BXBX NOVEL Chapter 250 - 249: Never Heard of the River Human Emperor
The story of the Ruan Clan arouses much reflection, yet it contains a fatal flaw.
It is not that Jiang Li used a long sword to fight ghosts, but the existence of the fearsome ghost, Ruan Clan.
There are no ghosts in Nine Provinces.
Many folk tales circulate about ghosts, such as the seventh day after death, the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, paper-burning rituals, and unresolved affairs between the living and the dead, and so on. Even some grand cultivators believe in these things. They have never seen ghosts, but precisely because they haven’t seen them, they find the invisible ghosts terrifying.
Jiang Li knew clearly, however, that no ghosts would appear in Nine Provinces.
He had once asked Everlasting Immortal Elder, Sumeru Old Buddha, and Brahma Pagoda. Their conclusions were all the same.
Ghosts dwell in the Underworld; there are no ghosts in Nine Provinces.
According to Sumeru Old Buddha, the methods of the Underworld are incredibly refined, approaching the level of heavenly and earthly laws. When a person dies, their soul leaves the body and is instantly teleported to the Underworld.
No one can perceive this process. Not even Sumeru Old Buddha or Brahma Pagoda, who are adept in spatial magic, can sense it, let alone Jiang Li.
The process of the Underworld reincarnating souls is also undetectable by others.
The process of souls going to the Underworld comes from the mouths of the great powers in the Immortal Realm and was transmitted through the Everlasting Immortal Elder. Numerous immortal manuscripts also confirm this point.
Everlasting Immortal Elder said that the Underworld didn’t utilize spatial magic but instead the way of Reincarnation. Almost only the people in the Underworld know this way. Even the great powers in the Immortal Realm know very little about it, only a few Immortals can understand it.
No one in Nine Provinces does.
If there was any place in the world that could possibly have a connection to the Immortal Realm, it would be the legendary Underworld.
Unfortunately, the Underworld is even more mysterious than the Immortal Realm, leaving only fragmented knowledge behind.
Perhaps the only way for Jiang Li to get to the Underworld is to die once himself.
No matter how much Jiang Li wants to reach the Immortal Realm, he wouldn’t go as far as throwing his life away.
[Mission Released: Congratulations to the host for becoming a Nascent Soul Cultivator and gaining a place in Nine Provinces. After your breakthrough to Nascent Soul Stage, your Divine Sense expanded tremendously causing your body to fall into a coma. A villager from the northern territory of Changguo found you. While crossing Han Pool, a man-eating demon serpent emerged from the pool, scaring the villagers away and leaving you in a coma behind. You opened your eyes to find yourself face to face with the serpent, a creature worshipped by humans.]
[Please defeat this mid-stage Nascent Soul demon serpent.]
[This mission can be abandoned.]
[Mission Reward: One copy of the Hundred Poisons Sutra, one piece of Dragon
Blood Wood, and one Hidden Sect talisman.]
“Man-eating demon serpent, humans as sacrifices?”
Jiang Li took note of the system’s description of this Han Pool demon serpent.
The fact that it could be described in this way probably means that the serpent has eaten many humans, causing endless disaster.
A beast eating humans doesn’t necessarily mean it has learned the way of the demon; it might just find humans delicious.
The lifespan of a beast is longer than a human’s; a Nascent Soul Stage serpent can live approximately seven to eight hundred years.
“From a timeline perspective, this demon serpent may still be alive.” Jiang Li, worried, decided to go to Changguo to check the situation.
Based on the system’s description, Jiang Li arrived at the northern border of Changguo, found the village near the Han Pool, and surprisingly, met an acquaintance.
“Nian’er, what are you doing here?”
“Uncle Jiang.” Li Nian’er was also surprised to see Jiang Li.
“It’s all because of my unreliable father- On their marriage appiversary. he went
to the Cloudwater Secret Area in search of Immortal Divine Sense. Mom was furious when she found out.”
“I came out to avoid the storm and just happened to pass by this place. I heard about a man-eating demon serpent. If it’s true, I thought of executing it on behalf of the West Sea Dragon.”
Li Nian’er has half West Sea Dragon blood.
“Is that demon serpent still alive?” Jiang Li was surprised. He came here just in case, not expecting the demon serpent to still be alive. “Uncle Jiang, you’ve also heard of this wicked serpent?”
“Never mind that, please continue.”
“I heard from the villagers that the wicked serpent is very cunning. It hides in the deepest part of Han Pool and never comes out. It’s been over a hundred years now.”
“Over a hundred years? That’s quite interesting.”
If the demon serpent had been causing havoc for over five hundred years, Jiang Li could understand. But if it had been over a hundred years…
An old man tottered out from the village: “You two seem to be guests, why not come in for a rest?”
Jiang Li could see that this old man was the strongest in the village, at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation. Unfortunately, his lifespan was almost up; he wouldn’t live much longer.
Through conversation with the old man, Jiang Li learned that he was the village chief.
“I’ve heard there’s a demon serpent in the nearby Han Pool. Could you tell us more about it?”
“That’s a long story. Our village is near the Han Pool, that’s why it’s called Han Pool Village. People like to use the water of the Han Pool for bathing because it’s believed to have health benefits. About a hundred and ten years ago, a huge python emerged from who knows where and took up residence in Han Pool.
Someone went to fetch water from the pool one day and was swallowed whole by the python. You could even see the person’s face through the snake’s belly.” Li Nian’er imagined the scene and felt a little scared.
“The python spoke human language and said no one was allowed to tell of what happened today. It also demanded that we sacrifice a man and a woman every year. If we failed to comply, it would wipe out the entire village!”
“We’ve asked cultivators for help, but all of them were swallowed by the python. Enraged, the python stormed the village and ate more than ten people.
Only then did it quell its anger. Since then, we’ve never dared to defy it.”
“Fifty years passed, and the python shed its skin and turned into a demon serpent. It continued to coil around Han Pool till this day.”
Snakes have two paths of cultivation, one follows the shape of a snake, the other transforms from snake into a serpent, and then a dragon.
Becoming a demon serpent means becoming a Nascent Soul Beast.
“I don’t know how my grandson is doing now, or how his cultivation is progressing.” The village chief sighed.
“Where is your grandson now?” Li Nian’er was curious.
“I don’t know. He sneaked out of the village when the wicked serpent wasn’t paying attention, saying that only by becoming a powerful cultivator could he kill the wicked serpent.”
“Why didn’t he seek help from others?” Li Nian’er couldn’t understand the grandson’s thinking. Instead of cultivating to Nascent Soul level himself, wouldn’t it be faster to find a Nascent Soul Cultivator for help?
“Young lady, you really know how to joke. That’s a Nascent Soul Beast. We can’t possibly afford to engage a Nascent Soul Cultivator to help us kill the wicked serpent.”
“He could ask for help from the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace wouldn’t ignore this matter, especially Uncle Jiang, oh no, Jiang the Human Emperor.” “Jiang, the Human Emperor? Who?” The village chief was bewildered. “You haven’t heard of Jiang, the Human Emperor?” Li Nian’er was even more
surprised than the village chief.
“Never heard of him.” “Then, have you heard of any Human Emperor?”
“Lu, the Human Emperor.”
Jiang Li’s predecessor was Lu, the Human Emperor, a respectable senior.
“Then, do you know what year it is now?”
“4065 in the Yan calendar.”
“Isn’t that five hundred years ago!” Li Nian’er couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation and looked to Jiang Li for help.
“You’re a wandering disciple of the Body-incorporating Sect, and you need to learn how to solve problems by yourself. If you don’t use your mind every day, you’ll end up like your dad with a dull mind.”
Jiang Li shook his head. The young people of today were always asking for help. When he was in the Nascent Soul Stage, he solved problems independently and never asked for help.
Li Nian’er was scared into pondering where the problem lay..