Gu Qing Shan simply stood there on the lone pavilion.
Time slowly passed.
Still, no one paid any attention to him.
Every cultivator who passed by him was busy enjoying the scenic beauty of their surroundings, not caring a single bit about him.
This caused Gu Qing Shan to feel a lot more assured.
He stopped hesitating and quickly walked out of the pavilion.
As soon as he did, lotus flowers manifested beneath Gu Qing Shan’s feet to lift him up.
A total of sixteen beautiful heavenly girls appeared from the void of space and bowed to him.
“Welcome, Heavenly master”
It was at this point that the passing-by cultivators looked at him in surprise.
But they soon returned to enjoying themselves and left him be.
Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist in return: “This humble one is Gu Qing Shan, is there a reason why you addressed me as Heavenly master?”
The heavenly girls giggled: “Each person who can arrive at this Yama Heavenly realm is a Yama Heavenly master”
Gu Qing Shan nodded with understanding.
The most beautiful girl among the heavenly girls stepped forward and looked straight at Gu Qing Shan: “Heavenly master Gu, from today onwards, us sixteen heavenly girls will be your servants; everything from your daily spending, food enjoyment, sight-seeing travels, and so forth will be dealt with by us”
“Naturally, if one day you find yourself bored of us, you need only say so, for new sisters shall come to replace us”
Gu Qing Shan replied: “My apologies, but I don’t have any money”
The heavenly girl smiled and told him: “The Yama Heavenly realm does not require any money, as everything here is the manifestation of the Heavenly master’s previous karmic virtues, it is the enjoyment that you have earned”
Gu Qing Shan pondered: “In other words, once my Merit is used up, I will be able to return”
The heavenly girl nodded: “That is indeed the case”
Gu Qing Shan sighed in relief: “Then, where can I see my own Merit?”
The heavenly girl replied: “There is a Cleansing Lotus Flower of Karmic Virtues & Fire in this Heavenly realm, it can measure the good and bad karma of all Heavenly masters”
“It can measure karma as well?”
“Indeed. If you please, Heavenly master, first follow us to the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Spring”
“What for?”
“We shall aid the Heavenly master in changing his clothes, then guide the Heavenly master through the wonderful sights of the Yama Heavenly realm; tomorrow, we shall measure the Heavenly master’s karmic virtues”
The sixteen heavenly girls walked two circles around Gu Qing Shan before kneeling at once, offering various items with their hands.
Gu Qing Shan looked at each one.
They were offering various types of clothing, gem ornaments, belts, and shoes, all of which gave off a faint gentle glow, naturally not ordinary items.
Gu Qing Shan glanced down at himself.
Since he had given his personal armor to Su Xue Er, the only thing he had on right now was normal cultivator garb.
He asked: “Can I not change clothes?”
“Naturally, all things in the Yama Heavenly realm will follow the Heavenly master’s will” the heavenly girl replied.
“Then how should we go to the Heavenly Fragrance Divine Spring?”
“Heavenly master Gu, you need only to chant its name’
Gu Qing Shan tried chanting it.
The scenery around him flashed by.
He found that he had arrived next to a hot spring.
Faint water vapor drifted above the water, flowers were blooming and birds were chirping.
With a gentle gust of wind, the sound of the hot spring sounded very pleasant to the ears.
The sixteen heavenly girls had followed him here.
“Why can’t I see any other person?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
The heavenly girl replied: “This spring is split off into countless branches, each pond is a branch that only allows entry to a single Heavenly master and their servants.
Saying so, these girls began to undo the sashes of their clothing.
“What are you all doing?” Gu Qing Shan asked in surprise.
The heavenly girls giggled again.
One of them replied: “We are preparing to serve the Heavenly master, as we shall fulfill all the desires in your heart”
Gu Qing Shan sighed: “I’m not very used to bathing with so many people”
Another heavenly girl spoke up: “Please be assured, Heavenly master, all of us are maidens created from your karmic virtues, as such we are perfectly pure, but also have the perfect understanding of how to please you”
After a while of staying silent, Gu Qing Shan replied: “Let’s us skip bathing, please take me to see the world of the Yama Heavenly realm”
“Yes” the heavenly girls replied.
The hot spring suddenly disappeared.
Gu Qing Shan found himself now standing above a cluster of clouds.
The sky was endlessly vast, the closer one was to the sea of clouds, the clearer the sky appeared to be.
However, far above the sky was clouded in complete darkness.
As Gu Qing Shan looked up, he only saw a few brief flashes of fluctuation before they vanished.
Gu Qing Shan pointed at the sky and asked: “Why is it dark above us? What’s up there?”
A heavenly girl replied: “Heavenly master, above us lies the Yama layer, our current position is known as the Cloud Sea layer; the two of them together comprise the Yama Heavenly realm”
Another heavenly girl followed up: “After you measure your good and bad karma, you can choose to remain in the Heavenly realm to enjoy the wonders of your karmic virtues; or head into the Yama layer to receive the suffering fueled by your karmic fire”
Gu Qing Shan smiled: “If that’s the case, who would be willing to enter the Yama layer?”
The heavenly girl slowly explained: “This is how the Yama Heavenly realm was originally created, regardless if there are those willing to go or not, it is the same—— just like the Cleansing Lotus Flower of Karmic Virtues & Fire, which can measure both good and bad karma”
Gu Qing Shan nodded to express his understanding.
He gazed towards the sea of clouds.
Clusters of clouds were constantly drifting about, occasionally, getting closer, occasionally moving further away.
Each cloud housed a manor of some kind.
Some of these manors were small, some slightly bigger, the biggest was the size of a small city, while the smallest was a 4-roomed single floor house.
The heavenly girls saw how closely he was observing them, so one of them explained with her chiming, rousing voice: “These are the manors of the other Heavenly masters, the size and shapes of which were all determined according to their karmic virtues”
“The more karmic virtue they accrued, the bigger their manor”
Gu Qing Shan nodded and muttered: “So that’s how it is, what an eye-opening experience”
He turned around, only to see that there was nothing on his cloud except himself and the sixteen heavenly girls.
One of them explained: “Heavenly master Gu, you need to chant [Mine Residence] for your living space to manifest itself”
Gu Qing Shan asked: “Will that be ok? I still haven’t measured my Merit at the Cleansing Lotus Flower of Karmic Virtues & Fire”
A heavenly girl explained: “Although you haven’t measured it, your karma is still yours, you can first stay here and measure it tomorrow”
So Gu Qing Shan tried chanting.
The clouds around started surging, gathering towards him from all directions.
It was expanding so quickly that the other clouds had to move away in order to make space.
The clouds continued to expand for several dozen seconds before it stopped.
Gu Qing Shan scanned it with his inner sight to find that the cloud was over 1300 kilometers squared in size.
Before he could retract his inner sight, a castle town suddenly manifested on top of the cloud.
It was truly a castle town, the entire area was over 1200 kilometers squared, it was situated against a tall cliff with a river flowing in its vicinity, the inside of which were a series of golden glowing structures, magnificently decorated buildings and intricately carved pillars of wood and marble.
There was also a performance stage for recitals, jade-green bridges, gardens of hundred flowers, a martial arts field, a cultivation temple, and various other buildings.
As well as numerous treasures; spirit herbs and flowers; weapons and secret scriptures; armors and shields; all of which gave off blinding light.
Gu Qing Shan was stunned.
One of the heavenly girls spoke emotionally: “No wonder the sixteen of us were summoned to serve the Heavenly master as soon as you arrived in this world, it turns out that Heavenly master Gu is the owner of untold karmic virtues”
At this point, a golden carriage approached them from inside the castle city.
The carriage stopped in front of them and opened up.
Twenty maids of decent appearance each carrying a food container arrived in front of Gu Qing Shan, bowing to greet him:
“Heavenly master”
They each knelt in front of Gu Qing Shan before unveiling the contents of their containers.
Inside the twenty food containers were eighty varieties of well-made snacks, together with 15 types each of tea and warm liquor.
One of the maids said: “Heavenly master, this is your afternoon tea, please enjoy it first, as your dinner would soon be prepared as well”
Gu Qing Shan looked through each one and exclaimed: “This workmanship is even better than mine”
Another maid told him: “Heavenly master, if you wish to learn cooking, we can teach you all 8 billion dishes of the Heavenly realm”
Gu Qing Shan observed the castle town, then at the flock of beautiful ladies by his side, and remained temporarily silent.
A clever heavenly girl explained: “Heavenly master, if you feel awkward that we are all women, you can also get to know the other Heavenly masters and become their friends”
“If you wish to befriend or enter an intimate relationship with female Heavenly masters, all of us can immediately disappear, or only remain as normal maids who do not share your bed—— everything shall be as you will”
Gu Qing Shan said: “Actually, I only have one question”
“Please go ahead”
“Earlier, you said that you’ll take me to the Cleansing Lotus Flower of Karmic Virtues & Fire tomorrow?”
“Yes”
“Is it closed today?”
“That is not so, we simply wish to allow you to get used to the cloud layer first”
“Very well, then I want to measure my Merit right now”
…
A few moments later, Gu Qing Shan arrived where the Cleansing Lotus Flower of Karmic Virtues & Fire was.
The so-called Cleansing Lotus Flower of Karmic Virtues & Fire seemed to be a giant lotus head.
Gu Qing Shan stood on top of it and asked: “So, I only need to stand here and wait?”
“Yes” a heavenly girl smiled and replied: “After a brief moment of waiting, the Heavenly master will be informed of your karmic virtue”
“Alright, I understand” Gu Qing Shan replied.
I received a very clear answer earlier, everything that can be done on this Cloud Sea layer requires karmic virtue – or Merit.
——and I’ll be able to return as soon as I spend all of it.
This is simple.
Just like earning money and using money.
It’s very hard to earn money, but using money is extremely easy.
However, it would be best to know how much Merit I have exactly before spending it.
Gu Qing Shan honestly stood on top of the lotus head.
After a moment of waiting.
A lotus seed popped out from the lotus head.
Poof!
The lotus seed broke open.
Followed by a dignified voice:
[This person’s karmic virtue is immeasurable; he may forever enjoy his blessings in the Cloud Sea layer]
