Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Nine Nether Domain, Chaos in the World

After returning to the Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion, Gu An lost interest in practicing formations. He began watching the scene, with his divine sense following Sage Xuan Miao.

When Sage Xuan Miao returned to the Daoist temple, he indeed clashed with the Underworld Fox Demon.

The night sky timely poured down with heavy rain, causing the world to become noisy.

In the rainy night, Sage Xuan Miao held a treasure sword, questioning the Underworld Fox Demon about its origins.

The Underworld Fox Demon was terrified and said he had been injured previously, forgetting his origins, and would have died under the claws of a demon if not for his master’s rescue.

Under the rainy night, the master and disciple had an intense conflict. After arguing for a while, Sage Xuan Miao, muttering about breaking the tribulation, acted as if possessed and raised his sword to cut down the Underworld Fox Demon.

The Underworld Fox Demon, frightened, fled in panic, pleading for mercy, but it did not awaken any pity in Sage Xuan Miao.

From Sage Xuan Miao, Gu An sensed a trace of demonic Qi. He could not tell if this guy was inherently demonic or if it was the result of practicing the Nine Extremes Yin Yang Body.

Eventually, the Underworld Fox Demon could no longer act and burst forth with a powerful demonic aura, simultaneously beginning to frantically absorb nature’s spiritual energy, quickly coalescing into a terrifying demon shadow, invoking the impression of some summoning spell.

The aura of that terrifying demon shadow rivaled the ninth layer of the Void Crossing Realm. Gu An guessed that it was the Underworld Demon Emperor.

Sage Xuan Miao, at the Divinity Transformation realm, was no match for this demon shadow. At a critical moment, he once again cast the Divine-Reaching Mystic Gate, summoning a Great Cultivator from the Mystic Heart Realm.

The Mystic Heart Realm Great Cultivator immediately shattered the demon shadow with a squeeze, and the Underworld Fox Demon took the opportunity to escape.

At the crucial moment, Sage Xuan Miao still relented and allowed the Mystic Heart Realm Great Cultivator to spare the Underworld Fox Demon’s life.

After the Divine-Reaching Mystic Gate dissipated, Sage Xuan Miao collapsed again, beginning to cough blood madly.

It seemed the cost of casting the Divine-Reaching Mystic Gate was very high!

What a vivid and thrilling conflict scene!

Gu An’s heart was filled with emotion, feeling as though he was reading a novel.

[The Underworld Fox Demon harbors malice toward you, hating you to the bone. Do you wish to perform a life span detection on it?]

Here it came!

Time to work!

Gu An got up, stretching his muscles and bones.

…

In the mountain forest, the Underworld Fox Demon hastily fled, looking extremely disheveled under the torrential rain.

After escaping for an unknown amount of time, he stopped under a large tree, pressing against a wound on his waist. The rainwater soaked his long hair, and his face twisted with a grim expression.

“Mountain God… damn it, I was so close to succeeding…”

The Underworld Fox Demon muttered to himself, eyes full of killing intent.

He did not believe in any Mountain God; he suspected that person to be some sort of evil spirit. Regardless, whoever dared to ruin his plan to enter the Three Pure Ones Mountain would face his revenge.

“Are you talking about me?” A voice suddenly sounded in the Underworld Fox Demon’s ear, startling him. He reflexively turned his head, only to see a little figure in white with an opera mask standing on his shoulder.

Before he had a chance to react, a terrifying divine sense surged into his soul.

Oh?

So you’re here!

When Gu An’s divine sense invaded the Underworld Fox Demon’s body, he discovered another primordial spirit hidden deep within the Underworld Fox Demon’s soul.

The Underworld Demon Emperor!

This guy was pretty impressive, able to escape the notice of a Mahayana Cultivator.

But unfortunately, he should not have harbored dark intentions!

Gu An began to perform the Soul Capturing Skill to extract the Underworld Demon Emperor’s memories.

The memories of the Underworld Demon Emperor were too vast. Finding it bothersome, Gu An only extracted the past hundred years of memories. After a quick soul search, he finally understood the origins of the Underworld Demon Emperor.

The Underworld Demon Emperor came from the Nine Nether Road, a demon who had been hunted by the Ephemera Sect for years. Two hundred years ago, he took advantage of the Ephemera Sect opening the Nine Nether Road to escape to the Nine Dynasty Land.

For two hundred years, he wandered the world, visiting many sects. Among all, he believed the Three Pure Ones Mountain to be the most formidable, with its profound Daoist sorcery and a history spanning over ten thousand years, making it the oldest sect in the Nine Dynasty Land. He attempted to infiltrate it but was discovered just as he stepped foot into the mountain gate and nearly perished, which led him to hold a grudge against the Three Pure Ones Mountain.

The Underworld Fox Demon was a small fox possessed by the Underworld Demon Emperor, its original soul erased. The possession technique he used was unique and hard to detect.

He manifested the scene of the Ephemera Sect’s attack to force Sage Xuan Miao to return to the Three Pure Ones Mountain, avoiding lingering in the North Sea Mountain. Unexpectedly, after learning about this, Sage Xuan Miao went to find the Mountain God.

This made the Underworld Demon Emperor hostile toward the Mountain God. After Sage Xuan Miao returned to confront him, and after a series of battles, his hostility turned into killing intent.

The whole event felt somewhat serendipitous, but since the Underworld Demon Emperor developed killing intent toward Gu An, Gu An could not let him live.

An hour later.

Gu An retracted his divine sense, then used Taiching True Fire to incinerate the Underworld Fox Demon, burning him to ashes and scattering his soul, successfully gaining ninety-three years of life span.

He then returned to the Supreme Sect.

Back in the Mystic Valley Pavilion, Gu An sat at his desk and took out pen and paper. He first wrote three large characters.

Nine Nether Domain!

Through the Underworld Demon Emperor’s memories, Gu An learned that the Nine Nether Road was an independent world called the Nine Nether Domain. Within the Nine Nether Domain existed demon clans, demon tribes, and ghostly spirits, constantly oppressed by the Ephemera Sect.

He planned to write the Nine Nether Domain into an encyclopedia and later hand it over to the Supreme Sect in another way, making it easier for the Supreme Sect to explore.

…

Autumn leaves covered the Mystic Valley, with over twenty servant disciples sweeping the fallen leaves.

Gu An descended the stairs, happening to see several Supreme Sect disciples flying swiftly in the sky.

He only glanced at them and then looked away, preparing to head to the Third Medicine Valley.

Before reaching the Transmission Array Platform, Gu An sensed a presence, so he stopped and turned to look at the working servant disciples.

Thirty minutes later, Ye Lan flew into the Medicine Valley, pulling Gu An upstairs for a conversation.

After closing the door, Ye Lan said in a deep voice: “The Nine Nether Road is in crisis. The Ephemera Sect has arrived, and a great battle is imminent. Not only the Nine Nether Road, but the Ephemera Sect’s demon cultivators have also appeared in various places. This time, the situation is completely different from before. The Law Enforcement Hall must go out to protect the common people. I have to leave today!”

So urgent?

Gu An immediately took out a batch of healing pills and handed them to Ye Lan.

Ye Lan did not refuse. Following this, she instructed: “During this period, be careful. According to our investigations, there are traitorous spies from the Ephemera Sect within the Supreme Sect. This time, we face the main lineage of the Ephemera Sect, and they might be going all out. This could be a once-in-a-millennium catastrophe!”

“I understand. Take care, and don’t let go of your White Spirit Sword,” Gu An nodded and said.

Hearing this, Ye Lan raised her White Spirit Sword and said with a smile: “Good!”

After providing some important information, she hurriedly left.

Standing before the pavilion, Gu An watched her leave and had already sensed battles erupting in the distance, and in more than one place.

This time, the Ephemera Sect’s offensive was far beyond previous ones, transitioning from defense to invasion.

For the time being, Gu An had no intention of intervening, letting the nine dynasties hold them off to avoid alerting the enemy.

His target was to deal with the Mahayana Cultivator.

Before that, Gu An decided to find a place to break through.

Mahayana versus Mahayana, confidence was needed!

Gu An’s life had too few combat experiences, while the opponent was certainly a thousand-year-old monster.

He was not adept at life-and-death struggles; he was skilled at crushing enemies.

He needed to find a suitable place.

It could not be the North Sea Mountain anymore; the Mystic Heaven Cave Mansion was there, and he could not damage the spiritual ecosystem.

After considering, Gu An headed to the Third Medicine Valley, and then to the Inner Sect.

With the Valley Master Token from the Third Medicine Valley, he could freely enter the Inner Sect.

An hour later.

Gu An stepped into the Inner Sect City. After several months, the atmosphere in the Inner Sect City was very tense, with cultivators hurrying to and fro.

He heard disciples around discussing the Ephemera Sect’s attack; the news had already been made public in the four major Inner Sect cities.

From their discussions, Gu An learned that not only was the Taicang Dynasty attacked by the Ephemera Sect, but the other eight dynasties were also under attack.

It was said that more than half of the second batch of disciples sent to the Nine Nether Road had died or been injured, and even an elder had perished in the Nine Nether Road.

The situation sounded urgent, and even Gu An felt affected.

He made his way to the Book Collection Hall and ascended to the third floor, which housed various maps and records of different places.

Because of the Ephemera Sect’s attack, there were few disciples in the Book Collection Hall, and on the third floor, it was just Gu An and one managing elder.

For a long time.

While Gu An was flipping through books, an old voice asked: “Young friend, what are you looking for?”

Gu An turned to see the managing elder, Xu Lu, walking over.

He turned and saluted Xu Lu, saying: “I want to see how vast this world is.”

This Xu Lu appeared old and feeble but actually possessed the cultivation level of the Nascent Soul Realm. The minimum threshold for an Inner Sect Elder was the Nascent Soul Realm.

“Looking for the largest map? There’s none here. Follow me,” Xu Lu said, gesturing for Gu An to follow him.

Gu An was puzzled by Xu Lu’s actions but followed him to see what would happen.

“Earlier, you bought the Green Hero Travelogue here, right?” Xu Lu casually asked.

Gu An replied: “Yes, elder, what advice do you have?”

Ah, it was because of the Green Hero Travelogue that this happened.

Xu Lu said slowly: “Ever since a book called Supreme Secret Records spread among the people, few have come to buy the Green Hero Travelogue. This made my friend very sad. Seeing that you still fancy the Green Hero Travelogue, I will give you my treasured map of the continent. It was drawn by a Supreme Elder who traveled the world.”

Gu An, hearing this, became interested and asked: “Elder, is Green Hero male or female?”

“Of course, a man. No woman would write that kind of book.”

“Is Green Hero still in the sect?”

“No, only occasionally sending books back through others.”

Talking about this, they arrived at a door. Xu Lu motioned for Gu An to wait and entered the door.

Before long, Xu Lu returned with a large scroll and a book, handing them to Gu An: “Take these back and make a copy. Next time you come, return them to me.”

Gu An placed the scroll and book into his storage bag and then thanked Xu Lu.

Xu Lu reminded: “With your cultivation level, you can at most travel across the nine dynasties. Don’t form your Nascent Soul nor go to the Demon Land, and don’t head south into the sea.”

“I understand,” Gu An replied.

Xu Lu waved his hand, indicating that Gu An could leave now.

Gu An immediately left. As he reached the stairs, he sensed a powerful divine sense sweeping over him.

There’s a Mystic Heart Realm Cultivator inside the building!

Could it be a Supreme Elder reading here?

Including Xuan Quan, the Supreme Sect already had two Mystic Heart Realm Cultivators!

This intensified Gu An’s resolve to break through.

Damn that Ephemera Sect, enticing so many old monsters back!