Chapter 389: Chapter 268: Divine Power, Summoning Clouds!
“Ding!”
“Congratulations, you have successfully guided the soul to its afterlife and earned a reward: +10000 Merit Points.”
In his mind, a system prompt sounded.
Xu Yang sheathed his sword, his eyes fixed on the spot where the “Eastern Ghost” had stood.
He had slain the “Eastern Ghost” with a single stroke, paving the way for a “physical crossing,” but the ghost’s katana still lay on the ground.
Stretching out his hand, he took the katana from the ground.
He opened the sheath with a pinch of his fingers, exposing the blade for half an inch.
In an instant, a cold glint appeared.
A chilling blade essence, which made Ma Long, Yang Fan, and others standing not far away shiver!
Some members of the Spirits Management Bureau with weaker cultivation couldn’t help but tremble with cold.
Even the spirits and ghosts instinctively retreated a few steps!
Fortunately, ordinary onlookers had been evacuated to a greater distance, otherwise, they might have fallen seriously ill under the impact of the cold aura of the katana.
“Su… Supreme Sage Xu!”
At this point, the staff of the Jin Province branch, like Yang Fan, came to their senses. They came forward, somewhat incredulously, and asked, “Where did that ghost go?”
“I sent it to its afterlife,” Xu Yang said as he put away the katana into his storage.
This blade was a weapon of war, having been honed for decades by the Eastern Ghost’s own Yin energy. It had transformed into an underworld weapon, a purely offensive one at that…Perfect for Yun Mengxi to use!
The Spirits Management Bureau staff looked at each other, bewildered.
That ghost was too strong!
Above Ghost King!
Comparable to the Martial Arts Celestial Phenomenon Realm and the Daoist Refining Deity!
However, in Xu Yang’s hands, it couldn’t even last a single move…
Although Xu Yang’s reputation and achievements were already known in the martial world, the shock of witnessing it first-hand was incomparable to just hearing about it!
Yang Fan took a deep breath, clasped his hands and bowed to Xu Yang, “Thank you, Supreme Sage Xu, for taking action to eradicate such a great harm from Taiyuan’s people. From now on, the nearby residents will no longer have to worry about that ghost house!”
“It was only a trifle, not worth mentioning,” Xu Yang said. “Besides, it was just a group of Eastern ghosts who didn’t know their place. Any capable person would have done the same.”
After some polite conversation,
Yang Fan looked at the group of spirits and ghosts and asked, “Supreme Sage Xu, how should we deal with these spirits?”
After some thought, Xu Yang said, “These spirits are victims themselves, trapped in the ghost house and unable to move on.”
He called over the thirty or so spirits and asked, “Now that you’re free, what are your plans? Do you want to stay in the world of the living, or go to the Underworld Palace?”
“Our families and loved ones all died in the war back then…There’s nothing left for us in this world,” replied some spirits.
More than half of them chose to leave.
Their forms gradually became ethereal and disappeared into the night sky.
“Ding!”
“Congratulations, you have successfully guided the soul to its afterlife and earned a reward: +300 Merit Points.”
“Ding!”
“Congratulations, you have successfully guided the soul to its afterlife and earned a reward: +200 Merit Points.”
“Ding…”
One after another, the system prompts rang out, and the number of Xu Yang’s Merit Points rose once more.
The remaining nine spirits expressed their desire to stay in the world of the living. Xu Yang said, “If you want to stay here, it’s not impossible, but you can’t stay in Jin Province. If you encounter a powerful spirit again, it may try to devour you to strengthen itself.”
“You go to Xi Xia Province.”
“That’s my territory. When you get there, just find any ghost and let them take you to the Xi Xia Ghost Market, where underworld soldiers will take care of you.”
The nine spirits thanked Xu Yang profusely before disappearing into the night.
Xu Yang’s control of the Xi Xia Ghost Market had not yet become known in the martial world, and Yang Fan was astonished when he heard the news, but he did not ask any further questions.
Instead, Xu Yang told him, “Director Yang, please spread the word that as long as they haven’t harmed anyone and are not malevolent spirits, they can get free housing and work in Xi Xia Ghost Market.”
“In our Xi Xia Ghost Market, humans and spirits coexist peacefully, so there’s no need to worry about being devoured by fierce spirits or getting killed by martial artists and Daoist cultivators passing by.”
Xu Yang had initially mentioned this on a whim, but the more he talked, the more feasible the plan seemed!
For that reason, he said, “Director Yang, why don’t we exchange contact information? After I get back, I’ll come up with a detailed plan for this campaign, and you can help promote it. If a large number of spirits are willing to settle in Xi Xia Ghost Market, it would also be a good thing for Jin Province!”
After exchanging a few words,
Xu Yang took the remaining sixteen spirits and left in a hurry.
Before leaving, Xu Yang saw Ma Long and the girl with glasses hugging each other while discussing something about a “bet” and “where to go.”
Ignoring Ma Long,
Xu Yang returned to the hotel with the other sixteen spirits.
At the hotel lobby, he requested a large suite.
Xu Yang brought the sixteen spirits to the room and settled them in.
“Thank you, Supreme Sage Xu!” said one of the spirits, a dirty-faced soldier.
He looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old with a youthful face. Having heard Yang Fan refer to Xu Yang as “Supreme Sage Xu,” he also called him “Master Xu.” Xu Yang said, “I should be thanking you – and I must thank you.”
Xu Yang spoke solemnly.
He bowed deeply to the sixteen spirits, full of sincerity.
“Without your brave sacrifice back then, there would be no present-day Da Xia, and we wouldn’t be able to live such prosperous lives. You are heroes, forever heroes in the hearts of our people all across the country!”
The group of Yin spirits seemed somewhat at a loss.
After some conversation,
Xu Yang learned their names, and their eight characters of birth, and felt even heavier in his heart.
The youngest of these sixteen Yin spirits was not even 17 years old.
The oldest group leader was 24 years old.
Their average age was 19 years old.
In today’s society,
Children of this age are just entering college… spending their days hanging out in internet cafes flirting with girls, playing with their phones browsing pictures of beautiful women, and some with weaker mental strength might even threaten suicide if scolded by parents or teachers.
Yet, they fought and bled for their homeland, sacrificing their lives without hesitation.
“What about you guys?”
Xu Yang asked, “Do you have any wishes?”
“Wishes?”
“Li Ergou, do you have any wishes?”
“I’ve always wanted to go to school and study, but now that I’m dead, I can’t do that anymore.”
“I…I wanted to sleep with Cuihua, but I guess she’s probably dead too…”
Various Yin spirits began to speak up.
There were many things they wanted to do, but they couldn’t do any of them now.
Only the group leader remained silent.
Finally, when the other soldiers had finished speaking, he carefully asked, “Supreme Sage Xu, can we see the homeland as it is now?”
At his words, the other Yin spirits all looked over.
These young faces, still with traces of youthful innocence, seemed to be alight with a burning flame in their eyes, with the youngest, Li Ergou, unable to resist, said, “Yes, Supreme Sage Xu, can you take us there?”
“We want to see for ourselves the beautiful rivers and mountains of our homeland.”
“We want to see if the people are living a prosperous and happy life now.”
“Our old team leader always said that today’s people must be living better than we were back then, able to eat white flour buns every day…”
Looking at their hopeful eyes,
Xu Yang firmly nodded, saying, “It’s already late, so I’ll take you all there tomorrow morning.”
He understood the thoughts of these Yin spirits.
This was…
The land they had died to protect!
They had given their lives to defend their homeland and people, and now, given the chance to see it for themselves, how could they pass it up?
After settling the sixteen Yin spirits, Xu Yang returned to his room.
He took a deep breath, calming his emotions before focusing his thoughts and opening his system attribute panel.
[Name]: Xu Yang
[Age]: 22 years old
[Daoist Arts]: Divine Ascension Scripture
[Daoist skills]: Fire Manipulation Skill (Divine), Water Manipulation Skill (Divine), Wulei Rules (Divine), Paper Cutting Skill (Divine), Earth Escape Skill (Divine), Dream Creation Skill, Land Spirit Skill (Divine).
[Martial Arts]: Land Flight Skill (Advanced), Soul Searching, Disguise Art, Eight Forms of Famous Sword Skills (Advanced), Great River Sword Manual (third level)
[Divine Skills]: Rain Invocation, Flame Spewing, Mountain Shaking, Turning Stone into Gold, Communicating with the Netherworld, Dark Emperor’s Water Fist.
[Cultivation]: Divine Transcendence Realm Early Stage.
[Daoist Artifact]: Supreme Purification Seal (Daoist Artifact), Big Iron Hammer
[Merit Points]: 83,000 points.
[Storage Space]: 100 cubic yards
His originally depleted merit points had accumulated to over 80,000.
This was because Xu Yang hadn’t intentionally gone to “farm” the merit points tonight; otherwise, on the third floor, there were over ten red-clothed eastern ghost soldiers that would have granted 50 points each, which would have equalled a considerable sum once they were all drained dry.
However, at that time, with his heart boiling with fury, Xu Yang couldn’t be bothered to slowly farm them.
He just swung his hammer and bashed in a satisfying manner.
“More than 80,000 merit points, it’s worth trying to practice the Summoning Clouds from the 72 Earth-Devil Skills.”
Xu Yang pondered in his heart.
In fact, he preferred the “Sword-manipulation Divine Skill” among the 72 Earth-Devil Skills over the “Summoning Clouds” Divine Skill.
Here, the “Sword-manipulation Divine Skill” referred to “Sword Controlling Technique” rather than sword techniques.
And while it was similar to the “Daoist Flying Sword,” it was also different!
The Daoist Flying Sword was a primordial spirit’s sword controlling technique, capable of slaying enemies but unable to carry the user in flight.
However, the “Sword-manipulation Divine Skill” from the 72 Earth-Devil Skills could be used for sword flight.
Clearing his miscellaneous thoughts, Xu Yang began to practice the “Summoning Clouds” Divine Skill.
The Divine Ascension Scripture had a recorded method for practicing this “Summoning Clouds” Divine Skill.
Xu Yang carefully studied and felt the method…
Soon enough,
A night passed by.
Xu Yang slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath. He glanced at his system attribute panel and saw that the word “Summoning Clouds” didn’t appear under the [Divine Skills] column, but he wasn’t disheartened, as the practice of Divine Skills couldn’t succeed overnight.
After freshening up, he pushed open the door and went out, just in time to run into Ma Long, who hadn’t returned all night.
Ma Long’s cigarette smoke was dark, and his legs wobbled. He greeted Xu Yang and stammered, “Damn, that girl with the glasses looked so gentle, but she was actually so wild. She asked for me seven times in one night…”
Xu Yang couldn’t help but laugh quietly and said, “You should go rest now, Ma Long. We can go out again tonight… I’m going to take those Yin spirits out for a spin first.”
…
PS: Due to the strong demand of our readers, we’ve decided to change the avatar. We changed it yesterday, but we don’t know why it still hasn’t been approved today…