Chapter 528: Tian "Self-Purification"

Approximately a quarter of an hour later, Ji Yuan, Jin Xiu, and A Ze left Nine Peaks Mountain and flew deeper into Nine Peaks Grotto-Heaven. Because Ji Yuan carried the token, the mountain mist automatically parted for him, and the grand formation restrictions of Nine Peaks Mountain showed no reaction.

After spending two months on the mountain, even though Jin Xiu occasionally took Zhuang Ze for walks and sightseeing, he was often alone. Now, as they descended the mountain, A Ze was visibly in much better spirits than before.

"Mister Ji, I've been on the mountain for over two months. Sister Jin said that one day on the mountain is ten days down below. Doesn't that mean two years have passed in Duyang already? My parents' graves, and A Long and the others…"

A Ze's emotions were complex, a mix of anticipation and trepidation. In truth, Ji Yuan himself had only recently learned about the time distortion within Nine Peaks Grotto-Heaven. Hearing A Ze's words, he could only comfort him.

"The graves are right there, nothing will happen to them. As for your friends, you must believe that good people are always blessed by heaven. You all escaped the calamity of war and crossed Qingtian Mountain while enduring hunger; things will certainly be better in Duyang."

"Mm…"

Jin Xiu, meanwhile, was gazing all around. She rarely had the chance to descend the mountain and was even more excited than A Ze. She constantly chatted with Zhuang Ze, discussing various worldly affairs.

Ji Yuan, on the other hand, looked into the distance, pondering the issue of time flow within Nine Peaks Grotto-Heaven. In reality, no grotto-heaven could exist completely independent of the true outer world; after all, the sun, moon, and stars within them were either not real or drew their essence from the outer world. Regardless of how a grotto-heaven was formed, it was less a separate realm and more a part of the true world. However, places like grotto-heavens were largely separated from the outer world by great divine powers, minimizing the mutual influence between them.

Nine Peaks Grotto-Heaven was naturally no exception. The time flow should have been the same as on Nine Peaks Mountain, equivalent to the outer world. But the fact that the "lower realm" of the grotto-heaven was ten times faster than the upper part was clearly a deliberate act by the successive masters of Nine Peaks Mountain.

The reason for this was not hard to imagine. Precious natural treasures like rare flowers and exotic herbs could benefit from this great divine power that could change heaven and earth, allowing for their cultivation time to be significantly shortened. Moreover, with almost no demons in the grotto-heaven and specialized mountain gods and earth spirits watching over it, the long-term benefits were considerable.

As for the mortals within the grotto-heaven, theoretically, the impact wasn't significant. In this self-contained environment, they still thrived, multiplied, and lived out their lives without any sense of deprivation. And as time passed, there would always be some extraordinary talents among them who could be brought into the Nine Peaks Mountain's lineage for cultivation, with Jin Changdong being a prime example.

The white cloud had passed through the clouds separating Nine Peaks, revealing the sight of Qingtian Mountain with its towering peaks. Ji Yuan's thoughts drifted further as his gaze extended.

To be able to alter time within the grotto-heaven indicated that Nine Peaks Mountain possessed a profound heritage. But wasn't this using the grotto-heaven's power to distort a portion of the true world's space-time? Even if the impact was minimal, it couldn't be entirely non-existent, could it?

"Immortal Ji, what are you thinking about?"

Jin Xiu's voice sounded by his ear, pulling Ji Yuan's thoughts back. He looked at the girl and smiled.

"Nothing. We'll be out of the mountains soon. A Ze, your hometown is a bit to the north, right?"

"Mm, Mister Ji, if you fly a bit lower, I'll show you the way!"

This youth had a big heart. If it were someone else being carried like this in the sky, besides excitement, they would surely be more afraid. Even understanding an immortal was there and they wouldn't fall, acrophobia is human nature, so they wouldn't be so calm.

"Okay, but don't misread the path. And you, girl, stop calling me Immortal Ji. Just call me Mister Ji like A Ze; it sounds better."

Jin Xiu's face lit up with joy, and she quickly agreed.

"Xiu'er understands, Mister Ji!"

When he first came, A Ze had traveled through mountains and rivers for several months, enduring great hardships, yet he never saw the Qingtian Nine Peaks. But now, standing on the white cloud and leaving with Ji Yuan, it felt like less than half an hour, and they could already see the scenery outside the mountains.

There's a significant difference between navigating from the sky and from the ground; without special adaptation, it's easy to misidentify paths. At least, A Ze often couldn't recognize the way. Fortunately, Mister Ji seemed to know the way perfectly. Until A Ze saw the familiar scenery of his hometown, Mister Ji hadn't asked for directions once.

Looking at the sun's position, it was noon. Ji Yuan's white cloud landed outside A Ze's hometown village.

The moment they landed, a stench assaulted their nostrils. Jin Xiu frowned and instinctively covered her nose and mouth. Even A Ze was visibly uncomfortable. In contrast, Ji Yuan, with the keenest sense of smell, remained unfazed.

"Let's go, to pay respects to your family."

Ji Yuan surveyed the surroundings. Although mostly blurry, he could tell it was a common village with low-lying buildings. Many houses had probably collapsed, and some were burnt down.

At first glance, it seemed as if life was thriving everywhere, with thick weeds and abundant green leaves. But in reality, there were corpses everywhere. Some were already skeletons, while others had mummified. Where the vegetation was dense, there were mostly bodies, and that lingering stench also originated from them.

The three stepped into the village, startling a flock of crows.

"Caw… caw…" "Caw…" "Caw… caw…"

"Flap-flap…" "Flap-flap-flap-flap…"

"Caw… caw… caw…" "Caw…"

At first, there were just a few, then a small group, then a large swathe. Many, many crows flapped their wings and flew up. Jin Xiu, a cultivator's disciple, was startled by these crows, instinctively recoiling and making a gesture to shield herself. Only when she saw Ji Yuan and A Ze were fine did she blush and pretend nothing had happened.

As the three walked into the village, A Ze's expression became dazed, as if he was reliving the tragic scene from back then. Jin Xiu also fell silent. Ji Yuan, meanwhile, was observing his surroundings.

At least hundreds of people had died in this village. Except for A Ze and his companions' buried family members, the rest were piled where they fell. This village was so remote, and this was an unexpected calamity of war; the underworld escorts probably couldn't have arrived in time when people died.

Apart from those who had a burial place, all other deceased would probably become bewildered and ignorant wandering spirits for a while. At first, they might not even know to avoid sunlight. It would be fine if they had their own corpses to hide in, but later, when their bodies rotted away and lost form, they might not even know how to hide.

Ji Yuan looked up at the sky. This sun was not the great sun of the outer world; even so, the sun's power was still real and potent. These deceased souls had already died due to the calamity of war, and they might then be scorched to death by heavenly light. Even if they escaped, they would be wandering lonely ghosts. Intense resentment would surely arise around the corpses, perhaps giving rise to some evil entities. This was also one of the origins of the saying, "When the world is in chaos, monsters are sure to appear."

But now, there seemed to be no strong resentment generated. Was that really the case? Or had someone dispelled it?

Ji Yuan squinted his eyes, then his eyes opened wider and wider. The colors of heaven and earth seemed to subtly change in his eyes, and the surrounding green scenery also twisted and transformed into several layers of dim, colored light.

Finally, Ji Yuan looked up at the sky. The sun's power swept across the earth like flickering threads of firelight.

"Mister Ji, these are the graves of my parents and grandfather."

A Ze's voice came. Ji Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked forward. As they walked, they had unknowingly reached the back of the village. There were over a dozen small mounds here, which should be the graves dug by the five for their family members. Wooden markers were even crookedly stuck in front of the graves, but because they were illiterate, they didn't specify whose grave it was.

If this were the internet age of his previous life, where anything could be criticized, someone would definitely criticize why only their own relatives were buried and not the whole village. But Ji Yuan certainly understood; mental state, physical condition, and surrounding dangers were all important factors. Even if they really wanted to bury everyone together, the five people wouldn't have finished digging the pits, and the bodies would probably have rotted away.

After saying that, A Ze had already jogged over to the two mounds at the very front and directly knelt down.

"Father, Mother, Grandfather! A Ze has come to see you! A Ze has come to see you!"

Saying that, A Ze kept kowtowing to the ground. Even though it was muddy ground, there were also small stones, and he hit hard, so his forehead soon broke open. But A Ze still didn't stop until he felt a bit dizzy and his body swayed, only then did he have to stop.

Ji Yuan sighed. His gaze turned to the local earth god temple not far away. He could tell at a glance that it was an empty temple with no earth god presiding over it.

Jin Xiu knelt down to support A Ze and said with relief,

"Thankfully you buried them all, otherwise, they might not even have reached the underworld."

Ji Yuan frowned from behind. In this situation, the underworld escorts might not have come to collect them then. He quietly observed the graves and performed a divination, finally discerning a subtle connection with the graves; it seemed the grave occupants were in the underworld.

"Alright, offer some tribute and light the incense and candles. We'll go directly to the underworld to find them."

Ji Yuan waved his sleeve as he spoke. Fruits, pastries, and other items flew out from his sleeve, neatly arranged in front of these dozen or so graves, and several bundles of incense and candles appeared beside them.

"Thank you, Mister Ji!"

A Ze wiped away his tears and the blood from his forehead and picked up the incense and candles from the ground. Jin Xiu conjured a wisp of flame to help him light them. Then, together, they stuck them in front of the graves. While A Ze was paying his respects, Ji Yuan stood a bit further back, watching, his thoughts continuing uninterrupted.

Just by coming to this village, Ji Yuan already had some vague ideas and conjectures in his mind. Unfortunately, they were just conjectures without evidence.

Nine Peaks Mountain developed the grotto-heaven with great divine power and endowed it with powerful "self-purifying" abilities, preventing the generation of evil energy. Without evil energy, there would naturally be no evil creatures, at most, some ordinary ghosts.

Perhaps it had been fine this way for a long time. If A Ze hadn't appeared, Ji Yuan might still have marveled at the miraculous "self-purifying" ability of the grotto-heaven. But A Ze's appearance indicated that there was a problem.