I am Jinshan Youxia

Xiahou the Swordsman had completely lost interest in the title of the world's number one swordsman and said he wanted to go back to his hometown to open a swordsmanship school and live a peaceful life.

Yan Chixia still had some desire to improve, after all, he had been studying advanced sword techniques, and he really had no intention of fighting Zhang Chengyi.

"Then let me experience your superior skills on my own."

Before Zhang Chengyi could even speak, Zhi Qiu Yiye, completely oblivious to Lao Yan's expression, excitedly took on the task all by herself.

The battle was simple: the Kunlun Sect disciple A went in, was defeated, and was utterly humiliated, leaving him questioning his existence.

Yan Chixia glanced at Zhi Qiu Yiye with sympathy, shook his head, and sighed without saying a word.

cool.

After a long-awaited zombie-torturing session, Zhang Chengyi, feeling refreshed, tossed aside the tree branch and asked, "Old Yan, do you know how to get into the underworld?"

The gods and Buddhas have run away; perhaps someone in the underworld or in the cycle of reincarnation knows how to get there and find them.

Yan Chixia was somewhat surprised, thinking that this zombie had suddenly come up with another idea. He said, "It's easy for us cultivators to enter, but you're a zombie, senior. You have a spirit but no soul, so how can you enter the underworld?"

The underworld is a place for the dead. If a living person wants to go in, they either need to use magic to make their soul manifest, or their spirit needs to enter.

Zombies don't have souls at all, so what's the point of going in? Even if there's a female ghost inside, it's just the female ghost that goes in.

“It’s not entirely impossible,” Zhi Qiu Yi Ye, who was questioning his life, interjected. “I heard my master say that a living person who doesn’t know magic needs at least an invitation from a judge to enter the underworld. Even if you have a spirit but no soul, senior, if you have an invitation from a ghost messenger of the judge’s rank, you can still walk in along the Yin-Yang path.”

"It's the same as saying nothing."

Yan Chixia's argumentative personality kicked in, and he immediately made a sarcastic remark.

It should be noted that under King Yama of the Underworld, there are only four judges: Wei Zheng, judge of the Rewards and Goodness Division; Zhong Kui, judge of the Punishments and Evils Division; Lu Zhidao, judge of the Investigation Division; and Cui Jue, judge of the Underworld Law Division. They are all prominent figures in the Underworld and are considered to be of considerable rank among the underworld deities.

Now that the gods and Buddhas are gone, where did this invitation from the judge come from?

Zhi Qiu Yi Ye said earnestly, "Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but gods and Buddhas can leave, but they cannot leave the Underworld and the eighteen levels of hell. The empty Underworld will eventually be filled. If a ghost has the ability and their fate is compatible, they can take up a divine position in the Underworld."

Zhang Chengyi immediately looked over with a "Look at other people, Lao Yan" gaze.

Yan Chixia couldn't hold back any longer. He was a self-taught individual and had no idea about divine office or anything like that. He stubbornly retorted, "That's not something that can be done overnight. Who has the ability to become a Yin God?"

"I don't know when the position of Yama, the King of Hell, will remain vacant."

“That is not true,” Zhi Qiu Yi Ye immediately added. “The Underworld is in charge of the important task of reincarnation and cannot remain empty for long. The patriarch once said that the Underworld will definitely be re-established in 300 to 500 years.”

"If you go to the underworld in the future, you might become a judge."

"Get lost! You're the one who's going to the underworld!" Yan Chixia said, his face full of displeasure. "All you ever talk about is 'Master' or 'Grandmaster,' don't you ever say a word of your own?"

Zhi Qiu Yi Ye was a little confused as to why he was being targeted by his fellow Daoist. He scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say.

"Old Yan." Zhang Chengyi smiled and put his hand on Yan Chixia's shoulder.

Don't even think about it.

Yan Chixia resolutely refused.

“It’s just death, it’s not like there’s no afterlife. Besides, once you’re in the underworld, you can become a judge, everyone’s happy, that’s what gods are like,” Zhang Chengyi earnestly advised.

Yan Chixia pointed at Zhi Qiu Yiye and said, "I was saying this kid could be the King of Hell, why don't you go find him?"

"what?"

Zhi Qiu Yi Ye was stunned.

Zhang Chengyi leaped forward and said warmly, "Young man, I have high hopes for you. If you're willing to die, you can learn as much of my swordsmanship as you want..."

"No, no." Zhi Qiu Yi Ye shook her head like a rattle drum.

"cut!"

Zhang Chengyi withdrew his arm and said, "I can wait. You can't outlast me. You'll all go to the underworld sooner or later. What difference does it make if it's a day earlier or later?"

Yan Chixia shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter if it's a day earlier or later, but who would be willing to be a decade or two earlier?"

Zhang Chengyi said, "What's wrong with being a ghost? Look at me, I've almost gathered all three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines. How wonderful!"

"Look at the two of you, both of you are still single, especially you, Old Yan, you're so old, and you don't even have anyone to confide in..."

"Go to sleep!" x2

Yan Chixia and Zhi Qiu Yiye spoke in unison, and as if someone was chasing them, they rushed into the room.

Zhang Chengyi looked up and said, "Hey, isn't that kid sleeping on the street? How come he's inside?"

"Old Yan couldn't even keep up the act for a full day..."

Chapter 235 Five Years

One month later, night fell.

"Minister of War Fu Tianchou plotted a rebellion, and his entire family was executed. His followers are now scattered across various regions and are wanted by the authorities..."

Zhi Qiu Yi Ye was reading half of the proclamation when he sighed and said, "There are treacherous officials in power in this world, alas."

"Hey, what's it to you?"

Yan Chixia handed over two talismans and said, "After you leave, don't get involved in officialdom. All crows under heaven are black, and you're not smart enough to get by."

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in human affairs." Zhi Qiu Yi Ye rolled up the notice, accepted the talisman, and said with high spirits, "How about we team up, fellow Daoist, to travel the world together, slaying demons and monsters?"

"Forget it." Yan Chixia refused decisively. "You like to meddle in other people's business, don't drag me into it."

"Hey"

Zhi Qiu Yi Ye sighed regretfully and said, "The road ahead is long, see you again in the future, fellow Daoist." He clasped his hands and said this, then looked up at Zhang Cheng Yi, who was lying on the roof in a daze, and raised his voice, "Senior, I am deeply grateful for your teaching."

"let's go."

Zhang Chengyi's voice was weak and feeble. A few days ago, the heavenly lightning had been released to a near-complete degree. Yesterday, he had fully replenished his corpse energy and was trying his best to see how long he could stay awake.

It doesn't matter how long he can hold out in a state of being overwhelmed by corpse energy; he's simply curious how long he can stay awake.

"Oh, by the way, if you die, remember to invite me down to the lower realms when you become an official."

Zhi Qiu Yi Ye was somewhat amused and exasperated, but still solemnly replied, "Definitely, definitely."

"Goodbye, you two," he said, before disappearing underground.

Yan Chixia watched the mound on the ground disappear from sight in the blink of an eye and said, "This kid looks like he's going to face a calamity. I wonder if he can get through it."

"If you're worried, then come along." Zhang Chengyi's eyes were half-open and half-closed. He hadn't slept all day, not even during the day, afraid that if he fell asleep, he would immediately begin the evolutionary slumber.

The death energy within his body was waning, and he lost all motivation to move.

Yan Chixia sighed and said, "In the end, it's someone else's business. Why should I meddle?"

"You're just being stubborn." Zhang Chengyi's voice was a little slurred. "I actually hope that when I wake up I'll have become a judge. Then I'll back you up in the underworld, and I'll help you take down whichever ghost king you want to fight."

Yan Chixia suddenly didn't want to say anything.

Ever since this zombie learned that people can go to the underworld after they die, and might be chosen to become a spirit, it keeps asking people if they're interested in dying.

What bad luck!

"Go to bed early tonight, I'll go to Guobei County to buy some things tomorrow." He turned and went into the house.

Zhang Chengyi lay alone on the roof ridge for a while, then rolled back into the coffin and lay there until almost dawn, when the corpse energy finally reached its limit.

"It's coming."

Even though his consciousness could still be kept somewhat clear through the ability of the modifier, his body was already unable to move.

He instructed the female ghosts to place the letter he had written in advance and intended for Yan Chixia in the room, and then directed them to carry his coffin into the hole that had been dug out in the ground of Lanruo Temple some time ago.

After merging with each of the female ghosts, Zhang Chengyi finally fell asleep as he wished.

He adjusted the gears according to the five-year timeline on the status bar. This time, he paid a little attention to the changes in his body and didn't rush to jump directly to five years later.

After falling into a deep sleep, the corpse energy dispersed and seeped into every part of his body. Then, the heavenly lightning within him, freed from the constraints of his consciousness, spread out, crackling and battling against the corpse energy. The stray lightning instantly electrified the copper-cornered golden coffin that the female ghosts had ordered.

His body landed with a thud, and the high-voltage lightning directly electrified the ground, turning it into a smooth, glassy surface. The electric light then continued to spread.

[So that cave was created by electricity...] Zhang Chengyi thought as he looked around.

The internal struggle was not over yet. Corpse energy and heavenly lightning, two opposing forces, were irreconcilable. Under normal circumstances, corpse energy would not dare to challenge heavenly lightning. However, this was the time for the zombie to evolve, and since it involved life and death, the corpse energy mustered its courage and charged at heavenly lightning.

Then he was brutally beaten.

The number of lightning bolts is too small. Even if they can poison the corpse energy, they will also dissipate outwards, making it impossible to completely stop the zombie's evolution. They can only delay the completion of the evolution and at the same time frantically shock the body with electricity.

"Snap! Sizzle!"

Zhang Chengyi watched in silence as his body convulsed wildly from being electrocuted for a month.

Did those two years just pass by like that?

Then he could understand why his body kept shaking and discharging electricity when he woke up, as well as the lightning resistance.

Looking back now, it's truly a story filled with blood and tears.

Anyway, well, anyway, I didn't feel anything.

Zhang Chengyi watched as the sleeping female ghosts were awakened by the lightning. They found themselves surrounded by crackling lightning, panicked and unable to escape. In the end, they huddled together and, still shaken by the corpse's aura, drifted back to sleep. He felt a little uneasy.

I can't take them with me to bed next time, otherwise I'll just be dragging them into suffering.

Amitabha Buddha, it's truly unbearable to watch them like this.

Zhang Chengyi decisively sped up the time; he couldn't bear to watch, so he simply closed his eyes.

There's not much else to do. Once he starts evolving, he can't stop. No wonder those female ghosts were so obedient and scary before. It turns out that besides his good temper, scaring ghosts was also one of the reasons...

Five years have passed in the blink of an eye.

-----------------

The day after Zhang Chengyi fell into a deep sleep.

Sensing that the corpse energy had disappeared, Yan Chixia rushed into the room where the coffin was placed, only to find a letter inside.

Zhang Chengyi had told him about the need for a period of slumber, so he wasn't particularly surprised. He opened the letter; inside were only two lines:

【I slept】

[Remember to invite me to the underworld when you die]

It's simple yet irreverent, without any sense of parting, as casual as a neighbor casually suggesting going out for a meal.