Chapter 1233: The Strange Sapling
Lu Yang secretly transmitted an auditory message to Meng Jingzhou. “In other words, Old Meng, if you shed a little blood, can you also recruit a bunch of ghosts to work for you too?”
And they’ll all be Ghost Kings too. Lower-level ones won’t survive drinking Old Meng’s blood.
Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. “As long as they can outcompete Founding Ancestor Vast Sea.”
Meng Jingzhou figured that his old ancestor was the happiest about his advancement to the Transcendent Tribulation Stage, with the Vast Sea Daoist Lord coming a close second.
Mu Baiyi led the group into Fengdu City’s main district. Lu Yang noticed that aside from ghosts, there were also many people here, seemingly members of the Nine-Netherworlds Creed.
Right. Building Fengdu City is paramount. Those from the Nine-Netherworlds Creed must have come for the celebration ceremony.
Lu Yang’s guess was correct. It was the Nine-Netherworlds Creed's big day today. All barbeque shops had closed for several days, and everyone had arrived early. Lu Yang’s group was the last to enter Fengdu City.
“These bricks are from that Great Qian ancient city too?” Meng Jingzhou stomped a few times. He couldn’t help but feel that the bricks weren’t from the same era as the city wall bricks.
“No. Only the city wall of the Great Qian ancient city was usable. The other bricks’ quality was too poor.”
“So where did these paving bricks on the ground come from?”
“I asked the Heavenly Strategy Sect to divine a location with a large supply of old bricks, and they calculated a general area. We dug and found an ancient Great Yu capital, then moved all its bricks here.”
Meng Jingzhou was speechless. Why does it sound like your Fengdu City was cobbled together from scraps?
“Speaking of which, your esteemed creed believes in reincarnation, and the ancient Underworld was precisely the site of reincarnation. Does Fengdu City also serve the purpose of reincarnation?” Lu Yang asked.
Creed Leader Chi and Liu Zhen pricked up their ears. They were curious about the Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s belief in reincarnation.
They had heard from the Nine-Netherworlds Creed that their former creed leader Qin Haoran was a reincarnated being. At first, they were skeptical. But hearing from Young Creed Leader Lu that Qin Haoran’s manuscripts depicted the Underworld of old, they found this matter rather intriguing.
No one should have known about the Ember Legacy Dynasty. How did Qin Haoran know?
Mu Baiyi shook his head. “Forgive us, Young Creed Leader Lu, Holy Son Long. Fengdu City currently serves only as a residence for ghosts. Although we built it strictly according to the former creed leader’s manuscripts, incorporating the Three Lives Stone, the Yellow Springs Road, and such, they’re mere replicas without any reincarnation function.
“However, we believe that as long as our faith remains steadfast, Fengdu City will become the site of reincarnation one day!”
Lu Yang had wanted to say, “Don’t get your hopes up. Even the Underworld in the Ember Legacy Dynasty didn’t possess the ability to facilitate reincarnation. In the past one hundred thousand years, only Li Haoran has ever reincarnated.”
On second thought, he held back the words. It wasn’t easy for them to build this place. I shouldn’t discourage them.
Lu Yang had thought there were already plenty of ghosts when he first entered the city, but it was only after arriving in the core district that he understood what mountains and seas of ghosts meant.[1] He even spotted the original forms of the spatial projections from several days ago, and they were all ghosts.
That means Man Gu’s judgment wasn’t wrong. Quyi County really was haunted by ghosts.
“This is the altar.”
Many humans and ghosts surrounded it. Seeing Mu Baiyi’s group approach, they parted to make way.
Countless curious gazes fell on Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. Everyone was fascinated by the legendary Heavenly Court Creed’s Young Creed Leader and Holy Son Long.
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou stared straight ahead, maintaining a cold, aloof demeanor.
The circular altar had four levels, representing heaven, earth, man, and ghost. It was completely white and stood out as the only white structure in Fengdu City.
“Please be seated.”
As Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Creed Leader Chi, and Liu Zhen were Transcendent Tribulation cultivators, they sat in the front row. The Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s higher-ups filled the second row.
“Creed Leader Mu, why is there a tree in the middle of the altar?” Lu Yang asked.
The altar’s center had a circular hole, from which grew a sapling over twice a person’s height. Something hung from its branch, though it was wrapped tightly in leaves.
Lu Yang had seen many spirit trees in the herb garden, but none matched this.
“Old Meng, do you recognize this tree?”
Meng Jingzhou was equally puzzled. “No.”
“Immortal Fairy, do you recognize it?”
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy furrowed her brows. “Strange. This immortal hasn’t seen such a thing before.”
Mu Baiyi explained. “Actually, we don’t know what this is either. When the altar was first built, it wasn’t there. Then one day, a subordinate reported that the altar had been cracked open by a sapling.
“I’d already found it odd at the time. This altar is made of flawless jade and is extremely hard. We expended immense effort just to shape it. How could a sapling crack it open?
“I went over to take a look, and indeed, the altar was shattered, with an unknown sapling growing there. I asked around, but no one knew where it came from.
“Considering how bizarre it was, I didn’t dare uproot the sapling. I rebuilt the altar elsewhere, but the sapling moved and cracked it open again.
“The third time I rebuilt the altar, I kept watch over the sapling day and night. I saw it grow translucent, after which a phantom of the sapling appeared inside the new altar nearby.
“When the original sapling completely vanished, a solid sapling appeared inside the new altar and shattered it again.
“With no other choice, I had to dig a hole in the altar’s center for the sapling to grow, and now it’s this tall.”
Lu Yang was still befuddled. What exactly is this sapling?
“Is that a fruit on the branch?”
Mu Baiyi shook his head again. “I have no idea.”
The sapling’s presence didn’t affect the celebration ceremony. The followers simply assumed it carried a symbolic meaning.
As the host of the celebration ceremony, Mu Baiyi donned black robes and walked up the altar. The Nine-Netherworlds Creed members fell silent, gazing up at Mu Baiyi with devout eyes.
Mu Baiyi solemnly took out the willow branches from a jade vase and placed them in each of the four cardinal directions.
Willow branches symbolized new life, while the four cardinal directions represented the world. Reincarnation was essentially a new life. This act signified that Fengdu City was the world’s site of reincarnation and the starting point of new life.
With a ceremonial sword in one hand and a jade ring in the other, he struck them together, producing a crisp sound, and chanted ancient blessings in the ancient language.
Even after translating it to the modern language, Lu Yang still couldn’t understand what Mu Baiyi was saying.
Halfway through, the audience joined in the chanting, accompanied by ancient ritual music.
“Propitious day, auspicious hour; we solemnly offer our reverence to the Nine Netherworlds...”
Fengdu City was enveloped in a somber atmosphere, as if resonating with heaven and earth, with even the space trembling.
Gradually caught up in the atmosphere, Lu Yang calmed his mind and immersed himself in the experience.
On the sapling’s branches, leaves unfurled, revealing a glimpse of what lay within.
It was a fruit so ethereal that it was nearly transparent. Dreamlike and bizarre, it was as if it never should have existed in this world.
Lu Yang’s pupils constricted at the sight. Located in the center of Fengdu City, the altar is a place the followers held dear. In other words, it’s where faith power is most abundant. Since the sapling grows only within the altar, its existence must be inseparably linked to faith power.
Now, with the ceremony underway, the fruit grew at a visible rate.
Could this thing be— Just as the suspicion took shape in Lu Yang’s mind, an untimely laughter rang out from above, interrupting the ceremony. At the same time, the ghost fires hovering above Fengdu City extinguished one after another.
“Nine-Netherworlds Creed, you’ve got some skill. You actually managed to create a Reincarnation Incipient Dao Fruit!”
1. This is a wordplay on the idiom “mountains and seas of people.” ☜