"Of course, before coming to Shangjing, we weren't so sure until we saw your Ten Incense Sticks and the path left by the Great Virtuous Master, and understood what you want to do. Only then did we have a concrete idea of the road beyond this White Jade City."

"..."

Listening to her words, Hu Ma even felt a bit surreal.

She was Madam Li of the Li Family, representing the most stubborn and highest insight among the paths of this world, yet she spoke of the Reincarnators pursuing Tai Sui and striving for divine destiny with such confidence?

Even more confident than when I first spoke of this plan with Tieguanyin.

But if this were so, wouldn't we have reached a consensus long ago to resist Tai Sui, thus avoiding this duel?

"It's good that Madam has faith in this human world."

Feeling the intertwining energies within, knowing it's not that simple, Hu Ma slowly exhaled and, with a serious gaze at Madam Li, said, "Now, you should state your terms."

"Everything can be given to you."

Madam Li did not conceal anything and slowly, deliberately, said, "But we want to retain the abilities we have, even the abilities we gain after overcoming the obstacles."

Hu Ma squinted her eyes, facing this somewhat unusual remark, and simply asked, "What do you mean by this?"

"The abilities of the Ten Families, apart from the Hu Family, are mostly not just in the human world."

Madam Li looked at Hu Ma and said softly, "When Tai Sui descended, evil spirits clashed in the human world, common people fought for Tai Sui, gradually giving birth to sinister powers, with ghostly gods wandering, evil spirits rampant, yin and yang indistinct, covered in chaos."

"Most of our abilities in the jianghu paths came about this way as well."

"So we actually understand well that if one day Tai Sui is expelled, the Blood Food in the human world will also vanish, and the dharma methods brought by the Blood Food will lose their foundation and gradually become ineffective."

Hu Ma nodded, as this was something everyone in the paths knew deep down.

In today's world, regarded as the flourishing of magic, this arose because of Tai Sui. Once Tai Sui is expelled, everything will return to normal; there won't be so many strange skills anymore.

Perhaps a little will remain, just as before Douyi entering the mansion, but there will certainly not be so many powerful dharma methods.

"But beyond these dharma methods, there are still the abilities of Shangqiao."

Madam Li's expression turned solemn, as if revealing a secret, "Each of the Ten Families possesses abilities that transcend Entering the Mansion, reaching Shangqiao. This is already the beginning of seizing the authority of heaven and earth, powers beyond human strength."

"Therefore, the first step once one has crossed Shangqiao is the 'not human' realm."

"Theoretically, even without Tai Sui, the abilities of Shangqiao would still exist."

"..."

Hu Ma nodded. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Crossing Shangqiao means exploiting the loopholes of heaven and earth, no longer based on Tai Sui's Blood Food, so naturally, it can remain.

However, she's missing one point:

To expel Tai Sui, you need to change the heavens and the earth.

At that time, the abilities of Shangqiao will also be blocked, meaning the loopholes in heaven and earth will be closed, authority reclaimed, and the abilities of Shangqiao will likewise vanish.

So, he really didn't understand Madam Li's intention.

"Great Master, your Zhensui arts come from the incense of the common people and the laws of the dynasty."

As Madam Li spoke of this, her expression also turned serious, she paused slightly, then asked, "Do you know where the Li Family's abilities come from?"

Hu Ma did not interrupt, just looked at her inquisitively.

"The Li Family, in the past, under the arrangement of the Duyi Court or the Daluo Dharma Sect, was charged with the responsibility of beheading the Human Demons."

Madam Li continued, "The Li Family holds the Sin List, also called by outsiders as the Sinners' List. Any guilty person in the world who has damaged their yin virtue must be led into the Bloodstain Pond in the underworld for a cut."

"The Bloodstain Pond, one of the Eight Sceneries of Netherworld, gathers the blood shed by sinners in the world being beheaded, hence the utmost poison, utmost resentment, utmost evil, and utmost malice."

"Besides the Bloodstain Pond, there is the Ghost Gate, determining life and death; the Clothes Stripping Pavilion, flaying and painting bones; the Naihe Bridge, transitioning from death to birth; the Evil Dog Village, dividing souls and seizing spirits; the Wangxiang Platform, creating fortune and blessing; Poqian Mountain, managing wealth and Silver Coin; and Granny Meng's Shop, releasing karmic ties..."

"These Eight Sceneries of Netherworld are of such nature, originally born of heaven and earth, also the essence of the human world."

"..."

Listening to her words, Hu Ma also nodded slowly.

After arriving at Shangjing City, gaining the Ten Incense Sticks, his cultivation increased, his abilities grew stronger, and his perspective broadened. Together with the discussions with the Daluo Dharma Sect represented by Calculation, Reincarnators like Er Guotou, his insights naturally deepened.

They all knew that to duel the Ten Families, one must understand the abilities of the Ten Families. The strongest abilities of the Ten Families are their various mother forms.

And the foundation of the Ten Families, aside from the earthly roots, is the Eight Sceneries of Netherworld.

He had been to the City of the Dead and knew of the existence of the Eight Sceneries of Netherworld, but peculiarly, to understand the Eight Sceneries of Netherworld requires acknowledging that these places are actually non-existent.

As if a living person without the gateway to the Ghost Gate, without the abilities of becoming a ghost, could never enter the underworld.

If they can't enter, then it doesn't exist.

It's just because this realm is influenced by Tai Sui, something can arise from nothing, allowing the souls of the living to leave their bodies, and the dead, after death, can still traverse between yin and yang. At this time, the underworld can be seen.

Since the underworld is truly seen, then some legends within the underworld also truly exist.

If one must describe it, Hu Ma borrowed a principle from the other world to understand. This underworld and netherworld are similar to a spiritual world, non-existent in reality, but within the spiritual world, it exists, and moreover, it has always been filled with various legends.