Chapter 568: Huang Tian Soul

The Earth Lord's body wasn't as formidable as imagined, which was also expected; Yan Buji, while gathering spiritual materials in Youming Jie, also began deliberately approaching the nearby Rakshasa tribe to gather information.

"I don't know when the war against the original Youming will end."

"Who says otherwise? Almost all of our tribe's cultivators have been sent to the battlefield; now even encountering groups of Youming beasts puts our tribe at risk of annihilation."

Yan Buji hid in the shadows, eavesdropping, and stroked his chin while thinking for a moment.

"It seems the original Youming side is quite formidable."

Among cultivators, storming cities and seizing strongholds is far more formidable than among mortals; not to mention above Nascent Soul, even a group of Golden Core cultivators fighting can be heaven‑shaking and earth‑rending, yet they must also maximize enemy elimination and seize power; regardless of how each side deploys troops, there will definitely be enormous consumption.

Whether cultivators or resources, they are being burned up as the condition for victory.

"But why is there no news of this in the Five Regions?"

Yan Buji found it strange; logically, Nascent Soul cultivators can already send their souls into Youming Jie, so even if they saw the fighting and didn't join, some news should have leaked out.

Yet Yan Buji heard nothing of these matters whether in the Dongxing Sea Region or the West Sand River Basin; could it be that someone deliberately blocked the news?

Thinking this way, it's possible those major sect cultivators won't interfere in the Youming Jie unification war, and even if some wandering Nascent Soul cultivators came to Youming Jie, under the combined pressure of those major sects they likely couldn't spread the news.

But what benefit would that bring to those major cultivation sects?

"Moreover, it's a simple point: even if the powers within the Five Regions can't profit from the Youming Jie unification war, there's no need to block this news. Since they'd still expend manpower and resources to block it despite gaining no benefit, someone must have issued an order!"

Yan Buji narrowed his eyes, realizing something.

Perhaps the Youming Jie unification war involves something momentous, which is why those major sects are blocking the news; maybe it's also because there's some issue between the native tribes of Youming Jie and the mortal souls of the Five Regions.

"But looking at it this way, if the native tribes gain control of Youming Jie, wouldn't people who die and come to Youming Jie become their slaves?"

Yan Buji suddenly realized that the ancient warriors who attacked Youming Jie in antiquity might have done so for this very reason.

Only later did the legends of the netherworld courts, the Ten Yama Kings, and so on spread, with Buddhist and Daoist schools jointly promoting the affairs of the Youming underworld, which led people to hold the customary belief that upon death one goes to the underworld, crosses the River of Forgetfulness, faces the Yama Hall, drinks Meng Po's soup, and then is reborn.

"In that case, regardless of whether my identity has any use here, I cannot easily reveal myself before others. After all, I am a cultivator of the Five Regions; even alone I cannot involve myself in this Youming Jie war." Yan Buji realized that the stakes of the Youming Jie unification war might far exceed his imagination, so he still planned to skirt around those Asuras and Rakshasas and just search for resources in the wilderness.

Besides that, if discovered by the Asura tribe's high priest, he probably wouldn't fare well either.

Moreover, the Starlight Sect has now grown astonishingly strong; I don't know who took over the sect, but it can almost stand toe‑to‑toe with the Asura and Rakshasa tribes.

Yan Buji watched those robed Starlight Sect members, frowning as he saw them ordering a tribe about, and thus understood the current might of the Starlight Sect.

Thinking thus, Yan Buji set out for the wilderness.

After no more than two months, Yan Buji suddenly halted in place, gazing at a distant mountain.

"A secret realm?"

Feeling an unusual fluctuation of yin‑cold qi, Yan Buji's eyes lit up and he entered it.

South Asura tribe.

The South Asura high priest sat on the observatory platform, closing his eyes to nurture his spirit without practicing, seemingly awaiting someone's arrival.

"Hahaha, the people of that false underworld are truly weak; if it weren't for someone meddling, I could have taken control of the entire underworld fifty years ago!"

A figure suddenly appeared before the high priest, looking at him: "Changwu, what are you doing?"

Changwu said lightly: "I've done nothing; I merely lament that after mobilizing so much manpower and material, we still haven't taken that false underworld, and the various departments probably can't bear it any longer."

"A brief bout of pain proves nothing; since the sages of the Nine Heavens and Five Regions dare not descend, the matter here should be resolved by me."

"This..." Changwu opened his eyes, chuckled: "I only hope you already have a plan."

"Hmph!" The person turned around, facing the high sky; his appearance was exactly the same as Yan Buji's, though a hint of disdain flashed in his star‑filled pupils, and he said:

"How so? Do you also believe that the world's original source exists solely for the sake of one person's appearance? Because of that, you've given up on any further ideas?"

Changwu shook his head, but said nothing more.

"Really? Then it seems you've seen it."

"Do you have it?"

"Isn't it?" he chuckled lightly: "So you lot are quite foolish—those sages are trapped in this world and cannot escape, yet you think a cultivator inferior to a sage could leave this world?"

"Furthermore, besides me, do you know how many others are watching?"

Changwu remained silent, offering no reply.

He gave a cold snort: "Fine, since you don't want to chat, let's talk business. That brat Yama of the false underworld can actually activate part of the power of the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk; what do you think the reason is?"

"Buddhist sages, heavenly demons, and..." Changwu pointed upward, without elaborating.

"I think the same." He nodded, then said: "If so, do you know how to deal with that guy?"

"At the critical moment, I will intervene."

"Then that's good."

"However..." Changwu shifted his tone, then said: "When the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk shattered, a fragment of the Huang Tian Soul broke off; if we cannot gather that Huang Tian Soul, we probably won't be able to reassemble the Disk."

"The Huang Tian Soul?" He frowned: "I recall the Earth Lord's soul is in the hands of the Mingluo Emperor; isn't the Huang Tian Soul with you?"

Changwu shook his head: "It's not here."

"Hmph, find a way to get it for me! The Mingluo Emperor—I'll go look for him myself!"

"Yes."

As he spoke, the person's figure gradually faded; Changwu sighed, rose, and said: "Guess I have to get back to work."

As one of the few peak cultivators in Youming Jie, to say that after all these years he lacks arrogance and contempt for everything is impossible.

But now he has become like an old man on his last legs, unable to muster energy for anything, and no one knows what happened.

Nevertheless, Changwu began preparations, going here and there to investigate the whereabouts of the Huang Tian Soul.