Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 1047 Transcending the Three Realms
"Master Zheng, the auspicious treasures are on their way and will arrive soon."

Xu Xuan returned weary from his journey and immediately announced the good news upon meeting them. His gaze then turned to the distant, eerie opening in the Yellow Springs:
"As for this calamity of the Yellow Springs, it's time to completely seal it off."

These two sentences were like sweet rain falling on parched land, filling Zheng Lian with joy.

He secretly admired: "Our White Lotus Sect's efficiency is truly remarkable!"

In a short period of time, two potential threats that could have ruined his reputation and destroyed his family were resolved. His tense nerves relaxed suddenly, and he even straightened his back a little more unconsciously.

"I wonder what else Your Majesty requires of me?" Zheng Lian asked respectfully.

Xu Xuan didn't stand on ceremony and immediately ordered: "You will personally lead the team to seal off the entire area within ten miles of the Yellow Springs Gap, and strictly prohibit anyone from approaching."

"No one, whether a county official, a soldier, or an ordinary citizen, is allowed to enter."

"Especially those from Luoyang, you know what I mean."

The prefect naturally understood the meaning of these words; it was just one last hurdle, and even if the emperor himself were to arrive, it would still take this time.

Then Xu Xuan took out an ancient scroll from his sleeve. The scroll was filled with spiritual light, and several amazing seal characters, such as "Primordial Qi Subduing Demon Seal and Talisman for Suppressing the Eight Desolations," could be vaguely seen floating in the halo.

"Now, I will personally descend into the Yellow Springs to set up the array, carrying this array diagram that I specially obtained from the White Lotus Headquarters."

"Ten days from now, the great formation will be completed, and you may leave."

Zheng Lian felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this. Although he couldn't understand the name of the formation at all, the words "Primordial Qi", "Subduing Demons", and "Suppressing the Eight Desolations" were all incredibly intimidating, suggesting that it must be a secret treasure that the sect had kept hidden away.

He dared not ask any further questions and hurriedly accepted the order and left, already planning in his mind how to report the victory to the court in ten days and how to use this merit to advance further in his official career.

After Zheng Lian walked away, Xu Xuan put away the exaggeratedly special effects scroll; fooling people was something he could easily do.

Taking a deep breath and making a final mental preparation, he took out the "Fengdu Plantain" given to him by the Dragon King and examined it carefully.

This is the real treasure.

Water ripples flowed across the emerald green leaves. After confirming that his protective treasure was unharmed, he straightened his robes and stepped into the awe-inspiring Yellow Springs.

Gululu...

The viscous Yellow Spring water instantly submerged the figure, leaving only a string of slowly rising bubbles.

"Good baby!"

After entering the water, the Father couldn't help but admire it in his heart.

At this moment, 'Fengdu Cheqian' was emitting strange fluctuations, forming an invisible barrier around it.

The Yellow Spring Water, which was originally extremely dangerous, now washed over him like ordinary water. Its power to absorb the soul was weakened by 99%, and its power to corrode the body was completely blocked, unable to even get close to the surface of his body.

The most surprising thing is that the most troublesome Daoist principle of "life and death cycle" in the Yellow Springs water was completely absorbed and transformed by the plantain, becoming nourishment for itself.

The emerald green leaves unfurled in the murky Yellow Springs, with mysterious cyclical patterns flowing between their veins.

The cycle of life and death in water is precisely the most precious characteristic of this precious natural material.

"As expected of the Dragon Lord, his wealth is truly immense," Xu Xuan thought to himself. "Even a random treasure he pulls out is so useful. It seems I should make more trips to the Yangtze River in the future."

The Dragon King by the Yangtze River sensed that some despicable person wanted to harm him, and immediately launched into another commotion.

What one can feel is certainly not the search for characters.

It seems like it can only be that little brat surnamed Xu.

Could it be that you're quite satisfied with the plantain and want to keep coming back to me to freeload?

To be fair, as a background character who appeared very early on, the Dragon King was indeed insightful, seeing through someone's true nature long before Bai Suzhen.

Therefore, the phrase "shifting the blame eastward" appears.

The most fundamental concept of the Great Way of Water is the balance of strength and gentleness. However, ordinary people cannot see the gentleness of the Dragon Lord, but this person can receive this treatment.

The Dragon King had a few new ideas, and then he smugly sank to the bottom of the river to start thinking about how to make a plan.

On the other side, Xu Xuan had already allowed his body to slowly sink into the depths of this man-made giant pit.

His eyes gleamed with a golden light in the dark water, revealing that he had indeed mastered some of the basics of the Zhengyan Fazang technique.

Carefully survey the surroundings. One could see that in the murky water, vengeful spirits were constantly being swept into the whirlpools, churning endlessly amidst mud, sand, pebbles, and other debris.

They searched around the bottom of the pit, but still couldn't find any trace of the Stone King.

"It seems we've been caught in that vortex in the core area."

Xu Xuan looked towards the bottomless vortex at the center of the pit, from which a pure, ghostly aura emanated.

That's it, that's it.

Since we're here, we might as well give it a shot.

He channeled his magic power, his body radiating a faint, clear light. He forcefully broke free from the shackles of the water's dark energy, enduring increasing pressure, and advanced step by step toward the core of the vortex.

In the end, the Yellow Springs completely swallowed the figure in this man-made Netherworld Lake.

Xu Xuan walked slowly through the dark underground river, and the scene before him made him secretly startled.

The brownish-yellow water, carrying countless wailing, wronged souls and vengeful ghosts, formed an eerie torrent. The water was clearly flowing outwards, but the souls were dragged downstream by an invisible force, heading deeper into the earth.

They gradually came to understand why this river of the underworld could meander and flow underground in the mortal realm.

Because this is the heartland of the Kyushu civilization.

For thousands of years, countless souls have been buried beneath this land.

When ordinary people die, their souls mostly return to heaven and earth.

But those emperors, generals, kings, and nobles left behind too much resentment and obsession beneath the yellow earth.

A history of civilization themed around funerary sacrifice is slowly unfolding before our eyes.

On the murky riverbed, the first things that catch the eye are all kinds of gold and silver ornaments: earrings, rings, hairpins, hair ornaments, bracelets... These objects, which once adorned vibrant lives, are now sunk to the bottom of the river, gleaming with a pale luster in the dark water.

Further along, bronze ritual vessels and household utensils such as tripods, cauldrons, buckets, plates, and basins gradually increased; iron production tools and weapons were also quite numerous.

Judging from their form, most of them are artifacts from the last few hundred years.

As they continued deeper into the area, even more ancient remains began to emerge.

Groups of terracotta and wooden figurines stand on both sides of the riverbed: majestic warrior figurines, respectful attendant figurines, graceful dancer figurines... a wide variety of lifelike figures.

There are also a large number of real weapons and chariot and horse remains, as well as various pottery funerary models: stoves, wells, granaries, stone mills, toilets, and poultry and livestock such as chickens, dogs, pigs, and horses.

These artifacts, imbued with the ancient style of the pre-Qin period, silently tell the story of the funeral rites and culture of a distant era.

Xu Xuan traversed this dark riverbed forgotten by time, as if he were going against the flow of history, step by step heading towards the source of civilization.

His body was surrounded by golden light, clearly indicating that he had used his true abilities.

Those burial goods that drifted with the tide collided with the protective Buddha light and instantly turned into dust.

Their spirituality has long been washed away by the Yellow Springs water, and now only empty shells remain, floating in the undercurrents.

I glimpsed many gold, silver and jade artifacts being swept upwards by the undercurrent towards the artificial lake.

"Looks like that big pit on the ground is going to make a fortune."

“Once the Yellow Springs recede, Zheng Lian will make a fortune just by salvaging these burial goods.”

The deeper you go, the more turbulent the current becomes.

Pottery pots, jars, dou (a type of stemmed bowl), and plates reappeared, but their shapes had become extremely archaic.

Although still made of clay, the body of these artifacts faintly gleams with a jade-like sheen, clearly indicating that they have undergone special refining. These ancient objects are still stubbornly resisting the erosion of the underworld, with scattered runes occasionally bursting from their surfaces.

As you go deeper, you'll find more and more bone flutes and turquoise ornaments.

The perforated animal bones are engraved with sun patterns, and turquoise is inlaid into mysterious totems. Jade cong and jade bi are scattered among them, each of which carries the primitive worship of the ancestors to heaven and earth.

Like silent historians, they record the memories of civilizations that are older than written words.

What truly captivated Xu Xuan were the bronze artifacts half-buried in the riverbed.

The ding, gui, zun, and lei—these ritual vessels, imbued with a visible suppressive force, actually carved out patches of tranquility in the murky river water.

Taotie patterns floated in the darkness, and cicada patterns flowed on the tripod legs. With their unchanging posture over thousands of years, they forcefully restrained the rampaging Yellow Springs.

Xu Xuan reached out and gently stroked the inscription on a square cauldron, and suddenly realized:
The appearance of the Yellow Springs in the mortal world may be accidental, but its spread is due to the funerary culture that has lasted for thousands of years on this land.

Every tomb is a node of yin energy, and every burial object is a coordinate of the underworld.

Humans buried the dead in the most solemn way, but they inadvertently paved the way for the underworld to connect the nine provinces.

The talismans among these burial objects did indeed play a role.

The taotie patterns on the bronze tripods and gui vessels still flow, and the jade cong and bi exude a warm luster, resisting the erosion of the underworld for thousands of years.

"I see." Xu Xuan seemed to understand. "The balance between the Yin and Yang realms has long been precarious."

Deep underground, unknown to anyone, the struggle between the protective artifact and the Yellow Springs continued for countless years until the governor of Xingyang County, seeking good fortune, pierced through the earth's veins, finally shattering this delicate balance.

Gazing at those ancient artifacts that still stood firm despite the erosion of the Yellow Springs, Xu Xuan felt a surge of enlightenment.

The boundary between life and death, the passage of time, the metabolism of civilization—these insights cleanse the soul like a clear spring.

He felt the Dharma image in his sea of ​​consciousness becoming more and more solid, and some mysterious realm was beckoning to him.

The third of the four realms in Buddhism, the "realm of detachment from desire," requires practitioners to completely sever their attachment to the five desires.

The Path of the Heavenly Demon, however, goes against this, leading people to sink into desire.

Xu Xuan is walking an unprecedented path, based on the "True Scripture of the Descent of the White Lotus," encompassing both Buddhist and demonic extremes.

After failing to help Bai Suzhen overcome her tribulation, he instead developed a heart that tolerated desires.

At this moment, in this Yellow Springs that connects life and death, feeling the sedimentation of a thousand years of desire, it is as if I have touched the threshold of the fourth realm.

The fourth stage in the four stages of Buddhism, "the stage of seeing the path," is the crucial turning point in the transformation of an ordinary person into a sage.

(End of this chapter)