Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 365 The Divine Lord's Prestige Spreads Far and Wide
"Nonsense!" The white horse beneath him paused, then continued forward, but at the same time, Li Guichen uttered a low shout.

His voice wasn't harsh, much less angry, but it was the complete opposite of his behavior these past few days. In Li Wuxiang's words, he had "broken down."

But his defenses were breached only for a moment, and then he didn't say anything else, just fell silent.

But because of his slight lapse in composure, Xue Baoping felt she could confirm his identity. He was Li Wuxiang… not some mysterious being, but rather… perhaps something happened to Li Wuxiang and Senior Sister Mei when they were slaying the True Lord of Fate, causing him to condense another physical body? And then this body came to life, but its mind wasn't quite clear, so it fabricated a backstory for itself?
Seeing his reaction, Xue Baoping stopped asking questions and simply said, "Mr. Li, please don't be angry. I just think you look a lot like Li Wuxiang."

“There are quite a few people who look alike. Me and him…” Li Guichen hesitated for a moment, “Anyway, I am me and he is him. When you see him, just ask him and you will understand.”

Xue Baoping nodded: "Okay."

Li Wuxiang was right; there aren't many truly normal people in the world. Most people seem quite normal at first glance, but only after getting to know them better do you discover they possess some unusual traits, often deeply hidden. Li Guichen belongs to this category, and in fact, he's far more unusual than most. Xue Baoping now calls him Mr. Li, but in her heart, she tells herself that when interacting with him, it's best to use a coaxing attitude, be careful, but not too restrained.

As they walked, Xue Baoping stopped talking about the "Divine Blade Sect disciples." They retraced almost the same route Xue Baoping and Xiao E had taken, and along the way, Li Guichen saw more and more "people." Three days later, they actually saw living people.

Judging from their attire, they were all wandering martial arts practitioners, heading towards Dapan Mountain. Li Guichen asked a few of them and learned that they were going to "Fangju City".

Xue Baoping and Li Guichen both knew the name Fangju City; it was the fiefdom of the Demon King Xu Zhen in the Eastern Continent. However, the Fangju City these people were referring to was actually in the Central Continent, specifically in Maple Valley, the original training ground of the Divine Blade Sect.

Has Xu Zhen really built another demon kingdom in the Central Plains?
The two then asked these people where they came from and where they got the information. Most of the people they asked only said "I heard it from someone else." So the two continued walking, asking as they went, gradually tracing their way from one person to another. When they could finally see the white peaks of Dapan Mountain, they found the original "someone else."

By this time, the surrounding mountains and fields had become quite lively. After nightfall, the forests and fields were filled with firelight, all from the campfires of wandering martial artists heading towards Fangju City. Logically, at this time, with so many wandering martial artists gathered in one place, there should have been countless battles and fights. However, the mountains and fields were extremely quiet, and almost everyone was at peace.

This is because these people can also see "disciples of the Divine Blade Sect".

The two were now resting around a campfire, where about thirty people had gathered, making it quite lively. The reason they had found this place was because the "other person" that most of the people they had talked about along the way was resting here.

This man, named Xu You, was a burly fellow with a mustache and fair skin; he looked like a typical wandering martial arts practitioner. As he sat by the fire, the others surrounded him like stars around the moon, offering him food and drink. Xu You accepted everything without hesitation, eating and drinking heartily, but his expression was not arrogant; on the contrary, he appeared very amiable.

While eating, he said, "You don't need to ask me all these questions now. You'll know what's good once we get to Fangju City. You don't need to try to build any connections with me. When we get to the city, people will ask you where you heard about it. Just record it carefully. Record who recruited you and who made the contribution. Then it will be clear."

Xue Baoping and Li Guichen stayed on the outermost edge of the crowd, both wearing masks—a common sight among this group, as it was rare to see someone like Xu You who wasn't masked. This was because these rogue cultivators had taken many lives over the past few months, some of them ordinary people, others of their own kind. Now that they were gathered together, it was naturally inappropriate to show their true faces.

Xue Baoping whispered to Li Guichen, "This is a pyramid scheme."

She said it on purpose. Only Li Wuxiang would understand this word. Sure enough, Li Guichen nodded: "Developing downlines like this is quite fast. This one can be called a golden brother."

Now it was Xue Baoping's turn to be confused—what were the "Golden Brothers"?
Xu You spoke, and everyone around him nodded in agreement. One of them asked, "Brother Xu, everyone says you've been to Fangju City. What's it like there? How did you get there?"

Xu You smiled and said, "It was just a coincidence. I was also struggling to make ends meet and wanted to join the Divine Blade Sect to see if I could get some food. But when I got there, I found that it wasn't called the Divine Blade Sect anymore, but Fangju City. What a huge city, so magnificent, it was full of Divine Blade disciples—"

As he said this, he looked around and into the distance: "You've all gotten used to seeing these Divine Blade Brothers these past few days, haven't you? Let me tell you, they're like this in the city too, they never take off their armor. When I first arrived in the city and saw this kind of aura, I was immediately awestruck."

“These days you’ve all seen this religion and that sect, haven’t you? Let me put it this way, all of you sitting next to me now, and all of you on this mountain, we’re all people with a conscience in this chaotic world. It’s not that we haven’t done anything against our conscience, but that we haven’t joined any of those religions or sects, right? Because we know what they’re doing and how they fill their stomachs.”

As soon as he said this, the people around the fire nodded silently in agreement.

Having seen many rogue cultivators along the way, Xue Baoping realized that what he said made some sense.

Those with higher skills, as he said, have mostly joined various sects. The better ones among those sects plunder the people's food for their own consumption. The worse ones, needless to say, eat what they don't know. Perhaps some of the rogue cultivators on the mountain are simply too incompetent to be accepted. But most, perhaps as Xu You said, still possess some conscience and basic human decency—if they were all incompetent, they wouldn't have survived this long.

"But when I arrived at Fangju City, I saw that these Divine Blade Sect disciples didn't even remove their armor in the city. What did that remind me of? The army of Emperor Taiyi three thousand years ago! Wasn't that a picture of impeccable military discipline? If Fangju City has disciples like that, then it must be something special. I even met the city lord, who told me that these Divine Blade Sect disciples are practicing silent meditation and asceticism. They can understand their minds and dispel inner demons. He also said that if I wanted to join the sect, and accumulated enough merit in the future, I could become like them. Reaching the Golden Core stage is nothing; even the Nascent Soul stage is within reach."

One of them quickly asked, "Brother Xu, how do I earn merit?"

Then someone else asked, "Is there a lot of food in the city?"

Xu You nodded: "No need to worry about food. I ate meat there—don't get the wrong idea, it was good meat. It looked like mushrooms, but it was meat, they said the city lord grew it using supernatural powers. As for making contributions, brothers, you are all my credit, haha. Back then, the city lord asked me, 'Do you want to stay in the city, eating and drinking well, or do you want to make contributions?' If you wanted to make contributions, you had to spread the news. The more people you saved, the more merit you would have. If I saved one person, I'd be a Black Iron Brother; if I saved ten, I'd be a Bronze Brother; a hundred would be a Silver Brother; a thousand would be a Gold Brother—and then I could become a disciple of the Divine Blade Sect." "Brothers?" someone thought for a moment, "Brother Xu, that's a bit strange."

Xue Baoping glanced at Li Guichen and whispered to him, "He must be talking about Siming. When Li Wuxiang and I came from Dajie Mountain, we brought Siming with us. He wanted to plant Siming, and he should have planted it by now... Li Wuxiang's situation must not be very good. He has given it to Xu Zhen."

"You might find it strange to hear 'brother,' but what if you hear 'senior brother' or 'junior brother'? Do you know why they call each other that? Can you guess who the city lord is?"

No one spoke. Xu You smiled, narrowing his eyes: "Let me give you a pointer—in which sect in the world, regardless of cultivation level or seniority, do people address each other as 'senior brother' or 'senior sister'?"

Everyone paused, then realized their own interpretation. One of them blurted out, "Sword Sect... no, Taiyi Sect!? Is Fangju City a branch of the Taiyi Sect? Brother Xu, could the city lord be the Divine Lord Mei Sword Immortal!?"

Xu You laughed heartily: "Although it's not quite right, it's not far off—guess again!"

"Is that... Little Divine Lord Li Wuxiang? He's a sword immortal too!"

"It was him. I met him in person, and I never expected him to be so approachable, without any airs of superiority. He even poured me a glass of water—"

Immediately, several people asked almost in unison, "Have you had any?"

"I drank it, how could I not? I just wanted to absorb some of the immortal energy, so I drank it right away!" Xu You paused slightly, seemingly still savoring the memory, "Thinking about it now, it still feels like a dream. You all remember the Great Calamity Mountain Fire. The common people said it might be a dream, but we cultivators know what's real and what's not, right? The sky and the ground were full of fiery clouds, it was truly a display of the power of heaven and earth. At that time, I only had one thought—what difference is there between me and an ant?"

"But such a calamity was completely reversed by the great and small deities who killed the descended spirit gods and received the assistance of the Great Emperor. My hands trembled when I was collecting the water... Whose water am I collecting? It is water poured by the sword immortal who turned the tide and defied the might of heaven!"

"Given the situation, how could I possibly stay in the city? Of course, I left without hesitation!"

"Hey, Brother Xu, shouldn't they be considered swordsmen? Why are they still disciples of the Divine Blade Sect? The Taiyi Sect and the Divine Blade Sect are not the same thing. I feel like they're lowering your status."

Xu You waved his hand: "I haven't finished yet. Fangju City, which we're going to, isn't exactly a branch of the Taiyi Sect anymore. It should be called the Sword Sect—we used to always call the Taiyi Sect the Sword Sect, but that's not the right way to call it. The Taiyi Sect is the legacy of the Eastern Emperor Taiyi in the world, and all thirty-six sects should belong to the Sword Sect."

"The one Mei Jianxian is at Great Calamity Mountain is the Taiyi Sect. But the one Li Jianxian is at in Fangju City, Maple Valley, is the proper Sword Sect—he wants to establish his own sect and branch out from the Taiyi Sect. Don't be unhappy about this, but think about what our qualifications and cultivation levels are. Are we worthy of becoming Mei Jianxian's disciples?"

"I'm not saying that Li Jianxian is no good, but that the Taiyi Sect has opened a convenient door for everyone. This is what Little Divine Lord told me at the time—the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter is not something everyone can practice; it depends on aptitude. That thing is one in ten thousand. But, now the world is not exactly a good time, but it is also a good time. People like you and me who are still going to Fangju City at this time must have impeccable character."

"A good character means a pure heart, which is why you can join the Sword Sect. When you arrive in Fangju City, he will personally teach you a few skills to cultivate first, and then see if you have the fortune to pass on the True Immortal Body Dao Scripture. If you cultivate well, you might even be able to pass on the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture!"

After he said that, no one responded. Xu You frowned: "You haven't heard of the Lesser Calamity Sword Scripture, have you?"

"...No, Brother Xu."

"Sigh, how can I put it? You are all cultivators—when the Great Emperor Taiyi was still in the mortal realm, he cultivated the Great Calamity Sword Scripture, and he used the Great Calamity Sword Scripture to attain enlightenment. The founders of the thirty-six sects, even including the Great Emperors of the Xuan Sect, all initially cultivated the Lesser Calamity Sword Scripture and attained True Immortal status. The True Immortal Body-Body Chapter of the Taiyi Sect is extracted from the Lesser Calamity Sword Scripture, otherwise why would it be called 'True Immortal'? As for 'Body-Body,' it means that this cultivation method is more focused on body refinement than the Lesser Calamity Sword Scripture!"

Everyone's expressions turned serious and solemn. After a long while, someone whispered, "Brother Xu, did Sword Immortal Li tell you all these secrets?"

Xu You nodded: "You'll know once you meet him in person. He looks young, but he's actually a very kind and gentle elder, unlike any of the so-called masters we've met before. Ah, this is the true spirit of the Xuanmen sect."

"So you and I are all fortunate to have caught a good time. Right now it's called the Divine Blade Sect, but once there are more people, it will be renamed the Sword Sect. By then, you and I will be founding brothers!"

Xue Baoping turned and glanced at Li Guichen. The two slowly retreated, and while the people were still discussing whether Li Jianxian was cultivating the True Immortal Body Dao Chapter or the Lesser Tribulation Sword Scripture, they disappeared into the darkness of the Dao Forest.

“What he said doesn’t make sense,” Xue Baoping frowned. “Before he became obsessed, Li Wuxiang might have been like what he said, but after he became obsessed, he became a different person, different from what he said. And how could the city lord be Li Wuxiang? It should be Xu Zhen. Hasn’t this person ever seen Xu Zhen? Xu Zhen has captivated so many people, but in the end, he’s asking Li Wuxiang to gather the rogue cultivators… to create a sword sect?”

Li Guichen shook his head: "Now nothing can be deduced by common sense. Now you are called Xu Bao, and I am called Li Chen. Tomorrow we will go into Fangju City with them. I will see for myself whether that is Li Wuxiang or not."

(End of this chapter)