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Bai Wenqing trembled beneath Su Yi’s gaze, then bowed. “Fellow Daoist, an opportunity to follow you and work by your side is a blessing I could only dream of.”
Her voice carried unconcealed eagerness and excitement.
Su Yi nodded. “On the road ahead, have Yuan Heng tell you what rules you’ll have to obey if you’re going to follow me.”
Yuan Heng was initially tense and on edge, but now, he felt as if flowers were blooming in his heart. He was instantly excited, and he nodded repeatedly. “Master, rest assured. Leave this to me.”
When Ling Yunhe saw this, he couldn’t help but sigh to himself. Yuan Heng and Bai Wenqing are just yao cultivators, but since they’re fortunate enough to follow Su Yi, their prospects are sure to be bright!
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Su Yi didn’t plan to waste any more time.
The group promptly left Cold Emerald Valley and flew over the Cloud Python Mountains and into the distance.
The other side of the mountains was the Great Xia’s southern territory, the Southern Skies Province.
This was the southernmost of the Great Xia’s thirteen provinces, and it covered a vast territory. It was home to around a dozen factions of cultivators, as well as over one hundred cities.
Earlier, the factions that opposed Su Yi—the Yuanyang Spirit Sect, the Flying Spirit Sword Pavilion, Spiritmist Temple, and the Profound Green Saber Sect—were all based here in the Southern Skies Province.
It was just one province, but all of its major factions had multiple Gathering Stars Realm cultivators to hold down the fort. It was obvious just how grand the foundations of the Great Xia’s cultivation world were.
Even if you added all of the cultivation factions in the Great Zhou, Wei, and Qin together, they paled in comparison to the Great Xia’s Southern Skies Province!
It was no wonder that, ever since ancient times, the Great Xia had reigned supreme over the Azure Continent. It absolutely lived up to its reputation.
“Fellow Daoist, once we’ve crossed the Cloud Python Mountains, we’ll arrive at the Southern Skies Province’s southernmost city, Yin Mountain City,” said Ling Yunhe. “The people of the Southern Skies Province’s hundred-plus cities call Yin Mountain City ‘Little Fengdu’ after the famous necropolis. Many of the cultivators who make their home there are ghost cultivators. Even the common folk’s customs and faith are influenced by yao and ghosts.
“For example, Yin Mountain City has the most coffin vendors of any city, and its largest temple worships the statue of the Ghost Serpent Goddess.
“That aside, the city is home to a faction of ghost cultivators called the Deathbringer’s Gate. They say this faction is extremely mysterious, and its branches are scattered throughout the Great Xia’s various territories.”
When he heard this, Su Yi was stunned. He couldn’t help but exclaim, “The Great Xia has a Deathbringer’s Gate too?”
During his trip to the Sea of Chaotic Spirits, he slew the leader of the Great Qin branch of the Greatbringer’s Gate, Tong Xinghai, in the ruins of the Immortals’ Sword House.
And here he’d thought that the Deathbringer’s Gate was local to the Great Zhou and its neighbors, the Great Wei and Qin.
Who’d have thought they existed in the Great Xia too?
Furthermore, this was a faction of ghost cultivators, yet they were openly distributed throughout the Great Xia’s territory!
“It’s not just the Great Xia. The Deathbringer’s Gate exists in the Great Qi, too,” said Ling Yunhe. “They say that throughout the hundred-plus nations that make up the Azure Continent, practically every ghost cultivator will join the Deathbringer’s Gate and worship the Ghost Serpent Goddess. They call themselves inheritors of the Deathbringer’s Gate.
“However, although they all call themselves the Deathbringer’s Gate, each nation’s Deathbringer’s Gate is separate; they aren’t a unified faction. Rather, they’re like scattered grains of sand, each carrying out its own affairs.”
Ling Yunhe paused before continuing, “They say that they’re connected to a faction that existed thirty thousand years ago, the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace. At the time, it was the greatest orthodoxy of ghost cultivators on the continent. Its accumulations were incomparably vast, and its subordinate ghost cultivators were spread across the continent.
“They say that its first palace master was an Imperial Realm expert from the Netherworld, the Netherworld Asura Emperor.
“Although countless years have passed since them, in the hearts of the world’s ghost cultivators, the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace is still their holy land, and they worship the statue of the Ghost Serpent Goddess. They also say it's the image of the Netherworld Asura Emperor’s first dharma protector, the Envoy of the Lamp.”
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Su Yi was finally starting to understand.
The world’s ghost cultivators saw the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace of thirty thousand years ago as their holy ground. Thus, it wasn’t strange that smaller “Deathbringer’s Gates” would crop up all over the continent.
It was actually the Netherworld Asura Emperor, the first master of the Deathbringer’s Netherworld Palace, that piqued a bit of Su Yi’s interest.
In his past life, he’d once visited the Netherworld, and he’d even undergone reincarnation and rebirth. However, he’d never once heard of a Ghost Emperor by that title.
Could it be that this person had proven his Dao and become an Emperor here, on the Azure Continent?
As they conversed, they left the Cloud Python Mountains and arrived at a vast, open stretch of land. Ling Yunhe pointed and said, “Fellow Daoist, look! You can see Yin Mountain City off in the distance. That’s Southern Skies Province’s Little Ghost City Fengdu!”
Su Yi peered into the distance and saw the outline of a city. Its skies contained a churning mix of the red dust of mortality and baleful Yin energies.
There are indeed numerous apparitions haunting this place. Otherwise, it couldn’t possibly give rise to such dense baleful energy, thought Su Yi. “Let’s go into the city and have a look.”
This was his first day in the Great Xia, and this was the first of its cities he’d ever seen. Of all the places he could have wound up in, it just so happened to be the one nicknamed “Little Ghost City Fengdu.” Its atmosphere was starkly different from the empire’s other cities.
This naturally piqued Su Yi’s interest, and the group promptly headed toward Yin Mountain City.
When they drew closer, they saw that this ancient city was enormous, and its walls were fully one thousand feet tall. Molten iron had been poured all over their surface, and they were black throughout; it seemed as if they’d been forged entirely out of metal. Numerous inscriptions were carved on their surface, and even during the day, they flashed with faint spiritual light.
The soldiers stationed on the walls were each fully armored. All of them were Inner Furnace Realm Grandmasters with mighty fleshly bodies and imposing presences.
When they entered the city, a bustling scene greeted them.
The streets were a hundred feet across, more than big enough for horse-drawn carriages. The houses lining them were all a thousand feet tall, with an old-fashioned charm. The roads were packed with human traffic.
Although they called this place “Little Ghost City Fengdu”, it was ultimately just another city of the mundane world, and most of its inhabitants were ordinary mortals.
However, unlike the cities Su Yi had visited in the past, he saw armed martial artists all over the place. Neither Grandmasters nor Xiantian Martial Ancestors were the least bit rare.
Furthermore, mere moments passed before Su Yi sensed the presences of a dozen or so Grain Avoidance cultivators!
This was quite a shock.
Never mind small countries like the Great Zhou, Wei, and Qin; you couldn’t find a city like this even in the Great Chu, the third strongest nation on the continent.
From time to time, lights streaked overhead.
These were obviously Grain Avoidance cultivators or prominent members of various sects flying through the air, some with their own power, others with various treasures.
Regardless of whether they were martial artists or untrained mortals, no one so much as batted an eye. They were obviously accustomed to this.
In the Great Zhou, when the commonfolk saw someone fly through the air, they threw themselves to their knees and bowed before the “Earthly Immortal.”
This was the gap between the Great Zhou and the Great Xia!
Along the way, a martial artist griped, his voice filled with jealousy and longing, “Someday, when I become a Grain Avoidance Realm cultivator, I’ll fly freely above the city too. I’ll make everyone who looked down on me widen their dog eyes and take a good look at me!”
Someone else immediately let out a cold laugh. “You’re dreaming! How lofty are Grain Avoidance Realm cultivators? They’re less than one in ten thousand. They’re true experts, with lifespans stretching hundreds of years. If ordinary martial artists like us want to enter the Grain Avoidance Realm, we have to join a sect first. Without the mystic masters’ guidance, you could cultivate for another hundred years without breaking through!”
“No,” said someone else, the words flowing out of him. “Everyone in the Great Xia’s borders knows that within just a few years, the Radiant Epoch is sure to descend! When that day comes, the world will change. Spiritual energy will increase, and countless opportunities and strokes of fortune will appear. When the time comes, so long as we can seize the opportunity, we’ll surely have hope of seeking the Dao and entering the Grain Avoidance Realm!”
When he heard their conversation, Su Yi couldn’t help but feel rueful. How many worldly martial artists of the Great Zhou had even heard of the Radiant Epoch?
Yet here, it seemed the Radiant Epoch’s imminent arrival had long since become common knowledge!
It’s no wonder Yue Shichan was so dead set on visiting the Great Xia. By comparison
 The Great Zhou really is a tiny little backwater.
“Fellow Daoist, how about we find a restaurant and rest for a bit?” asked Ling Yunhe.
“That’ll work.” Su Yi nodded, but it was then that he heard music emanating from afar. The tune was solemn, desolate, and audible even from far away.
Su Yi glanced over and saw an ancient temple off in the distance. It covered more than fifteen acres, its buildings as densely packed as trees in a forest. It was an extremely grand sight.
The music came from deep within the temple.
“My heavens! For them to play music like that must mean that a prominent member of the Deathbringer’s Gate has come to pay respects to the statue of the Ghost Serpent Goddess!” someone exclaimed.
“They say that the Deathbringer’s Gate recently chose a new holy son. He’s a cultivation genius, the type of outstanding talent that only appears once in a thousand years. Perhaps the new holy son is involved in today’s worship?”
“Does anyone know the holy son’s name and origins?”
“I don’t know his origins, but they say the experts of the Deathrbringer’s Gate call him the Nirvanic Winds Holy Son.”
“The Nirvanic Winds Holy Son? I’ve never heard of him. Don’t tell me he’s one of those mysterious monsters of unknown origins that have been popping up?”
“Who knows?”

Before the discussion could die down, Su Yi said, “Come on, let’s go into the temple and have a look.”
“Fellow Daoist, are you curious about the Nirvanic Winds Holy Son too?” asked Ling Yunhe with a laugh.
“No, it has nothing to do with him. I just suddenly recalled something, and I want to check the temple’s Ghost Serpent Goddess statue and confirm my guess.” As Su Yi said this, he put his hands behind his back and sauntered ahead. Ling Yunhe and company hurried after him.
There was a crowd gathered in front of the temple, as well as countless incense fires. Most of those present were devotees, and it was extremely noisy and crowded. There was no shortage of peddlers hawking their wares, either. It was a chorus of voices, the very picture of mortal life.
As soon as they walked in, they saw a couplet carved across the main temple gates, one half on each side:
“During your lifetime, it is up to you whether to accumulate merit or commit acts of wickedness.”
“From the beginning of time, the Netherworld has never left anyone off.”
Su Yi glanced at the couplet, then immediately lost interest. He just followed Ling Yunhe into the temple.