With the evil ghosts gone, Mo Tiange dared not linger. She and Qin Xi left the stone chamber and returned to the main hall.
Qin Xi closed his eyes to regulate his breathing while she stood guard beside him.
She did not dare to re-enter that stone chamber alone. What they had encountered here far exceeded their cultivation realm. Every extra step taken meant an extra measure of danger. Xiaofeng would have to be rescued a little later.
After most of the day had passed, another door rippled with energy fluctuations, and several figures tumbled out in disarray. Mo Tiange took a look—it was Demon Lord Xuanyue's group of three.
"Elder Jing!" Demon Lord Xuanyue's robes were tattered and torn, his hair crown askew. As soon as he retreated, he hurried to help Jing Hu, who had fallen to the ground.
Jing Hu's face was ashen, his Spiritual Qi scattered and unfocused—clearly, he was severely injured.
"It's nothing," Jing Hu waved a hand, sitting cross-legged on the spot. "I'll trouble the Second Prince to stand guard. This subordinate will begin healing."
"Alright." Once Jing Hu was settled, Demon Lord Xuanyue took out several colorful demon beast Inner Cores from his bosom. "Elder Jing, these Inner Cores will be beneficial for your injuries."
Jing Hu's gaze swept over them. The Spiritual Qi within these cores was dense and completely pure; he knew they were bestowed by the Monarch. He picked up two and said, "These are sufficient. The Second Prince should keep the rest for unforeseen needs."
Xuanyue obediently put them away. "Elder Jing, please heal quickly."
Jing Hu could not concern himself with anything else and began his recovery. Die Yi beside him, though her Spiritual Qi was somewhat unstable, had only minor injuries. After a brief period of regulation, she turned her gaze to Mo Tiange and Qin Xi.
"Fellow Daoists, you've emerged as well?" Die Yi was as cold and detached as ever.
Qin Xi was still regulating his breathing. Mo Tiange's eyes flickered, but her tone remained indifferent. "Indeed. Truly the methods of an Immortal. We nearly perished here."
Die Yi asked, "What did you two encounter?"
"We faced an Evil Ghost Formation," Mo Tiange replied simply, then looked at Die Yi. "And what did the three of you encounter?"
"Was it a scene of many people being punished?" Die Yi said. "It truly resembled the evil ghosts of legend."
Legends of so-called "ghosts" were only prevalent in mortal nations. Ordinary Demon Cultivators had no idea what ghosts were. That Die Yi knew of their existence already showed considerable erudition.
Mo Tiange, however, was taken aback. Many people being punished? That was different from what they had faced! She hurriedly asked, "Could Fellow Daoist describe in detail what you saw?"
Die Yi was puzzled but saw no reason to hide it, so she recounted everything she had witnessed.
After listening, Mo Tiange's expression turned grave.
What Die Yi described reminded her of mortal legends. Mortals believed that upon death, humans became ghosts. The greatly virtuous ascended to become Immortals; the slightly virtuous reincarnated as humans; the slightly wicked reincarnated into the animal path; and the utterly irredeemable entered the eighteen levels of hell to suffer daily punishments. Wasn't Die Yi's description strikingly similar to the legendary eighteen levels of hell?
"Fellow Daoist Mo?" Die Yi looked at her, perplexed.
Mo Tiange sighed. "If my guess is correct, what you all witnessed was hell."
"Hell?" Demon Lord Xuanyue exclaimed in surprise. Having traveled in the clouds, he was more familiar with legends of ghosts and hell than Die Yi. After careful thought, he nodded in agreement. "Fellow Daoist's words make sense. Legends say that the utterly wicked, after death, enter the eighteen levels of hell to suffer punishments of skinning, bone-breaking, oil-frying, and scorching until their sins are cleansed, only then are they allowed to reincarnate. Isn't that exactly what we saw?" At the end, he turned his gaze to Die Yi.
Die Yi said, "So the human legends are true."
Demon Lord Xuanyue asked again, "What exactly did the two of you experience?"
Mo Tiange said, "There were many evil ghosts. Some possessed immense strength, others were bizarrely shaped. We fought desperately for a long time before managing to escape." Qin Xi was temporarily exhausted, and she had some minor injuries, but their situation was relatively good. Without the Bow of the Vermilion Bird, it was hard to say if they could have made it out. Both Jing Hu and Die Yi were Tenth Rank, yet Jing Hu was still severely wounded.
Demon Lord Xuanyue wanted to ask more when another door saw someone staggering out.
It was Demon Lord Xuari and Jing Tao. Jing Tao was covered in blood, no better off than Jing Hu. Demon Lord Xuari, though still intact, looked panicked.
"Elder Jing! Elder Jing!" Demon Lord Xuari grabbed Jing Tao and shook him without restraint.
Jing Tao, already severely injured, couldn't catch his breath from the shaking.
Xuanyue frowned and spoke up. "Elder Brother, if you keep shaking him, Elder Jing Tao really will be beyond saving!"
Xuari was startled and quickly released Jing Tao, though he still said unhappily, "I know. There's no need for you to remind me!"
Xuanyue snorted and turned his head away, ignoring him.
Jing Tao caught his breath and said to Xuari, "The Great Prince need not worry. This subordinate will be fine after some regulation."
Hearing this, Xuari hurriedly said, "Good, good! Regulate quickly!"
Jing Tao warily glanced at Mo Tiange and Die Yi, then handed a one-foot-long bone spike to Xuari before swallowing a demon pill, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing.
Die Yi's eyes widened slightly, a mocking smile appearing on her face. She paid it no mind, instead shifting her gaze to Mo Tiange.
Xuanyue beside her hesitated for a moment. Seeing where Die Yi was looking, he suddenly understood and also looked at Mo Tiange.
Mo Tiange was taken aback before realizing they wanted her to be the one to ask Demon Lord Xuari about his experience. This was no major matter and was directly relevant to her as well, so she called out, "Great Prince."
Demon Lord Xuari seemed distracted. She had to call several times before he snapped back to attention and gave her a casual salute. "What is it, Fellow Daoist?"
Mo Tiange said, "I wonder what the Great Prince and the elders encountered behind the door? Why did only the two of you emerge?"
Xuari first glanced at Xuanyue before answering. "It was strange and bizarre inside. Elder Jing was injured, so we came out first." He was not without cunning. At the moment, Xuanyue had a perfectly intact Die Yi by his side, and Mo Tiange's allegiance was unclear. If he spoke frankly, wouldn't he be washing himself clean and serving himself up on a platter? They had been separated shortly after entering. Another Ninth Rank demon cultivator protecting him had been torn to pieces by monsters. He had to conceal their current situation.
"Strange and bizarre?"
Xuari replied, "There were many monsters inside. They looked somewhat human but were very different. These monsters were extremely tall and strong, with immense strength. The males were hideously ugly, the females stunningly beautiful. We couldn't hold them off and barely managed to escape."
"I see..." Mo Tiange frowned, feeling that the monsters Xuari described sounded somewhat familiar.
"What about you? What did you encounter?" Xuari asked, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally sweeping over Xuanyue and the others.
Mo Tiange said, "We were besieged by evil ghosts. As for the Second Prince's group, they saw hell."
"Evil ghosts? Hell?" These terms were somewhat unfamiliar to Demon Lord Xuari.
Mo Tiange explained them to him. She had read many ancient texts and remembered most of these legends, though the details were not entirely clear. Mortal legends were numerous to begin with, many passed down orally and later possibly distorted beyond recognition, with many contradictions. Most could only be taken as stories, not as truth.
After listening, Xuari said, "How strange. What you encountered was all related to ghosts. Why was ours completely different? Those monsters were definitely not of the ghostly Yin soul type. They carried an aura of destruction. Clearly not ranked, yet they could injure Elder Jing..."
"Since they are monsters, how can we use our cultivation world's methods to classify them?" Xuanyue said. "Ghosts and monsters exist differently from us; their Dao is also completely different."
Xuari sneered. "Second Brother knows so much. Then do you know how to deal with them?"
Xuanyue was stung, glared at him, and said nothing more.
"Exist differently, Dao also different..." Mo Tiange murmured to herself, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and clapped her hands. "Right! How did I not think of it?"
The three demons turned to her simultaneously, asking in unison, "What?"
Mo Tiange said, "Tall and strong, immense strength, males hideously ugly, females stunningly beautiful—this is recorded in ancient texts. In ancient mythology, they are called Asuras."
"Asuras?" Xuanyue's brow furrowed slightly. "Why is the name so strange? I remember now. I once heard from a Buddhist cultivator that Asuras are one of the ancient deities, strong and warlike, enemies of the heavenly gods."
"Exactly!" Mo Tiange nodded. "Evil ghosts, hell, Asuras—putting the three together, it becomes clear. After the ancient gods created the world, they divided all living beings into the Six Paths: the Heaven Path, the Human Path, the Hell Path, the Hungry Ghost Path, the Animal Path, and the Asura Path. There are six doors here. What we saw were precisely the Hungry Ghost Path, the Hell Path, and the Asura Path. Presumably, the remaining three doors are the Heaven Path, the Human Path, and the Animal Path."
The door they had first entered was the Heaven Path, hence the host of Immortals and the Main Deity. Speaking of which, their three groups were truly unlucky. The Human Path and Animal Path were relatively mild, yet they had entered the most difficult Hungry Ghost Path, Hell Path, and Asura Path. As for the Heaven Path, although they had walked out easily, it was likely because they had not been tempted by the promise of immortality and had not integrated into that Path, allowing them to leave without issue. That Xiaofeng and Fairy Fengqing had not emerged for so long showed its danger.
Thinking of this, she grew somewhat worried. Would Xiaofeng be unable to break through?
"The beings of the Six Paths..." Qin Xi's voice sounded. He had finished regulating his breathing and opened his eyes. "So the beings of the Six Paths are here. Truly a treasure of the Immortals."
"You're recovered?" Mo Tiange said happily.
Qin Xi smiled. "I wasn't injured. Just needed to regulate and restore my Spiritual Qi."
Hearing this, Die Yi's wariness deepened.
"Fellow Daoist Qin," Xuanyue asked, "in your view, is this place a small world created by the methods of the Immortals?"
Qin Xi shook his head. "Calling it a world would be an overstatement. At most, it's a treasure capable of simulating the Six Paths."
"A treasure?"
"Indeed." Qin Xi looked at the nearby doors. "One door, one Path. With the Six Paths combined and all beings of the Six Paths present, it could be called a minor world. But how could the true operation of the Six Paths have physical form? The beings of the Six Paths here exist only because they are anchored to this Immortal Palace, so it does not truly constitute a minor world. Therefore, this treasure can only be said to simulate the Six Paths."
His explanation was clear and logical, and the three demon cultivators believed him.
Xuari blurted out, "Then what do we do? Can we break the operation of the Six Paths?"
"Even if it's a simulation, how could cultivators of our realm interfere with the Six Paths?" Qin Xi sighed. "It's impossible for us to directly break through."
Xuanyue frowned. "Are we to return empty-handed?"
"Second Prince need not worry," Die Yi said. "Since the Divine Monarch sent us here, he certainly would not have done so without a plan."