Chapter 125

The Nether River was ignited, and six great demons struck simultaneously, causing the entire Gen Gate Pass to tremble.

The nine great passes of the Nine Nethers were connected to each other; once Gen Gate Pass moved, the other eight passes followed suit.

While the nine great passes were trembling, the Medical Department in the northeast of the capital, the Blacksmith Workshop in the southeast, the thousand-year-old Emperor Rest Temple in the southwest, the Nine-Bend Eighteen-Turn Shi Lin in the northwest, and the Heaven Department in the center all trembled simultaneously.

In the Medical Department, Gu Xing, who had been sitting on a lounge chair with his eyes closed to rest, suddenly opened his eyes. Looking at the trembling ground, he walked out of the courtyard with a solemn expression, went to the stone cauldron in the square, and with all his strength, lifted the stone cauldron, then placed it down heavily.

"Clang!"

As soon as the stone cauldron landed, a green light circle expanded rapidly outward. As the green light circle radiated, the trembling ground immediately stabilized.

Blacksmith Workshop.

The moment they felt the ground tremble, the entire workshop began to strike iron with a unified rhythm and frequency.

Under the sound of hammer strikes, the ground's trembling disappeared.

Nine-Bend Eighteen-Turn Shi Lin.

The moment the ground trembled, the Bagua stone platform in the center of the stone forest, which had been abandoned to the point where the carvings were no longer visible, suddenly began to rotate. The stone platform rotated faster and faster, and light began to flash. When the stone platform stopped rotating, the ground stopped trembling.

Heaven Department.

The Minister of the Heaven Department, Wei Zhenjie, had originally planned to personally lead a team of Demon-Suppressing Troops to Nanxiang County. The County Magistrate of Nanxiang County had submitted a memorial saying that a magnificent palace had appeared there, and guessing that it was likely a ruin, he was just about to make a trip himself when he felt the Heaven Department trembling.

"Bad news, there is an anomaly in the Nine Nethers!"

Wei Zhenjie's expression changed, and with a "whoosh," he flew up and hovered above the Heaven Department. Then, a wooden staff carved with the Four Spirits—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Zhu Que, and Black Tortoise—appeared in his hand.

"Bang!"

Wei Zhenjie held the wooden staff and struck the ground fiercely. Circles of spiritual light appeared, and the Heaven Department, which had still been trembling, immediately returned to stability.

Seeing the ground stop trembling, Wei Zhenjie had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw spiritual light streak across the southwest direction.

Emperor Rest Temple.

A young monk in his twenties fell from the sky in a disheveled state and landed in the temple. He ignored the pain in his body and quickly took out a black-and-white "brush" that had only a handle and no bristles, and began to draw talismans in the air.

Soon, five-colored spiritual light gathered under the black-and-white brush handle, and a "Fixed" character appeared.

The young monk waved his brush, and the "Fixed" character sank into the ground. Then, the trembling ground calmed down.

Seeing the ground stop trembling, the young monk smiled lightly, then closed his eyes and fainted directly.

At the same time, spiritual light flew out from more than a dozen alleys in the capital, scattering in all directions.

"Bang—"

In an alley near the West Gate of the capital's outer city, next to a Land Deity Temple, Hua Changxi, dressed in a black robe, fell to the ground, cushioned by a red kasaya beneath her.

After flying across the Nether River, Hua Changxi controlled the kasaya to enter a dim and gloomy long path. The others on the kasaya disappeared one after another. Hua Changxi guessed that they must have been pulled out by their Ghost Market tokens.

Hua Changxi lay on the ground without moving. It took a full few minutes before she leaned against the wall and stood up with difficulty.

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

The great demons that appeared behind had struck simultaneously. Although most of the attacks were blocked by Luo Han Changmei, she had still suffered some heavy damage.

Hua Changxi could feel that her soul body was in a state of extreme weakness, on the verge of leaving her body at any moment. She had to find a place to replenish her soul power and repair her soul body immediately.

In the battle against the green dragon, she had almost exhausted the spiritual power in her body. Now, she didn't even have the strength to go to Mount Wuzhi. Looking around, she saw the city gate, and unable to care about anything else, she drove her cloud and flew out, heading straight for the Lingguang Hall.

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

On this day, the people of the capital saw more than a dozen streaks of light streak across the sky.

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

Seeing cultivators who could fly and escape the earth for the first time, the people were both shocked and excited, both envious and yearning.

Of course, it wasn't just the people who were alarmed; the royal family and the high-ranking officials were also alarmed.

Although after the earth-shattering battle on Mount Wuzhi, the fact of spiritual Qi recovery was almost out in the open, in order to seize more cultivation resources, everyone who had already embarked on the path of cultivation chose not to expose themselves in front of others.

"Notify the Heaven Department and have them investigate immediately to see what happened."

In the Taiji Palace behind the Imperial Palace, the Retired Emperor's expression was very ugly.

Within the capital's territory, even the royal family took the initiative to refrain from using spiritual power. Now, someone had broken this rule, which made the Retired Emperor very dissatisfied.

Powerful families had many channels of information, and the fact of spiritual Qi recovery could not be hidden from them. This had already caused the royal family to lose a lot of resources. If even the people of the Great Jin were to participate, the cultivation resources the royal family could collect would only become less and less.

Heaven Department.

"Master, what happened?"

The people of the Heaven Department were all shocked by the recent tremor and ran out one after another. The leader was Wei Zhenjie's most proud disciple, Chu Junyi.

Wei Zhenjie flew down from the sky with a solemn expression: "There is an anomaly in the Nine Nethers; I must go down and take a look. Junyi, as for Nanxiang County, you lead a team of Demon-Suppressing Troops to investigate."

"Remember, if what the County Magistrate said is true and that palace is a ruin, do not yield, whether it is people from the royal family or other powerful figures who want to fight for it."

Chu Junyi nodded: "This disciple understands."

Subsequently, the master and disciple went their separate ways—one took people down to the Nine Nethers, and the other took people to Nanxiang County.

Medical Department.

Gu Jinfan, who was refining medicine in her room, also discovered the tremor of the Medical Department at the first moment. She was the first to rush to the old courtyard in the square, even faster than the Department Head.

Both of them saw the scene of Gu Xing lifting the stone cauldron and then throwing it onto the ground.

"Senior Gu, you..."

Gu Qiming looked at Gu Xing, stuttering. The stone cauldron standing in the square was somewhat abrupt, and he and many others had thought about moving it, but unfortunately, no one had ever been able to move it.

But at this moment, the stone cauldron had actually been lifted by a dying old man who was on the verge of death.

Gu Jinfan was also looking at Gu Xing: "Senior, is there an anomaly in the Nine Nether Demon-Refining Prison?"

Gu Xing glanced at the two of them, said nothing, and returned to the old courtyard with a trembling, hunched back.

Seeing that he wouldn't reveal anything, Gu Qiming and Gu Jinfan were both very helpless.

Gu Qiming looked at Gu Jinfan: "How do you know about the Nine Nether Demon-Refining Prison?"

Gu Jinfan looked at him: "Department Head, as more and more ruins appear in various places, many things are no longer secrets." After speaking, she bowed and turned to leave.

The Dan Saint Hall was the eye of the formation suppressing the Demon Prison. Since a tremor occurred, it must be that something happened in the Nine Nethers. She had to go down and take a look immediately.

At this moment, it wasn't just the Department Head and Gu Jinfan who had come to the square; there were many others who had come because of the recent tremor.

"What just happened?"

"It must have been an earthquake."

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

After the Nanxiang County Magistrate reported the matter of Lingguang Hall yesterday, many people in the imperial court received the news. When Hua Changxi arrived, she saw several parties gathered here.

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

Countless government soldiers were guarding outside the hall, and seven or eight people were gathered inside the hall. Those people all wanted to take over the Lingguang Hall and were arguing inside.

Hua Changxi was reaching her limit. Seeing that the Zhu Que jade pendant floating in the hall had not been taken away and confirming that the people inside did not have strong spiritual power, she tightened her black robe and drove her cloud to rush in directly.

"Bang—"

Hua Changxi directly unleashed spiritual power, knocking down the people in the hall, and then snatched the Zhu Que jade pendant.

"Boom—"

The moment the Zhu Que jade pendant was taken, the Lingguang Hall glowed with intense red light. Except for fire-attribute spirit root cultivators, everyone, whether outside the hall or inside, was bounced away.

Hua Changxi couldn't care about the anomaly of the Lingguang Hall. She directly waved the cultivators in the hall out, sent another burst of spiritual power to close the hall door, and quickly went underground.

Upon reaching the Zhu Que Transmission Stele Square, Hua Changxi could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground. She took out the Soul-Devouring Tree branch from the Shennong Cauldron, lay on the branch, and fell into a coma.

At the same time, outside the Lingguang Hall.

When Chu Junyi arrived with the Demon-Suppressing Troops, he happened to see a person in a black robe rush into the hall. Before they could arrive, the people inside the hall had all been knocked out. He wanted to lead the Demon-Suppressing Troops to rush in, but the hall door was closed. When he tried to force his way in, he was bounced away by the red light that appeared on the hall door.

Not only that, outside the Lingguang Hall, the ground was trembling violently, accompanied by a large amount of red light.

The red light was too intense for anyone to look directly at.

When the ground stopped trembling and the red light dissipated, everyone present was stunned by what they saw.

The Lingguang Hall, which had originally been only one hall, had become a magnificent palace complex. The palace complex was pyramid-shaped, with the main hall at the highest point and other halls arranged in order below. The palace at the very bottom was dozens of meters from the ground; looking from afar, it was like a mountain.

Previously, everyone had been standing outside the hall door. At this moment, they were standing under a memorial archway dozens of meters high, with the three characters "Lingguang Hall" written on the plaque.

The memorial archway was at least several hundred meters away from the palace complex. Looking at the mountain-like palace complex, these nobles who were accustomed to being high and mighty felt for the first time how small they were, like ants.

After a long period of shock, the current Emperor's younger brother, Prince Fu, was the first to come to his senses. After coming to his senses, he was furious: "Who was that black-robed person just now? How dare they snatch the royal palace!"

The black-robed person had appeared too abruptly, and everyone was caught off guard. Mainly, the people present were either officials of the Six Ministries or princes and dukes; they really hadn't expected anyone to run out and compete with them for things.

Most importantly, this was the southern suburb of the capital, the capital's territory, where the royal family had absolute control. Even the most ambitious powerful figures would not compete with the royal family in these areas.

Didn't you see that powerful families, Daoist sects, and Buddhist temples would only go to places outside the Central Province to seize territory? Even in the areas of the Central Province near the capital, everyone tacitly agreed not to touch them.

Seizing territory in the capital was clearly an act of rebellion against the royal family!

This time, when a suspected ruin appeared in Nanxiang County, the powerful figures who received the news did not come forward, letting the officials of the Six Ministries come to fight for it.

Why?

Wasn't it because it was difficult to compete with the royal family?

If taken over by the imperial court, although it was not private property, officials from powerful families worked in the Six Ministries, and the royal family would get the lion's share of the benefits, while they could still drink some soup.

Unexpectedly, someone popped up who didn't play by the rules.

"What's the background of that black-robed person? How dare they snatch opportunities from the imperial court!"

Hua Minghe had come with the people from the Six Fan Sect. The Ministry of Justice had not only brought people from the Six Fan Sect but also guards from the Heavenly Prison, with the goal of taking over this ruin.

Now that things had completely exceeded their expectations, everyone could only gather together to discuss in low voices.

"The Minister and the others clearly entered the hall first, so why was the opportunity snatched by the black-robed person who came later?"

The Chief Constable of the Six Fan Sect heard Hua Minghe's question and explained in a low voice: "Opportunities like this are very strange; they don't depend on first come, first served."

"That Zhu Que jade pendant in the hall should be the token to control the Lingguang Hall, but after the Minister and the others went in, no one could take it down."

After hearing this, Hua Minghe had a new doubt: "But the black-robed person rushed directly into the hall; how could they be sure they could take down the jade pendant? Could they have been here before?"

The Chief Constable immediately signaled Hua Minghe to stop talking, but who knew that his words had already been heard by many people.

Someone even told Prince Fu directly.

After hearing this, Prince Fu immediately turned to conspiracy theories and sneered: "After the Nanxiang County Magistrate reported this ruin, only the people from the Six Ministries and the Cabinet knew about it. I don't care who sent someone to scout it out in advance; as long as this ruin is handed back to the royal family, I guarantee I will plead with the Emperor to let bygones be bygones."

"If anyone insists on eating alone, don't blame me for being ruthless once the imperial court finds out."

Seeing that everyone was silent, Prince Fu's expression darkened further. He walked toward Chu Junyi and asked with some blame: "Where is Minister Wei? Why didn't he come?"

Chu Junyi: "Something happened in the Nine Nethers, and Master went down to investigate."

After hearing this, Prince Fu frowned: "When did this happen?"

Chu Junyi: "Just before we arrived."

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

"Junyi, forget about Nanxiang County. Quickly bring the Demon-Suppressing Troops to the Gen Gate of the Nine Nethers. The Nether Dragon, the yellow ox of Ox Head Mountain, and Lady Bone of Bone Mountain have all been seriously injured by someone. Hurry and bring people to occupy their territory."

After hearing this, Chu Junyi's expression was shocked. Something really big had happened in the Nine Nethers; even the Nether Dragon had been seriously injured!

Thinking of the dozen or so streaks of spiritual light he had seen flying in all directions earlier, Chu Junyi's eyes flickered. Could it be that they were the cause of the great change at the Gen Gate?

"Your Highness, there is an anomaly in the Nine Nethers. We must go to support Master. Please excuse us."

Chu Junyi said a word to Prince Fu and quickly left with the Demon-Suppressing Troops.

This Lingguang Hall was indeed a rare ruin, but compared to the Nine Nethers, it was not so urgent.

Watching the Demon-Suppressing Troops leave in a hurry, everyone present had different expressions. Even such a large ruin was being ignored—what major event could have happened?