Chapter 580: Borrowing the Realm

"I knew they would ask about this," Lao Changtai said. "After we went in, we were curious about this ourselves and found out after inquiring that before the Underworld was sealed off, just like the outside world, it also suffered from the problem of counterfeit money produced by demonic sects. At that time, the Underworld had communicated with the Heavenly Court, hoping to reintroduce ancient coins, stating that they could not be counterfeited.

However, the Heavenly Court and its four subordinate Royal Courts strongly opposed this. The reason was simple: ancient coins could not be counterfeited because they contained what was called 'quantity'.

This 'quantity' is generated only when something completes a cycle of rebirth. For example, when a person dies and their soul returns to the Underworld, one unit of 'quantity' is produced.

Therefore, this 'quantity' cannot be counterfeited. Precisely because of this, the earliest ancient coins were manufactured by the Underworld, and the molds for ancient coins were also in the Underworld's possession. However, the Heavenly Court no longer held its former power and could not control the Underworld. How could the Heavenly Court and its four subordinate Royal Courts possibly surrender the right to coin money to the Underworld?

According to the prevailing account in the Underworld, one of the reasons it sealed itself off from the outside world was precisely this issue. And after the Underworld, plagued by counterfeit currency, sealed itself off, it naturally immediately reintroduced ancient coins.

Oh, right, there's also a smaller denomination than 'quantity', which is called 'kalpa' here. That's because not everything can generate a full unit of 'quantity' after death; some smaller animals can only produce a limited number of 'kalpas'. A thousand kalpas can be exchanged for one unit of 'quantity'."

As Lao Changtai spoke, he pulled out some small denomination notes from the Underworld. There were not only small denominations of 'quantity' but also small denominations of 'kalpa', in various designs, for the two of them to examine.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang looked through them in their hands, marveling at what they saw. Only then did they realize that old Jin Zhan truly didn't have any small change on him.

Lao Changtai pointed at the money in their hands and said, "This kind of money in the Underworld is not only currency, but also a consumable item. For example, if Ping Xi's family members want to be reborn into a good life, they need a large amount of the 'quantity' and 'kalpa' values within these coins for blessings."

Speaking of Mu Xi, Shi Chun asked, "How is Mu Xi? Is he reliable?"

Lao Changtai replied, "Boss, how should I put this? We haven't been here for many days, and our contact with him hasn't been long, so it's hard to judge his character. However, one thing is certain: stealing souls in the Underworld is a capital offense. He accepted so much money from us to release us privately. If discovered, it would be difficult for him to escape. Moreover, he doesn't know our true capabilities. For now, he shouldn't dare to cross us."

Hearing this, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang felt somewhat relieved.

Shi Chun then asked, "What about Chu Jingting? Where did he go?"

Lao Changtai replied, "Didn't you tell us to find a suitable enforcer? We actually found out about a seemingly suitable candidate. Just hearing about it isn't enough, so Chu Jingting went to personally investigate and verify it. I stayed here to facilitate contact with you."

Since it was still in the inquiry stage, Shi Chun didn't ask further. Returning to the main topic, he asked, "Have you found out about the soul-capturing item?"

"Yes, we've already bought it," Lao Changtai said, as he pulled out a black cloth pouch the size of a small handkerchief. "This item is expensive; it cost over a hundred thousand units of 'quantity'. Once a soul is placed in this pouch, it can be carried around. According to local accounts, the outside world should have had this item before. The only problem is that ordinary cultivators can't use it effectively. For instance, we can't see souls at all. Only the cultivators of the Underworld can see them."

Shi Chun wasn't sure why this was the case. His right eye's special ability couldn't see the souls of animals that had just died, but after a trip to the Underworld, when the souls were pulled out by the golden threads generated by the Death-Defying Incense, his right eye's ability could see them again.

The first time he met Mu Xi, he found that Mu Xi's ghost officials were actually unable to stop the souls from escaping the entanglement of the golden threads. He didn't know the principle behind this.

He took the black cloth pouch and examined it. Although he couldn't figure out the material it was made from, he presumed it should be fine.

He immediately stood up. He tucked the black cloth pouch into his waist, pulled out a striped hyena from a large bag nearby, and choked it to death on the spot.

A moment later, he said to Wu Jinliang, "Burn the incense."

Wu Jinliang naturally knew what he meant. He immediately pulled out a small piece of Death-Defying Incense with his finger and released flames to burn it.

Although it wasn't the first time he had seen this, Lao Changtai still marveled at it. It was his first time seeing someone cultivate two different attributes of Five Elements cultivation.

He could understand Wu Jinliang's actions, but he truly couldn't understand Shi Chun's gestures of casting spells in the air.

However, Shi Chun did not make the black hole reappear this time. If he didn't go to the Underworld to control it and keep the black hole portal there, it would be easy to expose the portal if the ghost officials pursued them as Ping Xi did last time.

He only directed the smoke from the Death-Defying Incense towards the hyena's corpse. After seeing the golden threads proliferate, he told Wu Jinliang to stop burning the incense. It was always good to save as much as possible.

After waiting for a long while, the scattered golden threads began to twitch. Shi Chun knew that the souls must be returning. He immediately pulled the black cloth pouch from his waist with one hand and conjured a knife in the other.

When he saw a thread pull back a white speck of light, he immediately used the Demon-Slaying Blade to sever it. At the same time, he waved the black cloth pouch to capture the white speck of light.

However, as soon as the golden thread broke, the white speck of light vanished from his right eye's special ability.

It wasn't just one white speck of light; several subsequent ones did the same.

Ultimately, his efforts were in vain.

Watching him stand silently, Lao Changtai turned to look at Wu Jinliang beside him. The latter shook his head, indicating he didn't know what was happening either.

They could continue burning incense and try again, but after thinking it over, Shi Chun felt it was temporarily unnecessary. If they repeatedly tried this in a short period, it would be difficult to avoid alerting the higher-ups among the ghost officials. It might even become difficult for Ping Xi to manage the situation. At that point, the Underworld mountain where they entered and exited would certainly attract heavy military attention.

So, he pulled out a striped hyena from the large bag, and along with the soul-capturing black cloth pouch, he threw them to Lao Changtai. "You go back and figure out a way to capture the hyena's soul into the pouch for me. You keep the hyena's corpse in the Underworld. Do you understand what I mean?"

Lao Changtai nodded. "I roughly understand. I'll burn the Death-Defying Incense there to smoke the hyena's corpse. Let's see if it can open a passage between the two realms from the Underworld side."

Shi Chun nodded. "That's it."

Lao Changtai thought for a moment and then added, "It might be a bit troublesome. It's not easy to start a fire in the Underworld. Also, I heard that the scent of this Death-Defying Incense spreads very widely..."

Shi Chun pointed at Wu Jinliang. "He can handle all of that. Let Jinliang go in too."

Wu Jinliang patted his chest. "Leave it to me!"

They had already tried entering and exiting multiple times. He knew that as long as Shi Chun was outside, he could get out once he entered, so there wouldn't be any problems.

Shi Chun reminded them again, "There's one thing to note. This hyena is a creature from the outside world. Don't let anyone see it when you're looking for someone to capture its soul."

"Understood." Lao Changtai nodded in acknowledgment, and also understood the implications.

Shi Chun: "We've arranged with Ping Xi that in three hours, it'll be a good time for you to come out and get some air. Given the environment in the Underworld, it's certainly uncomfortable for normal people to stay there for too long. Go out and get some fresh air. There's a city nearby; go explore it. See if there's anything we need to bring to the Underworld."

Lao Changtai quickly said, "Food, we must bring some food in! It's hard to start fires in the Underworld, so all the food is cold. I didn't have much experience before, but this time I'll definitely bring more in."

The three of them then emerged from underground. Wu Jinliang wanted to go along, but Shi Chun stopped him again. For the same reason as before, he would easily be noticed if he went into the city.

In the end, Wu Jinliang could only watch longingly as the two departed. All his reluctance transformed into a long sigh directed at the sky...

The setting sun cast its light upon the windows of the octagonal building. The hazy light and shadows that filtered in were not far from Dong Liangyu's desk on the second floor.

Dong Liangyu sat before the desk, one hand resting at her side, the other pressing down on a book. She gazed at the content of the book, as if an old monk in deep meditation. Her lips moved slightly, muttering faintly, her voice so weak it was almost inaudible.

It seemed she was reciting the content on the page, or perhaps she was deeply moved by it, stirred by a sudden insight.

With a crimson beauty mark between her eyebrows, looking like a young lady of noble birth, she was in the shadows, and with the hazy light and shadows beside her, she gave off an indescribable sense of trance.

The book she was reading was not from the library; it was her third sister Dong Liangying's book. More precisely, it wasn't even Dong Liangying's book, but a book Li Hongjiu had given to Dong Liangying.

The book's title was 'Borrowing Realms', and it was precisely the cultivation method Li Hongjiu had imparted to Dong Liangying.

This master didn't explain much to his disciple. After asking if she had a cultivation foundation, he simply handed the cultivation method to Dong Liangying. After a brief explanation, he said that if she could understand it, she would; if not, no amount of explanation would help. From then on, it was truly a case of 'the master leads the way, but cultivation depends on the individual,' and he basically left her to her own devices.

Dong Liangying was also diligent, studying and comprehending the book whenever she had free time.

As her elder sister, Dong Liangyu saw her reading. She couldn't help but ask what book she was reading so intently. Curious, she wanted to take a look. However, after learning it was Li Hongjiu's personal teaching, Dong Liangyu instinctively felt she should avoid it.

However, Dong Liangying was very generous. She said that she, too, had initially treasured it like a precious artifact, but Li Hongjiu had told her it wasn't necessary to be so careful. He said anyone who wanted to read it could, and it wouldn't matter if it was lost, as he had more copies and could just replace it with a new one. He even claimed it was no secret within the Treasure Evolution Sect.

He even said that if they wanted to enrich the library's collection, placing a copy in the library wouldn't be out of the question.

"Is that so?" Out of curiosity, Dong Liangyu casually flipped through it.

As she read, she suddenly felt a flash of enlightenment.

Dong Liangying had to work in the main hall during the day, and it wasn't convenient to keep the book on her person, so she let her sister hold onto it and read it first.

In the mid-afternoon, as fewer and fewer guests arrived, Dong Liangyu took it out again to carefully ponder its meaning. And as she read, she became completely absorbed.

Although she was unable to cultivate, she had read many books related to cultivation. The more she was unable to cultivate, the more she enjoyed delving into this area, simply hoping to find a glimmer of hope. Her family also had inherited cultivation methods, and she had practiced them. However, she had only managed to cultivate a breath of internal energy. Her meridians and bones were unsuitable, and that internal energy was obstructed everywhere in her body, flowing sluggishly. Thus, she could not truly cultivate.

However, as she read this particular cultivation method, she gradually discerned a unique meaning.

After her insights were integrated, she subconsciously tried to activate the internal energy within her body.

"Those who sense the eight extraordinary meridians are confined by the seven orifices; those who sense heaven and earth have their bodies open to a million orifices..."

She murmured this sentence repeatedly, seemingly fixated on it. Her hand, resting below the desk, unconsciously formed the gesture of a 'flower-pinching finger'. Her fingertip lightly touched the empty space.

She did not see the subtle ripples appearing in the empty space beneath the desk.

She only felt her fingertip touch something, and in her perception, her entire being seemed to be obstructed by something, as if bound by an inescapable restraint.

So her fingertip subconsciously created another ripple.

When the first ripple appeared, Li Hongjiu, who was reading on the third floor, suddenly looked up, startled. His perception of changes in heaven and earth was extremely acute.

When the second ripple appeared, first, the woman in red, who had been resting behind the counter downstairs, suddenly opened her eyes and sat up. Next, the Sword Saint Fu Que, also on the third floor, looked up.

Li Hongjiu had already flashed to the second floor, following the direction of the subtle ripples.

Fu Que then also went downstairs.

The woman in red downstairs gave Dong Liangying a gesture, and after assigning her tasks, she also went upstairs.

Li Hongjiu walked up to the desk. He saw Dong Liangyu, whose face was flushed red, muttering to herself, as if struggling in a nightmare. After his gaze fell upon the book she was reading, an expression of unconcealed astonishment immediately appeared on his face.

Fu Que's expression also changed drastically after seeing it. He glanced at the woman in red who was gracefully approaching and said, "This is bad, she's about to suffer a cultivation deviation!"

Having said that, he was about to step forward and intervene.

Unexpectedly, Li Hongjiu suddenly reached out to stop him. "It's not like that. Don't disturb her."

He then walked closer to the desk, and clearly and briskly repeated a sentence to Dong Liangyu, who was seemingly trapped in a nightmare: "Intention forms the body, non-intention forms the corpse; permanence forms the self, impermanence forms no self. Intentional or unintentional, borrow from heaven and earth..."