Heaven-Subduing Scripture

Having bestowed the treasures and imparted the art, the Lady in Green gazed quietly at Li Daoxuan, in her eyes already the intent to send him off.

Yet Li Daoxuan, who earlier could not wait to leave, now shamelessly lingered.

”Lady — since I am now the Blue Netherworld Envoy, we are one family; that great demon outside, might you just casually subdue him?”

The Lady in Green glanced at him. ”As the Blue Netherworld Envoy, you bear the duty of slaying demons and evil in the mortal world; this seat has bestowed heavy treasure to aid you in subduing demons — covet no more.”

She paused, then said, ”That Huang Sanlang shall count as your first trial upon becoming Envoy; if you fall, it only shows your fortune thin and your tie shallow, unfit to bear so heavy a charge.”

Li Daoxuan’s heart chilled and he sobered greatly.

Though the Lady in Green had just now valued him highly, even used tricks to make him take the Envoy post, a great one is a great one — valuing is valuing, yet she will not indulge without condition.

Li Daoxuan had a premonition that the Lady in Green means what she says; even if he died at Huang Sanlang’s hand, she absolutely would not strike!

At most she would take back the treasures bestowed and seek the next Envoy.

Truly worthy of a ghost-immortal near a thousand years old — her mind calm and detached.

Li Daoxuan’s eyes turned; he laughed. ”Lady, if you will not strike, that is fine — since I am the Envoy, may I borrow two things from the Blue Netherworld?”

”What things?”

”Only two of the most common things in the Blue Netherworld — assuredly no treasures!”

Li Daoxuan swore solemnly.

The Lady in Green’s gaze moved. ”If this seat guesses aright, you would borrow the karma-fire and the Yellow Springs?”

Li Daoxuan at once laughed. ”The Lady is most wise!”

When he saw the corrupt official tormented by karma-fire and Yellow Springs, Li Daoxuan had already conceived the thought — his Three-Realms Gourd could take common fire and common water, so why not karma-fire and Yellow Springs?

Karma-fire burns on sin as fuel, never ceasing; Yellow Springs is bone-piercingly cold, able to freeze the soul. Could he but collect these two, his Three-Realms Gourd would gain might greatly, with no small attacking power!

The Lady in Green shook her head and smiled. ”You little Daoist, too fanciful — this karma-fire and Yellow Springs are born of the Nine Nether; even this seat cannot easily take them away.”

Li Daoxuan laughed. ”Then, Lady, shall we make a wager?”

The Lady in Green’s eyes held some surprise — a mere early-Bigu cultivator, daring to wager with a ghost-immortal?

This little Daoist more and more made her feel unexpected.

”Let us wager on whether I can collect the karma-fire and Yellow Springs; if by luck I succeed, I ask the Lady to grant me one hour, to collect to my heart’s content.”

The chapter on is the author’s published version; what appears here was taken without permission and reading there supports them.

”And if you cannot collect them?”

Looking at the confident Li Daoxuan, the Lady in Green for some reason took a bit of interest; it had been too long since she felt such; in her long years men revered her as a god, and even Yang-Spirit cultivators were deferential.

Forget wagering — there were scarce few who even dared sit and speak with her at ease.

”If I cannot collect them, then let my master work ten years for you!”

The Lady in Green: ”…”

Her gaze moved, as if recalling something, and she said, ”Very well — if you cannot collect them, leave that oil-paper umbrella; the lady within is of fine aptitude, and may perhaps walk the ghost-immortal path.”

Li Daoxuan did not even think before he shook his head and refused.

Sister Yu was his friend, not goods; what right had he to decide that?

After a thought Li Daoxuan gritted his teeth. ”Change the term — if I fail, I leave the Five-Wild Battle-Troop Talisman!”

The Lady in Green’s eyes flashed strange light; that was a spirit-treasure-rank talisman, among her thousand-years’ collection ranked most high — this little Daoist would part with it?

Could he truly have a way to collect the karma-fire and Yellow Springs?

The Lady in Green, rare in her, was stirred to a trace of competitive spirit; she extended her slender jade finger and reckoned in her sleeve.

This is the art of divine calculation, which knows past and former events and reckons the unseen heavenly secret.

Yet the reckoning was clear — Li Daoxuan could not possibly collect the karma-fire and Yellow Springs!

The Lady in Green’s lips showed a barely perceptible smile.

”Good — we wager that Five-Wild Battle-Troop Talisman.”

So saying she laid a hand on Li Daoxuan’s shoulder.

The next moment Li Daoxuan felt a dizzy whirl; the void around twisted, and a vague urge to vomit rose.

When he came to, he found he had left the Blue Netherworld Hall and come to the edge of a pond.

Called a pond, it was in truth vast — endless to the eye — thickly planted with red lotuses.

Stranger still, the water in the pond was black, most viscous, and gave off a fishy stench; faintly one could hear many voices from within — ferocious laughter, mad roaring, and grief-stricken weeping.

The Lady in Green waved her sleeve; at once the whole pond of red lotuses bloomed, and in each lotus-heart danced a wisp of deep-red flame.

That was the karma-fire!

”Karma-fire is born of the red lotus; though it is the fire that burns away sin, it feeds on sin — and this pond-water is the world’s greed, anger, ignorance and hatred. Even a Yang-Spirit cultivator, should he fall into the pond, may lose the five aggregates in his breast and foul the three flowers atop his head.”

Gurgle-gurgle~

The black pond-water seemed to sense the living arrivals; as if alive it leapt, surging toward the bank, meaning to drag the two into the sea of suffering.

The Lady in Green stood before Li Daoxuan; she did not even work a spell, but stood quiet — yet the black water halted of itself before her.

Even as the Lady in Green walked, the black water parted of itself, revealing the clean pond-bottom.

This moment the Lady in Green seemed to flow with glaze-like clear-light over her skin; with a lotus-step she moved and ten thousand evils withdrew!

”Li Daoxuan — will you concede?”

She watched the young Daoist at her leisure, as if already seeing his rueful, downcast look.

Seeing this, Li Daoxuan too lost his footing somewhat; he could only think within — Three-Realms Gourd, all rests on you!

The Three-Realms Gourd, though it had lost much power through damage, was after all still an immortal artifact, and once a most supreme immortal artifact!

Refined by the Supreme Old Lord from the first gourd between heaven and earth, it was the attainment treasure of Iron-Crutch Li, foremost of the Eight Immortals — surely it would not disappoint!

Li Daoxuan slapped the treasure-gourd at his waist. ”Collect!”

The next moment that plain black gourd blazed with dazzling treasure-light, wreathed in misty purple qi, flew into the air and grew on the wind to ten zhang in size.

The gourd-mouth opened, birthing a black-hole-like suction, raising whirlwinds.

The karma-fires nurtured in the red lotuses were drawn one by one, pouring into the gourd like so many red fire-dragons.

The karma-fire was of extreme heat, burning the gourd’s inside to a red glow — but no more than that; the Three-Realms Gourd, worthy of an immortal artifact, was unbreakable no matter how it was smelted.

And that black pond-water was shut out by the gourd’s treasure-light — not a whit could defile this fine immortal artifact.

The Lady in Green stood stunned, her dark tresses drifting, a little lost in thought.

That little Daoist… had truly succeeded?