Chapter 46: Chapter 42: Evil Spirits

Having disembarked from the flying boat, what came into view was a vast camp that stretched for miles.

The moment he entered the camp, yin qi surged upward, and Chu Zheng's entire energy abruptly tensed. His eyes shone with spiritual light as he immediately employed the Qi Observation Technique.

All around him, the world in his eyes transformed instantly, with the soil beneath his feet visibly thick with yin qi, almost liquefying.

Chu Zheng's expression became somewhat grave. With such dense yin qi, the land must have been the deathbed of millions. Searᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Where yin qi accumulates, there must be a large tomb. In this place, the yin qi was so thick that it could no longer be called a tomb, but a mass burial pit.

This place was unbearable for women to linger in long. Men, relying on the yang qi within their bodies, could resist for some time, yet prolonged exposure would still affect one's yang life span.

However, for Qi Cultivators, this place could be considered a rare blessing. If one possessed a Supreme Yang Treasure to balance the yin qi, cultivating in this place would be as effective as in a Cave Heaven Blessed Land.

Chu Zheng didn't possess any Supreme Yang Treasures, but he happened to have a magic artifact that belonged to yang.

The blood of Phoenix was the essence of extreme firmness and yang. The spirit wood that had grown from it had absorbed the Essence of the Great Sun, further promoting yang qi, making its nature extremely yang.

However, before this sword was fully repaired, Chu Zheng still needed to bask in the sun more, to avoid an imbalance of yin and yang.

More than the environment, what made Chu Zheng worried was that in such a place where yin qi converged, if there were piles of bones, it would likely breed countless evil spirits.

Chu Zheng looked around for a while, then followed the crowd toward Fu Quanliang's location.

There were only just over four hundred people, and assignments were quickly completed. Chu Zheng too smoothly joined Fu Quanliang's group.

Fu Quanliang's cultivation wasn't particularly strong, and not many people were assigned under him, totaling less than twenty.

Just as the various odd-jobbers were almost settled, several more people descended from the flying boat.

The middle-aged man he had seen before was among them, and following behind him were several young men and women dressed uniformly in blue and white, with three green lotuses side by side embroidered on their chests.

Chu Zheng stood beside Fu Quanliang and asked him telepathically, "Who is the strongest amongst them?"

"An Inner Sect Elder, Han Yuliang. Middle Quality Immortal Bone, at the Peak of the Soul Condensing Realm, not far from the Divine Infant. It's highly likely he will be the next spokesperson for the Han Family. He has an excellent reputation within the sect," Fu Quanliang glanced over and rattled off as if reciting well-known facts:

"Those with him are the core of the Han Family's younger generation. Especially the youngest one, Han Mingdan—fifteen years old, at the initial stage of the Spirit Spring Realm, Middle Quality Immortal Bone, and also possesses a special spiritual body. He has limitless potential. She likes wearing blue dresses, eating Huangyuan fruit, and bamboo shoot cakes…"

"Enough."

Chu Zheng cut him off, "If you had devoted this much attention to your cultivation, you would be at a higher level by now."

Chu Zheng wasn't particularly interested in Han Mingdan. If the conversation turned to her ancestor who had died thousands of years ago, what color of clothes they were buried in, and what kind of burial objects they had, he might have been more interested.

"Relying solely on myself to cultivate step by step, it's unlikely I'll achieve Soul Condensing in this lifetime," Fu Quanliang wasn't the least bit upset by Chu Zheng's remark and held to his own beliefs: "There are countless paths to cultivation, and shortcuts are the quickest."

At this point, Fu Quanliang suddenly changed the subject and whispered, "By the way, Han Mingdan used to have a good relationship with Song Lingqing. But… since I've been back to the sect, I haven't heard of them having any contact."

Upon hearing this, Chu Zheng lowered his gaze and fell silent. Within the Immortal Sect, human warmth and coldness were not uncommon.

......

......

Not far away, Han Mingdan, who had just disembarked from the flying boat, seemed to sense something and frowned slightly:

"Uncle, why do I feel something is strange about this place? I've felt uncomfortable ever since we arrived."

Han Yuliang offhandedly explained, "The malevolent energy here is too strong; staying long is not beneficial to your cultivation. With your Psychic Mysterious Body, you are extremely sensitive to changes in nature's spiritual energy, so it's inevitable that you would feel discomfort."

"What did you bring us here for?" Han Mingdan asked, slightly puzzled.

"Our purpose in bringing you here is to see if we can draw out an ancient spiritual weapon."

With a somewhat grave expression, Han Yuliang said, "Judging from the traces of slaughter, a being more powerful than the Divine Infant has fallen here. There is a very high chance that a spiritual treasure remains."

"A spiritual treasure without a master will usually choose to dull its edge and lie dormant, waiting for someone destined. If any of you can seize this opportunity and compel the spiritual treasure to choose a master, your path forward will become somewhat easier."

Spiritual treasure...

Upon hearing these words, excitement spilled over the faces of Han Mingdan and the others.

A spiritual treasure has its own spiritual intelligence and is almost considered an exotic creature. Even when damaged, it can absorb nature's spiritual energy to slowly repair itself, and its preciousness exceeds even that of the finest divine weapons.

In the entire Phantom Spirit Sect, there are but a mere few spiritual treasures, which are normally part of the sect's foundation and cannot be utilized. They had never even seen one.

"Don't get too excited too soon. This place is ominous; we shouldn't delve too deeply. A brief attempt will suffice."

Seeing their excited expressions, Han Yuliang doused their enthusiasm with a cold splash:

"It's indeed fortunate if a spiritual treasure chooses a master, but you mustn't be overly insistent. The path of cultivation relies on oneself. Spiritual treasures are but external objects."

"Understood, Uncle Four. Hurry and let us take a look," Han Mingdan was already itching to try.

Without saying more, Han Yuliang led the way toward the mining tunnel, with the Han family and others following closely behind.

......

......

"Here you go." Fu Quanliang tossed a pickaxe.

"Do you really think I came here to mine?" Chu Zheng transmitted his voice secretly, lifting his eyes without reaching out to catch it.

Fu Quanliang felt somewhat speechless: "How would I know what you're here for? You're asking for trouble."

He had grown accustomed to Chu Zheng's eccentric behavior and couldn't be bothered to guess the purpose behind Chu Zheng's actions.

Guessing would be futile; he preferred Chu Zheng to be less troublesome and cause less mischief.

Chu Zheng glanced at Han Yuliang and the others not far away, and in an instant, his eyes flickered: "They're heading to that ancient battlefield."

Fu Quanliang quickly noticed the movements of this group as well, surprise unmistakable in his eyes: "Could there really be some unspeakable secret in this place?"

Such ancient battlefields are generally cleaned up by those who came before. If anything were left behind, the spiritual energy should have mostly dissipated over the long years, leaving at most some scraps of metal and junk.

Chu Zheng bent down to pick up the pickaxe and asked through voice transmission, "When can we enter the mine shaft?"

"Wait a moment."

Fu Quanliang, too, was stricken with curiosity and turned to seek out more information.

Wu—

A moment later, before Fu Quanliang could return, a piercing shriek suddenly erupted from the distant mining tunnel - cold, violent, and chilling to the bone.

"Evil specter!"

Following the shriek, a furious shout came, and then the ground shook violently.

After the violent shaking subsided, a surge of black fog billowed out from the mining tunnel, spreading like thick ink across the land. In the strong midday sun, a sudden gust of yin wind rose, darkening the sky and earth, and sending a bone-chilling cold through the air.