A life of clearness

Chapter 268 Yin Shou Chong

"At this rate, thirty-six spirit realms really aren't the limit of the underworld."

"No." Number One Under Heaven shook his head, "There is another possibility, that is, the thirty-six spirit realms are indeed the limit of the underworld."

He explained: "Power cannot expand indefinitely. This is true even for a powerful realm like the Venerable Realm. The development of the Underworld will reach a bottleneck, and this bottleneck is the true cultivation level of the Underworld Master."

"If the master of the underworld could have the cultivation of an immortal master, why would he only be able to develop his power within the spirit world? I guess that the real strength of the master of the underworld is probably on the higher side among the Taoist masters. He should not be at the Taoist master level yet. The underworld has been able to develop to this point, and this mask has played an indispensable role."

"There is one more thing I must remind you of." Number One Under Heaven looked at Rong Qing, "Methods like the Underworld creating merits are common in all the major realms. The larger the power, the stricter the hierarchy. Otherwise, let alone cohesion, it would have been dispersed long ago. Not to mention the inheritance for billions of years."

"The advantage of Hades lies in the characteristics of this mask. Otherwise... many monks might not choose Hades."

Lifespan and cultivation level are the lifeblood of a cultivator.

"Are you saying that this is the characteristic and selling point of the underworld?" Rong Qing touched his chin.

Number One Under Heaven was stunned for a moment before he said, "Yes. You can say that."

"Well, I almost understand it." Peeling off the mysterious and strange veil of the underworld, in fact, the underworld is not fundamentally different from many forces in the noble and spiritual worlds.

"Some forces have core secrets that can make the cultivators' bodies far superior to ordinary ones, and some forces are very good at improving the cultivators' understanding of the origin of the Tao. And some forces, like the Hades, can use special methods to improve the cultivators' cultivation. Different forces have their own specialties, which is also the foundation for their long-term inheritance. If I were a casual cultivator with low comprehension, then joining the Hades would be a great choice for me, because I can greatly extend my lifespan and increase my cultivation through the Hades. Even if I can't reach a higher realm or even a Taoist master, at least I have far exceeded the lifespan and cultivation that I could have lived. Anyway, most cultivators in this world cannot become Taoist masters, so I can enjoy myself and do whatever I want during my lifetime, and that's enough."

"Haha. But you are indeed very intelligent." Number One Under Heaven raised his eyebrows. "What do you think?"

"Then use it as my springboard." Rong Qing raised the upper mask in her hand, "It can only be a springboard!"

Because the Hades lineage has a fatal weakness, that is, relying on this method can only temporarily avoid the realization of the origin of Taoism. No matter how much merit one has, one cannot become a Taoist master by using the special nature of this mask. Back then in Cangliuzhou, Chongji explained the pros and cons to the inspector and the flower master.

What choice will be made in the end and what result will be obtained in the end...only the person who drinks the water knows whether it is hot or cold.

……

"By the way, Master, do you recall any ancient creature that is similar to this mask?"

"Have."

Hearing this, Rong Qing hurriedly asked, "What's its name? What are its likes and dislikes? ... What's the specific situation?"

"There is an ancient creature called Yin Shou Chong, which is very similar to this mask." Tianxia Diyi recalled and gave Rong Qing a detailed introduction: "This creature is very rare even in ancient times. I have seen some records of it in the many Taoist scriptures collected by Luosheng Zunjie. There are not many records, because among the ancient creatures, it is also rare, and there was almost no trace of it in the third round of the world." "Rare? This shouldn't be the case."

The mask has such domineering control and communication power.

“Listen to what I have to say.” Number One Under Heaven understood why Rong Qing had such doubts. “Because in ancient times, the way Yin Shou insects survived was very different from now.”

"In ancient times, Yin Shou Chong also parasitized living things. The range was very wide, including cultivators, monsters, and even mortals... They would absorb the lifespan and cultivation of the host, if the host had cultivation. But once they took host, this absorption was almost instinctive and crazy. The weaker the host, the faster he died. Even after death, he could be controlled by Yin Shou Chong for a period of time. This is also the origin of the name of Yin Shou Chong-"

"A living creature that is parasitized by the Yin-Shou Worm will not have much longer of a Yang-life, only a Yin-life will remain."

"If the host has been dead for too long, the Yin Shou worms will not be able to survive. So they will control the dead host's body to move again, and then parasitize on a new host."

"Just like the current masks are divided into upper and lower positions. At that time, the Yin Shou Chong was also divided into upper and lower positions, that is, the king and his subjects."

"The ministers absorb the lifespan and cultivation of the host and offer them to the king. Therefore, even if the insect king does not parasitize on the host, it can still obtain the lifespan and cultivation and survive. For the insect king, it has only one mission, and that is to reproduce."

"The insect king will give birth to younger insect kings. These young insect kings do not stay in the old insect king's territory, but leave far away to open up their own kingdoms."

"That is to say..." Rong Qing seemed to be thinking, "Those ministers did not reproduce. However, since the insect king can reproduce new insect kings, how come the Yin Shou insects became extinct? Or disappeared without a trace?"

“How would I know that?” Number One Under Heaven folded his sleeves, “These are the only records I saw back then. More detailed information may be in other realms. Anyway, not many people were researching it back then.”

"It didn't reproduce much in the ancient times. You have to know that in the ancient times, many strange creatures roamed the heavens and the worlds, and each of them had incredible combat power. Even if this Yin Shou insect can absorb life and cultivation, for many strange creatures, it is just scum that can be crushed to death with one foot. If it reproduces again... where can it reproduce?"

"And the creatures it can parasitize are all very weak. It can't parasitize anything that's a little bit stronger. Besides that, there are various other reasons. Anyway... in that era, it was the loser in the competition."

But now, in this great era, it has returned. Or rather, it has returned in a new guise.

"According to the records, it doesn't look like this..." Rong Qing looked at the mask in her hand.

"Of course." Number One Under Heaven was very sure, "I already said it's a bug. It can crawl, fly, and fight. Otherwise, how can it be a parasite?"

"But I am almost certain that the predecessor of this mask is the Yin Shou insect. The master of the underworld should have obtained it through some special means and then transformed it. Let the cultivator connect with the insect king's soul... This method is similar to a blood contract. The core secret method of some forces is to let the cultivator make a blood contract with some powerful creatures, so that the cultivator can obtain the unique abilities of those creatures. Similarly, the cultivator who recognizes the master of the upper mask can be regarded as half an insect king, and of course he can absorb the lifespan and cultivation of the lower ones."

(End of this chapter)