunglasses, revealing three-dimensional features, especially those pitch-black eyes, extremely deep, revealing a different kind of brilliance.

"May I ask who you are..." Zhang Fan asked again.

"I am an old friend of your parents, from the North..." The man said softly.

"You have grown so big."

"Uncle, have we met?" Zhang Fan asked curiously.

He rarely heard Zhang Lingzong mention the past, so he naturally didn't know much about their so-called friends.

All Zhang Fan knew was Liu Fusheng.

"I saw you once when you were still in swaddling clothes."

The man chuckled, looking Zhang Fan up and down. That kind of gaze made Zhang Fan's spine tremble, inexplicably giving rise to a special feeling.

"In the blink of an eye, you have become a big guy..."

"Time only knows how to hasten people to old age." The man couldn't help but sigh softly, a look of reminiscence in his eyes.

"Uncle..."

Seeing this, Zhang Fan could tell that this uncle should have had a very good relationship with his parents. Ten years without seeing each other, yet he felt such emotion.

"Your father didn't come back?"

Just then, the man changed the subject and suddenly asked about Zhang Lingzong.

"No..." Zhang Fan shook his head, feeling a bit awkward.

His mother's ten-year death anniversary, and the husband didn't come back, and he was asked by others, which was indeed a bit outrageous.

"Do you know where he is?" The man's gaze slowly withdrew from Li Linglong's tombstone and looked at Zhang Fan.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him for a long time."

Zhang Fan shook his head. To be honest, if he didn't know Zhang Lingzong's background, he would have been ready to call the police.

"Is that so!?"

The man nodded and put on the sunglasses in his hand: "If you see your father, tell him that an old friend from the North has been here..."

As he spoke, the man patted Zhang Fan on the shoulder and turned to leave.

"Uncle, what is your name? How should I tell my father?" Zhang Fan looked at the man's retreating back and asked loudly.

"My surname is Zhang!"

The man waved his hand and walked toward the distance without looking back, gradually disappearing from Zhang Fan's sight.

"Uncle Zhang!?"

Zhang Fan murmured softly. He could tell that this Uncle Zhang had a very good relationship with their family, otherwise he wouldn't have traveled thousands of miles from the North on his mother's ten-year anniversary.

This sentiment is worth ten thousand gold.

"More reliable than Dad. Mom, do you have time to give him a dream and ask him to contact me?"

Zhang Fan curled his lips, put down the incense, candles, paper money, and fruit offerings in his hand, and began to clean the tombstone. After some busyness, he finally burned these things down.

"My father's father is a monster, my father's mother is a monster..."

Just then, a pleasant mobile phone ringtone sounded. Zhang Fan took out his phone and saw that the caller ID was Bai Buran.

"Hmm? I asked for leave." Zhang Fan revealed a strange expression.

Today is Li Linglong's death anniversary, and he had asked for leave in advance. Bai Buran called so early; there must be something else...

Thinking of this, Zhang Fan answered the phone.

"Hello, Boss..."

"What!?"

On the other end of the phone, Bai Buran's words made Zhang Fan's face change instantly.

"I'll be back immediately."

Zhang Fan hung up the phone, his expression heavy and ugly.

Just now, Bai Buran told him on the phone that Jiang Lai had disappeared, disappeared in Dongshan Province.

In the fire basin, the fire was scorching, and the burning paper money swirled in the air, drifting toward the distance...

In the sky, it was as if a haze was pressing down!...

Shangjing City, Bai He Temple.

In a quiet alchemy room, the flickering firelight illuminated the portrait of the Ancestor hanging on the wall.

At this time, a young man sat at the table, looking at a stack of materials in his hand, a strange brilliance appearing on his delicate face.

"A woman without a Nascent Soul? There is actually such a special existence in this world?"

The young man murmured softly and stood up.

Beside him, a middle-aged Daoist saw this, his expression changing slightly, and he couldn't help but say: "Changgeng, are you going to Dongshan Province yourself!?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 162 =====