Chapter 277

After Hua Hua Changxi understood the connection between the nine passes and the five major sacred grounds, she asked again: "What kind of place is the Nine Netherworlds exactly?"

The Squad Leader was silent for a moment before speaking: "Bloody; everywhere there is endless killing and fighting. The Nine Netherworlds is a place where strength is supreme; without strength, one cannot survive in the Nine Netherworlds."

Saying this, he smiled.

"Do you know, the most stable and peaceful place in the Nine Netherworlds is the nine passes."

Hua Hua Changxi: "What kind of things are killing and fighting?"

The Squad Leader looked at her: "Demon clan, Ghost clan, Soul clan, and... human cultivators. Let's put it this way: the Nine Netherworlds is very chaotic, but as long as you have strength, you can do whatever you want."

Hua Hua Changxi frowned and asked again: "What about the Ghost Market set up at the nine passes?"

Hearing this, the Squad Leader was surprised that Hua Hua Changxi actually knew about the Ghost Market: "It seems Peak Master Hua has already been down to the Nine Netherworlds."

Judging from Hua Hua Changxi's previous questions, she knew almost nothing about the Jiuguan of the Nine Netherworlds; he had thought this was a fledgling who had never been down to the Nine Netherworlds.

Hua Hua Changxi looked at him: "There should be many cultivators who have been down to the Nine Netherworlds."

The Squad Leader was stunned, then smiled: "That's true; the entrances to the Huang Quan Road at various intersections in the human world have all opened one after another as the recovery of spiritual energy has accelerated. There is no need to be like before, needing corresponding tokens for guidance to find the entrance to the Huang Quan Road."

Hearing this, Hua Hua Changxi's heart stirred.

So that pitch-black, gloomy, and chilling long road was the Huang Quan Road.

The token in the Squad Leader's mouth should be the black token with a skull carved on it that Eunuch Lin had given her back then.

Now one can go down to the Nine Netherworlds without a token?

"Are the entrances to the Huang Quan Road easy to find?"

The Squad Leader smiled: "Is Peak Master Hua sensitive to Yin energy? The Huang Quan Road is rich in Yin energy; when the entrance opens, it is inevitable that Yin energy will leak out."

Hua Hua Changxi's face showed understanding: "Just now the Squad Leader mentioned the tokens for entering and exiting the Ghost Market; how did these tokens circulate?"

The Squad Leader smiled: "The recovery of spiritual energy actually started long ago; the first batch of cultivators in the human world who seized the opportunity of the spiritual energy recovery, either by chance or by specifically searching, found the entrances to the Huang Quan Road and then went down to the Nine Netherworlds."

"After these people gained a firm foothold at the nine passes, they created tokens that could trigger fluctuations in Yin energy. Relying on these tokens, cultivators could go down to the Nine Netherworlds."

He paused.

"As far as this subordinate knows, these people have relied on the tokens to win over a large group of people for their own use; by now, they should all be forces of note in the human world."

Hua Hua Changxi hurriedly asked: "Does the Squad Leader know which forces they are?"

The Squad Leader smiled: "As for that, Peak Master Hua will need to find out for herself."

Seeing that he would not say, Hua Hua Changxi could do nothing but ask again: "The Squad Leader hasn't told me about the situation of the Ghost Market yet."

The Squad Leader sighed: "The Ghost Market... it should be called a marketplace."

"Peak Master Hua has been to the Ghost Market, so she should know that the Ghost Market is set up outside the fortress; that area should have been the rest and living area for the Demon-Suppressing Guards."

"In the ancient times, because the Demon-Suppressing Guards needed to purchase cultivation resources and daily necessities, each checkpoint spontaneously formed corresponding marketplaces."

"However, as spiritual energy extinguished, the human world and the Nine Netherworlds lost contact, and the Nine Netherworlds also fell silent; after the spiritual energy recovery began, the first to rise in the Nine Netherworlds were the Ghost clan and the Demon clan."

"The nine passes should have been the territory of the human race, but nowadays, except for the Demon-Suppressing Guards who hold fast inside the fortresses and do not easily go out, the areas outside the nine passes are either occupied by the Ghost clan, occupied by the Demon clan, or taken over by powerful soul cultivator families."

"Nowadays, only the Li Gate pass, because a great chaos broke out, allowed the Demon-Suppressing Army of the Central Sacred Ground to take the opportunity to occupy it; otherwise, the outskirts of the nine checkpoints would not be under human control."

Hua Hua Changxi's eyes flickered; the great chaos at the Li Gate pass must have been the one she triggered the first time she went down to the Nine Netherworlds.

Arhat Changmei used his death to exchange for the Demon-Suppressing Army successfully capturing the Li Gate pass.

"Since the Ghost clan, Demon clan, and soul cultivator families have already occupied the outskirts of the nine passes, why don't they go further and break through the various fortresses?"

The Squad Leader: "They naturally want to, and have attacked the fortresses several times, but the fortresses of the nine passes are protected by the power of merit and are not so easily broken."

"In recent years, the Ghost clan and Demon clan have grown too fast; originally, we Demon-Suppressing Guards were also worried that the power of merit would not last long, but who would have thought, Heaven protects the human race."

"Just last year, the Fusang Divine Wood reappeared, the Soul Star lit up, and the Li Gate pass and Xun Gate pass awakened one after another."

"Although other divine woods are still silent, since the Fusang Divine Wood has reappeared, other divine woods will also reappear in the Nine Netherworlds one after another."

Speaking to this point, the Squad Leader looked at Hua Hua Changxi with burning eyes: "I heard that when the Alchemy Origin Peak appeared, the Undying Divine Wood of the Alchemy Saint Hall flashed; Peak Master Hua might as well go to the Gen Gate pass and Zhen Gate pass often; perhaps you can also make the Undying Divine Wood reappear in the Nine Netherworlds ahead of time."

Hua Hua Changxi said vaguely: "The flashing of the divine wood should have nothing to do with me." She then asked, "By the way, why do the Holy Protection Guards have no physical bodies?"

The Squad Leader's eyes flickered: "The Nine Netherworlds is sealed and silent; Peak Master Hua doesn't think that the human race can survive for a long time in a place where Yin energy breeds, right?"

"Before the recovery of spiritual energy, there was no human race in the Nine Netherworlds; it was only after the recovery of spiritual energy began that the human race gradually appeared in the Nine Netherworlds."

Hearing this, Hua Hua Changxi frowned: "If there was no human race, where were so many Demon-Suppressing Guards recruited from?"

The Squad Leader lowered his eyes: "What does Peak Master Hua think?"

Hua Hua Changxi's heart jumped: "The current Demon-Suppressing Guards, they wouldn't be chosen from the Demon clan, Ghost clan, and Soul clan, would they?"

The Squad Leader: "The Demon clan cannot enter the fortress, but the current Demon-Suppressing Guards are indeed almost all from the Soul clan and Ghost clan."

"In the past two years, a very small number of cultivators who could no longer stay in the human world have also successfully become Demon-Suppressing Guards."

Hearing this, Hua Hua Changxi's expression sank instantly.

No wonder, no wonder that General Liu who guarded the Li Gate pass would watch as outsiders and the Demon clan broke into the array eye; it turns out they weren't human at all!

Seeing Hua Hua Changxi's expression was wrong, the Squad Leader thought for a moment and explained: "Anyone who joins the Demon-Suppressing Guards must take a heart-demon oath to guard the Demon Prison to the death."

Hua Hua Changxi nodded; if there were no such restrictions, the seal of the Demon Prison would probably have been broken long ago.

"By the way, Squad Leader, what are the conditions for recruiting Holy Protection Guards?"

The Squad Leader smiled: "This subordinate does not know; this subordinate only knows that the recruitment of Holy Protection Guards requires the consent of the fortress commander general; for specific conditions, I suppose Peak Master Hua needs to discuss them in detail with the general."

Hua Hua Changxi: "Commander General? The highest authority of the fortress?"

The Squad Leader: "Yes, each fortress has one commander general; below the general are two assistant regional commanders, below the assistant regional commanders are the garrison commanders, and below the garrison commanders are the ten-thousand-man commanders."

After hearing this, Hua Hua Changxi did not know what else to ask; she had only been down to the Nine Netherworlds twice and knew far too little, so she stood up and said: "Thank you, Squad Leader, for clearing up my confusion."

Seeing this, the Squad Leader also stood up: "If Peak Master Hua wants to know anything else in the future, feel free to come find me; if I don't know, I can still go ask the hundred-man commander."

Hua Hua Changxi nodded and watched the Squad Leader leave.

She now had a bit more understanding of the nine passes: a checkpoint, where the outskirts are the territory of the Demon clan, Ghost clan, and Soul clan; the inner circle is the fortress, which is the territory of the Demon-Suppressing Guards.

If she wants to enter the fortress to recruit Holy Protection Guards, she still has to pass through the territory of the Demon clan, Ghost clan, and Soul clan.

Thinking of the life-and-death battles she had experienced both times she went down to the Nine Netherworlds, Hua Hua Changxi did not dare to be careless about the Nine Netherworlds at all.

She was not like Meng Meng Qingyao, Gu Xing, and Yan Yan Qianying, who were attempting to seize control of the Medicine Department; therefore, recruiting Holy Protection Guards was not an urgent matter for her.

She would go down to the Nine Netherworlds, but not now.

At present, she had two things to do: one was to improve her alchemy grade, and the other was to wait for Tong Yao to refine the display spirit tool, recruit more apprentices, and get the Alchemy Origin Secret Realm on the right track.

On the other side, after the Squad Leader left, he went straight to find the hundred-man commander and reported everything Hua Hua Changxi had asked.

After hearing this, the hundred-man commander said: "Hua Hua Changxi is the Peak Master of Alchemy Origin Peak, the Pavilion Master of the No. 13 Qihuang Pavilion, the master of the Divine Wood Secret Realm, and even the Alchemy Tripod Altar was summoned by her."

"In the entire Medicine Department, the person we must least underestimate is this Hua Hua Changxi."

The Squad Leader nodded: "Fortunately, the things she asked about today were all things that everyone knows."

The hundred-man commander was silent for a moment: "In the future, when you encounter Hua Hua Changxi, you must be careful; it is best not to have too much contact with her, and you must not let her ruin the things we are going to do."

Saying this, he looked at the Squad Leader.

"During your patrol, have you picked out any physical bodies?"

The Squad Leader smiled immediately: "The Alchemy Saint Hall is indeed worthy of being a sacred ground; there are so many prodigies with excellent talent and aptitude. Before coming up, I thought good physical bodies would be hard to find; I didn't expect there to be a whole bunch."

The hundred-man commander also smiled, but after laughing, his face sank again: "Do not provoke those who come from aristocratic families; if you want to find them, find those who have no foundation."

The Squad Leader: "My lord, rest assured, this subordinate understands."