Chapter 29

"一杯酒，一千年."

Xing asked, "How do you feel being in the netherworld with your human body?"

"Not much different from the human world," Ouyang Feng said slowly after taking a sip of clear wine. "The yin energy is sticky and uncomfortable. Moreover, staying in the netherworld for too long means your lifespan isn't enough. One day in the human world is a year in the netherworld!"

"Yes, I don't even know how many tens of thousands of years I've lived," Honghaier said, his chubby apple cheeks raised, speaking with an old man's tone. His little d**d, embroidered with lotus flowers, was exposed, and his two buttocks were white and tender, tempting someone to pinch them hard.

"Ouch!" Honghaier cried out, jumping away from the table, his big, watery, black eyes glaring at Xing. "You dare to pinch my butt? By seniority and age, you should call me great-great-grandfather... or simply Ancestor!"

Honghaier spoke with an old man's tone, though he looked like a three-year-old naked child. His actual age was indeed terrifyingly long.

"Just a little brat, trying to act like an ancestor," Xing said with a smirk, not caring, though Ouyang Feng was really worried for him.

"He is a little demon, who once made the Ghost King and his generals flee in disarray, with great power! You actually dared to pinch his butt and call him a little brat?!" Ouyang Feng shouted in his heart, his eyes twitching, and scenes from tens of thousands of years ago flashed in his mind, with corpses piled up at the Ghost Gate and the Iron Enclosure Mountain glowing with blood.

Fortunately, Honghaier didn't fly into a rage. He grabbed a wine glass with his chubby little hand and drank furiously.

Xing didn't continue to provoke the child, turning to look at Ouyang Feng and asked, "Senior, I've heard that one day in the Heavenly Realm is a year in the human world, but I've never heard that one day in the human world is a year in the netherworld. Why is that?"

Ouyang Feng nodded and said, "You should know that the Three Realms are structured like a pyramid, with the netherworld at the base, the human world in the middle, and the Heavenly Realm at the top. The flow of time is different from the base to the top, decreasing gradually."

"Different flow of time? That's amazing!" Xing listened intently, his eyes sparkling with surprise.

"There's a reason for this structure. Think about it, the netherworld is the final destination of the Three Realms. How many souls arrive every hour, every second? How many ghosts need to be sent to the Six Paths of Rebirth? The netherworld has to be busy, so the flow of time is faster. The human world is the transit station, so the flow of time is moderate, neither fast nor slow. The Heavenly Realm, at the top of the pyramid, has the slowest flow of time."

Xing nodded, his eyes becoming even brighter, fascinated by the concept of time.

"I see..." He held his wine glass, pondering.

At this moment, the old innkeeper, who had been drinking and admiring the flowers, suddenly said, "Haven't you already decided to become the senior's disciple?"

The old innkeeper's words were like a splash of cold water, and Xing immediately came to his senses. He held his wine glass and knelt down, offering it to Ouyang Feng.

"Thank you, Master, for your guidance. Your disciple is foolish!"

Ouyang Feng was taken aback and then laughed, "You two are quite clever!"

"Please, Master, don't blame me." Xing's eyes twinkled, and he smiled, knowing that Ouyang Feng hadn't refused, which meant there was a chance.

"Are you sure you want to be my disciple? You should know that Honghaier is more powerful, a disciple of a great hero, while I am just a janitor." Ouyang Feng's smile vanished, his eyes flashing with intensity as he stared at Xing seriously.

The drunk child, hearing his name, nodded repeatedly, his chubby feet tripping over each other, and he fell on his bottom.

Xing glanced at the red-faced, snoring Honghaier on the ground, his lips twitching, and said with unwavering determination, "If Master doesn't accept me, I will kneel here forever!"

"Cliché!" Ouyang Feng's face hardened, startling Xing, but then he changed his tone, "Since you keep calling me Master, why don't you get up? Do I have to ask you to stand up?"

Xing was momentarily stunned, then his face lit up with joy, and he stood up, bowing deeply, "Master, I bow to you!"

"Good! Good!" Ouyang Feng nodded, smiling broadly, not expecting to find a disciple in the netherworld.

"Ha ha ha, boy, it's your good fortune to become the senior's disciple. This is a great event, let's drink! Drink!" The old innkeeper was delighted, raising his glass repeatedly, treating Xing as his junior and liking him very much.

"Drink!" Ouyang Feng was in high spirits, drinking glass after glass. He was a wine lover, and now he drank even more.

Under the famous mountain, surrounded by a fence, chrysanthemums bloomed, and in the thatched cottage, the two elders and a young man drank together, humans and ghosts, modern and ancient, coexisting harmoniously.

After a night of drinking, the old innkeeper called for a carriage and left, leaving Xing in the thatched cottage.

"Disciple, come here." Ouyang Feng beckoned, a smile appearing on his sharp face.

Xing sat down, and Ouyang Feng placed his thin, bony hand on Xing's shoulder, closing his eyes, with occasional flashes of light, which was quite astonishing.

After a long while, Ouyang Feng slowly opened his eyes, looking Xing up and down, more satisfied.

"Good, good..."

Ouyang Feng mumbled, then said to Xing, "I haven't taken ghosts as disciples before, but I have defeated many powerful ghosts and lived for many years, knowing some ghost techniques and killing moves, which I will pass on to you."

Then, he took a wine glass, filled it with wine, and placed it upside down on the table, with no wine spilling out.

"You are a ghost, so there's no 'bone examination,' but I used a similar technique to examine your ghost body, which is very solid."

"A ghost body is like a wine glass, and the soul is like the wine inside."

"How does the body carry the soul? It's like a cup holding wine." Ouyang Feng took another wine glass, filled it with wine, and placed it next to the upside-down one.

"Which one do you choose?" Ouyang Feng asked.

"This..." Xing was confused, pointing to the upright wine glass, with its clear, amber-colored wine shimmering with a jade-like glow.

Xing guessed the correct answer might be the upside-down glass, but he didn't understand the reasoning, so he honestly chose the upright one.

"Good, a bit slow, but honest." Ouyang Feng nodded, picked up the upright glass, and drank it, then asked Xing, "Can you pick up the upside-down glass and drink it?"

"No." Xing shook his head, a glimmer of understanding flashing through his mind but not fully grasping it.

"The physical body and soul of all living beings are like an upside-down glass and wine, mutually dependent but in a very dangerous state. The body seems to hold the soul, but in reality, the soul is constantly leaking, with other profound mysteries that can be understood but not expressed..."

Ouyang Feng nodded, continuing, "When I examined your ghost body, I found it very condensed, with a cultivation speed ten times that of ordinary ghosts! This is your strength, but don't be proud. On your way here, you must have seen some powerful ghosts' offspring. Their ghost bodies are not inferior to yours, and you lack a solid foundation!"

Xing's face was solemn, nodding in agreement, surprised at Ouyang Feng's insight, which he had also considered but didn't expect his master to see and analyze so clearly.

"Ghosts cultivate the soul and 'thought,' and their physical bodies can never match those of immortals and Buddhas, so few ghosts choose to cultivate their bodies. But we must go against the norm and train our bodies hard! You have the conditions for it!"

"The Ghost Soldier realm has nine levels, and you need to condense seven chakras and accumulate ghost energy to prepare for the formation of ghost essence. At this level, ghosts cannot use powerful ghost techniques, and the most important attack method is martial arts!"

"I will teach you martial arts to strengthen your body! The basics include basic boxing, basic swordsmanship, basic knife techniques, and more..."

Ouyang Feng was eager to catch up with the powerful ghosts' offspring, so he outlined a plan for Xing.

This place was truly a pure land, seemingly isolated from the netherworld, with a distinction between day and night. The sky darkened, while outside the pure land, it remained gray.

Xing and Ouyang Feng talked late into the night, and the sleeping child was carried to the bed.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo..."

A high-pitched crowing echoed from the small pure land at the foot of the famous mountain, signaling the dawn.

The netherworld has no sun or moon, so there is no distinction between day and night. The rooster's crow became a characteristic of the pure land.

The rooster strutted proudly, with a red comb and colorful tail feathers, its body covered in iridescent plumage, like metal. It walked around the pure land like a king inspecting his territory, its clear and loud crowing followed by a sharp gaze searching for fat insects to satisfy its hunger.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-doodle-doo..."

The rooster suddenly spotted its prey and immediately chased after it, the frightened insect wriggling desperately.

Plop! The rooster, chasing the insect, dove into the blooming chrysanthemums, causing golden petals to fly everywhere, ruining the beautiful flowers.

"Ha!"

A white mist, like a dragon, was exhaled, and Xing's chest and abdomen contracted, completing the breath in one go.

"Ha ha, Master's chrysanthemums are in trouble. I heard this rooster is extraordinary, once following a great hero and defeating a phoenix-blooded Zhu Niao, plucking all its feathers to make a feather coat." Xing saw the rooster chasing a fat insect in the chrysanthemums, ruining the flower bed.

"Whoosh~"

Xing exhaled, looking at his palm, reflecting on the night's conversation with Ouyang Feng, which was very enlightening.

"Master said he would only teach me basic martial arts, but I can feel the extraordinary nature of these basics, like the 'Yi Jin Jing.' Starting to practice before dawn and the rooster's crow, I now feel energetic and full of strength, with my original power enhanced."