Chapter 110: Prologue

“Master?”

Seeing Wei Shouren move the small jar into the bedroom regardless of the mess, Madam Wei could no longer contain herself: “What exactly is inside?”

“You see for yourself!”

Madam Wei stepped forward, her eyes narrowing slightly: “Gold?”

“That’s right. This is all the reserve accumulated by our ancestors four generations ago…”

Wei Shouren’s expression was somewhat strange: “My late ancestor’s letter said this was saved for a major crisis of our Wei family, to prepare for a comeback. But now it’s being used, which puzzles me greatly…”

“This must be a family secret, perhaps overlooked during the transmission…”

Madam Wei bit her lip: “Now the ancestor has sent word through someone, saying that the master should use it without hesitation, after all, the master is the pillar of this family!”

“I observed my ancestor’s actions, and it seems he had this intention as well!”

Looking at the jar, Wei Shouren finally gritted his teeth and made up his mind to use this sum of silver to bribe officials the very next morning.

…

“Taoist Le Song, currently serving as the leader of the Zhengyi Sect, has been elected as the alliance leader by fellow cultivators. I feel quite unworthy!”

At this time, in the backyard of Yunji Temple, a gathering that would determine the future survival of the Guzhu Kingdom, and even the fate of the entire cultivation world, was quietly beginning.

“Greetings to Master Le Song!”

Wu Ming, Xu Ziquan, Li Suihan, Gong Yunshang, and others, along with other wandering cultivators and sect disciples, all bowed upon hearing this.

In the courtyard teeming with people, there were monks, lay practitioners, Taoists, and individuals clad in peculiar attire. Their sole common trait was the faint aura of spiritual energy surrounding them—some dim and obscure, some profound and unfathomable, some brimming with vitality, others eerily lifeless, some serene and detached, while others emanated a golden radiance. Without exception, they were all cultivators who had at least attained the stage of internal refinement.

“The situation is urgent. I won’t be polite and will ask Masters Tianji Zi and Cangwu Zi to explain the situation first…”

Master Le Song, being a straightforward person, immediately gave his position to the two Taoists behind him. What surprised Wu Ming slightly was that Cangwu Zi was among them.

“Thanks to the brave deeds of several righteous individuals, we now understand the situation of the Netherworld. The realm set up by Heishan Jun is specifically designed to target the three souls and seven spirits. Combined with the earth’s qi, its range is quite extensive, based on the entire Heishan Mountain. It’s likely that most of the Guzhu Kingdom cannot avoid it! Besides this, this old Taoist is ashamed to admit that I cannot see much more…”

Cangwu Zi shook his head in embarrassment and stepped aside.

The crowd immediately erupted into murmurs.

Wu Ming also covered his mouth, his heart filled with astonishment: “I originally thought Heishan Jun was only targeting the Black Platform County, but I never expected this man’s scheme to be so grand. Could he really intend to capture the entire Guzhu Kingdom in one fell swoop?”

At this point, he finally understood why cultivators from all over the world, even those with apparent feuds, had gathered together.

“What evidence do you have?”

At this moment, a sinister voice came from the crowd: “Surely you don’t expect us to risk our lives for your Zhengyi Sect just because Master Le Song says so?”

“Evidence? The proof of the Netherworld brought by these righteous individuals, as well as the ritual of this grand formation, is the evidence!”

Master Le Song waved his whisk: “Could it be that none of you noticed during meditation that the pull of the Netherworld on our primordial spirits has greatly increased?”

As soon as these words were spoken, almost everyone’s expressions changed repeatedly, obviously struck at their weak points.

“If that’s the case, what should we do?”

A female Taoist sitting cross-legged on a green stone spoke, her voice as crisp as pearls: “Heishan Jun possesses immense magical power; we are no match for him…”

“In this regard, Brother Tianji will explain!”

Master Le Song pointed to a disheveled Taoist beside Cangwu Zi.

This Tianji Zi looked quite unkempt. As he stepped forward, his eyes were cloudy as he muttered: “Based on the information provided by the City God Fa Zun and the joint calculations of our Tianji Palace using the Plum Blossom Yi Shu, the formation set up by Heishan Jun is based on the 300-mile Heishan Mountain, containing eighteen spiritual energy nodes. These nodes are extremely important; once destroyed, although the formation may not be immediately broken, its power will greatly diminish!”

After saying this, the Taoist rolled his eyes and walked down, finding a corner to start calculating with divination sticks.

“These eighteen spiritual energy nodes are naturally guarded by powerful spirits, who are even more fearsome within Heishan Mountain…”

Master Le Song stepped forward, his tone carrying a martial air: “From what I know, Heishan Jun has dispatched his eighteen mountain and river cave masters to guard each spiritual node…”

Then, his gaze subtly shifted toward Wu Ming: “Of course, there are now only seventeen. The central formation eye must be personally guarded by him!”

“I am willing to lead a team to the largest formation eye. What do fellow cultivators think?”

At this, Le Song inquired, and an overwhelming spiritual pressure instantly intimidated the entire crowd.

This deep and heavy spiritual force, penetrating and dense, caused a trace of yearning to appear in Wu Ming’s eyes: “Indeed, a true Immortal’s fruit!”

Seeing Master Le Song display his power as a true Immortal, other wandering cultivators began to speak:

“If that’s the case, what else is there to say? We shall follow Master Le Song’s instructions…”

“Sigh… Since Heishan Jun wants to cut off our path to cultivation and even disturb our peace after death, we have no choice but to fight back!”

Several leaders of major sects also sighed.

Originally, if Heishan Jun was only targeting the City God of Heitai, whether these outsiders focused on cultivation would come or not was still uncertain.

But now, Heishan Jun’s scope of attack was too broad.

For the vast majority of cultivators, such an act was utterly unforgivable—a heinous crime of severing one’s path to enlightenment!

The “Taishang Dao Jing” says: “Whoever blocks my path to enlightenment! Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!”

This was immediately an irreconcilable blood feud, so a joint campaign was inevitable, no hesitation.

“Good!”

Master Le Song bowed: “In that case, everyone should swear an alliance under Zhengyi, and those who violate it will be jointly attacked!”

No sooner had these words been uttered than several individuals below exchanged knowing glances, realizing they had fallen into Le Song’s scheme to consolidate the cultivation world and establish himself as the de facto alliance leader.

But at this time, under the pressure of righteousness, they could only say: “Very well!”

At this point, everyone swore their oaths one by one. They were not too harsh, merely declaring their commitment to fight against Heishan Jun and to advance and retreat together in battle.

However, Wu Ming immediately saw something deeper.

“This is the power of righteousness. Once you obey this time, you become a de facto subordinate. Even after defeating Heishan Jun, in future meetings, you will always be a step behind.”

“Good!”

Seeing the troublemakers gradually back down, Master Le Song’s face relaxed: “This operation will also be assisted by the City God of Heitai. Everyone can rest assured!”

He then began assigning tasks: “Master Baiyun, please lead the Heishui Sect and the Leiyi Gate to Lianbi Peak in Heishan Mountain. There, guarded by a boar demon, it ranks eighth among the eighteen mountain and river cave masters… Master Qingyi, you are to subdue Tiantian Pond. The demon king stationed there is a transformed blue ox with immense divine strength. Your Hundred Refinement Silk Bag will prove useful… Also, Monk Kushou and Lady Baiyi…”

He assigned sixteen locations in a row, and finally turned his gaze to Wu Ming’s group.

Wu Ming glanced around. Xu Ziquan, Li Suihan, and several other reincarnators were all present, along with a few wandering cultivators—clearly a motley crew, and worse, their backgrounds were highly dubious.

“Master, if you have any instructions, please let us know!”

At this point, everyone exchanged glances, and Xu Ziquan stepped forward.

“Please go to Huangfeng Cave. The guardian there is the Yellow Pelt Demon, the lowest-ranked among the eighteen mountain and river cave masters. Do your best…”

“Rest assured, we will surely bring good news!”

Li Suihan snorted coldly.

After the cultivators had finalized their plans, they all left Yunji Temple together.

Cangwu Zi said: “Tomorrow at noon is the time when the Yin energy of Heishan is weakest and the formation’s power has the greatest vulnerability. We have discussed and decided to act then. Everyone must remember!”

“Let’s go!”

Master Le Song waved his sleeve, and the cultivators bowed and used their abilities. In an instant, lights flashed, immortal cranes flew, and giant tigers roared, creating a truly magnificent scene.

But even more than that.

Wu Ming could clearly feel that at the moment the cultivators set out, a beam of light also rose from the Yin City of Heitai. Numerous Yin soldiers and generals roared, forming whirlwinds, as if following them.

“This is truly a decisive battle!”

Wu Ming sighed: “I never expected it to come so quickly…”

Looking at Xu Ziquan and the others, they all had expressions of confusion and anxiety about the future.

At this moment, Wu Ming thought of the Gongcao Divine Guard Shan Chu in the Netherworld. This person had entrusted him with a message to help his descendants advance elsewhere, perhaps having discovered something or sensed something, thus choosing to avoid it altogether.

But it was a pity.

No matter how he thought about it, he would never have imagined that this time, the entire Guzhu Kingdom would be caught in an unavoidable catastrophe. Simply avoiding Heitai County would even mean losing the protection of the City God of Heitai, resulting in a net loss!

[Ding! The prelude to the decisive battle begins!]

At this moment, a sudden message caused Wu Ming and the other reincarnators to drastically change their expressions.

The mission prompt from the Main Temple was refreshed without hesitation:

[Attention! The Blood Oath Alliance has used a special item to join this world, adding a new battle mission!]

[The Blood Oath Alliance has been confirmed to join Heishan’s side. Killing enemy members will earn merit rewards!]

“Blood Oath Alliance?”

Beside him, Li Suihan snorted coldly: “How did those mad dogs get here?”

Xu Ziquan and Gong Yunshang also changed their expressions, indicating that the Blood Oath Alliance’s reputation among reincarnators was indeed poor.

But Wu Ming, on the other hand, thought deeply and rubbed his chin.

He thought of Tu Yanghao and Zheng Qian from last time, who seemed to be members of the Blood Oath Alliance as well, especially Zheng Qian, who seemed to have a powerful backer.

“They come in and immediately become enemies of all reincarnators. It seems the Main Temple automatically believes that the people they send can rival all the reincarnators here combined?”