549. Chapter 534: Affected, Moving, Taking Action
At this moment, the Heavenly Court High-Level Officials, who had just been lowering their heads to study the Heavenly Court's white jade floor, all raised their heads and looked into the Mirror of Circular Light.
At a glance, even the Heavenly Court High-Level Officials, who were accustomed to great storms and waves and had experienced various strange and bizarre Cycle Worlds, couldn't help but stare dumbfounded.
Tang Song also looked at the scene in the Mirror of Circular Light with some surprise.
What appeared in the Mirror of Circular Light was a scene resembling "Outer Space".
It was unknown how vast it was, a space as empty and dark as The Void, with countless "Stars" floating within it.
Upon closer inspection, those countless "Stars", whether large or small, bright or dim, were clearly pieces of floating mountain peaks and land! Countless mountain peaks and land, large and small, floated quietly in the dark The Void, shimmering with a mysterious white radiance.
Some pieces of land had continuous houses and palaces, shimmering with a dim radiance.
And some mountain peaks shimmered with a soft Buddhist Radiance.
And all the mountain peaks and land presented a scene of ruin.
Most of the houses and palaces on the land were merely broken walls and ruins, and the few barely intact buildings were also covered in marks of damage.
Even the mountain peaks and land themselves, large and small, were full of marks of ruin. Beside some huge mountain peaks and land, large amounts of irregular gravel and broken building fragments also floated around.
This situation made one suspect that there should have originally been a complete, massive land and a towering giant mountain, but they were shattered into countless large and small fragments by some irresistible great power, scattered throughout this dark The Void, forming the Outer Space-like scene before their eyes.
"This is the Fengdu of that World," Acha said faintly, looking at The Void filled with fragments in the Mirror of Circular Light.
"Fengdu, Yin Mountain, all shattered. The Ten Kings of Hell are missing. The Underworld Administration of that World is barely maintained by a few Judges, but they can't hold the situation at all. Even the City of the Wrongfully Dead has been occupied by a Ghost King!"
Acha shook her head, thinking of the inaction of that group of Ghost Messengers, and couldn't help but curse in a low voice, "A bunch of trash!"
It was no wonder Acha was angry. Within the Tang Family's Heavenly Court, Acha was now the legitimate Lord of the Underworld Administration and Emperor of Fengdu in the Circulatory Heaven Immortal Registry.
As for why she could attain such a high position, it was simply due to her familiarity with the job!
Having been the Underworld King for thousands of years, even Hela, whose magic power was slightly superior to hers, might not have as much management experience as her.
Hela was a general, but not a qualified monarch. This was Tang Song's evaluation of Hela, and also the catalyst for the two women fighting their way through the Three Layers of Abyssal Hell.
Acha's true body descended upon the A Chinese Ghost Story World. She originally intended to kill the Lord of the Underworld Administration of that World and take his place. She had thought that by devouring the strength of that Lord of the Underworld Administration, she could gain an edge over Hela, but she didn't expect to have made the trip for nothing.
"I searched in that World for a long time, but I couldn't find the path leading to the Heavenly Court. It seems the path between the Heavenly Court and the Mortal Realm in that World has been cut off by some strength!"
"In this World, Fengdu and Yin Mountain are both destroyed, the Ten Kings of Hell are missing, Hell has lost its Dao, the Underworld is out of control, Yin World aura is constantly leaking out, the Underworld is expanding, devouring the Mortal World..."
Acha said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Unless a certain Great Heavenly Venerable is willing to use immense magic power to reforge Fengdu and Yin Mountain and reshape the Underworld Order, otherwise... the fate of this Heaven and Earth falling into the Yin World is already irreversible."
If that World truly completely fell into the Yin World, for her, the territory she governed would increase by another third.
Lane, who was seated to Tang Song's left, surveyed the Yin World picture in the Mirror of Circular Light. After whispering a few words to an Immortal Official standing behind him, he looked at Acha:
"Emperor, do you know why Fengdu and Yin Mountain were destroyed?"
"I don't know about that!" Acha spread her hands. "When I went to that World, Fengdu and Yin Mountain were already in this state of ruins. But I think our Great Heavenly Venerable should know what's going on with this World?"
Acha glanced provocatively at Tang Song, who was seated on the throne.
While Acha was speaking, Tang Song looked at the shattered Fengdu and remained silent, his expression somewhat strange.
What kind of background did the A Chinese Ghost Story World have? The Mortal Realm had lost its Dao, ghouls ran rampant, tree demons occupied broken temples, raising tiger ghosts and wantonly preying on passersby, yet no one could stop them! In the imperial court, there was even a thousand-year-old centipede, acting as the National Preceptor, controlling the government, leading demons to eat people, and even disguising itself as a Buddhist Sect master, accepting the reverence of the common people, yet similarly, no one could manage it!
Was such a world normal? If someone dared to commit evil under the name of Tang Someone in a World governed by the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Court's Fleet would definitely let him know what "caliber is justice" meant.
But in the A Chinese Ghost Story World, Fengdu and Yin Mountain truly existed, as did the Emperor of Fengdu and Bodhisattva, so other Gods and Buddhas must also exist.
Since there were Gods and Buddhas everywhere, how could the Mortal Realm lose its Dao to such an extent? How could Pudu Cihang be allowed to bring disaster to the country and disrupt politics, eating away 99% of the court officials, and causing chaos throughout the land with rampant bandits and blurred lines between right and wrong? And how could a ghoul like the Old Black Mountain Demon be allowed to occupy a territory in the underworld? This wasn't the Journey to the West World, where the Western Ox Continent was indeed full of demons.
But most monsters/demons without a backend lived in poor and harsh lands.
Some monsters/demons who lived near human countries even abided by the law, paying money when buying pigs and sheep from humans.
Those monsters/demons who dared to cause trouble for human countries were either mounts of Great Gods or Bodhisattvas, disciples of Immortals or Buddhas, or relatives of Tathagata Buddha... Which one didn't have a strong backend, which one didn't have a great background?
But where did Tree Demon Granny, Old Black Mountain Demon, and Pudu Cihang get any Gods and Buddhas as their backend?
In this Heaven and Earth, there were legends of the Emperor of Fengdu, Bodhisattva, and Gods and Buddhas everywhere.
Pudu Cihang had even cultivated the Demonic Buddha Golden Body and often disguised himself as Tathagata Buddha during magical combat to scare people.
It was evident that the image of Gods and Buddhas was still deeply rooted in the hearts of people in this Heaven and Earth.
But legend was legend. The recklessness of Tree Demon Granny, Old Black Mountain Demon, and Pudu Cihang was enough to prove that all the Gods and Buddhas only existed in legend, and their figures were completely absent in reality.
"Either, in this Heaven and Earth, there were only legends of Gods and Buddhas, but no real Gods and Buddhas, or..."
Tang Song looked at the dilapidated Netherworld displayed in Acha's Mirror of Circular Light, pinched his fingers with his right hand, and began his computation.
"..."
After figuring everything out, Tang Song's complexion became even stranger. He roughly knew who had caused all of this.
The great war between the Supreme God and the Main God back then had stirred up the Chaos Sea, and the aftermath of their clash had affected innumerable worlds.
It seemed this World was one of them. Tang Song focused his gaze, looking at the details on the large and small fragments in the Mirror of Circular Light, and at the burning white sacred flame.
That's right, this World was indeed one of those many unlucky ones.
From the primordial spirit of the Supreme God that he had refined, he had a vague impression that the Supreme God seemed to have been blindsided by the Main God, stumbled, and seemed to have steadied himself with a palm in the Chaos Sea, crushing something.
"I already know why this World has fallen to such a state!" Tang Song said slowly, looking at the gaze Lane cast towards him. "The strength that destroyed this World was just an accident, no need to worry!"
"An accident!" Lane was somewhat surprised. Just by looking at the gravel and ruined palaces suspended in The Void in the Mirror of Circular Light, he could imagine how vast the Force/Faction of that Netherworld Government was.
Its destruction was merely an accident.
Tang Song nodded. "It is indeed an accident, just like when you and Frank sparred, the aftermath flattened some plants and trees, flowers, and stones. Perhaps for some bacteria, a single flower might be the universe they inhabit!"
Your destruction has nothing to do with you. This is the combat between two Da Luo. In combat at this level, normal Middle Thousand Worlds and Small Thousand Worlds are nothing more than ant nests by the roadside; no one cares about the few ants they step on.
Lane understood. Not only did he understand, but most people in the High Heavens Hall also understood.
Precisely because they understood, they vaguely had a feeling that their Dao Hearts were collapsing.
In these past 120 years of time, the Heavenly Court's forces had swept across the Three Great Cosmic Empires and were invincible in the Cycle Worlds, winning every battle. This had instilled in the Heavenly Court High-Level Officials a sense of arrogance, feeling that everyone else was insignificant after Lu Bu's death.
And hearing Tang Song say that in the eyes of certain existences, they were merely a group of arrogant ants and insects running rampant in an ant nest, this contrast was truly something they found hard to accept.
Most people's faces were full of shock. The only ones whose complexions were calm were Kane, Hela, and other confidants who had heard Tang Song describe the Way of Da Luo.
Tang Song's gaze swept over the crowd in the hall, taking in the changes in their looks. His finger tapped lightly on the armrest of the jade carriage a few times.
"Ding—"
A series of light, leisurely voices echoed through the Great Hall. The numerous Heavenly Court High-Level Officials all came back to their senses. "The road must be walked step by step. Those who started earlier merely had the advantage of setting off first! Gentlemen, with you here, I believe the glory of the Heavenly Court will surely shine upon the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds!"
"Acknowledged!"
The Heavenly Court High-Level Officials all rose and bowed their heads.
"Boss! Is there still any room to save that World!?" Lane quickly adjusted his mindset and cast his gaze towards Tang Song.
Tang Song pondered for a moment. "If it were just an imbalance of Yin and Yang, I could indeed use great divine power to clear and regulate it, though it would take some time. However, the problem with this World is not that simple. It was struck and a hole was created. In another two hundred years, Chaos Seawater will pour in. Unless someone possesses Nuwa's ability to mend the sky, this World will ultimately sink into the Chaos Sea!"
The Heavenly Court of that World was destroyed in a truly inexplicable manner. Who could have imagined that the Heavenly Court Divine Pantheon of a Middle Thousand World couldn't even withstand a single palm.
"In that case, I understand! Two hundred years is enough!" Lane nodded and looked at Acha. "Emperor, that Underworld Administration land belongs to you, and all the living beings in the Mortal Realm belong to me! How about it?"
Acha shook her head. "That Underworld Administration land was already beaten to a pulp. There are no ghosts there. Why would I want that broken place? I want fifty percent of the living beings in that World's Mortal Realm!"
"Acha, you are the Lord of the Underworld Administration, the Emperor of Fengdu. What use do you have for so many living persons?" Lane argued reasonably. He was indeed short on manpower right now.
Apart from the Thirty-Six Heavens, all the other Colony Planets required a large amount of manpower for reclamation.
Without the advantage of numbers at the grassroots level, how do you think the Heavenly Court's Heavenly Soldiers, who are deployed in forces of hundreds of thousands at the drop of a hat, are assembled?
They were the most loyal, brave, and excellent talent selected from world after world. Just like in the Pirate World, under the rule of the new World Government, it had been stable for a hundred years, but the islanders, whose bones were filled with the spirit of adventure, all considered it an honor to become Reincarnators.
If one could be selected as a Heavenly Soldier, it would be a great joyous event for the entire village, the entire island, enough to hold a banquet for three days and three nights, because it meant that the entire island would not have to pay any tax payment to the World Government for the next five years.
However, being selected as a Heavenly Soldier was not a casual matter. If becoming a Reincarnator was one in a thousand, then the difficulty of becoming a Heavenly Court Heavenly Soldier...
In the entire Pirate World over the past 120 years, the total number of qualified Heavenly Soldiers recruited was less than thirteen thousand.
You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you manage a household!
For Lane, opportunities like this, where a world was on the verge of destruction and its population could be migrated, were not common.
The last time there was such an opportunity was when he heard that the Boss had captured over a hundred million Japanese people in the Soul Ferryman World. He had originally planned to send these people to mine extraterrestrial resources.
Unfortunately, he was a step too late, and Hela got there first. As for the fate of those people, it was naturally self-evident.
This time, Lane did not want to miss this opportunity again.
"The ghosts in the underworld belong to your Netherworld. As for the Mortal World, with a boundary of thirty years, those who die within thirty years will also belong to you!"
Lane calculated for a bit and began to haggle with Acha. In their back-and-forth, the ownership of a Middle Thousand World and the fate of hundreds of millions of living beings were thus decided.
"Ding!" After a jade chime sound, the basic plan for how to deal with this World was set. All that remained was the specific implementation: how many warships, Heavenly Soldiers, and missionaries the Dou Division needed to send,
how many Ghost Messengers the Netherworld could dispatch. This all required full cooperation between the two departments.
Transferring the population and supplies of a world was a massive project that would require at least hundreds of thousands of people, even for the current Heavenly Court.
After reaching an agreement on how to deal with the A Chinese Ghost Story World, Tang Song began to give his personal lecture to the crowd in the hall.
While the crowd was concentrating spirit and listening to the Dao, one figure quietly left the Great Hall. Not long after, another figure also left the High Heavens Hall.
Tang Song merely lifted his eyelids and let the two go. "Lu Xueqi, what's the situation?"
"I don't know either! They insisted on following us!"
On the ornate canopy cloud fragrance treasure carriage pulled by nine fire phoenixes, Zhang Xiaofan and Lu Xueqi looked at each other helplessly, communicating continuously with their gazes. Inside the treasure carriage behind them sat a large group of women, like warblers and swallows.
"Hmm, this must be the Tianya Divine Sword! Huh, why is it broken!" Zhang Xiaofan's hand relaxed, and the Tianya Divine Sword he had been gripping tightly had appeared in the hand of a young girl with a slightly chubby face, without him knowing when.
Gu Zi Yun drew out the Tianya Divine Sword, looked at the broken sword, and somewhat bored, threw it back to Zhang Xiaofan.
"Let me see your Soul Devouring Rod!"
Zhang Xiaofan looked at the woman in front of him, who was so familiar and casually reached out to ask for his blood-refined treasure. He glanced around, looking at the Heavenly Soldiers around him, clad in shining silver armor, each whose strength was no less than his own.
He then looked at Lu Xueqi, who was frantically winking at him, hesitated repeatedly, and finally took out his Soul Devouring Rod and handed it to her.
"The material is quite good, it's just a bit ugly. Uncle was right, it really does look like a stove poker..."
Unlike Gu Zi Yun, Skye, Rogue, and others were interested in the Joyful Union Bell. For Zhang Xiaofan, the Joyful Union Bell held Biyao's one soul and one spirit. If Lu Xueqi hadn't told him,
that these women were the Heavenly Emperor's Concubines and could help him with Biyao's resurrection, he would never have handed over the Joyful Union Bell to them.
"Nine Nether Yin Spirit, All Heavens Gods and Demons,
With my blood body, I offer as sacrifice.
Three lives and seven generations, forever fallen into Yama, only for love's sake, I shall not regret even death."
Zhang Xiaofan heard a familiar voice ring out from behind the curtain. His eyes instantly turned red, and he desperately wanted to rush into the curtain.
"How dare you!" A Heavenly Maiden Attendant standing by the curtain flicked her sleeve. Her pure white long sleeve struck Zhang Xiaofan's body, and a burst of qi energy directly sent Zhang Xiaofan flying out.
"Biyao!"
After being helped up by Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan's eyes were bloodshot, and he stared blankly at the curtain.
"He really is a lovesick person, just like the Boss said! Never mind, Mei Xian, let him come in!"
Two Heavenly Maidens pulled open the curtain of the ornate canopy cloud fragrance treasure carriage from the left and right, revealing a group of Female Immortals sitting cross-legged or leaning on the cloud bed, either watching dramas or snacking on fruits and melons.
Even though Zhang Xiaofan's mind and eyes were filled with the smoke-like, misty green figure under the Joyful Union Bell at this moment, this scene still struck him dumbfounded.
He hadn't followed Acha to the Bull Palace to meet the Queens (of Heaven) and Imperial Consorts, but the contrast was simply too great.
However, seeing Biyao's figure again at this moment, Zhang Xiaofan couldn't help but step forward and look at her affectionately. He carefully tried to stroke Biyao's cheek with his hand but touched nothing.
"This Biyao..."
Zhang Xiaofan looked at the figures on the cloud bed, feeling at a loss, just like when he was brought into the Qingyun Sect and faced those majestic Peak Masters, his young mind was overwhelmed.
"Only her one soul and one spirit are sealed within the Joyful Union Bell. There are two methods to achieve her resurrection. One is for me to bestow upon her two souls and six spirits again, but it's hard to say if she will still be your Biyao when she wakes up!"
Acha cracked the melon seeds she had snatched from Gu Zi Yun's hand, seemingly enjoying watching others in a difficult situation. She looked at Zhang Xiaofan with a dark expression. "Since you like her, it shouldn't matter whether she remembers you or not, right!"
Zhang Xiaofan clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging into his flesh, completely unaware of the bleeding. He had searched for a method to achieve Biyao's resurrection for decades, and now he had finally achieved his wish.
"As long as she is resurrected, I..." Before Zhang Xiaofan could say the words "Zhang Xiaofan is willing," he was pulled back by Lu Xueqi.
"Acha, what is the second method?" Lu Xueqi asked, looking at Acha.
"How boring..." Acha smoothed her hair, seemingly not feeling disappointed about missing a good show. "The second method is also very simple. I'll take a trip to your World and beat up the Deity who governs the Underworld in your World—is she called the Netherworld Holy Mother?—and make her hand over this Little Girl's two souls and six spirits, then send her directly back to the Mortal World! You'll get a complete wife back, how about it?"
"I choose the second one!" Zhang Xiaofan quickly said upon hearing Acha's words.
"Little friend, you need to think carefully. Asking me to take action once comes at a considerable price!"
(end of chapter)