Yinshan Record

Chapter 381 Transcendence Through the Method of Ox-Headed King (Part 1)

What did you guess?

Xue Baizhi slowly adjusted her breathing.

"Of course, it's the way out that person left for her."

Su Che replied simply.

"Perhaps the answer to bone imaging is sacrifice."

Judging from the current situation, Siksananda can be said to be one of the people who knows this ancient underworld best.

Whether it was recognizing the origin of this ancient underworld beforehand or his performance after entering, Śikṣānanda, while not exactly well-prepared, certainly demonstrated resourcefulness in his responses.

Su Che clearly remembered what she had said.

The Vajra Yaksha lineage migrated from the ancient underworld and eventually settled in the realm of hungry ghosts.

Since they were moved out of the ancient underworld, when and why were they moved out?

Su Che thought it was very likely that this would happen when the ancient underworld was on its last legs.

In other words, this person should have a way to leave the ancient underworld.

Judging from Siksananda's later actions, Suche probably deduced a way to leave.

The Mirror Sea Flower can activate the Mirror of Karma, and Shichananda once had Elder Qin take the Mirror Sea Flower under the pretext of undoing the effects of the Soul Goiter Fragrance.

Therefore, Su Che believed that the most likely way to activate the Mirror of Retribution to leave the ancient underworld was through "sacrifice".

They found a "sacrifice," swallowed the Mirror Sea Flower, and then offered the sacrifice to the Mirror of Evil. After paying the price, the remaining people were qualified to leave this place.

As for why Siksananda chose Elder Qin.

Su Che suspected there might be two reasons. First, Elder Qin was indeed affected by some kind of negative influence, and his mind became problematic. Perhaps the so-called Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man were not limited to Niexiang Alley, but perhaps the entire ancient underworld was within the scope of the Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man, or perhaps there were other reasons.

Secondly, the Mirror of Karma has its own requirements for sacrifices, such as requiring similar levels of cultivation. Since Śikṣānanda was a high-level cultivator in the elixir realm, she needed to sacrifice another high-level cultivator in the elixir realm as a sacrifice to leave the ancient underworld.

This is why Śikṣānanda did not immediately come to find "Liu Yidao".

Perhaps for the Yaksha Prince, Liu Yidao's cultivation was too useless. Even if he found him, he would soon perish under the influence of the various forbidden spells in the ancient underworld. Searching for Liu Yidao would only be a waste of his precious energy.

Therefore, Siksananda chose a more useful sacrifice, namely Elder Qin.

As for why Xue Baizhi wasn't chosen, Su Che speculated that it might be because the Mirror of Retribution had its own requirements for the sacrifices: if a woman wanted to leave, a man had to be sacrificed, and if a man wanted to leave, a woman had to be sacrificed.

Of course, aside from this heretical explanation, it is more likely that Śikṣānanda, after having his Yakṣa body destroyed by himself, was not confident in consuming Śakṣānanda.

As can be seen from their later performance, Xue Baizhi, as the direct disciple of the Yuyang Mountain sect leader, does indeed have protective means. Even if Shikshananda had the alms bowl blessed by the ancient Buddha, he might not be able to guarantee victory against Xue Baizhi, who was protected by the Tai Su Zhi Qing Fa Lian, in this ancient underworld.

But it would still be more than enough to kill Elder Qin.

Thinking of this, Su Che couldn't help but sigh that the world was far too unfair to independent cultivators; no wonder they banded together. But now Elder Qin had already caused chaos everywhere, and a demon god was blocking the way at Mirror Sea Flower's place.

Suche didn't think Siksananda had any way to fight the headless giant.

Even with such a blatant lack of intelligence, the power displayed by that demon god Fuluo, even if only a trace of it were revealed, would be enough to kill anyone who dared to offend its majesty.

Therefore, it is likely that Siksananda's original plan has now come to naught.

Xue Baizhi is a smart person. The reason why smart people are smart is that they can understand things at a glance.

Su Che only mentioned the word "sacrifice," but Xue Baizhi immediately understood its meaning. She went through Su Che's reasoning process in her mind and then slowly shook her head.

"wrong."

The spacious and tall Netherworld Mirror hangs in mid-air, and the dark, heavy tiles of the corridors on both sides of the Netherworld Lane bind the hearts of the people here like ropes.

"What's wrong?"

“You’re very clever, but this solution is wrong.” Xue Baizhi pointed at the Mirror of Retribution and said, “It says that the way out is through bone-revealing, so the key to leaving lies in bone-revealing. If sacrificing others to pave the way for oneself is the key to leaving this place, then what kind of place is this ancient underworld?”

Xue Baizhi shook her head and said, "Although I haven't witnessed the appearance of Luo Feng City back then, judging from this Mirror of Retribution, it follows the orthodox Xuanmen path of verifying people's hearts, and would definitely not use such a demonic method of sacrificing fellow practitioners..."

Xue Baizhi was, after all, a disciple of Yuyang Mountain. Unlike Su Che, who was nominally a disciple of Huangtiandao but was actually a wild child, she was a promising talent who had been properly trained and grown up in the sect.

Those who understand best know that for a sect to flourish, it must emphasize integrity and uprightness. If a sect encourages its disciples to betray and oppress each other, and uses this to determine their status, then that sect will ultimately become like the demonic sects of the North and South.

Forget about prioritizing sectarianism and upholding teacher-student ethics; only one or two of the most insidious, ruthless, and cunning individuals lead the entire sect, while 99% of the disciples are disposable expendables. Naturally, the sect is rife with backstabbing and vicious infighting, with everyone harboring deep hatred for each other.

The same applies to the ancient underworld. To establish such a family fortune in ancient times, it was definitely not through the path of the demonic sect.

The logic is simple: one Earth Immortal can suppress ten Longevity Immortals, but can one Earth Immortal suppress ten Earth Immortals? It's fine for small, insignificant families, but once they grow into a powerful force, there will definitely be a plausible reason within them.

Even if someone is a mountain bandit, they still know to hold up the banner of acting on behalf of Heaven, and they still need to make sure that the seating arrangement is clear inside.

If it were the ancient underworld of yesteryear, the Mirror of Retribution would certainly not have been used in the way Liu Yidao envisioned as a passage to leave. Xue Baizhi sighed inwardly. This guy had been wandering the martial world for too long, picking up too many of its habits, and his ideas had strayed too far from the mark.

"If the ancient underworld is still the same as it was back then, then the fairy is naturally correct. But what does this ruin look like to the fairy?"

If Su Che hadn't missed hearing the calls of "Xuandu Palace..." and "Lingwei Yang...", he would probably have had the same thoughts as Xue Baizhi.

The Lord of Mount Tai was incredibly powerful back then, and his ten Kings of Hell, if not all of them were first-rank Earth Immortals, were likely at least second-rank Tribulation Immortals. Such figures, who were willing to follow the Lord of Mount Tai in establishing such a foundation during the ancient era when strange creatures ruled and dominated, could not possibly have gone astray.

The Yin-Yang Dharma King possessed a book called "The Records of the Nine Netherworlds," and Su Che had also witnessed the ghosts within it that seemed to originate from the ancient underworld. Although they were Yin beings, they possessed more righteous energy than he did.

Is today's ancient underworld the same as the ancient underworld of the past?

What I see before me is clearly a prison.

(End of this chapter)