Early the next morning, Wang Sanniang and Ping’an saw Chen Changsheng off at the city gate.

Ruyi did not come, and neither did Miss Yun.

They probably didn’t want to see this.

Wang Sanniang had specifically baked some dry cakes for Chen Changsheng to take along, so he wouldn’t go hungry on his journey.

Ping’an felt reluctant to see him go, but he understood there was nothing he could do to change the fact Mr. Chen was leaving.

“Mr. Chen?”

“Hmm?”

“When we meet again, will Ping’an be a grown-up?”

“Hadn’t you already grown up?”

Ping’an froze for a moment. He looked at his teacher, his mouth opened and then closed again as he swallowed back his words.

“What about Elder Sister?”

Chen Changsheng thought for a while before answering. “Ping’an, go back and tell Ruyi it was just me joking around. Ruyi isn’t a child anymore.”

Ping’an nodded. “But Elder Sister won’t be happy when Mr. Chen leaves either.”

Chen Changsheng looked towards the distant imperial road. He patted Ping’an’s head and didn’t reply.

Wang Sanniang’s hand rested on Ping’an’s shoulder. “Ping’an, say goodbye to Uncle Chen.”

But Ping’an remained silent, his eyes fixed on Mr. Chen.

Wang Sanniang sighed helplessly. Ping’an was sensible, but he could be quite stubborn about certain things.

She looked at Chen Changsheng. “Brother Chen, be careful on your journey.”

“Don’t worry, Sanniang.”

Chen Changsheng left. He had brought nothing with him when he first arrived, and now, leaving, it seemed he took nothing away either.

Only a pile of memories remained.

Finding things in the mortal world can be hard. Perhaps the difficulty of traveling thousands of miles wasn’t just the distance itself. In the end, it was all about cultivation — cultivating the heart, cultivating the body…

Chen Changsheng turned to look back.

He could still see Ping’an’s gaze fixed on him.

Only, his figure grew farther and farther away.

……….

This world had the Yellow Springs and reincarnation happening, but it did not have places like the Underworld Palace or the Underworld.

The Path of Reincarnation seemed incomplete, like it had been back within the Spirit Cage.

Yet the Sutra of Rebirth contained a complete cycle of reincarnation.

This was Chen Changsheng’s only chance. Perhaps within this complete cycle, he could find a way to lift the curse.

Of course, that was only a ‘perhaps’.

But even if the chance was tiny, he had to seize it.

The Underworld probably existed outside the Heavenly Dao.

Doing this from scratch wouldn’t be easy. The difficulty lay in the absence of the Path of Reincarnation and the lack of a formed Heavenly Dao as a foundation.

But now, all of this lay before Chen Changsheng.

He couldn’t believe this was a coincidence.

Perhaps long ago, Yu Xuan had already prepared everything.

Chen Changsheng had to acknowledge this debt, or perhaps it was Karma that had always been meant to fall upon him.

It was like how he owed Miss Yun, and what he owed Yu Xuan was even greater.

He still hadn’t had a chance to repay her, and things would have to wait for the future. Whether Yu Xuan was still alive was also a question.

Furthermore, regarding building the Underworld, there was naturally another problem.

This was what Chen Changsheng had learned from Manyue.

To create a world not governed by the Heavenly Dao, this Underworld needed something to hold up the Heavens and Earth, just like how Yu Xuan had captured Evil Spirits to form the foundation of the Spirit Cage.

Therefore, Chen Changsheng had to find these again.

Additionally, many things were still missing.

The Divine Abilities for creating a world were things he had yet to understand; he could only search for them slowly.

And the Laws of Heaven and Earth, how the Underworld should operate, the personnel required, and so on, and so on…

There were many, many more.

Therefore, ten or twenty years really wasn’t long — it might not even be enough.

“Do you plan to search for the Divine Abilities to create a world first, or go after those Evil Spirits?” Manyue asked.

“Find the Evil Spirits first,” Chen Changsheng answered. “These Spirits are badly injured now. If I deal with them later, they might cause trouble again.”

“But what if the Cultivation World doesn’t have Divine Abilities for world creation right now?”

“If I search carefully, something useful will surely be left behind.”

Creating a Miniature World was fundamentally different from Chen Changsheng’s Divine Ability of “one flower, one world.” The two simply couldn’t be compared.

After leaving Qingshan City, Chen Changsheng headed for the frontier pass.

He remembered some days ago that the Old Dragon King had gone to the frontier to investigate the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons incident, and it seemed he still hadn’t found any results.

If he hurried, perhaps he could catch up.

Chen Changsheng glanced at the sky. Then he rode his Flying Sword towards that frontier pass.

Upon reaching the borderlands, the heavens turned gloomy.

A heavy rain was falling over the frontier pass.

Not only were the heavens overcast, but the mountains and rivers below looked murky too. Faint trickles of Yin Energy and Baleful Aura seemed to seep out dimly.

Chen Changsheng searched left and right but couldn’t find any sign of the Old Dragon King.

Failing to locate him, he landed on a mountain peak instead.

“Brother Sword, are you awake now?”

Jian Shenghua appeared. “Brother Chen, that Divine Ability of yours is extraordinary. Resting these past few days, my spirit has recovered more than ten percent.”

“That’s good.”

Chen Changsheng looked out ahead. “I heard there was an incident involving a Night Parade of One Hundred Demons here. Brother Sword, you practice Ghost Cultivation yourself; could you possibly find the hiding place of that instigator?”

Jian Shenghua replied, “It’s rather difficult for me right now…”

His injuries were simply too severe.

He paused, then said, “However, Brother Chen, why not try a different approach? If we can’t find him, why not have him come to us?”

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng paused for a moment and then understood.

“I nearly forgot.”

Immediately, Chen Changsheng turned his palm, revealing a small Black Pagoda.

Then, he released the aura of the Black Pagoda, luring the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons to come.

The Black Pagoda emitted a dark, Evil Qi. This energy had been sealed within the pagoda for countless ages, exuding an ancient aura.

…………

Until the heavens dimmed and darkness fell.

Suddenly, dense Yin Energy arose over the frontier pass. Vast quantities of Baleful Aura and Yin Energy surged upwards all at once.

Wandering Spirits clad in armor manifested among the forests, all seeming to rush towards a single point.

Under the walls of Yongning City.

The generals of the Xiang Army were stationed here. They were supposed to be rear troops, but unexpectedly, for several nights, terrifying things had appeared.

Each night plunged deep into darkness, they could hear the howling Yin winds. Standing atop the city wall, peering past the torches, they seemed to see countless Wraiths walking beneath the city tower.

Strangely though, these Wraiths caused no trouble; they just stayed below the city walls.

“Hoo…”

With a gust of Yin wind.

The soldiers standing on the wall felt their hearts jolt.

“They’re here!”

“Don’t make a sound, just pretend not to see.”

“Yes, yes…”

What surprised them was, as they peered through the light of their torches, they saw the Wraiths suddenly turn back in unison, as if looking towards a certain location.

“Thump, thump, thump…”

Suddenly, the sound of heavy marching footsteps echoed in the soldiers’ ears.

Trembling with fear, some soldiers found it hard to even stand.

“They… they’re leaving?”

The soldiers on the wall seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

But immediately, they were puzzled. These past few nights, the Wraiths had always remained below the city wall. Why, tonight, were they heading somewhere else?