The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror-Chapter 858 - 398: Preparing for Battle

"Meng Po?" Xu Qing watched in the direction where the Fengdu City God dissolved into blue smoke, his mystic Daoist robe fluttering in the Netherworld gale that carried the stench of corpses.

In the distance, the Forget River lay like a coiled giant serpent, its ink-colored waves surging while half-submerged white bones covered in moss and shattered soul lamps surfaced, swiftly ensnared by the blood-red mist, drifting towards the direction of Naihe Bridge.

The slender black divine dog crouching beside his feet suddenly lowered its body, three-headed Dharma Form emerged, six amber vertical pupils cautiously scanning around, its paws scorched five marks into the bluestone slabs, transmitting to Xu Qing: "That is no ordinary Meng Po, she is an avatar of Houtu."

"For Houtu, the entire Underworld's judicial system, from King Yan, Judge to Ghost Messenger, are threads in her hand."

As the words were spoken, a faint blue light flickered around the divine dog, casting countless blurred shadows of Oxhead and Horseface onto the ground, each shadow was topped with barely visible threads of karma.

Xu Qing understood its meaning.

Houtu is indeed the source of the entire Underworld, or rather the creator of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

"Last time someone invited Meng Po to intervene..." the slender black divine dog continued, the middle head of the three-head Dharma Form's ears twitching uneasily, the dog's tail curling unnaturally, "that person is now at the end of the Yellow Springs, rowing a boat, with every oar stroke, countless wronged souls tear at his Primordial Spirit. For an entire era, even the qualification of reincarnation was stripped away."

It raised its head, gazing at the indiscernible Forget River in the distance, within which lay an ancient mansion forever shrouded in mist.

Under its Diting Divine Power, the faint sound of a ladle stirring among the wails of grieving souls could be heard, chilling one's spine.

The slender black divine dog realized, mentioning this, Meng Po had likely already taken notice.

But the Fengdu City God had spoken of this, and of course, the slender black divine dog had to clarify things to avoid unnecessary complications.

Xu Qing reached out to catch the falling Netherworld flower petals, watching them turn to ash in his palm, sighed lightly: "No wonder you didn't mention a word earlier." His fingertips traced through the void, forming a tiny Yin Yang Fish, the black and white energy slowly circulating within, "That price is indeed more than ordinary people can bear."

The slender black divine dog spoke again: "However, in the Underworld, most only know Meng Po intervenes for people, yet they don't know the final outcome. The ferryman on the Yellow Springs, few know his origin. And ferrying the Yellow Springs does carry merits, also receiving protection from Houtu, allowing him to avoid the calamity of death."

Before the words finished, the divine dog suddenly stood upright, its middle head uttered a sharp bark, pointing to the rolling dark clouds in the sky: "Immortal Master Erlang's presence!"

Amidst the clouds appeared a giant golden pupil, its passage making the mist over the Yellow Springs boil like hot soup, producing a bubbling sound.

Xu Qing looked at the sky and sneered, his sleeves flicked, countless threads of Five Elements Sword Qi emerged, ferociously dispelling the opponent's presence.

He said calmly: "Even if it's the True Monarch Xiansheng, trying to make me submit, must first ask if my sword agrees." Dao Rhyme flowed around him, with a twelve-petal green lotus phantasm appearing faintly behind.

"Daoist should not underestimate the True Monarch." The divine dog settled back down, engraving complex Netherworld Runes onto the ground with its paws, each stroke emitted dark red blood light, "His current fame truly had ties with my family master Ksitigarbha."

"In those days, my family master Ksitigarbha declared a great vow, to create a perfect world."

The slender black divine dog's voice turned hoarse, a wailing sound emerged from its throat, "He used the Infinite Path of the Underworld as a testing ground, attempting to refine the evil essence of all malevolent ghosts..."

The divine dog's fur suddenly bristled, a trace of fear flashed in the eyes of the middle head: "But the master underestimated the power of those ghosts. Among them were special ghosts formed by fallen mighty souls. Their remnant souls had long fused with the Great Dao Law, their essence was 'Dao', hence impossible to kill."

It abruptly fell silent, its paw pointed skyward, manifesting the phantom of the Three-pointed Two-bladed Sword in the void, black runes flowing along the blade, "Just like the weapon in Immortal Master Erlang's hand. Though it appears as a Divine Weapon, truly it's a fearsome ghost born of the living soul of the Ancient Great Demon three-headed flood dragon."

Xu Qing hadn't expected the weapon famed across the Three Realms and Six Paths, the Three-pointed Two-bladed Sword, turned out to be a ferocious ghost.

"Such ghosts, no different from the Great Dao Law. Because of this, Immortal Master Erlang could suppress those special ghosts that escaped to the Human World. And since these ghosts are immortal, even if sealed, they might escape. Hence Immortal Master Erlang sought the seeking sound and manifesting saint ability from the Taiyi Suffering Savior Heavenly Lord. Once a ghost breaks free to cause trouble in the Human World, upon chanting the True Monarch's name, the True Monarch would appear to suppress the ghost. During this process, there would be continuous merits producing, allowing the True Monarch's divine might to steadily enhance, eventually becoming a pinnacle existence within the Three Realms and Six Paths."

Xu Qing hadn't expected, Erlang God's path to enlightenment would involve such twists.

He couldn't help but wonder, saying: "Why doesn't the Taiyi Suffering Savior Heavenly Lord act personally?"

The slender black divine dog: "It's said Taiyi was repaying a debt to Yuqing, intentionally providing an opportunity for True Monarch Xiansheng to attain enlightenment. After all, True Monarch Xiansheng once had an avatar who paid allegiance to Yuqing's sect, having deep connections with the Yuqing Lineage, and was also appointed as the Judicial Celestial by Yuqing, receiving the Primordial Talismanic Decree."

This Primordial Talismanic Decree was no small matter.

In the previous era, True Martial while working in the Heavenly Court, were all issued with the Primordial Talismanic Decree, making their actions legitimate.