Chapter 123: The Earth-Shattering Revelation (Part One and Two)

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Neither Shen Wuchen nor Li Mouse said much; no matter how others tried to probe, they remained tight-lipped. Except for Zhou Bai, the others had returned from Xuzhou and had heard some rumors. Zhou Bai, although aware of the cause of the disaster at Hulong Mountain, had no idea what transpired afterward and had to ask Li Mouse or Wang Zhen later.

Originally, it was thought that the Hulong Mountain True Unity Sect, almost wiped out, would be destroyed, but it instead survived and seemed to have established contact with the Underworld Scripture Division. At least, Shen Wuchen’s words implied he was a member of that organization.

Although everything originated from the unscrupulous Hou Daoist, the situation seemed to spiral out of control, heading in a strange direction. Upon Shen Wuchen’s arrival, just as Li Mouse had said, he first produced pills of apology, giving one to everyone present.

According to him, these were authentic Daoist Linghui Pills that could enhance one’s innate constitution—in simple terms, they could heal internal injuries. Truly worthy of a sect with millennia of heritage like True Unity, such a generous gift drew no objections, and Shen Wuchen did not even frown.

Shen Wuchen spoke little, acting like a representative of True Unity, while Li Mouse was the main figure of the gathering.

“Everyone has come at my invitation, so naturally I’ll start.”

He then took out a piece of jet-black jade from his storage pouch, which immediately emitted a faint metallic scent.

“This is a rare symbiotic spiritual ore called Blood Jade, capable of enhancing the potential of demonic Daoist powers.”

Blood Jade is usually found only in the tombs of great demons and is extremely rare—somewhat akin to Shadow Jade—both precious spiritual materials.

A burly man was surprised and said, “Who doesn’t know Li Mouse is a miser? How could you part with something so valuable?”

Li Mouse was a bit embarrassed and impatiently replied, “Take it or leave it, you can also exchange it with contributions.”

Several awakened practitioners with demonic Daoist powers became interested. They exchanged tokens with Li Mouse and, after some discussion, one of them happily took the Blood Jade.

Zhou Bai realized this “exchange meeting” was more like Shen Wuchen trying to save face, though it was unclear whether it was for Li Mouse or the Underworld Scripture Division.

Sure enough, when Shen Wuchen made his move, he pulled out more than a dozen rare spiritual materials, including the Vermilion Fruit.

“Fellow Daoists, make your offers. Reasonable ones will be accepted.”

He also took out a token, which made Zhou Bai slightly stunned—True Unity indeed had ties with the Underworld Scripture Division.

However, Shen Wuchen’s demeanor was cold and firm. If it weren’t for the rarity of the materials he presented, rarely seen on the market, Zhou Bai might have thought he was trying to force a sale.

Many shared this suspicion, and everyone exchanged wary glances, fearing a hidden trap.

Zhou Bai couldn’t resist activating his Drum-Full Daoist Power, quietly transmitting to Li Mouse to ask if there was any trick.

Li Mouse was somewhat surprised, but such secret transmissions could be done by spiritual talismans or other arcane means, so he didn’t think much of it, instead winking at Zhou Bai to encourage him to make a bid.

After a pause, with Shen Wuchen expressionless and inscrutable, Zhou Bai knew that if he didn’t bid, someone else would snatch the Vermilion Fruit—and that would be unfortunate.

He was also interested in other materials, especially those that enhanced Daoist foundations. He had a system panel allowing him to improve ghost and demonic Daoist powers at will but feared losing control after advancement, so he had never tried.

Some materials helped prevent derangement during breakthroughs to the True Soul realm, which was invaluable.

Typically, materials like the Vermilion Fruit commanded exorbitant prices, but Zhou Bai boldly offered 300 contributions, and Shen Wuchen accepted without hesitation.

This made Zhou Bai feel like punching cotton—he even wondered if his bid had been too high.

When Zhou Bai bought the Vermilion Fruit, others stopped hiding their intentions. Although many eyed the same materials, Shen Wuchen seemed prepared, producing identical items and saying, “Consider this a friendly gesture from True Unity.”

Through these maneuvers, he sold rare materials at low prices, covering a wide range of uses.

Besides the Vermilion Fruit, Zhou Bai purchased two more useful for breakthroughs to the True Soul stage.

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Though Shen Wuchen appeared generous, everyone remained cautious; generally, unless the material was essential, few would compete fiercely.

When the exchange meeting ended, Shen Wuchen merely nodded slightly and quickly left the tavern, leaving the crowd bewildered.

They wanted to ask Li Mouse but he waved them off, saying, “Don’t ask me. I know nothing and there’s no need to overthink. It’s just True Unity making friends.”

The burly man sighed helplessly, “True Unity is interesting. There must be many such meetings, right?”

Li Mouse chuckled, “Of course. There have been hundreds. Once you’ve taken advantage of their generosity, they won’t invite you again.”

The gaunt man belatedly slapped his thigh, “Damn! It’s foolish not to take the deal, but True Unity’s way of selling favors is so stiff!”

“Ha ha ha, don’t mind it. These Daoists have abundant ancestral wealth but haven’t left their mountains for years. They don’t understand social graces—just accept it,” Li Mouse laughed. As the meeting’s organizer, he had attended dozens of such events and profited handsomely.

But it was clear True Unity was selling face to him—why, no one knew.

The burly man laughed and cried, “I have to admit, since True Unity is lowering its stance, I might as well help with small favors in the future.”

The gaunt man nodded, and others agreed one by one, though whether their sincerity was genuine or just dazzled by the generosity of their benefactor was uncertain.

Curious about what exactly had happened, Zhou Bai used his Drum-Full Daoist Power to quietly ask Li Mouse.

Their relationship was average, but he didn’t expect Li Mouse to genuinely give him this face.

“If you want, you can exchange spiritual materials among yourselves. I have business to attend to first,” Li Mouse gave him a look and left.

Zhou Bai bid farewell and followed him to a nearby teahouse, where they took a private room, ordered tea, and began to chat.

Their conversation ranged far beyond True Unity.

Li Mouse spoke candidly of his “great achievements” at Hulong Mountain, though Zhou Bai couldn’t tell how much was exaggerated.

As a bystander, he didn’t say a word for half a day.

The source of the chaos in Xuzhou remained unknown, but the surging Yin energy underground had covered the entire province.

Anyone or any animal dying in Xuzhou risked becoming a ghost creature under this massive Yin energy.

The demons originally hiding in valleys also seized this opportunity to emerge.

Ghost creatures attacked out of instinctive malice, but demons were different.

Humans, as the leaders of all spirits, inherently possessed a natural energy. Demons could accelerate their cultivation by consuming human flesh. When still minor demons, consuming hundreds of people could transform them into humanoid blood demons.

Advancing beyond blood demons required tens of thousands of lives, so when order collapsed in Xuzhou, human life became worthless.

Zhou Bai, having never encountered demons above blood demon level, was curious, “Above blood demons and evil spirits, what exactly exists?”

Li Mouse’s expression shifted slightly. After a long pause, he said, “Theoretically, I shouldn’t tell you—this is beyond our contact—but I think the Underworld Scripture Division is overly cautious.”

He traced a circle on the table with a fingertip wet with tea, then poured more tea inside it.

As the tea filled the circle, it soon overflowed beyond the boundaries.

“When a demon breaks this circle, it reaches a level above blood demon and evil spirit. The Underworld Scripture Division calls this existence ‘Shuo.’ It applies to both demons and ghosts.”

Zhou Bai silently repeated the word several times. For the Underworld Scripture Division to name it so cautiously, it must be extremely dangerous.

Li Mouse wiped the wet circle away and said calmly, “Don’t probe too deeply. When you reach the True Soul stage, someone will explain it to you. Until then, just pray you never meet one.”

Zhou Bai felt helpless—he had already seen one, the colossal Dragon Elder deep in the ghost domain, undoubtedly a ‘Shuo.’

Li Mouse patted his pouch, “Enough digression, let’s continue.”

Due to this upheaval in Xuzhou, Hulong Mountain spawned a terrifying zombie. To protect their ancestral legacy, True Unity had to hold their ground.

Fortunately, their leader Li Xuanwu was somewhat familiar with the Underworld Scripture Division and sought aid by sending a sound transmission talisman.

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Hulong Mountain lay at the center of Xuzhou. The Underworld Scripture Division could not arrive quickly in these demon-infested lands. By the time they reached Hulong Mountain, most of the True Unity Daoists had already been killed or wounded.

What devastated True Unity most was that the corpses of their fallen brethren began to reanimate uncontrollably.

No matter how the living used spiritual materials or formations, they could only barely suppress them.

“Wait!!!”

Zhou Bai’s eye twitched; suddenly, he understood the strange feeling he had when facing Zhou Wuchen.

He exclaimed in disbelief, “Could Zhou Wuchen be half-human, half-zombie?!”

Li Mouse chuckled and gave a thumbs-up. “Impressive Yin-Yang sight. You saw right. Thanks to the zombie outbreak at Hulong Mountain, the Underworld Scripture Division gained a new corpse Daoist power.”

In fact, when the Underworld Scripture Division arrived, the reanimated corpses were suppressed just enough to retain their pre-death intelligence.

Li Xuanwu wanted to eliminate them, hoping for cooperation from the Underworld Scripture Division, but seeing that many had awakened innate abnormal powers, they realized these were their own people—one doesn’t harm one’s own.

Instead, the Underworld Scripture Division helped these half-human, half-zombie Daoists control their chaotic Yin energy.

These Daoists had no choice but to join the Underworld Scripture Division. Thus, the millennia-old True Unity Sect split.

No matter how unwilling Li Xuanwu was, it was futile—after all, the Underworld Scripture Division controlled the fate of the nine provinces; the weaker cannot oppose the stronger.

“So this exchange meeting was actually True Unity trying to appease the Underworld Scripture Division?” Zhou Bai immediately figured it out.

Li Mouse nodded slightly, sipping his tea. “Of course. But the Underworld Scripture Division paid dearly too. At least on the surface, they’ve broken with the Daoist Church.”

After speaking, he leaned mysteriously toward Zhou Bai, “Should I tell you a secret about the Underworld Scripture Division? It also involves Wang Zhen.”

“If you don’t want to say, that’s fine,” Zhou Bai quickly declined, hearing it concerned his superior.

“No worries. Wang Zhen probably wants me to guide you.”

Zhou Bai coughed a few times. In fact, the token had come from Wen Meng’s hands.

Li Mouse continued as if talking to himself, “Since you’re under Wang Zhen and have great potential, you’ll come into contact sooner or later.”

He paused, “The Underworld Scripture Division’s third rank is the highest, a rule set by the founders of the Tang and Song dynasties. But internally, there’s another rank called the Ten Courts of Yanluo.”

“The matter involving True Unity and Wang Zhen is tied to the Ten Courts of Yanluo—you can imagine what that means.”

The Ten Courts of Yanluo are: 1st Court Qin Guang King, 2nd Court Chu Jiang King, 3rd Court Song Di King, 4th Court Wu Guan King, 5th Court Yanluo King, 6th Court Bian Cheng King, 7th Court Tai Shan King, 8th Court Du Shi King, 9th Court Ping Deng King, and 10th Court Zhuan Lun King.

According to Li Mouse, though called the Ten Courts, the Underworld Scripture Division was only founded about four hundred years ago and thus lacked such depth. Currently, there are only four court lords.

They are the 1st Court Qin Guang King, 3rd Court Song Di King, 8th Court Du Shi King, and 9th Court Ping Deng King—exactly two demonic Daoists and two ghost Daoists.

“Every two hundred years, two positions open for contest. After a few years, new Yanluo Kings are born. Wang Zhen is competing for a ghost Daoist seat, but according to my secret sources, this time there will be an extra position.”

No wonder Li Mouse was so eager to curry favor with Zhou Bai; perhaps he considered him Wang Zhen’s confidant. If Wang Zhen becomes a Yanluo King, Zhou Bai’s status in the Underworld Scripture Division would rise accordingly.

“So the extra position is reserved for True Unity?”

Li Mouse’s face flushed with excitement, “True Unity’s cultivators aren’t qualified yet, so it’s reserved for Him.”

“Who is it?” Zhou Bai’s curiosity peaked, and he couldn’t help but ask.

“I’ve been holding this in for over half a month. I must hear your oath of Daoist heart first, or I dare not tell you.”