Chapter 478: I Don't Believe in Fate, Nor Do I Believe in Heaven

Tales of underworld soldiers borrowing the path have circulated in many places. There are roughly two explanations for the phenomenon. The first claims they are soldiers who died on ancient battlefields; driven by their lingering battle lust and killing intent, they believe they are still alive. Retaining their strict discipline and combat effectiveness, they return to the battlefield every night the ghost gates open.

The second explanation suggests that underworld soldiers borrowing the path often manifest after major disasters. Following the two massive earthquakes that shocked Huaxia in recent history, for instance, many of the first volunteers and soldiers on the scene witnessed lines of wronged souls and ghost wardens escorting spirits away.

I had no way to verify which explanation was true, but I knew one thing for certain: anyone who saw underworld soldiers borrowing the path had to avoid them immediately, or their life would be in danger.

Lord Snake was casting a spell. I had never heard the incantation he was chanting, but to manifest a spectacle like underworld soldiers borrowing the path, its power had to be immeasurable.

Gusts of Yin wind blew through Lightless Alley, turning it into a ghost realm. Mangled figures materialized out of thin air and marched from the depths of the alley. Like a strictly disciplined army, they stepped out of the ghost gates carrying an aura of slaughter.

'Five Ghosts and their underworld soldiers? Does the Netherworld really exist in this world?' During the Death Train Live Broadcast, I had uncovered some information about the Underworld, but those details alone couldn't prove it actually existed. 'These creatures shouldn't be ghost soldiers from the Underworld. They're probably solitary souls and wild ghosts that the Three Yin Sect has accumulated and tamed over hundreds of years.'

"My soldiers, heed my command! My generals, heed my judgment! If called at the third watch, you must listen! If called at the fourth watch, you must act! Sever and reap Gao Jian's three hun and seven po, and slaughter him without mercy!" Lord Snake raised his hand. His withered fingers, resembling the branches of an ancient tree, pointed lightly at me.

His movement was agonizingly slow, yet it brought an unspeakable, immense pressure bearing down on me.

I instinctively backed away. Pressing up against the private car, I grabbed the door handle and pounded on the window.

Inside, Wen Chao hadn't gotten out yet. Wearing an equally terrified expression, he mashed the car locks, but it was completely useless. He couldn't even roll down the windows.

"Gao Jian, today is the day you die. Stop this senseless struggle." She Qian was the most active evil cultivator in the Three Yin Sect. The last time he was tasked with capturing me, he used the sect's foundational Wheel Turning Grand Formation and still failed, nearly losing his own life in the process. The failure had destroyed his prestige within the sect. While the disciples didn't dare mock him to his face, they inevitably pointed fingers behind his back.

As soon as She Qian spoke, the black sedans that had disappeared earlier drove out from behind me. They had planned this all along, boxing me in.

The underworld soldiers marched forward, treading on the darkness and exuding an icy chill.

"Natural disasters and man-made calamities... So heaven's true killing blow was you." I let go of the door handle, my gaze slowly calming.

With catastrophe imminent and no way to avoid it, I had only one path left. It might sound crazy, but it was my only way to survive.

To fight a centuries-old evil sect single-handedly!

"Not going to run anymore?" She Qian's effeminate smile was especially grating in the quiet night. The Three Yin Sect cultivators understood the terror of Lord Snake's underworld soldiers borrowing the path, so they retreated to both sides to make way. Directly in front of me, only Lord Snake stood alone.

He looked frail and elderly, as if a gust of wind could blow him over. Yet this white-haired old man had severed my escape route with a wave of his hand. He was driving the ghost soldiers and generals of the five directions to slice me into a thousand pieces and refine my soul!

"Three Yin Sect, I'll remember you! If I'm lucky enough to survive tonight, I will do everything in my power to destroy you!" My heart pounded rapidly. Facing true death, I realized my calm was entirely faked. I was panicked and desperate, yet clinging to a trace of bitter defiance.

"Human fate is preordained by heaven. The date of your death was set long ago. Even if our Three Yin Sect didn't intervene, you would die from other causes. This is your fate." Lord Snake raised both hands. The underworld soldiers marched past him on either side. Their uniform, synchronized movements brought a suffocating sense of terror.

A fine layer of cold sweat broke out over the backs of my hands. If I hadn't seen this horrifying scene with my own eyes, I never would have believed it.

The twisted, mangled figures charged at me like an army, resembling a long river forged of corpses and bones.

Standing proudly among the underworld soldiers, Lord Snake looked like Yama descended to the mortal realm. "Fate is an unchanging eternal river that no one has ever been able to escape. I am acting in accordance with heaven's will. Today, you will undoubtedly die."

His tone was absolute, completely indifferent to my reaction. In his eyes, I was already a dead man.

"Impossible!" As the underworld soldiers surged forward like a flood, my face twisted ferociously, bloodshot lines crawling across my eyes.

I had survived so many life-and-death broadcasts; when had I ever given up? Until the very last moment, I would never bow my head. So what if they were a centuries-old behemoth? So what if they held monstrous authority and were deeply rooted in this city? So what if they were directed by heaven and hunting on its behalf?

"I, Gao Jian, might have been born lowly, just an ant struggling on the chessboard, but I don't believe in fate, and I don't believe in heaven! Nobody can make me bow my head!"

Reaching into my jacket, I grabbed the talismans I had prepared in advance and flung them in all directions.

Four directions and four symbols, sixteen talismans in total.

"When will the moon appear in the azure sky? I stop my cup today to ask! A man cannot climb to reach the bright moon, yet as it moves, the moon follows him! Bright as a flying mirror descending upon the vermilion gate, when the green mist vanishes, clear brilliance shines forth!"

This was the Clear Brilliance Moon-Ode Talisman that Blind Liu had given me when Wang Yu was kidnapped. Used as a complete set, it could draw upon the stars and moon to break through illusions. Its power ranked at the very peak of Lesser Vehicle Talismans.

"The Seven Stars hide their brilliance; the Zi-Wu giant gates stand! If heaven wants me dead, I will shatter the celestial phenomena first!" Like streaks of lightning, the talismans were swallowed by the tide of underworld soldiers in the blink of an eye. The rolling Yin energy was simply unstoppable.

"A complete set of Lower Vehicle Talismans. The design is quite exquisite, but the effect is only on par with a handful of Lesser Vehicle Talismans. Drawing in moonlight to illuminate the night sky—what use is that?" She Qian and the evil cultivators stood on the sidelines watching. In their eyes, with Lord Snake taking action personally, I didn't have the slightest chance of escape.

"Whether it's useful or not isn't up to you." My expression was ruthless, and I bit my lip until it bled. The Clear Brilliance Moon-Ode Talisman was just a primer, laying the foundation for my next talisman.

'Normally, you can only stay far away when underworld soldiers borrow the path. But now, with Lord Snake controlling them, I will definitely be torn to shreds, and my soul will be swept away. Jiangcheng may be large, but there is nowhere for me to hide. Only by entering the depths of Lightless Alley can I guarantee my safety.' Running away meant certain death, leaving only one path before me: charging straight against the tide of underworld soldiers! If I could break through the Three Yin Sect's blockade, buying myself even a few seconds would be enough to escape into the depths of No-Lights Road.

"Gao Jian, hand over the Secret Manual of Ghost Arts, and we can give you a quick death. Otherwise, we will refine you into a ghost slave to serve us for all eternity." The speaker was another evil cultivator. After he spoke, the others nodded in earnest agreement. I had never met them in my life, yet they had already figured out how to torture my soul.

"Truly the methods of evil cultivators. But if you want to threaten me, you aren't qualified!" The clear brilliance drew the moon, scattering the black clouds in the sky. Wisps of moonlight rarely seen at the entrance of Lightless Alley poured down, blanketing the ground like silver frost.

"That's about enough." I pulled out a talisman I had kept close to my body. Its head bore the Big Dipper, and its Talisman Core was overseen by the Heavenly Pole Great Sage.

As soon as I took this talisman out, it faintly resonated with the stars in the sky. Starlight mingled with the moonlight, forming a descending curtain woven from golden threads and jade strands.

"Is this a Star God Daoist method?"

Several evil cultivators widened their eyes. Lord Snake also frowned in deep thought before a strange glint suddenly flashed across his cloudy eyes. He blurted out, "The Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper?"

Stepping the seven-star footwork and forming the Flying Immortal hand seal, I recalled every detail about the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper in the Profound Truth Detailed Explanation and chanted aloud.

"Seven Primes of the Big Dipper, divine energy ruling the heavens! Heavenly Pole Great Sage, boundlessly radiant! Above the heavens and below the earth, severing the source of all evil! Rising upon the clouds, descend before the altar!"

The divine runes flashed. In that moment, I faintly became the focal point of heaven and earth's starlight. Perhaps even from the distant outskirts of the city, one could see a speck of undying starlight!

The talisman's head shone brightly. I reached out and grabbed it, as if I had caught a sky full of stars. Amidst the brilliant light, seven beams of starlight intertwined into a sharp sword for executing evil, its edge bared!

"Not good!" Lord Snake's brow twitched wildly, and he suddenly shouted, "I respectfully request the underworld soldiers of the Five Ghosts to heed my command! Rush out the gates! Sever and reap Gao Jian's three hun and seven po! I carry the decree of the Yama Emperor, swiftly act in accordance with the law!"

"Only starting to panic now? It's too late!" Holding the Divine Talisman, I charged against the tide. "Great Deity of the Big Dipper, ten thousand demons bow their fists! Slay the fiends and wipe their traces, return from death and ascend as an immortal!"