Chapter 18: Dantai Qingrun

A horizontal case was placed in the room, and atop the case was an incense burner from which delicate plumes of sandalwood incense rose.

Behind the case, a woman sat cross-legged, while the middle-aged man who had just entered stood behind her very respectfully.

Lu Qingshan took a light breath of the faint sandalwood permeating the air, and felt a cool sensation rushing into his mind.

His mind felt refreshed, and the various random thoughts inside began to gradually dissipate.

This was "Tranquil Spirit Incense"!

An exceptional treasure for aiding cultivation, it could help a cultivator enter the state of cultivation faster and also improve the efficiency of their cultivation.

A single ordinary stick of Tranquil Spirit Incense started at the market price of one Third Grade Spirit Stone, the users who utilized Tranquil Spirit Incense to aid their cultivation were either rich or noble.

However, given the woman's status, it was quite normal for her to use Tranquil Spirit Incense to aid in her cultivation.

The Tower Master of the Prefecture City branch of Yuanshan Tower was a Golden Core Cultivator.

For cultivators, the first four realms—Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul—each level up represented a qualitative leap in power.

Golden Core Cultivators in Yuanshan City were considered the highest level of combat power.

Yuanshan Tower's Tower Master was a woman who looked to be about twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

Dressed in white surpassing the snow, her eyebrows sharp yet her features incredibly delicate, she was very pleasant to look at.

However, since she was a Golden Core Cultivator, her age could not be simply inferred from her appearance.

She might as well be a person from the same generation as his own great-grandmother.

Lu Qingshan pondered inwardly in his mind.

Because if he remembered correctly, his current body was only fifteen years old, absolutely a fresh young cultivator.

The woman sized up Lu Qingshan, who had just entered; her face was as calm as water, and her voice indifferent, "Where did you hear about the Netherworld?"

Lu Qingshan answered neither servilely nor overbearingly, "By a fortunate coincidence."

"By a fortunate coincidence?" her tone slightly rose.

"My name is Lu Qingshan, a descendent of the Lu Family from Zhenjiang Prefecture of Qing State," Lu Qingshan did not directly answer the woman's question, but spoke again, "May I have the honor of knowing the Tower Master's name?"

The Lu Family was one of the thirty-six major cultivation families in Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Although this scale of power might not be regarded by Yuanshan Tower, Lu Qingshan still did not mind establishing his background.

"Dantai Qingrun." The woman frowned slightly, but still cleanly and without any pretentiousness or hesitation, she reported her name.

"Tower Master Dantai." Lu Qingshan nodded and said, "The Netherworld, a Demon Race organization lurking within the Human Race, has its influence spread across the Seven Domains and is enormously vast.

The Netherworld was initially formed by some Demon Cultivators with the ability to disguise and infiltrate, who entered the Seven Domains of Human Race and attracted a large number of cultivators through enticement or coercion.

Under the nourishment of interests and desires, the power of the Netherworld grew stronger; they held human lives cheap and committed every imaginable atrocity.

In the great war twenty thousand years ago, though Ancestral Taoist Xia led the Human Cultivators to repel the Demon Race and severely weaken the Netherworld's power, and subsequently established the Great Xia Imperial Clan to protect the Human Race, the Netherworld never vanished but stubbornly continued on.

The Netherworld silently lurked within the Human Race, regrowing its forces like a malignant tumor wantonly expanding within the territories of the Human Race."

Lu Qingshan expounded his understanding of the Netherworld calmly.

The world of "Nine Heavens" was vast, extremely vast.

The term "Nine Heavens" came into use because this world consists of nine different realms.

Yet, even before his transmigration, Lu Qingshan only knew the names of two of these realms.

One is the realm where players are born, which is also the current world controlled by the Human Race, Sky Dome!

Another one is the world where the Demon Race resides, the Abyss!

The Abyss and the Sky Dome are adjacent worlds. In their struggle for resources and to strengthen their own races, the demons of the Abyss have always attempted to conquer the Sky Dome and turn the Human Race into vassals and slaves of the Demon Race.

Twenty thousand years ago, during the full-scale holy war launched by the Demon Race, the cultivation realm of humans had been fighting individually due to the sect system and the division between right and wrong. They were utterly defeated by the Demon Race, causing living beings across the Seven Domains of the Sky Dome to suffer immensely.

Just as the Sky Dome was about to fall and humans were about to become slaves to the demons, Ancestral Daoist Xia transcended the Nine Layers of Heavenly Tribulation, attained the status of an Ancestral Taoist, and with the power of an Ancestral Taoist, turned the tide, stabilized the crumbling edifice, and repelled the Demon Race.

After driving the Demon Race back to the Abyss and rebuilding the Human Race, Ancestral Daoist Xia learned from the experience. While preserving the independence of the sects, he established the Great Xia Imperial Clan to unify the Human Race and protect them.

This is also why there are so-called imperial clans existing in the world of cultivation.

For no other reason than that the bloodline of an Ancestral Taoist is regal, demanding respect!

After repelling the Demon Race, Ancestral Daoist Xia built a grand human city on the border between the Sky Dome and the Abyss, Heavenly River City.

Using Heavenly River City as a frontline battlefield base, humans have since blocked the Demon Race outside the Sky Dome. Coupled with the deterrent force of the Ancestral Taoist, in these twenty thousand years, the Human Race has been able to rest and recuperate, gradually becoming stronger.

However, as the Netherworld is an influence of the Demon Race, it has been hiding within the human territories like a bomb, never knowing when it might explode.

Hence, eradicating Netherworld forces has always been a very unified goal among the major powers of the Human Race.

....

Dantai Qingrun slightly raised his delicate eyebrows, "You speak rightly, but these are not things a Qi Refinement second level cultivator should know, let alone being able to find our Yuanshan Tower."

Dantai Qingrun's expression turned cold.

Suddenly, a heavy oppressive force descended upon Lu Qingshan.

[Divine Sense Exertion]!

The oppressive force released by a Golden Core cultivator's divine sense alone was enough to immobilize Qi Refinement second level Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan struggled to twitch the corners of his mouth, "The purpose of Yuanshan Tower is to counter the Netherworld, are you sure.... you won't let me finish speaking?"

"Tower Master." The middle-aged cultivator standing to the side, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up persuading, "Perhaps we should listen to what he has to say."

Dantai Qingrun frowned for a moment, then finally nodded and said, "Continue."

Lu Qingshan felt his whole body relax.

The suffocating oppressive force had dissipated.

One playing the bad cop, another the good cop— a classic old trick, used so much it's become cliché.

Lu Qingshan chuckled softly and suddenly said, "A Demon Cultivator, Blood Corpse True Person, current location, within Yuanshan City, strength, Foundation Establishment Realm, appears as a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, accompanied by a female disciple who is a Qi Refinement fourth level."

Dantai Qingrun fell silent for a moment.

"What do you mean by this?"

"First a little gift for you, then we can talk about what comes next."

"Matters concerning the Netherworld are of great importance. Better to believe they are true than not," the middle-aged cultivator said to Dantai Qingrun.

A glint flashed in Dantai Qingrun's eyes, and he nodded, saying, "Then it would trouble Uncle Rong to make a trip."

The middle-aged cultivator looked meaningfully at Lu Qingshan and left the room.

...

After the middle-aged cultivator left, only Lu Qingshan and Dantai Qingrun remained in the room.

The atmosphere suddenly turned somewhat eerie.

"Tower Master Dantai is a Sword Cultivator, right?"