Chapter 317: Master Xu Jia Sacrifices Himself to Feed the Ghosts; Nine Deaths Bone Contemplation Enters the Realm of God Immortals

Xu Jia did not neglect those You Ming ghosts and gods; he directly ordered Lue Jue to go forward and negotiate. Unable to leave the Dharma Altar himself, he took out Dharma Money to reward them, so as to borrow the power of the ghosts, gods, and the underworld path to maintain some order among the starving ghosts.

Among those ghosts and gods, there was a Spirit General with a red face and white hair. Upon seeing Lue Jue, he was initially displeased, feeling the rank was too low, but then he saw the remnants of the Yellow Heaven Sect, Yu Yaosheng, also maintaining order with the Huangtian Sect Altar troops nearby. He did not know who he thought of, but he became respectful.

Afterwards, he honestly accepted the reward, discussed it a little with those around him, arranged a layout, and took out several pillars to insert around the Dharma Altar. There were eight in total, arranged according to the layout of the Eight-Sided Altar. Suddenly, an unknown great array arose, which had a very good amplification effect on the Dharma Altar.

A stream of cool breath spread to every starving ghost; suddenly, the flames they spat from their mouths turned into black smoke.

This black smoke was Resentment Qi and Evil Qi.

The black smoke reached the sky, and even if someone hundreds of miles away knew how to observe Qi, they could see it.

As it happened, the Mirage Dragon had finished causing chaos in the north and came here to watch Xu Jia's show. Seeing these million starving ghosts from the clouds, it harbored evil intentions and thought to itself: "If he transcends these million starving ghosts, and I take them into my Mirage Scene, couldn't I establish a kingdom?"

Although the Mirage Dragon had no physical body and its illusions of Cloud Light Water Qi followed its heart, its path of cultivation was the same as Xu Jia's—both were the "Scene Path." Xu Jia's was the Inner Landscape, and its was the Mirage Scene, much like a mirage, and it could refine falsehood into truth, transforming into a small world.

Xu Jia was able to transcend a million starving ghosts and lonely souls by relying on a Great Vow. The obsessions of these starving ghosts were also a form of desire; only by dissolving and letting go could they avoid suffering from hunger and the torment of scorching fire.

This Mirage Dragon actually harbored evil intentions, but it had no power of Karmic Burden; instead, one thought startled the Dharma Realm, and the black smoke of resentment and evil that the starving ghosts spat out of their bodies was sprayed exactly onto it.

Instantly, a mass of white clouds turned into dark clouds. The Mirage Dragon was greatly alarmed, but it was already too late; the massive evil thoughts swept over it.

"Why was it me who starved to death? Why not someone else? Heavens, open your eyes and look! This world is dark and gloomy. Dimu, why can't your earth grow food? Buddha and Bodhisattvas, where is your compassion? You Ming ghosts and gods, where is your retribution?"

"Eat everything, eat all things, eat you all!"

The Mirage Dragon was formless, and having obtained this evil Qi, it actually transformed into a giant starving ghost, just like the "Evil Sword Immortal."

This starving ghost sat upright on the ground, its head above the clouds, possessing a thousand-zhang spirit body, its body covered in Dragon Scale, spitting out black clouds that covered the firmament.

"The moon has turned red. No, there are two moons, two blood moons!"

The Mirage Dragon had said it wanted to use all living beings to test Xu Jia, but now it had become a "Demon Examination" for Xu Jia itself.

Xu Jia was actually also stunned. The black Qi within the million starving ghosts was originally meant to purify evil and eliminate disaster, but now it had gathered into such a thing.

"Subdue it!" Xu Jia had only this one thought.

Those You Ming ghosts and gods were even more scared to death: "Ghost Emperor! It's a Ghost Emperor!"

A Ghost King only causes chaos in one place, but a Ghost Emperor is even stronger and can cause chaos in a region. For example, the Five Directions Ghost Emperors themselves condensed certain rules and Quanshen; they were a type of Fierce God, not normal ghosts.

It is rumored that the Five Directions Plague Gods are what the Five Directions Ghost Emperors cultivated into.

Fierce Gods and evil spirits—when various ghosts, demons, and monsters obtain the Qi of evil spirits, and humans cannot subdue them, they can only bow, beg for mercy, burn incense, and pray for them not to come and cause harm; these are Fierce Gods.

Such as the Drought Demon, which is the Drought God, the Plague God, and the Corpse God.

Everyone prays for a good harvest, praying that hunger will not descend upon this land.

But the thought of a million starving ghosts is: Why did I starve to death while you did not? They turn to hate this world and want to share the suffering they endured with everyone.

Thus, it was equivalent to the arrival of "Famine" from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The black Qi began to pollute the earth; next year, crops would not grow, seeds would fail to sprout, and even if they did sprout, it would be difficult to bear seeds.

This was also what the Mirage Dragon wanted to see: Xu Jia suffering a backlash, his Great Vow turning into "Great Resentment."

This was a multi-layered Evil Tribulation—it belonged to Xu Jia, to all the common people on the earth, to these million starving ghosts, and also to the thousand-year Great Demon, the Mirage Dragon.

Everything was intertwined, impossible to cut, and chaotic. Fate, Cause and Effect, Great Vow.

Reality wanted to give Xu Jia a heavy slap, to make Xu Jia yield and stop thinking about changing the fate of all living beings.

But in Xu Jia's heart, there was only "Subdue!" and only "Compassion!"

With the Ghost Emperor, all the starving ghosts began to go mad. Their black Qi was endless, and even nectar could not dissolve it. They wanted to rush out and eat up all the Earth Qi. They had died of starvation eating Guanyin clay; if they ate up the Earth Qi, there would be no harvest next year, and it would be best if this world turned into a wasteland.

Xu Jia took the initiative to walk down from the Mandala and said to the Taoists who were struggling to hold the Mandala: "It is enough for you to save yourselves with coolness; do not worry about me." Having said this, his body began to wither.

His Primordial Spirit took away most of the essence and energy of his physical body, leaving only enough to maintain his breath.

Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit began to grow tall; his skin was like tofu, his hair like noodles, his flesh and blood like steamed buns, his blood like flour paste—the fragrance of the five grains stimulated the most primitive desire to eat...

A fragrance spread from his Primordial Spirit. This was a state of perfection cultivated at the Human Immortal realm, and now it was verified on his Primordial Spirit; those demons, ghosts, and monsters were all excited.

It was as if they had smelled the flesh of Tang Seng; those starving ghosts were like maggots, crawling and pouncing toward Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit.

Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit was not tall, but he tried his best to maintain a height of zhang-eight; compared to that Hunger Famine Ghost Emperor, he seemed like an ant.

But as those starving ghosts approached, their figures instead became tiny, as if they really were maggots or silkworms.

However, their mouthparts remained sharp, gnawing at Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit.

The starving ghosts, who were never full, were actually satisfied after gnawing on Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit, and then their bodies began to pupate, beginning to transform and achieve Feathered Ascension.

After the Feathered Ascension was successful, they flew around Xu Jia. They looked like moths or cicadas; outside their illusory souls was a layer of fluffy moonlight, and a pair of wings fluttered, just like insects emerging from a corpse. The old shackles were gone, and they had gained a new life.

Batch after batch, a million starving ghosts were like a million maggots, just like corroding a corpse.

At this moment, Xu Jia happened to be practicing the "Bone Contemplation"; apart from the Bone Contemplation, Xu Jia had no other way.

The White Bone Contemplation Method: first observe the physical body, which is initially rosy and normal, then gradually becomes stiff, develops corpse spots, and the internal organs begin to rot first, because the bacteria in the digestive system do not die; after a person dies, they cannot be regulated, and it becomes a hotbed.

Afterwards, corpse water begins to flow out, and the smell of decay attracts flying insects.

The fragrance of Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit was actually the smell of "Immortal Truth rotting." Immortals find it stinky, mortals find it fragrant, and ghosts find it to be supreme gourmet food.

After the flying insects ate it, they began to lay eggs, which hatched into maggots. The maggots first burrowed under the skin and entered through the nine orifices; the outer skin was not yet broken, and one could see the shape of the maggots wriggling.

Because of fermentation, the corpse actually began to increase in temperature, and advanced decay began.

Waiting until the skin and flesh were all eaten, only the skeleton remained. At first, it still had some blood color, then it turned yellow, and later it turned black... finally, only white bones remained, and the white bones weathered into ash, as if decaying and rotting away.

When it was dead as it could be, it began to recover its vitality, growing flesh and blood again, growing internal organs, growing seven orifices... Xu Jia was waiting for these starving ghosts to eat up his Primordial Spirit, like the maggots in the Bone Contemplation, and then begin to revive again, exhausting his Primordial Spirit, discarding all parts that were not pure yang, leaving only a bit of pure yang as a seed, and then beginning to revive again.

This process was very dangerous; a slight carelessness would truly result in the soul flying away and scattering.

If Xu Jia were a God Immortal, his Primordial Spirit would be entirely pure yang, and he would not fear this risk, but Xu Jia only had the merit of an Earth Immortal; pointing out a bit of pure yang seed was something he had done when he made his vow, and it was not far off.

But this bit of pure yang seed was so tenacious; it sprouted and grew, filling the Primordial Spirit, and then repeated the cycle of withering and returning to pure yang.

Each time the Primordial Spirit was completely gnawed away, it could nourish 129,600 starving ghost maggots. After nine such times, for the million starving ghosts, Xu Jia's pure yang seed became smaller and smaller, but also more and more scorching and solid, just like a common flame the size of a pearl turning into a sun the size of a soybean.

By the tenth revival, all the starving ghosts had eaten their fill and achieved Feathered Ascension. At this time, it was Xu Jia's turn to eat.

Xu Jia opened his mouth, and from that mouth emerged auspicious light and palaces. Those starving ghosts who had achieved Feathered Ascension saw this and yearned for it, so they burrowed into Xu Jia's mouth and entered the Inner Scene World.

Each time a Feathered starving ghost entered, the Inner Scene gained one more heavenly being, and Xu Jia's original power was also partially returned. When all the starving ghosts had entered his belly, Xu Jia's Primordial Spirit began to glow brilliantly—it was a cold light, and it was a warm light.

Xu Jia stepped into the realm of the God Immortal.

That Primordial Spirit was already entirely pure yang, and all the yin dregs had been used to feed the sentient beings of the Hungry Ghost Path.

The nine-headed five-colored lion was exceptionally joyous and let out a roar; the green lion, holding the Blue Lotus Root and green lotus, took the Blue Lotus Root and cast it into Xu Jia's severely depleted physical body; the yellow lion, which molded mud, filled Xu Jia's body with flesh and blood; the black lion, carrying the Gourd, used the Nectar within the Gourd to make blood for Xu Jia; the Red Lion, which refined porcelain, calcined Xu Jia's bones until they were like jade porcelain... The Purple Lion breathed out, activating the Innate within the interior with a strand of Immortal Qi, transforming it into a streak of Innate Purple Qi within the physical body; the Jade Lion performed the point-transformation,...

"Heavenly Venerable Saving from Suffering, also save me from my suffering."

Xu Jia's suffering of sacrificing his body and the suffering of being devoured by a million hungry ghosts were also pitied by the Heavenly Venerable, who heard the sound and rushed over to practice Xu Jia's great vow, saving from suffering and difficulty.

Therefore, the nine-headed five-colored lion gave its approval and recognition, using its own nine types of innate spiritual objects to cleanse Xu Jia's marrow and reshape his bones.

With his Primordial Spirit and physical body returned to their places, Xu Jia felt extremely light; suddenly a gust of wind came, and Xu Jia's physical body rose with the wind, drifting straight toward the Cloud Void.

There was no need to expend effort or energy to transport himself, or to use a sword to break open the Dharma Realm.

The nine lions merged into one, transforming into a nine-headed five-colored lion, which took the initiative to land beneath Xu Jia's backside, galloping all the way toward the thousand-foot Hunger Famine Ghost Emperor.

The Ghost Emperor was still sitting on the ground, absorbed in sucking the earth, having already sucked dry the Earth Qi of a thousand miles of land; its body had changed from illusory to solid, just like a thousand-foot mountain.

Sitting on the nine-headed lion, Xu Jia obtained a golden experience card of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun; what he saw in his eyes was not this space-time, but infinite space-time, everywhere filled with black smoke and scorching fire, with no place of coolness.

"The Three Realms have no coolness."

The Desire Realm is like a burning house, the Form Realm is above the burning house and also suffers from the heat, and the Formless Realm is slightly better, but if one thought goes wrong, there are also many vexations, and one will fall into the burning house.

Cultivation here is not "once attained, always attained"; one's realm can regress. If one does not advance with courage and purify the six senses, one is merely an ordinary person.

But even for a God Immortal, is the pursuit of courageous advancement, the greed for the immortal rank and immortal career, and the longing for Longevity not also a type of Desire Thought? It is even a great Desire Thought.

Ordinary people have the vexations of ordinary people, and Immortals have the vexations of Immortals; even a Great Luo Heavenly Immortal, if there is one uncalculated thought, must also manifest in the red dust and undergo a Calamity.

Why undergo a Calamity?

It is to think through the things one cannot understand; the red dust rolls on, and perhaps there is an answer.

Those great loves one has always been attached to—but what exactly is great love?

Must the love of a mortal be small love? If love is divided into large and small, then must small love yield to great love? If there truly is great love, then it must joyfully accept all small love without rejection.

Xu Jia looked at this Fierce God transformed from a Mirage Dragon, the Hunger Famine Ghost Emperor, not knowing how to make a move; it was impossible to let it eat him again, as that might truly digest him.

At this moment, a strand of moonlight transformed into a thin gauze and drifted over; on the gauze was a fairy, whose face was beautiful, with a faint trace of Demon Qi, wearing a robe with sweet-scented osmanthus patterns, and holding a Mu Xi Cup in her hands.

She first sighed: "He went to the north to wreak havoc first, causing the wheat that had finally grown to be soaked and sprout; who knows how many people would have starved to death, and so he was stained with Tribulation Qi. If he hadn't done this, how would he have been entangled by the Resentment Qi of hungry ghosts?"

Hearing this, Xu Jia's expression changed; fine, fine, fine, you are here to cause trouble for me, aren't you?

"This Mu Xi, I didn't know when it would grow, Elder, and recover its original state; today it suddenly changed and became complete. So it turns out there is a great love Cause and Effect that can be used to save the world."

After speaking, she said: "Heavenly Master, feel free to subdue him. After his Mirage Dragon emerges, use my Mu Xi Lamp to dissolve it, and it will become sweet dew. Once sprinkled, it can return vitality to the earth. My Merit will also be complete, and I can return to Shangjie. Having fallen into the mortal world for hundreds of years due to selfish desire, today, hearing one 'hungry' after another, and one tragedy after another, I feel there is nothing left."

Mu Xi Fairy sighed: "What does this count as for me? With one heart not dying and one thought not arising, seeing the Heavenly Master move toward life through death today, I have also attained enlightenment, and naturally have no more vexations."

Xu Jia said: "How should he be subdued? Although I have arrived here, I do not know the trick."

"He is originally a Mirage Dragon, and was beheaded by Heavenly Master Xu back then. Just do as Heavenly Master Xu did to deal with him, and that will suffice."

Understood, use the Dragon-Slaying Sword—no, that's not right, it must be the Dragon-Slaying Sword and the Evil-Slaying Sword combined; only by joining the two swords will it work. This Fierce God is evil, and the Mirage Dragon inside belongs to the dragon kind.

Xu Jia waved his hand, and suddenly two swords appeared behind his back; they were the Golden Flood Dragon Sword and the Silver Flood Dragon Sword. The two swords merged into one, transforming into an immortal blade, shimmering with purple light.

Xu Jia pointed toward the sky: "Summoning, Beheading Evil, Beheading Dragon Jian!"

Immediately, the Heavenly Gate opened wide, and the phantoms of the two immortal swords, already hungry, could not wait to enter Xu Jia's precious sword, as if they had been prepared in advance.

"Hum!"

Xu Jia sat on the nine-headed five-colored lion, holding the precious sword, his face revealing compassion, but his mouth spoke a cold word.

"Evil obstacle, why not submit to execution!"

With one sword strike, the Hunger Famine Fierce God, transformed from the Mirage Dragon that had lost its original nature, instantly lost its head.

A mournful cry: "Hungry!"

The ghost head fell to the ground and transformed into a turtle peak.

The remaining part saw its Earth Qi collapse, and Black Qi scattered across the earth, still a form of curse.

Mu Xi Fairy placed the Mu Xi Lamp down; the lamp took root upon landing and transformed into a Mu Xi tree, absorbing the essence of the Mirage Dragon. Immediately, ten thousand rays of light shone, and Mu Xi flower petals drifted down onto the earth one by one; wherever they landed, all curses were purified.

After three layers of brilliance, the Mu Xi tree transformed back into a lamp, and a ball of essence emerged within the lamp; it was the Mirage Dragon.

"This evil obstacle still has a strand of essence; I will leave it to the Heavenly Master to dispose of, otherwise, if there is more Mirage Qi, it will combine with lustful thoughts and be able to revive again."

(End of chapter)