Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Fellow Daoist.” The moment Yun Heng entered the room, he bowed to Yi Qing. He looked extremely excited. “I apologize for interrupting – please forgive me.”
Yi Qing faced him. He had guessed that Yun Heng would pay them a visit, but he did not think that he would arrive this early. It looked like he really was outstanding among the other Mystic cultivators. “Master Yun Tian, please don’t stand on ceremony. Take a seat.” Yi Qing gestured to Yun Heng to sit down. It was timely – there were some things that Yi Qing wanted to confirm with him.
“Fellow Daoist, please call me Yun Heng,” Yun Heng said more politely. There was respect in the way Yun Heng looked at Yi Qing. “How should I address you, Fellow Daoist?”
“Yi Qing,” Yi Qing replied. He turned to look behind him. “This is my master, Shen Ying.”
It was as if Yun Heng had just noticed Shen Ying standing there. He paused, and immediately bowed to greet her, When he recalled the reason for his visit, he dispensed with further ceremonies and looked Yi Qing in the eyes. “Yi Qing, the reason for my visit is that something major has happened in my world. I want to consult with my fellow Daoist regarding this. Fellow Daoist Yi Qing, I plead with you to be honest with me.”
He now looked very nervous, as if what he was about to say was extremely important to him. He subconsciously clenched his fists beside him.
Seeing this, Yi Qing nodded. “Fellow Daoist, please go ahead.”
Yun Heng took a deep breath and sat upright. He began, “I wonder what my fellow Daoist meant when he referred to remnant souls before?”
“People have ten parts to their soul. Together, we refer to them as one soul. When one dies, their soul becomes a ghost. Remnant souls are a broken piece of one part of one’s soul. It’s not strong enough to form any one part of the soul, that’s why we refer to it as a remnant soul.”
“Then what did you mean when you said you wanted to send the souls to the River of Forgetfulness to reincarnate?” He was getting more anxious.
“The River of Forgetfulness is the beginning and the end of all souls. It flows through the three realms and the six paths, and leads all living creatures in the world to the Underworld. As long as one goes through the River of Forgetfulness, he or she will be able to reincarnate!”
Yun Heng paled, as if he had just been hit by a huge blow. His body swayed and he looked like he was going to pass out at any moment. Yet, he steadied himself with his fist and sat upright once more. A complicated expression flashed across his face. A moment later, he looked at Yi Qing nervously once more. “Then the dharma spells that my fellow Daoist used earlier were…”
“An array – the Future Life Array.”
“Future Life… Array,” Yun Heng repeated after Yi Qing, scanned him from head to toe. “Please excuse my ignorance – my fellow Daoist, are you using mystic cultivation?”
“No.”
“Then…”
“Sorcery. The sorcery of immortal cultivators.”
“Immortal cultivation!” Yun Heng exclaimed. “Then you’re-”
“A cultivator.”
Yun Heng stared blankly at him, unable to respond. Although he did not know what a cultivator was, he understood that it was completely different from a Mystic cultivator. Several different emotions flashed across his face, one after another, A moment later, as if figuring something out, he said, “So… I see! There’s such a sorcery in this world. So we have been following the wrong kind of cultivation. That’s no wonder…” Yun Heng sighed as he shook his head. He looked like he did not know whether to laugh or to cry.
Yi Qing frowned as he looked at him. He asked, “Fellow Daoist Yun, can you answer some of my questions?”
Yun Heng looked up. “Fellow Daoist, please go ahead.”
“Have you Mystic cultivators always gotten rid of ghosts by extinguishing them?”
Yun Heng paused. Suddenly, he broke into a smile and replied, “I know what my fellow Daoist is trying to say. But in the world of Mystic cultivation, there is indeed no other way of getting rid of ghosts.”
“…”
No other way?!
Yi Qing started. Wasn’t directing spirits to the River of Forgetfulness to be reincarnated one of the most basic methods?
He recalled something and sighed deeply. A moment later, he continued, “Fellow Daoist, you might not know this – a few hundred years ago, a strange phenomenon appeared in this world… remnant souls. It caused the living creatures to turn to ash. At that time, nobody knew of any method to get rid of these remnant souls. As a result, cities full of people in the north got consumed by these remnant souls and perished. Later on, the ancestors of us Mystic cultivators spent ten over years to create that “Deportation Array”. It helped to trap those deviant ghosts from invading the mortal world. Later on, they died because of this array. That’s how the Mystic cultivators later joined these pieces of information up together to create the Mystic Gate.”
His expression grew heavy. He sighed and continued, “The Mystic Gate made use of this array. Its primary purpose was to deport the deviant ghosts and protect the mortal world. We managed to salvage a piece of land by keeping all of the deviant ghosts in the north. That’s why the Mystic cultivators only know this one method.”
“…” Are you all retarded? It’s obvious that there’s something wrong with this method!
“But after so many years, the number of deviant ghosts did not reduce. Instead, it was increasing rapidly. From the looks of it… we should have recognized our mistake from the beginning. These deviant ghosts… No, these remnant souls do not need to be deported – they needed to be sent to Samsara.”
“…” Nonsense.
He turned to face Yi Qing. He cupped his fists and said in a serious manner, “Fellow Daoist Yi, Yun Heng is begging you to show us Mystic cultivators the cultivation that leads to future life. Save our world from facing these threats again and help the remnant souls to be reincarnated.”
Yi Qing frowned. Although he had guessed this earlier, he never thought that this would be the reason.
So they were only ruthless toward the remnant souls not because they were cruel, but because they did not know that these remnant souls were also parts of others’ souls. The funnier thing was that they called themselves Mystic cultivators who specializes in dealing with ghosts and spirits. Yet, they knew nothing about dealing with spirits apart from extinguishing them!
Suddenly, he recalled the Soul-Extinguishing Array. Yun Heng had merit in his body – he could indeed use that array to extinguish all the ghosts. But given the others’ cultivation levels, even jointly, they would not be able to activate even a tenth of the array’s powers. The most they would have been able to do was dissipate the souls. Yet, the remnant souls did not enter the River of Forgetfulness. Instead, because of the grievous energy in their bodies, they gathered back together.
Afterall, this was a small world. That was probably why the deviant ghosts managed to grow in numbers that threatened them all so greatly.
So all of this happened because their cultivation techniques were incomplete. One might even say they were severely lacking in this area. According to logic, the Spirit Qi in different small worlds would be different in terms of richness. However, in the end, they would all end up on the road to immortal cultivation. Yet, this particular world seemed to have fallen off the path somewhere along the way. What’s more, they were deviating more and more as time went by.
“I can help you,” Yi Qing said in a low voice. “I can teach you not just the Future Life Array. I can also teach you other techniques related to ghosts, spirits and the supernatural.”
Yun Heng’s face exploded with elation.
“But…” Yi Qing added. “You have to make all of the Mystic cultivators stop using the Soul-Extinguishing Array immediately.”
“Of course!” Yun Heng nodded profusely. Since he knew that those deviant ghosts were remnant souls, he had no intention to allow anyone to use the array any longer.
“And can you let me see the manuals of your so-called Mystic cultivation?”
“Alright. This concerns saving our world – I’m sure everyone would be agreeable.”
“Hmm.”
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Yi. I will go and instruct the rest of the patriarchs to gather their disciples now.”
“Hmm.”
“And the major races of the Mystic cultivators will all arrive here within three days. They will spread this news to all of the Mystic cultivators under the Heavens.”
“Go then.”
“Fellow Daoist Yi…”
“Yes?”
“Your subordinate has one last question.”
“Talk.”
“I want to ask…” He suddenly pointed to his forehead. Then, he turned around and glanced at the person behind him. “Why is it that this lady has been hanging this piece of gray cloth over my head ever since I entered?”
Yi Qing: “…”
Shen Ying, “…”
Ah! I’m discovered!
My concealment technique is not up to scratch today – the moldy ghost hasn’t even dried up yet!
o(╯□╰)o
