Chapter 124: Chapter 121: Auspicious Divination, the Path Forward Is Clear

New Year’s Eve, Midnight.

The moment the midnight bells chimed, the old year passed, and the new year arrived.

The unrest was no longer confined to Illusory Nether City; it had spread to Pinglan City in the Mortal World.

Countless Communication Talismans flew from Wangjiang Mountain Peak, and one anxious figure after another rushed toward the four corners of Pinglan City.

Deep within the surging Hengshui River, a massive dragon’s head stirred in the depths. The great dragon opened its eyes, and in an instant, the river’s surface churned with violent waves.

Atop Dingbo Tower, which stood by the riverbank, Ye Lingguan, who had been deep in Cultivation with his eyes closed, also opened them at this very moment.

Someone was waiting quietly outside his meditation chamber.

Ye Lingguan’s hand, tucked inside his sleeve, moved slightly. The door to the chamber slid open on its own, and a tall, upright young man with a somewhat cold and melancholic expression immediately stepped inside.

He knelt before Ye Lingguan, bowed, and said, "Master." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

This was none other than Ye Lingguan’s chief personal disciple, Duan Xinghun, ranked thirty-sixth on the Celestial Pride List!

Ye Lingguan asked, "Your trip to Su Yang. Did you find anything?"

Indeed. Duan Xinghun had gone to Su Yang to investigate the matter of the Dragon Maiden. He had been gone for nearly a month, only rushing back to Pinglan on New Year’s Eve.

He had returned just in time to witness the changes in the light screens atop Wangjiang Mountain Peak.

Ye Lingguan asked about Su Yang first, so Duan Xinghun did not rush to bring up Illusory Nether City. "The Dragon Maiden’s aura has vanished completely," he reported. "I used the Nine Star Techniques to perform a divination, but the result was blank. As for Su Yang itself, its earth veins are damaged and its Vitality is draining away. I don’t know when it will recover."

Ye Lingguan’s fingers shifted slightly within his sleeve. A moment later, his brow furrowed.

But he quickly smoothed his brow and said only, "If that’s the case, let the matter rest. Ultimately, the karmic debt is settled. It is merely a pity for the people of Su Yang."

After a moment, he added, "I will petition the Court to request tax relief and disaster aid for Su Yang."

The melancholy on Duan Xinghun’s face lessened slightly. "Master," he said, "I experienced something else in Su Yang. I encountered a group of dissipating grotesques. They had sealed a Martial Artist inside a box..."

He recounted everything he had encountered in the alleyways of the Xu Family’s district.

The Young Master Xu had been subjected to box torture by the human-skin grotesques he himself had created, and his fate was utterly wretched.

When Duan Xinghun came upon this scene, he did not offer any aid—according to his previous principles, if a grotesque was harming a human, there was no need to investigate the reason. One should simply kill it.

But this time, he had violated his long-held beliefs and principles!

Not only did he not save the man in the box, but he even spent more than ten days underground with those grotesques.

Only when Su Yang City’s Vitality had dissipated to a certain point, and the grotesques could no longer sustain themselves, did Duan Xinghun personally act—he annihilated the man in the box, turning him to ash and scattering his soul to the winds on the spot!

The human-skin grotesques held hands, circled him, and began to sing an eerie ballad.

When the song faded, the grotesques—with their white faces, red lips, and fine, vibrant clothes—also dissipated.

Yet their pale, smiling faces and that ethereal, melancholic song still lingered in his mind, refusing to leave.

Duan Xinghun didn’t know if he had made the right choice, just as he couldn’t answer Tushan Keji’s question: in the incident with the Dragon Maiden and Xiao Hong, who was right and who was wrong?

After recounting all he had experienced in Su Yang City, Duan Xinghun subconsciously omitted his discussion of the Dao with Tushan Keji. He looked at Ye Lingguan with an expression of unknowing melancholy and filial reverence.

Ye Lingguan was silent for a moment before saying, "Foolish child! You have Fallen into the Demon Realm!"

Duan Xinghun’s entire body trembled. His eyes widened slightly, and for a moment, he was speechless.

Ye Lingguan raised a hand. "Your Dao Heart is damaged. Only the Bright Moon Spring can cleanse it. You are to recuperate well. You must not break through to the next stage of your Cultivation until your Dao Heart has recovered."

A clear, gentle light, like a dewdrop or a wisp of mist, appeared at his fingertip.

He touched the gentle light to the spot between Duan Xinghun’s brows. Duan Xinghun immediately felt a cooling sensation spread through his mind, and his prior confusion and pain seemed to fade away in a daze.

Though the many questions in his heart remained unanswered, for a fleeting moment, Duan Xinghun felt as if they were no longer so important.

He felt a primordial purity and clarity, like the birth of all life, like the morning sun breaking through the clouds.

His spirits soared. The hidden wounds inflicted by his damaged Dao Heart all seemed to be smoothed away in that instant.

Duan Xinghun’s eyes brightened, and his back straightened slightly.

Ye Lingguan said, "Illusory Nether City has opened this time, and Sheng’Er has also gone inside. You can go personally to Wangjiang Peak to wait and provide support. If there truly is a Spiritual Treasure, then with Sheng’Er’s ability, no one in Illusory Nether City should be his match."

「On Wangjiang Peak, at midnight.」

At this moment, so many figures descended the mountain, and so many more ascended it from below.

Some moved in the open, others in the shadows.

Some were the center of attention, while others remained silent and unknown.

...

In Pinglan City, the lights of ten thousand homes still shone.

Overlapping strings of New Year’s firecrackers were lit, and brilliant fireworks shot into the sky. Amidst the smell of gunpowder, children’s happy shouts, adults’ calls, and people yelling could be heard: "Drive away the Nian Beast! Drive away the Nian Beast!"

"Drive out the Nian Beast, bring wealth to our homes! It’s the New Year! It’s the New Year!"

Various lowly Little Demons scurried about in the city’s corners. The likes of Rabbit Demons and Cat Demons were often ignored, but if a Snake Demon, Mouse Demon, or some terrifying-looking Insect-type Demon Beast appeared, they would surely be chased and beaten by all.

There were also various low-level grotesques of the Gray Travel Level. Unbound by any Deceitful Realm, they roamed the shadows cast by the myriad lights.

But they certainly didn’t dare wander into the brightly lit areas where crowds had gathered.

Tonight, in Pinglan City, belonged to the Human world.

People lit firecrackers and gathered in celebration. The Yin Qi was suppressed as yang energy soared. CRACKLE, POP—it was the New Year.

Amidst the laughter, no one noticed that various invisible energies, imperceptible to the human eye, were continuously drifting away with the ongoing festivities.

Some flew toward the sky, some burrowed into the ground, and others vanished into thin air mid-flight.

Illusory Nether City, the place where all the world’s negative emotions converged.

What were negative emotions?

Greed, hatred, ignorance, and anger were among them. So were love, aversion, desire, and jealousy. Even excessive joy qualified...

Few knew that according to the rules of the Nether Qi Spring, all excessive emotions were classified as negative.

The love of a parent, the love between spouses, the love of a partner, the love of a soulmate—no matter how sincere the affection, with love comes desire, and with desire, demons are born.

All of these were sustenance for Illusory Nether City’s Nether Qi Spring.

This included the Cultivators currently inside Illusory Nether City. When they heard the saying, "A Spiritual Treasure has emerged, and it belongs to the virtuous," their hearts stirred and their spirits were moved by desire.

As more and more people walked into the drifting ribbons of light, wisps of energy, invisible to the naked eye, also rose rapidly toward the sky.

On the streets of Illusory Nether City, Song Ciwan watched a ribbon of light floating not far ahead, but she did not rush to enter it.

She held Xie Yunxiang back, took out three Ancestral Dragon Coins by the side of the street, and channeled her True Qi. Silently asking for an omen of fortune or misfortune, she tossed the three copper coins onto the ground.

She repeated this several times. The yin and yang lines all fell into their proper places—it was an auspicious hexagram!