Preparations

For the next period of time, Zheng Que remained seated in the grand armchair.

The Book of Life and Death before him was exceptionally quiet, with no new names added.

Zheng Que was not surprised. Qing Li was likely outside acting as his protector, not hunting ghosts.

Soon, the last trace of black Qi at Zheng Que’s brow was also absorbed by the Book of Life and Death.

The scene before him shifted. The vast, fragmented specks of light vanished, and the cramped interior of the dilapidated temple gradually revealed itself. He had returned to reality.

Outside the door, the sky was clear and bright, the golden crow hung high, and the shadows were extremely short.

When he had taken the second medicinal root, it was dusk, nearly nightfall. Now it was already midday.

This breakthrough had taken him an entire night and half a day.

Zheng Que immediately stood up and walked outside.

Creak.

The temple door opened, dust motes swirling. The courtyard remained unchanged, with Qing Li hanging from the tree, swaying in the wind.

After scanning his surroundings, Zheng Que found a large bluestone in the corner and punched it.

Bang!

The bluestone was about the size of a table, unpolished, heavy, and solid. Yet now it shattered like brittle cake, fragments scattering like snowflakes across half the courtyard.

Zheng Que’s fist felt no pain, as if he had struck not a rock but a slightly harder egg.

Next, he tested his speed and explosive power in the courtyard, quickly confirming that without using spells, his physical abilities had improved by roughly double compared to the first layer of Qi Refining.

After roughly understanding his current strength, Zheng Que turned to Qing Li. “Qing Li, come with me back home to fetch some things.”

Qing Li snorted coldly but said nothing.

Thus, Zheng Que led Qing Li back home.

The journey was unusually quiet. Perhaps because Qing Li had been hunting ghosts recently, Zheng Que hadn’t encountered a single ghost in the streets or alleys these past two days.

Moreover, noticeably more people were venturing outside.

However, every neighbor Zheng Que encountered along the way had no shadow.

A short while later, he returned home and soon retrieved a pack of dried provisions from deep inside a cabinet. After hastily eating a few bites, he rewrapped the provisions and carried them with him.

After becoming a cultivator, he could go many days without food or water with no impact on his strength.

But now, with his tribulation approaching, he had to prepare thoroughly.

After filling his stomach, Zheng Que walked to the bed, lifted the entire bedframe onto his shoulder, and headed outside.

He wasn’t moving the bed to the dilapidated temple for comfort but as an added precaution. Although the town’s restriction had deteriorated, some protections remained.

By placing his shoes one upright and one overturned beside the bed, he could delay the time it took for ghosts to find him.

Lost in thought, Zheng Que carried the bed out of his home and headed straight for the dilapidated temple.

The return journey was uneventful. Along the way, he encountered many townspeople, all without shadows.

Unlike yesterday, when only some of the townspeople he saw lacked shadows, today he didn’t see a single person with one.

It seemed as if, in just one day, all the townspeople’s shadows had been stolen.

Zheng Que increasingly felt that something was amiss. Combined with what Xu Houde had told him yesterday, it was likely due to issues with the restriction at the town entrance.

To repair it, he would need to go to Great Peace County Town to find that cultivator surnamed Lu.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Zheng Que had already moved the bed into the temple, placing it in the open space beneath the shrine.

Meanwhile, Qing Li had already skillfully hung herself from the old tree in the courtyard.

The female ghost’s figure was hidden among the treetops, her gaze fixed intently on Zheng Que’s direction.

This human race youth’s calamity would arrive today.

She now needed to maintain her optimal condition and could not go out to hunt ghosts.

Thus, the ghost servant hung high in the treetops while Zheng Que remained inside the temple. He glanced around, casually tore a piece of bedsheet to patch the window’s damaged paper, bolted the door latch, then placed his shoes one facing forward and one backward on the ground before sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Though it was not yet dark outside, the tightly sealed temple was already shrouded in deep gloom.

In the dimness, Zheng Que’s expression gradually grew extremely solemn.

The hour of Hai today would be the time of his calamity.

There was still enough time for him to cultivate once more.

He had broken through to the second layer of Qi Refining last night and hadn’t had time to enhance Qing Li’s cultivation. Now was the perfect opportunity.

Thinking this, Zheng Que immediately began cultivating.

However, perhaps because his calamity was approaching, he remained somewhat unsettled. Even after circulating his cultivation method several times, he couldn’t enter a proper cultivation state.

After dragging on like this for a while, Zheng Que took a deep breath, closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and let go of all distracting thoughts, including the impending calamity he was about to face.

Moments later, he successfully adjusted his mental state and began circulating the 【Life Seed Art】 once more.

Spiritual power flowed adeptly through his body. In the depths of his consciousness, he entered that void again, continuously capturing wisps of energy.

As time passed, Zheng Que opened his eyes once more to find himself in the vast, deep, dilapidated hall, with the Book of Life and Death spread open before him.

Seeing that he had entered the Underworld, he didn’t hesitate. He immediately addressed the Book of Life and Death and called out, “Qing Li.”

Before his words faded, a dense mist rose from below the hall. Within it, a slender figure materialized: dressed in white with black hair, a token inscribed with the character “duty (役)” hanging at her waist. It was Qing Li.

Upon realizing she had arrived in the Underworld, Qing Li quickly knelt and spoke with great reverence. “Your subordinate pays respects to my lord!”

“My lord is discerning and noble in character…”

Not waiting for her to finish, Zheng Que wasted no time. Taking advantage of Qing Li bowing her head, he raised his palm, aligning the “令” character toward her.

In the next moment, a fierce yin wind swirled around Qing Li as Yin Qi howled toward her, transforming into an inverted black ocean that poured into her body.

Qing Li, feeling exhilarated, hurriedly said, “Your subordinate thanks my lord!”

“My lord’s kindness is as weighty as a mountain. Your subordinate will never forget it…”

After some time, the Yin Qi surrounding Qing Li increased significantly, then gradually stopped growing.

The higher a ghost’s cultivation, the more Yin Qi it required. Though Qing Li’s Yin Qi had grown substantially this time, she still seemed some distance away from reaching the sixth layer of the 【Tongue-Tearing Hell】.

Seeing that Qing Li hadn’t broken through to the sixth layer, Zheng Que wasn’t surprised. He promptly said, “Withdraw.”

Mist rose again below the hall, surging like tides, instantly engulfing Qing Li’s figure before dissipating without a trace.

Zheng Que’s gaze returned to the Book of Life and Death, waiting for the black Qi between his brows to dissipate.

Just at that moment, a new name suddenly appeared.

…Xu Houde. Place of origin: Town of Lasting Fortune, Great Peace County, Marsh Province, Great Li Dynasty. Lifespan: Fifty-four years, three months, and seven days. Died suddenly at the exact Xu hour.