The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

Old Fan and I stared at the figure not far from the cave, our hearts filled with shock.

This guy must be quite powerful; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to conjure up ghosts hidden in the shadows of a cave from the stone walls with a mere wave of his hand. This kind of skill far exceeds the capabilities of ordinary evil spirits and monsters; it's definitely a profound Taoist art, far beyond the reach of ordinary immortals.

The guy was secretly on guard, not daring to underestimate him in the slightest. The man in front of him looked young and somewhat handsome, but in reality, he was unfathomable.

Fan Biao, standing to the side, looked grave, his eyes fixed on Huang Xian opposite him. He remained highly vigilant, his tone questioning and cautious as he slowly asked, "You have already attained cultivation and are a celestial being. You should abide by the rules of Heaven. Why do you still allow this ghost to descend the mountain and harm the living? As a celestial being, you should understand the natural rules of the cycle of Heaven and Earth and the balance of Yin and Yang far better than we mortals."

Faced with Lao Fan's questioning, the handsome Huang Xian simply smiled faintly, his expression calm and composed, showing no sign of emotion: "Hehe, my two young friends have misunderstood."

He spoke calmly and clearly, explaining slowly, "Old Liu's mischief and harming of people outside has nothing to do with me from beginning to end. It's all the trouble brought about by the Huang family's own karma and declining fortune. I didn't secretly instigate it. I have no intention of harming anyone, and I have no intention of making enemies with you two."

Dude, after hearing this, I was filled with suspicion, and the more I thought about it, the more something seemed off.

Old Fan probably thought the same thing as me. The other party said he didn't want to make enemies or have any conflict, but from beginning to end, he was the one who secretly led us to follow the ghost all the way to this underground cave. It was obviously intentional.

This explanation was completely contradictory. A shrewd, scrutinizing glint flashed in Old Fan's eyes, but his face remained impassive. He chuckled lightly, directly exposing the other party's deliberate act, and said bluntly, "Oh? Is that so? Since you didn't intend to make an enemy and don't want to provoke us, then explain yourself clearly. We don't believe in coincidences. You went to great lengths to lure us here; it's definitely not a simple chance encounter. What you have to say, what your purpose is, just lay it all out."

Seeing our firm attitude and that we had seen through the situation, Huang Xian stopped beating around the bush, put away his smile, and became more serious. He then revealed a secret that left Lao Fan and me stunned and utterly shocked.

"You two must be descendants of the Three Pure Ones, right?"

His gaze was deep as he slowly spoke, "I don't know which branch of the Three Pure Ones Daoist arts you specifically practice, but I can tell you something very important that you'll definitely find interesting. Have you heard of the Three Pure Ones Conferred God Technique? This is a message from an old friend who practices the Three Pure Ones Conferred God Technique. The demon race is about to face a cataclysmic upheaval, a millennium calamity. The patriarch of the Three Pure Ones Technique left a vow that if the demon race encounters a catastrophic disaster, all the successors who practice the Three Pure Ones Techniques must gather together to help the demon race overcome this calamity. This matter was entrusted to me by Young Master Fei to convey to the disciples of the Three Pure Ones. If you are successors of the Three Pure Ones Techniques or the Three Pure Ones Arts, you must go to Tianxian Town in Xuning City in a few days!"

After hearing these shocking words, my buddy and Lao Fan next to him were completely bewildered and stood there dumbfounded. I stared blankly at Huang Xian in front of me, my brain racing, unable to process this shocking news for a long time.

At the same time, his friend carefully observed the aura around him, becoming more and more certain of his guess. There was not a trace of the cold, filthy, and chilling aura of a demon around him. On the contrary, this person was surrounded by a pure and gentle aura, exuding a clean and pure cultivation spirit.

Ordinary minor demons or monsters, or spirits that have not yet attained the Great Dao, are usually accompanied by turbid, yin, or evil energy, similar to the aura of vengeful ghosts. But the aura of this Yellow Immortal is pure and righteous, and it is by no means an ordinary demon.

Could it be that he, like Chang Qingqing, is a legitimate immortal?

Judging from how easily he could summon the ghost of Old Man Liu from afar, and his knowledge of various methods, his cultivation level and foundation were far superior to Chang Qingqing's. He was a true immortal who lived in seclusion and kept his true abilities hidden.

I was overwhelmed with doubt and shock. The great calamity of the demon race, the successors of the Three Pure Ones, and the gathering of the Investiture of the Gods—these were all things I had never heard of before, completely disrupting my understanding of the world.

The vast, deep underground cave was eerily quiet. Fan Biao and I stood side by side, our eyes fixed on the handsome and otherworldly Huang Xian before us, our hearts still filled with vigilance and suspicion.

Just now, he casually mentioned something that directly revealed a major change in the demon race and the gathering of the Three Pure Ones' successors. The amount of information was so great that I didn't even have time to process it.

Old Fan's gaze was steady, his expression unwavering as he stared directly at Huang Xian. His tone was neither humble nor arrogant, but rather scrutinizing as he asked, "You're just spouting nonsense about something so significant. Why should we believe you?"

Faced with Lao Fan's questioning, Huang Xian maintained a calm and composed smile. He neither rushed to defend himself nor tried to prove anything, exuding a casual and indifferent demeanor, as if to say, "Believe it or not, it's up to you," completely unconcerned about our suspicions.

After a few seconds of silence, he gently exhaled a wisp of smoke, his voice clear and resonant as he slowly said, "Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you; further words are pointless. But I can tell you definitively that on the fifteenth of this month, Young Master Fei will be waiting at the destination on time for all the disciples of the Three Pure Ones lineage to gather."

He paused, his tone becoming more solemn: "Young Master Fei is currently the only surviving legitimate successor of the Three Pure Ones' God-Sealing Technique. He carries the dying wish left by the older generation of ancestors, and the reason he has gathered everyone here is to deal with the impending chaos caused by the demon race. Don't think that the demon race's chaos is unrelated to humanity. If the demon race is completely thrown into chaos, the Yin-Yang order will be out of balance, and the balance of the Heavenly Dao will be broken. This entire human world will definitely not be at peace either."

I stood to the side, completely bewildered, my mind a jumbled mess of confusion. I glanced at Fan Biao beside me, who was deep in thought, his brow furrowed, his expression grave, clearly weighing the pros and cons of the matter. I couldn't help but lower my voice and whisper, puzzled, "Old Fan, what kind of logic is this? What does the trouble on the demon side have to do with us humans? How can chaos on the demon side drag the human world down with it?"

Upon hearing this, Old Fan let out a soft sigh, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and slowly explained the reasoning behind it to me: "You don't usually come into contact with many things, so you don't understand these rules of heaven and earth. The vast majority of large-scale natural disasters and strange calamities in the world ultimately originate from the chaos caused by the demon race. Humans, demons, ghosts, and immortals are all in the same system of reincarnation, interconnected and interdependent. If one suffers, all suffer; if one prospers, all prosper."

His gaze darkened, and he continued, "If this Yellow Immortal wasn't lying, and the demon race is truly facing a catastrophe that will overturn the entire order, then we really need to go there ourselves. Firstly, to verify the truth, and secondly, to see with our own eyes what kind of change is going on, so we can be prepared in advance."

After speaking, Old Fan looked up at the yellow immortal again and went straight to the core question: "Since you know that a great change is about to happen to the demon race, you should know exactly what this major event is, and what calamity is about to befall them?"

Huang Xian gently shook his head, his eyes frank: "This matter was also revealed by someone else. Although my cultivation is not low, I have no right to pry into the inside story. In the entire world, only Young Master Fei knows the complete truth. Not only the full picture of the demon race's calamity, but also all the causes and effects of Old Man Liu's harassment and his relentless pursuit of that man from the Huang family that you are investigating tonight, Young Master Fei will only tell you all of this when we arrive at the gathering place."

He looked at us calmly: "All I can do is deliver the message. The rest—whether you believe it or not, whether you go or not—is entirely up to you."

After listening, Lao Fan remained silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to the ghost of Lao Liu, who was standing quietly beside him and had long since lost all his ferocity.

At this moment, Old Liu stood quietly in the corner, his figure transforming from illusory to solid. He no longer had the ferocious and terrifying appearance he had shown in the villa. He looked ordinary, just like a normal person.

Old Fan stared at him, his tone cold, and questioned Huang Xian again: "So what do you plan to do with this ghost? Since you've taken him in, are you planning to keep him around and let him sneak out again, disturb the living, and harm people everywhere?"

Huang Xian smiled faintly, his tone gentle yet carrying an unyielding stance: "Old Liu harbored too many grievances in his lifetime, and even after death, his obsession remains and he is haunted by resentment. All the karma is his own doing. As a deity, I cannot arbitrarily interfere with the karma of sentient beings or forcibly reverse his fate."

Then, in a slightly cold tone, he stated clearly: "But if you try to take this opportunity to harm him or destroy his soul, I will absolutely not stand idly by."

Upon hearing this, Lao Fan's face instantly darkened, and he snorted coldly, his tone filled with obvious dissatisfaction and domineering: "According to you, we chased after them all night only to end up doing nothing and being completely useless? In that case, there's no need for further words."

Old Fan's eyes sharpened, and he struck a pose: "Now you only have two choices: either I deal with this old man Liu today, or you protect him, and we'll settle this right here!"

The atmosphere inside the cave instantly became extremely tense, with a faint sense of impending conflict, and an oppressive feeling pervaded the air.

The ghost of Old Liu, who had been standing quietly to the side, trembled in fright. In his entire life, he had only relied on his ghostly status to frighten ordinary mortals and bully those with weak yang energy and bad luck, using his resentment to act menacingly. But when he encountered someone like Fan Biao, a seasoned practitioner of Taoist arts who dared to confront people head-on, his meager killing intent was utterly insignificant. If a fight broke out, he would be utterly annihilated, completely powerless to fight back.

At this moment, he completely backed down, not daring to show the slightest arrogance. He quickly withdrew all his gloomy aura, and with a sway, he shed his ferocious and terrifying ghostly appearance, transforming back into the peaceful appearance of an ordinary old man from his previous life.

He looked embarrassed and flustered, waving his hands frantically at us and pleading, "Hey, hey, hey! You two young men, don't hit me! Please don't hit me! Everything can be discussed! I promise! From now on, I will never harass or scare Huang Bapi again, and I will never go out and cause trouble or harm people again!"

After yielding, a complex pleading look flashed across his face. He lowered his voice to a whisper, tinged with trepidation and helplessness: "But... I have a small request. I'd like to ask you two young men for a favor."

Fan Biao glanced at the person beside him, and he seemed to understand something instantly.

He has dealt with ghosts and monsters for many years, and he has seen this kind of situation far too often.

There's no reason why a ghost lingers in the mortal realm and refuses to reincarnate. Either their resentment is unresolved and their karmic ties are unfulfilled, or their obsessions are too deep and their wishes unfulfilled. Souls in this world, if they have no attachments, no resentment, and no thoughts, will naturally be guided by the underworld officials after death and enter the cycle of reincarnation; they won't linger in the mortal realm for long.

Old Liu could transform into a vengeful ghost, haunting the mortal realm and causing havoc, yet he could also actively restrain his malevolent aura and return to a peaceful human form. Clearly, he harbored an unfulfilled wish, which was also his last lingering attachment to the world.

Now that he has taken the initiative to admit his mistakes, apologize, and is willing to let go of his grudges and stop harming others, it can be considered that he has recognized his mistakes and can correct them.

Old Fan didn't want to push things too far, so his expression softened a bit, and he said calmly, "Just tell me what you need. As long as it's within our power and doesn't violate any moral principles, we'll do our best to help you."

Upon hearing this, a flash of gratitude crossed Old Liu's eyes. He spoke earnestly, slowly giving the detailed address of a remote mountain forest. His voice carried a hint of vicissitude and bitterness: "I only ask that you two young brothers, when you have time in the future, go to this mountain for me, prepare some incense, candles, paper money, and offerings, and help me pay my respects at the grave."

I was extremely puzzled and couldn't help but mutter unconsciously, "You yourself are a ghost, not bound by day and night, free to come and go as you please, so why don't you go to worship yourself, instead of asking us to do it for you?"

Upon hearing this, Old Liu's expression instantly darkened. He shook his head slightly, his brows and eyes filled with helplessness and unspeakable bitterness, clearly hiding a great secret he was unwilling to explain in detail.

Seeing his half-dead, listless appearance, it was clear he had some unspeakable troubles. Neither Lao Fan nor I were stubborn enough to force him to do anything, so we stopped pressing him about his private affairs and didn't press him any further.

Old Fan remained silent for a moment, then turned to look at Huang Xian, who stood beside him with a slight smile, and solemnly finalized everything: "Since that's the case, we can trust you this once more. We'll go on the fifteenth. But you must keep Old Liu in check. From now on, he must not step into the presence of any living person. Once we've helped him fulfill his wish, he will immediately go to the underworld to be reincarnated and put an end to this matter."

Huang Xian turned to look at Old Liu beside him. Old Liu nodded emphatically, his eyes open and at peace. It was clear that once he had fulfilled this last wish of offering sacrifices, his last obsession in this world would completely dissipate, leaving him with no more worries, and he could peacefully enter the cycle of reincarnation.

With everything settled, the atmosphere inside the cave gradually calmed down. What was originally a confrontation between humans, ghosts, and immortals that almost erupted eventually returned to peace, leaving only a so-called major event of the demon race hanging in our minds, making Lao Fan and me even more curious.