Netherworld Painted Skin Scroll

Chapter 386 The Truth of the Six Departments

"Back? Hmm, I remember. I met Miss Xue, and then—"

"That's not what I meant by coming back."

Li Guichen was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean? Oh, I understand."

“I’ve already said it, you are you, and I am me. I thought you understood. Li Wuxiang, it’s a bit surprising that you keep dwelling on this issue—don’t you think you’re being a little, how should I put it, cruel?”

Li Guichen sighed: "If you were a human being, I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to 'go back,' or even kill me. But we both know what you were like before, and I thought you would respect me a little more, respect my...independent will? If you insist on making me go back, it's no different from killing me. I remember my own story, and you might think that what I remember is all fake, but now I—"

“I don’t think it’s fake.” Li Wuxiang interrupted him. “I used to think that way, but I don’t think that way anymore. I know now that what you said is true. You were indeed born in Fuhe Town, and you do have parents and a wife. I didn’t want you to come back to me. I just wanted to ask if you remembered. But now I know that you haven’t remembered. Okay, I won’t ask anymore. Don’t be angry.”

Li Guichen was stunned, staring at him for a long time before turning to look at Zhao Qi. He also felt that something seemed off about Li Wuxiang.

The Li Wuxiang who had flown into the sky earlier was full of fiery, frenzied energy, but now he had suddenly become calm. In Li Guichen's eyes, perhaps there was even a hint of melancholy? He was no different from the Li Wuxiang of the past, but this change was somewhat sudden, and he wondered if something had happened while he was in the sky.

Zhao Qi stood a dozen steps away, noticed Li Guichen's gaze, and moved closer to Xue Baoping.

"Hey, young lady, you'd better keep an eye on him these next few days."

For a moment, Xue Baoping didn't know what to say to him. To be honest, they were quite familiar with each other, even very familiar. During her time living in Jinshui, she hadn't interacted much with people, and even Chen Xin was just a vague impression of her—he was the town lord, and nothing more.

Then Li Wuxiang came, and Zhao Qi came too. Before, Li Wuxiang was the closest person to her in this world, while for a time, Zhao Qi was the person she feared and hated the most in this world—and then he died.

The next time I learned about him, it was from Li Wuxiang—this guy was actually quite pitiful, he wasn't inherently bad, he helped me a lot, and now he's finished.

This is the second time Xue Baoping has spoken to him since then.

It's quite interesting to think about; she's only spoken to him twice. Once was after she and Li Wuxiang captured Zeng Jianqiu, when Zhao Qi came to her house and gave her a talisman. The second time is right now—"You'd better keep an eye on him these next few days."

She knew he had truly reformed, but some resentment still lingered in her heart. So she tried to keep her tone calm: "Why?"

Zhao Qi lowered his voice: "Didn't you hear them talking? Oh... you can't hear them. I can hear them. Do you know what Li Wuxiang was saying to him? Li Wuxiang told him that he remembered, Li Guichen was indeed born in Fuhe Town, and he does have parents and a wife. Isn't that scary?"

Xue Baoping was taken aback: "Is he still in a daze?"

Zhao Qi shook his head: "He's definitely gone. Xu Zhen has become like this, he's practically a mythical beast himself now, it's impossible. What I'm worried about is what's going on up there—"

He cautiously beckoned his hand to the sky: "You guys were down there, and he and I were up there. Something was really off. He put his hand on that thing's chin, and it disappeared. You know what I'm afraid of? Before, I was afraid he'd been possessed by that thing. Now I'm afraid that even if he hasn't, his mind might... well, not exactly be messed up, but just affected. You need to keep a close eye on him and see what's going on."

Just as Xue Baoping was about to speak, Li Wuxiang and Li Guichen walked over again. Li Guichen still had a bewildered expression on his face, as if he couldn't understand why Li Wuxiang thought he was telling the truth.

Li Wuxiang stood before the three of them, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Zhao Qi, I can hear you too. You don't need to guess. I'm just not in a good mood. But it's not because of anything else, it's because I just figured something out."

He sighed, "We've known each other for a long time, and I trust you now. Li Guichen, I know who you are, you know who I am, and I trust you too. Aquarius—"

Xue Baoping paused for a moment when she heard this word. It was because the way she addressed herself had changed from "Miss Xue" to "Baoping".

Zhao Qi was right; Li Wuxiang had changed. But she wasn't sure if it was because he was in a trance, or something else entirely.

"—Of course I trust you too. So now that all three of you are people I trust, I have something to tell you, and we'll discuss what to do next."

Li Guichen began, "Since you trust me, I'll go out for a bit. My grand-nephew's wife and grand-niece are still outside—" Li Wuxiang raised a hand, "No rush. What I need to say is more urgent than this. If this matter isn't resolved, no one in this world will survive."

Zhao Qi gave Xue Baoping a wink. Xue Baoping interpreted his wink as saying, "See, I told you so!"

“That thing just now was probably the Great Lord Tai Zhuo. I used his supernatural powers to see some things about this world. Don’t ask me how I saw it, I’ll just state the conclusion.” Li Wuxiang’s expression was serious, but his tone was calm. “I used to think that the six emperors of the Six Departments of the Mysterious Sect were originally True Immortals who had become Golden Immortals, but now I see that they are no longer human.”

"Donghuang Taiyi is not exactly human, but a god. But no matter what kind of god he is, and no matter whether he does things that are human or not, he still remembers that he came from human origins. His foundation is the fortune of humanity, so his thoughts are not much different from those of humans. If there is any difference, it might be that he is a bit more ruthless and doesn't care much about what a specific person might do."

"But the Great Emperors of the Six Departments of the Mysterious Sect are no longer human. Everything in this world is formed from spiritual energy, which itself exists between life and death. A small amount of spiritual energy gathered together creates a blessed land. If a slightly intelligent animal bumps into it, it becomes a demon. A large mass of spiritual energy gathered together is more like a living thing. But it's like a living thing that is still unconscious, with only a physical body and no consciousness. When the six Great Emperors of the Six Departments became True Immortals, there were six such masses of spiritual energy in the world."

“We’ve always said that those six became Golden Immortals because they created some kind of cultivation technique and comprehended something while they were True Immortals. But as I just saw, it has nothing to do with them—those six are essentially the same as demons. They found the six largest clusters of spiritual energy in the world while they were True Immortals, obtained their power, and thus immediately ascended to Golden Immortals. In other words, they were just lucky. If it had been the other thirty-six True Immortals who encountered them, they would have become Golden Immortals as well.”

"But once they become them, they are no longer themselves. Those spiritual energies were originally alive, just lacking a brain. But it's not that they lacked a brain, but rather that they originally had some spiritual consciousness, but couldn't unify it, just like a person who is not very clear-headed, with countless thoughts separate. Now, a true immortal's brain is sent to them, and those spiritual consciousnesses are immediately unified, so they immediately become truly living things, which are the current Six Great Emperors."

"So the difference between the Six Great Emperors and Donghuang Taiyi is that they don't consider themselves human. They are creations of this world. The six True Immortals who ascended back then were merely things he consumed—they nourished their bodies and awakened them. I guess, in their eyes, humans are completely alien. The six True Immortals died the moment they achieved Golden Immortal status."

Xue Baoping was taken aback by his words, as was Li Guichen. But Zhao Qi was the most surprised. Although he came from Ranshan, he was considered a legitimate member of the Xuanmen sect. What Li Wuxiang was saying was truly unbelievable, especially the last sentence, "The moment one becomes a Golden Immortal, one dies."

"You, Li Wuxiang, are you talking nonsense? The Six Ministries of Mysterious Sect are doing just fine, aren't they? Aren't the people inside all living quite well—"

Li Wuxiang looked at Li Guichen: "Do you remember what the coffin city of the Five Mountains True Form Sect was like?"

Li Guichen nodded in astonishment.

“Zhao Qi, you haven’t been to Coffin City, but you should have heard of it. The territory of the Six Dioceses is very large, but each diocese has very few people. The ones you’re talking about who are doing well are the chosen ones who are still alive. They only allow the strong and talented to live, so naturally they live well. The weak, those with poor aptitude, the old, the sick, and the disabled are all used to suppress the coffins.”

"I was thinking before, since we want to fight against the Taiyi Sect and the Thirty-Six Sects, and since we want to monopolize the Central Plains, why don't the Six Ministries increase their population instead of strictly prohibiting living people in the dioceses from marrying freely?"

"Now I understand, there are two reasons. First, the Six Great Emperors still need living people. Living people can cultivate. As you all know, the cultivation methods of the Six Mysterious Sects are different from those of the Taiyi Sect and the Thirty-Six Sects. People outside the sects absorb spiritual energy during cultivation, but mainly use it to temper their physical body and blood. However, the people of the Six Mysterious Sects are different from us. They also introduce spiritual energy, but they do not focus on the physical body—Foundation Building and Qi Refining are the same at this time because they need to build a foundation."

"But when you reach the Golden Core stage, the Six Ministries of Mysterious Teachings call it Refining the Spirit. Our Golden Core stage involves nurturing the seed of life within the body, while the Mysterious Teachings' Refining the Spirit involves gradually refining away all the spirits and deities within the body."

"Once we reach the Nascent Soul stage, we are nurturing a new self, while the Xuan Sect's Transformation into Emptiness is the beginning of refining consciousness and soul."

“Then, when we reach the Yang God, we have refined our true self and broken free from the shackles of the physical body. The Xuan Sect’s Dao Integration is to refine the soul, leaving only a thin physical body, so that we can communicate more smoothly with their Great Emperor’s true spirit and summon more powerful spells.”

"Did you understand? The Taiyi Sect's cultivation method is for cultivating oneself. The Six Departments' cultivation method is for cultivating supernatural powers, for cultivating how to make them more like the Six Departments' Great Emperors—when they achieve perfect Dao integration, their bodies, honed through years of arduous cultivation, are filled with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, achieving 'body and Dao in harmony' and 'ascension to the wondrous realm'—this is not ascension, it's scooping water. The sparse spiritual energy between heaven and earth is like water, and the cultivators of the Six Departments spend their entire lives scooping water, filling their bodies with it. Once it's full, they send it to their Great Emperors."

"So they need people, but only those with good aptitude to cultivate. They also need the living mortals in the parish, because they need them to bear children, to produce offspring, and to support those cultivators. But they can't have too many people, because if there are too many people, the human fortune will be too strong, so there are still so many souls being suppressed in the underworld."

“I used to wonder why the Netherworld Mother, who once suppressed Taiyi alongside the Six Great Emperors, turned against them afterward. Now I think I understand—the Netherworld Mother’s authority also governs the cycle of life and death, and the Six Great Emperors now use it as a vessel to suppress souls.”

"Do you know what else I've figured out? It's why they've always stayed in the Central Continent. Besides the Central Continent, there are also the Eastern Continent and the Western Continent. Why don't the people of the Six Departments of the Mysterious Sect go to those two places? Because there's no need. Because there's no one in those two places. What they want to fight and eliminate are people. So they stay in the Central Continent and don't go anywhere else. Once the sect completely occupies the Central Continent and wipes out all of us who practice the Taiyi Sect's techniques, the Six Departments' Great Emperors can enjoy their offerings in peace."

Li Wuxiang took a breath and looked at the three of them: "This is the most important thing I just mentioned. There is no possibility of easing tensions, whether within or outside the diocese; the fight will continue until death. It's not just us fighting, but the six groups of innate spiritual energy in this world fighting against Donghuang Taiyi—they don't want anyone in this world, and they especially don't want anyone in this world to cultivate according to the Taiyi Sect's methods. As the number of people increases and the number of human cultivators increases, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth may slowly be depleted, and in the end, the six Great Emperors will also perish."

“If I were them, I would also eradicate evil completely, and the next step would be the Netherworld Mother. If I were Donghuang Taiyi, I would definitely not make peace with them. Once all the people are dead, they will continue to absorb the spiritual energy of the world, and demons and other living things will be drained. Then everything formed from the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, whether it grows on the land or in the sea, and perhaps even mountains and rivers.”

"After this step, I guess the six of them will fight each other, devouring one another, until only one is left, living alone in this world. At that time, there will be nothing left in this world, only it and a wasteland. Li Guichen, Bao Ping, you both know that we live on a ball. At that time, it will be this ball, a ball that can't go anywhere and will devour whatever it sees."

(End of this chapter)