The mountains are towering, the rivers are rushing, the sword rainbow is like a meteor passing through the sky, breaking through the clouds, crossing the mountains and rivers, traveling tens of thousands of miles a day. The scenery below is also changing, from pine forests and green cypresses to the white snow of Cangshan Mountain, the four seasons have become a microcosm in the eyes, and the local landforms and landscapes show off their beauty with their precipitous and bizarre appearance that has evolved for thousands of years.
Si Ming obviously stood with his sword high in the sky, but this was the first time he saw the human scenery up close.
"When I was in the Kingdom of God, in my eyes, the world was just a map of mountains and seas, almost flat, and the scenery and secrets within it could be seen at a glance." Si Ming stood on the tip of the sword, his divine robe like a black flame facing the wind. .
She looked at the arching landform below, which kept receding in her sight, and spoke softly.
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Is there any fun in a world without secrets?"
Siming said: "Most of those who would ask such a question are vulgar mortals. They only understand the small pleasures of the vulgar and do not know the great joy of the immortal family."
"..." Ning Jiujiu was used to her sarcasm at every possible opportunity. He remained calm and continued to ask the question he had been curious about for a long time: "The Kingdom of God lasts for a total of thirteen years. Each king only guards it for one year, and the remaining ten... In two years, when the Kingdom of God closed down, what were you doing?"
Si Ming looked gloomy, and after a moment he sighed softly and said euphemistically: "This is also one of the biggest secrets of the Kingdom of God, and it is also a major reason why the great demons and great practitioners in the world were willing to unite with the saints to fight against God five hundred years ago. ... Although I am not sure, I can vaguely guess what kind of scene the saint let the world see."
She didn't dare to say anything. As long as her words crossed the boundaries of the laws of heaven, the supreme tribulation thunder might come down with the unstoppable power of the rules. She was confident that she could escape the disaster, but Ning Jiujiu might be killed in an instant. Kill.
Ning listened to her words for a long time and couldn't help but raise his head and look at the sky. The sky was as clear as a girl's skin that could be broken by blows, but the looming ferocity behind it was beyond his imagination at this moment.
The sound of swords echoing in the sky.
Ning Jiujiu asked again: "In the past few days, you have often praised the beauty of the world. Since you like it, you still don't want to stay?"
Siming smiled softly. She no longer looked at the scenery below, but said: "The clear yang is the sky, and the turbid yin is the earth. The true beauty will always be at the top... You will understand it when your realm has risen enough." . I appreciate these beautiful scenery, but I am just enjoying myself in pain."
Ning listened for a long time with lingering thoughts. Ascension... That was where he stopped in his previous life.
The master is the one who carries out the execution.
And now he was running there. He couldn't be sure whether he was running towards life or death, but Ye Zhi had made a final decision on his fate, and other than that, he had nowhere to go.
Siming saw that he was worried and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Ning Jiujiu came back to his senses, smiled softly, and asked: "By the way, have you heard of Kunlun?"
"Kunlun?" Siming said, "That sword of the second disciple of Jiange?"
Ning Jiujiu asked: "I want to ask, is there a real place called Kunlun in the world?"
"In the legend of Kunlun, it is the Tianzhu." Siming said calmly.
Ning Ning waited quietly for a long time.
Siming thought to himself that the history of Kunlun was so long, it was almost two or three thousand years ago. At that time, he was not a priest. After he took office, the Kunlun Divine Pillar had collapsed long ago, and the ruins were piled up. Where was she? Knowing the specific history of Kunlun, I only know that all the pillars that reach the sky in later generations are collectively called Kunlun.
Rather than saying that Kunlun is some kind of specific existence, it is better to say that the name is a symbol. It is the only way for humans and demons to climb to the sky in the era before Jedi Tiantong, and it is the condensation of the ambition of all spirits.
But she herself was not satisfied with this explanation. After all, she had just told Ning Jiujiu that the priests in the past were almost omniscient.
Ning couldn't wait for an explanation for a long time and asked: "Does Kunlun's secret also violate the laws of heaven?"
"Well, all your questions are beyond the limits of the rules. If I were still an official in the Kingdom of God, you would be the first one to behead." Si Ming put his hands behind his back and said coldly: "From now on, this will happen It’s better to bury the problem in your heart, but be careful that trouble comes out of your mouth. Do you understand?”
"I understand." Ning Changjiu nodded and said clearly: "So you don't know what Kunlun is."
"You... you are so presumptuous!" The snow between Siming's eyebrows turned into fire. She turned her head and said angrily: "Are you a priest or am I a priest? In short, Kunlun is a thing that reaches the sky, and everything in the world that reaches the sky is It’s called Kunlun!”
"A thing that reaches the sky?" Ning Jiujiu was confused.
The Divine Pillar Tianfeng of those days has long been destroyed. In the changes of the sea, many mountains in the world have also sunk into the sea. The tallest fourth floor of Middle Earth is only higher than the clouds, not to mention the real sky, even if it is just a distance away. Xuhai is still a long way away.
"Yes." Siming's eyebrows were full of confidence. She said in a serious tone: "Those who understand will understand. Those who don't understand will understand in vain. You can understand by yourself. When you break through the five paths, you will understand. .”
Ning Jiujiu nodded in understanding.
Siming asked: "Why do you always ask these questions? Is this... related to your sect?"
Siming was curious about his mysterious sect.
Ning Jiujiu nodded gently: "There is some connection."
Siming said: "When did you leave the school?"
Ning Jiujiu made up nonsense and said: "When I was about seven years old, I met an old Taoist priest in the human world and followed him. Later, the Taoist priest took in a little junior sister, Ning Xiaoling. At that time, Xiaoling was not as cute as she is now. Well-behaved and very articulate."
Siming was curious and asked in confusion: "You are so gifted and talented, which is rare in the world. Your master did not accept you as an inner disciple and taught you by words and deeds. Instead, you were only seven years old and left to the earth to grow old." A Taoist priest deceives and wastes his time, only to realize his enlightenment at the age of sixteen? His career as a Taoist has been delayed like this."
Ning Jiujiu smiled self-deprecatingly and said, "I'm ashamed to say that among the masters, I may only be ranked seventh in terms of talent."
Siming asked: "How many disciples does your sect have?"
Ning Changjiu said: "Count me seven people."
"..." Siming was silent for a moment, and she closed her eyes, not believing Ning Jiujiu's words. Not to mention the mortal world, even the beings conceived in the well of the fetal spirit mother of the Kingdom of God, there are many defective products. Ning Changjiu is a rare existence in the Kingdom of God in all aspects... Of course, it is still far inferior to what it should be. The self born of fate.
"Hmph, your master's vision is too bad. What was just a piece of uncarved jade was thrown away as rubble. If I were your master, I would definitely calculate and arrange everything on your path of cultivation. Then we will choose the best path for you." Siming said sarcastically.
Ning Jiujiu didn't know how to explain... The master in his previous life did treat him like this, even the marriage contract was properly arranged.
Ning Jiujiu said: "I don't know what Master is thinking."
Siming said firmly: "It's better not to go back to your sect. When they see your current achievements, they might become jealous and harm you instead."
Ning Jiujiu didn't know how to answer. Now that Bai Zang is here, even if he trusts Si Ming, he can't tell everything about the insignificant things, so he can only say vaguely: "After I entered the world, there has been no news from the master for more than ten years."
"I'm afraid I've forgotten you." Siming said calmly.
"Maybe." Ning Jiujiu said.
Siming shook his head slightly, lowering the status of the hidden sect in his heart even further.
"But since I have nothing to do anyway, tell me about your sect." Siming said.
Ning thought for a long time and said in plain language: "Senior Sister likes green skirts and is in charge of the sect's library and laws."
"The library is about quietness, and the laws and regulations are about strictness. How can they be confused with the same person? It seems that there is really a shortage of people in your temple. Forget it, there is no need to say it. It doesn't sound like a serious sect. No wonder you are here." Si Ming listened and shook his head gently.
Ning Jiujiu didn't care about her ridicule to him. He only looked at the sky occasionally, worrying whether there would be thunder falling outside the rules.
The sky is calm... Fortunately, Master seems to be a tolerant person.
The dusk of the last day has also arrived.
The virtual sword carried them flying across the endless mountains and rivers before quietly breaking into pieces.
The two landed gently and stood side by side.
The mountain roads here are no different, only more sparse and desolate. For hundreds of miles, there are no birds singing and no human habitation. It is obviously still early spring, but the tips of the weeds and leaves in the forest are curled up with dry, flames. A licked burnt color.
Ning Changjiu looked up and saw that the dusk covering the sky also had an unusual light turbid color.
Unknowingly, they seemed to be in another world, with all the mountains and rivers they had crossed behind them, and the dry wind blowing from the mountain road in front, coldly jumping on their faces.
Si Ming stood here, her beautiful face was incompatible with the surrounding dry landscape-like scenery, and the divinity in her body seemed to have faded a bit. The setting sun set on her side. At the bottom of the stone path, her back hidden among the shadows of the trees looked more like a lonely ghost wandering around.
"This should be considered the territory of Ten Thousand Demons City." Siming said.
Ning Jiujiu said: "But there is no trace of evil spirit here."
Siming said: "It's just a territory. The real City of Ten Thousand Demons should be quite far away from here."
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Then where will we stay tonight? There is no place to stay here even if I think about it."
Siming said: "Let's look forward first."
The two of them climbed the damaged stone path together. After the stone path, the mountain forest opened up a lot. There were no people on the road, but there was a ruined temple at the end of the road.
Ning Changjiu said: "If you don't mind it, you can stay in the temple tonight."
"That's a ghost temple." Siming looked at the temple and frowned.
"Ghost temple?"
"Yes." Siming explained: "Ordinary people who come here may see a flat mountain road. We have spiritual eyes, so we can see this scene."
Ning Jiujiu asked: "Monsters also ask gods to worship Buddha?"
Siming said: "Thousands of years after the death of Ming Lord, reincarnation collapsed, and the soul had no support. This is true for humans and demons. This is where these ghost temples come from."
"Could the ghost temple... be related to the authority of the underworld?" Ning Changjiu asked immediately with a thought in his heart.
Siming pondered for a moment, nodded lightly, and said, "Maybe."
On the desolate road, the two stepped on the fine stones and walked forward together. The sky became darker and darker, and the strong wind blew the leaves, making a whisper-like sound. The colors of dusk were shaken to pieces. After a while, the moon rose from the other side.
It was a full moon.
Ning Changjiu said: "This moon is wrong."
It will be at least seven days until the next full moon.
"No need to make a fuss." Siming said: "There are countless small worlds in this world. When we walked through the steps earlier, we entered this ghost temple. Everything we saw was illusion. Open your golden eyes. If you open it, you can see through these."
Ning Jiujiu nodded. He understood that this might be a place similar to a small underworld built by some monsters.
The architecture of this ghost temple is eerie. The temple is built of wood and stone. At the door stand two evil beasts with ferocious faces, sharp teeth, and six tails. The evil beasts have beads in their mouths and eyes as big as copper bells. This seems to be the imaginary listening of monsters. As they arrived, the first door slowly opened, and with the creaking sound of the door opening, the wind blew from inside.
Siming walked in.
The ground is covered with broken bricks, and the gaps between the bricks are filled with dirt and dead grass. On the other side of the courtyard is the ghost temple. The style of the ghost temple is also very old. The walls are made of tightly arranged wood chips, with a dark color like mold. Neat and intricate brackets support the eaves. Bells are hung under the eaves. The bells have no tongues, but are in the form of Taoism. Talisman hung instead, bells swayed with their steps. The door opened, and the door was pitch black, as if a swarm of bats or crows would fly out at any time.
"etc."
The Golden Crow in Ning Changjiu's body was eager to try. When he was about to move forward, Siming grabbed his wrist.
"What's wrong?" Ning Jiujiu asked softly.
Siming said: "Wait and go in."
Ning Jiujiu was puzzled, but did not object.
Not long after, a group of dark shadows suddenly appeared outside the courtyard gate. They seemed to be shackled, and they all crawled in, one after another.
Ning Jiujiu saw their appearance clearly.
These are all dead demons.
In this world, the beings from ancient times are called ancient gods, such as ancient dragons, phoenixes, birds, Kunpeng, and golden crows. Their blood is noble and their numbers are rare. Various races, even if they are unrelated, can freely interact with each other. **, giving birth to offspring, but the gestation cycle of the ancient gods is too long, and the competition for power among various ethnic groups often triggers large-scale civil wars.
There is a simple sentence in the ancient book "mountain of corpses and sea of blood", but if these four words are placed in the real world, it may mean the decline and destruction of several ethnic groups, and in the end only the most powerful ethnic group will survive.
This is also the reason why the Dragon Clan is still flourishing at the end of the Age of Ancient Gods. At that time, their footprints were almost all over the ocean, sky, and land. Coupled with their restless nature, and the combination of Hu and others, countless ridiculous-looking descendants of gods were born.
Demons are different from ancient gods. Most of them are animal spirits. They cultivate their knowledge and become demon spirits.
It is difficult for demons to reproduce across different races, so the groups are clearly defined. Whether they are jackals, tigers, leopards, chickens, or dogs, no matter whether they give birth to something like three heads and six arms in the future, people can distinguish their true bodies at a glance.
So in comparison, demons are more approachable than ancient gods.
Ning looked at the dark figures passing by for a long time. As they got closer, their appearance became clearer. Among them were scorpion spirits with their tails cut off, gecko spirits holding their tails, skinny wolves, and some with growths on their skin. Spotted leopards... They have been dead for a long time, and their pupils are deathly gray, as if they will disappear with just a breath. They come here in groups mostly out of instinct.
Ning Changjiu and Siming watched them walk into the temple.
After the demon souls entered the temple, the door outside the courtyard was closed.
Ning Changjiu and Si Ming walked towards the depths of the temple in unison.
Across the steps and over the dark eaves.
It was dark in the temple, but it did not affect their vision. The sound of chanting came to my ears, the sound was layered, almost illusory. If you listened carefully, the bloody fantasy of rivers of blood and bones turning into boats would appear in your mind.
Ning Jiujiu is no longer the young man who was trapped in Linhe City back then. When the breath of terror presses on him, his expression is as calm as the darkness itself.
I saw all the demon spirits from before kneeling on the ground, bending down, listening to the chanting like zombies.
Ning Jiujiu raised his head and saw clearly the ghosts in the ghost temple.
It was a statue of a god wearing a crown of feathers. The statue had a sharp mouth and a red ribbon wrapped around its body. It sat cross-legged with a compassionate expression.
After the chanting ended, the copper-like statue seemed to come to life. It spoke, and its pitiful voice revealed ruthless arrogance: "All monsters are suffering, and the sky has mercy on me. I am the envoy of the Ghost Emperor, and I follow the sky. I have been commissioned to carry you across the Soul Cliff of the Blood Sea. Those who can endure the hardship will see life on the other side, and those who cannot, will fall into the fire of hell."
In front of the statue, a pot with an iron chain dropped, with black oil and water boiling in the pot.
All the demon souls knelt down together, and their voices sounded like singing: "I wish to be transcended by ghosts and gods."
They all knelt down and rolled into the iron pot.
Ning Jiujiu watched this scene and asked in a low voice: "The demon clan also has its own underworld king, who calls himself a ghost and god?"
Siming just chuckled: "There are no ghosts and gods, they are just ghosts in despair, pushing themselves to an even more desperate hell."
Ning Jiujiu was about to ask a question when he saw the statue of the god on the temple came to life. What kind of god was it? It was clearly a rooster with black feathers and a red crown. The red ribbon wrapped around its body was not something else, but a rooster that did not know how to live. The centipede has been living for many years. The centipede's pointed feet rest on its feathers and wrap around it, while its long whiskers flutter.
Bang!
With an astonishing sound, the tips of the rooster's wings rolled around a pot lid and slammed onto the oil pot.
In the pot, the wails of the souls were heartbreaking.
The rooster's eyes were red, it stared at the iron pot, and a sharp and ferocious smile came out from its short, hard beak.
Ning looked at this scene for a long time and sighed softly.
Siming said firmly: "It has a small part of the authority of Hades Lord."
Their voices rang out in the ruined temple, and the rooster spirit suddenly raised its head, widened its eyes, and asked sternly: "What?!"
Only then did it realize that there were two people standing in the shadows at the door.
"You are so bold and evil, how dare you break into the temple!" The rooster spirit flapped its wings and made a strange cry: "Where did you come from? Are you coveting the soul soup?"
Ning Jiujiu was not impatient and said: "I dare to ask the great immortal, what is the soul soup?"
The rooster spirit mocked: "Stop pretending to be crazy! Now that we are here, I will sacrifice you all to the Ghost King!"
"Ghost Emperor?" Ning Jiujiu asked: "Who is it?"
The rooster spirit stopped answering. It flapped its wings violently and rushed towards them. Siming lightly slashed with his sword.
This rooster spirit who was pretending to be a magician was chopped off with a sword, smashed the statue on the stage, and fell violently against the wall.
Siming asked: "Who is the Ghost Emperor?"
She seemed to be asking a question, but in fact her spiritual consciousness had penetrated into him, searching for souls and gaining knowledge.
But she found nothing.
Siming was suspicious, but he saw it with its bare eyes, and it was rushing towards it desperately. Si Ming showed no mercy and cut it in half with one sword.
The cock fell to the ground. Ning Jiujiu was surprised to find that it was just an empty shell, with all the internal organs and lungs inside the body disappearing, leaving only shriveled flesh.
"Its body is that centipede!" Si Ming looked stern.
Ning Jiujiu also discovered that the centipede wrapped around the rooster was missing. When he opened his sword eyes, he saw the centipede crawling quickly on the ground and disappearing into the gap in the blink of an eye.
But how could a mere centipede escape Siming's pursuit
Ding!
The centipede's long tail was nailed by the invisible sword in the darkness, and then the wall was blown away. Countless swords broke through its shell and nailed it to the ground. The centipede let out a long and shrill cry, and then died. The fog in the ghost temple disappeared, the full moon in the sky shattered, and a black fragment emerged from its rapidly decaying body. Si Ming used his spiritual power to cleanse it, took it from the air, and gave it to Ning Changjiu.
"This is one of the fragments of the Underworld King. Although it is a bit insignificant, it is a good start to get it when you first come to the City of Ten Thousand Demons." Siming looked at the ruined temple behind him and said.
Ning stared at this fragment as small as dust for a long time and said: "It seems that the reincarnation of the ghost temple does not exist. This is just a scam."
Siming said calmly: "There is no scam anywhere in the world? Besides, no matter it is a scam or not, the soul cannot escape the end of being broken and dissipated."
Ning Jiujiu smiled helplessly.
Siming said: "I have something to do tonight. I think there are many such temples hidden outside this Ten Thousand Monsters City."
So, that night, they searched for ghost temples among the barren mountains and ridges.
Those ghost temples are much the same, and the ghosts and Buddhas who sit in them are also liars disguised as monsters. But these monsters are very strange. They are the same as the centipede wrapped around the chicken before. There are oriole controlled by the mantis, wild wolves held hostage by the goat spirit, eagles wrapped by poisonous snakes...
The laws of nature seemed to be reversed. Not only did they kill their natural enemies, but they also used them as puppets to shape the statues of gods into a strange beauty.
Ning Jiujiu was curious about this, and originally wanted to search the souls to know the truth, but these goblins seemed to be the puppets of some unknown existence. After being drunk, they became mad one by one.
And they rescued those demon souls, but the demon souls were not grateful. Instead, they regarded them as god-killing demons, arousing their instinctive wildness and pounced on them.
In just midnight, dozens of ghost temples were destroyed.
Siming was a little tired. She leaned against the tree, looked at the half moon in Tianxin through the leaves, and said lightly: "Even if we wipe out all the ghost temples here, we won't be able to get even one complete fragment."
Ning looked at the fragments in his palm for a long time and said: "The real fragments of authority should be held by the Ghost King in their mouths."
"Well, I finally got some clues. I originally thought that after arriving here, I would be searching for nothing," Siming said.
Ning Jiujiu put the pieces together and said, "It seems like we can just go to Ten Thousand Monsters City tomorrow to find the so-called Ghost King. With such a big name, it shouldn't be difficult to find him."
Siming didn't take it too seriously. She looked at the moon and felt that the moon seemed to be looking at her too.
She was convinced that there was no god in the Moon Palace, but this feeling was strange and seemed to induce sleep.
"Lend me your shoulder," Siming said.
"What to do?" Ning Jiujiu asked, and saw Si Ming leaning gently on his shoulder, closing his eyes slightly.
Ning Jiujiu put on his coat and put it on for her.
"Pretending." Siming snorted coldly, not appreciating it, and fell asleep gently.
Siming had a strange dream.
In the dream, she continued to move towards the City of Ten Thousand Demons.
But what she approached was not the City of Ten Thousand Demons, but a moon.
In the moon, a white-clothed figure turned its back to him, shining brightly, eclipsing the bright moon.
…
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(Thank you to book friends who always tip socks over their knees! Thank you book friends for your support~)