Aspiring to the Immortal Path-Chapter 1028: The Nine Nethers Feast

To Maraji, Tang Jie simply replied, "That's none of your business," before leaving.

But while he wanted to leave, Maraji wanted him to stay, blinking in front of Tang Jie and sternly saying, "You want to go to the Nine Nethers Feast and get another Severing Hook, right?"

Tang Jie simply shot Maraji a cold glare before walking around him.

Maraji chuckled. "It seems I guessed. No wonder you've come back with a Ghost King despite losing all your old subordinates. You want to put it all on the line one last time, yes? But I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I hear that three times as many ghost tribes will be coming to the feast this time."

Hearing this, Tang Jie came to a sudden stop, and then he turned to Maraji. "What did you say?"

Maraji smugly laughed. "Now you're afraid, huh? Hahaha!"

Tang Jie's eyes glinted, but after some thought, he said, "This wouldn't happen for no reason. Is something special happening?"

Maraji sneered. "No harm in telling you. Apparently, a Nether Emperor will descend and personally preside over this Nine Nethers Feast."

"'A Nether Emperor'?" Tang Jie said in shock.

Maraji was right about one thing. Tang Jie had come precisely for Nightdark City's Nine Nethers Feast.

The Nine Nethers Feast was a sumptuous feast held by the ghost tribes of Nightdark City.

The Nether Domain was the world of the dead.

The dead had come from the world of the living to the Nether Domain and then reincarnated through the Yellow Springs.

This was the cycle of Life and Death, the cycle of reincarnation, and also the interchange between the mortal plane and Nether Domain.

To be a human, then a ghost, to be reborn as a human, and then to die and become a ghost, on and on in an endless cycle.

The Nine Nethers River was responsible for sending ghosts to the mortal plane. It was the tributary of the Yellow Springs responsible for ferrying the dead, making it the most important tributary.

Many ghosts would enter the Nine Nethers River every year to reincarnate. This was the only way they could escape the sea of suffering and be reborn.

But the reincarnation of the Nine Nethers River was not a calm affair. At certain intervals, a geyser would erupt from the Nine Nethers River.

At this time, the link between the two planes would be greatly strengthened, and a passage to the mortal plane would be opened.

Yes, through this passage, the ghosts of the Nether Domain could enter the mortal plane without going through reincarnation.

The Yakshas were nobles of the Nether Domain. They lived here off the land, creating their own factions. For them, the Nether Domain was Life while the mortal plane was Death. They disdained reincarnation, for that was essentially suicide.

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But their desire for blood and flesh made them descend on this feast of ghosts like ravenous piranhas.

They sought to enter the mortal plane through the passage so as to hunt humans and plunder resources.

In the mortal plane, this was infamously known as the opening of the Ghost Gate, an invasion of the Nether Domain. On such days, people would sprinkle pure water in front of their doors, plant willow branches, spread out dog blood, and stick up talismans, putting out everything that ghosts found repulsive. Meanwhile, cultivators would follow the ghost energy and stand guard at the gate, doing battle with the invading ghosts.

As time went on, this developed into a custom. Among the common folk, it became known as the Ghost Festival, and among cultivators, it was known as the Nether Domain Onslaught. In the Nether Domain, it was called the Nine Nethers Feast, the Banquet of Ghosts!

In the Banquet of Ghosts, not only would the ghosts be able to enjoy blood and flesh in great quantities, they could also be baptized in the Nine Nethers geyser, growing stronger. They also had a chance of obtaining special Nether Domain treasures from the river.

The Severing Hook Scythes were born from the Nine Nethers River.

They were born from Death going to Life, and their duty was to bring Life to Death.

The cycle of Reincarnation!

Thus, the Severing Hook Scythes were also called the Children of Reincarnation.

This was because of a legend that in the depths of the Nine Nethers River was a Blade of Reincarnation, the mother of all Severing Hooks, wielding the authority of Reincarnation, deciding Life and Death. It was a transcendent existence, the number one natural Dao armament of Reincarnation. ṞÁＮôΒĚs̩

The scythes were all its Children of Reincarnation.

The Nine Nethers Feast was thereby divided into two segments. In the first, ghosts invaded the mortal plane to hunt. There were no restrictions here, and ghosts battled against humans, pitting their abilities against each other. The second was the search for treasure in the Nine Nethers River. Human cultivators normally didn't enter the Nine Nethers River, for it was difficult to escape the Nether Domain once one was inside. Thus, the struggle in the Nine Nethers River was among the ghosts of the Nether Domain.

If Maraju wanted to get more Severing Hooks, he had to participate in the Nine Nethers Feast, and his competitors wouldn't be humans, but his fellow ghosts.

As for why Tang Jie had disguised himself as Maraju, one reason was to stop the Nether Domain invasion. When it came to the annual Nether Ghost invasion, no matter how the cultivation world prepared, there were always many casualties. Tang Jie was still a human, and as a human cultivator, it was his duty to protect humans. The other reason was that he wanted to see if there was an opportunity to interact with the Blade of Reincarnation, though he didn't have any thoughts of taking it. This was a legendary existence, its level much higher than that of other Dao armaments, a peak natural Dao armament that could influence an entire plane. Tang Jie didn't think he was capable of obtaining it, particularly at his current level of strength, and he wouldn't be able to use it anyway. But if his luck was good, he could shatter a few Severing Hooks and get his hands on a few black grains.

The black grains were the best of treasures!

Besides that, when he learned about the Blade of Reincarnation, he had a strange feeling.

This feeling was calling out to him, telling him that he should go and try, telling him that this was his chance.

"Chance"?

"Chance" for what?

Tang Jie didn't know.

But there was also a sense of danger building up within him.

He had felt this sense of danger since long ago, and it had never disappeared, remaining latent within the depths of his mind.

When his avatar had completed his Karma Dao Art, that sense of danger had exploded. There was a secret within the depths of the Blood River, and now there was a secret hidden within the Nine Nethers River. Two rivers, one with a corpse and one with a Dao armament, both gave Tang Jie a strange feeling.

He realized that some immense danger had been at his side this entire time, a shadow looming over him.

This sensation of horror, together with all his worries and questions, weaved together into a vast and terrifying puzzle.

While Tang Jie recognized some things in this puzzle, most of it was unknown to him.

A voice in his mind was telling him, Go to the Nine Nethers! There you will find hope!

This voice existed only in his reborn original body!

Thus, Tang Jie had come as Maraju, entering the Yaksha estate.

Tang Jie stared at Maraji for a long while before finally slowly saying, "It has always been the lowly ghosts who attended the Nine Nethers Feast, never the great powers. Why is a Nether Emperor suddenly descending? And which one?"

Maraji laughed. "Nether Emperor Zoros. I heard that he calculated that something big would happen in this Nine Nethers Feast, so he personally came to make sure nothing goes wrong."

Tang Jie was shaken.

He knew of Nether Emperor Zoros. As a Nether Emperor, he was the equivalent of a Violet Palace True Lord, and he had originally been an astrolabe spirit.

Astrolabes were tools often used by astrologers to tell fortunes, on par with their fortune-telling rods and divination manuals.

Nether Emperor Zoros was the weapon soul of the astrolabe weapon wielded by a powerful astrologer, but when it shattered in a battle, it used this chance to escape. Falling into the Nether Domain, it began to cultivate the Dao, thus becoming a rare kind of ghost that was talented in divination. This ability to distinguish between fortune and disaster ultimately allowed it to become a Nether Emperor.

If Nether Emperor Zoros said that something big would happen, then it probably wasn't wrong.

Tang Jie was stunned because the "something big" probably referred to him being the only human.

But he didn't know just how much Nether Emperor Zoros had divined.

The art of divination was under the Dao of Fate. The Nether Emperor's prediction that something big would happen showed that he had definitely comprehended Fate. It was just a question of whether he had entered the Dao. If he had reached the level of Dao-entering in divination, then he had a high chance of pinpointing Tang Jie as the cause, but if not, Tang Jie had no need to worry.

Alas, his avatar wasn't around. As his avatar had entered the Dao, he could use his Dao power to conceal his Fate so that the Nether Emperor would discover nothing. The original body, having not cultivated the Great Daos, could only sigh helplessly.

In truth, body cultivation did cultivate the Great Dao in some way. The final level of the Martial Lord's Parting Classic was the Great Dao Body.

But Tang Jie's body cultivation had been stuck at the Immortal Spirit Body, and he had no clue as to how to reach the Great Dao Body.

This confused Tang Jie. Why was his avatar able to create Dao Art after Dao Art while the original body couldn't gather up a single sliver of Dao power? Their shared soul meant that they comprehended the same Daos, but congealing the Dao and entering it was as hard as ascending to the heavens for the original.

This was one of the major problems currently troubling Tang Jie.

Tang Jie's original body had also comprehended the Twelve Great Daos, but no farther. Not only that, when comprehending Daos, the avatar could borrow a little of the powers of the Great Dao.

Unfortunately, the original body wasn't able to do any of this.

He was only able to simply comprehend, unable to use the slightest bit of a Dao's power.

But this was a digression. In short, Tang Jie's original body couldn't use any Great Dao, so he was very apprehensive about that Nether Emperor's powers.

However, there was no turning back.

Thus, he grunted and said, "A Nether Emperor is coming himself. It's no wonder more nobles have been attracted, presumably to gain the Nether Emperor's favor."

Maraji smiled. "Precisely. Anyone who gains the favor of a Nether Emperor will have a smooth path ahead. Thus, everyone is fighting to do their best at this feast. The one with the best results will probably gain the Nether Emperor's favor. Severing Hooks are already difficult to find, and this will make them even more so. Maraju, after the Nine Nethers Feast, if you can't hand over a Severing Hook, I'm afraid you'll lose your fief!"

Maraju was the third son of the lord of Nightdark City, Marahai. Marahai had seven sons in all, each with their own fief. The fief decided the power of their factions and would ultimately decide who the successor of Nightdark City would be.

Losing the fief didn't just mean losing territory, but also losing the right of succession. This was a heavy blow to Maraju, and it was no wonder Maraji was mocking him.

After saying his piece, Maraji sauntered away while laughing.

Tang Jie watched him go and muttered, "Idiot!"

Maraji had only been concerned with his own pleasure, not realizing that he had divulged extremely important information.

The descent of the Nether Emperor meant that three times the number of ghosts would be fighting over Severing Hooks, and Tang Jie realized that he was not dealing with a simple situation.

But the more this was the case, the more resolved Tang Jie was.

He had struggled all the way through the Immortal path. Just when had he not faced challenges on this road?

After becoming an Immortal, he had encountered fewer dangers.

Today, that familiar sense of danger had reappeared.

He could smell a battle in the air.

He couldn't help but smile.

Fight! Kill!

This was a world of ghosts, so there was nothing holding him back! He would make all the world fear his power!