"Du Shuo Mountain, atop of which stands a Big Peach Wood, stretching three thousand li with its branches, and amongst them to the northeast is said to be the Ghost... Eh, where's the gate? Where's my gate?"

"How could such a gigantic Ghost Gate disappear?"

In Du Shuo Mountain, the sudden soft whispers startled the Divine Peach Tree, causing it to tremble violently.

A godlike being wandering the Space-Time River holding an Innate Talisman approached the space-time where Du Shuo Mountain existed, from afar to near, seemingly slow but fast.

"If you are thinking of escaping, let go of that thought, as this place has already been sealed by me."

The newcomer was cloaked in dark clothes, his hair cascaded like a waterfall, his eyebrows sharp as swords, his eyes shimmered like stars, and a graceful smile always hung upon his face.

The moment He stepped into the present space-time, boundless Chaos and Darkness swiftly surged over, submerging the entire timeline He traversed in moments.

Seeing this, the Divine Peach Tree's myriad roots that had just broken through the soil silently drove deeper still.

Xuanqing, seeing the Divine Peach Tree acting so obediently, nodded in satisfaction, and the Innate Talisman in his fingers dissipated into specks of starlight.

He examined the Innate Spirit Root before him up and down.

This tree was extraordinarily tall, its dark trunk grew like coiled serpents or lying dragons, its countless branches connected innumerable voids, absorbing and expelling Innate Divine Dawn;

Between the myriad shadowed leaves, black Divine Peaches hung from branches, the large fruits were covered in mysterious Innate Tao Patterns, like worlds upon worlds, these worlds being both illusory and real, like dreams or fantasies.

Could this tree be connected to thousands of worlds' nodes?

"Truly interesting!"

Xuanqing's eyes brightened, "No wonder I tried to find you three times before and you escaped every time."

He recalled the attempts of "fishing" in the Space-Time River at three different nodes, all in vain.

Had he not made the journey himself this time, he might have let this Divine Peach Tree escape again.

[It was you!!]

Even the Divine Peach Tree pretending to be unawakened was startled.

Since the beginning of Heaven and Earth, It had been safely residing in the vast sea.

But several epochs ago, right at the moment Its True Spirit had awakened, It was anchored across countless space-times by an unknown existence.

This had frightened the Divine Peach Tree terribly.

It made a split-second decision, picked up Du Shuo Mountain, and fled immediately.

First, it roamed around the East Sea; feeling eyes upon it even there, the Divine Peach Tree then fled to Beiming.

Having barely settled in Beiming, the Divine Peach Tree sensed impending danger and quickly concealed itself in the Netherworld along a trace of qi.

Upon arriving in the Netherworld, the Divine Peach Tree was overjoyed.

It realized this place was its promised land!

Surrounded by incomprehensible dark vastness, infinite fog permeating the emptiness, capable of blocking Divine Sense, not easily detected.

More critically, the unique Great Dao environment here was perfect for it!

The Divine Peach Tree felt that as long as it stayed here quietly, a great opportunity would come.

And then...

Then the Divine Peach Tree was caught red-handed by Xuanqing.

Clearly, the trace of qi that led It to flee into the Netherworld was deployed by Xuanqing.

There was no great Dao opportunity, just bait for "fishing."

Coming before the Divine Peach Tree, Xuanqing searched meticulously at the northeast side of the branches and leaves, but those seemingly real yet illusory worlds were completely empty.

Not a Ghost Gate, nor even a ghost, was to be found.

He wondered: 'The timeline wasn't wrong, the location was correct, and the Innate Spirit Root is here. Everything matches up, so why is the Ghost Gate nowhere to be seen?'

Xuanqing, from Blue Star of the 21st century.

Due to an accident, he arrived at the Primordial True Realm, becoming an Innate Divine Being in the Netherworld.

Beiyin Luofeng Mountain, in the midst, gathered myriads of ghosts.

He was the master of Luofeng Mountain, but now Luofeng Mountain was void of the myriads of ghosts.

This era was still within the First Epoch after Pangu's Heaven Creation; the number of Innate Divine Beings in the entire Netherworld was exceedingly rare, let alone the existence of "ghost" type creatures.

Including Xuanqing himself, there were only three beings in the Netherworld who could be referred to as Innate Divine Beings.

The other two were the Wangchuan River God – Wangchuan;

And the Netherworld Goddess, master of Da Meng – Meng Wuyou.

The Netherworld was vast, and the Divine Beings scarce; the three Innate Divine Beings had no conflicts and got along very well.

Additionally, with a good friend Xuanqing made in the Yang Realm, the four of them formed the "Netherworld Triumvirate."

Through countless eons, they often teamed up to travel the Primordial True Realm and All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds in search of opportunities.

Upon realizing his birth in the Netherworld of the Primordial Universe, Xuanqing had intended to look for those legendary mystical objects of the Underworld in later tales.

Such as the Book of Life and Death, Judge's Pen, Mirror of Karma, Three-Life Stone, Naihe Bridge, Ghost Gate, and so on.

And according to Xuanqing's calculation, the Ghost Gate, the future portal of the Netherworld, should have already been taking form at this time.

'Could someone have preempted it?' Xuanqing stared at the Divine Peach Tree with a contemplative expression.

The Divine Peach Tree, under his incessant gaze, felt uncomfortable.

It shook its branches and leaves, scattering Divine Dawn all over the ground, which then gradually gathered together, forming a faint silhouette.

"Hello, Daoist." The silhouette was indistinct, simply a transparent human form.

Xuanqing shifted his gaze to it and shook his head: "Somewhat unpleasant."

"Ah?" The silhouette became anxious, and asked dryly: "What... what's unpleasant?"

"I've lost something."

Xuanqing pointed at the tree crown: "A companion object is gone, and Daoist knows nothing of it?"

Hearing this, the silhouette also looked towards its tree crown.

"Companion object?"

Ninety-nine peaches, not a single one was missing!

The silhouette appeared baffled.

It then looked down at the ground and kicked it a few times.