After some time, Gustave reappeared, but the Moral Lord was nowhere to be seen.
"Gustave, where's the old saint?" Shanks asked immediately, noticing the absence. He felt deeply sorry for the tragic couple, Xiaoqian and Ning Caichen.
"Don't be impatient. Master already knows everything that's happened here," Gustave replied calmly.
When he'd returned to the Bamboo Staff, Gustave had explained the entire situation to the Moral Lord. Through his calculations, the saint had learned that this Chinese Ghost Story world was merely one of many middle-tier worlds orbiting the Primordial Chaos. However, due to the decline of the world's spiritual heart, it had been downgraded to a smaller world that could no longer support existences above the immortal level. This explained why all the immortals and gods in both the celestial and underworld realms had suddenly vanished.
Since this world revolved around the chaos, it would be inconvenient for the Moral Lord to visit personally. After all, his true body was currently in hiding - frequent appearances might alert the Heavenly Dao to his actual strength, compromising his carefully maintained secrecy.
Instead, the Moral Lord had given Gustave a special token with specific instructions to inject power into it upon arrival.
Of course, Gustave couldn't share these details with his companions.
He withdrew the token the Moral Lord had provided and channeled his energy into it as instructed.
"Hmm? Master, you didn't deceive me, did you? Why isn't anything happening?" Gustave shook the token experimentally, but it showed no response.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze stirred, and a Taoist priest in flowing green robes materialized before them.
"Little junior brother, there's no need to shake it anymore," the newcomer said with mild amusement.
Gustave started at the voice and studied the figure carefully before asking uncertainly, "Senior Brother Xuandu?"
Since he'd never actually met Master Xuandu before, he could only offer this tentative greeting.
Master Xuandu nodded with approval. "Junior brother, Master has already informed me of your situation."
"That's wonderful, senior brother!" Gustave realized that the token had actually been designed to summon the Great Master Xuandu rather than his master directly.
Master Xuandu simply waved his hand, and the entire underworld seemed to tremble in response. The demon kings occupying various territories throughout the realm emerged in terror from their lairs. In the center of the underworld, a mysterious gate stretching from earth to sky had suddenly appeared.
"The Gate of Six Paths of Reincarnation!" the demon kings exclaimed in shock. They had searched the underworld thoroughly without finding this legendary portal - how had it manifested so suddenly?
"That gate belongs to me now!" declared the demon king closest to the structure. "As long as I control the Six Paths of Reincarnation, this entire world will be under my dominion! Hahaha!"
He rushed forward with maniacal laughter.
However, before the demon king could reach the gate, his body simply exploded, his very soul obliterated without trace.
This gruesome fate immediately deterred the other demon kings who had been preparing to make similar moves. They froze mid-step, abandoning their plans entirely.
This demonstration of power had naturally been Master Xuandu's doing. How dare a mere demon king who hadn't even achieved immortality challenge his authority?
"Let's go, junior brother." Master Xuandu stepped forward, and with a gesture, transported Gustave's entire group to the Gate of Six Paths of Reincarnation.
Master Xuandu lightly touched the massive portal with one finger, and the gates swung open. Beyond lay an endless cosmos filled with ever-shifting stars and nebulae.
"Pass through here, and you can be reincarnated," he explained, looking directly at Xiaoqian.
Xiaoqian smiled peacefully. She had already made her peace with this necessity when Fahai first spoke about the different paths of the living and the dead.
"Caichen, I'll see you in the next life!" She took Ning Caichen's hand one final time, spoke these parting words, then walked resolutely into the Gate of Six Paths of Reincarnation.
"Xiaoqian!" Ning Caichen stretched out his hand and cried out desperately, watching the portal with profound reluctance.
"From dust we come, to dust we return. Reincarnation is the best choice for Miss Xiaoqian," Fahai said gently, placing a comforting hand on Ning Caichen's shoulder.
After Xiaoqian disappeared, Master Xuandu touched the gate once more. It closed and vanished from sight.
Then he turned to address the assembled group:
"The Great Sage of the Pure Land showed mercy. Seeing that the path to immortality in this world had been severed, he has commanded me to restore it. After one hundred years, the immortal path will be reopened!"
Master Xuandu's words reached every accomplished cultivator throughout the Chinese Ghost Story world. Whether human or demon, all who heard immediately prostrated themselves in gratitude to the Sage Taiqing for his boundless compassion.
"Senior brother, what exactly is happening here?" Gustave approached Master Xuandu with obvious confusion.
"Though this world's spiritual heart is aging, it still has the potential for renewal," Master Xuandu explained with a knowing smile. "Before I came, Master instructed me to reshape the world's heart and restore the immortal path. This represents tremendous merit."
He could see the questions in Gustave's mind and was happy to clarify.
"Congratulations, senior brother!" Merit was extraordinarily difficult to obtain. The chaotic realms were in constant expansion, making aging worlds increasingly rare to find. Gustave had accidentally provided Master Xuandu with an incredible opportunity.
"Think nothing of it, junior brother. When the immortal road reopens in this world after a hundred years, you'll receive your share of the merit as well."
Gustave couldn't hide his delight at these words.
"Senior brother, would you like to visit the Bamboo Staff with us?"
"No need, junior brother. I still must reshape the Heart of the World. I'll take my leave here."
"Farewell, senior brother!" Gustave waved as Master Xuandu stepped forward and vanished from sight.
"Everyone, let's head back," Gustave said with a smile, turning to his companions.
"Haha, let's go!" Yan Chixia laughed heartily, turning to begin their journey back to the mortal realm.
However, after walking only a few steps, they realized they had no idea how to return to the human world, and Master Xuandu had already departed. With no alternative, they captured one of the surviving demon kings and "requested" his assistance with this small favor.
"The human world really is the most comfortable place!" Gustave observed as they emerged into the mortal realm at dawn.
The Water Residence that had blazed with festive lights the previous night now lay in complete ruins. The pond had dried up completely, revealing a tangle of withered vines beneath.
These vines had been part of the tree demon's body. When Yan Chixia destroyed the ancient creature, all its extensions had withered and died.
"The tree demon grandmother will never have the chance to harm anyone again," Yan Chixia said with satisfaction.
"Oh, Brother Ning, since the tree demon grandmother is dead, we might be able to find Miss Xiaoqian's body by following these vines. Though she's been reincarnated, we should still give her earthly remains a proper burial." Gustave suddenly had a thought.
"You're right! Xiaoqian's body!" Ning Caichen exclaimed, reminded of this final duty.
Following the vine trail, they discovered the tree demon's true form - a massive tree nearly a hundred meters tall with branches that had once covered everything in the area. Now it stood completely dead.
Beneath the great tree, Ning Caichen found several corpses. Unable to determine which was Xiaoqian's, he decided to find a suitable burial site with good feng shui and inter them all together. It seemed the proper thing to do.
With Xiaoqian's affairs finally settled, Gustave invited Yan Chixia to visit the Bamboo Staff, but the demon hunter declined. With the immortal path set to reopen in a hundred years, he wanted to travel the world in search of opportunities for advancement.
Fahai, however, decided to accompany Ning Caichen on his debt-collecting journeys, both to protect the scholar and to continue his mission of eliminating demons and monsters wherever they might be found.
Shanks naturally returned to the Bamboo Staff with Gustave, ready for whatever interdimensional adventures awaited them next.