Chapter 35: The Sectarian with a Secret Agenda and the Heartless Sect Master

How could this actually gather qi fortune?

Xiang Xuanqing stood inside the Hall of Zhenjue Tian Palace, his thoughts in disarray.

I just picked up a demon god’s skull and came back.

I patrolled the containment station once.

Then sat here and cultivated a spiritual treasure for a while.

How did I end up creating a major sect?

And even gathered the sect’s qi fortune!

Is this right?

Is this reasonable?

“This is utterly correct, utterly reasonable!” Inside Tai Sha Tian Palace, more than half the contained entities were studying the *Fengdu Code*.

The more they studied, the more excited they became; the more they recited it, the more fervent they grew.

This is truly the profound sound of the Dao, the ultimate truth!

How could we have missed it before? The warden—no, the Founder! The Founder’s *Fengdu Code* is so exquisite!

“Regretful indeed! If only we’d had this realization when we first arrived, how could we have ended up in this state!”

“This is absolutely true!”

“Had we repented in time, we might already be ghost gods of the Underworld.”

As the contained entities underwent self-liberation, they also felt a strange sense of loss.

Meng Huai, the god of Qiao Ming Mountain, witnessing this scene, enthusiastically shared his insights—yet deep inside, doubt arose.

“Are these guys actually serious?”

I’m special to the Dao—acting alone can strengthen me. What’s your reason?

You’re not seriously trying to join this damn Underworld, are you?

Inside the Blood Pool Hell.

Shengjiao’s senior brother Fu Zhu recited the true incantations of the *Fengdu Code* while observing the contained entities.

Only those contained entities deep within the special universes of Tai Sha Tian Palace hadn’t joined in.

Every single world, big or small, on the periphery echoed with the sound of scripture recitation.

Each more devout than the last.

It truly seemed they were converting to the Youming Sheng Sect.

“My goodness!”

Fu Zhu, seeing this sight, felt a chill run through him, his very soul trembling.

“Is the *Fengdu Code*’s transformative effect this monstrous?”

“Thank heaven I stayed vigilant and never truly accepted it.”

He agreed to form this Youming Sheng Sect and willingly took the role of senior brother—only to go along with the flow, seeking some amusement to relieve boredom.

Otherwise, constantly resisting the erosion of the Blood Pool Hell was still quite stressful.

Fu Zhu quietly observed the Fire Sea Hell.

Meng Huai remained enthusiastically analyzing the Code, with post-Dao script characters continuously springing forth from the Fire Sea Hell.

He faithfully played the role of the second senior brother, spreading the teachings.

“Meng Huai is definitely watching too!” Fu Zhu saw through him clearly.

He had proposed Meng Huai as the Founder, but that slippery bastard never fell for it.

Instead, he dragged the warden in and elevated him as Founder, then turned around and pushed Fu Zhu to the front as senior brother, while he himself took the position of second senior brother.

In the Stone Mill Hell, the spirit who had shouted the slogans most enthusiastically was now the calmest inside.

He had just followed the rhythm set by senior brother Fu Zhu and second senior brother Meng Huai to establish the internal system and organizational structure of the Youming Sheng Sect.

He had even selected the sect’s sacred artifact—Tai Sha Tian Palace.

“All Youming Sect followers are imprisoned inside—doesn’t that make it the sacred artifact of the sect?”

The spirit in the Stone Mill Hell chuckled softly.

Anything contained within Tai Sha Tian Palace by Xiang Xuanqing—how could it be simple?

All of them have eighty thousand tricks. (Except the two Dao Lords.)

Even after severe erosion, they hadn’t lost their intelligence entirely.

Basic judgment was still intact.

All of them had joined together to stage this whole spectacle—sect, scripture, and all—simply to test the waters, to see if they could find a chance to escape.

As for those who truly converted themselves…

“You’re our pathfinders!”

At this moment, more than half the contained entities shared nearly identical thoughts.

“If any true disciple succeeds in becoming a ghost god, I’ll wait and see the warden’s reaction before making my decision!”

The spirit in the Stone Mill Hell made up his mind—he knew the odds were slim, but… what if?

If it truly worked, it would prove the ghost god path was viable.

Then he could smoothly transition himself along with it.

After all, it couldn’t possibly get worse than his current situation.

Each contained entity, harboring secret agendas, pretended to be Youming Sheng Sect disciples—painfully, yet joyfully.

And then…

And then, the mysterious qi fortune arrived.

At the very moment Xiang Xuanqing sensed the qi fortune’s reinforcement, they sensed it too.

“No way…”

Meng Huai, Fu Zhu, the spirit in the Stone Mill Hell, and more than half the acting contained entities froze in unison.

Did we accidentally make this real?

“Holy shit, this actually works?”

The originator, Meng Huai, was utterly stunned—he had already felt the qi fortune’s feedback.

Even a trace of qi fortune growth was enough to prove that this Youming Sheng Sect, born from their chaotic tinkering, had truly succeeded!

The most ecstatic were those spirits who had genuinely repented and achieved self-liberation.

“Confess and be lenient, resist and be harsh—the Founder has not deceived us!” “Our sincere hearts are witnessed by the Dao!”

“Wonderful! The qi fortune’s reinforcement proves the Founder recognizes us!” (Xiang Xuanqing: I didn’t, I didn’t, don’t make things up!)

The assembled converts wept uncontrollably.

Overcome with emotion, they shouted aloud: “The Dao shines bright, the Holy Sect glows glorious; Only our Youming, its qi fortune shall endure forever!”

In stark contrast stood the silence of Meng Huai and the others.

They sat motionless in the hells, stunned.

They asked themselves soul-deep questions.

“Why is this happening?”

They had envisioned countless possibilities.

Scenarios where fellow prisoners were fully liberated, where contained entities transformed into ghost gods, even where Xiang Xuanqing flew into rage and increased their punishments.

But they never imagined the Youming Sheng Sect would truly be established!

“Could it be because of the sect’s sacred artifact?” The spirit in the Stone Mill Hell keenly sensed the changes in Tai Sha Tian Palace.

They, the prisoners, had received qi fortune.

Then the sacred artifact of the sect—Tai Sha Tian Palace—must also have received qi fortune, and plenty of it!

Moreover, Meng Huai and the others noticed another problem: the spirits who had converted to Youming received even more qi fortune than they did.

“We’re done!”

“We’re completely done!”

“The warden’s damn Underworld might actually have a future!”

Meng Huai, Fu Zhu, and the other contained entities with varied motives suddenly thought of many things.

They were all great beings, primordial deities—they still had the discernment they needed.

Even if they couldn’t yet understand why the Youming Sheng Sect had succeeded, they could already see much.

For example, joining the Underworld was undoubtedly a good path.

Or more precisely—allying with Xiang Xuanqing was the right choice!

Once they understood this point,

they realized they felt no joy as they had imagined.

Instead, their hearts were filled with endless bitterness.

Did they not want to live?

No.

If they didn’t want to live, they wouldn’t have staged this whole act.

Was it hatred toward Xiang Xuanqing that caused this?

A little, but not much.

More than anything, it was because they couldn’t let go.

They are primordial deities, born of the Dao; whether their initial motives for scheming and killing against Xiang Xuanqing and Ming He were noble or base, they fought for the Dao!

This has nothing to do with right or wrong, only superiority and inferiority.

Later, they became trapped here, originally believing they had long since let go.

But when the moment arrived, they realized they still had not truly released it.

In the Fire Sea Hell, Meng Huai, disheartened, muttered: “Damn Pan Gu! Right now, I should be laughing! I should be laughing out loud like them!”

“But I can’t laugh!”

In the Blood Pool Hell, Fu Zhu felt the bolstering of destiny, yet felt a strange sense of loss.

“Warden, warden, admitting you were right is harder than killing me!”

In the Stone Mill Hell, the deities who had already made up their minds now writhed in torment.

As the stone mill ground down again and again, they counted silently in their hearts.

BOOM~

“I surrender.”

BOOM~

“I won’t surrender.”

BOOM~

“I surrender.”

BOOM~

“I won’t surrender~”

……

Tap tap tap~~

When they saw the figure in black robes step once more into Tai Sha Heavenly Palace.

Meng Huai and the others finally made their decision.

Damn Pan Gu!

We’ve already lost so badly, what’s left to hold onto?

“Warden! We surrender!”

“We are willing to become ghost deities, sincerely revering you as our Sect Master, obeying your commands, and submitting to Youming!”

Xiang Xuanqing frowned: “Surrender?”

“Who gave you permission to surrender?”

“And when did I ever promise to accept you as ghost deities of Youming?”

“Stop making up your own assumptions!”

This barrage of questions left Meng Huai and the others stunned.

Damn it, we overacted.

The warden never actually made any promises!

It was all our own delusions.

Damn!

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(End of Chapter)