Chapter 174 - 156: The Cemetery of Divine Spirits

Another four hundred years passed after Bai Ruxue left Bailu Academy.

Throughout these four hundred years in the River of Time, Xiao Mo had always remained by Bai Ruxue’s side.

Bai Ruxue was searching for the Guiyuan Technique.

The Guiyuan Technique was rumored to have originated in the Ancient Times.

By using the Guiyuan Technique in conjunction with the scroll Shang Jiuli had poured her heart and soul into painting, it might be possible to summon Xiao Mo’s shattered soul, reform it, and allow him to reincarnate.

In the four hundred and seventy-second year after Xiao Mo’s death, Bai Ruxue entered a forbidden ground.

In that forbidden ground, Bai Ruxue saw the ravaged carcass of a Kun Peng, the bones of Vermilion Birds, Phoenixes, and True Dragons, and countless shattered Immortal Soldiers and fragmented statues.

This forbidden ground was cut off from the rest of the world, a domain unto itself. It was as if some great war had once taken place, shattering the world and creating this Secret Realm.

An aura of death permeated the forbidden ground.

The soul remnants there had no consciousness, but they would instinctively attack anyone who entered.

Even Bai Ruxue, a cultivator in the Ascension Realm, nearly perished inside.

Fortunately, Bai Ruxue did indeed find the legendary Guiyuan Technique.

But just as Bai Ruxue left the forbidden ground, having barely escaped with her life, the entrance to the Secret Realm vanished. She could no longer sense it at all.

However, Bai Ruxue didn’t care. She had already obtained what she came for.

Bai Ruxue spent three years mastering the Guiyuan Technique.

However, she still needed to go to the Netherworld Cold Spring and find an Earth Nether Fish before she could cast the Guiyuan Technique.

Bai Ruxue planned to ask Fuchen about the location of the Netherworld Cold Spring.

Though Fuchen hadn’t been present for the great battle at the Black Mountain Sect back then, Bai Ruxue didn’t blame her. She had no reason to.

At the time, Fuchen had been deep within the Desolate Land, gathering medicinal herbs for her.

A naturally formed array deep within the Desolate Land severed all contact with the outside world.

Therefore, she had known nothing of what happened.

’Besides, what right do I have to ask her to oppose the entire World of Ten Thousand Laws?’

"I can’t believe you actually found the Guiyuan Technique."

Fuchen was utterly astonished after hearing what Bai Ruxue had been through.

"I do know where the Netherworld Cold Spring is.

But Ruxue, must you really go?

According to the Guiyuan Technique, you’ll have to stay there for months, possibly even years.

And the chill of the Netherworld Cold Spring will make you wish for death."

Bai Ruxue looked at Fuchen calmly, offering no reply.

Looking into Bai Ruxue’s eyes, Fuchen gave a helpless smile. "You’re right. For you, not finding him is a fate more painful than death itself."

「Ten days later.」 Fuchen led Bai Ruxue to a cave in the Desolate Land.

The two of them entered the cave.

The cave plunged ever downward, its depth unknown.

Along the way, Bai Ruxue saw a river. Fuchen explained it was the Netherland, and that some Cultivators came here to collect its Netherworld Water for use in Alchemy.

But the Netherworld Cold Spring was located even deeper.

Eventually, Fuchen led Bai Ruxue to the edge of a vast lake.

The chilling air rising from the lake made even Bai Ruxue, a cultivator of the Ascension Realm, tremble uncontrollably.

"How long you stay here is up to you. I won’t try to change your mind. I will stand guard for you outside.

But as we agreed, you must light a Life Lamp. When it is about to go out, I will come and pull you out to save your life.

If you do not agree, I will not let you stay here."

Fuchen said to Bai Ruxue, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"I understand."

Bai Ruxue lit the Life Lamp in Fuchen’s hands.

Fuchen said nothing more. Holding the lamp, she turned and left, leaving Bai Ruxue all alone.

Bai Ruxue cast out a fishing line, using a sliver of her own soul as bait.

She sat motionless on the bank. No matter how cold it grew, she had to keep herself from trembling, or it would affect her chances of hooking an Earth Nether Fish.

And the cold of the Netherworld Cold Spring was truly beyond Bai Ruxue’s imagination.

As the days passed, a fine layer of frost began to coat Bai Ruxue’s fair skin and long, silver-white hair.

Beyond the physical cold, there was another torment. Bai Ruxue was using a fragment of her soul as bait, and as the Netherworld Cold Spring permeated it, the sensations traveled back to her true body. She felt like an ice sculpture, gradually shattering from within.

Sitting beside Ruxue, Xiao Mo couldn’t imagine the soul-searing agony she was enduring.

He only knew that Ruxue had bitten through her lip and dug her fingernails into her flesh. Blood flowed, only to freeze in an instant.

Her eyes gradually closed, and Xiao Mo could feel her consciousness beginning to fade.

Fortunately, Fuchen was outside watching over her Life Fire. At the last moment, Fuchen would pull her out.

[Reward from the Hundred Generations Book has been processed. Host will exit the River of Time in ten seconds. Ten... Nine...]

Just then, the voice of the Hundred Generations Book echoed in Xiao Mo’s mind.

Xiao Mo stood up and walked over to her.

He looked at her, her entire body coated in a layer of frost.

He looked at the fishing rod she gripped so tightly.

He looked at her stubborn, unyielding expression.

[Eight... Seven... Six...]

"You promised you’d listen to everything I said. I told you to move on, to not look back... Why won’t you ever listen...?"

[Five... Four... Three...]

Xiao Mo reached out, stroking her silver-white hair as if to etch her image into his very Divine Soul, never to forget.

"You’re already the Lord of the Four Seas, you know."

[Two... One...]

"Silly girl, why are you so stubborn...?"

As the final number of the countdown vanished, a gentle breeze swept past. Bai Ruxue, who had been on the verge of losing consciousness, snapped her eyes wide open.

"Xiao Mo..."

Bai Ruxue’s heart hammered in her chest as she cried out his name.

And at that very moment, the fragment of Bai Ruxue’s soul felt a fish lunge at the bait.

The instant the fish was about to devour the soul fragment, she immediately retracted it. The Earth Nether Fish lunged at nothing and bit down hard on the hook.

Bai Ruxue yanked hard on the line.

A large, jet-black fish that resembled a koi carp was hoisted into the air.

Bai Ruxue began chanting the incantations for the Guiyuan Technique, simultaneously unfurling the painted scroll and tossing it toward the Earth Nether Fish.

According to legend, the Earth Nether Fish would use the scroll as a medium to summon forth Xiao Mo’s Residual Soul.

But in the next moment, the unexpected happened.

The scroll shattered in an instant, its tattered pieces fluttering down onto the lake’s surface.

Sensing the commotion from the Netherworld Cold Spring, Fuchen rushed to Bai Ruxue’s side, arriving just in time to witness this.

SPLASH. The Earth Nether Fish tore itself free from the hook, plunged back into the Netherworld Cold Spring, and swiftly swam away.

"Don’t tell me Xiao Mo’s Divine Soul has already entered reincarnation?" Fuchen mused, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Daoist Master, what do you mean?" Bai Ruxue asked, turning around, clenching her fists to suppress the anxiety rising in her heart.

"My master once told me that all soul-summoning methods in the world operate under one principle: the soul must not have entered the cycle of reincarnation. If the soul has already been reincarnated, then the medium used for the summoning will inevitably shatter.

Xiao Mo’s soul was scattered to the winds, with all his residual soul fragments returning to the world. It should be impossible for him to be reincarnated, so logically, this medium shouldn’t have shattered.

Unless..."

"Unless Xiao Mo’s soul has already been reincarnated." A flicker of joy appeared in Bai Ruxue’s eyes, but she quickly calmed herself and whispered, "But how is that possible? The Thunder Tribulation back then..."

"Ruxue, there is something I haven’t told you. Do you know the other name for the forbidden ground where you found the Guiyuan Technique?"

Fuchen said slowly.

"That forbidden ground is also known as the Divine Tomb.

The Ancient Times were also known as the Age of Gods.

Legend says that Divine Spirits truly existed.

Some of these Divine Spirits governed war, some governed destiny and marriage, and others governed life and death.

But during the Ancient Times, for some unknown reason, all the Divine Spirits perished. Rumor has it that only the Divine Spirit who governs the cycle of life, death, and reincarnation survived."

"Are you saying, Daoist Master Fuchen, that she gathered Xiao Mo’s residual souls?" Bai Ruxue grew even more confused. "But why?"

"I do not know."

Fuchen shook her head.

"There are too many things in this world we do not know. What I have told you is merely the stuff of legends."

"But of one thing, we can be certain."

Fuchen looked directly into Bai Ruxue’s eyes.

"If such a divine being truly exists, then Xiao Mo... has likely been targeted by it."