Chapter 125: Lingguang Hall Revealed

The Styx was set ablaze, and six great demons struck simultaneously, causing the entire Genmen Pass to tremble.

The nine major passes of the Nine Netherworlds were connected to each other; as Genmen Pass moved, the other eight passes followed suit.

At the same time the nine major passes trembled, the Medicine Office to the northeast of the capital, the Blacksmith Workshop to the southeast, the thousand-year ancient temple Dìxiū Temple to the southwest, the Nine Bends and Eighteen Turns Stone Forest to the northwest, and the Heavenly Department in the center all trembled in unison.

In the Medicine Office, Gu Xing, who had been sitting on a reclining chair with his eyes closed in repose, suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing the trembling ground, he hurried out of the courtyard with a grave expression, walked to the stone tripod on the square, mustered all his strength to lift it, and then slammed it heavily down.

"Clang!"

As soon as the stone tripod landed, a green halo rapidly expanded outward. With the radiation of the green halo, the trembling ground immediately stabilized.

The Blacksmith Workshop.

The moment the ground tremor was felt, the entire workshop resounded with the uniform rhythm and frequency of blacksmithing strikes.

Under the repeated hammer blows, the ground's trembling ceased.

The Nine Bends and Eighteen Turns Stone Forest.

At the instant the ground trembled, the abandoned Bagua stone platform in the center of the stone forest, whose engravings had long become illegible, suddenly began to rotate. The platform spun faster and faster, and light started to flash. By the time the platform stopped spinning, the ground had ceased to shake.

The Heavenly Department.

Wei Zhenjie, the head of the Heavenly Department, had originally planned to personally lead a team of Demon Suppression Army to Nanxiang County. The magistrate of Nanxiang County had submitted a memorial saying that a magnificent palace had appeared there. Suspecting it might be a ruin, he was just about to go himself when he felt the Heavenly Department trembling.

"Not good—the Nine Netherworlds are stirring!"

Wei Zhenjie's expression changed. With a whoosh, he flew up and hovered above the Heavenly Department. Then, a wooden staff carved with the Four Symbols—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—materialized in his hand.

"Boom!"

Wei Zhenjie gripped the wooden staff and struck fiercely toward the ground. Rings of spirit light appeared, and the still-shaking Heavenly Department instantly steadied.

Seeing the ground stop trembling, Wei Zhenjie had just breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed a streak of spirit light flash across the southwest.

Dìxiū Temple.

A young monk in his twenties fell clumsily from the air into the temple. Ignoring the pain, he quickly took out a black-and-white "brush" that had only a shaft and no bristles, and began drawing a talisman in the air.

Soon, five-colored spirit light gathered under the black-and-white brush shaft, and the character "定" (stabilize) emerged.

The young monk waved the brush, and the "定" character sank into the ground. Then, the shaking ground calmed.

Seeing the ground stop shaking, the young monk smiled faintly, then closed his eyes and fainted outright.

At the same time, spirit light flew out from more than ten alleys in the capital, scattering in all directions.

"Thud~"

In an alley near the west gate of the outer city, next to a local deity shrine, Hua Changxi, dressed in a black robe, fell to the ground with a red kasaya cushioning her beneath.

After crossing the Styx, Hua Changxi maneuvered the kasaya into a dim and eerie long passage. The others on the kasaya then disappeared one after another. Hua Changxi guessed that they had been pulled out by the ghost market tokens.

Hua Changxi lay motionless on the ground. A full several minutes passed before she supported herself against the wall and painfully stood up.

At this moment, her face was as pale as paper and her body was stiff.

The several great demons that had appeared behind her struck simultaneously. Although most of their attacks were blocked by the Long-Eyebrow Arhat, she still suffered a share of severe injuries.

Hua Changxi could feel that her soul body was extremely weak and on the verge of leaving her physical body. She had to quickly find a place to replenish her soul power and repair her soul.

In her battle against the green dragon, she had nearly exhausted the spirit energy inside her. Now, she didn't even have the strength to go to Five Finger Mountain. Looking around, she saw the city gate. Without a second thought, she rode a cloud and flew straight toward Lingguang Hall.

Lingguang Hall was the only place she could think of that was closest to her for healing.

On this day, the commoners in the capital saw more than a dozen streaks of light and shadow streak across the sky.

The commoners of the capital were better informed; they knew that those streaks of light were cultivators.

Seeing cultivators who could soar through the sky and burrow into the earth for the first time, the commoners were both shocked and excited, both envious and yearning.

Of course, it wasn't just the commoners who were stirred—the imperial family and high-ranking officials were also disturbed.

Although after the earth-shattering battle at Five Finger Mountain, the matter of spirit energy recovery had almost become public knowledge, in order to seize more cultivation resources, those who had already embarked on the path of cultivation all chose, by tacit agreement, not to reveal themselves in front of others.

"Notify the Heavenly Department and have them investigate immediately to see what exactly is happening."

In the Taiji Palace behind the imperial palace, the Grand Supreme Emperor's expression was extremely grim.

In the capital city, even the imperial family actively restrained themselves from using spiritual power, and now someone had broken this rule, which greatly displeased the Supreme Emperor.

The noble families had many channels of information, and the revival of spiritual Qi could not be hidden from them; this had already caused the imperial family to distribute many resources. If even the common people of Great Jin were to get involved, the cultivation resources the imperial family could collect would only dwindle further.

The Heavenly Department.

"Master, what happened?"

The members of the Heavenly Department, startled by the recent tremor, all rushed out, led by Wei Zhenjie's most prized disciple, Chu Junyi.

Wei Zhenjie descended from the air with a grave expression: "Changes have occurred in the Netherworld Abyss; I must go down and investigate. Junyi, you will lead a team of Demon-Suppressing Troops to Nanxiang County and investigate."

"Remember, if the county magistrate is telling the truth, and that palace is a relic, do not yield—whether it's people from the imperial family or other nobles trying to fight for it."

Chu Junyi nodded: "Disciple understands."

Then, the master and disciple—one took people down into the Netherworld Abyss, and the other led a team to Nanxiang County.

The Medical Office.

Gu Jinfan, who was refining pills in her room, also detected the tremor in the Medical Office at once; she was the first to rush to the old courtyard of the square, even faster than the director.

Both saw Gu Xing lift the stone tripod and then throw it to the ground.

"Senior Gu, you..."

Gu Qiming looked at Gu Xing, somewhat tongue-tied. The stone tripod had always stood somewhat abruptly in the square; he and many others had thought of moving it away, but unfortunately, no one had ever been able to budge it.

But now, the stone tripod had been lifted by an old man on the verge of death.

Gu Jinfan was also looking at Gu Xing: "Senior, is there a change in the Netherworld Demon-Suppressing Prison?"

Gu Xing glanced at the two of them, said nothing, and hunched over, trembling, as he returned to the old courtyard.

Seeing that he would reveal nothing, Gu Qiming and Gu Jinfan were both quite helpless.

Gu Qiming looked at Gu Jinfan: "How do you know about the Netherworld Demon-Suppressing Prison?"

Gu Jinfan looked back at him: "Director, as more and more relics appear everywhere, many things are no longer secrets." With that, she performed a slight bow, turned, and left.

The Alchemy Saint Hall was the formation eye suppressing the demon prison; if a tremor occurred, something must have gone wrong in the Netherworld Abyss. She had to hurry down and take a look.

At that moment, not only the director and Gu Jinfan had come to the square, but also many others, all drawn by the recent tremor.

"What just happened?"

"It must have been an earthquake."

Southern outskirts of the capital, Nanxiang County, Lingguang Hall.

After the Nanxiang County magistrate reported the matter of Lingguang Hall yesterday, many people in the court had received the news. When Hua Changxi arrived, she saw several groups of people gathered at the site.

Most critically, she saw her father, Hua Minghe, outside the hall.

Countless officers stood guard outside the hall; inside, there were seven or eight people gathered, all wanting to take over Lingguang Hall and arguing amongst themselves.

Hua Changxi could barely hold on. Seeing that the floating Vermilion Bird Pendant inside the hall had not been taken, and confirming that the people inside had weak spiritual power, she tightened her black robe and charged in on a cloud.

"Boom—"

Hua Changxi directly unleashed her spiritual power, knocking down the people inside the hall, then snatched the Vermilion Bird Pendant.

"Rumble—"

The moment the Vermilion Bird Pendant was taken, Lingguang Hall blazed with intense red light. Except for fire-attribute cultivators, everyone—whether outside or inside the hall—was sent flying.

Ignoring the hall's anomaly, Hua Changxi swept the cultivators inside out, sent another pulse of spiritual power to close the hall doors, and quickly descended underground.

When she reached the square of the Vermilion Bird Transmission Stele, Hua Changxi could no longer hold on. She collapsed to the ground, pulled out the branch of the Soul-Eating Tree from the Shennong Cauldron, lay down on the branch, and fell into a coma.

At the same time, outside Lingguang Hall.

When Chu Junyi arrived with the Demon-Suppressing Troops, he just saw a figure in a black robe rush into the hall. Before they could reach it, everyone inside was thrown out. He tried to lead the troops in, but the hall doors closed. Attempting to force his way in, he was blasted away by the red light that appeared on the doors.

Not only that, outside Lingguang Hall, the ground shook violently, accompanied by a massive emergence of red light.

The red light was so intense that no one could look directly at it.

When the ground stopped shaking and the red light dissipated, everyone present was stunned by the sight before them.

Originally a single-hall structure, Lingguang Hall had transformed into a majestic complex of palaces arranged in a pyramid shape, with the main hall at the highest point and the other buildings descending in order. The lowest palaces sat dozens of meters above the ground, and from afar, they looked like a mountain range.

Previously, everyone had stood outside the hall's gate. Now, they found themselves under a memorial archway gate tower dozens of meters high, its plaque bearing the three large characters ‘Lingguang Hall’.

The archway gate tower was at least several hundred meters away from the palace complex. Gazing at the mountain-like cluster of palaces, these nobles, usually accustomed to being high and mighty, felt for the first time as insignificant as ants.

After a long shock, Prince Fu, the younger brother of the reigning emperor, was the first to come to his senses. Once he did, he erupted in fury: "Who was that man in black robes? How dare he snatch the royal palace!"

The black-robed man had appeared too abruptly; no one had anticipated it. The main reason was that everyone present was either a high official from the six ministries or a prince or duke. They truly never imagined that someone would come out and compete with them for this treasure.

Most importantly, this was the southern outskirts of the capital—imperial territory. The imperial house had absolute control here. Even the most ambitious nobles would not dare contend with the royal family in such areas.

Hadn't they seen that powerful families, as well as Daoist sects and Buddhist temples, all went outside the Central Plains to seize territory? Even in the Central Plains, everyone tacitly refrained from encroaching on the regions near the capital.

To vie for land in the capital's vicinity was a blatant act of rebellion against the imperial house!

This time, when signs of a relic appeared in Nanxiang County, the influential nobles who had received the news did not show up themselves, leaving the officials from the six ministries to squabble over it.

Why?

Wasn't it simply because it was hard to compete with the imperial house?

If the court took over, although it wouldn't be private property, the six ministries all had nobles and prominent families holding posts. The major benefits would go to the imperial house, but they could still get a taste.

Who would have thought—someone would show up who didn't play by the rules.

"What background does that black-robed man have? How dare he fight the court for opportunities!"

Hua Minghe had come with the people from the Six Doors. The Ministry of Justice had not only brought the Six Doors but also soldiers from the imperial prison, all with the aim of taking over this relic.

Now, things had completely exceeded their expectations. Everyone could only huddle together and discuss in hushed tones.

"The ministers clearly entered the hall first. Why did that latecomer in black robes snatch the opportunity instead?"

Hearing Hua Minghe's question, the Chief of the Six Doors quietly explained, "Opportunities of fate are strange that way—it's not about first come, first served."

"The Vermilion Bird jade pendant in the hall should be the token to control Lingguang Hall, but after the ministers went in, not a single one could take down the jade."

After listening, Hua Minghe had another doubt: "That black-robed man charged straight into the hall. How could he be sure he could take the pendant? Had he been here before?"

The Chief immediately signaled Hua Minghe to stop talking, but his words had already been overheard by many.

Someone even reported those words directly to Prince Fu.

After hearing this, Prince Fu immediately adopted a conspiracy theory and snorted coldly: "After the Nanxiang county magistrate reported this relic, only the six ministries and the Grand Secretariat knew about it. I don't care who sent people here ahead of time to scout. If they return this relic to the imperial house, I guarantee I will plead with the emperor to let bygones be bygones."

"But if anyone insists on hogging it all to themselves, once the court investigates and finds out, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Seeing everyone silent, Prince Fu's expression darkened further. He walked over to Chu Junyi and asked somewhat reproachfully, "Where is Minister Wei? Why didn't he come?"

Chu Junyi: "Something went wrong in the Nine Nethers. My master went down to investigate."

Hearing this, Prince Fu frowned: "When did this happen?"

Chu Junyi: "Right before we came."

At that moment, Chu Junyi's storage ring vibrated. He moved away from the crowd, took out a communication stone, and soon heard Wei Zhenjie's urgent voice.

"Junyi, forget about the Nanxiang County matter. Take the Demon-Suppression Army and come quickly to the Gen Gate of the Nine Nethers. The Nether Dragon, Yellow Mang of Ox-Head Mountain, and White Bone Lady of White Bone Mountain have all been severely injured. Hurry and seize their territories."

After hearing this, Chu Junyi's expression shook. The Nine Nethers really had encountered big trouble—even the Nether Dragon had been severely wounded!

Recalling the dozen or so streaks of spiritual light he had seen flying off in all directions earlier, Chu Junyi's eyes flickered. Could they have been the cause of the upheaval at the Gen Gate?

"Your Highness, the Nine Nethers have changed. We must go support my master. I take my leave."

Chu Junyi said this to Prince Fu and quickly left with the Demon-Suppression Army.

This Lingguang Hall was indeed a rare relic, but compared to the Nine Nethers, it was no longer so urgent.

Watching the swift departure of the Demon-Suppression Army, everyone present had varied expressions. To abandon such a massive relic—what major event had occurred?