Chapter 1 Dongxuan Immortal Master Investigates the Heavenly Secrets

"Dongxuan Immortal Master investigated the heavenly secrets at night and suddenly saw a mass of baleful aura of war, coming from the southwest. He divined and inquired, and learned that the Ever-Victorious King of Mengzhou, bewitched by evil spirits, had raised the banner of eliminating them and was heading straight for the capital."

"He has already swallowed tens of thousands of soldiers and horses from Yanzhou, plundering grain everywhere, and his momentum is booming. Evil spirits and demons are disguising themselves and hiding in the army. With the sorcery of war, they can arrive in three days."

"The Immortal Master sent me here to urgently request the Hu family head to come and discuss important matters."

Hu Ma had just returned to his old house when he saw a young Daoist boy riding a horse and rushing over, shouting anxiously. Hearing this, he sneered to himself, "I just went to find him, and he refused to see me. Now that I've just returned, he's in a hurry to find me to discuss important matters?"

Turning his head to sweep around, he saw that countless people were still gathered in front of and behind the old house. At this moment, when they saw Hu Ma, whether it was the Second Ancestor of the Qingyuan Hu family or the Great Uncle Ren Da, from his mother's side, they all rushed forward and said, "What about the Shangqiao matter we discussed earlier?"

"Even if it's not convenient for the time being, we should decide whether to go through the Ghost Gate Dao or the Zhensui (Suppressing Evil) Prefecture."

"If the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth. If we delay like this, I'm afraid we will be expelled from the capital when the Dharma Assembly is held!"

"..."

Hu Ma originally didn't take their nervousness and anxiety seriously, but after seeing the bizarre capital city, he guessed their thoughts. Hearing this, he sneered, "Who would expel you? And why are you in such a hurry to stay in the capital?"

The Qingyuan Second Ancestor and Ren Family Great Gentleman were a little embarrassed and said, "After all, the Mandate of Heaven has appeared, and the human world is in great chaos. If war breaks out, I'm afraid only the capital city can hide us."

"And now, there are more and more people in the capital city. If you don't have a proper status, it's not convenient to stay before the Dharma Assembly begins..."

Their words caused countless people around to nod in agreement.

Hu Ma understood their thoughts and was no longer as anxious as before.

The Qingyuan Hu family now wants to enter the capital city, but they don't have any status. They don't even have a residence in the capital city and can only stay in a hotel.

As for his mother's family, the Ren family of the capital, it's because they have no power or influence. Back then, Hu's mother abandoned the Hu family and left. Many people in this world still care about this. This behavior is almost like a separation of the family, and it's also equivalent to being without any protection.

Looking at the others, they all have the same idea. They are desperately trying to occupy a place in the capital city.

Having a house in the capital or not represents whether you have a foothold in the capital. Being able to connect with the Hu family represents whether you have status and position in this capital.

This is why they are desperately trying to squeeze into the current Hu family or become a Ghost Walker.

Their awkward status has reached an extremely subtle level. As long as Hu Ma nods, they will leap to become relatives of the Ten Clans. In this capital city, they can have as big a house as they want.

But as long as Hu Ma shakes his head, they will become people without roots or support. Maybe one day, they will be driven out of the capital city and left to fend for themselves.

"Everyone, elders, don't worry."

Hu Ma saw the key, so he just smiled and said, "What other people have, the Hu family will naturally have. What other people don't have, the relatives of the Hu family may not be able to have."

Everyone was overjoyed to hear these words and was even more anxious to say something. This family wanted to move over with dozens of people, that family with hundreds of people, and when...

Hu Ma ignored them and just asked them to talk to Miao Shan. He followed the Daoist boy out. The other party picked up a lantern, broke through the gray atmosphere between the cities, and came directly to the ancestral shrine. From afar, he saw the National Teacher had set up an incense altar behind the ancestral shrine.

"Perhaps knowing that this Dharma Assembly will threaten them, those reincarnated people can no longer sit still."

Hearing Hu Ma's footsteps, the National Teacher didn't turn his head, but sighed softly, "130,000 elite soldiers are pressing the border, Yin soldiers and demons are following, and there are countless Shangqiao experts hiding in the dark, calling the wind and summoning the rain. Once the Ever-Victorious King comes, I'm afraid war will break out."

"I don't know how this fierce battle will end. I'm afraid this ancient city will be difficult to protect..."

"..."

Hu Ma smiled as he listened to his words, "The world is in chaos, and people are about to die. There's no need to feel sorry for a few broken stones."

"Hehe..."

The National Teacher laughed when he heard his words, "It's more than just a city?"

"Evil spirits are poisonous, bewitching people's minds, stealing from heaven and earth. I'm afraid this world will no longer exist."

"..."

Listening to his words, Hu Ma's eyes were mocking, but his expression was very cooperative as he nodded and sighed, "Indeed, the heavens and earth are becoming lighter, and the people are becoming cheap. On this road back to the capital, I only saw people displaced, suffering from plagues and hunger, their lives like weeds, going wave after wave."

"Although I feel unbearable in my heart, I don't have any good ideas. This trip back is to ask the National Teacher, you have profound wisdom, how exactly do you want to save the people of the world?"

The National Teacher turned his head slightly when he heard him say this and smiled at Hu Ma, "Little Mr. Hu, are you really willing to believe me?"

"Believe, of course, I believe."

Hu Ma smiled and said, "Actually, I don't think those evil spirits are really evil spirits, after all, no matter where they come from, kindness is kindness."

"Looking at the Yin ghosts of the world, as long as they receive the incense of the people and are willing to protect one side of the wind and rain, they can also build temples and become gods. And those reincarnated people, using Zi Qi (Purple Energy) as incense, are no different from the creatures in this temple. This is my attitude towards them, and it will not change." "However, it's the same as those who receive incense but don't do anything. We should destroy their mountains and cut down their temples, and chop off their golden bodies. Although I am familiar with these reincarnated people, and many of them are my close friends, we must distinguish between right and wrong on important matters."

"So, if the National Teacher knows anything or has any plan to save the world, please tell me."

"If it makes sense, I dare not disobey."

"..."

"A plan to save the world, naturally, I have one."

The National Teacher couldn't help but laugh at Hu Ma's frankness, "Twenty-three years ago, I had already made this plan to save the world with the most knowledgeable and capable fellow Daoists of the time in the Stone Pavilion, which is also known as the Stone Pavilion Alliance."

"Inviting little Mr. Hu over this time is also to let you inherit the legacy of your Hu family ancestors."

"I wonder, little Mr. Hu, are you ready?"

"..."

Hu Ma nodded with a smile, "This time I came back to the capital is to ask about these things."

The National Teacher also nodded lightly, got up and said to the Daoist boy beside him, "Go and tell a few of the responsible gentlemen to prepare for this Dharma Assembly. I need four days of work, but those evil spirits will arrive in three days."

"Please, no matter what, block these evil spirits' army a little, protect the capital city, and when I have arranged the Dharma Assembly, I will wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

The Daoist boy obeyed and left. He took Hu Ma to the back of the ancestral shrine, where he saw that it was covered with black stone slabs. At the end of the stone slabs was an incense burner, but there was only one thick, purplish-red incense stick inserted in it, as thick as a baby's arm.

Looking at this incense burner, Hu Ma couldn't help but feel a slight movement in his heart. The style of this incense burner was extremely similar to the incense burner in his own natal spirit temple.

The National Teacher bowed to this incense burner and sighed, "This is the Guanshi (Observing the World) Furnace passed down by my Da Luo (Great Firmament) Dharma Sect. The world has ancestral altars, which can suppress the three disasters and eight difficulties and gather the incense of the human world."

"There is also the Da Luo Dharma Sect, passed down from the Wu (Shamans), which has only observed the luck of this human world and avoided evil spirits throughout the generations. Back then, Du Yi summoned Tai Sui (Grand Duke Jupiter). This incense first showed unusual signs, but unfortunately, it was too late when the Da Luo Dharma Sect came down the mountain."

Hu Ma looked at the incense in the furnace, which had burned away most of it, leaving only less than a third, and his heart moved slightly.

If it is understood that this furnace is like the life incense of a reincarnated person, does it mean that this represents the number of lives in the world, only a third is left?

While thinking in his heart, the National Teacher bowed, and the incense fire on the incense suddenly floated out, floating around him like clouds. Hu Ma smelled the strong incense, and he only felt the changes in the world. In the midst of gloom, he did not know where he was.

He is now a Nine Pillars Dao practitioner, standing firmly on the earth, unmoving and unshakable, but his spirit and soul are sensitive and have their own induction.

He only felt the incense floating, faintly swaying, and in the gap of a breath, he saw all over the human world.

He saw people wearing animal skins praying in the ice and snow, saw fierce soldiers entering the pass and slaughtering wantonly, saw all kinds of actions of slaughtering cities and exterminating clans.

He saw countless human flesh and blood being sacrificed to the huge shadow above their heads, and saw that the black shadow, as if endless, was gloomy and heavy, and was given weight by the human bloodiness, covering the heavens and the earth.

In the blink of an eye, he saw an old man in a gray robe going down the mountain, paying homage to the emperor, receiving imperial orders, sacrificing to the heavens and asking about affairs, and saw the old man's face change drastically, drooping his sleeves and weeping, and saw thirty-six foreign races going to the corners of the heavens and the earth, guarding the ghost caves, and guiding souls into the mansion...

The endless wronged souls were all sacrificed to some kind of shadow deep in the cave, as if feeding a monster that could never be fed.

He saw that endless black shadow, from outside the heavens and the earth, using all means to come in.

He saw that the number of days had changed, and the Yin Mansion was in chaos, giving birth to countless ferocious and terrifying things, and even shadows he was familiar with, just like the old ancestor of the Meng family.

They were fierce and gloomy, using all means, only to drill into the human world little by little, but no matter what, there was still a little distance.

"This is the disaster of Du Yi's sacrifice?"

Hu Ma had already vaguely understood the origins of these disasters in all aspects.

Now, with a thought in his mind, he already understood what he saw, which was the origin of this disaster back then, and the various changes that occurred afterward. The Da Luo Dharma Sect's Guanshi incense recorded the rise and fall of all this, and reflected all this into his mind.

"That black shadow, is it Tai Sui?"

Although he only vaguely glimpsed the shadow of that strange thing through the Guanshi incense, Hu Ma's mind was already fluctuating.

Looking at it, he only felt that the thing was endless, bloated and huge, and he couldn't see its edge at all, and he couldn't use his own language and understanding ability to describe the appearance of that thing.

He could only see that thing with the help of Guanshi incense, otherwise, just looking at it would have driven him crazy.

But that thing is still being blocked outside the heavens, and only endless roots are desperately penetrating in. A terrifying thing like the old ancestor of the Meng family is just a root on its body.

They are huge, but they are blocked outside.

(End of this chapter)