Akto County.
In the language of the Uyghurs, Akto meant “white flag”. In the past, the residents of this county had a tradition of planting white flags near their own villages, and that was how the name was derived. In the present day, Akto County had another name.
In the language of the Kyrgyzs, Akto also meant “white mountain”.
This was because there was a white, snowy mountain clearly visible in the county, extending all the way up into the clouds. At the same time, Akto County was the county that had been least affected by the supernatural disasters that had concluded over a year ago.
In fact, it had been affected so little that Cathay hadn’t even set up a branch of the Special Investigations Department here.
The reason for this was because this place was home to the dojo of one of the three most powerful beings of the mortal realm, Sword Master Xuanyuan.
The name “One Sword Sect” was a very ordinary name, but it wasn’t ordinary in the slightest in the context of Cathay history. It was one of the ancient sects that stood at the very top of the pecking order, and in the past, each generation of the sect only had no more than 10 disciples, but during the supernatural disasters, the sect was forced to take in disciples on a large scale. As a result, almost all of Akto County was currently relying on this sect and its subsidiary businesses for survival.
In this place, one could hear terms related to cultivation everywhere, even in the most mundane of places. The people discussing cultivation were all from the same sect. In fact, all of the Han people in the entirety of Akto County were disciples of the One Sword Sect.
In the modern era, cultivators looked virtually no different from normal people. They didn’t have to wear any special sect attire, and the only thing indicating that they were disciples of the One Sword Sect were the small sword necklaces that they wore.
“Hey, did you see that?” Four men and women were seated around an antiquated table. They were all quite fashionable in appearance, and one of them, a woman who appeared to be no more than 20 years of age, had even dyed her hair blue.
One of the men among them said in a mysterious voice, “The spiritual light on top of Kongur Tagh has already been flashing for several consecutive days already… Could it be that our sect master is about to make a breakthrough?”
“Surely not!” the blue-haired woman exclaimed. “Isn’t the Yama-King level something that only exists in legends? Even the other two most powerful beings of the mortal realm haven’t reached that level…”
Even though the group was speaking in hushed voices, Qin Ye could clearly hear everything they were saying from the neighboring table.
Due to the large influx of Han people, in addition to the significant Muslim population of Wanjiang Province, the cuisine served in Akto County was very diverse and varied. For example, the pilaf that he was dining on was a lot less oily than the authentic pilaf of Wanjiang Province, but the flavors were very rich and fragrant, making it a very enjoyable meal for him.
The lamb was sweet and juicy, and Wanjiang Province was renowned across the entire nation for its delicious lamb dishes. As he took a sip of soup, many past memories began to surface in his mind.
“Sword Master Xuanyuan, eh? It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name…” he murmured to himself, as he stared at the blue designs on the bottom of his soup bowl in an absentminded manner.
It had only been a few years since his last visit to the mortal realm, yet for some reason, these names felt like they belonged to acquaintances from a past life.
It seemed like he simply no longer belonged to this world. This was something that he had never felt before, and he couldn’t help but heave a faint sigh. He had traversed between the mortal realm and the underworld countless times in the past, but he had always felt that he belonged more to the mortal realm. However, that feeling had completely disappeared at some point.
When had he entered this mindset?
He poked at the bottom of his bowl with his chopsticks in an absentminded manner, as the past eight years of his life flashed through his mind. In the end, he decided that this shift in mindset had begun following the war of unification.
Ever since then, his trips to the mortal realm had become few and far in between.
All of a sudden, a smile appeared on his face as he looked up at the ceiling before murmuring to himself in an inaudible voice, “It feels like someone’s watching me…”
He was currently wearing a hoodie and a pair of jeans, making him look no different from a normal young man. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he didn’t belong in this world.
It was as if this world was resistant to his entry, and something seemed to be constantly watching him.
After a long silence, he finally figured out what it was. “It’s the Heavenly Dao.”
He didn’t have much interest in cultivation, which was why even though Zhao Yun had told him that Yama-Kings would develop a vague sense of the Heavenly Dao’s existence, he had never noticed this before.
“It seems to be constantly monitoring me in case I do anything out of line in the mortal realm, and it’s not afraid of being noticed by me.” He took a sip of his soup before shaking his head with a faint smile. “Looks like the actions of the second King Yanluo are still clear in its memories…”
As soon as his voice trailed off, a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted outside, even though there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. Qin Ye immediately cleared his throat before cupping his fist in a salute. “Please don’t mind me, I’m just rambling to myself…”
After paying for his meal, he quickly made his way out onto the street, then pulled up the hood of his hoodie. He was just about to transform into a gust of Yin wind to go and see Sword Master Xuanyuan when something up ahead caught his attention, and a faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of it.
Akto County wasn’t very large nor very prosperous. The houses here were all bungalows, and the buildings were quite tightly clumped together. Qin Ye was situated in a small alleyway, and at the end of the alleyway was a temple.
King Yanluo Temple!
The name of the temple was written in large golden characters on a plaque, reflecting the light of the sun. After looking at the temple for several seconds, he made his way directly toward it.
The legend of King Yanluo, in other words, his legend, was currently circulating in this land. His faith had only been established following the war of unification, and he had never had a chance to examine the faith that belonged to him.
To his surprise, it was a very popular temple.
It was no different from an ordinary temple with an usher monk seated behind a red table at the entrance, and beside him was a large pile of incense sticks, as well as pink lotus flowers folded from paper. According to the sign by the door, all one had to do was to pay an incense fee and they would be able to take a stick of incense.
At the same time, it was clearly stated that the incense was being sold for five dollars per stick.
Translation: don’t just toss in a coin and take a stick of incense! I’m watching you, you stingy bastard!
Qin Ye didn’t immediately go in. Seeing a temple of his own faith was a very strange feeling, and he could even see specks of white light of worship glowing from the bodies of the temple’s visitors. At the same time, he was also able to see their lifespans and their karma hovering right above their heads.
Does this mean I can automatically use the abilities of the Book of Life and Death now? He looked down at his own hands with a surprised expression.
In that case, what about King Yanluo’s Seal?
If he could use King Yanluo’s Seal whenever and wherever he wanted, then that meant that he could boost his own arts by a level at any time he pleased! After all, the ability of King Yanluo’s Seal was to elevate the quality of Yin runes. If the Yin runes of an art could be instantly replaced by Yin runes of a higher caliber, then the power of the art would undoubtedly increase!
He closed his eyes and experimented with this idea in silence, and in the next instant, he immediately reopened his eyes as an elated look appeared on his face.
A faint, undetectable tremor ran through the surrounding earth, following which boundless Yin energy surged up before revolving around him. At the same time, countless Yin runes were rapidly evolving in his hands.
He was standing at the foot of a tree outside the temple, and no one was able to see what he was doing. From an outsider perspective, one would only be able to see a young man leaning against the tree, resting with his arms crossed.
However, in reality, the boundless Yin energy that he had gathered was dancing joyfully around him as if it had found its master. He was using the Heavenly Dragnet art that he was most familiar with. This art used sixth-ring Yin runes, yet the Yin runes in his hands had already made a breakthrough to the seventh ring!
Furthermore, the Yin runes were still elevating to the eighth ring, then to the ninth!
All of this had happened in no more than the blink of an eye!
“A nine-ring level Heavenly Dragnet?” He looked down at his own hands with a stunned expression, then raised his head and instantly swept his gaze across the entire city. There wasn’t a single Yin spirit in the city. However, an inky-black vortex then suddenly took shape above his palm, following which an inky-black chain shot forth through the entire city like a bolt of lightning before flying into the distance.
No more than three seconds later, the chain shuddered slightly before abruptly pulling back, and by the time it returned to Qin Ye, there was already an inky-black Yin spirit bound by the chain.
The Yin spirit was a child with only a mouth on his face. The mouth was proportionally massive compared to his face, and it was letting loose a piercing scream. However, in the instant that the Yin spirit caught sight of Qin Ye, he immediately shut his mouth and began to tremble incessantly.
By the time he arrived in front of Qin Ye, he had already transformed into a child with a slightly pale complexion, and he looked at Qin Ye with a pair of large and innocent eyes as he put on an adorable display. “Uncle…”
Before he even had a chance to finish his sentence, Qin Ye instantly swatted him out of existence with a flick of his wrist.
Uncle, my arse! Look at my youthful and handsome face! I’m clearly too young and handsome to be an uncle!
Come to think of it, does my Heavenly Dragnet have its own GPS now? He looked down at the chain wrapped around his arm with an intrigued expression. Unfortunately, the mortal realm was not a good place to be testing his abilities, so he couldn’t find out how powerful his enhanced Heavenly Dragnet was.
Unbeknownst to him, right at this moment, in a small village over 100 kilometers away, a lama was in the process of loudly reciting something while spinning a set of prayer wheels. There were villagers gathered all around the area, pointing and staring at something. All of a sudden, the lama’s voice abruptly cut off, and he turned to look directly up ahead with an incredulous expression.
Right in front of everyone stood a coffin.
It was a black coffin with its four corners bolted shut by metal nails, and yellow talismans were plastered all over its surface. What was even more terrifying was that blood was flowing out all around the coffin!
However, just a moment ago, all of the blood had flowed back into the coffin!
“It’s gone!” the lama exclaimed as he stared at the coffin with a stunned expression. “The vengeful spirit is gone! How could this be?! Did something come here just now? Why did that vengeful spirit suddenly vanish?”
At the same time, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out from the King Yanluo Temple, immediately following which a massive commotion ensued!
“King Yanluo has revealed himself! My god!!”
“Is that true? Has King Yanluo really revealed himself?! Why have his eyes opened?!”
The entire temple had erupted into a flurry of commotion and activity, and Qin Ye cast a surprised gaze toward the temple to discover a bronze statue of himself seated at the center of the temple.
The statue was wearing a regal crown and a golden dragon robe, and its eyes should’ve been closed, but at this moment, they were open and staring intently outside!
“Step aside! Please let me through!” An elderly man frantically squeezed his way through the crowd, and he was panting so heavily that even his beard was trembling, but he didn’t pay any heed to any of that. As soon as he burst out of the crowd, he immediately began to look around in a frantic manner.
Finally, his gaze settled on Qin Ye, who was standing at the foot of the tree.
In that instant, he felt as if day had transitioned into night, along with a sense of extreme horror coupled with a faint hint of intimacy. He had a feeling that if that man wanted the entire city dead, he would be able to achieve that in less than a second!
This was no human!
However, if he wasn’t a human, then why wasn’t he giving off any underworldly aura? He was certain that this man was from the underworld, but for some reason, the monk was struck by the urge to kneel down and kowtow as if he were facing an almighty ruler.
What kind of being was this man?!
“Go and invite the enforcement team!” he hurriedly said in a low voice, then rushed out as quickly as he could while bystanders looked on with surprised expressions.
“Master Ren Hui?”
“Master Ren Hui, why have you come out?”
The monk ignored all of these inquisitive voices as he rushed over to Qin Ye before cupping his fist in a salute as he said in a trembling voice, “I pay my respects to the esteemed underworld emissary!”
As soon as his voice trailed off, a thought suddenly occurred to him, leaving him feeling as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning.
It was daytime right now, which meant that the underworld emissary had appeared during the day!
This meant that he had to at least be at the Anitya Hellguard level!
Why had such a high-ranking underworld emissary suddenly come to this King Yanluo Temple in such a rural city? What could he possibly be here for?!
