Chapter 2580: Beheading is Inevitable

In this world, there are those who achieve the Dao without relying on merit – Martial Ancestor Wang Xiao, who shattered merit with his fist and benefited the martial way of the world.

Jiang Wang saw this and was inspired to emulate him, his heroic spirit undiminished.

Even a strong individual like Mu Fu Yao, who had already gambled on achieving the Dao and placed a heavy bet on Jiang Wang, couldn't help but be silenced for a moment by this calmness and confidence!

It even doubted whether the chasm it had gazed at from afar for so many years, yet couldn't reach, truly existed.

How could transcending truly be predetermined, and the way of transcendence still require picking and choosing?

In the end, It only sighed.

"Perhaps closing the door and locking oneself away ultimately leads to decay; with stagnant life force, one must become a rotten swamp. I should also go to that Taixu Academy, and feel the ever-changing moods of the young people. I teach the world with the Great Dao, and the world teaches me with its pure heart."

"Then," It looked at Jiang Wang, "As a recommendation gift from Cabinet Member Jiang, what else do I need to pay?"

Having experienced long years, It understood very well what was important. It discussed terms with great magnanimity, certainly not just empty words or platitudes. "Of this quality Sunset Square Wood, I can cut at most three pieces; more would harm the root."

Jiang Wang used his fingertip to push the piece of Sunset Square Wood back, then drew it to himself and held it in his hand. "I see cultivation through it; I don't need to fight to the death with it. One piece is sufficient."

"At the Taixu Conference on the ninth of June, I will nominate you. During this time, Your Excellency may first stay at the White Jade Capital Tavern."

"Shopkeeper Bai!" He called out, "Venerable Mu wishes to stay in the building for a period. Please arrange it on my behalf."

Bai Yu Xia, who had been listening outside, came swaying to the door again, cracking melon seeds, a look of difficulty on his face. "Ah, this..."

Mu Fu Yao handed over a bag of Yuan Stones. "Mu acknowledges that running a business is not easy. All expenses here, Mu will bear personally. If it's insufficient, please inform me."

Why didn't you say you had hope of transcending!

Only ants always need to be sensible. You, already honored in this realm, can still attend to every detail. Too difficult!

"What are you saying! All who come are guests, and even more so, a distinguished guest like Venerable Mu!" Bai Yu Xia smoothly put the Yuan Stones into his bosom, his wrinkled handsome face already blooming with smiles, and diligently turned around. "I'll move out for a few months and vacate my room for you!"

The White Jade Capital Tavern wasn't small, but there were too many people living inside and out.

Jiang Wang, Jiang An An, Ye Qing Yu, Chu Yao, Bai Yu Xia, Lian Yu Chan, Zhu Wei Wo, Jing Li – those who often stayed at the White Jade Capital Tavern and had formal work all had their own rooms.

Someone like Lin Xian who left, could only live in the woodshed if they came back.

Someone like Xi Ming could only be considered a guest. Now the guest rooms had also been converted, and if they wanted to stay, there might not be a place.

Xiang Qian was the only one who often stayed at the White Jade Capital Tavern but did no work. This fellow didn't mind just piecing together two benches to sleep or hanging from a rope, but Jiang Wang was afraid he would affect the tavern's image, so he still prepared a room for him.

Zuo Guang Shu's room was also readily available; although he hadn't boiled water for days, he often came to rest when traveling the world. Since he wasn't formally married yet, Qu Shun Hua, who often came with him, also had a room prepared.

Furthermore, Xiao Wu and Hu Ge also had their own rooms here; this would forever be their home, even though they never came to stay.

These rooms were all separately arranged, and it was inconvenient to let outsiders live in them. Fortunately, Shopkeeper Bai was enthusiastic and hospitable; otherwise, it would have been truly difficult to arrange...

Xian Long shook his head and didn't speak.

However, there was no need to worry about Shopkeeper Bai not living well. He had built an incredibly luxurious mansion for his elderly mother on Star Moon Plain. Vacating his room in the building for Mu Fu Yao just allowed him to go home and enjoy himself every day.

It was unclear why things were always so busy.

At this moment, Xian Long sat alone and could finally slowly open the letter.

At the same time, the White Bone Divine Palace, which had been quiet for a long time, was quietly pushed open.

The Crowds Living Monk, who was sitting in this place, stepped out of this palace, then turned around and came to the Yan Luo Treasure Hall.

As the established core of the Netherworld, the importance of the Yan Luo Treasure Hall was increasingly recognized as the Netherworld gradually approached the present world.

But the Crowds Living Monk had been here before, and the gods and ghosts mingling here, both sensible and not, had long since become sensible.

Moreover, all the halls were silent now!

Of the Ten Yan Luo Treasure Halls, the divine fire was originally dim, with only the Yan Luo King of the Fifth Hall located in the Hall of Dispute and the Equal King of the Ninth Hall located in the Hall of Seven Absences remaining.

Now the Hall of Dispute was even on the verge of destruction!

Although there were countless illusions of ghost souls flying around the palace, and the entire Hall of Dispute was brilliantly divine and majestic, standing outside the palace, only one person was conducting a conquest of this hall.

One person was enough.

The man in black with a hanging knife stood like a vertical blade.

What ten thousand ghosts and flying souls array, what Yan Luo Great Lord, what Netherworld divine positions...

Could not withstand one knife!

At the same level as a Cave True, he had the qualification to challenge the original first True of the Central Domain, the first True of the Northern Border. As for this venerable True God Yan Luo King hiding in the Hall of Dispute... it was better not to mention him.

True Gods were not weak, and the divine way also had heroes. What was weak were these individuals who borrowed positions to become gods. Because the power belonged to the Yan Luo Treasure Hall, this Yan Luo King only borrowed it. Perhaps given time, he could fuse and penetrate. But Qin Zhi Zhen at that time would also not be the Qin Zhi Zhen of today.

"I have already given you enough time, letting you go for help, go beg for aid, letting you think of a way. But you seem... to have exhausted all your skills?"

Qin Zhi Zhen said slowly, "I only see ghost shadows!"

There was no sound inside the Hall of Dispute.

If begging for mercy were useful, Su She would not have hesitated to sacrifice his dignity. If there were an opportunity to surrender, Su She would not have bent his waist.

Precisely because he understood the reason for Qin Zhi Zhen's arrival, which had nothing to do with anything he did, he felt despair!

Where the Great Qin war chariot rolled, he himself was fundamentally only dust.

His plea for help to King Qin Guang sank like a stone.

His plea for help to Marquis Bo Wang... could not be contacted.

He continuously recited the Buddha name of True Ksitigarbha, but in his heart, he also knew that he could not gain the Buddha's pity.

The Ksitigarbha of today was no longer a truly sentient being!

He thought of that name he dared not think of, but understood that if he truly spoke it, there would be no need for Qin Zhi Zhen; Yin Guan would first curse him to death.

Moreover... why save him?

They indeed had a life-and-death friendship, but not saving a life was harming one.

He hid in the corner surrounded by gold bricks, looking out through the crack in the door—

Dust and smoke rolled, cold light like the moon.

Outside the Hall of Dispute, Qin Zhi Zhen in black was like iron. He was about to release this knife to open the way for the Qin Country's journey into the Netherworld.

He naturally hoped that this knife would be even more beautiful, and that everything in the Netherworld would be clearer before this knife.

But the target only stopped here. Letting the Yan Luo King climb and pull, this fellow pulled out no roots.

From this, it could be seen that Ksitigarbha had grand vows, but the Yan Luo Treasure Hall had not yet been able to establish blood and flesh connected interest relations with the Netherworld. Was it because Yin Guan killed the only Yang God, thus leaving the group headless and the past cleared? Or because of the secret suppression by Jing Country and Qi Country?

Having the first move to hunt Ksitigarbha, it was very reasonable for these two sides to occupy an advantage in the Netherworld.

If the Netherworld were allowed to develop, the Yan Luo Treasure Hall would surely rapidly grow into a powerful force. This was also the reason Qin Zhi Zhen's knife struck here.

But as a newcomer, he also had to consider whether lowering the knife would touch the existing layouts of those two sides.

As for Chu Country, which also participated in the hunt... it would be best to encounter them!

"Then just like this."

Qin Zhi Zhen didn't care if the process was interesting, but felt that his serious preparation had been somewhat let down.

It was like moving Mount Xiao only to smash a mosquito to death.

His hand didn't even reach for the knife handle. Instead, behind him, densely packed ghost soldiers of his own Netherworld slowly floated out. At a glance, there were tens of thousands, all transformed from divine powers.

Among ancient and modern Cave True individuals, no one's divine power strength could be so abundant.

Someone like Wang Yi Wu could also be a ten-thousand-man army by himself, but that was the original manifestation of a Soldier Lord's divine power.

He was different; he was purely vigorous divine power strength, like flooding mulberry fields, piled up with vast quantity.

If combined with Ten Thousand Transformations, in a completely lossless situation, one hundred thousand ghost soldiers, a strong army formation, was not impossible to approach.

The only constraint was that these ghost soldiers all needed him to control. He could only instill simple commands and was unable to deploy complex military formations. Ultimately, they could not compare with a true strong army. This was still the result of refining his Yuan God法 and constantly strengthening his divine thought.

But it could be said—

As long as Jiang Wang could stand still and not move, allowing him to summon the Yan Luo Hall, accumulate momentum to the peak, slowly pile up military forces, arrange these hundred thousand ghost soldiers in batches and divisions, plus the support of those ghost officials and clerks at key points, and he would then manifest a complete Yan Luo Heavenly Emperor body... even if Jiang Wang was at the state of the first Cave True of ancient and modern times, he would still be qualified to fight!

So the only problem was how to make Jiang Wang stand still and not move.

Qin Zhi Zhen chuckled afterward and cut off this thought.

From the vast ghost soldiers behind him, two ghost generals suddenly walked out. In the black fog, they turned into Black and White Impermanence, and their military momentum greatly flourished! Then came out Ox Head and Horse Face, then the Nether River Boatman, then the Iron Pen Judge... and then a monk.

A monk?!

Qin Zhi Zhen suddenly pressed his knife and turned his body, his figure even directly retreating and embedding into the void—

But a hand landed on his shoulder, pulling him out of the void! Pulling him back to the Netherworld like pulling a radish.

The instant this radish was unearthed, Qin Zhi Zhen had already completely entered combat state. His extreme sublimate small world spread outward, his Yuan God was unclad, his Dao body was an iron wall! He also had the crown and robe of the Yan Luo Heavenly Emperor, manifesting outside his body, standing together with the Nether soil.

His Yan Luo Hall divine power was almost the realization of a myth, a legend that had been in people's hearts for many eras.

When the Netherworld approached the present world, legend became reality. In this realm, he would also gain almost unlimited support.

The Netherworld was almost his home ground, which was also one of the reasons he represented Qin Country in leading its development.

This venerable Yan Luo Heavenly Emperor's momentum was like a volcanic eruption, surging ten thousand zhang, momentarily dimming the entire Yan Luo Treasure Hall!

But his hand loosened the knife handle again because, having elevated his combat power to the extreme, he could already clearly see the newcomer.

The fierce killing intent suddenly scattered like dust and smoke. He said in a bad mood, "Coming over without a sound?"

"Heh heh," the Crowds Living Monk laughed, "Came over to take a look."

He stood beside Qin Zhi Zhen, gazing at the Hall of Dispute surrounded by ten thousand ghosts, seeing it like a firefly in the long night, precarious and about to fall, his tone quite sighing, "This person has a past with me."

"Oh?" Qin Zhi Zhen's eyes brightened.

What was one Yan Luo King worth?

His Yan Luo Heavenly Emperor body was not the same thing as this Yan Luo Great Lord!

How could the magnificent Qin Zhi Zhen be confined by a so-called title? He was too lazy to pay attention to what people called him.

But if this Yan Luo King's small life could exchange for a favor from Jiang Wang, then it was a huge profit!

He was about to say, "Then I'll give you face."

But the Crowds Living Monk had already spoken first. "But since he has offended Cabinet Member Qin, I have no way to say anything. He is seeking his own death. From now on, I have no more ties with this fellow... I'll withdraw now."

"Eh?"

Qin Zhi Zhen hadn't even had time to say a complete sentence when the Crowds Living Monk hurriedly left, as if fleeing.

Only leaving him puzzled.

The surname Jiang respects me so much?

In such a big Taixu Cabinet, there were those with eyes on top of their heads, those who wanted to put on airs constantly, those who couldn't walk when they saw beauty, those who hid their heads and pretended to be quails... but no one respected colleagues so much!

When things are abnormal, there must be a demon.

But since Jiang Wang had just left like that, things had to continue.

There was no reason for Jiang Wang himself not to care, and he still had to rush up to help Jiang Wang spare a life.

His Cabinet Member Qin also needed face!

It was already very embarrassing that he hadn't been at the absolute peak for so long...

Either Jiang Wang opened his mouth and left a favor, or the Yan Luo King left his small life.

At this moment, he raised his hand and pointed. Black and White Impermanence, Ox Head and Horse Face, the Judge of Life and Death, leading the manifested ghost soldiers' great army, then killed their way towards the Hall of Dispute!

Ghost fog was dim, dust and smoke rolled; divine glory was dim, wind blew the lamp.

The divine glory outside the palace gradually dimmed. Those shrill ghost cries were clearly getting louder, yet also getting farther away.

Su She sat on the throne of the Yan Luo Great Lord.

It was very strange; his whole life had been filled with unwillingness and dissatisfaction.

Starting from a small shop, how many overt and covert struggles, how many dinners and drinks. He had been pitted by people, and also pitted and harmed many people. When rich shops lined the streets, the court and country were powerful; when shops were scattered and industries lost, he only escaped with his body. He once vowed to become the first venerable Merchant Way True Jun after Lian Cheng True Jun Jin Qiu Ming, but in the end, due to fate's twists and turns, he walked the path of an assassin...

He had escaped from death many times, struggled hard countless times, finally mixing his way into a True God position, escaping the calamity of hunting Ksitigarbha, avoiding the Curse Ancestor's liquidation, yet again inexplicably falling into such a desperate situation... simply because his title was "Yan Luo King"!

But he was not that unwilling.

Was it because he finally recognized reality?

Or because he finally saw the person outside the Hall of Dispute, waited for that name, and heard that person say a sentence, "has a past with me"?

He didn't know.

Once, he almost killed that person, perhaps it was worth him passing on for a lifetime as a glory.

Of course, now it was all like smoke.

The being from outside pushed open the great gate of the Hall of Dispute from the inside, in his eyes, it was like welcoming another world.

The disintegrating ten thousand ghosts and flying souls array turned into green ash in the sky. Scattered souls wandered in the air, like a dancing girl's ribbons.

He didn't know why he thought of the very distant past, probably the 29th year of Yuan Feng.

Lights were red, wine was green, songs and dances fluttered, and he held a soft waist in his hand.

He was somewhat drunk. Through his drunken hazy eyes, he saw a drunk madman covering his sleeves at the wine feast and loudly scolding, "I observe with Ardu object stink people, none like Ju Bao Chamber of Commerce also!"

Merchants, they are the profit of the world.

Traders, they connect the world.

Once he also wanted to be a Merchant Way True Jun praised by everyone, wanting to see the Dao through this! How did it become so unbearable?

Money, how could it stink?

Accumulating wealth, how could it be wrong?

In this world, there is no noble coin, nor is there any base means of accumulating wealth!

Life is just a gamble, nothing more than the winner being full, and the loser losing everything.

He looked outside the door, as if that madman was right in front of him. That dissolute fellow, that arrogant guy!

Just carrying a wine pot, he staggered in.

Just pointing a finger at him, presumptuously laughing!

He also laughed. A dice turned in his palm, but before the result was out, he closed his fingers, finally only saying, "熙熙攘攘, for money come, for money go!"

Then he also turned into a wisp of green smoke and followed the ghosts away.

Whether born or dead, people of different paths can never convince each other.

When Qin Zhi Zhen hung his knife and walked into the Hall of Dispute, he felt no resistance. Although this was originally not an arduous task, it was indeed too easy. This venerable Netherworld Yan Luo King was more fragile than imagined.

He slowly walked near that Yan Luo great seat, just about to analyze the manifestation of this Netherworld divine position, but on the gold brick in front of the big chair, he saw a line of small words carved with a knife coin.

The words said—

"Several decades in the business sea, ultimately like a dream. Over ten years walking on the knife's edge, cannot avoid hanging the head!"

The final signature—

"Lin Zi Su She, first seat of Yan Luo."

Actually a person from Lin Zi?

No wonder he said he had a past with Jiang Wang.

Qin Zhi Zhen thus casually thought.

"A bit interesting!"

He casually stepped over, not wiping away this trace.

No matter what, Su She came to this place. Indeed, he was the first venerable Yan Luo inside the Hall of Dispute.

In that narrow alley of Yu Li Lane in Lin Zi, Chong Xuan Sheng once promised Xu Fang that he would use the destruction of the Ju Bao Chamber of Commerce as a burial for Xu Fang.

Later, he did indeed do it.

But without Su She's life, it would always be incomplete.

He once thought this person had already died outside Lin Zi city, but he didn't expect him to be tenacious enough to actually stumble into hell with no door and walk to the Yan Luo Treasure Hall again.

Life's encounters were also like this!

The Crowds Living Monk stood in the empty Ming Chen Palace, pinched a wisp of remnant intent, set up an incense, and remotely sacrificed to Xu Fang buried in Gan Ma Mountain.

A famous scholar fallen into poverty, now when drunk, already gone!

Jiang Wang said he wouldn't care about Su She's life or death. The Crowds Living Monk came on this trip mainly for three reasons.

The first was to sacrifice to Xu Fang.

The second was just to chat with Qin Zhi Zhen those two sentences.

With Mu Fu Yao's strength, holding the Taixu Academy was no problem, and taking turns teaching in the Chao Wen Dao Heavenly Palace was also very qualified.

Having such a powerful Yang God join the Taixu Cabinet, helping to maintain the Taixu Iron Rules, was undoubtedly a good thing for the Taixu Cabinet, and other cabinet members should not refuse.

But principle is principle, reality is reality. Correct things do not necessarily get support.

Take people's money, eliminate disasters for them.

Since Jiang Wang took this piece of Sunset Square Wood, he had to safely bring Mu Fu Yao into the Taixu Cabinet. So before the next Taixu Conference, he had to get as much support as possible.

Originally, Qin Zhi Zhen didn't owe him a favor...

Now he did.

You Qin Zhi Zhen killed my old friend, and I didn't say a word, even cut ties and avoided him. How could you oppose me when I recommend a headmaster for the Taixu Academy who meets all criteria? Is Jiang's fist not hard?

As for the third reason for coming today...

The Crowds Living Monk lifted his eyes and gazed at the Hall of Seven Absences.

He was also waiting, waiting for changes to happen.