Chapter Nine: The Fragmented Scroll of the Netherworld

With a powerful push from his feet, Xu Cheng surged forward in an instant, appearing before the bandit. He unleashed a lunge and a punch; his strength was astonishing. The moment his fist struck, the bandit's chest caved in with a sickening crunch.

At this moment, the phrase "fearless and fierce" could not be more apt for this group of mountain bandits, as those behind continued to charge relentlessly at the two men.

Thanks to Xu Cheng holding the front line, Liao was able to catch his breath and conjure a whip of flames. The current fire whip was much thinner than before, a clear sign that his earlier spell—which had descended like a meteor from the heavens—had drained him greatly.

Fighting side by side, the two swept through all resistance, their might causing the bandits to flee in terror. Fortunately, the Pure Yang True Fire Spell had already wiped out a good number of enemies, or else the two might have perished under the bandits' blades from sheer exhaustion.

"Cough, cough! I'm exhausted!" Liao leaned against a massive boulder, surrounded by the corpses of bandits. "Junior brother, I'll meditate for a bit. Guard me!"

"Understood, senior brother," Xu Cheng replied. Even now, he found it hard to believe that he and Liao had turned the area around them into a veritable field of carnage.

Nearly an hour passed as Liao completed nine cycles of his cultivation, replenishing his energy and vigor.

"You should meditate and recover as well," Liao said, rising to his feet. Xu Cheng nodded silently and settled into meditation to restore his strength. As the gentle flow of inner energy, warm as a hot spring, coursed through his body, the fatigue melted away.

When Xu Cheng opened his eyes again, Liao was nowhere to be seen. Annoyed, he cursed the fellow in his heart.

Distant, scattered sounds drifted over. Focusing, Xu Cheng saw Liao among a ragged group of people who looked like beggars.

Stepping closer, Xu Cheng listened intently and realized these were villagers abducted by the bandits, most of whom were the elderly, women, and children. Some among them stared blankly, their faces numb—no doubt they had suffered unspeakable abuse at the hands of the bandits.

"Thank you, Immortal! If it weren't for the monster plaguing our village, we would never have come out together, nor would we have been snatched by those damned bandits!" An elder at the front thanked Liao profusely. The mention of a monster piqued Xu Cheng's interest.

According to the old man, the monster was a formidable serpent demon.

"All right, you should all hurry down the mountain. Based on what you've told us, we can't yet be sure how strong this serpent demon truly is. If it proves too powerful, going there would be suicide. My junior brother and I will discuss the matter further before we attempt to deal with it," Liao said, handing out coins to the villagers—wealth that had belonged to the bandits—and urging them to leave quickly.

As the villagers passed, they kicked at the corpses of the bandits in bitter satisfaction.

"By the way, senior brother, shouldn't there be spirits left behind by these bandits?" As the crowd dispersed, Xu Cheng suddenly thought of this question.

"Hmph! Do you think my Pure Yang True Fire is just for show? When I say it burns them to ashes, I mean it—no spirit left behind! Any who weren't burned were taken by the Netherworld!" Liao replied, giving Xu Cheng a crash course in cultivation lore.

"The Netherworld?" Xu Cheng mused—it was likely similar to what people in his previous life called the Underworld.

"Enough! Don't overthink it. These people were evil beyond redemption. Killing them will only earn us merit! For now, let's divide the spoils," Liao said as he tossed out gold, silver, and gems from his sleeves. Finally, he produced five jade tomes, which looked to be manuals for cultivation techniques.

"Wow! The Southern Blaze True Fire Art! And here—the Thousand-Mile Frost Binding Art, the Yellow Springs Fragment, the Art of Infinite Transformation, and the Golden Body of Supreme Purity!" Liao laid out the five tomes, hugging the Southern Blaze True Fire Art and kissing it repeatedly before turning to the others.

Except for one fragmentary volume, the other spells all required at least a thousand talismans to be conjured before they could be used properly.

"Junior brother, which one do you want to start training in?" Liao asked. If they mastered all these arts, as long as they didn't run into a true grandmaster, they would be invincible.

Xu Cheng, almost unconsciously, reached for the Yellow Springs Fragment.

"That's just a fragment, junior brother! There could be risks," Liao warned hastily.

"But I feel as if it's calling to me," Xu Cheng replied, clutching the fragment tightly to his chest, as if beyond his own control.

"Since you've chosen that one, I'll work on my favorite—the Southern Blaze True Fire Art!" Liao immediately picked up the manual and began focusing his spirit, condensing three thousand seven hundred and eighty-one talismans. Luckily, some of the talismans overlapped with those from his Pure Yang True Fire, saving him considerable time.

Although Xu Cheng was eager to start learning the Yellow Springs Fragment, he decided to first immerse his mind in the Tome of Myriad Spells.

Within a void, countless silver-gray runes floated around him.

Focusing his senses, thirty-three runes turned golden and fell into his palm. Then, a line of text appeared in the void: "Heaven's Eye Technique—the advanced form of the Dharma Eye. It can probe a hundred miles in every direction, glimpse a thread of destiny, and its divine light pierces all things."

The thirty-three runes transformed into an eyeball the size of a human head, which then shot a beam of light into Xu Cheng's spiritual core.

Once again, the Tome of Myriad Spells had given him an eye technique.

Previously, even condensing a single rune had been taxing, but under the enhancement of the Dharma Eye, he found it much easier to form thirty-three runes.

In just one night, he succeeded completely. The blue mark at his brow turned into a striking silver imprint.

Meanwhile, Liao's brow was furrowed and sweat beaded his forehead—his spell was far more difficult to condense.

Since Liao was absorbed in mastering the Southern Blaze True Fire Art, Xu Cheng remained in place to cultivate as well. He focused his mind into the Yellow Springs Fragment.

Before his eyes appeared three great arts: Yellow Springs Bone Art, Corpse Rebirth Art, and Yellow Springs Wind Gate Art.

The Bone Art required sixteen hundred talismans; Corpse Rebirth, fifty-six hundred; and the Wind Gate, twenty-nine hundred. Judging from the number of talismans required, the power of these arts was evident.

Xu Cheng was relieved the bandit chief had never learned these stronger spells.

But where to begin? That question troubled him.

He then activated Heaven's Eye, attuning himself to the natural world, seeking a thread of destiny.

"Yellow Springs Wind Gate Art!"

After a long while, he glimpsed that destined thread.

The Yellow Springs Wind Gate Art enabled the user to open a gateway to the Yellow Springs, through which anything could be sent directly into the underworld.

Reading the description, Xu Cheng was stunned. To send people and objects directly to the Yellow Springs? Could he even send the demonic mark on his palm into it?

Wasting no time, he activated Heaven's Eye and, with its aid, began condensing talismans at great speed.

Neither man considered descending the mountain. They remained, condensing talismans day after day.

A month went by. With Heaven's Eye, Xu Cheng could condense one hundred seventy talismans daily; without it, Liao managed only a hundred.

As soon as the Wind Gate Art's talismans were complete, Xu Cheng raised his hand and opened the Yellow Springs Wind Gate. A fierce wind surged toward his palm, and the demonic mark began to move toward the gate—a success!

Moreover, the wind gate sucked in the rotting corpses of the bandits, as well as rocks, trees, and nearly even Liao himself—Xu Cheng hurriedly redirected the gate before he accidentally sent his companion to the underworld.

When the demonic mark finally left his palm, dissolving into a wisp of black mist and vanishing into the gate, Xu Cheng ended the spell.

Suddenly, Liao opened his eyes, flames blazing within them.

"Junior brother, what in the world did you just master? I just sensed mortal danger—nearly lost my last talisman in an explosion!"

Liao sprang to his feet and demanded an answer.

"Of course, it was the Yellow Springs Fragment! Heh, senior brother, did you succeed in learning the Southern Blaze True Fire Art?"

Xu Cheng thought to himself that he owed his success to Heaven's Eye—without it, condensing tens of thousands of talismans for the Wind Gate Art would have been impossible in such a short time.

"Naturally! Who do you think I am? Such a trifling art as the Southern Blaze True Fire couldn't possibly defeat me!"