Edict

After Qing Li left, Zheng Que immediately began cultivating.

As wisps of Spiritual Qi were drawn into his body, his cultivation slowly improved.

Time passed bit by bit, and soon Zheng Que opened his eyes to the familiar sight of the dilapidated grand hall.

He looked at the Book of Life and Death before him.

After slaying those four water ghosts yesterday, the number of names in the Book of Life and Death stood at forty-two.

Later, Qing Li had tasted the benefits and gone out overnight to slay six more ghosts. Whatever their cultivation levels might have been, those six names brought the total recorded in the Book of Life and Death to forty-eight.

He hoped that over the next two days, Qing Li would work hard and carry him, her master, to success.

Lost in thought, Zheng Que kept his eyes fixed on the Book of Life and Death, waiting for new names to appear.

However, unlike last night, he waited for a long time. It wasn’t until the black Qi surging from between his brows had grown very faint that a new name finally appeared.

…Cai Daniu. Origin: Town of Lasting Fortune, Great Peace County, Marsh Province, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: Twenty-three years, eight months, and sixteen days. Died by self-immolation at the third quarter of the Xu hour.

This was the forty-ninth name.

Zheng Que was immediately puzzled. Qing Li’s efficiency today had dropped quite a bit.

As he was thinking this, the last wisp of black Qi from between his brows vanished into the Book of Life and Death.

Just as Zheng Que thought he would return to reality as before, the Book of Life and Death suddenly began to surge with thick, ink-black Yin Qi. This Yin Qi was dense and concentrated, churning and spreading like a rolling sea of clouds. In the blink of an eye, it rose into the air, winding through nearly half of the grand hall like an inverted expanse of dark ocean.

Before Zheng Que could ponder further, this mass of dark Yin Qi rapidly contracted and transformed, forming a strange symbol that resembled both an insect and a fish, floating directly above the Book of Life and Death.

This symbol resembled some kind of ancient script, filled with a sense of antiquity and the passage of time, yet also like intertwined winding vines, exuding faint traces of the aura of rules.

Zheng Que was momentarily stunned. Before he could figure out what was happening, the ancient symbol floating above the Book of Life and Death suddenly transformed into a streak of dark light and shot like lightning into the space between his brows.

In the next moment, Zheng Que felt as though his head had exploded, struck by an unbearable, intense pain. His entire body felt as if it had plunged into an ice cellar, chilled to the bone.

In the instant his consciousness blurred, it seemed as though a fragment of unfamiliar information had appeared in his mind.

In a daze, he didn’t know how much time had passed when a familiar voice reached his ears. “Human brat, get up!”

Hearing this voice, Zheng Que immediately regained consciousness and hurriedly opened his eyes. All he could see was dimness. He had already returned to reality and was lying on the floor of the inner room.

Outside the rear window, everything was murky and dark. The sky had completely darkened, and it seemed he had been unconscious on the floor for quite some time.

Qing Li was swinging back and forth from the beam overhead. The Yin Qi around her had thinned considerably and was still fluctuating slightly, her form grown much more illusory. She had clearly been through a fierce battle.

Seeing Zheng Que awake, Qing Li immediately spoke with great dissatisfaction. “You human brat are truly useless. You can even get into trouble while cultivating alone.”

“If I hadn’t returned in time, how much longer would you have been lying there?”

“This old lady needs to rest now, you little human brat. Guard me properly!”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que frowned but did not argue with Qing Li. Instead, he earnestly recalled the unfamiliar information that had just appeared in his mind.

The ancient and weathered symbol that had emerged in the Underworld space was an Edict.

It could bestow official titles upon ghosts.

Its formation was the result of the Book of Life and Death gathering enough names.

Edicts varied in rank. High-tier Edicts could confer upper-level Underworld Official Positions, while low-tier Edicts could only grant lower-level ones.

The rank of an Edict was related to the Yin Qi absorbed by the Book of Life and Death during the name-gathering process. The more Yin Qi absorbed, the higher the Underworld Official Position it could confer.

The Edict he had just obtained contained extremely weak Yin Qi, and for now, it could only confer the lowest-ranking Underworld Official Position, that of Underworld Envoy.

As for the usefulness of a Underworld Envoy?

He would only know after using this Edict.

This was a new function of the Book of Life and Death: every time forty-nine names were recorded, an Edict could be condensed. The Yin Qi absorbed by the Book of Life and Death from his brow each time he cultivated was the energy it used for this purpose.

He had always thought that the sole purpose of the names in the Book of Life and Death was to allow him to foresee his own death in advance.

But now, it seemed that Edicts were the most important purpose of the Book of Life and Death recording names.

No.

Who knew how many secrets were still hidden within this Book of Life and Death? It was still too early to draw such a conclusion.

As his thoughts raced, Zheng Que looked up at Qing Li hanging from the beam.

He currently had only Qing Li as his ghost servant. This Edict could only go to her.

With this in mind, Zheng Que immediately used the 【Ghost Taming Art】 to draw Qing Li into his palm.

Immediately afterward, he began cultivating.

As the 【Life Seed Art】 circulated, Zheng Que entered the Underworld once again.

Everything here was as usual.

He looked at the Book of Life and Death spread open before him, where forty-nine names lay quietly.

Without hesitation, Zheng Que immediately cast the 【Ghost Taming Art】 and released Qing Li.

A streak of blood-red light shot out and landed below the hall, transforming into the female ghost in white robes with black hair.

As before, after Qing Li appeared, her expression was vacant, her eyes unfocused, and she stood motionless in place.

Seizing this opportunity, Zheng Que immediately displayed the Edict character in his palm, aiming it at Qing Li.

A large amount of Yin Qi gathered from all directions, swirling around Qing Li and continuously pouring into her body.

As her long hair fluttered wildly, Qing Li quickly regained her wits. Upon realizing she had arrived in the Underworld, her face first lit up with joy, then she hurriedly knelt and kowtowed. “This humble woman pays her respects to my lord!”

“Thank you for your grace, my lord! My lord is discerning, noble in character, impartial and upright, incorruptible, fair and just…”

Zheng Que sat high above, just as he had the previous two times, saying nothing and merely watching Qing Li quietly.

The female ghost’s Yin Qi increased extremely rapidly this time. Before long, it reached the peak of the fourth layer of the 【Tongue-Tearing Hell】.

Yet at this point, Qing Li’s Yin Qi still did not stop growing. It continued to climb steadily.

Witnessing this, Zheng Que was momentarily stunned.

The Yin Qi Qing Li had now reached surpassed even Old Madam Zhao’s level at her peak.

Without a doubt, among the seven ghostly beings this female ghost had slain, at least two or more had reached the fourth layer of the 【Tongue-Tearing Hell】.

Just as he was thinking this, the Yin Qi swirling around Qing Li suddenly surged, leaping upward in an instant, its intensity climbing yet another tier. Like billowing black smoke, it nearly obscured her figure completely.

The fifth layer of the 【Tongue-Tearing Hell】!