[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dao-dust-pearl":3,"chapter-the-dao-dust-pearl-the-dao-dust-pearl-chapter-23":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dao Dust Pearl",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2359524,4614,"Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty-Three: Not Entering the Underworld, the Ghost-Eating God","the-dao-dust-pearl-chapter-23",23,"\u003Cp>Kang Qiandeng recalled how, as a child, he had been obsessed with the Jinghong Sword, often sneaking into the Sword Pavilion to lightly pluck its strings for the pleasing sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could not help but imitate Qian Chen, drawing the Jinghong Sword from his waist and singing as he plucked its string: “I gaze upon the heroes of old, their vows made bold in cups of wine. They prized righteousness above life, honored true comrades even unto death—thus they achieved great deeds. But I gaze upon you all today—your spirit shows on your faces, your shame hides in your chests. The heroes’ ambition still burns, yet your hearts tremble before the blade…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gentlemen… fight one last time!” Kang Qiandeng leapt up, plucking the sword—its clear, melodious tone jolted every soul present awake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Sihai also lifted his gaze outward, where shadows flickered before the Wuhu Hall; before the pavilion, beneath the gate’s archway, several figures stood silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the center stood a man of extraordinary height, his burly frame like a tiger risen on two legs; under the moonlight, his silhouette blurred like a phantom—only the mask on his face, depicting the Ghost-Eating Tiger, remained sharply clear, chilling the soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside him was a slender shadow, draped in a golden cloak, wearing a golden rooster mask—grotesque and terrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lastly, a bloated fat man wore a mask shaped like a gluttonous pig, fierce and cruel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who enters not the Underworld, eats ghosts and gods!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When all is revealed, the Dawn God!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“With mouth wide open, swallows heaven—the Belly God!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Sihai’s voice was low, his expression grave, fists hanging at his sides; his words echoed through the darkness like rolling thunder: “Twelve Yuan Chen—only you three came?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They are all there…” The Dawn God’s shrill voice grated like a broken cymbal: “They are in heaven, in earth, lurking as ghosts in the deepest Underworld—even perhaps beside you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who knows when they’ll come to take your life!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Kongming glanced nervously behind him, only then realizing that the Heir of the Medicine King had quietly appeared at his side, calmly observing the scene—Kang Qiandeng, the rising martial talent he greatly admired, followed closely behind the Heir… like a… uh… lackey?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost-Eating God drew his right hand from behind, clad in a tiger-head gauntlet, the tiger’s form snarling as if ready to devour men.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thrust his right fist sideways—a silent, piercing shriek instantly tore through the air, surging in all directions… countless shadowy ghosts rose and fell, darting around the Ghost-Eating God, eerie as demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A peerless divine weapon… Grand Master!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Sihai’s face grew even more solemn; Master Kongming’s expression turned heavy. The entire Wuhu Hall was thick with oppressive energy, suffocating. This Lord of the Underworld, the Ghost-Eating God, had clearly reached the same Grand Master realm as Hong Sihai—even the Wudang’s Stubborn Stone Daoist and Shaolin’s Master Kongming were slightly inferior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merely by emitting a faint howl, the tiger-head gauntlet made eighty percent of the martial artists in the Wuhu Hall want to clutch their heads in agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This power had reached the legendary level of a peerless divine weapon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the first such weapon to descend upon the martial world in nearly fifty years—and it now adorned the hand of its first master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The divine weapon—Wind God’s Howl!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Ghost-Eating God gradually reined in his true qi, the winds swirling around him grew fiercer. A vast, boundless wind surged from the nine heavens, merging with the Lord of the Underworld’s aura—like a celestial dragon lowering its tail, clouds above twisting into a colossal vortex, descending from sky to earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The howling tornado pierced the ground between the Wuhu Hall and the Sihai Hall’s main gate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless shadowy ghosts around the Ghost-Eating God rode the wind upward, transforming into dark streaks sucked into the storm—the gale surged toward the gathering heroes before the Wuhu Hall, blinding most with its ferocity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, a flash of cold light within the wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The head of a martial artist hiding in the rear suddenly fell, rolling noisily on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then a second, then a third…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heads rolled on the ground, tumbling past the heroes’ feet; in the soul-destroying wind, a hundred ghosts marched at night. The Underworld’s demons, riding the tornado summoned by the Lord of the Underworld, had merged into the wind, darting through the vortex, severing heads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, someone broke under the pressure—a famed martial artist wept and laughed: “Our heads are falling! Our heads are falling! There are ghosts… ghosts!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He screamed, turned, and fled—his figure vanished far into the wind; many watched him recede, unable to bear their terror, quietly following behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as his silhouette shrank to a mere dot, his head fell off, rolling away with a clatter!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A headless figure stood at the farthest edge they could see—filling them with despair, driving them mad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost-Eating God watched coldly. Master Kongming, leaning on his nine-ring staff, held the air within dozens of zhangs steady against the gale, his pure qi radiating with the scent of incense, chants of sutras, and Buddhist light—like a fragile glass dome in the midst of a black tornado.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hong Sihai raised his fist and struck the heavens, clashing repeatedly with the Dawn God, who rode the gale, wielding his divine weapon’s cloak to slash through the air, hurling endless thunder and fire downward—his iron fists shattered countless bolts of lightning and flame…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wudang Stubborn Stone Daoist swung his Songfeng Sword, battling the Belly God…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three righteous Grand Masters were being suppressed by a single Grand Master of the Twelve Yuan Chen—the Ghost-Eating God—using the peerless divine weapon to summon heaven’s wrath!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the gale, ghosts laughed wildly!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, in the midst of the storm, a figure appeared holding an umbrella.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who would hold an umbrella in this storm that shattered heaven and earth, blending clarity and turbidity?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Kongming’s eyes widened…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Chen held the Tianluo Umbrella, spiritual light cascading down, blocking all gales beyond three chi. He walked calmly through the tornado, as countless ghostly shadows surged from all directions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tianluo Umbrella spun lightly—the sharp rim severed the throats of the ghostly shadows slicing through the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Black blood splattered, driving even more ghosts into frenzy…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Chen laughed aloud: “Brother Kang, lend me your sword!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kang Qiandeng drew the Jinghong Sword from his waist—a blade of light cut through the dim, yellow wind, arriving before Qian Chen, who caught it effortlessly. One hand held the umbrella, the other the sword—he danced wildly in the wind…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blade-light bloomed in his hands, tearing open the dark, howling world; countless ghostly shadows screamed within the swordlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silver-white blade-light leapt like lightning through the wind—light, graceful, carrying an arcane rhythm… each leap pierced a thread of blood from the wind; black blood stretched into threads beside Qian Chen, countless dark filaments twisting in the gale, radiating an eerie aura.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Chen walked the long distance, arriving before the Ghost-Eating God.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the ghosts in the sky were terrified and driven mad! They feared, they shrieked, they cursed… yet all only magnified the man beneath the umbrella, standing as majestically as a celestial immortal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Kongming had lost all monastic composure, mouth gaping wide like a common man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Excellent… I never expected these righteous fools to hide such a treasure. Such a young Grand Master… such a wondrous umbrella.” The Ghost-Eating God raised his right hand, clad in Wind God’s Howl, and murmured: “You deserve my strike… and my memory of your name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Chen replied calmly: “No need. If you survive, then you may learn my name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But you’re right—someone among the Twelve Yuan Chen truly does dwell as a ghost in the Underworld.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Chen casually tossed a head. It rolled like the others, spinning in the wind—when it turned face-up, the Dawn God, who had been preparing to strike from behind alongside the Ghost-Eating God, locked eyes with it—and let out a piercing scream… then fled without looking back!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would rather face Hong Sihai and Kongming together than remain here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So it’s that fool Jiaodou!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost-Eating God snorted through his nose, coldly scoffing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wind God’s Howl tore through the gale—countless air blades, sliced from the wind, slashed toward Qian Chen. The Tianluo Umbrella spun once, dissolving them all into nothingness. These attacks, capable of shredding countless martial artists below Grand Master level, were merely a trivial illusion before these two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ghost-Eating God’s right hand formed a claw, tearing apart everything before him—countless chaotic, disordered, terrifyingly vicious fragments of wind-blades sought to shred all within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghosts above shrieked in terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qian Chen unleashed a streak of sword-light…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sword-light twisted through the chaotic wind-blades, cleaving the shattered wind into two worlds. Qian Chen stepped through the fissure between them; where the blade passed, all ghosts fell, and he walked calmly before the Ghost-Eating God.\u003C\u002Fp>",1485,"2026-06-21T05:39:58.326Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","258c2883c28cd9bfa60d8b887d0017981331d60d32cc5eb1ebf27f065aa9cd95","the-dao-dust-pearl-chapter-24","the-dao-dust-pearl-chapter-22",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dao-dust-pearl-cover.jpg"]