Chapter 3511: White Clothes Valley, Nie Zang
"The Nether Hall is easy to enter, but White Clothes Valley is hard to enter."
All cultivators of the Underworld Clan had heard this saying.
The Nether Hall was naturally not easy to enter, and even more so, could not be entered.
Those who entered it would die.
As for White Clothes Valley, its fearsome reputation was even greater than that of the Nether Hall. It was like "Tiannan" to the Death Clan, or "Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm" to the Rakshasa Clan.
All of this was because of one person.
Yinxue Tian!
Although she had disappeared from the world for hundreds of thousands of years, and her lifespan had long since been calculated to have ended, her residual might still remained.
The current number one powerhouse of the Underworld Clan, known as "Gong Xuanzang," had already established his power. But compared to Yinxue Tian at her peak, his influence over the Underworld Clan, and even the entire Hell Realm, was at least two levels lower.
When Yinxue Tian was alive, she was the number one powerhouse of the Hell Realm.
At that time, Fengdu Dadi and Tianmu had not yet broken through to the Indestructible Infinite realm, Jiusi Yitianhuang dared not emerge from the darkness, and Xu Fengjin could only hide in the Kunlun Realm to learn swordsmanship.
That was the era of the Twenty Heavens of the Saint Realm, the era of Nishen Tianzun, Yinxue Tian, and the Sixth Patriarch.
Almost everyone from that era had died, and only then did those who came later ascend to the high platform where they wielded the authority of the universe and danced amidst the wind and clouds.
The great world where White Clothes Valley was located was completely different from what Zhang Ruochen had imagined, and also different from those gloomy underworld worlds ruled by the Underworld Clan.
The entire great world was not shrouded in Nether Qi, but instead appeared full of vitality.
The sky was not filled with gray deathly energy, but was cloudless for ten thousand miles.
The sea was azure blue, and the rivers were clear.
Zhang Ruochen and Bai Zun walked along a hard, dry mud path. Here, green trees formed shade, pines and cypresses grew tall, sunlight fell through the gaps in the leaves, creating dappled light and shadow on the ground. The air carried a scent of grass and trees, like a midsummer day in the mortal world.
Bai Zun said, "Don't say I didn't warn you. You do have a connection with White Clothes Valley, but the enmity is also very deep. No one may welcome your arrival. If they want to kill you, it has nothing to do with me."
Soon, they crossed a suspension bridge over a stream and arrived outside White Clothes Valley.
"Greetings, Bai Zun!"
Two divine generals dressed in white robes saluted Bai Zun.
Zhang Ruochen looked ahead. Through the half-concealing branches and leaves of the forest, he could see wisps of smoke and smell a strange fragrance emitted by burning incense and candles.
Beneath an ancient pine tree as thick as a millstone, there was an incense burner, with candles burning and bamboo incense smoke rising within it.
Further ahead was a stone staircase about five zhang wide.
At the top of the staircase was a temple with a vermilion wall. On the black stone stele in front of the temple gate, the ancient characters "White Clothes Valley" were clearly carved.
Many divine temples under heaven were all magnificent.
Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm and Tiannan were even more spectacular, far surpassing the grandeur of a great world, with their light and shadow visible deep in the universe.
Compared to them, White Clothes Valley seemed too ordinary. Yet within that ordinariness, there was a hint of strangeness.
Logically speaking, Underworld Clan cultivators who practiced Buddhism would be heretical Buddhas or evil Buddhas. But along the way, Zhang Ruochen had seen many monks, most of whom had devout eyes and kind brows, which was definitely not an act.
Of course, there were also some cultivators with fierce auras and gloomy, domineering temperaments.
Yet both could coexist in White Clothes Valley.
"To enter White Clothes Valley, first light a stick of incense."
Bai Zun took three bamboo incense sticks from the wooden rack beside the incense burner, lit them, and inserted them into the burner.
As the smoke curled up, two long bell sounds echoed from the stone temple, as thunderous as a clear sky thunderbolt, yet as lingering as a mountain spring stream.
Zhang Ruochen also took incense and lit it.
Soon, the temple gate opened.
An old man in worn, gray clothes walked out, holding a bamboo broom, and began sweeping from the first step of the staircase.
"Swish, swish."
His movements were very slow. It would probably take him several hours to sweep all the steps.
Zhang Ruochen noticed that Bai Zun's expression had become noticeably more solemn upon seeing this old man.
Without further thought, Zhang Ruochen had no time to wait and stepped forward.
Soon, he reached the spot below the old man. When he tried to go around him, the old man's broom would always swing over, forcing him back.
Bai Zun walked behind, three steps apart, clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Nie Zang Venerable!"
The old man, looking decrepit, seemed to have just recognized Bai Zun. He stopped his broom and smiled, saying, "It's Ling'er! You haven't been back for so many years, I almost didn't recognize you. Look at this dog's memory! Are you back for a long stay this time?"
Bai Zun pondered for a moment, glanced at Zhang Ruochen, and said, "In recent years, I thought that reaching the Infinite Realm would allow me to look down on all cultivators under heaven. But after suffering two setbacks, I realized that there is always a sky beyond the sky, and people beyond people. This time, I truly want to return and go into seclusion to cultivate for a while. I won't leave until I break through to the peak of Qiankun Infinite."
Zhang Ruochen had heard the name "Nie Zang" from Bore. He roughly knew his background—he was an old dog that Kong Yinxue had picked up and brought back to White Clothes Valley, having followed Kong Yinxue for even longer than Bai Zun.
Zhang Ruochen pressed his palms together in a Buddhist greeting and bowed, saying, "Junior Zhang Ruochen greets Senior Nie Zang. I have come to White Clothes Valley on important business, hoping to see Jue Miao Chan Nu. I ask Senior to clear the way."
The old man squinted his eyes, carefully examining Zhang Ruochen, and his voice became much sharper: "I dare not! I am but a wretched creature; how could I dare to block the path of Ling Yanzhi's descendant? But the gate of White Clothes Valley is not so easy to enter."
Having already performed the necessary courtesies, Zhang Ruochen said no more and walked straight up the stone steps.
This time, the old man did not stop him.
Just as Zhang Ruochen reached the black stone stele inscribed with "White Clothes Valley" and raised his right foot to step onto the final step, the scene before him suddenly changed drastically.
The temple, the stele, the incense burner—everything disappeared. Before him lay an endless, pitch-black underworld soil.
Beneath the black earth lay countless bones.
On the barren mountaintop, cold crows circled, making piercing cries.
Unfazed, Zhang Ruochen stepped into the underworld soil, climbed to the mountain peak, and looked down at the silent, desolate, and boundless world. Then, he gazed into the distance.
Even looking a trillion li away, he could not see the edge of the underworld soil.
Such a vast world could not possibly exist in reality.
Zhang Ruochen seemed to be talking to himself, saying, "Is this the Underworld Kingdom Illusion that Senior Nie Zang has cultivated?"
"If you can walk out of the Underworld Kingdom Illusion, you may enter the gate of White Clothes Valley," the old man's voice drifted down from beyond the sky.
"Just an illusion; breaking it is no trouble at all."
Zhang Ruochen summoned the Seven-Star Divine Sword, which had been fused into one, and slowly raised it above his head.
As the sword momentum rose, the "Boundless Universe" Truth Realm Form manifested.
Starlight shadows continuously spread across the underworld soil—a hundred million li, a billion li, ten billion li...
"Whoosh!"
He swung the sword down, and the sword light illuminated the darkness, tearing apart heaven and earth.
Zhang Ruochen's vision returned, and he saw the black stone stele right before him. One of his feet was stepping on the topmost stone step. All the illusions had vanished!
But there was no joy on his face.
Because there was no sword in his hand!
It was evident that the sword strike that had broken the illusion was also part of the illusion.
Zhang Ruochen turned his head and saw that the old man had already reached the bottom of the stone steps and was almost done sweeping.
"With your current cultivation, breaking the first layer of the illusion before I finish sweeping the steps means you have passed my test."
Having finished sweeping, the old man disappeared at the bottom of the steps, as if he had never been there.
The third layer of the illusion?
At that moment, Zhang Ruochen finally understood why Bai Zun, despite being a divine venerable, was so respectful to the old man. Truly, there is always a sky beyond the sky, and people beyond people.
...
A young novice monk, about seven or eight years old, trotted quickly across a covered bridge and entered a courtyard filled with exotic flowers and rare plants.
"He has passed the first test and entered White Clothes Valley," the young novice reported inside.
The room was antique, filled with bamboo scrolls.
The sound of a wooden fish was struck with a very rhythmic beat, harmonizing with the heaven and earth rules of this place. Though it was sound, it felt like silence.
Jue Miao Chan Nu, dressed in a white meditation robe, sat on a cushion, holding a jade brush, copying a volume of Buddhist scriptures.
As she dipped the brush in ink, she asked calmly, "Who is guarding the second test?"
"Yan Shu Chan Shi," the young novice said.
Jue Miao Chan Nu's hand holding the brush paused, and a complex, worried expression appeared on her face. "Why did he come out? Doesn't he usually not concern himself with worldly affairs?"
The young novice said, "Yan Shu Chan Shi said he wants to see the big fool who could casually give away a Mani Pearl, to know if he is truly foolish or just pretending to be."
Jue Miao Chan Nu furrowed her brows and put down the brush.
She stood up but then sat back down, sighing. "Go tell Yan Shu Chan Shi not to go too far. Don't really treat him like a fool."
Feng Xi sat not far away, tapping a wooden fish, her eyes lightly closed throughout, her state of mind completely unaffected.
...
Entering White Clothes Valley was like entering an empty temple, silent and soundless.
Some halls enshrined the six Buddhas of the Buddhist sect, while others enshrined the successive heavens of the Underworld Clan.
But none of these halls had a single person in them, including Bai Zun, who had come with Zhang Ruochen earlier, and was nowhere to be seen.
Zhang Ruochen stepped over the half-chi high threshold and entered the Kongming Hall, which enshrined the Ancestral Buddha and the Underworld Ancestor.
The statues of the Ancestral Buddha and the Underworld Ancestor were both nine zhang and six chi tall, standing side by side, one on the left and one on the right, facing each other. The statues were clearly the work of a top-tier powerhouse, exuding an oppressive might.
As Zhang Ruochen walked into the hall, the candlelight inside flickered, casting huge human-shaped shadows on the walls.
At the back of the hall, there were two passages.
If he went left, the human-shaped shadow he cast on the wall would overlap with the Underworld Ancestor.
If he went right, it would overlap with the Ancestral Buddha.
It gave the psychological hint of "one thought becomes a demon, one thought becomes a Buddha."
Just then, the tall figure of Wolf Ancestor appeared at the entrance of the right passage, and Zhang Ruochen walked over, saying, "Uncle Wolf!"
Wolf Ancestor led the way ahead, saying, "The Kongming Hall is a divine-demon observatory. It can illuminate a person's soul and observe their true heart. If the true heart is a demon, one will walk the path of the Underworld Ancestor. If the true heart is a Buddha, one will walk the path of the Ancestral Buddha. For you, it should have no effect."
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, "Is this the second test of White Clothes Valley?"
"No."
Wolf Ancestor said, "Whether Buddha or demon, all may enter White Clothes Valley. There is no distinction between Buddha and demon, no distinction between right and wrong, no distinction between good and evil."
Zhang Ruochen said, "Uncle Wolf, how long have you been in White Clothes Valley?"
"Not long ago, I returned with the Divine Venerable," Wolf Ancestor said.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly stopped, saying, "Nutian Shenzun is in White Clothes Valley?"
(End of chapter)