Chapter 957: Yellow River Netherworld

“If he doesn’t show up, I’d almost forgotten I even have such an enemy!”

He Pingsheng stared at the direction Mingyue had left, squinting: “But now that he’s here, I’m at a loss for how to act!”

“Brilliant!”

“Maybe he had a sudden enlightenment!” Jin Ku added: “What he just said probably wasn’t a lie—he truly grasped some truth. Didn’t he say himself that in his youth, he didn’t fully comprehend the profound meaning of saving all beings, which nearly severed Zhou Qingmei’s opportunity?”

“So once he understood the Buddha’s teaching, he broke through his cultivation bottleneck?”

He Pingsheng said nothing.

Jin Ku went on: “Then again, maybe after he gave you the bead, some inner knot untied, allowing him to break through!”

“But no matter what, it’s real!”

Jin Ku was right—if Mingyue had any scheme against He Pingsheng, he wouldn’t have broken through his bottleneck so directly.

Yet one thing He Pingsheng couldn’t understand.

I’m trying to save someone, to dive into the netherworld and retrieve Zhou Qingmei’s soul—how the hell did you, Mingyue, know that?

And not only did you know I was retrieving Zhou Qingmei, but you also knew I’d run into trouble?

You even knew I had an ancient spirit of a terrestrial immortal inside me?

Impossible to figure out.

“Perhaps… the Buddha sect has some secret technique!” He Pingsheng could only shake his head, soothing himself: “Come on, old thing, let’s get to work!”

He Pingsheng sealed away the Buddha Flame Pearl, then shot forward as a streak of light, plunging straight into the Nine You Heavens Abyss.

When his cultivation was low, these Gang winds were the abyss itself.

Now that He Pingsheng had reached Mahayana Emperor realm, the Gang winds no longer terrified him.

He could pass through them effortlessly.

Soon, he reached the bottom of the Nine You Heavens Abyss.

Total darkness!

Endless malevolent energy surged and howled.

He Pingsheng extended his spiritual sense, instantly covering nearly the entire abyss floor.

It seemed the Nine You Heavens Abyss wasn’t immune to spiritual sense—so long as your spiritual sense was strong enough, there was no obstacle to using it.

Countless fourth- and fifth-grade rootless herbs floated at the abyss’s bottom, seemingly alive, endlessly rising and sinking within the malevolent energy; whenever a cultivator neared, they quietly vanished.

Only now did He Pingsheng understand why capturing them had been so difficult before.

Turns out they just avoided people.

“He Pingsheng, you want me to dive into the netherworld and retrieve Zhou Qingmei’s soul? No problem!”

“But I’ll say this upfront!”

“I’ll go—but you must come with me!”

“You lead!”

“Once we reach the netherworld, I’ll act to retrieve the soul!”

He Pingsheng immediately refused: “Wait, what are you joking about?”

“I’m only Mahayana Emperor realm—how can I enter?”

You’re hiring me to do a job, yet you’re dragging me along?

Jin Ku said: “Don’t think I don’t know your little scheme—once my soul leaves your body, you’ll immediately lock me outside your consciousness, and then, do you think you’ll resist the urge to strike me down?”

“To be honest, if I were Jin Ku, I’d take that chance and kill you too!”

He Pingsheng’s heart stirred: True.

If this old bastard actually succeeded in retrieving the soul, he himself would find it nearly impossible to resist acting.

“Besides, I’m a soul-body!”

“If I just wandered into the netherworld like this, the denizens there might detain me!”

“So no matter what, you must go to the netherworld!”

He Pingsheng weighed it carefully: “Fine.”

He hadn’t wanted to risk it, yet in the end, he had no choice.

“What if I perish?” He Pingsheng asked: “Will my soul immediately enter the Six Realms, or return to the Spirit Realm and reunite with my avatar?”

“Nonsense!” Jin Ku said: “The netherworld and our Spirit Realm are two separate worlds, connected only by an invisible Yellow River!”

“If you die, your soul cannot cross between these worlds!”

“Forget it—these are just my guesses. Let’s go!”

“Just be careful!”

When he first strengthened the [Six Realms Soul Snatching Technique], He Pingsheng had practiced it.

So now, activating it directly posed no issue.

He Pingsheng and Jin Ku inside him activated the technique nearly simultaneously.

Instantly, yin energy boiled and malevolent energy churned within the Nine You Heavens Abyss.

Terrifying scenes flickered before He Pingsheng’s eyes.

Then he saw a black river.

The river was pitch-black, save for a single beam of light—unknown in origin—falling upon the distant center of the current, trembling and rippling, revealing it as a river.

Without that shaft of celestial light, it would be impossible to tell it was a river at all.

“This is the Yellow River!” Jin Ku warned: “Among all realms, the netherworld is the most peculiar!”

“Within the netherworld flows a vast river, named the Yellow River!”

“And this Yellow River has countless tributaries, each stretching into a different world through the void!”

“The Spirit Realm has one!”

“The Small Spirit World has one too!”

“The Three Thousand Worlds—the Great, Middle, and Small Worlds—all have them!”

“The cultivation world naturally has one as well!”

He Pingsheng nodded.

He understood these basic facts.

Yet in some places, the Yellow River was invisible; in others, it could be seen with the naked eye.

For example, He Pingsheng had once visited a place called the [Netherworld Emperor Palace], which contained a Yellow River.

After all, the Netherworld Emperor Palace was itself a small world.

“Huh…” Looking at the river stretching open into the void before him, He Pingsheng took a deep breath: “We’re going to the netherworld, following this Yellow River the whole way?”

“Yes!” Jin Ku said: “Go upstream!”

“This Yellow River was summoned by your technique—only we two can see it!”

“Hurry through, don’t hesitate!”

“This portal will close soon!”

“Got it!” He Pingsheng moved his feet, speeding upstream along the river.

At first, there was no need to worry—they were still in the Spirit Realm.

The real danger came after leaving the Spirit Realm and entering the netherworld.

He Pingsheng moved with great speed.

Yet he also felt something strange.

He felt he’d flown less than a million li, yet suddenly crossed out of the Spirit Realm and into another realm.

The sensation of shifting between worlds was unmistakable.

“Huh…” He Pingsheng asked cautiously: “Have we reached the Netherworld?”

“Not yet!” Jin Ku said: “This is just ordinary void space—we must travel through it for a while before reaching the Netherworld!”

“You don’t need to fear.”

“The netherworld’s Yellow River is virtually endless—no one can guard every single branch!”

“If Bing Xuan passed through before, we should be fine too!”