Chapter 1073: Unbroken Past Forty-Two

Hu Yun was curious, but it was clearly not the time to stop and listen to gossip.

“Both of you, focus on accelerating the medicinal effects of the Fire Dates. I’ll take you out of here!”

With that, Hu Yun waved his sleeve, lifting both of them into the air. Then, a gentle breeze swept up She Ji and Sun Yiqiu, carrying them away into the distance.

“How do I accelerate the medicinal effects? I feel like there’s a fire burning inside me!”

Sun Yiqiu had never even practiced martial arts and didn’t understand any technical terms. She Ji quickly helped him sit down in the wind.

“Focus your mind, calm your spirit, and don’t overthink. Don’t worry about anything else; just observe and feel the fiery energy. Don’t try to control it with your thoughts.”

After speaking, She Ji quickly sat down as well. She also felt a fierce flame surging within her. This fire spirit was so intense it made her feel as if she were burning, yet there was little pain. Instead, her previous injuries and fatigue were relieved.

Sun Yiqiu must have felt the same; even his weak spirit body could withstand such surging spiritual energy. She Ji understood that the spiritual medicine they had just been given was far from ordinary.

This fire-like spiritual energy was extremely active and grew increasingly potent, with seemingly endless reserves. At first, She Ji tried to guide it to aid her recovery, but she soon gave up. With “fire” flowing through her entire body, guidance was no longer necessary.

Of course, She Ji’s injuries were too severe for instant recovery from the medicine. It was already a miracle that her condition had stabilized and started to improve.

Sun Yiqiu remained obediently seated, cross-legged, eyes closed, breathing deeply. She Ji, however, opened her eyes. The landscape below was receding rapidly, yet they felt no wind.

‘What exquisite wind-riding escapism!’

She Ji marveled inwardly. While ordinary demon cultivators often rode the wind in a chaotic flurry of dust and stones, Hu Xianchang’s technique was like merging with the wind itself, flowing with both speed and gentleness—a true embodiment of the Dao of nature. He was indeed a master of immortal cultivation.

Knowing that She Ji was in much better condition and more alert, Hu Yun began to speak.

“There’s a massive upheaval in the Netherworld. Almost all the gates between the yin and yang realms have closed and relocated. A normal exit is impossible now.”

The closing of the gates was understandable, but what did “relocated” mean?

As if realizing She Ji and Sun Yiqiu wouldn’t understand, Hu Yun turned his head to look at She Ji and Sun Yiqiu, who had also opened his eyes. His memory seemed to span a millennium as he explained.

“In ancient times, before the Yellow Springs emerged, the underworld administrations across the land were divided, ruling independently and unconnected. Not all earth deities were powerful. If an underworld administration suffered a major disaster or a City God was slain, the underworld would seal off the Gates of Hell and go into hiding, completely severing ties between the yin and yang realms, awaiting a better opportunity. Such occurrences are rare now.”

“Now, all the gates between the yin and yang realms are sealed and hidden. Forcing your way through isn’t even an option, unless a great deity of the Netherworld opens a gate for you. And nearly all the great deities of the Netherworld are at crucial points within the Yellow Springs.”

Upon hearing this, She Ji immediately grew anxious. Sun Yiqiu understood nothing, but She Ji was well aware of the cause of the current upheaval in the Netherworld, and she spoke with concern.

“Are you going to seek out the great deities in the underworld to lead us out, Immortal?”

Hu Yun glanced at her.

“What if I am?”

“I dare not deceive you, Immortal. This upheaval in the Netherworld, I fear, is all because of me. It was I who extended the iridescent silk sash into the Yellow Springs, causing countless ghosts and monsters to escape and bring chaos to the underworld.”

Hu Yun shook his head. She Ji only knew part of the truth, as they had been constantly on the run.

“It’s not that simple. The escape of the Yellow Springs ghosts is a minor matter. Now, a terrifying flame is burning in the Netherworld, entangling immense karma. If one is caught and burned by it, the boundless karmic forces will likely incinerate their form and spirit, with unimaginable consequences.”

Hu Yun understood the power of that flame with just a brief encounter, but he hadn’t stressed its severity enough. The few great deities of the Underworld and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had already deduced that if one were truly consumed by karmic fire, burning away one’s own karma, others’ karma, and the karma of all beings, turning to ash and having one’s form and spirit utterly destroyed would be a merciful outcome. The actual process of being consumed was the most lethal, potentially leading directly to demonic corruption, a true descent into chaotic madness.

“Immortal,” Sun Yiqiu interjected, remembering earlier events, “two great deities spared me when they saw the spiritual talisman on me.”

“Where is the talisman?”

Sun Yiqiu quickly felt his chest but couldn’t find it. She Ji also couldn’t sense the talisman’s aura.

“Don’t look for it,” Hu Yun said. “I tracked you by its last flicker of spiritual light; it used up its final bit of power and burned away. Don’t worry too much. If I step forward, there should still be a chance. They won’t necessarily kill us without letting me explain.”

Hu Yun felt he still had the credentials to reveal his true identity, provided he found the right person.

“More than the ghosts and gods of the Netherworld, I’m more concerned about that fiend, Mihuang.”

As he spoke, Hu Yun again activated his magic, cautious not to increase his speed too dramatically and trying to keep his aura hidden. He had a persistent sense of foreboding.

At the location where She Ji and Sun Yiqiu had originally burst through the mountain, a man stood on a hill, squinting down. He then leaped to the breach in the mountain and reached out, seizing something in the air. Immediately, roars echoed.

Soon, a one-horned demon, with half its body missing, was caught in Mihuang’s hand. Its massive form struggled fiercely in his grip, but the struggling quickly weakened. The demon’s entire body melted, eventually forming a black bead in Mihuang’s hand, within which a spectral image of the demon seemed to be still roaring.

“Hahaha, it seems heaven itself is favoring me.”

Mihuang wrapped a piece of the half-sash around the ghost bead, began to calculate with his fingers, and then a smile touched his lips.

“Hmph, you can’t escape!”

Mihuang also knew that almost all the gates of the Netherworld were sealed and that the few great deities were nearly all at critical points in the Yellow Springs. He rushed in the direction Hu Yun and the others had left, accelerating without apparent concern. Most importantly, he knew the fox immortal was likely unaware they had been exposed.

Compared to the faint, elusive sense he had when he only held the sash fragment before, with both the soul bead and the sash in hand, the distant aura he could sense was much clearer.

The Netherworld now appeared utterly chaotic. Years of accumulated ghosts and dark entities seemed to have all been released, and many areas were engulfed in skirmishes. As Hu Yun rode the wind past an underworld office, he saw thousands of ghosts gathered outside its yamen, with fierce spirits and monsters running rampant.

The underworld constables remaining below were forming arrays and fighting. The leading ghost general was likely a martial official, who, with great effort, took up a judge’s brush from the underworld office and vigorously strengthened the array with his strokes.

The formation had already begun to be breached, and the constables were clashing with the spectral beings. Although each constable was highly skilled, the sheer number of demons meant they couldn’t withstand the continuous attrition.

Some constables, exhausted, were already being dragged into the hordes of ghosts, torn and bitten by countless spectral beings.

“You wretches! The Gate of Hell for this office is already closed and cannot be opened without the City God’s spell. Don’t even dream of going to the human world to cause trouble!”

“Hahaha, if we can’t go to the human world, we can still eat the flesh and blood of you ghost gods and take your place!”

“Take their place!” “Eat the flesh and blood of ghost gods!”

Many of these spectral beings were completely deranged, attacking wildly like a black tide. Even if struck down by a constable’s blade, they would still tear a piece of flesh from their opponent.

In the sky, She Ji and Sun Yiqiu watched, their scalps tingling with dread.

“Immortal!”

Hu Yun frowned, but he couldn’t afford to delay. His sense of unease was growing stronger, so he gritted his teeth and departed. Looking back, the divine light of that underworld office flickered like a lamp in the black tide of ghosts, and the miserable cries of the constables occasionally reached his ears.

At the location of that underworld office, Mihuang, hidden among the hordes of spectral beings and dragging out constables one by one, looked up at the sky. It seemed his clever trick hadn’t fully ensnared the fox immortal, but it had achieved its intended purpose; what gust of wind would specifically hover in an arc above this underworld office?

Mihuang scoffed inwardly. His clothes began to swell, a fierce glint appeared in his eyes, fangs extended from his mouth, and hair continuously grew on his body. The next moment, he stomped his foot on the ground.

With a “boom,” the underworld office began to collapse, and the spectral beings surged forward wildly. At the moment the earth sank, Mihuang charged towards the distant gust of wind.

Hearing the commotion, Hu Yun looked back towards the underworld office again, seeing that it had actually collapsed. His pupils dilated then sharply constricted. He hadn’t yet clearly seen Mihuang, but he detected a powerful burst of *gangqi* attacking him, its oppressive aura nearly suffocating him.

In desperation, Hu Yun only had time to cross his hands to form a mudra, extending both arms forward, with his pinky, index finger, and thumb pointed out from each hand—the Mountain-Shaking Seal.

“Bang.”

*Whoosh*, the impact generated a powerful gust of wind. The wind Hu Yun and the others rode was torn apart, revealing all three of them. She Ji and Sun Yiqiu were tossed away like two leaves in the fierce gale.

Hu Yun’s arms trembled slightly as he stared with a grim expression at the air not far away. There, a strange, ferocious ape, less than a *zhang* tall—a small size for a demonic creature in its true form—but its oppressive presence was overwhelmingly powerful.

“Mihuang?”

How could this be! Hu Yun had fought Mihuang before, and even though he knew the other might have held back, this current power was on an entirely different level.

“You seem surprised? Actually, so am I. I thought that even if this strike couldn’t kill you, it would at least severely wound you. I didn’t expect you to block it. Should I say you’re truly worthy of having heard the Dao from Master Ji?”

“You…”

Just as Hu Yun was about to speak, he saw Mihuang move. His figure seemed to leave a trail, rushing towards him. Hu Yun dared not meet the attack directly and quickly stepped on an illusory path to evade, only to realize that Mihuang’s target was not him at all, but She Ji and Sun Yiqiu, who had already fallen to the ground.

*Swish*, a fiery red fox tail, even faster, intertwined around Mihuang’s leg as they intersected, dragging Hu Yun towards the fierce ape. He channeled his sword finger, recalling the feeling of his previous breakthrough, and viciously pointed it at the ape’s back.

At that moment, the fierce ape felt a surge of strength in the hair on its back, immediately turned, and swept its hand.

“Clang—”

A wisp of blood and a patch of fur flew, but the fierce ape had blocked the strike. Hu Yun’s sword finger separated on contact, and he powerfully swung his tail, shaking off the fierce ape as soon as he completed the strike. He rushed to the two on the ground, grabbed them, stomped his foot, and launched himself back into the air at a reverse parabolic angle, flying at top speed without a moment’s hesitation.

He couldn’t fight; he couldn’t win!

Hu Yun broke into a cold sweat, knowing full well that Mihuang was vastly different from before. He absolutely could not win.

Mihuang was somewhat surprised after taking a blow, and he paused slightly when he saw Hu Yun choose to flee with the two without hesitation.

“I didn’t expect this fox immortal still had something hidden before?”

“Trying to run? It’s not that easy. Even if Ji Yuan were alive, he couldn’t save you!”