Chapter 87: Entering the Netherworld for the Second Time

Uncle Su frowned and said, "If that's the case, cultivators today cannot break through to the Nascent Soul stage, and entering the Void Transformation realm is tantamount to seeking death, isn't it?"

Luo Yu and Qin Yue fell silent, their moods heavy.

Although Luo Yu was immortal and Gu Huo already had limitless lifespan, others still faced the problem of life and death.

Luo Yu said, "If we can figure out how spiritual energy is generated, perhaps there’s still a way to save the situation."

Uncle Su shook his head. "Since ancient times, spiritual energy has existed naturally between heaven and earth. As for its origins, I’ve never heard a thing."

Luo Yu gritted his teeth. "We must find out!"

Gu Huo praised, "Worthy descendant of the gods, excellent!"

There was no need to further undo the seal on Gu Huo, and with nothing else to do at Bamboo Grove Court, Luo Yu and Qin Yue soon bid farewell to their uncle and the others and returned home. This time, their reception was vastly different from before. Ancestor Ning, the sect master, and several others escorted them all the way to the mountain gate, lavishing them with praise. Ancestor Ning, after learning that Qin Yue was a disciple, became even more affectionate, holding their hands and urging them to visit Bamboo Grove Court often and, if they were willing, to offer some guidance on formation techniques.

The two responded obediently, saying they considered themselves part of the Bamboo Grove family and would gladly host everyone at their home. Then they rode the gentle Kunlun Mist back.

At the Luo family courtyard, with no one around, the two entered the teleportation array. They first inspected the Moon-Embracing Villa. The "Hundred Fruits Grove" had been tidied up by family members. Built on newly expanded land at the villa’s edge, its paths were paved with white jade, with fertile mounds of enchanted soil. Inside, it was divided into the Qiong Orchard, Emerald Melon Patch, Garnet Vine Garden, and Fragrant Grove, each dedicated to a different variety of delicious fruit.

Gazing at the scattered green shoots in the orchards, the pair imagined themselves in the future, surrounded by heaps of fresh fruit, arms full and feasting. Their mouths watered uncontrollably. Not wishing to lose composure, they quickly moved on to the Heaven-Defying Palace to find Catkin.

Most of the Voidstone obtained last time had been refined by Qin Yue into a spherical treasure egg; a few pieces were set aside as spares, and the rest, used for experiments, had ended up as small space artifacts unworthy of their attention.

Before refining the Voidstone, they had researched it and discovered that the Buddhist sects once possessed portable spatial artifacts of this kind, though their origins were long lost; the space itself eventually vanished. At the time, these artifacts could indeed house living beings. They were called "Sumeru Mustard Seeds"—a treasure the size of a mustard seed that could contain an entire Mount Sumeru. Luo Yu had wondered: if a Voidstone the size of a mustard seed could contain a whole mountain, then how could a ring only hold so little?

Then he reasoned that it was likely a mustard-seed-sized container held another, much larger spatial artifact within it; that would make sense.

With Qin Yue’s series of experiments and improvements to past formulas, they produced a space so vast that it could hold not just one Mount Sumeru, but ten. Luo Yu studied this space and surmised that at its boundary there lay an unknown layer, separating the internal and external realms. This layer functioned much like the film of a soap bubble, so Luo Yu called it the "space membrane."

Drawing on the soap bubble analogy, Luo Yu speculated that the membrane’s interior was also in constant motion. For now, it was stable, but in time, it might change or rupture. However, this timespan would be at least tens of thousands of years—far beyond their current concerns. Luo Yu thought, perhaps the Buddhist Sumeru Mustard Seed was an artifact passed down from ancient gods; after tens or hundreds of thousands of years, its protective outer layer changed, its lifespan ended, and it vanished.

This membrane, like space itself, could be penetrated by any physical object. It had elasticity, could self-repair, and possessed the quality of "voidness"—lacking any concept of "distance," it was a substance somewhere between "void" and "space."

Every Voidstone contained a sliver of space innately. During the refinement process, the space membranes of these fragments were broken down so their spaces merged together; the disassembled membrane material would then automatically gather around the exterior of the combined space, much like mixing a cocktail.

The two named this egg-shaped treasure "Chaos." After Luo Yu refined it, it shrank into a tiny black bead, which orbited his golden core alongside the Ghost Blood Strange Flame and Nirvana True Fire. Luo Yu was delighted: now, his golden core had three "satellites"—one more than Qin Yue!

Entering the Chaos space was simple: once Voidstone was refined into an artifact, it developed a peculiar property. Though it would not dissipate, it could accept anything into it. By enveloping oneself in spiritual power, aura, yin energy, or other forces stronger than ordinary energy, the artifact would automatically adapt to the user’s shape, behaving much like space itself. Qin Yue’s bracelet could only be used by its master because the array on its surface blocked others from accessing it.

After completing the space, Luo Yu couldn’t wait to fly in and teleport around. Inside, there was no end in sight—no light, no earth, no air—nothing but space itself. The place was so vast that if they stored anything inside, finding it again would be a challenge; building a residence would be daunting with no ground to build on, and growing flowers without sunlight would take considerable effort. It all seemed like a hassle.

With this realization, Luo Yu and Qin Yue were rather dismayed. Had they turned this magnificent treasure into a mere chicken rib? How unsatisfying!

Catkin, however, was undeterred. With great enthusiasm, she took Chaos and began directing the palace’s inhabitants to compress and pump air into it.

Since returning from Bamboo Grove Court, the two often checked on her progress. The collective effort had already produced a thin, barely-perceptible atmosphere inside. Still, at this rate, it would take who knows how long to match the density of natural air. Moreover, Luo Yu worried whether this might affect Earth’s environment. Though the space was minuscule compared to the planet, environmental awareness was important—they had to protect public resources. As for air inside, perhaps it would be better to wait until they could teleport farther, then collect elements from other planets.

So, amid Luo Li’s reluctant gaze, Luo Yu put Chaos away.

After comforting her, Luo Yu and Qin Yue clasped hands and retreated to the inner hall to begin their cultivation.

With Luo Yu’s Nirvana True Fire supporting him, Qin Yue's Heavenly Gang Golden Dragon Sutra, now at the intermediate stage, no longer required Golden Herb; its effect was negligible. Thanks to Luo Yu’s frequent tempering of his body and soul, Qin Yue’s "Narayana Vajra Body" also improved rapidly, and now he could form a faint spiritual glow around his body; whenever he cultivated, his skin shone gold, and with the Vajra Body’s spiritual shield, he looked just like a golden Buddha statue from a painting, radiating light.

Their daily routine was as follows:
Morning: circulate the Myriad Laws into One Sutra for experience, and roast Qin Yue;
Noon: Qin Yue spars, Luo Yu studies and researches;
Afternoon: free time for romance;
Evening: artifact crafting; four hours of sleep using the "Lucid Dream Secret."

Since returning from Bamboo Grove Court, Luo Yu was constantly worried: if spiritual energy became scarcer, Qin Yue would be in danger. He visited the cultivation town and bought a large stack of books about the Heavenly Dao, then secluded himself in the Moon-Embracing Villa to study. From these, he learned several related concepts: dead matter, spiritual matter, living matter, vitality, and qi-energy.

The texts said that vitality allows all things in heaven and earth to develop spiritual consciousness. Once a cultivator forms a foundation, their core gains vitality and can nurture treasures, granting them sentience, turning dead matter into spiritual matter. To upgrade from spiritual matter to living matter, however, requires "qi-energy." With qi-energy, a spiritual body can move, cultivate, and ultimately form a physical body through foundation building. Qi-energy is produced by absorbing spiritual energy.

Depending on various conditions, the outcomes differ. For instance:
An ordinary stone, lacking both spiritual energy and vitality, will never change;
A spirit stone has ample spiritual energy, but has not encountered vitality;
The stone from "Dream of the Red Chamber," based on this analysis, absorbed vitality and developed sentience, but lacked sufficient spiritual energy;
Some texts mentioned immortal plants that can generate spiritual energy. These so-called immortal plants are higher-order beings than spiritual herbs, such as the Immortal Dew, Rootless Spirit Grass, and Peach of Immortality trees.

Learning this, Luo Yu was overjoyed: he must collect immortal herbs from everywhere, or better yet, cultivate them on a grand scale!

While Luo Yu was happily flipping through books, Qin Yue suddenly lifted the silk curtain, wrapped his arms around Luo Yu's waist, and nuzzled his smooth neck, saying, "There’s good news from the vampires."

Luo Yu turned and pecked his lips. "Oh? What is it?"

Qin Yue smiled, "The strange fire cultivated at Nine Yin Mountain has advanced, but only slightly... I want to stay in the Underworld for a while and get more yin fire to accelerate its growth."

Luo Yu was delighted. "Really? I was hoping to visit the City of the Dead myself! I’ll go with you! Oh, and we should refine two more teleportation arrays for Nine Yin Mountain in the future."

Qin Yue agreed, "Alright, let’s stroll around the City of Lost Souls first, then go gather yin fire."

The two packed their things and set out once again for the former Underworld.

This time, upon arriving in the Netherworld, they didn’t take a boat. Instead, they drifted leisurely on clouds over the River of Three Crossings. Not far from the fork to Nine Yin Mountain, they saw a large city by the water, with the words "Peach Limit Mountain City" inscribed above its gate. Behind the city, beside the great mountain, they vaguely glimpsed a dark mass, looming and shrouding the sky like a cloud.

Luo Yu wondered aloud, "Hey, isn’t this supposed to be Fengdu Ghost City?"

Qin Yue, more familiar with the Netherworld after several visits, replied, "This is the Eastern Ghost Emperor’s city, which governs the area around the Ghost Gate. Fengdu Ghost City is farther away."

Narrowing his eyes, Luo Yu studied the distant shadow. "What’s that dark thing? Yin mist? Doesn’t really look like it."

Qin Yue chuckled, "That’s a Ghost Peach Tree, growing on Dushuo Mountain a thousand miles away. It’s said its canopy stretches three thousand miles—though that’s exaggerated, two thousand isn’t far off. The mountain behind this city is called Peach Limit Mountain because the tree’s canopy stops here. Its branches are exceptionally effective against yin spirits, and when brought to the living world, they become the famous ‘Peachwood Swords’—no ordinary peachwood can compare."

Luo Yu gaped. "Wow, such a massive peach tree… even more impressive than the Peach of Immortality! Are the fruits edible?"

Qin Yue was at a loss. "Well, I suppose so."

After crossing the River of Three Crossings and entering the waters of Forgetting, they soon came upon a gloomy ghost city: black city towers rising nine stories high, with a plaque that read "Fengdu Ghost City." It was grand and imposing, the city gates carved to resemble wicked ghosts, baring their fangs and biting down on two massive blood-red doors. The city walls stretched endlessly like a black dragon at rest; within, buildings were densely packed, and the bustle inside was faintly visible.

Author’s note: T.T
Chatted with friends this morning… made a new cover… and wasted a lot of time…
Please don’t hit me~~~
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Journey to the Netherworld updated!