Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 229 Kurotani
Daojun pondered for a moment, then slowly said:

"Speaking of which, fellow Daoist, has there been any progress on your matter in the lower realm?"

Lü Dongbin smiled freely and said:
"It is indeed a matter of concern for Daoist Lord. I have already calculated that it will take at least three hundred years and at most five hundred years before I must descend to the mortal realm."

"At that time, I will have to trouble Daojun to look after me for a while."

Daojun raised his wine cup and solemnly said:

"Rest assured, fellow Daoist, as long as I am here, I will surely help you awaken your innate wisdom safely."

"Hahaha~ I naturally trust Daojun's words, but it's too early to discuss this matter now. Come, let's drink, let's drink~"

After finishing their drinking session, Daojun and Lü Dongbin descended to the mortal realm and returned to Daojun Palace.

Back then, he asked Lü Dongbin if he had any news about Tonghua Palace. Lü Dongbin had gone to travel in the East Sea and had not received any news since. When he returned, Daojun was in seclusion to fully comprehend the Great Dao of Hunyuan, so this gathering was delayed until now.

Of course, the Daoist's golden body of merit was also delayed for more than a hundred years.

As soon as Daojun returned to the incense space, he looked at the already quite impressive golden body of merit and was about to circulate his own merit to begin refining it again, but he raised an eyebrow slightly and stopped what he was doing.

Before long, Zhu Dayou, dressed in full armor, strode into the third floor of the pavilion and bowed respectfully to the Dao Lord, saying:
"Daojun, there are now several wandering physicians in Daojun Palace who have accumulated enough merit to ascend to immortality and become celestial officials. Most of them have chosen to stay on Daojun Mountain to continue their research on medicine."

"Only the two celestial officials, Zhang and Ma, are willing to ascend to the Heavenly Court Daojun Palace to guard the palace gates for you."

Daojun nodded slowly. He knew the personalities of the people who came from his medical clinic at the foot of the mountain better than anyone, so he wasn't surprised by this scene.

"Besides this."

Zhu Dayou hesitated for a moment, but finally bowed and said:

"Daojun, recently the Goat-Headed Ghost King sent a message saying that two of my Daojun Palace disciples have encountered some unexpected situations because the Goat-Headed Ghost King can no longer contact his two divided souls."

Daojun frowned slightly upon hearing this and said:

"When did this happen? Why is it only being reported now? What did the Goat-Headed Demon King say?"

Zhu Dayou quickly said:

"Reporting to Daojun, this matter just happened last night. The Goat-Headed Ghost King said that although he cannot contact his two divided souls, these two divided souls still exist."

"Because of Yuan Ze's orders, the Ghost King's divided soul will surely protect my Daojun Palace disciples with his life. But now that the divided soul is still alive, those two disciples should be safe."

"General Yuanze and the Ghost King are currently searching for clues at the place where the two disappeared. From what we can see, there seems to be a trace of the underworld there."

Daojun nodded slightly and began to calculate with his hands, operating the divine power of cause and effect divination.

As the profound aura of the Great Dao of Cause and Effect enveloped the Dao Lord, the world before him began to change. In no time, the pavilions before him disappeared, replaced by a dark, lifeless, and pitch-black wasteland.

There was no spiritual energy here, only yin energy drifting and gusts of yin wind blowing. However, the changes before Daojun's eyes did not end there, but continued to extend in this boundless yin realm, and soon arrived at an extremely remote, pitch-black rift valley.

Daojun looked at the dark rift valley before him, his eyes filled with contemplation.

The rift valley was not pitch black; instead, it was filled with eerie green lights and all sorts of sinister houses. It was not just a simple rift valley, but a ghost town built within it.

As Daojun watched as ghosts filled with intense resentment walked in and out of the houses, his gaze, through one of the houses, fell upon two living souls who were taking the pulse of a ghost.
Daojun frowned slightly, but just then, a majestic shout came from the depths of the rift valley!
"Who is spying here!"

As a gust of cold wind blew by, the Daoist's vision quickly receded, returning him to the pavilion.

Zhu Dayou stared blankly at the Daoist Lord in front of him for a moment, then a meaningful smile suddenly appeared on his face, as if he had seen something interesting.

"Interesting. So you've also grasped the Dao of Cause and Effect."

Daojun pondered to himself that the place he had seen was not simple.

That place is also in the underworld, outside the jurisdiction of the underworld. In fact, it is extremely far away, with a desolate area in between, which the underworld would never set foot in unless there are special circumstances.

The problem lies here: he saw that the rift valley was full of resentful, wandering ghosts, yet these beings should have been taken in by the Yin soldiers of the mortal world to the City of the Unjustly Dead.

Even if some escaped or fled from the messengers of the underworld or the underworld soldiers, they should still be drifting in the areas outside the underworld. Many ghosts and even ghost kings come from this.

Most importantly, these beings, brimming with resentment, could not possibly gather together peacefully without intervention.
After pondering for a moment, Daojun made up his mind. He looked at Zhu Dayou in front of him and said:
"Go and find Yuanze and the Goat-Headed Ghost King, and tell them to return first. Keep a close eye on the other Dao Lord Palace disciples, and report any unusual situations immediately."

"As for the two missing disciples, they are already trapped in the underworld. I will handle this matter myself."

"Yes, Lord Dao."

The underworld, in the Black Valley.

A figure dressed in a black monk's robe looked at the eternally dark sky of the underworld, his eyes showing neither joy nor anger.

Just then, two figures shrouded in black cloaks slowly approached, knelt behind the monk, and respectfully said:
"Lord."

"Send those two souls you brought back away as soon as possible, and return their bodies to them. Also, pass on the message that Kurotani needs to leave this place as soon as possible."

The two figures exchanged a glance, and despite their surprise, they quickly nodded, accepted the order, and left.

The black-robed monk held a string of jet-black prayer beads in his hand, but one of the beads had a slight crack.

"The Divine Physician Daojun, you really underestimate this relatively unknown figure."

Just now, someone came here by taking advantage of the karma of those two mortal souls, directly breaking through the karmic defenses of this place and exposing this rift valley.

Fortunately, he had also comprehended the complete Dao of Cause and Effect and sensed the fluctuations of the Dao of Cause and Effect in this place in time, which stopped the man.

The being possessing such abilities, and connected to those two Yang Souls, must be the Divine Physician Daoist who has only appeared in the last few hundred years.
What surprised him most was the astonishing skill of the Divine Physician Daoist, and his profound understanding of the Dao of Cause and Effect.
(End of this chapter)