Wu Chang Jie

2

At the beginning of Hongmeng*, heaven and earth began to divide, and everything was in chaos. Heaven and earth were filled with inexhaustible spiritual energy, and all things were capable of cultivating. But as the earth deities, ghosts, and immortals continued to strengthen and expand, a rift appeared between them and the gods, resulting in constant fighting.

In order to stop the war millions of years ago, Zhuanxu Sect severed the path between heaven and earth, dividing the upper Jiutian*, the middle Jiuzhou* and the lower Jiuyou, so that the human, ghost, and immortal realms were not disturbed and kept in order.

From that day on, the spiritual energy in the human realm became thinner and thinner, and to this day, no one could attain the Dao and ascend when they were alive. Therefore, two new cultivation methods were invented: one was to use an outer core to assist and supplement the inner core, and the other was to go to the Underworld to replenish spiritual energy.

The former method was the reason why countless cultivators died tragically from core theft, and the latter was the reason why Zhong Kui, known as the number one person in the world, was now working as a messenger in the Underworld.

But Xie Bi An didn't feel that his master came just to cultivate. He was likely tired of playing in the human realm and wanted to have fun in the Underworld.

All those who had accumulated merit could request to cultivate in Mount Luofeng after death. Mount Luofeng was a place in Jiuyou where the spiritual energy was the most abundant. Cultivating in the Underworld was called ghost cultivation. The road to ghost cultivation was not smooth due to the loss of a physical body, therefore the speed of cultivation was slower as compared to living beings. The conditions were more demanding than corpse dissembling and ascension, so most people chose to go through reincarnation. The lucky ones would have a body with good meridians and bones in the next life and ascend after a hundred years of cultivation.

In short, if one wanted to cultivate in the Underworld, they had to give up their life. But this situation changed a hundred years ago. That unspeakable Supreme Demon broke the Fengdu barrier with his power, invaded the Underworld, and killed until the whole of Jiuyou became a complete mess. If it wasn't for the Great Emperor Beiyin coming out of seclusion, that Supreme Demon might have unified the human and ghost realms.

Since then, the Underworld's vitality had been severely damaged. The Fengdu barrier was also heavily damaged. Internally, they had to suppress thousands of evil spirits from hell, and externally, they had to be on guard against human cultivators from stealing spiritual energy at Mount Luofeng, which was extremely strenuous.

One day, in a moment of desperation, Zhong Kui swaggered into Mount Luofeng and crossed the barrier, thus arriving in the Underworld. Not only did he have an unparalleled cultivation level, but he also possessed one of the four ancient magical treasures, the Eastern Emperor Bell, which could strengthen the barrier. The Great Emperor Beiyin made an exception to let him become an Underworld General as a living person. Together with Cui Jue, he was appointed as a civil and military judge, and could travel freely between human and ghost realms.

Living beings were strictly forbidden to enter and leave Jiuyou. Zhong Kui with his outstanding abilities; however, was an exception and he picked up Xie Bi An, who was still a baby and brought him back home. That had already caused a great commotion in the Underworld. Yet this time, he brought back a living adult. It was as if he wanted to throw the world into chaos.

Xie Bi An ran back to Heaven Master Palace and he smelt the scent of alcohol from a distance away.

"Bo Zhu, go boil some hot water for Master. Prepare some hangover soup, and then get..."

"White Master, do you have time to care about this? Quickly send that living being back quietly first. If Official Lord Cui finds out, we will be given a severe scolding."