Chapter 123: The First Encounter with the Turbulent Spirit Path

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

When I finally regained consciousness, I found myself lying amidst a vast expanse of grassland. Perhaps it had been far too long since I last basked in the gentle sunlight; although the rays felt as soft as an infant's hands, I still found them blindingly dazzling.

At that moment, I could clearly feel the warm sunlight bathing my body, bringing with me a sense of cozy heat. Though dazzling, after trying a few times, I managed to open my eyes.

Am I dreaming?

This was my immediate instinct. After all, within my consciousness, I vividly knew that I had entered the Corpse Coffin Cave and lay down inside a meter-long, blood-red coffin. Setting aside how I had managed to enter that bizarre corpse coffin in the first place, the fact that I could still clearly remember all my prior actions upon waking up told me one thing: this was the memory space recorded in Chen Chuyi's notes.

This was akin to placing yourself inside your own memory, allowing you to piece together every single clue of your past step by step. In essence, this was a rare art of Yin and Yang known as the Technique of Reincarnation. However, such a secret technique was rarely seen among modern-day Yin-Yang masters, let alone ordinary practitioners.

I let out a long, turbid breath, and instantly, the scene before my eyes began to shift. Countless visions appeared before me, each transitioning from blurry to clear. Yet, even when these visions became crystal clear, they offered not the slightest clue.

I stood up and looked around. As far as the eye could see, there was an immense grassland, bordered by crystal-clear lakes. The sky was a brilliant azure with drifting white clouds, and beneath the warm sun, everything felt indescribably serene.

"The vast sea is boundless, its pearl possesses a spirit; amidst the gloom and mist, the beloved stands right before me..."

The voice was exceedingly familiar. Without hesitation, I began walking toward the sound, and from afar, I could feel it growing increasingly clear. As I crested a small grassy slope, I spotted a figure standing by the riverbank. Even just from the back, the person was instantly recognizable.

The moment the figure turned around, my entire body trembled.

Was that person not... not myself? Could I have truly entered a world within my own memories?

According to Chen Chuyi's words, wasn't this the kind of terrifying capability possessed only by supreme masters who could traverse both the mortal realm and the netherworld?

I walked step by step through this space, and to my astonishment, the younger version of myself acted as if he could not see me at all—or rather, completely ignored my presence.

The "me" before my eyes wore an archaic, grayish-white Daoist robe. Standing by the riverbank, he closed his eyes slightly and made a few calculations with his fingers. Immediately, his brow unfurled, and with a single stride, he crossed several mountain peaks. My expression changed drastically.

Hurriedly, I rushed to keep up with his pace.

After walking across the grassland like this for about ten minutes—though for me it was a continuous, full-speed sprint—to my surprise, despite running for my life, I felt not an ounce of fatigue.

However, I had no time to ponder such matters. When we finally came to a stop, I saw a dozen people appear before my eyes. Every single one of them was dressed in Daoist robes, and judging by their appearances, each possessed extraordinary abilities.

"Fellow Daoists, now that we have discovered the existence of this mysterious space, our next step is to enter it. As I said before, I, Yang Dong, will not force anyone. If you wish to withdraw, I will raise no objections. Moreover, once we enter, all the resources we discover will be shared equally among everyone..."

"Haha, Pavilion Master Yang Dong jests. Since we chose to follow Pavilion Master Yang Dong to explore this mysterious space hidden between the mountains and rivers, none of us will back down. To put it another way, this mundane world holds nothing capable of attracting us anymore. It is precisely because of the unknown that we find it fascinating."

"Indeed, indeed..."

"Haha, Pavilion Master Yang Dong, surely you don't intend to monopolize the heavenly treasures within, do you? Ah... hahaha..."

Naturally, these were just jests. Hearing this, Yang Dong (to avoid confusion, the version of me within the memory will be directly referred to as Yang Dong) burst into hearty laughter and said nothing more. Instead, he cupped his fists in salute to the crowd, then took the lead, striding directly toward the discovered cave entrance.

Without a moment of hesitation, I flickered and closely followed right behind Yang Dong. Following closely in our wake, the Yin-Yang masters in Daoist robes filed in one by one.

The moment I stepped into this somewhat bizarre cave, a sense of familiarity washed over me—a familiarity that, in a fraction of a second, gave me an ominous whiff of a conspiracy.

Yet, this feeling quickly faded because right before my eyes, Yang Dong stood with his hands behind his back. Before him was a violently churning vortex of wind, accompanied by pitch-black darkness and a lingering, dense stench of corpses.

"Pavilion Master Yang Dong, this place is deeply ominous!"

An elderly man with an ugly appearance but eyes sharp as a hawk spoke with a grave expression.

Yang Dong nodded, then said softly: "This place is called the Ghostly Dao Turbulence. Its terrifying nature lies in two things. First, a random vortex within this passage can sweep away your soul and cast it directly into the boundless sea, leaving you with zero chance of ever returning to the land of the living. Second is the corpse miasma within. I believe, Daoist Mashan, you have already perceived it deeply; the corpse miasma here is likely several times more terrifying than the thousand-year-old corpse you dealt with previously!"

The ugly elder who had spoken earlier nodded solemnly with a grim expression.

"Pavilion Master Yang Dong speaks the truth. This place has the densest corpse miasma I have ever laid eyes on. No wonder these magical spaces existing in this world are never discovered, or even if found, are nearly impossible to enter. In fact, when I entered this cave earlier, I noticed that others must have come before us, though most of them likely perished right here!"

Yang Dong took a deep breath, nodded, and said, "Indeed, what you say is correct. Before our eyes is actually a path paved with corpses. This path is called the Corpse Road."

Just as Yang Dong was speaking, he flickered his hand, and instantly a yellow paper bird flew onto his open palm. As Yang Dong gently closed his hand, the yellow paper bird instantly turned into black ash.

"The corpse-fiend Qi ahead is extremely heavy. This time, the path ahead is truly fraught with the unknown!"

As he spoke, Yang Dong reached into his robe and pulled out two meter-long strips of yellow talisman paper inscribed with various mystic runes, quickly folding them into the shape of two large birds.

He exhaled a breath onto the heads of the two birds and clapped his hands. Instantly, the two large birds began flapping their wings, plunging straight into the passage ahead, which was filled with swirling counter-currents and dense corpse miasma...