Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 175: Mutual Understanding

At first, Cen Ling only felt that something was subtly off.

That male ghost called Bai Shuangying seemed absurdly strong. But since all of Fang Xiu’s teammates had summoned ghosts to assist them, Bai Shuangying was likely just another powerful ghost trained by the Underworld authorities.

While examining Fang Xiu’s memories, he noticed that the ghost spoke oddly and showed no fear even in front of Ghost Immortal A’Shou.

Now, after Fang Xiu deliberately damaged numerous Immortal E seals, Bai Shuangying’s aura suddenly surged. The seals were clearly broken, yet the gods still hadn’t gone to Xushan.

Even someone as slow as him could now guess the ghost’s true identity.

…The Bai Shuangying at Fang Xiu’s side was the very Great God of Calamity that the Hierarch had sealed long ago!

Under the pressure of immense yin energy, Cen Ling barely managed to counteract it with his own yin aura. Fortunately, the gods had arrived, and neither Fang Xiu nor Bai Shuangying showed much interest in him, turning instead to confront the gods directly.

The founder was protecting him. The true God of Xushan was protecting him.

And now that he thought about it—wasn’t this just like a scene from “Returning to the Mountains”? He had grown up reading that book, and he knew every line by heart.

Right now, he was treading the edge of a cliff.

The gods descended from the heavens to confront the Great God of Calamity who wished to enter the human world. This scene was exactly like the one where Zhuang Guiqu had sealed the God of Calamity long ago.

It was the perfect chance to recreate the Guishan Sect’s former glory!

Cen Ling forced himself to remain calm and focused amid the flying debris. After a moment of deliberation, he decisively swallowed all his remaining pills and leapt into the sky.

“I have a plan! Cover me!” he shouted to the gods.

Within seconds, a golden silk ribbon descended from the heavens, wrapping around him and lifting him into the air.

The one who made the move was an immortal wrapped in luxurious silks and bearing a blessed appearance.

If Fang Xiu had seen him, he would have instantly recognized the immortal—this was the very one who had led the effort to seal Bai Shuangying in the first place.

However, the Heaven Court’s momentum paled compared to the Underworld’s.

Most likely due to issues with the sacrificial ritual, the Underworld, aware of its faults, had mobilized its strongest forces.

Even though Cen Ling’s living soul had the strength of a ghost immortal, the yin aura drifting over from the other side still made his legs go weak.

“Pay it no mind,” the blessed immortal said with a smile, lightly tapping Cen Ling’s brow.

“Junior Cen Ling greets the honored immortals.”

A warm current flowed from his brow through his body, and only then did Cen Ling catch his breath. He quickly straightened his posture and bowed to the immortals before him.

“You said you have a plan. What do you mean?” the blessed immortal asked.

Cen Ling took a deep breath and steadied his voice. “I must first beg your forgiveness. Today’s disaster is, in truth, all because of me.”

“Back when the Hierarch and you all sealed the God of Calamity together, he pitied his disciples and descendants. Not only did he leave behind the Heaven-Breaking Technique, he also passed on a method of borrowing E’s. Rest assured—he knew such an act crossed the line, so he taught it only to the successor of the Guishan Sect.”

At this point, Cen Ling deliberately glanced around to gauge the gods’ expressions.

Most were still busy trying to suppress Bai Shuangying. A few were being toyed with like kites. Only a handful looked toward him, and their faces revealed no clear emotions.

He respectfully bowed his head again and continued.

“During this sacrificial ritual, I noticed something was off. The God of Calamity used the sacrifices to interfere with the ritual. I had no choice but to borrow power from the Immortal E’s to defend myself.”

“Who would have thought Fang Xiu—that man in red—was dead set on destroying the Immortal E’s to free the God of Calamity? He cast an evil spell on me, forcing me to transfer out all the E’s.”

Nearby, A’Shou nearly rolled her eyes skyward. What a so-called confession—he had turned black into white and was downplaying the whole thing to retreat while gaining ground.

But with King Yan looming over her, and Cen Ling speaking to the Heavenly Court, she, a ghost immortal of the Underworld, couldn’t interject. She could only curse silently.

“The damage is done, and the situation is urgent. We have no time to pursue mortal wrongdoing.” The blessed immortal sighed. “You may speak freely, young one.”

Safe! Cen Ling was overjoyed.

He took a deep breath. “While fighting Fang Xiu, I uncovered the truth about the God of Calamity’s Immortal E. Did you know—his Immortal E is right here, within this very building!”

“Fang Xiu used his damaged body to become an E. If we destroy his physical body, the God of Calamity will lose the support of his Immortal E and be significantly weakened.”

At the mention of using a physical body to form an Immortal E, the gods looked at each other in disbelief. A few were so shocked that they stopped casting spells, nearly getting caught by Bai Shuangying’s karmic chains.

The blessed immortal’s smile vanished, and he said nothing.

Cen Ling seized the momentum. “The God of Calamity has only just broken the seal. His powers are unstable, and his true body isn’t here. If we eliminate the Immortal E now, he will surely be thrown into disarray.”

“With the Underworld’s Spirit-Screening Array as a foundation, and your isolation of this space from the human world, we can then use the Heaven-Breaking Technique to sever the link between him and his true body.”

“That way, we can turn this small pocket of reality into a cage that destroys the God of Calamity.”

The blessed immortal frowned. “Are you suggesting we spare his true body and only destroy his mind?”

Cen Ling: “Exactly.”

“The God of Calamity was originally the spirit of the myriads of mountains—dim-witted by nature, never meant to enter the human world. This creature struggled immensely to escape the seal and gained self-awareness. Clearly, he harbors resentment both toward humanity and his thousand-year imprisonment.”

As he spoke, Cen Ling’s tone grew more impassioned.

“Now that he wields supreme power, even if he doesn’t strike now, can you really rest easy? How long can the human world remain at peace?”

After he finished, Cen Ling could nearly hear his own heartbeat.

In just a few minutes, he had come up with a highly feasible plan!

The timing, location, and people were all in his favor. This was the perfect opportunity for the gods.

Once Bai Shuangying stabilized and returned to Xushan with the Immortal E, no one would be able to stop them.

“Erasing just the mind of the Corner of Heaven’s Will… is doable.” A gaunt old immortal beside the blessed immortal stroked his beard. “The true spirit of the mountains will remain, preserving the balance of the heavens. In ten thousand years, a new consciousness will naturally form.”

“The true body remains in Xushan. If we destroy the Immortal E and sever the connection, we can indeed erase both the mind and this fragment of a body.”

“If we want peace in this world, we cannot allow the Corner of Heaven’s Will to linger with thoughts of mankind. It is like a beast that has tasted human flesh—once it has, it will forever crave more…”

The blessed immortal fell silent in thought.

A’Shou’s expression changed.

Sure enough, when faced with a real threat, the gods weren’t so easily swayed.

A thousand flowery words meant nothing compared to a single appeal to “the greater good.”

The Guishan Sect, which had stolen Immortal E’s and defiled the karma of the God of Xushan, was no more than a pack of rats in a granary. But Bai Shuangying and Fang Xiu—those two were genuine beasts.

Seeing the gods hesitate, Cen Ling decided to strike while the iron was hot.

“You have long called that God of Calamity the ‘God of Xushan’, and we too revere our Hierarch as the God of Xushan. Our sect’s believers are spread across the world, devout and faithful, forming stable karma bonds.”

“Therefore, the karma of the ‘God of Xushan’ has already been influenced by our sect. I could borrow the power of the E’s from the Disaster Relief Tower using that karma—this is the proof! Once that God of Calamity’s divine mind collapses, the next ‘God of Xushan’ will surely be a benevolent god formed from our worship. He will never bring harm to the human world.”

Cen Ling had no concern at all about the sect’s reputation.

The gods didn’t care about dynastic change or human strife. They only cared that the mortal world remained intact.

A’Shou was burning with rage. She could not hold back and tried to rush forward, but King Yan raised a hand to block her.

“Your Excellency, that man—”

“Well said,” King Yan rumbled. “We will hold off the other two here. You go destroy the core of the Immortal E. How about that?”

Huh?

Cen Ling and A’Shou were both stunned.

If the gods had truly accepted the proposal, they should have sent one of their own to carry out such an important task.

Sending only Cen Ling made the whole thing feel a little odd.

Even the blessed immortal hesitated. “King Yan, you…”

“The Guishan Sect wants to claim the karma of the God of Xushan, then they should step into the game themselves,” King Yan said solemnly. “Once he successfully destroys the Immortal E, we can consider the rest of what he said.”

Cen Ling’s brow twitched.

Alright, he got the message. It seemed the gods were just as cunning, trying to make him do the one thing guaranteed to offend both Bai Shuangying and Fang Xiu the most.

…Fine. He would go.

Cen Ling bowed again to the gathered immortals. The blessed immortal waved a long sleeve and teleported Cen Ling straight into the interior of the hospital.

Immediately afterward, he intensified the celestial sealing formation. The talismans contracted further, trapping Bai Shuangying and Fang Xiu within the hospital garden.

A’Shou instinctively looked toward Fang Xiu lying on the ground, only to find him calmly gazing in her direction, one hand lightly resting over his arm.

[It doesn’t matter. I don’t need you to recreate anything. As long as the Underworld officially recognizes that the one bound to me by ghost contract is the “God of Xushan”, that will be enough.]

At the end of the seventh ritual, Fang Xiu had requested a strange anomaly.

…Wait a second?

Not long ago, she had given Bai Shuangying the strongest karmic support possible.

Which meant that, if Bai Shuangying wanted to, he could destroy the so-called “Guishan Sect’s influence” in an instant—and thoroughly disgrace the Underworld while doing so.

King Yan, ruler of the Underworld, surely could perceive the karmic endorsements of his realm. This—

“That human deliberately left this loophole in place until now. His scheming runs deep.” King Yan didn’t speak aloud. His voice resonated directly in A’Shou’s mind.

“And you have defended him with all your strength. That says something about his character.”

No, no, no, no, no. Fang Xiu’s character was absolutely terrible. That kid’s mind and preferences were so twisted it was to the point of being indescribable, A’Shou silently groaned.

But in a moment like this, she wisely chose to stay quiet.

“That human revealed his power first, and then deliberately let this person pass through. He must have a backup plan.”

“Last time, the Heavenly Court and the Underworld acted in haste and caused today’s disaster. To repeat the same mistake now would be unwise.”

King Yan continued, “If we provoke the God of Xushan again, that would be courting annihilation.”

A’Shou lowered her voice. “Then why don’t you stop the Heavenly Court?”

“What Cen Ling said isn’t entirely wrong. The God of Xushan does pose a threat to the human world. If words alone are enough to resolve this, some gods may still stir up trouble in the future.”

“You were once a general. You understand this principle.”

Alright, she understood too.

There are some people who can’t be reasoned with. They have to be beaten into accepting the truth.

What Fang Xiu wanted wasn’t just a demonstration.

He had come all this way. He wanted a real, no-holds-barred trial of strength with the gods—to fully and permanently extinguish their ambitions.

And Cen Ling? He was the step Fang Xiu had laid out for them to descend gracefully.

If the gods lost, they could just throw Cen Ling out to take the blame.

Just like Zhuang Guiqu had once said—if, a thousand years from now, the Corner of Heave’s Will still holds a grudge, then offer up the Guishan Sect in its place.

…At what point had Fang Xiu begun planning all of this?

Looking at the figure in red on the ground, A’Shou felt an icy chill roll down her spine.

As if worried she didn’t feel cold enough, Fang Xiu even took time to wave at her.

Speechless, A’Shou looked away…only to see Bai Shuangying snuggle up close again, happily wrapping his arms around his human.

It seemed only the indifferent and carefree Bai Shuangying could remain unaffected by Fang Xiu’s endless schemes.

Well, at least things had become quite simple now—wasn’t it just a fight? Then let it be a fight.

She had wanted to beat Fang Xiu up for a long time!

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The author has something to say:

The Immortals: What a joke. Don’t fall into the same trap twice.

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