The Fire Root Ancestor had already spoken the first secret to avoid the collapse of the sword in Kellen's ear, and then said, "This secret is the sword technique I have studied for many years. Whether it works or not, you may try it in the future. Even if it doesn't do any good, it surely won't do any harm. In the long run, this secret of mine is of no use, but in the present, it seems useful.
Upon hearing this, Kellen just laughed without saying a word.
Ningxiang was puzzled and asked naively, "Brother Wind?" What's so funny about a set of secrets? Deserving to make you laugh your head out? Say it and I'll laugh, okay?"
Kellen had no choice but to shake her head. It seemed that this method was not only funny but also could not be easily passed on to others. If it was passed on to others, they would surely laugh their heads off and leave a disgrace for all eternity. So Kellen laughed without saying a word. In addition, Kellen has been taciturn since childhood and is very good at keeping secrets, so there is no need to worry about the secret of the Fire Root ancestor being exposed.
Ningxiang pouted her lips, "HMPH! I won't talk to you!"
But the Fire Root Ancestor said, "Little boy, don't be naughty. You don't know swordsmanship. It's no use listening. Kellen, come here again and I'll teach you the second set of secrets!"
"Kellen hurriedly put her ear away as she said and listened quietly. After listening for a short while, she suddenly lost her voice and said, "Mysterious Realm?"
"SHH!" The Fire Root Ancestor suddenly said angrily. "Keep your voice down!"
"Just the four of us, why do you keep your voice down? Are you afraid that two of us will hear you too?" Ningxiang pouted her lips, very dissatisfied.
"Who said it's just the four of us?" Listen carefully and let out a gentle breath. More than ten little ghosts in white robes and black faces were actually close to the ears, listening quietly to the secret of the Fire Root Ancestor. But the Fire Root Ancestor spoke very little, and only Kellen was closest, so only Kellen could hear.
"Where did the wandering spirit come from? How dare you play tricks under my nose! I won't deal with you!" Ningxiang glared, and before she could play any trick, she heard the ghosts' ah -- 'a long cry of pain, vanishing without a trace.
"Strange, you two knew there were wild ghosts here. Why didn't you drive them away? Instead, stay here?" Ningxiang's eyes were full of confusion.
"Little brat, so smart and quick-witted, have you forgotten what this place is?" The Fire Root Ancestor gently pinched Ningxiang's ear and laughed.
"The Netherworld, of course! Oh -- "Thinking of this, Ningxiang hurriedly covered her mouth.
"Not bad! In the ancient netherworld, there are ghosts everywhere. To drive them away is like to drive a big tree out of the ground, but how to drive them away? Unless it is, the netherworld no longer exists!" "The Fire Root Ancestor laughed.
"I see. How disgraceful! I forgot this is the ancient Netherworld!" Looking at Ningxiang talking to herself, she seemed somewhat dejected. In the ancient netherworld, there are ghosts everywhere. One must be more careful when speaking and acting.
"Well, Kellen, you remember what I said?" The Fire Root Ancestor turned back and smiled at Kellen.
"I - must go to Xuan..." Kellen had intended to say, "I must go to the mysterious realm?" Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by the Fire Root Ancestor.
"Alas? Since you've already remembered it, don't say it! This is the result of the creation of heaven and earth, not something that can be done by human power. Even if I don't tell you today, there will surely be coincidences in the future. So, as a favor that goes with the flow, I would be more than happy! Besides, in the future, we'll be like-minded! Ha ha..."
The Fire Root Ancestor was so cheerful that he didn't care at all about the battle of the sword array just now. It's as if there isn't a single thing in the world that worries him! Even if he were to break into the Xuantian Thunderbolt Sword array and be smashed to pieces, his soul would not be able to stop the old man's hearty laughter! How could such heroic boldness be measured by ordinary people?
Kellen was in a daze, in a stupor, in a trance, and wondered: Could I, in the future, also become such a man of great spirit? Perhaps... It's not bad to be such a man of great spirit!
"All right, all right! All the business is done. Let's not waste time here. Let's go and have a look inside the Baptismal Hall." After the words of the Fire Root Ancestor, everyone was already soaring through the clouds and heading towards the inner hall of the Washing Spirit Hall.
"I have a question that I don't understand and would like to ask the old man." Kellen asked on the way.
"With such cultivation, how can I ask for advice? Just say it!" The Fire Root Ancestor is straightforward and dislikes nagging the most.
"Grandpa doesn't ask who my master is, but he seems to know a lot about 'Xuantian Thunderbolt True Art'. I'm sure he must know my master." Kellen asked in puzzlement.
"Understand? How to say it? Just saw him use it. Now that I see you using it, I naturally learn from him. Of course, there are at least a hundred people from the Five Spirits tribe who have mastered this swordsmanship. Among them, of course, was me. But since the Minghua era, only one person has been able to control the Xuantian Thunderbolt Sword array. If you are not his disciple, I can't imagine where your swordsmanship comes from!
However, this man is extremely strange and has sworn to take on no disciples. Surely he never allows you to call him master or grandmaster, does he?" The Fire Root Ancestor's eyes are bright and his voice is full of laughter.
"Yes, Elara and I just call him grandpa. We never call each other master and apprentice." Kellen actually said.
"Good grief! If you don't take it, you don't take it. If you do, take a pair! It's really odd! Really odd!" The Fire Root Ancestor shook his head repeatedly. Then he laughed and said, "I never thought that after all these years, this old man still wouldn't be willing to enter the immortal realm! It's really perplexing! Since this old man passed on his swordsmanship to you, he must have passed away?" When the old master of the Fire Root mentioned the old man, his eyes seemed to be lost in thought, and there seemed to be two lines of hot tears in his eyes.
"Sitting and passing away? I don't understand, Grandpa. What is sitting in meditation? "Asked Kellen.
"Alas --" the Fire Root ancestor lamented long. Because Diting had just nodded in agreement in the inquiring gaze of the Fire Root Ancestor that the old man had indeed passed away. The death of an old friend, with one less confidant by his side, how could it not be sad?
"The cultivator has two supreme realms of cultivation, also known as the realm of Taiji transformation. The Taiji Transformation is divided into two paths of life and death. The living one is called Nirvana, that is, rebirth. Those who are reborn are either gods or immortals. They are granted immortal positions and naturally ascend to the realms of immortals and gods. The dead are called sitting and passing away. Though a person is dead, the immortal body remains and will transform into immortal fruit or divine fruit. This divine fruit is only half the size of a thumb. Of course, it's your thumb size, not mine. My hands have been refined and are no larger than those of ordinary people."
"Although what the Fire Root Ancestor said is true, there is a divine Lord sitting in meditation in the three Realms and five domains, which is extraordinary. Could it be that the Fire Root Ancestor has forgotten?" "Listen to the reminder.
"Is there another extraordinary one?" Who?" The Fire Root Ancestor really didn't think of it. For the deity that Diting spoke of had already passed away at the very beginning of the primordial chaos, when heaven and earth were clearly defined. Then, as the ranks of deities changed, they were gradually forgotten by the younger deities and rarely remembered.
"The creator of the ancient netherworld, the refiner of the Netherworld whisk, the patriarch of the Great King of the Netherworld, the first Lord of the Netherworld whose divine body penetrates through the Nine Netherworlds!" Diting slowly revealed the true form of the incarnation of the First Lord of the Netherworld.
"Whew - not bad! Not bad! Just now I saw the dust of the netherworld, but in the territory of the First Lord of the Netherworld, I forgot the First Lord of the Netherworld. I should fight, I should fight!" The Fire Root Ancestor hurriedly forced a smile and continued:
"The Primordial Lord of the Netherworld is indeed one of the great immortals and gods that have shaken the past and present. It is said that his true form of sitting and passing passes through the eighteen levels of hell from the path of Rebirth all the way to the depths of the netherworld.
I've also heard that no one has ever seen the legs and feet of the Lord of the Netherworld, because beneath the legs and feet of the Lord of the Netherworld are the tombs and mounds of all the gods and demons of the chaotic era. Chaos gods and demons, subverting the heavens and the earth, cholera good and evil. Therefore, all the great Kings of the underworld have to abide by the prohibition left by the Lord of the Underworld when he first passed away and guard the entrance of the tomb of the Chaos gods and demons. I wonder if this rumor is true or false?"
Of course, the Fire Root Ancestor had never been to a place like the eighteenth level of Hell, let alone the depths of the netherworld. So he did not know whether the tomb of the Chaos god and Demon existed, and could only ask and listen. Diting nodded and said, "Yes." The ancient tomb of the gods and demons, solemn and sacred. Demons, ghosts, gods and demons must not disturb the purity of the chaotic gods and demons. So, through the ages, it has always been unknown and naturally forgotten by people."
The Fire Root Ancestor added, "The immortal fruit, the divine fruit, is nothing but the body of an ordinary dead person. But this remains will last forever, because the spiritual spirit of the cultivator will not be extinguished. But the magic is gone, and it looks like a very ordinary clay figure, which is of no use but to be placed on a wooden table for incense. Well, that's exactly what I don't understand.
With that old man's cultivation, he is worthy of being a deity, but why does he want to sit and pass away instead of attaining nirvana? If he doesn't want to enter Nirvana, why does he open the Hall of Salvation, preach the Dharma, save all beings, and call himself 'saving the world'? Listen carefully, why do you say?"
"For love!" said the earthenware jar.
Kellen thought to herself, "For love?" It seems so. Grandpa loved Grandma all his life and spared his life to borrow her life. Grandpa knew that Grandma was old and sick, blind and inconvenient, and had to worry about everything. So many years have passed, and the couple still love each other and never leave each other. If the mother-in-law died, the grandfather would not want to enjoy the blessings of immortality alone, and it would not be said that he died with the mother-in-law!
In fact, Kellen guessed it right. It is almost unknown that the elder Jishi and the old Lady Jishi passed away together. But, listen and you know. The three realms and the five domains are known only by listening. So, Diting said only two words, "for love!"
"All right, all right! What a 'love'! To make the path of immortality famous in dung, but to sever the root of immortality for the beloved! Strange! Strange! Really strange! It's even weirder than your grandfather, the Sage Kido!" The Fire Root ancestor lowered his head and touched Ningxiang's little head, laughing loudly, his eyes brimming with tears. The tears, unexplainable and full of meaning, are comprehensible to those who are deeply affectionate, but perplexing to those who are not.
"Grandpa, is it strange? If it were 'love', I'd be willing to die for him!" When Ningxiang said this, her two big eyes were staring straight at Kellen. The words are so straightforward and clear.
"Little rascal! How old are you? How dare you say that? Well, my dear, we're coming!" The Fire Root Ancestor held Ningxiang, the little granddaughter, so tightly that he couldn't bear to let her go. Though not her own, she is better than her own.
The dark black mouth of the Spiny beast is wide open, and one thousand three hundred and sixty-five pieces of black jade glazed tiles run through the mouth of the two spiny beasts. It seems that the two dragon mouths are about to devour the long ridge of the glazed tiles. Under the high court roof ridge, rows of black tiles, fish scales scattered and interwoven, slightly curved and unfurled. The grand and expansive eaves of the courtyard are made up of these pieces of tiles and bricks, which are closely spread out.
Under the eaves, the ever-burning lamp shines with a bright white light. The hall is wide, with a lamp hanging on each of the four eaves. The lamp shines alone in all directions, as if it were a call to the souls of the deceased, as if it were a hope for rebirth after death. But now it doesn't matter what this ever-burning lamp represents. Because the lamp has gone out, not by itself, but by someone else. Those who extinguish the lamp are evil, demons, ghosts, evil demons and evil spirits!
For breaking the eternal lamp is equivalent to breaking the dead person's hope for life. In the cycle of rebirth, without the solitary glow of the eternal lamp, there is naturally no last bit of hope for rebirth and transcendence. Without hope, there is only despair left. How can a person who can make others despair be a good person? Not a good person, but a bad one, a hateful and detestable person!
Under the ever-burning lamp is a black and white pavilion. The pavilion has doors on all sides, white doors. There are Windows, white Windows. There are walls, black brick walls. There are corridors, black-painted corridors. There are railings, painted black railings. The pavilion stands on three floors, the doors and Windows on three floors, the corridor on three floors, and the railings on three floors. The layers correspond to each other, as if carved from the same mold, exactly the same.
The ground floor pavilion was built on the roof of a grand hall with overhanging eaves. The roof is naturally wider and more expansive than that of the top floor, with four long spines like dragons. The black jadeite tiles, like the scales and body of a dragon, are long and smooth, and the scales are clearly laid out on the four ridges. At the top of each ridge stood a 獬豸 (xiezhi) relief. Youdaoplaceholder0, good at distinguishing right from wrong, has a single horn and looks like a dragon. The one whose horn is not straight when seen fighting, and the one who is not straight when heard arguing. Youdaoplaceholder0 the presiding officer of justice, the defender of fairness.
In the middle of each of the four ridges, a small pavilion was built. The tiles are like ink, and the eaves are like wings. Although the roof ridges were short, each ridge had three hundred and sixty-five black jadeite tiles, and on either side of the ridges were a pair of roof-eating beasts. The dragon-like beast, with its face inward and its mouth wide open, seemed to swallow the entire black roof ridge of the pavilion. On its back was a sharp sword, with only the hilt exposed. The ancients said that the Spiny beast could uphold justice and suppress evil, so it was prominently embedded there.
(Another account says that the Spiny beast is one of the "nine sons of a dragon" in the legend. Because the dragon could spray waves to make rain, it was decorated at both ends of the main ridge of the roof, symbolizing water to suppress fire.)
Although the four pavilions are small, their appearance is simply a miniature of the four of the three-story main hall pavilions in the center. White doors, white Windows, black walls, black corridors, black railings. At each of the four corners of the eaves hangs a long-burning lamp. The four small buildings are sixteen eternal lamps, all broken. Each of the small buildings was of the same size and had only two floors. Though not as grand and imposing as the three-story main hall in the center, it naturally has a unique and exquisite design.
The lower floor of the hall, with its expansive eaves, is the most imposing. It not only accommodates the center of the roof, a grand three-story pavilion. In addition, on each of the four roof ridges, there is a delicate two-story pavilion. This overwhelming force is enough to show the thickness and grandeur of the lower roof of the hall.
The thick and imposing roof of the lower hall was supported by ninety-nine large black pillars on each side, each nine zhang high, and there were a total of 396 large black pillars on all four sides. Because at each of the four corners, there is a pillar. So, from every side, from every direction, there are exactly a hundred large black columns on each side. In fact, there are only three hundred and ninety-six of them.
On the outer edge corresponding to the dark pillar, there was a long-burning lamp on each side, which appeared to be a hundred. In fact, there were three hundred and ninety-six lamps on all four sides. It is disheartening that all three hundred and ninety-six eternal lamps have been broken.
The black and white hall symbolizes justice. The ever-burning lamps ignite hope and illuminate light. Without the universal illumination of light, where is hope? Where is justice without the illumination of light? Why should a good, ever-burning lamp be broken? Why is the sinister heart so malicious?
Every friend who likes or knows myths has a general impression of the Yama Palace, but the impression in this book is rather unique.