Volume 6: Wangchuan Chapter 14: The Underworld
Lu Qingshan's main purpose of leaving the sect this time was to go to the underworld, and the idea of improving his swordsmanship was more like a bonus.
Among all the players in the previous life, there was a consensus.
Whenever there is an incident involving the presence of the shadow of the underworld, ninety-nine percent of the time there are cultivators from the underworld involved.
In addition, any event involving the underworld is never a small task, and the rewards are often rich and the consequences are very important.
In the game, such tasks often attract a large number of players.
The word "Underworld" is like a gene imprinted in the players' bodies. Once they hear it, they will instinctively become excited.
This was as Lu Qingshan expected, and this request for help was no different.
So when Ji Chuan mentioned that the underworld might be involved in this incident, he volunteered to participate without hesitation.
To use gaming terms, it means that Senior Brother Ji Chuan, who is number one on the Yellow List, is leading people to complete a big mission, and he is asking you whether you want to go or not?
Whether it is the weight of being the top of the Yellow List or the drive of the word "Underworld", they are enough to be the reason for Lu Qingshan to make this trip.
The so-called Yellow List is also known as the ranking list of fourth-level cultivators.
Tianjiguan monitors the world and its information is extremely well-informed and accurate.
The Yellow List is a ranking list of cultivators compiled by Tianji Temple.
He selected the strongest one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators from all four realms of the human race, ranked them, and made them public.
As for the basis for ranking, it is the known record and achievements of the monk.
In other words, this list cannot be guaranteed to be 100% accurate.
This is because even if there is a Nascent Soul cultivator with unparalleled combat power who can defeat a Void Refining cultivator, if he has been practicing in seclusion and not known to outsiders, his name will not appear on the Yellow List.
But generally speaking, it still has great reference value.
In fact, there are four ranking lists of such cultivators: Heaven, Earth, Xuan and Huang.
The Yellow List records the ranking of cultivators in the fourth realm, the Black List records the ranking of cultivators in the fifth realm, and so on, all the way up to the Heavenly List, which records the ranking of cultivators in the seventh realm.
As for the top of the four lists, the Sword Sect alone occupies two.
The Taibai Sword Master who is ranked first on the Heavenly List, and Ji Chuan who is ranked first on the Yellow List.
The reason why Ji Chuan can be ranked first on the Yellow List is also very clear.
Name: Jichuan
Ranking: First
Cultivation: Nascent Soul is perfect, and he has cultivated the Samsara Sword Intent at the Unity Realm (the true meaning of the origin), and the Five Elements Sword Intent at the Perfection Realm (five kinds, all of which are superior realms). He studied under Taibai Sword Master, who is at the top of the Heavenly Ranking. His swordsmanship is exquisite, and he is suspected to have cultivated both inside and outside. His natal sword is the top-grade Heavenly Weapon Green Waist.
Battle record: In Yazhou Evil Ridge, he wiped out the Vulture Evil Sect, which had two Void-Refining Monks; and killed the fifth-grade middle-stage demon king Jiuyou Beast with one sword.
Nickname: Haoran Sword
Identity: The current senior brother of the Eastern Sword Sect
…
However, from another perspective, the existence of these four lists seems to have provided the underworld with a lot of useful information, allowing the underworld to accurately kill the human genius monks according to the list.
This seems like extremely insane behavior.
Speaking of this, we have to mention the origin of the four lists.
Its source actually comes from the underworld.
At that time, it was also called the Underworld Bounty List.
The underworld is lurking among the human race, and it has a big mission, which is to find a way to eradicate the talented cultivators of the human race and kill their possibility of becoming powerful cultivators.
Therefore, the underworld has drawn up such a bounty list within the underworld based on the reputation and performance of human cultivators, covering human cultivators from the fourth to the seventh realm.
As for why the level of cultivation is limited to this range, the reason is very simple.
There are too many cultivators below the fourth realm, and it is difficult to see the general situation. There is no need to target them specifically, and it is impossible to target them.
Cultivators above the seventh realm have profound skills. If you want to kill them, you have to use all the power of the underworld. It cannot be done by one or two people, or a branch temple. Therefore, they are not included in the bounty list.
In addition, the bounty list not only includes an introduction to the human cultivator's outward strength and detailed description of his battle record, but also comes with a huge bounty.
This list was distributed to all the branch halls of the underworld and to all the monks of the underworld.
As long as a cultivator from the underworld kills a cultivator on the bounty list, he can receive the corresponding bounty.
It is obvious that those who can make it onto this list are all people with amazing means and superb strength in the same realm.
According to this list, the monks in the underworld acted very actively. For a time, people were in a panic, and many people were afraid that they were on the list.
Faced with this situation, the royal family of Daxia thought for a moment and made a decision. They simply did the opposite and changed the bounty list in the name of Tianji Temple and made it public.
With this clever move, he turned the panic of the human cultivators being listed on the bounty list of the underworld into great fame.
The human cultivators are no longer afraid of this, but take pride in it.
…
Before leaving the sect, Lu Qingshan made one last trip to Hengfeng.
Hengfeng is its official name. Its other common name passed down orally among the disciples of the Sword Sect can better reflect its function.
Treasure Peak.
This peak is the Sword Sect’s treasure trove of resources and the location of its classics.
Lu Qingshan has two goals, one is the martial arts technique, the other is the spiritual materials.
Although he is currently only in the late Jindan stage and seems to be far from the Yuanying stage, as long as he has experience points, these seemingly huge gaps are actually nothing.
When you are away from home, you are bound to encounter some unexpected situations. To be on the safe side, Lu Qingshan decided to apply for the Nascent Soul Technique first.
There are two halls on the top of Hengfeng Mountain, namely, the Hall of Investigating Things and the Hall of Achieving Knowledge.
You can tell its meaning from its name.
The Gewu Hall is the Hall of Spiritual Materials, and the Zhizhi Hall is the Hall of Techniques.
The Zhizhi Hall is actually a large complex of halls. What Lu Qingshan is looking for is the hall that is specifically responsible for the inheritance of the Jindan cultivators' skills.
When it comes to martial arts, the Sword Sect will not make things difficult for its disciples.
After much difficulty, we recruited people into the Sword Sect, but now they have to meet various conditions to learn the sect's skills. What's the point?
When Lu Qingshan entered the Hall of Inheritance, an old swordsman came to greet him.
"Disciple would like to apply for the Nascent Soul Technique of our sect." Lu Qingshan bowed and said.
After verifying Lu Qingshan's sword talisman, the old swordsman nodded slightly, turned and went into the hall. When he came out, a Taoist jade flew out of his hand.
"This jade contains the Nascent Soul Chapter of our sect's "Jie Tian Sword Sutra", which is the fundamental method for Jin Dan cultivators like you to advance to the Nascent Soul stage. Cultivation is the foundation of everything, so you should practice well and don't get too obsessed with the way of the sword and forget the importance of the method." The old sword cultivator encouraged with a warning.
At his age, he has experienced a lot.
Most of the people in the Sword Sect are sword fanatics, who are so obsessed with the sword that they neglect the practice of sword techniques. Over the years, he has seen quite a few such people.
Therefore, ever since he took over the affairs of Hengfeng Zhizhi Hall, whenever his disciples came to apply for martial arts, he would more or less say this.
He doesn't care whether it's useful or not, what matters most is peace of mind.
"Thank you, uncle-master, for your help." Lu Qingshan put away the Taoist Jade and bowed deeply to the old swordsman.
Cultivators like this old sword cultivator are all seniors who have not much time left and are willing to make their final contribution in the Sword Sect.
More monks, when their life span is coming to an end, will choose to indulge themselves in the mountains and rivers.
There is no right or wrong between the two, but we should respect the former.
The Gewu Hall is not far from the Zhizhi Hall.
After verifying the sword talisman, Lu Qingshan entered the Gewu Hall, feeling a little excited.
This is the treasure house of Dao Sect. How many people have seen it?
The first floor of the Gewu Hall is spacious and bright, much larger than it appears from the outside.
This is the mustard seed technique of the small world.
Compared with the unlimited inheritance of skills in the Zhizhi Hall, the restrictions in the Gewu Hall are much more stringent.
The reason is very simple. The price of spiritual materials in the Gewu Hall is extremely affordable, often 20% lower than that on the market.
If there were no restrictions, there would be disciples of our sect who would engage in the business of buying low and selling high, purchasing spiritual materials from the Gewu Hall at a low price and reselling them to monks from other sects at a high price.
To sum up, the limitation of the Gewu Hall is the word "quota".
The total price that each cultivator can pay for spiritual materials in the Gewu Hall shall not exceed a certain amount.
This total amount is the sum of the basic amount and the additional amount.
The basic amount depends on the monk's cultivation level.
The additional quota will be increased by completing some sect tasks or meeting some special conditions, such as being listed on the Yellow List.
Naturally, Lu Qingshan only had the basic quota at this time.
However, Jian Zong was still as generous and magnanimous as usual in his actions.
A Jindan cultivator actually only has a quota of five spirit crystals.
The goal of his trip was clear: the three spiritual materials: withered dragon wood, earth dragon essence, and mutton-fat white jade.
That is what is needed for the Peach Blossom Sword to advance to a top-grade heavenly weapon.
The three spiritual materials are all sixth-grade spiritual materials and are very valuable. In addition, the quantity Lu Qingshan requested is quite large, so even if the price is reduced by 30%, his share is still not enough.
Fortunately, Lu Qingshan had considered this situation before coming, and purchased an additional six spirit crystals from Ji Chuan at the price of two spirit crystals.
Remember, this is just the amount.
If Lu Qingshan wants these spiritual materials, he still has to provide the spiritual crystals himself.
The preciousness of the quota of the Sword Sect's Gewu Hall can be seen from this.
Of course, it is worth it. If Lu Qingshan were to search for it himself, I don’t know how long it would take to collect these three spiritual materials.
With enough money, Lu Qingshan waved his hand and spent the price of eight spirit crystals to finally prepare all the materials needed to upgrade the Peach Blossom Sword.
A total of ten spirit crystals were consumed.
These ten spirit crystals are roughly equal to the net worth of ten Nascent Soul cultivators.
To put it more intuitively, since the spiritual energy contained in the spirit crystal is extremely pure and in the form of crystal marrow, cultivators can use the spirit crystal to quickly practice and break through.
If a spirit crystal is fully absorbed, it can be converted into 50,000 experience points.
In other words, in the blink of an eye, Lu Qingshan spent another 500,000 experience points on the Peach Blossom Sword.
Fortunately, the Seven Realms Forum rewarded Lu Qingshan with one hundred spirit crystals, which enabled him to have the ability to support his family.
…
Eastern Region, Laozhou, Yuanfu, and Zangling.
The land here is withered and yellow, spreading out as far as the eye can see. The color is like a desert, and a sense of desolation rises.
Two figures were suspended in mid-air above a brown vein of minerals.
"We're here. This is our destination." Ji Chuan said to a male cultivator beside him who had an ordinary appearance, a restrained aura, and whose specific cultivation level could not be seen.
"The source of the stone orchid mine, the Qiu family..." The male cultivator looked down at the yellow color below and muttered to himself.
This male cultivator was naturally Lu Qingshan, who used the Night-Traveling Ancient Jade to conceal his identity.
After they passed through the sect's teleportation array and reached Laozhou, they headed straight here.
The letter for help received by Jianzong was related to the Qiu family, who controlled this brown mineral vein.
Ji Chuan and Lu Qingshan introduced the mission in detail.
Zangling, this is a very wonderful area.
This place belongs to Yuanfu, but its area is indeed very large, even exceeding the area of Yuanfu.
The reason why it is included in Yuanfu is that 80% of the area of Zangling is restricted area and uninhabited area, and only that 20% is truly meaningful.
"Restricted area?" Lu Qingshan asked curiously, "Is there any danger?"
"Do you know that there are other worlds besides the world we live in?" Ji Chuan did not directly answer Lu Qingshan's question, but asked back.
"I know. For example, the abyss where the demons are located is an independent and complete world." Lu Qingshan replied.
Nine Heavens, Nine Heavens, although it has not been officially recognized, but in the players' perception, there should be nine worlds.
But apart from the sky where the human race lives, he actually knows about the existence of the abyss.
"Brother, the reason you ask this may be that this place is related to other worlds?" Lu Qingshan's heart moved, and he had some vague guesses.
Ji Chuan nodded, "There are two worlds adjacent to the Cang Qiong Tian where we are. One is the Abyss where the demons are. They have been fighting against us for tens of thousands of years, like a sacrificial altar. There is no need to say more. The other world is Huangquan."
"Huangquan?!" Lu Qingshan was shocked.
These were some of the world's secrets that he had never been exposed to.
"Whether it's us humans or the demons, for all living things, after death, the place where their souls will go is Huangquan," Ji Chuan explained.
“As neighboring worlds, collisions and cracks are inevitable during the expansion and creeping of the world’s boundary walls.
And in the restricted area of Zangling Ridge, there exists such a space crack leading to the underworld.
The deathly aura from Huangquan continued to spread through the cracks in space, covering an area.
A cultivator cannot stay , because although the deathly energy will not be immediately fatal, it will gradually suppress your blood and energy and swallow up your yang energy.
When all the blood and energy in your body are suppressed by the death energy, although you are still alive, your body is no different from dead, and your spirit and soul will leave your body.
Therefore, few cultivators stay in the area shrouded by the aura of death for long.
But as time passed, the monsters in that area gradually adapted to the deathly energy from the underworld, and underwent corresponding changes, becoming a new monster race.
They call themselves source monsters.
And in the Yuan Yao lineage, there was even an eighth-grade great demon king, the Yuan Yao King.
It is because of the existence of the source demon that that area has become a restricted area."
Lu Qingshan was astonished. "Will there be no strange creatures in the Yellow Springs world like the demons that invade our human territory? Or do our human cultivators not want to go to the Yellow Springs to find out what's going on out of curiosity?"
Ji Chuan shook his head and said, "The reason why the Abyss can invade our Cangqiongtian without any hindrance is because the demons and our human race are essentially the same, with both spirit and energy.
So in the same way, we humans can also enter the abyss without hindrance.
But Huangquan is different, it is the place where souls go to.
Generally speaking, our sky and the abyss are called the world of the living, and the underworld is called the world of the dead .
Only souls can enter the underworld.
There are irresistible restrictions on the boundary wall of Huangquan.
In order to enter, you must be a soul without any yang energy. If you force your way in, it will destroy all your yang energy and turn you into a real dead person.
At the same time, the boundary wall of our human race's sky also prevents all the creatures of the underworld from entering."
"Is that so..." Lu Qingshan seemed to be thinking, "So, Huangquan and our Cangqiongtian are both unknown places to each other. Is it because of this that the powerful monks allow this space channel to exist?"
"Almost," Ji Chuan nodded, thought for a moment and said, "However, it is not completely a Jedi, because there are still people who can enter the underworld in the sky."
"Has anyone ever entered the underworld?!"
"It's not a human," Ji Chuan corrected, "It's a demon."
"The Source Demon King has entered the underworld!"
