Chapter Seven: Upheaval in the Mortal Realm

Shi Jun quickly composed himself and followed him outside.

"Xiao Jun, do you have any idea how dangerous it was this time when you stubbornly rushed into the Monster Realm against your uncle's advice? To be honest, the fact that all of us managed to leave the Monster Realm safely was entirely a matter of sheer luck." Lie Jin's expression was stern, striking the posture of someone looking to settle scores later, though his tone remained relatively gentle.

Shi Jun was startled: "You're talking about what happened in the Weeping Tree Forest, right?"

Lie Jin nodded: "I watched closely from the side at that time. The reason your 'Three Thousand Weak Waters' technique was able to poison several great spirit monsters was entirely because those great spirit monsters were trapped by the 'Underworld God Disintegration Art' executed by Shui Mantian right before his death. They were pouring all their demonic power into countering his forbidden technique, 'Fog Shrouds the Blue Pass.' Under any other circumstances, the weak water you unleashed wouldn't have been able to touch them at all! You must understand that with just a few of us relying on such meager strength to make an enemy of the entire Monster Realm, it was practically impossible! Furthermore, if it weren't for the fact that the horde of monsters was overwhelmed and thrown into a state of chaos by Shui Mantian's dying aura, it would have been harder than ascending to the heavens for our group to escape alive. For this incident to have such an outcome today, we really have to thank the heavens for their blessing!"

Deep down, Shi Jun secretly agreed with Lie Jin's words. At the same time, realizing that his uncle knew the trip to the Monster Realm was fraught with peril yet followed him anyway simply out of concern for his safety, he felt a wave of warmth wash over him.

Seeing Shi Jun staring at him and worrying that this child was completely unaware of the immensity of heaven and earth, Lie Jin put on a straight face and spoke with a heavier tone: "I observed your performance in combat. To be fair, in a one-on-one fight, your current strength has indeed improved. But at most, you are on par with the Underworld Commanders of the Underworld Realm. No, perhaps you are still slightly inferior in experience. Precisely because of this, it is even more worrying. Do you know why?"

Hearing Lie Jin's words, Shi Jun's mind became crystal clear. It was true that, thanks to the further awakening of his Mind's Eye power and a bit of luck, his cultivation had indeed progressed. However, precisely for this reason, his every move would inevitably draw even more attention. To put it bluntly, he had now become a target coveted by all realms. The skirmishes with the Exterminating Earth Demon and the Four Voids Master before leaving the Mortal Realm, as well as the various encounters in the Monster Realm, were clear proof of this! Thinking up to this point, he nodded and said, "I understand."

* * * * * * * *

"However, there is one thing I find rather strange," Lie Jin suddenly said. "After returning to the Mortal Realm this time, I suddenly realized that I can no longer perceive the fluctuations of your Mind's Eye through my senses. What is the reason for this?"

Shi Jun was also a bit baffled and said, "Really? I'm not too sure what's going on either, but this should be a good thing, right?" He then gave a detailed account of how he had accidentally stumbled into the Nisu Treasury and his encounter with Nisu, concluding with: "However, I suspect this was probably Nisu's doing. He said he wanted to attach his primordial spirit onto my primary primordial spirit so that he could contend with the other three primordial spirits within my body, and perhaps along the way, he happened to seal that troublemaking light of my Mind's Eye."

Lie Jin said doubtfully, "Nisu did it?" After pondering for a long time, he shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not that simple. This matter could not have been accomplished merely by the power of Nisu's primordial spirit alone. But regardless, this is indeed a good thing."

"Exactly! As long as the light of the Mind's Eye can't be seen, wouldn't it be much harder for those people to find me?" Shi Jun chuckled.

Lie Jin stared at Shi Jun and snorted, "Is this enough? Do you plan to cower and hide like this forever? Even if you do, how long can you hide? The people who want to find you are either the Great Heavenly Demons of the Demon Realm, the Exalted Ones of the Immortal Realm, or the Underworld Lords of the Underworld Realm. Their own cultivation has reached an extremely profound level, and they have countless disciples and followers under their command. Which of them doesn't possess boundless divine powers? Which of them is easy to provoke? Besides, you have now openly formed a enmity with the Monster Realm. I believe they will definitely not let this matter rest and will soon gather forces to deal with you. And you? What do you have to fight them with? Right now, you are practically fighting alone. Do you really think you can contend with the entire four realms with the strength of a single person?"

A smile had originally been lingering on Shi Jun's face, but as he listened to the latter part, his expression unconsciously grew stern. He lowered his head in deep thought, carefully pondering Lie Jin's words.

Reading his expression and knowing that Shi Jun had realized the severity of the situation, Lie Jin softened his tone: "Of course, you don't need to worry too much. There is always a solution to everything."

With a sudden shift in his thoughts, Shi Jun raised his head to look at Lie Jin, his expression having regained its composure and poise: "Since we cannot beat them in a fight, and hiding is no solution either, we must find a fundamental way to solve this."

"Oh?" The more Lie Jin looked at Shi Jun, the more he felt that the boy was extremely similar to Shili thought back then. He mused that this child, just like his father, always had his own unique perspective when encountering problems; perhaps he had been worrying a bit too much. With a slight smile, he asked, "Then what do you plan to do?"

Shi Jun spoke fluently and with composure: "First, I must strengthen my own cultivation as quickly as possible. Only by increasing my strength can we even begin to talk about anything else."

"And then?"

"And then..." A captivating radiance flashed in Shi Jun's eyes. "Then I must find a way to cultivate my own forces within the Mortal Realm! In the past, the reason our Mortal Realm could remain calm on the surface was merely because there was a mutual agreement among the four realms not to arbitrarily harass the Mortal Realm. Furthermore, the four realms each maintained a relatively stable order while keeping each other in check, which is why they did not excessively disturb the Mortal Realm. However, judging by the current situation, the original balance seems to have been broken. People from the Immortal, Demon, and Underworld realms have successively come to the Mortal Realm, and the Mortal Realm has absolutely no way to deal with this, simply leaving itself at the mercy of others. If one day the original agreement is completely overturned, the Mortal Realm will inevitably be thrown into a bloodbath! Based on this point, I have realized that we must quickly organize a force within the Mortal Realm. On one hand, it can protect the Mortal Realm from being harassed by the other four realms, and on the other hand, it is to make some preparations for future crises."

Shi Jun was stunned; he hadn't expected Shi Jun to come up with such a bold idea. He pondered and nodded: "This point is not without reason, but it is still easier said than done."

Shi Jun gave a breezy smile: "I know, so this matter still needs to be discussed in the long term. I think the most urgent task right now is to rapidly increase my own strength." As he spoke, he looked toward Lie Jin, and his tone relaxed again: "Uncle, your analysis of my situation just now was very pertinent. I also feel that I still need to further strengthen my cultivation. But as you know, almost all of my current abilities were obtained through foundational talent and accidental luck. As for how to specifically improve myself through self-cultivation, I still need to ask for your guidance."

* * * * * * * *

Lie Jin smiled and nodded: "That's right. When leaving the Monster Realm, the spell you used to deal with those guards seemed to be the sound-attack technique of the Immortal Realm? Can you already use the spells of the Immortal Realm now? How did you learn it? What about the spells of the other four realms—do you know them?"

Shi Jun thought about it: "It seems that apart from the Earth element of the Mortal Realm which I haven't mastered yet, I know a little bit of the other four realms. As for how I learned them... it seems to have happened after I left the Nisu Treasury." With a smile, a ball of reddish-brown flame suddenly leaped from his palm. "Uncle, is this the Lesser True-Origin Flame of your Demon Realm?"

Lie Jin looked at Shi Jun with some surprise: "Not bad, it is indeed the Lesser True-Origin Flame specifically used to pacify thoughts and sort out the mind!" He reached out a palm to press against Shi Jun's chest, closed his eyes, and concentrated for a long time before suddenly opening them to say: "Your physique seems to have been modified, completely different from ordinary mortals, but your attributes are extremely complex—neither Earth nor Metal, resembling Water and Wood, while also carrying the attributes of the Wood and Fire elements. Haha, my little nephew, it seems you are destined not to lead an ordinary life!"

Shi Jun gave a wry smile and remained silent, thinking to himself that perhaps most people did not wish to live an ordinary life, but he only wanted to live a simple, peaceful, and untroubled existence. It was just a pity that he lacked that very destiny.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Lie Jin leisurely say: "According to my analysis, the Mortal Realm is the source of all realms, and mortals are elementless yet close to Earth. Precisely because Earth gives birth to all things, when mortals in the Mortal Realm cultivate to a certain level, they can shed their mortal bodies and completely transform their physical attributes, thereby transcending the ordinary and reaching the realms of Immortals, Demons, Underworld beings, and Monsters. However, once the physical constitution undergoes this transformation, it becomes restricted by specific element-generated and element-restrained limitations. Aside from the spells and cultivation methods of one's own element, trying to achieve a breakthrough in other attributes is as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Actually, the reason your uncle cannot take another step forward to reach the Realm of the Demon Sovereign or an even higher supreme realm is largely due to the constraints of these attributes. But after studying this for so many years, I have a vague feeling that if one wants to break free from the five-element boundaries of the Immortals, Demons, Underworld beings, and Monsters, one must return to the simplicity of nature. After cultivating the primary attribute to its extreme, one must turn back and find a way to return to the cultivation of the Earth attribute—because since the other four realms are all derived from the Earth element, it precisely demonstrates that the Earth element possesses the characteristic of gathering and fusing the power of the other four elemental attributes!"

"However, despite saying that, I still only have a vague understanding of how to do it specifically. I am merely sharing these insights of mine to see if they can provide any inspiration for your cultivation. In my view, although your cultivation still needs to be improved, you have one thing that others can never match: for various reasons, your body already encompasses the powers of the Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire attributes; what you lack is merely the refinement of time and experience. Therefore, if you want to improve your realm, you must still put effort into exercising and fusing these elemental powers. As for what specifically you should do, you will have to rely on your own study and comprehension! Because currently in the four realms, the only one who has truly managed to transcend the five elements is the Underworld Emperor. Others may be deeper in cultivation than you, more proficient in spell application than you, and more experienced in combat than you, but in terms of realm, they can at best be on the same level as you. If you can make good use of your own advantages and draw upon the strengths of all sides, what happens in the future..." Saying this, Lie Jin gave a meaningful laugh and did not continue.

Shi Jun listened silently without making a sound. Due to the limitations of his knowledge and cultivation level, he was not yet able to understand the true meaning contained within Lie Jin's words, because the process of cultivation was like an exploration—when you have not reached the end of this stretch of road, you cannot pre-determine how to begin the next stretch. However, it was precisely because of this conversation that he gained a correct grasp of the general direction for his cultivation, benefiting him immensely in his future growth process.

* * * * * * * *

Seeing that Shi Jun seemed to have been touched, Lie Jin did not continue elaborating, wanting to let him calm down on his own. So he sat down on the living room sofa and turned on the television.

After flipping through a few channels, a smiling, large face suddenly imprinted itself onto Shi Jun's vision. It turned out to be none of the others—it was Hu Hai!

He heard the young and beautiful host say with an expression of adulation and extreme excitement: "Viewers! After our repeated requests, Mr. Hu Hai has finally accepted our invitation to come to the live interview studio of 'Focus Figures'. I believe everyone is already well-acquainted with the deeds of this ghost-capturing celestial master who eliminates evils for the people. Today, we can finally have a face-to-face dialogue with him to understand how this young celestial master rescued the masses from fire and water! Before our interview begins, let us first watch a brief short video."

The camera angle shifted, and the screen suddenly showed a large crowd of ghosts, specters, and primordial spirits of all kinds, as well as some malevolent ghosts that looked as if they had just condensed their physical forms not long ago. Their various wicked deeds—ramping everywhere in the Mortal Realm, destroying the environment, disturbing public security, scaring passersby, and acting completely lawless—were captured on film. The footage was extremely blurry; clearly, the cameraman was "operating at great risk" under extreme tension while risking his life. In contrast, the screen also showed one frightened and anxious face after another, helpless tears, and painful cries... accompanied by a heavy voiceover: "At the end of this year, just as everyone was bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, full of aspirations and hopes for the future as they prepared to greet the new year, disaster struck. Those ghosts and malevolent spirits, which could previously only be seen in fairy tales and legends, became everyone's nightmare."

The commentary was concise and to the point, roughly meaning that half a month ago, a sudden disaster swept across the entire world—countless fierce ghosts broke out of confinement, running amok everywhere and destroying whatever they wished to destroy. Some killed the innocent indiscriminately, some looted everywhere, and even those who did not harm people wandered about recklessly, completely disrupting social order and tranquility. No matter what kind of emergency measures the government deployed or what methods it used to cope, the end result not only failed to solve any problems, but instead provoked even more violent retaliatory actions.

Although some people voluntarily organized themselves into small groups, using peach wood swords, bells, divine water, talismans, and the like from ancient legends, and even inviting Taoist priests from the Mount Lao Taoist Temple to deal with these ghosts, it was almost to no avail.

Just at that moment, a college student named Hu Hai and his friend Motuo suddenly stepped forward and quickly swept away the vast majority of demons and ghosts in the urban area of the city, restoring the lives of the citizens back to normal so that they no longer had to live in constant fear, needing to form groups and carry all sorts of talismans and swords—whose effectiveness nobody knew—even just to go out to the market to buy groceries.

Speaking up to this point, the footage naturally featured repeated action shots of Hu Hai and Motuo fighting fiercely against hordes of ghosts, ending with another highly inflammatory closing statement. It babbled about how, with the nation currently facing a crisis, people must not only cast aside their previous perceptions of ghosts, but also deeply study and correctly face them. Men of lofty ideals should join hands to fight together to protect their homeland, and young people should take Hu Hai as an example to learn how to expel evil ghosts and defend the country...

Barely had the video begun playing when Shi Jun's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. Until the camera cut back to the studio and Hu Hai started talking complacently to the host with a smug look, his mouth still hadn't closed—Fierce ghosts running amok in the Mortal Realm? What went wrong in the Underworld Realm? Where were those guides of the dead? Weren't they afraid of breaking the agreement of the four realms? Good grief, global-scale ghost rampages—what kind of concept was that? What on earth was that damned Underworld Emperor trying to do?

* * * * * * * *

Just as he was thinking this, he heard the heavily made-up host suddenly toss a question to Hu Hai: "Some experts and scholars also believe that student Hu Hai is propagating superstition, turning a problem that could originally have been handled by scientific means into something that can only be resolved through feudal superstition, making him an unadulterated, bewitching charlatan. How do you respond to this?"

Hu Hai raised his thick brows and said unceremoniously, "That is utterly incomprehensible! Isn't a scientific attitude supposed to be one of respecting facts? Or is it to ruthlessly suppress anything that falls outside the scope of one's own comprehension? If those so-called experts and scholars could solve the problem using their scientific methods, how would it ever come down to a greenhorn like me sitting here?"

Shi Jun burst out laughing, thinking to himself: When did Da Hai become so glib? After not seeing him for a while, this kid's demeanor has grown much steadier. It seems he still put a lot of effort into cultivating the secret manual of the Yellow Spring Patriarch; even on television, one could tell that the spiritual power within his body was abundant, showing a huge difference compared to before they parted ways.

Lie Jin also looked somewhat surprised, saying in a deep voice, "I wonder what on earth happened in the Underworld Realm? How could they disregard the agreement and arbitrarily release a bunch of wandering ghosts back into the Mortal Realm?"

Shi Jun did not reply, thinking to himself: The last time the Yaksha came to look for me to borrow the token, I already felt something was amiss. Uncle said that Chiyang and the Underworld Emperor were lovers; knowing his girlfriend was in danger in the Monster Realm, he remained completely indifferent—what on earth was this Underworld Emperor thinking? Connecting this to the series of changes that took place in the Monster Realm, a shock went through his heart as he vaguely recalled something, and he quickly asked, "Uncle, the Monster Realm suddenly proposed electing a leader this time around—what exactly happened to their previous leader, the one called Julan?"

Lie Jin shook his head: "I heard about this there as well. Julan is an extremely formidable great spirit monster with great wisdom, and he enjoyed immense popularity in the Monster Realm. I reckon he must have met with some accident; otherwise, given his influence, the Four Great Elders wouldn't have dared to rashly propose a re-election even if they had the courage of a bear."

"And I also heard that the newly elected leader is Lutun, the Great Chieftain of the Shichi Tribe. What do you think of this outcome?"

Lie Jin looked at Shi Jun in astonishment and smiled, "Why is a child like you so interested in the affairs of the Monster Realm?"

Then, he explained thoughtfully: "According to my understanding of the Monster Realm, although Lutun's cultivation and prestige are considered pretty good within the Monster Realm, he hasn't reached the point where he is qualified for the position of leader. Many people probably won't submit to his ascension. I am also puzzled: given his abilities, he shouldn't be capable of rallying so many people to cast their votes for him, so why did he ascend the throne so smoothly? If his cultivation and prestige haven't skyrocketed in a short period of time, then someone must be stirring up trouble! Think about it, right now the Monster Realm is headless and deadlocked, and they have just unceremoniously offended the Underworld Realm (this is also something I don't quite understand). Internal troubles and external threats—no matter who sits in this position, it won't be pleasant. If Lutun is smart, he should realize this very soon. And the person directing all of this behind the scenes must be someone with immense ambition, deep scheming, and something to rely on; otherwise, how could they have fanned the flames and pushed matters to such an uncontrollable state?"

Hearing this, Shi Jun abruptly sat up straight: "Does that mean the Underworld Realm and the Monster Realm are about to go to war?"

"Who knows?" Lie Jin shook his head. "The Monster Realm has always disliked external interference, but they have never used such a heavy-handed and reckless method to this extent. Meanwhile, the Underworld Realm has always been the most self-contained among the four realms. This time, suffering two major casualties in the Monster Realm—one dead and one severely injured—from a logical standpoint, given the Underworld Emperor's usual style of doing things, he certainly wouldn't have let matters reach such a passive state. Yet this time, he has remained completely unresponsive, even up to the present moment. But precisely from this point—just look at how he can remain indifferent even when Chiyang is heavily injured. The Underworld Emperor possesses the Eye of Surveillance; as long as he is willing, it is very difficult for anything happening in any region to escape his sight—coupled with the fact that ghosts are now running amok in the Mortal Realm, completely disrupting the agreement of the four realms, and he still shows no reaction at all. If my guess is correct, there can only be one result: even the Underworld Emperor himself has encountered a huge trouble that is difficult to resolve! So when you ask me whether the Underworld Realm and the Monster Realm will go to war, judging from this analysis, it's really hard to say."

* * * * * * * *

Lie Jin analyzed so much in one breath, and upon hearing it, Shi Jun also felt it made a lot of sense, but his mood grew increasingly heavy. If the Underworld Emperor ran into trouble, what were his subordinates doing? Why did they let ghosts run amok and disturb the Mortal Realm? Could it be that the old Underworld Emperor suffered a deviation in his cultivation and had his meridians crippled, plunging the Underworld Realm into chaos? He thought about it and found it somewhat laughable: this wasn't martial arts fiction; how could the Underworld Emperor easily run into problems? Otherwise, what would he rely on to rule the Underworld Realm? But if the Mortal Realm continued to be in such chaos, it wouldn't be a solution either!

Once again, he suddenly felt how fragile the Mortal Realm actually was. The so-called peace and tranquility were merely a superficial layer. Although the four realms had long-standing agreements, after all, an agreement was just an agreement. Right now, when the Underworld Realm let ghosts into the Mortal Realm to turn the world upside down, who could step forward to sanction the Underworld Realm? And who would care about the losses suffered by the Mortal Realm?

Today, the Underworld Realm came out to cause trouble; what if tomorrow the Monster Realm grew unhappy and sent several hundred spirits and monsters to hunt down him and Fuyao? What if the day after that, the Immortal and Demon realms also grew whimsical and invited a thousand or eight hundred immortals and demons to tour the Mortal Realm? Would everyone still be able to live? Could it be that they could only passively wait for the four realms to consciously maintain human peace? That was simply wishful thinking!

Thinking up to this point, for the very first time, Shi Jun seriously began to consider some matters that he had never cared about before.