Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 174: The Third Taboo
It’s here, A’Shou thought.
The moment Bai Shuangying withdrew the contamination, countless memories related to the God of Xushan returned in vivid clarity, as though thick dust had been wiped away.
The immortals could sense the immense impact of the God of Xushan’s ascension, and the ghost immortals could also feel the disappearance of their precious Immortal E’s aura. Coupled with Bai Shuangying’s open provocation, both the Heavenly Court and the Underworld could lock onto the ritual within moments.
A’Shou slowly drew her soft sword, her gaze cautiously fixed on the sky.
Just like during the Battle of Xushan, golden light and gray mist surged again.
Above the hospital, countless immortals stood in orderly formation, forming concentric circles. The golden glow of the Heavenly Court mixed with the gray mist of the Underworld, forming what looked from a distance like a Taiji symbol.
…The immortals were watching.
On the ground, Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying stood side by side, also gazing into the sky.
A’Shou had just opened her mouth to call out to them when a sudden chill crept up her back and a tightness seized her chest. A gray mist swept over her vision. When the mist cleared, she found herself high in the air, surrounded by ghost immortals of the Underworld.
The Disaster Relief Tower was under the Underworld’s jurisdiction, and the Underworld’s contingent was predominantly ghost immortals.
Now that they had lost their Immortal E’s, each one was furious, their eyes burning with killing intent.
A tall and burly shadow loomed in front of A’Shou.
Its presence was so oppressive she couldn’t lift her head, and its deep voice thundered in her ears.
“Ghost Immortal A’Shou, why did you conceal what you knew?”
It was King Yan.
Ever since she had decided to cooperate with Fang Xiu, A’Shou had known this day would come.
Whether it was the matter of the Guishan Sect interfering with the Immortal E, the instability of the seal, or today’s formation of the Fang Xiu E and Bai Shuangying cultivating it into an Immortal E—none of it had happened overnight. She had to have known.
Earlier, Cen Ling had lifted the information seal specifically to force her to summon the immortals as quickly as possible.
Yes, she should have reported it immediately. That way, she could have absolved herself of any responsibility. No one could accuse her of negligence, not even the Jade Emperor himself.
However—
Under immense pressure, A’Shou dropped into a clean half-kneel, her back straight as a rod.
“The immortals gave everything to seal the God of Xushan only because he bore resentment toward the mortal realm. They feared he would destroy its peace.”
“Your Excellency appointed me to guard the Tower precisely because I care about the human world. I did not report what was happening inside the Tower immediately because I was prioritizing the world’s stability.”
“Bullshit!” the nearby immortals stayed silent, but the ghost immortals exploded.
“Then what about our Immortal E’s?”
“The Tower guaranteed its safety. You vouched for it, and now you want to say it was all to keep the God of Xushan at bay?!”
“Silence,” the deep voice warned. The surrounding ghost immortals instantly fell quiet.
A’Shou was tall, but King Yan’s shadow still completely enveloped her.
Holding her breath, she waited for judgment.
“Did the God of Xushan already discover a way to break the seal when you became aware of him?” the voice asked after a pause.
A’Shou: “Yes.”
“There were also mortal cultivators interfering. The situation was changing too rapidly—it could not wait for layers of reporting and careful discussion.”
She was doing her best to phrase it formally, though inside she felt a pang of bitterness.
What was she supposed to say? That the Corner of Heaven’s Will suddenly fell in love with a human sacrifice and temporarily didn’t feel like destroying the world?
That right now, this defiant little couple was contending with the Guishan Sect, and the sect was actually more eager to cause destruction?
But she was absolutely sure that the immortals feared Bai Shuangying more than the Guishan Sect. The sect was ultimately made up of mortals and still needed followers. Bai Shuangying, on the other hand, truly had the power to raze the world to the ground.
If the immortals confronted Bai Shuangying too soon and dragged the fragile Fang Xiu into it, who knew what chaos would unfold… Fang Xiu had likely brought her into the mess for exactly that reason; to leverage her cautious mindset.
“In my view, the unsealing of the God of Xushan is irreversible. Better to redirect than to block,” she said sincerely.
In other words, what’s done is done—now everyone needs to deal with it.
King Yan was silent for a long time.
Finally, that heavy voice said coldly, “Since you claim to act in the interest of the mortal world, your reward or punishment will depend on the outcome.”
“Yes!”
This meant the result would decide everything. A’Shou quietly exhaled in relief.
In other words, it all depended on the outcome of the battle.
The surrounding immortals had already begun to act, layering and strengthening the Underworld’s Spirit-Screen Array.
Now it wasn’t just filtering souls. It had been reshaped into an isolated realm, fully cut off from the mortal world.
Once the isolation was complete, the Heavenly Court’s immortals wasted no time chanting golden incantations.
Countless glowing spells wrapped around them like golden threads, encasing the entire hospital in what looked like a massive silkworm cocoon.
On the ground.
Bai Shuangying sneered. “Those gods aren’t slacking off. This time, they didn’t wait for mortals to suggest anything. They’ve improved the sealing method on their own.”
Thanks to the Corner of Heaven’s Will incident, they had probably drafted emergency protocols. Fang Xiu was familiar with them.
After all, if the immortals hadn’t considered similar sealing scenarios in all these centuries, that would have been the real surprise.
But that wasn’t the point right now.
“If it’s just negotiation, I’m confident I can settle this,” Fang Xiu said softly, looping an arm around Bai Shuangying’s neck.
“The question is, do you want to negotiate with them?”
Centuries of pain and grievance could be swallowed, but Bai Shuangying wasn’t the type to hold back. The Guishan Sect needed to be dealt with, and the gods weren’t blameless either.
Bai Shuangying was blunt. “They can’t seal me.”
“Great,” Fang Xiu said cheerfully. “Everyone always says people can’t be taught by words, only by action.”
“Do what you like. I’ll handle the cleanup.”
Bai Shuangying smiled.
He pressed two fingers together and drew a semicircle in front of him.
The seal didn’t last even half a second before it shattered mid-construction, leaving only a sky full of golden fragments.
The heavens erupted in shock. “Is the God of Xushan neither ghost nor god, yet truly ascended to divinity…?”
“Can a Corner of Heaven’s Will be acknowledged as a True Immortal by the Heaven’s Law?!”
“If he followed the path of ghost immortals, then what exactly has he cultivated into?”
On the ground, Bai Shuangying looked at his own fingers, smiling in satisfaction.
In the past, those gods could rely on the power of Heavenly Law’s to challenge him. But now…
He stretched out his hand like a child discovering a new toy.
In the sky, the immortals suddenly froze.
Most of the human and ghost immortals erupted with red karmic threads, which tangled together to form chains; chains that locked them in place.
…New, blood-red karmic chains.
Chains flew through the air.
The celestial weapons that had floated up now fell uselessly, and the spells that were being cast dissolved mid-chant. The immortals, of course, understood exactly what was happening—
Humans cultivated virtue, ghosts cultivated E’s. Whether incense offerings or Immortal E’s, they ultimately couldn’t escape the cycle of mortal karma.
The reason immortals cared so deeply for the wellbeing of the mortal world was, at its core, to ensure the continuation of karmic cause and effect.
Was the Corner of Heaven’s Will always this powerful in manipulating karma?
Last time, when confronting the God of Xushan, the karmic attacks had been like the flailing claws of a wild beast—chaotic, relying purely on instinct.
Now, the attacks from the God of Xushan were precise and calculated, targeting the weaknesses of the immortals. It was vicious in every sense.
On the other side, Bai Shuangying gleefully explained to Fang Xiu, “I can now grab hold of the immortals’ karma!”
As he spoke, he gave the red threads in his hand a playful tug like kite strings. The golden light and gray mist above shifted in response. Sometimes they formed a V-shape, sometimes a straight line. The previously rigid formation had completely unraveled.
Fang Xiu couldn’t help but laugh aloud.
While Bai Shuangying was joyfully testing his new power, the immortals in the sky finally ran out of patience and hurled down their first wave of spells.
Fang Xiu stopped laughing and looked up into the dazzling sky.
“The third taboo,”
Fang Xiu said slowly, “If you dare harm my closest kin at the door, then let the visitor fall into endless darkness.”
“Knock knock knock.” He reached out and tapped the air.
On the path of the falling spells, countless doors appeared out of thin air. Each door was unique in design, but all of them stood wide open, and inside was only a thick, lightless darkness.
The golden, flashing spells passed through the doorways and were immediately swallowed by the black void, as if they had fallen into a bottomless abyss. Even the celestial weapons, solid and tangible, stirred not a single ripple.
The immortals in the sky frantically tried to call them back, but could only watch helplessly as each door disappeared, leaving behind no trace.
A deep aura of doom radiated from those strange doors.
No one knew what hid behind that darkness… What if, instead of spells, the attackers had been the immortals themselves?
But everyone could sense it. The aura of those doors was eerily similar to the God of Xushan, almost indistinguishable.
The human beside the God of Xushan—or rather, the “thing” that only looked human—what exactly was it?
They couldn’t be sealed. They couldn’t be struck. For the moment, the immortals’ offensive stalled in midair.
Beneath her veil, A’Shou let out a bitter laugh.
“I should’ve known all along,” she murmured. “The most important thing at the negotiation table is always leverage.”
If Bai Shuangying was to truly regain his freedom, Fang Xiu had never planned to argue that he was pitiful, pure, harmless, or free of resentment toward the human world.
…He only needed to prove they could fight better than the immortals.
“This is all your fault for enabling them,” one of the ghost immortals beside her muttered. “So what if the God of Xushan was close to breaking free? As long as he hadn’t become a full ghost immortal yet—”
“There are only three ways to achieve peace in this world. Do you know them?” A’Shou replied, calm and cool.
“Stop going off-topic—”
“Obey completely and hope the powerful grant mercy. This is the lowest strategy.”
“Crush all threats with overwhelming power. This is the middle strategy.”
“Strike preemptively through superior strategy, intimidating without oppressing. This is the highest strategy.”
A’Shou looked down at the red and white figures below. “You’re trying to use a middle strategy to counter a top-tier one. It won’t work.”
“After all that, you’re just trying to say the God of Xushan is too strong and we’re no match?”
The ghost immortals, with their mixed levels of education, were largely unconvinced.
A’Shou gave another bitter smile. “Would you ever trust the God of Xushan? Do you think he’s the kind to politely put on a collar just to prove good intentions?”
“…”
“I have a plan. Cover me!”
Cen Ling finally snapped out of it. Without hesitation, he tore open a talisman and charged toward the immortals’ ranks.
His eyes were bloodshot, his face a blend of panic, dread, and a flicker of hope from discovering a potential loophole.
Strangely, the immortals did shield this reckless mortal. Fang Xiu simply watched Cen Ling soar skyward and made no move to stop him.
He let Bai Shuangying continue playing with karma and curled his lips at Cen Ling’s fleeing back.
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