Chapter 259: Reversing Yin and Yang, Seizing Life and Death

The power of the Qinyin turned the tides, unleashing an indiscriminate high-dimensional strike against all evil demons across the continent. However, this wasn’t the entirety of the effect of “Blood-Red Other Shore, Yin Yang Reversed.”

The reason Vilyric chose to activate this exclusive arcane art of the Spiritual Fox Priestess at this moment surely involved deeper considerations.

At the moment the strings were plucked, the girl’s thoughts ascended to the heavens or perhaps sank into the earth, descending into a world that couldn’t be called a world under the pull of authority and laws.

“Is this the true underworld? The rumored final destination where souls return? Or rather, a more appropriate term would be a transit station…”

With no day or night, floating in the dim world, Vilyric glanced at the winding, flowing void river below her and the countless blood-red flowers blooming along the banks, prompting her to casually critique.

“It feels a bit eerie here; there won’t be any ox-headed horse-faced black and white impermanence lurking around, right…? That’d be too ridiculous.”

Of course, such beings did not exist. For the Miss Priestess, who inherited all the past of the Spiritual Fox Priestess, this was not speculation but a well-established fact.

However, it was still her first time arriving at and observing this place from Vilyric’s perspective, so a little curiosity was perfectly normal. After all, the memories of the Spiritual Fox Priestess stretched far and wide, and she couldn’t possibly absorb it all.

The underworld was not a world; it lacked true substance. To be precise, it resembled the “River of Time” that Vilyric had once visited, aided by the three divine artifacts of the Holy Empire—it’s a realm that is almost real yet not, entirely composed of “concepts.”

Thus, even with the means to traverse space, no living being could reach or interfere with this place. The Spiritual Fox Priestess was certainly not the creator of the underworld; she merely held the authority to traverse, manage this place, and guide the deceased, carving out a buffer zone like the sea of the Other Shore Flower.

If one had to name the true creator of the underworld, it could only be that luminosity which initiated the heavens and the earth, giving significance to all things—the “Source Light.”

In such a purely void world, there was naturally no true “life.” Souls from various worlds plunged into the river after death, returning to the world’s cycle in a fixed process that needn’t be influenced or interfered with.

But one exception existed.

The priestess dropped from the sky, lightly stepping onto the edges of the Other Shore Flower Sea. The intangible, formless waters of the River of Three Ways surged to the shores in waves, yet not a single corner of the girl’s red and white dress got wet, as if it were merely a reflection of some void.

She waited for a while, and eventually a small boat slowly approached from the end of the river.

Calling it a boat might be a stretch; it resembled a shuttle, no longer than two or three meters, appearing to be a simple wooden raft hastily pieced together from primitive materials—thin and unsupported, as if a single wave could flip it over completely.

The only figure standing on the ferry was even more bizarre.

It was neither human nor even a living being.

A slightly worn, plain gray robe covered its body, and a flaming blue essence shaped like a head burned brightly. Its fire-like hair flowed backward but, strangely, did not ignite the tattered robe. The hem of the robe was long, sticking almost entirely to the boat’s body, while something indescribably filling held it in a form resembling a body, making it impossible to discern the interior’s specifics.

This incredible entity rowed the ferry slowly to shore but did not disembark. It merely exchanged gazes with the girl wearing the white fox mask, and its hollow eye sockets, entirely constructed of blue flame, flickered with light.

Seeming unfazed by the other’s appearance, Vilyric simply nodded slightly, greeting it in a tone laced with a touch of mirth.

“Long time no see, Ferryman.”

【… It has been 1043 years, if calculated by your world’s calendar.】

The entity known as the Ferryman clearly possessed no mouth structure, but its imposing and weighty will conveyed meaning through the air, more straightforward than spoken words.

“Oh, I thought you didn’t care about the concept of time!”

【…】

Joking casually without minding its silence, the Miss Priestess chatted as if they were old friends reuniting.

“Yes, yes… you seem to be doing quite well; you look good.”

【It’s my duty to guide the deceased; what’s there to say about feeling good?】

“That’s not something you can say! If it were me, I’d probably be bored to death staying in the same place doing the same thing for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. If even the only person I could chat with disappeared, I’d be utterly bored!”

Listening to her teasing, the Ferryman’s deep, ancient thoughts seemed to carry a hint of barely perceptible amusement.

【So you’ve returned, which is good.】

“Can I take this to mean… longing?”

【As you wish.】

“Can’t you be a bit more cheerful…?”

After exchanging a few words with her old friend about their “long-lost reunion,” Vilyric naturally did not forget the purpose of her special visit.

“Alright, alright, we can catch up on old times later; I’m specifically here to ask for your help.”

Hearing the White Fox Girl change the topic, the Ferryman’s “tone” quickly became a bit heavier.

【I noticed that the world you protect is undergoing a disaster, a repetition and continuation of events from a thousand years ago. So, do you plan to intervene personally this time?】

“Some things just need to be done by someone.”

The head formed by the brilliant blue flame on the Ferryman momentarily flickered, as it lightly tapped the ferry’s edge with its staff, as if pondering.

【Have you made your decision? This isn’t like the petty skirmishes of the past; reviving hundreds of thousands of beings will cause a massive shift in the wheel of fate. The backlash and causal reversal are so strong that even you may not be able to bear it.】

“I thought you were sulking because it wasn’t proper, but it’s just concern that you’re worried about this…”

The figure on the small ferry slowly shook its head.

【This body is merely the Ferryman and not the master of the underworld. I… only ferry guests who ought to be ferried.】

Seeing it make a formal statement, Vilyric paused for a moment, her tone becoming more serious.

“Alright then, next, I will bring back all the souls that died due to the chaos caused by evil demons in the Ancient Spirit Realm, returning them to life, reconstructing their bodies… Don’t worry, I won’t get hurt; the Spiritual Fox Priestess isn’t that easy to take down.”

Silently watching the girl, the Ferryman nodded and plunged the staff into the water.

【As you wish.】

“Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!!!”

With the gentle stirring of that long staff, a series of blurred light forms seemed to be drawn forth, abruptly surging from beneath the River of Three Ways, rushing toward the dim sky of the underworld!

They were like a reversed meteor shower, bringing fleeting yet everlasting brightness to this non-existent, substantial underworld world.

Those souls, long dead and meant to dissolve in the River of Three Ways, now gathered and congealed in their re-reversed cycle, returning once more to the world of the living.

Heading back to the homeland they once shed blood to protect, to the side of their loved ones.

   

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