Chapter 490: A Show of Force at Funicheng
At the break of dawn, Chen Ping'an left the inn and told the clerk dozing at the counter that he was checking out.
The young clerk didn't think much of it and nodded to indicate he understood.
Although the young wanderer in the bamboo hat was checking out two days early, the money wasn't going into his own pocket, so the young clerk felt rather listless. He told the maid to clean the room later, no rush.
The young clerk turned his head and looked out at the deserted street beyond the inn, but the figure of the young wanderer was already gone.
The moment he thought of the gossip that had been circulating in Mural City, he felt a bit upset. The fortunes from three celestial maiden paintings of the Heavenly Court's female officials had all been snatched away by outsiders. And he had wasted no time running over there for nothing. He thought to himself, these three celestial maidens weren't all that divine after all—they must have been attracted to the man's looks and family background. The more the young clerk thought about it, the more frustrated he became. A mouse's child digs holes—it's infuriating.
Chen Ping'an left the market and went to the archway at the entrance of Ghost Domain Valley. He paid the hemp-clad sect's gatekeeping cultivator five Snowflake Coins and received a jade token with Nine-Fold Seal script. If he left the valley alive, he could return the token to get back two Snowflake Coins.
The toll wasn't expensive—just a dozen bowls of Swaying River Underworld Tea.
Moreover, this spirit money could be borrowed from the Hemp-Clad Sect, so many desperate outlaws from the northern kingdoms of Skeletal Beach, upon entering Skeletal Beach, did only three things: spend a few coins at the Swaying River Temple to burn three sticks of incense and pray to the river god, then try their luck at the Mural City's celestial maiden paintings, and finally go to the market at Helpless Pass to buy a copy of "The Collection of Peace of Mind." After passing through the archway, they entrusted their lives to the mercy of heaven.
After paying the fee and obtaining the token inscribed with "Majestic Heavenly Might, Slay Ten Thousand Ghosts," most powerful yin spirits from cities near the southern part of Ghost Domain Valley would not actively provoke those wearing the token. After all, the Hemp-Clad Sect's sect master, Immortal Guochi, was permanently stationed in Ghost Domain Valley and often led cultivators from the two towns to hunt yin spirits. However, the city lords would not deliberately restrain their subordinate fierce ghosts and wandering souls. In the early days, many southern city lords did not believe in the rules and liked to take the opportunity to torture and kill those wearing the jade tokens. As a result, Immortal Guochi Zhuquan, disregarding the cost, led several core disciples of the ancestral hall who were Earth Immortal cultivators and ventured deep into enemy territory multiple times. Even if it damaged her foundational path, she insisted on beheading the chief culprits and displaying their heads. The reason Immortal Guochi was so slow to advance to the Jade Skin realm was largely due to her risky battles against enemies—she had been stuck in the Nascent Soul stage for far too long.
The most perilous situation was when only Immortal Guochi returned, severely injured, with three city lord yin spirit heads hanging from her waist. After that, the old sect master imprisoned her in the mountain's back jail and ordered her not to descend the mountain until she reached the upper five realms. When she finally emerged, the first thing she did was return to Ghost Domain Valley. If not for the founding patriarch's dying decree, strictly forbidding successive sect masters from activating the immortal weapon bestowed by the upper sect in the Central Continent to mobilize the 100,000 yin soldiers raised there to invade Ghost Domain Valley, given Immortal Guochi's temper, she would have long since led the army to the Bone Mound City, even at the cost of crippling the sect again.
At this moment, besides Chen Ping'an who was alone, there were three other groups waiting there. Some were friends traveling together in Ghost Domain Valley, others had bodyguards closely attending them, all waiting for the hour of Mao.
Entering Ghost Domain Valley for training, unless risking one's life, always required an auspicious hour.
Some seniors from families or sects were giving final instructions to the younger members beside them, urging them to be extra careful inside the valley. Many of these reminders were old clichés, already written in "The Collection of Peace of Mind."
Chen Ping'an fastened the jade token to his waist and stood at a distance, warming his hands alone.
When the hour of Mao arrived, the old Hemp-Clad Sect cultivator standing at the center of the first two-colored glazed archway cleared the path and said a blessing: "Wishing you all smooth sailing and a safe journey."
Chen Ping'an smiled knowingly.
He really had a good name.
Chen Ping'an walked last. One archway after another, each with different shapes and different inscription plaques, broadened his horizons.
This time entering Ghost Domain Valley, Chen Ping'an wore the Dharma robe called Green Grass given by the female Flood Dragon Wu Yi of Purple Sun Mansion. From his dimensional object, he took out the walnut bracelet given by Liu Zhimao of Green Gorge Island and a stack of yellow talismans he had drawn the previous night, all hidden in his left sleeve. The talismans were mostly of the entry-level grade from "The True Works of the Cinnabar Book" — Lantern-Lighting Talismans, Barrier-Breaking Talismans, and of course three Square Inch Talismans. One of them, drawn on rare golden talisman paper, had cost Chen Ping'an a great deal of his spirit energy the night before. It could be used to escape or to fight to the death. This golden Square Inch Talisman worked best when combined with the Divine Being Beats Drum Style.
This path took the group a full incense-stick's worth of time, passing through twelve archways. On both sides stood armored generals over two zhang tall, representing the two opposing sides of the ancient battlefield of Skeletal Beach. That battle had involved two great dynasties and sixteen vassal states, with the two armies locked in a brutal ten-year slaughter. By the end, everyone had gone bloodshot-eyed, completely disregarding the fate of the nations. It was said that over ten thousand traveling Qi Practitioners from the north had come to watch that year.
Chen Ping'an looked back. The figures of the Hemp-Clad Sect cultivators guarding the gate were already faint and indistinct. Everyone stopped moving forward, and the view opened up—sky high and earth vast, but the clouds were gloomy and miserable. The dense yin energy of this small realm suddenly flooded into every acupoint and qi mansion like seawater, making breathing difficult and feelings heavy. The travel chapter in "The Collection of Peace of Mind" had a detailed explanation of the corresponding methods. The three groups of Qi Practitioners and Pure Martial Artists ahead had already followed the procedures to resist the yin energy's attack.
Among them, a young Qi Practitioner in a mud-gold robe had underestimated the fierce yin energy of Ghost Domain Valley. Caught off guard, his face flushed red in an instant. A woman carrying a curved knife and bow beside him quickly handed him a blue porcelain bottle. The young man took a sip of the Three Lang Temple Sweet Dew brewed on his own mountain, and his face gradually turned rosy. Embarrassed, he gave an apologetic smile to the woman who seemed to be a bodyguard. She smiled back and began to look around. Her eyes met those of an old man in a black robe who had been standing behind the young man. The old man signaled her not to worry.
Ghost Domain Valley was not only a good place for training but also a good time for enemies to send assassins for a fatal strike.
Both the woman and the old man were bodyguards.
The woman, about thirty years old, was a Pure Martial Artist who had just broken through to the Sixth Realm—extremely rare.
Although the martial arts scene in Beiju Continent was vast, there were not many female martial artists with the title of minor grandmaster. To reach the Sixth Realm at such a young age was even rarer.
Only powerful immortal sects and dynastic magnates could cultivate such outstanding home-born talents, and with absolute loyalty.
As for the old man in black, he was unfathomable—hard to even tell whether he was a Pure Martial Artist or a Qi Practitioner.
Another group of Qi Practitioners: a burly man held an armor pill and donned a set of snow-white Bingjia Sweet Dew Armor. It shimmered with light, and the nearby yin energy was unable to approach.
An old cultivator took off a box on his back, making a faint sound of porcelain clinking. Eventually, he took out a Yuhuchun vase shaped like a woman's graceful figure, clearly a spiritual artifact of considerable quality. As the old cultivator held it in his palm, pure yin energy from all directions began to gather into the bottle. But the yin energy of the sky came and went quickly. In a short while, only a drop of water as small as a grain of millet formed at the bottle's mouth, hovering gently without falling into the bottle.
A middle-aged cultivator flicked his sleeve, and a small green banana-leaf pennant appeared in his palm. He pinched the rosewood handle and shook it, and it became a pennant arm's length long. A gold tassel was tied to the wooden handle, and the man hung the banana-leaf pennant on his wrist. He murmured an incantation, and the yin energy flowed like a stream washing the surface of the pennant, like a person cupping water to wash his face. This was the simplest method of tempering. Calling it simple, it was just taking out the spiritual artifact, but how many auspicious places on a continent had yin energy so dense and pure? Even if there were, they would have long been occupied by major sects, tightly sealed off, not allowing outsiders to touch. Not like the Hemp-Clad Sect, where cultivators allowed outsiders to freely absorb it.
The two cultivators who had entered Ghost Domain Valley together smiled at each other. The purity of the yin spirit energy within the valley was indeed unique—perfect for Qi Practitioners who specialized in ghostly arts.
They had truly entered a mountain of gold and silver.
Now it was just a matter of how much they could carry away.
As for the Bingjia cultivator who had the armor pill, they had hired him as a guard at a heavy price, pooling their money. The innate yin energy born within Ghost Domain Valley was not only more abundant than the filtered yin energy at the border between Skeletal Beach and the valley that had been processed by the Hemp-Clad Sect's landscape formations, but also carried heavier cold and killing intent. The closer to the heartland, the more valuable it became, but also the greater the danger. They might have to fight yin spirits and fierce ghosts along the way. If successful, they could gain several sets of white bones as profit. If not, everything was lost, and the end would be miserable. Qi Practitioners understood better than ordinary people how pitiful it was to become a yin spirit in Ghost Domain Valley.
Chen Ping'an glanced over a few times and then stopped looking.
Absorbing yin energy upon entering the valley was a major taboo. The Hemp-Clad Sect had clearly warned in "The Collection of Peace of Mind" that this would easily incur the hostility of local yin spirits in Ghost Domain Valley. After all, who would want a thief in their home?
But everyone had their own fortune. If one's skill was high enough and courage great enough, the Hemp-Clad Sect wouldn't stop them.
The last two looked like a young Daoist couple, each carrying a huge wooden box, as if they had come to Ghost Domain Valley to pick up bargains. Besides yin energy and white bones, which were the most valuable, the valley also had many exotic flowers, rare herbs, and spiritual birds and beasts growing within this small realm. There were many records in "The Collection of Peace of Mind." However, the Hemp-Clad Sect had been open for a thousand years, and countless people had come to try their luck. The Hemp-Clad Sect cultivators themselves had special teams searching for various natural treasures year-round. Thus, in the last hundred years, very few people had been extraordinarily blessed to find any eye-catching spiritual objects or earthly treasures.
Chen Ping'an crouched down and grabbed a handful of soil, squeezing it gently in his palm.
It was indeed very cold, like thousand-year-old soil from a grave mound.
Chen Ping'an dropped the soil and picked up a nearby pebble common everywhere, pinching it between two fingers. He frowned—the stone was soft, almost muddy.
No wonder Ghost Domain Valley had such strange soil and water.
The Hemp-Clad Sect had built two towns within the valley: one called Orchid Scent Town, the other Green Cottage Town. The former was in the far south, roughly the size of the market at Helpless Pass. The latter was in a mountain hollow near the western side close to the center of the valley, serving as half of the cultivation grounds for the female sect master Zhuquan. This Immortal Guochi stayed there year-round. Within three hundred years, the city lord of Mound City had twice "visited" Green Cottage Town, each time going alone. The battles with the Hemp-Clad Sect's Earth Immortal cultivators led by Zhuquan had been earth-shattering, and Immortal Guochi, whose natal object was a dharma blade, had shaved off numerous nearby mountain tops.
Thus, two northbound routes within Ghost Domain Valley had been created.
The route to Orchid Scent Town was the safest and shortest, almost a straight line of just eighty li. Though the distance was short, there were several places around Orchid Scent Town that one had to visit. There were scenic spots for travelers, such as an abandoned ancient underground palace, a rugged White Head Peak as white as snow, and a city that had chosen to ally with the Hemp-Clad Sect. The city lord was the yin spirit of a former national preceptor skilled in Daoist talismans. He often traded with outside cultivators.
As for the route to Green Cottage Town, due to the winding mountains and rivers, the distance was as long as over eight hundred li. As for flying by wind, sword, or magic treasure, "The Collection of Peace of Mind" said bluntly: Even if you are a Golden Core Earth Immortal, you are still seeking death. As for Nascent Soul great cultivators, unless they were ghost cultivators, coming to the yin-sen, killing-intent-tidal Ghost Domain Valley had no meaning for training—it could even erode one's Dao base. Moreover, Nascent Soul cultivators were usually unwilling to step into the mortal world and rarely left their own cave paradises, not wanting to waste time. And then there was the Hemp-Clad Sect's Su, a Nascent Soul who managed a cross-continent ferry. This was a helpless move due to the hopelessness of breaking through, so it was no wonder this old Nascent Soul was somewhat depressed.
Thus, the Nascent Soul realm and the Ascension realm were jokingly called the thousand-year turtle and the ten-thousand-year tortoise.
Chen Ping'an chose to go directly to Green Cottage Town, and he might not take the "official road" that the Hemp-Clad Sect had painstakingly opened.
The young man from a major mountain faction and the three-person team of ghost cultivators and Bingjia rogue cultivator chose to go to Orchid Scent Town. Whether they would later take the risk to go to Green Cottage Town was hard to guess.
What surprised Chen Ping'an was the Daoist couple. They didn't seem very skilled, yet they had also chosen the dangerous route to Green Cottage Town.
They were likely rogue cultivators. Talking softly to each other, they headed north hand in hand, encouraging each other. Though they were hopeful, their expressions carried a hint of determination.
Truly, they were risking their lives to earn money.
Chen Ping'an quickened his pace and moved ahead, putting a lot of distance between himself and them. It was better to walk in front than to follow them, to avoid arousing their suspicion.
The other party also slowed down intentionally, often stopping to pinch soil or pull grass, even digging and selecting stones.
The distance between them grew.
When the rogue cultivator couple looked up again, the young wanderer had disappeared.
The sky in Ghost Domain Valley was gray, like overcast weather, somewhat obstructing visibility.
Chen Ping'an walked faster and faster.
The narrow path to Green Cottage Town tried to avoid the large and small cities in the southern part of the valley that were ruled by separate feudal lords. But living humans walking through a valley condensed from the resentment of the dead were like fireflies in the night—very conspicuous. Many fierce ghosts that had completely lost their intelligence had an extremely acute sense of yang energy. If one was careless and made a little too much noise, they would attract wave after wave of fierce ghosts. For the powerful yin spirits ruling over a region, these fierce ghosts with considerable combat power were like chicken ribs—recruiting them was troublesome as they wouldn't obey orders and might even fight each other, depleting forces. So they let them roam the wilderness or used them as training opponents for the troops.
In a dense forest by the roadside where a flock of crows perched quietly on branches, Chen Ping'an stopped and turned to look. Deep in the forest, shadows flickered, a white robe swaying. It appeared abruptly and then vanished instantly.
Chen Ping'an left the path and walked towards the dense forest. The crows flapped their wings and flew off, the withered branches trembling as if ghosts were brandishing their claws.
But when Chen Ping'an stepped inside, aside from a few rotting armor pieces and rusty weapons exposed from the mud, there was nothing unusual.
Chen Ping'an tapped his toes and leaped onto a high branch of a withered tree, looking around. Still, he found no strange anomaly. However, when he suddenly shifted his gaze and focused, he finally saw half a pale face behind a tree, lips bright red, in the lifeless forest. She alone stared at Chen Ping'an. Her eyeballs moved stiffly and woodenly, as if scrutinizing him.
Chen Ping'an adjusted his bamboo hat and decided to ignore the ghostly yin creature. He was about to jump down from the high branch when he found the branch under his foot snapping without warning. Chen Ping'an moved aside and looked down. The broken part slowly oozed blood, dripping onto the soil below. Then, the rusty armor buried deep in the ground seemed to be donned, and weapons were "pulled" from the earth. Eventually, they wobbled upright, forming a dozen empty "armored warriors" surrounding the tall withered tree where Chen Ping'an stood.
Chen Ping'an leaped down, landing just on the shoulder of one armored warrior. Unexpectedly, the armor instantly disintegrated like ashes scattering on the ground. Chen Ping'an flicked his sleeve, a slight gust of wind passing by, and all the armored warriors did the same, turning to dust.
Chen Ping'an turned to look behind him. The white-clad woman who had shown only half her face was still hiding behind a tree, covering her mouth with a coy smile but making no sound.
Chen Ping'an smiled and asked, "Where around here are there fierce ghosts?"
The woman moved stiffly, slowly raised an arm, and pointed at herself.
Chen Ping'an shook his head with a smile, "I mean the kind that can't be killed with one punch."
The white-clad woman paused, then her face twisted in fury. Beneath her pale skin, earthworm-like veins writhed. She made a hand blade with one palm and chopped through a tree trunk as thick as a well opening like cutting through tofu. Then she brought her palm down heavily, smashing towards Chen Ping'an.
Chen Ping'an extended one hand forward. Qi formed a wall arrayed in front. The severed tree trunk hit it and turned to powder, dust blotting out the sky for a moment.
A chill came from his feet. Two white sleeves coiled around Chen Ping'an's ankles, and a woman's head emerged from the mud.
No wonder she only showed half her face. Though one side was pale, at least it retained a woman's appearance. The other half was just skin stretched thin over white bone. At first glance, it looked like an ugly woman with only half a face.
That half face looked as pitiful as a weeping woman, trembling as she said, "General, I hate that I was unfaithful. You can kill me, but don't scrape my face with a knife. I can't bear the pain."
Chen Ping'an let her sleeves bind his feet, looked down, and said, "You're one of the four trusted ghost generals of Funicheng, aren't you? Why are you so close to the road? I have the Hemp-Clad Sect's jade token. You shouldn't be looking for food here. Aren't you afraid the Hemp-Clad Sect cultivators will trouble you?"
The white-clad female ghost ignored him. She used two fingers to tear the faceless half of her face. The bone underneath was exposed, still covered with tool marks—evidence of extraordinary skin-cutting pain she had suffered before death. She cried silently, pointing to the bare bone of the half-face with her finger. "General, it hurts. It hurts."
Chen Ping'an actually crouched down, hands in sleeves, and looked at her. "Alright, your mind-confusing technique is useless against me. I've heard that Funicheng has always had a good relationship with the Hemp-Clad Sect, but you have a group of sworn enemies. Their leader is an Earth Immortal yin spirit skilled in close combat. They have few troops—just a dozen fierce ghosts—but they often raid and cause trouble, like elite scouts on the border. This Golden Core yin spirit loves to eat living people raw, especially Qi Practitioners. Falling into their hands is worse than death; they raise them like pigs and dogs, cutting off a leg one day, slicing off some flesh another, but not killing them. They are also smart enough not to offend the great city ghosts, only target the soft ones. They specifically target Funicheng, regularly sneaking off with one or two female yin spirits, who suffer terribly."
The white-clad female ghost remained unresponsive, only murmuring, "It really hurts, really hurts... I know I was wrong. General, use a lighter touch."
At this moment, white mist had gathered around Chen Ping'an, wrapping him like an invisible cocoon.
Chen Ping'an moved his shoulders slightly, and a strong blast of qi shattered the white mist.
The female ghost sensed danger and was about to burrow into the earth to escape, but Chen Ping'an struck her forehead with a swift punch, causing her yin energy to stagnate and clog. Then he grabbed her by the neck and yanked her out of the mud. With a flick of his wrist, he slammed her heavily to the ground. The white-clad female ghost curled up like a snow-white mountain snake with its bones broken, limp on the ground.
Chen Ping'an sighed. "If you keep dawdling like this, I'll really get rough."
The female ghost giggled and drifted upright, transforming into a yin spirit three zhang tall. Her white clothes also grew in size.
"The Collection of Peace of Mind" had a concise description of this Funicheng yin spirit.
The female ghost called herself Half-Face. In life, she was the concubine of a meritorious military general. After death, she became a vengeful spirit. Thanks to a mysterious Dharma robe she possessed, she was skilled in transforming into a beauty, using miasma to cloud cultivators' minds, then slaughtering them at will, sucking their marrow and qi like drinking wine. She was extremely difficult to kill. Once, an Earth Immortal sword cultivator touring Ghost Domain Valley struck her with a sword, yet she still survived.
The huge white-clad ghost's sleeves fluttered like river waves rippling. She extended a palm as large as a thicket and wiped it down her face.
She stared at Chen Ping'an, the only remaining eye shimmering with a multicolored glaze.
Then, in an instant, she conjured a new face.
Chen Ping'an narrowed his eyes. "You're asking for death."
The female ghost began to drift around Chen Ping'an, circling him. Though her lips did not move, sweet, seductive voices drifted around Chen Ping'an, deeply intoxicating and captivating. "Could you bear to kill me? Could you kill me? Why not dally with me? Spend a little yang energy and qi, and you'll get the woman of your heart, fulfilling your desires. I gain, you don't lose—why not?"
In the past, whether traveling through Baoping Continent or Tongye Continent, or even accidentally entering the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, Chen Ping'an would carefully hide his trump cards and abilities. He would only use as much strength and skill as his opponent had—cautious and steady in every step. If in other places before, when encountering this white-clad yin spirit, he would first use fist techniques, then some talisman methods, followed by the flying sword from the Sword-Nurturing Gourd, and finally he would draw the Immortal Sword behind his back.
But this time, Chen Ping'an directly drew the sword from its sheath. Holding the Immortal Sword, he casually chopped off the yin spirit's head. After the head was separated from the body, it hovered in the air for a moment before falling straight down. Suddenly, from the half of the face that was female, a great wail erupted. As it was about to act, Chen Ping'an pinned it to the ground with his sword. He then reached out, grabbed the white Dharma robe, and crumpled it into a piece of silk the size of a handkerchief. It was as light as a feather, rich in spiritual energy, cool to the touch but without yin energy—a fine Dharma robe, perhaps not inferior to the Green Grass Dharma robe he was wearing.
This female ghost had little combat ability. As Chen Ping'an had said, knocking her half-dead with one punch was not difficult. But first, her true body was not actually here; no matter how much he killed this incarnation, it wouldn't harm her foundation—she was extremely troublesome. Moreover, in this place rich in yin energy, the female ghost, lacking a physical body, could use secret arts to die and revive countless times before Chen Ping'an's eyes, until the yin energy nurturing this "shell," akin to an out-of-body traveling yin spirit, was exhausted and the connection to her true body was severed.
Flying Swords First and Fifteen were similar. For now, they could not, like the legendary land sword immortals' natal flying swords, penetrate the flow of time and ignore barriers of mountains and rivers. They could kill invisibly by following the slightest clue.
But the sword behind his back was different.
The female ghost of Funicheng, who had come and gone inexplicably, not only completely dissipated from this shell in the blink of an eye, but her true body somewhere must have been damaged. The Immortal Sword returned to its sheath, silent.
Chen Ping'an had just put the exquisite Dharma robe into his sleeve when he saw an old, hunched woman not far away. She seemed to walk slowly but was actually shrinking the ground. She stopped about a dozen paces in front of Chen Ping'an. The old woman's face was gloomy. "Just a little harmless probing, and you kill her so ruthlessly? Do you really think Funicheng is a soft persimmon? The city lord is already on her way. Just wait to die."
Chen Ping'an looked up. In the sky, a huge carriage was gliding through the wind. The procession was massive—maids of honor like clouds. Some held a canopy to block the sun, others carried jade tablets to clear the way, and there were giant feathered fans to ward off wind and dust. They surrounded the carriage like stars around the moon, making it look like an imperial tour.
It seemed the city lord of Funicheng had come in person.
In Ghost Domain Valley, whether heroes who had become kings by territory or powerful yin spirits occupying a region, they were even more lawless than the great and small island lords of Scroll Lake. This group of Funicheng female ghosts simply lacked power, so the evil they could do was limited. Compared to other cities, their reputation was slightly better.
Chen Ping'an adjusted his bamboo hat, withdrew his gaze, and looked at the old woman whose expression was shifting between uncertainty and anger. "I wasn't raised on threats."