Chapter 743: Walker of the Underworld, the Martial Exhibition Approaches (Combined Chapter)

"This place…"

Li Yuan tried to send out a few demonic shadows to fly toward the surroundings, but only heard a few 'hiss-hiss' sounds; the moment the demonic shadows left his body, they were erased by an invisible, strange force.

Even when he focused his spirit to the utmost, he did not perceive how the demonic shadows had vanished.

"The Underworld…"

Li Yuan forced himself to calm down and walked slowly toward the end of the bluestone path.

Silence.

This place was terrifyingly still; Li Yuan could not even hear his own footsteps. He reached toward his waist and found that the Underworld token he had tossed out was, at some unknown moment, already hanging at his waist.

【Underworld Walker: Qi Qi Zhili (First-Tier Walker)】

【Great Yin Virtue: Ten】

【Minor Yin Virtue: Eighteen Thousand】

"Underworld Walker?"

Pinching the token, Li Yuan quickened his pace. Before long, he had reached the end of the bluestone path.

Once there, his field of view suddenly opened wide.

Beyond the path was a broad square of rammed yellow earth, covering roughly thirty or forty mu. At its very center stood an ancient, desolate, tower-like bamboo building.

All the light in this place came from that bamboo building.

"Underworld Tower!"

The instant he saw this bamboo building, all manner of information welled up in Li Yuan's mind.

The Underworld, the Underworld Tower, the Underworld Walker…

The flood of information flashed by in an instant, yet it was as if it had been branded directly into his mind, letting him understand everything naturally.

The Underworld, an ancient power inherited from the Primeval Epoch, existing between the present world and the Opening Gui Xu. Only those who complete the Xing Ji Gong may enter this place and become an Underworld Walker.

Underworld Walkers may, through the Underworld as a waypoint, enter the Opening Gui Xu and the many dimensional otherworlds of the present world. Those who perform rites for the Lord of the Great Underworld may obtain all manner of creation.

The Underworld Tower, then, is where the Walkers dwell.

"A power hidden in the shadows, whose purpose is to welcome back the Lord of the Great Underworld?"

Li Yuan gathered the information and roughly understood.

Only…

"Welcoming back the Lord of the Great Underworld with such fanfare—could the Dao Lords and Heavenly Masters really not know?"

Muttering to himself, Li Yuan walked toward that bamboo building.

This bamboo building was quite ancient and unadorned, a single dark-yellow hue, dotted with specks of starlight. Its eaves curled up like phoenix wings, with bronze wind chimes hanging at the tips, and its body was covered in many patterns.

On closer inspection, one could faintly see the shadows of divine beasts: Phoenix, Azure Dragon, Bai Hu, Torch Dragon, and others.

To the left and right of the bamboo building's main door stood a stone stele, each about three zhang tall, inscribed with all manner of text that flickered in various colors and kept shifting.

"These are… tasks one can take?"

Li Yuan looked at the stele on the left, his expression somewhat odd.

【First-Tier Walker: Qi Qi Zhili】

【First-Tier Task: Present-World Rite. No limit on count, no limit on time. Performing the rite once yields ten Great Yin Virtue and thirteen thousand Minor Yin Virtue.】

【First-Tier Task: Recruitment. Guide one person of seventh-tier talent or above to perform the rite and join the Underworld. Yields ten Great Yin Virtue and three thousand Minor Yin Virtue…】

【First-Tier Task: Opening Gui Xu Rite. No limit on count, no limit on time. Performing the rite once yields ten Great Yin Virtue and eighteen thousand Minor Yin Virtue.】

【Complete three First-Tier Tasks to advance to Second-Tier, yielding one hundred Great Yin Virtue and one hundred thousand Minor Yin Virtue.】

On the left stele, the text was sparse.

There were only three tasks in total: Otherworld Rite, Present-World Rite, and Recruitment.

"If there's a first tier, there must be second and third…"

Li Yuan committed it to memory, then turned to look at the stele on the right.

Unlike the left one, the right stele was densely covered in text, still shifting and changing without pause, and was divided into two sections: Tasks and Exchange.

"The tasks on this stele seem to have been posted by other Walkers? Like… bounties from an assassin organization?"

Li Yuan examined the information on this stele in detail. After only a few glances, he spotted a bounty that seemed somewhat familiar.

【Bounty: Assassinate Xu Yu Xuanji, the current Grand Preceptor of the Purple Tenuity Divine Dynasty. One hundred Great Yin Virtue, two hundred thousand Minor Yin Virtue. Restricted to Walkers of Second-Tier or above.】

【Note: Xu Yu Xuanji has long since reached the peak of the Fifth Realm and already possesses the foundation to forge a Dharma Heaven…】

"Purple Tenuity Divine Dynasty's Xu Yu Xuanji—seems to be that Xu Xu Xunyi's Laozi?"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, discovering that there were actually over a dozen bounties on this Purple Tenuity Grand Preceptor, ranging from a minimum of ten Great Yin Virtue to over a hundred.

He swept his gaze across and found that the Tasks section could be further subdivided into 'Present World' and 'Opening Gui Xu'.

Indeed, on this stele there were not only bounties targeting the present world, but also bounties targeting the various realms of the Opening Gui Xu, and the latter were far, far more numerous than the former.

Beyond assassinations, there were also bounties for items, great medicines, spirit treasures, and so on—exceedingly complex.

And the scope was enormous…

【Bounty: Reincarnation Pool. Reward to be discussed in person.】

【Note: The Reincarnation Pool is the Dao-Proving Treasure of Wan Kun Mu Zhu, one of the twelve Wu Shen of the Wu Shen Fa Jie. Walkers below the Eighth Tier, do not seek your own death…】

"Good heavens, someone actually dares to set their sights on a Wu Shen's Dao-Proving Treasure!"

Li Yuan drew in a sharp breath.

The Opening Gui Xu was vast and boundless, its dimensional otherworlds as numerous as the stars in the sky. The Wu Shen Fa Jie was one of the nine supreme realms of the Opening Gui Xu, a colossal power entrenched in the depths of the Opening Gui Xu since the Primeval Epoch.

And the name Wan Kun Mu Zhu—he had seen it before, in the Zang Guan Mi Jing. A supreme overlord who had proven their Dao before the Sixth Epoch of Origin!

"Is the Underworld's foundation really this deep?"

Glancing at the task that had clearly already been taken, Li Yuan clicked his tongue inwardly. Then he discovered that the nerve of these Underworld Walkers was simply sky-high.

It was not only the Mother Lord of Wan Kun, but also Yan Huang, Ju Cang, and even the name of the legendary leader of the Twelve Wu Gods, Di Qiong, that appeared within the mission zones.

However, there were no bounties directly targeting the Wu Gods—at most, they were related to the treasures through which those beings had proven their Dao. Even so, it made Li Yuan's scalp prickle.

It was no empty saying that one must avoid naming the venerable directly; before this, he had never seen anyone anywhere dare to openly list the titles of such titans.

【Bounty: Shan Xuan Huang World Tree, reward to be negotiated】

【Note: The Shan Xuan Huang World Tree is the mother tree of the Shan Xuan Huang Great World, bearing the Shan Xuan Huang San Qian Shi Fa Jie upon itself, possessing unfathomable might. For this bounty, accepting the task of delivering a single root-origin wood will suffice】

【Note: The Shan Xuan Huang World Tree is nearing revival; Wanderers below the sixth rank are advised not to disturb it】

"The Shan Xuan Huang World Tree!"

Li Yuan committed every word and line of these mission notes to memory. He found that the value of this mission zone was extremely high, and much of the intelligence was deeply hidden.

Bounties concerning the Shan Xuan Huang World Tree numbered in the thousands.

From Shan Xuan Huang wood to its leaves, to the cultivators of the Shan Xuan Huang realms favored by the tree, to that Yellow Springs water and the like—it could truly be called all-encompassing.

Moreover, many of those missions were marked as completed.

"Wu Shen Fa Jie, Shan Xuan Huang Fa Jie, Tian Mo Fa Jie, Xian Yang Fa Jie…"

Li Yuan stood before the stone stele for a long while, reading through them one by one.

Among them, he saw 'Shi Li Fa Jie'.

【Bounty: Shi Li Xing Ji—no time limit, no attempt limit. Send a single fourth-realm cultivator into Shi Li Fa Jie, and you may receive one Major Yin De merit and ten thousand Minor Yin De merits】

【Note: Shi Li Fa Jie is on the verge of perishing; fifth-realm cultivators must not enter without authorization…】

【Note: This bounty is long-term issued by the seventh-rank Wanderer 'Daoist Yuan Ming'; negotiations possible…】

"Daoist Yuan Ming!"

Li Yuan noted this name, well aware that this man was the great cultivator of the nether realm behind Shi Li Fa Jie:

"A seventh-rank Wanderer?"

The Wanderer ranks of the Nether Hall had nothing to do with cultivation realm; they depended purely on the number of Xing Ji performed. But anyone who could reach the seventh rank of Wanderer had to be at least a Ba Jing cultivator, or even a Jiu Jing cultivator.

【Bounty: Wei Tian Yan Wu】

【Note: The various Wei Tian Dao Sects' martial exhibition draws near, but no one knows which otherworldly realm will be chosen. Those with intelligence may negotiate the reward…】

"These bounties really do cover everything…"

Li Yuan read with great interest. After one full circuit, he felt his understanding of the Gui Xu otherworldly realms had risen by a great leap.

He had also gathered a great heap of intelligence on all manner of great medicines, exotic treasures, rare marvels, and their places of origin.

At the very end of this zone, he saw 'Assassination Bounties'.

Of course, they targeted the powerful experts and prodigies within the Gui Xu otherworldly realms.

Among them, the one sitting atop the bounty list was someone Li Yuan found very familiar.

【Bounty: Yan Bo Diao Sou】

【Note: This wretch hails from the Shan Xuan Huang realm, once favored by the Shan Xuan Huang World Tree, a Dao Sovereign-grade titan…】

"An old bastard hated by all."

Li Yuan counted and found that this old bastard's bounties numbered over ten thousand; the accumulated Yin De merits made him the undisputed number one.

Next came such otherworldly titans as the Daoist of Five Decays, the Ancient Demon of Original Sin, Elder Bai Shen, and the Dragon-Tooth Dharma King.

"The otherworldly realms are truly crowded with mighty experts."

Li Yuan committed the many notes to memory one by one, then Yu Yu Xuanji looked toward the present-world bounty interface and found that the missions here were also terrifying.

【Bounty: Da Luo Tu Lu】

【Note: The Dao-proving treasure of the Grand Luo Heaven Ancestor. Ninth-rank Wanderers only—do not seek your own death…】

"…"

Seeing the Da Luo Tu Lu, Li Yuan could not help but twitch at the corner of his eye: "What nerve—even the Ancestor's Dao-proving treasure has a bounty on it… A ninth-rank Wanderer, wouldn't that be Dao Sovereign-grade?"

There were Dao Sovereign-grade Wanderers within the Nether Hall.

Li Yuan was not surprised by this.

According to the information that surfaced in his mind, the Nether Hall had never perished—in the most ancient times it was so, through the Seventy-Two Eras of Origin it was so, and so it remains today.

That there were Dao Sovereign-grade Wanderers across the eons-long passage of billions of years did not surprise him either.

"The present-world bounties are even more numerous."

Reading through them one by one, Li Yuan found that the present-world bounties were on an even larger scale, covering everything from the various Heavenly Lords to the various Dao Sovereigns; the ancient gods of the present world were all on the list as well.

For instance, the gods he was familiar with—'Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva', 'Red-Haired Buddha', 'Hundred-Arm Daoist', 'Sword Spirit God', 'Thousand-Yin Dharma Lord'… and others.

【Bounty: Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva, reward to be negotiated】

【Note: This god is extremely ancient, suspected to have lived out an incomplete second life, and suspected to have thereby forgotten all past affairs. His great Dao bears wounds; upon reaching Ba Jing he could advance no further, so he seeks his own death, hoping to attain a complete third life…】

"Suspected to have lived out a second life?"

Li Yuan's heart stirred slightly with shock.

Cultivators who lived out a second life after their lifespan ended had always been few since ancient times; those with an incomplete second life were even fewer.

According to the intelligence he had gathered, an incomplete second life would cause one to forget all memories of past lives—like reincarnating without memory—and with ill fortune one might even suffer a violent death before entering the Dao.

An incomplete second life who had cultivated to Ba Jing and still intended to live out a third life…

"This old ghost is also very dangerous…"

Li Yuan's gaze darkened slightly as he recalled the Thousand-Eye Bodhisattva.

The last time he had fished for the Blood Phoenix, he had glimpsed this old ghost's movements—he too had been swallowed into the Blood Phoenix's belly, yet somehow had concealed himself from that Ling Ji old monk, and even that great Vajra had not noticed.