Chapter Twenty-Six: The Seal of the Underworld and the Seal of the Dao Platform

In less than an hour, the combined power of the Jade Elixir and the Netherworld Seal produced astonishing results, fully condensing all the spatial talismans for the Sleeve Space Technique. This spell could carve out several kilometers of space within one’s sleeve, capable of storing anything except living creatures. It could also be used to trap and capture people—though anyone who entered and emerged again would likely be a corpse.

He began to sort through various spells, storing those he did not need for the moment inside the sleeve space. By chance, he came across the Jade Purity Platform Technique; upon closer inspection, this spell was a kind of guiding talisman, much like the Netherworld Bone Technique.

Why would that old fiend give him the Jade Purity Platform Technique? Xu Cheng wondered silently. Was it intentional? Accidental? Or did Old Qiong have plans to escape the Netherworld’s control through Daoist arts?

Examining himself carefully, Xu Cheng found that, like the Sleeve Space Technique and the Clay Pinch Creation Technique, the spell bore no nether mark. This strongly suggested that Old Qiong was indeed seeking to break free of the Netherworld’s control through Daoist arts.

Yet, Xu Cheng could not be certain, nor could he dare voice such suspicions—especially concerning the Netherworld. Who could say whether some powerful being within might sense their conversation? Should any punishment descend, it would be more than he alone could bear.

Still, the most extraordinary discovery was the Clay Pinch Creation Technique. The Netherworld had failed to leave its mark upon it, implying that his own derivation of the spell might be a truncated version of an immortal art.

Xu Cheng’s heart burned with excitement, and he could barely restrain his urge to further refine the spell, hoping to unlock even greater powers. However, the stronger his magic, the better his progress; it was best to hone the blade before chopping wood. For now, he decided to forge his second and third Netherworld Seals.

He placed the Jade Purity Platform Technique aside for the time being, storing it in the sleeve space.

The guiding spell for the second Netherworld Seal was the Netherworld Return Path Technique, which would allow him to ride the perpetual gales of the underworld at will, traveling wherever his heart desired. The other two foundational spells were the Netherworld Ghostfire Technique and the Netherworld Listener Technique. Each of the three spells required four thousand talismans to be condensed, a considerable undertaking.

He also needed to select several Daoist arts suited to himself, using the Return Path as the guide to condense the second seal.

He began cultivating Daoist arts. With the first Netherworld Seal already established, his speed at condensing talismans was extraordinary.

Two hours passed before he finally completed the first spell—the Glassy Jade Body Technique.

Next came the Great Void Truefire Technique, whose power was not far behind that of the Southern Blaze Truefire.

The third was the Scale Armor Technique, which coated his body with scales. Its effect was modest and served mainly to add quantity.

These three spells, too, fell under the Netherworld’s influence.

Finally, he set about condensing the Netherworld Return Path, Ghostfire, and Listener Techniques.

Following the method he had used for the first seal, he used the Return Path as a guide to gather the talismans within his body.

At last, the second Netherworld Seal rose within his dantian. Upon this seal soared a black vermilion bird, standing opposite the black dragon of the first seal.

With two seals, his ability to refine celestial light more than doubled.

Opening his eyes, black lightning flashed from Xu Cheng’s gaze. He felt as if, with a mere gesture, he could now influence his surroundings at will.

“So this is the Return to One Realm,” he murmured slowly.

“You’ve already forged the second Netherworld Seal?” Old Qiong asked with a smile as Xu Cheng stood.

“It’s done,” Xu Cheng replied, a black flame suddenly flaring in his palm.

“Not bad. With two Netherworld Seals, not even a cultivator at the Golden Core stage might be your match. I will now prepare to open the Netherworld Road!”

With a wave of his hand, Old Qiong sent Xu Cheng flying backward with a gentle force. Fortunately, the body Xu Cheng had fashioned with the Clay Pinch Creation Technique was unharmed.

This old man is as powerful as ever—likely at least at the Nascent Soul stage! Xu Cheng guessed. He then watched as a surge of black mist rose from Old Qiong’s dwelling, only to slowly retract. It seemed opening the Netherworld Road was no easy matter.

He wandered the vicinity for a while. The servants all went about their tasks as if the afternoon’s events had never occurred, the mansion’s daily routine unchanged. If not for their respectful greetings of “Lord Right Envoy!” as he passed, Xu Cheng might have thought Old Qiong’s illusion had faded.

He wondered what cultivation methods these people practiced; with Old Qiong’s schemes, things were surely not simple.

As he pondered, a commotion reached his ears.

“Lu Tai, don’t you dare overstep your bounds!” a sharp female voice called. Xu Cheng found the tone strangely familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. He hurried toward the front hall.

There he saw Lu Tai—once controlled by Old Qiong—facing a man and a woman. The man was dressed as a scholar, the woman alluring and seductive. That woman was none other than the serpent demon who had once captured Xu Cheng and boiled his limbs into soup!

Truly, when enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hate.

Lu Tai was already fighting the pair. Though his arts had once been purely martial, they now bore the taint of the Netherworld. So that was Old Qiong’s plan!

Realizing this, Xu Cheng could restrain himself no longer. The two Netherworld Seals within him whirled furiously. Harnessing the winds of the Netherworld, he appeared before the duo in an instant. The Netherworld Ghostfire leapt from his hand, its deathly chill flames winding around the serpent demon.

“So, Lu Tai, you have an accomplice!” the serpent demon shouted. Her body swelled, transforming into a massive azure python tens of meters long. Streams of blue energy flowed along her scales, resisting the ghostfire’s corrosion.

“Strike while the enemy is down!” Xu Cheng called. As he spoke, chains of black nether flame materialized in his hands.

“Bind!” Countless chains wrapped around the giant python, causing her to howl in pain.

“Qingshu!” cried the scholar, battling Lu Tai. Sensing the serpent’s peril, he drove Lu Tai back with a desperate attack and tried to rush to her aid. But Lu Tai, his martial arts now laced with sinister power, blocked the way with the swiftness of a black tiger.

So the serpent demon’s name was Qingshu! Xu Cheng thought.

The netherfire chains in his hands tightened abruptly. Qingshu writhed in agony, her enormous body shrinking rapidly until she resumed human form, utterly immobilized and finally fainting from the pain.

Who would have imagined that Qingshu, once so dominant over him, would now fall into his grasp?

“Scholar, do you still wish to struggle?” Xu Cheng asked, a wicked smile curling his lips—perhaps an effect of the Netherworld’s influence on his nature.

“Fortune-Transforming Finishing Touch!” the scholar cried. A brush appeared in his hand—no doubt his ultimate technique—as he swiftly wrote several characters in the air. Xu Cheng braced himself for a mighty spell, only to see the scholar’s body dissolve into several large ink blots and vanish.

So it was a spell for escape.

Lu Tai made to give chase, but Xu Cheng called, “Lu Tai! Never pursue a desperate foe. We still have one right here!”

“Yes, Right Envoy!” Lu Tai stopped at once and bowed respectfully. “Allow me to deal with this serpent demon.”

“Do you know I have a blood feud with her?” Xu Cheng replied sternly, arching an eyebrow.

“Understood! I will leave her to you,” Lu Tai said, bowing again before retiring to his quarters.

“Qingshu, oh Qingshu, who would have thought the day would come when you’d fall into my hands? Hahaha!”

Lifting Qingshu with one hand, Xu Cheng strode in the direction of Old Qiong’s dwelling.