Chapter 258: Three-Eyed Spirit, Lord of Mount Tai
Cold, freezing cold!
Although the water of the Styx is not as freezing as the Yellow Spring, it also contains terrifying Yin energy, which penetrates into people's limbs and bones through the pores. Even those with amazing blood and energy will become as stiff as ice after a long time.
However, Li Daoxuan was protected by the Ksitigarbha cassock and his cultivation was not weak, so he was able to withstand the coldness of the Styx.
As he continued to sink, there was no light around him and he fell into complete darkness. Even Li Daoxuan's heavenly eye had its field of vision affected.
Many evil spirits lurking in the River Styx began to stir. They kept swimming around Li Daoxuan like rotten mermaids, with crazy desire in their eyes.
But the Ksitigarbha cassock on Li Daoxuan emitted a rich Buddhist light, and any evil spirit that dared to approach would scream in agony as if being baked by the sun.
Ten feet, fifty feet, one hundred feet...
An unknown amount of time had passed, but in the cold and darkness, Li Daoxuan had already sunk thousands of feet.
More and more evil spirits gathered around him, even blocking the bright Buddha's light. Li Daoxuan discovered that as the depth increased, the evil spirits he encountered became more powerful.
Among the group of ghosts, he even felt the aura of the Yin God Realm.
When sinking to seven thousand feet, the water pressure had become extremely terrifying. Even with the protection of Ksitigarbha's robe, Li Daoxuan felt a little breathless. Fortunately, he was proficient in the Five Elements Escape Technique. With the operation of his water-based magical power, the pressure around him suddenly decreased a lot.
At eight thousand feet, he began to feel a blockage.
It was as if a mysterious force was pushing him upwards, not wanting him to reach the bottom.
Like a giant whale breathing.
Li Daoxuan's heart moved and he realized that he was almost reaching the bottom of the water.
He silently used his magical powers to control the heavens and the earth, and his body suddenly became several dozen feet in size and sank forcefully.
Nine thousand feet!
Li Daoxuan finally reached the bottom. The cold touch was slightly soft, like the mud at the bottom of a river. Before he could observe it, his eyes suddenly blurred and his mind began to become confused.
Bang!
When the gavel sounded, Li Daoxuan was shocked. When he came to his senses, he found that he was not at the bottom of the river, but in a magnificent court.
This was definitely not a court in the human world. The walls were shaped like white jade and the two sides were decorated with colorful glazed tiles. Real dragons were hovering on the pillars. The civil and military officials in the hall were all celestial beings with high cultivation.
Li Daoxuan even saw the Ten Kings of Hell and the Five Ghost Emperors.
Sitting upright in the courtroom was a man dressed in a colorful robe and wearing a crown on his head. He was radiant with divine light and had a majestic appearance, especially his eyes, which seemed to see through the world and the cycle of life and death.
The moment he saw his appearance, Li Daoxuan's heart was shocked and a name emerged in his mind.
Lord of Mount Tai, Emperor Dongyue!
In the underworld, above the ghost generals are the Ten Kings of Hell, above the Kings of Hell are the Five Ghost Emperors, and above the Ghost Emperors is the Lord of Mount Tai, the Great Emperor of Dongyue!
It was recorded in the "Diagram of True Spirits' Karma" that the Lord of Mount Tai was the supreme controller of the underworld, in charge of the life and death cycle of all living beings. He was like an emperor in the world of the living, with a very high status. Even the founder of Mount Mao, Mao Ying, the Great Mao Zhenjun, was under his command, serving as the Siming Dongyue Shang Zhenqing.
"Ma Lingguan, why are you wandering in spirit?"
The majestic gaze of Emperor Dongyue fell on Li Daoxuan, bringing him great pressure.
Li Daoxuan looked at the official robe on himself and was stunned. I am... Lord Horse?
Lord Ma Wangye is the horse god, commonly known as Lord Ma Wang. His full name is "Water and Grass Horse Mingwang", also known as "Lingguan Ma Yuanshuai". Legend has it that he has three eyes, hence the names "Three-eyed Lingguang" and "Three-eyed Lingyao".
A memory came to his mind.
I am the spiritual official Ma Yuanshuai. Because I drank a few extra cups of fine wine last night, I fell asleep during the court meeting today. I was snoring loudly, which caused the Emperor to blame me.
As for Li Daoxuan's experience, it began to become vague, as if it was quickly forgotten after waking up from a dream.
Who am I?
Li Daoxuan, Heavenly Eye, and the Underworld...
Is it really just Zhuang Zhou's dream of being a butterfly?
Seeing that Li Daoxuan remained silent for a long time, Emperor Dongyue's gaze revealed supreme majesty, pressing on him like a mountain.
"Ma Lingguan, do you admit your guilt?"
The sound was like thunder, echoing in Li Daoxuan's ears for a long time, with a breathtaking power.
At the same time, all the civil and military gods looked at Li Daoxuan in unison, with warnings, anxiety, concern, or confusion in their eyes. In short, they were all suggesting that Li Daoxuan should kneel down and confess his guilt.
Under the pressure from everyone, Li Daoxuan actually felt very nervous. He bent his knees slightly, as if he was going to kneel down and apologize.
However, he frowned, feeling that something was not right.
The next moment, a bright sword light appeared before his eyes, as if it had cut through the layers of clouds and revealed the blue sky!
Pure Yang sword intent!
Li Daoxuan straightened his back, suddenly opened his third eye between his eyebrows, and stared straight at the extremely majestic Emperor Dongyue.
“Bold!”
"Ma Lingguan, are you crazy?"
"Emperor, please calm down!"
…
The court meeting was in chaos and the immortals were terrified.
Li Daoxuan laughed loudly and looked around. His eyes had regained clarity and all the forgotten memories came back to him, allowing him to distinguish what was true and what was false, what was imaginary and what was real.
Under the gaze of the Heavenly Eye, Emperor Dongyue stood still as a mountain, his expression calm, and he just sighed softly.
"Why do you have to do this?"
As his voice rang out, all the dignitaries around him quickly disappeared. It turned out that it was all just a dream.
Even the Great Emperor Dongyue had changed. His majestic face had turned ugly, and his colorful fairy clothes had turned into a sinister black robe. It seemed as if there were pairs of eyes on the robe, looming, secretly observing Li Daoxuan.
Li Daoxuan looked at his face, his eyes lit up, and said with a smile: "It's you, Xu Du!"
The one who appeared before him was not the Great Emperor of Dongyue, nor the monster of the Styx, but the Lord of the Underworld, the Ghost King with Empty Dull!
Li Daoxuan had seen him before, and they looked exactly the same, so there was no way he was wrong.
The hollow-bellied ghost king sighed, his eyes were extremely deep, and he said: "You want to kill me, so I will leave my real body for you to kill. You dive into the Styx, and I will spare no effort to create a perfect illusion for you. There you can be ranked among the immortals, live forever, and enjoy all the joys of the three realms. Why do you want to come out?"
"Is it really that important whether one practices for a lifetime or not, real or illusory?"
“Of course it’s important!”
Li Daoxuan said firmly: "Because there are people waiting for me to come back."
Xudu was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and smiled, his eyes full of sarcasm.
"Eternal life is a lonely road. Even the immortals who were once high and mighty will one day vanish into thin air. Li Daoxuan, you are destined to be on a different path from most people. If that is the case, why should you cling to a temporary feeling?"
If our paths are different, we cannot work together.
Li Daoxuan did not continue to argue with him, but asked: "Xu Du Ghost King, now it seems that I can no longer leave the Styx. In this case, can you help me answer some of my questions?"
The hollow-bellied Ghost King in front of him gave Li Daoxuan an extremely terrifying feeling, although the other party seemed to be able to communicate normally and was even somewhat polite, as if he was not a ghost king but a teacher.
But whenever Li Daoxuan met his deep and dark eyes, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his bones.
Xudu smiled slightly, revealing his pale teeth, and said, "Why should I help you solve your doubts?"
Li Daoxuan was not afraid either. He stretched his hand to his forehead, and a hint of ferocity appeared in his eyes.
If you want to subdue the Empty-Dulled Ghost King and get more information, you have to be more ruthless than him!
"Haha, your divine eyes are indeed good, but if you want to deal with me, you still——"
Xudu's words came to an abrupt end. He looked at Li Daoxuan quietly, his pupils slightly condensed. It was obvious that what Li Daoxuan did was beyond his expectations.
Li Daoxuan inserted his finger between his eyebrows and gouged out his third eye alive, with blood splattering all around.
There was pain in his eyes, but more of it was ferocity. The evil in his heart was constantly being aroused, like a wolf ready to fight for its life.
"You want it?"
Li Daoxuan held the bloody Heavenly Eye in his hand, and said with a twisted smile, "When we were talking just now, you looked at my Heavenly Eye six times. Since the Void-Bellied Ghost King who loves thigh meat is so concerned about it, it seems that this thing is quite tempting to you."
Xudu looked at him deeply and said, "If I swallow you, I can also get the Heavenly Eye."
Li Daoxuan pinched his fingers and chanted a spell, and a wisp of dancing flame appeared in the palm of his hand, surrounding the Heavenly Eye.
"Answer my question, or I'll burn it to ashes!"
The Hollow-Bellied Ghost King revealed a meaningful smile, and there was actually some admiration in his eyes as he looked at Li Daoxuan.
"Interesting. With your ruthlessness, if you are willing to serve under me, you will be a real talent."
Li Daoxuan stared at him closely and said, "I will only ask you three questions. After you ask me three questions, I will give you the Heavenly Eye!"
Xudu pointed his finger and a coffee table appeared. He sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and said slowly, "Interesting. I haven't met someone as interesting as you in a long time. I really don't want to eat you."
"Well, ever since I abandoned my true body and sank into this bottomless abyss, I haven't spoken to anyone for a long time. You can ask me. Whether I answer or not depends entirely on my mood."
Li Daoxuan asked the first question.
"Is the hollow belly in Yinshan fake?"
Xu Du took a sip of tea and said calmly, "It is not easy to distinguish whether it is real or not, and it is even impossible to define it at all."
"You think that the hollow belly in Yinshan is fake, but he does possess my real body, which is how he can hide it from Qingyi. But if you say he is real, his soul is incomplete."
Li Daoxuan's eyes lit up, and he said, "So you used some secret method to split your Yang Shen. Most of your Yang Shen dived into the Styx, waiting to transcend the calamity, while the remaining Yang Shen occupied your real body, acting as a cover, and was pushed out by you to resist the human calamity!"
He finally figured it out. When the Queen saw the empty belly in Yinshan, she discovered that he seemed to have cut off his own cultivation. In fact, what he cut off was not his cultivation, but his Yangshen soul!
But because the other party was occupying the real body, the Empress said it was not a clone.
The reason why the refining of the Supreme Golden Liquid failed was because the empty belly in the Xuanyuan Ding meant that the Yang Spirit was missing, and even a lot of it was missing!
Xudu did not give a direct answer, but looked at Li Daoxuan with more appreciation and said, "You are very smart."
"The second question is, your soul has been split and you have lost your true body. You are now weak. How can you survive the heavenly tribulation?"
Xudu smiled slightly, and with a wave of his hand, he ended the illusion.
Suddenly, the icy cold Styx enveloped Li Daoxuan again, and the flame in his hand quickly went out.
Li Daoxuan's body was stiff and motionless, as if he was fixed in place.
Countless ghost hands grabbed him.
This time, there is no more Buddha's light to protect, because Ksitigarbha's robe is in the hands of the Hollow-bellied Ghost King.
He looked at Li Daoxuan and said with a smile: "You are stalling for time and trying to gather information. Why don't I take advantage of your situation and get the cassock back?"
