Chapter 8: The Two Daoists in Gui Xu

"Is it an enemy?"

"A friend." At least for now.

Xiang Xuanqing examined the bubble-like image floating in the chaotic, formless void—a massive gate.

"Is something wrong?" The goddess leaned closer, her beautiful eyes blinking lightly: "I studied it carefully when he sent it over; it seems fine."

"Not necessarily." Xiang Xuanqing’s gaze was deep; he saw weathered marks of eons carved upon the gate. "What if I told you he sent this from the very beginning of creation?"

"You mean..." The goddess widened her eyes, then witnessed a shocking sight: as Xiang Xuanqing pierced the bubble, an ancient, peerless aura leaked from the gate—and through it, she saw an axe blade!

An axe blade that cleaved through chaos!

Infinite slaughter condensed into a single stroke; blood and storm surged forth, chaos boiled, wrath and malevolence rolled like black tides swallowing heaven and earth, the entire universe enveloped by a savage will.

"Boom!"

Just as the goddess feared the Creation Axe would strike without mercy, the Ghost Gate closed in time.

"Don’t worry—it’s only an imprint." Xiang Xuanqing instantly refined the Ghost Gate, gazing at the gate hovering in his palm, deeply suspecting that the previous scene had been deliberately arranged by Hong Jun.

This imprint of the Creation Axe was a scene Hong Jun had witnessed firsthand at the dawn of creation; he sealed it within the Ghost Gate and sent it across infinite time and space to the Ming Jie.

He probably waited for Xiang Xuanqing to master the Ghost Gate to deliver this "surprise."

"You scared me to death~" The goddess beside him patted her chest, exhaling in relief. Though separated by infinite time and space, she had no doubt that if the divine might of the Creation Axe’s light were unleashed, the Three Thousand Great Dreams would shatter instantly.

"Do all your friends give gifts like this?" The startled goddess eyed the Ghost Gate with a hint of resentment. "What kind of friend is this? So unreliable."

"Absolutely unreliable!" Xiang Xuanqing smiled. Combined with Hong Jun’s earlier words urging him to think carefully, this was surely a display of power.

This time it was a harmless imprint—but next time?

"Hong Jun, I look forward to our next meeting." Xiang Xuanqing silently spoke within his heart, this time not using "Pangu’s Mechanics" to shield himself—he believed Hong Jun could hear.

Deep within Gui Xu.

Two young Daoists lounged calmly in a patch of empty space, each holding a fishing rod, having waited there for some time.

Suddenly, one Daoist opened his eyes. "Sigh, young people just can’t sit still—why take it so seriously?"

"What? Is little Fengdou unhappy?"

The other Daoist remained motionless, focused entirely on his rod. "I say, old man, you’re just bored. If you’re going to send something, just send it. Why stage such a show? Of course he’s not happy."

"I just wanted to give the young man a glimpse," the young Hong Jun chuckled. "This trip of ours wasn’t easy—demons, Pangu... we finally cultivated to Da Luo. Shouldn’t we share it with someone?"

"Besides, the imprint of the Creation Axe is rare. I went to great lengths to seal it within the Ghost Gate—it’s nice to have as a collection, to admire when idle."

"And who knows? Maybe I’ll even gain insight into Pangu’s Dao—perhaps even learn a move or two."

The young Yang Mei glanced at Hong Jun coolly: "Learn a move or two? When little Fengdou uses it to chop you, you’ll be quiet."

"Not possible!" The young Hong Jun was confident. "Friend Fengdou is a man of principle—I gave him a gift, after all."

"A gift? You’re just flattering yourself." The young Yang Mei sneered. "That thing belonged to the Ming Jie to begin with—you just stole it early. Now returning it counts as a gift?"

"You’re wrong," the young Hong Jun frowned. "What do you mean ‘stole early’? I took it!"

"I took it by my own merit from the Divine Peach Tree—what’s wrong with using it? I obtained it first; that proves it has affinity with me!"

"Yes, yes, yes—every primordial treasure in the Hong Huang has affinity with you!"

The young Yang Mei couldn’t stand Hong Jun’s shameless arrogance—he wore a pile of treasures yet called himself "poor Daoist." If that counted as poverty, then every primordial deity in the Hong Huang should just give up living.

"Hey! You’re right—I really do have affinity with every primordial treasure in the Hong Huang!"

The young Hong Jun spoke solemnly: "I’ll tell you, when I’ve collected three thousand treasures, I won’t use them—I’ll just display them on my Chaos Stone as a collection."

Hearing this, the young Yang Mei rolled his eyes: "Perfect. When you finally have that collection, let me know—I’ll be the first to rob the rich and help the poor!"

"Oh? So confident? You’ve been sitting here all this time and haven’t even caught an island—still talking about robbing the rich?"

The young Yang Mei gripped his rod, glaring at Hong Jun: "Is it my fault I can’t catch an island? Isn’t it your fault for miscalculating the location? You said the Immortal Mountain was here—but it’s not!"

"How could I possibly be wrong? Five Immortal Mountains lie within Gui Xu."

"Pfft. So confident—and yet you’ve got nothing on your hook?"

The young Hong Jun said: "How can fishing be called ‘empty hook’?"

"All things have their yuanfa. When fate arrives, the catch comes naturally—no need to rush."

The Ming Jie.

After returning from the dream, Xiang Xuanqing waited for the results of his alchemy while studying the newly acquired Ghost Gate.

Generally speaking, a primordial treasure, like a primordial deity, is born of Heaven and Earth; regardless of rank, each possesses its own unique ability.

For example, wielding the God-Slaying Spear grants supreme offensive power; stepping on the Karma Fire Red Lotus renders one immune to any karma; possessing the Kunlun Mirror allows time-space travel; using the Pangu Banner unleashes Creation Sword Qi...

As the gateway of the Ming Jie, the Ghost Gate’s primary ability is to guide the dead of all worlds; its secondary ability is to suppress the Ming Jie.

As the first god of the Ming Jie, Xiang Xuanqing could fully wield his authority, combining it with the Ghost Gate’s power to seal all exits of the Ming Jie.

At that point, the location of the Ghost Gate would become the sole entrance and exit of the Ming Jie.

With it, anyone entering the Ming Jie must pass through the Ghost Gate.

"The first ability isn’t necessary now—but the second is quite useful." Xiang Xuanqing nodded. With this, he no longer needed to fear someone sneaking into his domain.

The Ming Jie currently has no need to guide souls from other worlds. As long as I carry the Ghost Gate on my person, who could slip into the Ming Jie?

Or, I could place a massive killing array behind the Ghost Gate and net every fool spying on the Ming Jie?

As he pondered, a sudden idea struck Xiang Xuanqing’s mind.

"Since the Ghost Gate can guide the dead of all worlds, could I use it to travel to any location across all worlds?"

Acting immediately, Xiang Xuanqing applied the concept of the "Any Door," attempting to reverse-engineer the Ghost Gate’s ability.

Then he reached out and clenched his hand toward the air.

A door handle appeared in Xiang Xuanqing’s palm.

Success!

The author’s previous novel, 2 million words completed, with a rather peculiar style—friends interested can check it out.

(End of Chapter)