Chapter 1: Three Ghosts Master (Part 1)
SPLASH— With a sound, Li Qiye, who had been floating in the river, was fished out.
"Ah!" Li Qiye cried out as he was jolted awake by a sharp pinch to his philtrum. His first reaction upon waking was to leap up. The sudden movement made him feel unaccustomed to his own body; he staggered and nearly fell.
"My… my body!" Looking down, he saw his body was completely intact. Li Qiye was both shocked and overjoyed. After being the Yin Ya for millions of years, he had finally reclaimed his own body. Even for someone like him, who had endured countless hardships and weathered infinite storms, the excitement of the moment was overwhelming.
Finally, Li Qiye took a deep breath. Looking up, he saw an old man standing before him.
"Hee, hee, hee. It was I, this old man, who pulled you from the river," the old man said with a grin. As he spoke, he revealed a set of large, yellowed teeth—with only three remaining. His smile was as lecherous as a smile could be.
Li Qiye's gaze followed the river, and in the distance, he could faintly make out the silhouette of the Immortal Demon Cave. At the sight of the Immortal Demon Cave, the expression on his thirteen-year-old face instantly turned cold. An aura that belied his years faintly radiated from him.
Li Qiye took another deep breath and looked at the old man. After a long moment, he asked, "What should I call you?"
"Three Ghosts Master, of the Xiyan Ancient Sect," the old man said with a lecherous grin, his mouth hanging open to reveal his three yellowed teeth as drool trickled down.
"The Xiyan Ancient Sect…" Li Qiye murmured, the name stirring up his dust-covered memories. He had been trapped in the body of the Yin Ya for millions of years.
"Who holds the Celestial Mandate now?" Li Qiye asked, snapping back to the present.
"Celestial Mandate? No one has been able to carry the Celestial Mandate yet," Three Ghosts Master said with a grin.
"What about Immortal Emperor Ta Kong?" Hearing this, Li Qiye's expression changed slightly. 'Did my slumber this time last for hundreds of thousands of years?'
"Immortal Emperor Ta Kong went missing thirty thousand years ago," Three Ghosts Master said, still grinning lecherously as he showed off his three yellowed teeth.
"And the Black Dragon King of Heavenly Sea City?" Li Qiye asked again.
Three Ghosts Master shook his head. "No one knows. The Black Dragon King also disappeared thirty thousand years ago."
Hearing this, Li Qiye's expression changed drastically. He looked up again at the distant, hazy silhouette of the Immortal Demon Cave. At that moment, he understood why he had gotten his body back.
"We're leaving." Li Qiye's face darkened. He turned and walked away, not caring if Three Ghosts Master followed. Having lived for countless eons and experienced endless suffering, he already knew what he had to do.
Heavenly Sea City was the most powerful and invincible lineage of the current era. Back when the Black Dragon King was still alive, he had looked down upon the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, unrivaled by all! Respected by three generations!
Although the Black Dragon King had been missing for thirty thousand years, Heavenly Sea City still stood proudly between heaven and earth like a colossal behemoth.
Outside Heavenly Sea City, there was a boy who looked to be about thirteen and an incredibly lecherous-looking old man who revealed three yellowed teeth every time he opened his mouth.
Outside the city gates, Li Qiye silently burned paper money, saying quietly in his heart, 'Little Black, you can rest in peace. In this life, you helped me get my body back. One day, I will stomp out the Evil Realm and avenge you!'
Finally, Li Qiye raised his head and gazed at the behemoth that was Heavenly Sea City. The scenery was the same, but the people were gone; everything had become unfamiliar. He recalled how, back in the day, the rise of this Sea City was the result of his and Little Black's efforts, year after year!
Unfortunately, after thirty thousand years, who would know of the Yin Ya who once hid behind the curtains?
"Hee, let's go back to the Xiyan Ancient Sect." At this moment, Three Ghosts Master popped up again, his three yellowed teeth filling Li Qiye's vision.
"Let's go," Li Qiye said, nodding calmly. No matter how mysteriously Three Ghosts Master appeared and disappeared, and no matter his origins, it wasn't enough to surprise Li Qiye. After enduring endless hardships, being trapped inside the Yin Ya's body for millions of years, living through one era after another, accompanying Immortal Emperors, and journeying with the Medicine God—what else could possibly surprise him?
Not long after Li Qiye and the old man left, a peerlessly elegant woman emerged from Heavenly Sea City, appearing like a Bi Bo Fairy, a Hanhai Goddess. As she stepped out of the city gates to begin a long journey, her eyes happened to catch a corner of a burnt piece of paper money near the city wall. On this corner, a symbol was faintly visible.
Upon seeing this symbol, the Divine Maiden's expression changed drastically. She asked in a low voice, "Who was just burning paper money here?"
An old servant by her side quickly found the answer and reported, "According to the guards, an old man and a boy of thirteen or fourteen were burning paper money here a short while ago."
"Find them for me!" the Divine Maiden immediately ordered in a deep voice.
"Your Highness, but what about your trip to the Divine Mountain?" the old servant couldn't help but ask.
"Pursue them!" As the word left the Divine Maiden's lips, she herself had already shot across the sky in pursuit.
In the end, the Divine Maiden failed to find the people who burned the paper money. Back in Heavenly Sea City, she remained silent for a long time. That symbol hadn't appeared in Heavenly Sea City for a very, very long time. Why had it reappeared after tens of thousands of years? Was it friend or foe?
"Reporting to Your Highness, we could not find the ones who were burning the paper money," the loyal old servant finally reported.
"Pass down my orders. Have everyone keep an eye out for these two. Do it discreetly. Report to me immediately the moment you have news," the Divine Maiden said in a low voice.
Her words startled the old servant. Their Heavenly Sea City held sway over the entire era, and their Highness, the Sea Suppressing Goddess, was a world-renowned figure. It was rare to see her with such a grave expression.
"The Divine Mountain…" the old servant began, hesitating.
"Cancel it," the Divine Maiden said in a low, firm voice. "I need to look through the ancient records left by our ancestors. There is something strange about this matter!" With that, she entered the deepest Forbidden Land of Heavenly Sea City.
The Xiyan Ancient Sect was located within the territory of the Treasure Sacred Upper Country. It was a lineage with a long and storied history, an Immortal Sect Emperor Lineage. In the early years of the Age of Emperors, the great Mingren Immortal Emperor, who looked down upon the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, founded the sect here, naming it the Xiyan Ancient Sect.
Unfortunately, millions of years had passed, and times had changed. The Xiyan Ancient Sect was no longer the Immortal Sect Emperor Lineage that had dominated the Eight Desolations. After countless years, the Xiyan Ancient Sect had begun to decline. Although it had seen periods of resurgence, it was still unable to reverse its downward spiral.
"Elder, this is bad! A mortal has come to the sect, demanding to be our prime disciple!" One day, just as the Great Elder of the Xiyan Ancient Sect was starting his morning, a disciple rushed in to report.
"Throw him off the mountain!" the Great Elder said without even a glance. "Do you need to report such a trivial matter?"
A mortal, wanting to be the prime disciple of the Xiyan Ancient Sect? What kind of joke was this? The position of prime disciple held a special significance; it was another name for the Sect Leader's successor. The prime disciple would often become the next Sect Leader. Although the Sect Leader was not in the sect at the moment, this was still a decision the elders could make.
"B-but… he… he was recommended by Three Ghosts Master," the disciple stammered.
"Three Ghosts Master?" The Great Elder shot him a sidelong glance. "Don't tell me he scrounged a drink off someone and promised them a favor in return, did he?"
Three Ghosts Master. Yes, he was indeed a member of the Xiyan Ancient Sect, but the sect was more than unwilling to admit it.
The name Three Ghosts Master might sound impressive, but it brought no honor to the elders of the Xiyan Ancient Sect. The "Three" in his name referred to his three great vices: greed, gambling, and whoring. Since he styled himself as a "Master," people had mockingly given him the title.
Three Ghosts Master had barely cultivated any techniques in his life, yet he had a significant background in the Xiyan Ancient Sect. Rumor had it that he was the illegitimate son of the previous Sect Leader. That was why, on his deathbed, the previous Sect Leader had instructed the current one to take good care of Three Ghosts Master.
Other rumors suggested that Three Ghosts Master was actually the illegitimate son of the Sect Leader from two generations ago. Because that Sect Leader had done a great service for the previous one, the previous Sect Leader took the fall and looked after Three Ghosts Master his whole life. When the previous Sect Leader passed away, he also instructed the current Sect Leader to take care of him.
Regardless of whose illegitimate son he was, his ignominious origin was a topic the upper echelons of the Xiyan Ancient Sect were unwilling to investigate deeply or speak of to outsiders.
Thus, for a man so greedy, prone to gambling, and lecherous, yet possessing so little Dao Practice, neither the elders nor the disciples of the Xiyan Ancient Sect had any fondness for him.
"So what if Three Ghosts Master recommended him? Throw him off the mountain!" The Great Elder was in no mood; hearing that name so early in the morning had already ruined his day.
"B-b-but… he… he… he has Three Ghosts Master's Xiyan Ancient Order," the disciple stammered.
"The Xiyan Ancient Order!" Upon hearing these words, the Great Elder's expression changed. He pondered for a good while before giving his command, "Summon the other elders. Have the mortal wait in the Grand Hall!"
The Xiyan Ancient Sect had a total of six elders. When the other five heard the words "Xiyan Ancient Order," their expressions all changed, and they had no choice but to attend.
The Xiyan Ancient Order was one of three such Ancient Orders left behind by the Primordial Ancestor of the Xiyan Ancient Sect, Mingren Immortal Emperor. The other two had been recovered long ago, but for some unknown reason, the final one had fallen into the hands of Three Ghosts Master.
Besides the previous Sect Leader's dying wish, there was another reason why Three Ghosts Master could remain at the Xiyan Ancient Sect and why the elders were powerless against him: he held a Xiyan Ancient Order in his hand.
The bearer of this order was to be treated as if Mingren Immortal Emperor himself had arrived. The bearer of this order could make one request of the Xiyan Ancient Sect.
Sitting in the Grand Hall of the Xiyan Ancient Sect, Li Qiye gazed at the ancient hall and the statue at its head, which was blurred by eons of incense smoke. Once again, he found himself lost in dust-covered memories of the past.
The statue enshrined at the head of the Grand Hall was that of Mingren Immortal Emperor. Despite the passage of countless years, the hazy sculpture still radiated an ancient, divine power that soared to the Nine Heavens, spontaneously inspiring a desire to worship.
Looking at the statue, Li Qiye was filled with a mixture of emotions. So many years had passed. Mingren Immortal Emperor was no longer in this world, yet he himself had lived through one era after another. Today, he had finally reclaimed his body as he had wished, but how many legendary figures had vanished into the mists of time?