Volume XII: Invitation from Hell Chapter 53: Night of Shattered Glass

Yao Guang had no idea what had gone wrong in the middle of this, simply feeling that the old Daoist's reaction was excessively dramatic. Therefore, she affirmed to the old Daoist, "Without a doubt, it is genuine."

"Hahaha!" Upon receiving Yao Guang's affirmative reply, the old Daoist was clearly ecstatic. His laughter was not one of amusement, but rather driven by overwhelming excitement. He paced back and forth across the courtyard, making Yao Guang somewhat nervous as well.

After a long while, he finally stopped and said, "Do you know Dao Xu-zi? I heard that Dao Xu-zi came here in his early years, but unfortunately, I never had the chance to meet him. There is a familiar aura about you, an aura that originates from Dao Xu-zi. You must possess the legacy of Dao Xu-zi; otherwise, I would not find this familiarity. You must share countless intricate ties with that old friend of mine."

Hearing that he knew the old codger, Yao Guang became equally excited. Perhaps this was Yao Guang's good fortune, destined to bring her a great opportunity in her cultivation: "To tell you the truth, I indeed have a destiny with Dao Xu-zi. Dao Xu-zi is half master to me, and I am his only nominal disciple."

The old Daoist muttered to himself, "Destiny, truly destiny! Dao Xu-zi once said that he had a nominal disciple, a peerless genius whose talent surpassed a hundred of his own disciples combined. Who would have thought that this very nominal disciple would ascend to become a Sovereign God? Then, can you guess who I am?"

Yao Guang thought for a moment, exercising a little bit of caution since, after all, she was still a stranger to him.

Thus, Yao Guang began to observe him. Between his brows lay a profound sense of thorough awakening and enlightenment, yet his demeanor—while ninety percent reflecting the ethereal, immortal bones of a Daoist—carried a trace of malevolence. This malevolence did not stem from his character as a person, but seemed ingrained in his very bones. In other words, this person must have possessed malevolent traits in his earliest days, and even now, following his great enlightenment, that malevolence had not been completely purged. His eyes were bright, yet tinged with three parts of sorrow and a touch of vicissitudes of life.

Understanding blossomed in Yao Guang's heart, and only then did she speak: "Your name is Shang Li-ye, formerly the leader of the ghost cultivators, who later entered the Nether Dark Ghost Market and vanished without a trace."

"You know me?" the old Daoist asked in surprise.

"Shang Li-ye, one of the six great elders of the Demon Clan, and imperial tutor to the Demon Princess Die Wu-ying. Because of the romance between Demon Princess Die Wu-ying and the mortal Zhu Qing-huang, you were forced to leave the Demon Clan, solely for the purpose of resurrecting Zhu Qing-huang. Yet Zhu Qing-huang, consumed by extremism, led Die Wu-ying onto the crooked path. Out of indulgence for your disciple, you became a ghost cultivator. However, the cycles of heavenly dao are relentless; you were struck down by heavenly punishment and drifted into the Nether Dark Ghost Market, where you achieved great enlightenment and attained the Dao, yet remained unable to leave." Yao Guang said, "The old codger once mentioned that he had a friend, a Daoist priest who turned to ghost cultivation because of his disciple. You were the only one I could think of."

"You know all of this?" The old Daoist was even more astonished.

"Not entirely everything," Yao Guang replied.

Indeed, this old Daoist was none other than Shang Li-ye.

Faced with such a response from Yao Guang, Shang Li-ye was clearly nervous. He asked, "What else do you know?"

Seeing his expression, Yao Guang felt both excited and nervous inside, though she could not quite articulate the reason for this agitation. Being in a soul state, she was unable to take a deep breath to steady herself, so she simply tried her best to calm her thoughts. After a long moment, Yao Guang finally spoke: "That is all I know, Daoist priest. My purpose in coming to the Nether Dark Ghost Market this time is precisely to seek you out."

"You?!" Shang Li-ye instantly lost his composure. Although he was currently in a soul state, merely hearing this news caused the oppressive might of his soul to sharpen significantly. Ordinarily, a soul with powerful spiritual force, unfettered by a physical body, could freely release or restrain its aura. Just how excited must he have been to lose control like this?

Yao Guang did not speak. She was equally agitated, knowing that such excitement required time to subside.

Sure enough, after a short while, Shang Li-ye managed to regain his composure and said to Yao Guang, "You came here specifically to seek me out. For what purpose?"

"For Die Wu-ying, for Zhu Qing-huang, and also for Gui Si, the eldest disciple of the old codger," Yao Guang replied.

"Is there any connection between these matters?" Shang Li-ye asked.

"The situation is quite complex. To put it simply, Die Wu-ying is a Demon Princess, and Zhu Qing-huang is a mortal. These two were never meant to have a happy ending. Die Wu-ying deceived Gui Si for the sake of Zhu Qing-huang, solely to obtain the Ice-Split Snow Lotus. As a result, Gui Si fell into demonic cultivation. The old codger guided Gui Si to ascend, but Gui Si entered the Asura Realm, only to remain unable to let go of Die Wu-ying. He was deceived by her once again, losing his spiritual core, and was hunted down by the Asura Realm. His true divine body was destroyed, and he drifted into the city's ghost market, adopting the alias Huang Quan. Consequently, the old codger lost all hope in the mortal world, changed his Daoist title to Gui Shan, and lived in seclusion at Gui Shan Temple. When Zhu Qing-huang's mortal body turned to dust and his time was running out, Die Wu-ying found the ghost market and discovered the Yin-Yang Undivided Grand Array, turning Zhu Qing-huang into her symbiotic soul. However, this method was deeply vicious, and both Zhu Qing-huang and Die Wu-ying were running out of time. Zhu Qing-huang's sole wish was to be a police officer, so Die Wu-ying sought out Huang Quan, utilizing various secret arts of Huang Quan's Shan lineage to disguise herself as an out-of-bounds enforcer. She killed countless people and orchestrated the Hell Invitation Letter case. I investigated the case all the way to the ghost market, finding Huang Quan and Die Wu-ying. While the events are clear, a few questions remain unresolved. Huang Quan said that finding Shang Li-ye might provide an explanation." Yao Guang finished and looked at Shang Li-ye.

"There are so many intricate twists and turns to all this? Tell me in detail about your Hell Invitation Letter case," Shang Li-ye said.

"Very well, the matter is as follows..." For a long time thereafter, Yao Guang meticulously recounted everything concerning the Hell Invitation Letter case.

After listening, Shang Li-ye fell silent: "Putting aside other matters, since they can all be obtained in the ghost market—such as the fire-poison worms, which are sold here precisely because they cannot be found elsewhere—there is only one question that I care about."

"What is it?" Yao Guang asked.

"Who taught the Yin-Yang Undivided Grand Array to Little Die? I certainly did not teach her that," Shang Li-ye replied.

"It was not you. This Yin-Yang Undivided Grand Array was created by the ghost cultivation sect of your era. The only possibility we could think of led back to you. The reason I came was out of concern that other ghost cultivators with profound magical attainments might endanger the world, so I wished to find you for verification. Yet upon seeing you, I realized that this true ghost cultivation force is far more complex than I had imagined," Yao Guang replied.

"Do you know how I came to this Nether Dark Ghost Market?" Shang Li-ye asked.

Yao Guang shook her head.

"In order to keep Zhu Qing-huang by her side, that child Little Die went so far as to use a forbidden technique of the Demon Clan. To save her, I took her away from the Demon Clan, but by then that child had already embarked on a crooked path. I established ghost cultivation solely to suppress the backlash of her forbidden technique. These ghost cultivators are actually pitiful souls; they absorb the yin and resentment of the dead, leaving them with no place in this world. I took them in, partly to prevent them from straying further, and partly because the yin energy on their bodies could suppress the backlash of Little Die's condition. Little did I expect that Zhu Qing-huang would constantly urge Little Die to continue taking desperate risks, eventually beginning to use our disciples to commit acts that harmed humanity. By the time I discovered it, it was already too late; the sect had split into orthodox and unorthodox factions. Because of the forbidden technique, Little Die attracted heavenly punishment. A few of us, numbering very few, acted to save her—we imprisoned Zhu Qing-huang's soul and blocked the heavenly punishment on Little Die's behalf. Yet, having become ghosts with nowhere to go, we ended up in this Nether Dark Ghost Market." Shang Li-ye sighed and asked in return, "Do you know what kind of place this Nether Dark Ghost Market is?"

What kind of place was this? The question was truly bizarre, and Yao Guang froze: "Isn't this a ghost market?"

"Hahaha, a ghost market! There is no such thing as a ghost market; it's merely because transactions need to be conducted with the living that people started calling it a ghost market! In truth, this place is just as the four characters you saw upon entering the cave gate suggest—it is merely a place to dwell," Shang Li-ye replied.

"A place to dwell? Senior, speaking like this leaves me even more confused. You might as well explain it in detail." This time, Yao Guang truly did not understand.

"Let me put it this way: where this place actually is, and what kind of existence it holds, even after all these years here, I cannot give you a definitive answer! All I know is that a long, long time ago—perhaps several millennia—a supreme being created this place, solely to make us cultivators who have become ghosts a little less pitiful," Shang Li-ye said slowly.

Yet Yao Guang was filled with utter astonishment. Cultivators who have become ghosts a little less pitiful?! What on earth did that mean?! Once someone enters the cycle of reincarnation, how could there be any talk of being pitiful?!

Without waiting for Yao Guang to question him further, Shang Li-ye continued, "What is a cultivator? Every single one of them is someone defying the heavens to snatch life, striving in the end for nothing more than transcendence. Yet from ancient times to the present, how many have truly achieved transcendence? In the end, they merely turn into a patch of yellow dust. How many cultivators do you think can accept that willingly? Without speaking of anything else, a true cultivator's lifetime of cultivation grants them a soul far more powerful than that of an ordinary person. Upon death, when they enter the cycle of reincarnation, everything becomes empty once more. How many can truly see through this? That is obsession. You are fortunate; you had a great destiny and managed to ascend. But those who lack such destiny yet refuse to be resigned to their fate end up drifting here."

Hearing Shang Li-ye put it this way, Yao Guang suddenly understood. It was much like a matter whose truth is unknown to you—you simply let it be. But once you know the truth, and have the ability to approach it further, someone suddenly tells you that you can only go this far and from then on you will forget everything and start walking this path anew—how would you feel?

Shang Li-ye provided the answer: unresigned. There was another kind of existence in this world known as ghost cultivators! The ghost cultivators of the mortal world practiced by utilizing human souls—to put it bluntly, they were unorthodox cultivators, not true ghost cultivators. True ghost cultivators were those whose physical bodies had turned to dust, yet refused to be resigned to entering reincarnation; they were the true ghost cultivators. To put it simply, they were cultivators who chose to continue practicing even after becoming ghosts.

Ghost cultivators who refused reincarnation and lingered in the mortal realm. She had never imagined that the true essence of this ghost market was actually a sanctuary for ghost cultivators, living up precisely to the words written on the cave gate: "A Place to Dwell." This truly subverted Yao Guang's perception.

Seeing Yao Guang's expression, a deeply meaningful look appeared on Shang Li-ye's face as he said to her, "It seems you have finally understood what 'a place to dwell' truly means, right? Ghost cultivators naturally have a hard time in the world of the living, so those with some capability are brought into this sanctuary. Losing a physical body means that for a Daoist cultivator like me, the pace of practice slows down immeasurably. Moreover, the cultivation of a spiritual body places even greater emphasis on the perfection of one's Dao heart. Many cultivators only achieve enlightenment after coming here, yet they can never leave. Ghost cultivators are tragic. After achieving great enlightenment, their physical bodies have already turned to dust. The ghost cultivators here lack physical bodies, have seen through the ways of mortals, and neither wish to leave nor condescend to use the methods of the living. You understand my meaning now, don't you?"

"I understand. This Yin-Yang Undivided Grand Array was passed down from the outside world after all. It seems I must still start from the mortal realm," Yao Guang nodded.

"There is someone called Thousand-Hands in the Nether Dark Ghost Market. Do you know him? Behind this person is a group of unorthodox practitioners—what you call ghost cultivators. I deduce that these secret arts were spread outward by them. This hidden force is vast and powerful. You must be careful," Shang Li-ye said.

"Thousand-Hands has already been killed by me in the arena," Yao Guang made a helpless gesture. "I suppose the forces behind him have already set their sights on me. Perfect; I was just worrying about not being able to find them."

"You certainly have a lot of nerve. Then again, given your current standing, you can hardly afford not to be bold," Shang Li-ye remarked. "Where are Zhu Qing-huang and Little Die now?"

"Die Wu-ying is currently with my friend. I bought Die Wu-ying in the Nether Dark Ghost Market; the terms of the transaction were that I would duel her, and if I won, I would guide Zhu Qing-huang across and take Die Wu-ying back to face judgment by the law. By now, Zhu Qing-huang has already been guided across," Yao Guang paused briefly, "My purpose in entering the Nether Dark Ghost Market, to put it plainly, was to verify whether the fire-poison worms and other items Die Wu-ying used in the Hell Invitation Letter case originated from you. Seen in this light, my perspective was narrow, and I ask for your forgiveness." With that, Yao Guang executed a Daoist greeting toward Shang Li-ye.

"Think nothing of it. As a Sovereign God remaining in the mortal realm, isn't your purpose precisely to protect humanity? What you did is entirely understandable," Shang Li-ye helped Yao Guang up.

"Thank you, Senior," Yao Guang said.

Yao Guang had already obtained her answers upon coming here, yet she had also come here for the sake of a transaction. She had received what she wanted, but had not asked what Shang Li-ye required. That would violate the rules of the Nether Dark Ghost Market.

With this thought, Yao Guang spoke: "Senior, I came to the ghost market seeking something, but coincidentally ran into you. Now I have obtained the answers I sought. However, according to the rules, I would like to ask if there is anything you need me to handle?"

"Something you need to handle for me? Hahaha," Shang Li-ye laughed heartily before continuing, "The things I desire and the matters to be handled are far beyond your capability. I wish to leave this place; even entering the cycle of reincarnation would be a welcome relief. Can you make it so that I can leave?"

"I can," Yao Guang replied earnestly.

"You can?" Shang Li-ye asked in astonishment.

Yao Guang flipped her hand, and a row of characters materialized in her palm. She continued, "I have already entered the primordial divine realm; within the five realms, I still wield some authority. If you wish to leave, I can take you away, on the condition that you enter into a contract with me. Once the contract is formed, my task will be to guide you to ascension, and your task will be to become a member of my sect. Are you willing?"

"That's right, a Sovereign God has the authority to forge contracts! With a contract, I can leave!" Light flashed in Shang Li-ye's eyes.

"There is only one rule in the contract that you must strictly uphold: having become a disciple of the Phoenix Sovereign God, you must walk the righteous path, or else the descent of heavenly punishment will mean total annihilation. This is something I must make clear," Yao Guang said earnestly.

"Haha, I understand this," Shang Li-ye nodded.

Yao Guang smiled and extended her hand. Shang Li-ye grasped it. A stream of golden light surged from Yao Guang's hand, winding like a vine around both their arms before vanishing. As Yao Guang withdrew her hand, Shang Li-ye noticed that the four characters 'Phoenix Imperial Seal' had appeared on his palm.

"Ah, ghost cultivators cultivate the soul. In this sanctuary, I have actually learned quite a few new things, especially regarding the cultivation of spiritual power and spiritual awareness—things that are extremely difficult to practice in the mortal world actually become much easier here! After all, while many traditions in the mortal realm have been broken, the heritage here remains unbroken. Now that I am leaving, I hardly know what to feel," Shang Li-ye said slowly.

Yao Guang said in a deep voice, "Senior, come with me. A cultivator who has achieved great enlightenment should not remain here; the mortal world needs you."

"Ah, I am bound to leave with you regardless. This is also our favorable destiny. For the sake of that old codger Dao Xu-zi alone, I must treat you with exceptional generosity. Is there anything else you desire?" Shang Li-ye asked.

"A list of the forces behind Thousand-Hands. Those people cannot be allowed to remain," Yao Guang said.

"Once we leave this place, leave those people to me. You wish to protect the mortal world, and I shall help you," Shang Li-ye said.

"Thank you, Senior," Yao Guang said.

Shang Li-ye looked at Yao Guang and smiled.