Volume One: Youthful Encounters in Subtle Times Chapter One Hundred and Ten: The Heavenly Gate Finally Opens
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The old crone of the Ghost Clan, seeing that the Netherworld Beast was about to escape into the sea, would never let it slip away so easily.
Unlike humans, the existence of the Ghost Clan is unknown to the vast majority of people in the world. Therefore, their magic, divine powers, and even the very essence of the Dao remain a complete mystery.
Within the Netherworld Beast’s spiritual repository, besides the spirit-controlling technique, there was a description of the Ghost Clan’s soul-seizing art.
Once a member of the Ghost Clan locks onto someone and casts the soul-seizing technique, that person will utterly become a fragment of the Ghost Clan individual.
Their cultivation, Dao essence, true spirit, and worldview will all be completely overtaken by the Ghost Clan member.
The Daoist didn’t know for what purpose the old crone was chasing the Netherworld Beast, but the beast must not be taken away by other races, and moreover, it held other uses for him.
The Netherworld Beast knew it was afflicted by the Ghost Clan’s Rakshasa Bone Nail. Fortunately, the one who used the bone nail was not from the Ghost Clan, so the nail’s true power could not be fully realized.
If the Rakshasa Bone Nail were wielded by a Ghost Clan member, it could seize the soul’s essence. But since it was obtained by the Li family, and she did not understand the Ghost Clan’s methods, she could only simulate some of its effects using the Li family’s spirit-controlling technique.
Luckily, she found a small point of compatibility, achieving a spirit-locking effect even more fierce and domineering than a spirit-locking formation.
The Netherworld Beast felt somewhat relieved. Even if the Rakshasa Bone Nail had truly pierced its soul, it had ways to cope—though not so easily.
At that moment, the Ghost Clan’s old crone watched the Netherworld Beast flee into the sea with the Ghost Clan’s sacred relic and knew her chance had come.
To drive the Rakshasa Bone Nail into another’s body, one must possess extremely strong power and, more importantly, reach a fair exchange with the bone nail.
What is exchanged varies with each successful use; the old crone did not know what deal the young lady from the Li family had struck with it, but she was not about to let such an opportunity slip away.
If she could quickly find the Netherworld Beast and fully activate the bone nail before it could expel it, she could effortlessly cast the soul-seizing technique, making the proud guardian beast of Tianmen Town a part of herself.
Just as she pursued the Netherworld Beast with this mindset, a golden light struck her body at an even faster speed. Her face instantly turned ashen. “So it’s one of Daoism’s Twelve Golden Talismans—the Exorcism Talisman.”
No sooner had she spoken than she turned into a wisp of blue smoke, absorbed by the dark sea.
The Daoist, sensing the talisman’s effect, thought silently, “A split soul? It seems the Ghost Clan has found a way to traverse the realms of life and death. This world truly is no place for easy survival.”
In another space on this continent, the old crone’s true form awoke within a coffin. Frowning and slightly troubled, she said, “It was destroyed—by the Daoist’s Exorcism Talisman. It seems this continent has a deep connection to the Azure Underworld.”
The young guardian beside her, seeing the matriarch awake, asked if there was anything to report. After some thought, the old crone said, “Issue orders—the spatial nodes linking the realms of life and death have been found. I will tell you the location soon. Let any spirits wishing to enter the realm of life go freely. Their lives are their own; their opportunities, their own to seize.”
With that, she sank back into slumber.
The guardian girl, hearing this, asked no further questions, raised her gaze, and walked forward. Upon close inspection, her eye sockets were pitch black, as if filled with endless darkness.
As for the Netherworld Beast, it can be set aside for now. For humans, merely obtaining its blood is sufficient.
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Everyone watched the blood orb floating in the sky, clueless about how to use it.
Modi of the Myriad Beasts Sect knew only that they needed the Netherworld Beast’s blood, but had no idea how to use it to open Tianmen.
As everyone stared at the blood orb, wide-eyed, a man from Huangji Palace and the academy’s dean, Cao Xihe, stepped forward and said, “Let me try. I might know how to use it.”
No one expected him to come forward. He had always been vague and showed no keen interest in Tianmen, so they worried about his intentions. But now, faced with the choice to either wait for an opportunity to escape or to trust him, they decided to place their hopes in Cao Xihe.
Reluctantly, they entrusted everything to him.
Cao Xihe formed a hand seal and chanted, “Winds and rains from all directions, heaven and earth thunder, yin and yang interlace, heaven and earth unite, five elements converge, myriad paths return to origin, heed my command—reopen Tianmen. By decree!”
At his final word, the blood orb transformed into nine mysterious symbols. As the last symbol formed, all nine surged toward the ethereal Tianmen, striking it one by one.
Witnessing this, the crowd was filled with awe and tension. This was the Tianmen they had long dreamed of—a gateway to ascension so close it was almost within reach. How could they not be nervous, hopeful, and exhilarated?
Upon receiving the nine symbols, the so-called ethereal Tianmen began to solidify, slowly taking shape until it stood before them as a massive, ancient bronze gate.
Above the lintel were three bold characters: Gate of Immortal Ascension.
As the gate materialized, an imposing pressure far sharper than that of the previous ethereal gate washed over them.
At that moment, the sky changed color, yin and yang became chaotic, and the moon, absent from Tianmen Town, faintly appeared alongside the distant morning sun.
Light and darkness divided clearly yet coexisted in harmonious balance.
The sky lowered as if one could reach out and touch it. Those who could fly might easily pass through the heavens.
The crowd looked at Xie Tong, signaling him to once again summon the sword imprint to open Tianmen.
Only the final trace of the sword imprint’s power remained, and it was the strongest. As Xie Tong performed it, he thought, “Could this truly be fate, or was it all prearranged? Otherwise, why would I have brought this particular sword imprint among so many?”
When Xie Tong unleashed the imprint’s final sword, the imprint turned to ash, scattering in the wind.
The great sword of Qing Shan charged Tianmen with its mightiest strike—boom! The heavens dimmed, the sea churned violently, and the earth trembled. Yet the gate remained unmoved.
This sword was forged with the understanding that a single strike could not break the gate, so extra power was infused to carry out its unfinished mission.
Strike two—boom! Still no effect. The sword spun and struck again at high speed.
This continued for forty-eight strikes. Throughout, the crowd’s hope shifted to doubt, then to anxiety.
Their gazes at Xie Tong seemed to say, “Is this the strength of your Qing Shan? Without your strongest warrior, you send only a sword to open the gate? Are you overconfident or underestimating Tianmen? What now? Will Qing Shan give us an explanation?”
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Xie Tong ignored these looks. Since the first strike, he had focused entirely on the sword. Initially, he had no doubts, but after repeated strikes, suspicion grew clearer.
It seemed his guess was correct: the sword imprint was indeed arranged by someone.
He then recalled that the sword imprint was given to him by the Nameless Sword Immortal from the Sword Tomb. This meant someone shared Qing Shan’s attitude toward opening Tianmen and had possibly conspired with them.
Finally, the forty-ninth strike came. Under this blow, a visible crack appeared in Tianmen, a ray of dawn light streaming through it, stirring the hearts of the gathered humans with joy as if that single beam could lift them to ascension.
At the same time, the great sword’s massive blade shattered, scattering into thirty-two small swords suspended in the air.
The crowd was stunned, uncertain what had happened. Xie Tong, however, understood. The forty-nine swords were all Qing Shan’s legendary swords, with the last belonging to Nameless Sword Immortal. Those present had not learned swordsmanship, so they did not recognize this, compounded by the fact that the forty-nine sword techniques hidden within the sword were some of Qing Shan’s unparalleled sword methods, known to few.
Even Xie Tong had seen only about half of them.
The Daoist Lin looked at the thirty-two small swords and finally smiled with relief. He turned to Old Luo and said, “I must go attend to my affairs now. Don’t forget what I asked of you. I’m counting on you.”
With that, he vanished into the void.
Old Luo pondered Lin’s request, finding it hard to believe but recognizing that if it was the Daoist Lin, it might be possible. Still, to accomplish it would mean opposing the entire world.
Would he survive such defiance?
Probably not. That was why he entrusted this matter to Old Luo and arranged the future of his young apprentice.
Cao Xihe looked at Tianmen before him and recalled the words conveyed to him through the void. He felt helpless yet deeply admired the Daoist, thinking, “No wonder only a Daoist is qualified to be the disciple of the palace lord.”
Indeed, Cao Xihe had been unaware of how to use the Netherworld Beast’s blood to open Tianmen until Lin had told him. But Lin had also warned that once too deeply entangled with Tianmen’s powers, one could not escape the bondage of karma.
Lin shared this to avoid pulling Huangji Palace too deeply into the matter. Since they had no original intention toward Tianmen, why make them the instrument of its destruction?
In truth, Lin used his divine arts through Cao Xihe to perform the opening of Tianmen.
As Cao Xihe looked at Lin appearing beside Tianmen, he felt helplessness, sorrow, and above all, respect.
Lin glanced over the crowd below, scanned the surrounding sky, then declared with heroic resolve, “Today, I, Daoist Lin, shall destroy Tianmen, so that henceforth, no gate to ascension shall remain in this world.”