Chapter Eighty-Eight: A Small World Within the Dantian

Zhou Bai tried once more to advance his divine powers. The points required for the immortal and Buddhist types had multiplied tenfold, far beyond what he possessed.

The demonic, ghostly, and human-path abilities, however, each needed only another twenty points to advance, which was still within a range he could accept.

After careful deliberation, Zhou Bai chose to advance a human-path ability. The demonic and ghostly types involved his true body and true soul; if he advanced them rashly, he might well increase the risk of losing control. At the very least, he would have to master his true body before trying.

He began by advancing the Blade-Nurturing art. Zhou Bai had always felt that this divine power held extraordinary potential, but the speed at which its sword intent nourished his Tang saber was still rather too slow.

Because of that, the Tang saber’s growth had already started to lag behind the Butcher’s Blade. That vicious weapon devoured yin energy from ghosts and blood essence from demons it cut down, and the Yazi carved on its hilt had grown ever more lifelike, giving one the eerie illusion that it might leap forth at any moment.

After the advancement succeeded, the Blade-Nurturing art did not change in name, only gaining a second tier.

Then the changes truly began. First, the Tang saber at his waist grew hot. Zhou Bai could clearly feel its weight sink heavily in his hand.

After more than ten breaths, countless blade marks transformed into a talisman and entered his lower dantian. There, the talisman began to change form, finally becoming a bladefish.

The bladefish leaped into the pond, ignoring the salted fish entirely, and swam about in the water without cease.

Zhou Bai found it wondrous. So this was what happened when a divine power advanced. And the remaining points were enough to raise the other three human-path abilities to their second tier as well.

The curse-killing ability became a swarm of hornets, circling and darting around the ghost tree.

The wine-refining ability became a fat white worm called the wine worm, crawling endlessly along the shore of the island and occasionally pausing to take a sip from the pond.

The disguise ability turned into a butterfly with human faces patterned across its wings, quietly resting on one of the ghost tree’s branches.

This time, Zhou Bai’s dantian truly became lively. Yet unlike the ghost tree and the salted fish, he could sense that these insects and fish were merely projections formed from his divine powers’ talismans; they could not be summoned as physical entities the way his innate beings could.

In addition, each advancement of an immortal-path or Buddhist-path divine power granted him a cultivation method. Zhou Bai had little interest in Buddhist techniques, but he did take interest in a Daoist method named Azure Firmament One Qi Heart Art.

After all, the transformed divine powers all had the flavor of monsters and demons. How could they compare with standing atop a flying sword and annihilating an enemy from miles away?

This Azure Firmament One Qi Heart Art required one to absorb spiritual energy into the body; once cultivated to a sufficiently profound level, one could ascend to immortality while sitting on the ground.

Zhou Bai tried it in Nether Street, but did not sense any spiritual energy between heaven and earth. He could only wait until he returned to Hangdu before attempting to cultivate it.

This closed retreat ended perfectly. Zhou Bai rose to his feet, his strength increased and his potential greatly expanded. Next, he was preparing to face the heavenly tribulation required to master his true body.

He opened the door and stepped outside. The neighboring meditation chamber of Daoist Hou was already empty, and only after Zhou Bai went downstairs did he see that the man had long since finished cultivating and was now chatting with others in the main hall.

Daoist Hou’s cultivation of A Thousand Li of Barren Earth also seemed to have gone smoothly. In Zhou Bai’s eyes, the yin energy on his body had been restrained, and the corpse-like appearance he once had had returned to its original form, though his skin still retained a faint purplish tint.

After the two of them left the inn, Daoist Hou finally began speaking in detail about the retreat.

“It was truly a near-death struggle. I suspect that innkeeper from the Hall of Ten Thousand Methods deliberately set me up. The yin energy in that zombie spine was far too immense.”

Zhou Bai discreetly activated his Yin-Yang Eyes. The spine behind Daoist Hou glowed faintly red, with thin traces of yin and yang energy mingling together inside. It seemed he had been lucky this time.

“Let’s leave Nether Street first. We’ve been in retreat for several days, and who knows what’s happened in Hangdu?”

Daoist Hou nodded. Now that his appearance had been restored, his feng shui shop naturally had to reopen as well.

By the time they reached the edge of Nether Street and returned to Hangdu, it was already deep night outside. Stars glittered overhead, and a moon with a slight缺口 hung in the sky.

The two of them rested at the feng shui shop. A quick tidy-up made the place perfectly suitable for them to stay in.

Because Zhou Bai had not slept at all during the retreat, he slept very deeply despite his considerable cultivation.

Early the next morning, he was roused by Wen Meng. Dark circles hung beneath the man’s eyes as he said anxiously, “Why are you only just back? There’s still a great deal to handle in Hangdu.”

“What happened? Don’t tell me more demons and ghosts have appeared?” Zhou Bai’s spirits lifted. He certainly welcomed points delivered to his door.

Wen Meng gave a bitter smile. “Pretty much. I don’t know what’s been going on these past few days, but traces of demons and ghosts have been turning up again and again. And I’ve lost my cultivation, so I could only wait for you to return.”

“Bring Daoist Hou too. He’s part of the Nether Records Office now, after all.”

“Understood.”

After a quick wash-up, Zhou Bai and the others went to the site where the county yamen had once stood.

With the help of many craftsmen, the two buildings there were already mostly complete, though they were still far from finished.

Bai Wanming’s transformed giant tree had become even more luxuriant in the few days since they last saw it. The small Earth God shrine beneath it had also been expanded several times, leaving many more places where incense could be offered.

Zhou Bai entered the offices of the Nether Records Bureau. The interior was simply furnished, with only a table and several chairs. The tabletop was covered with various official documents.

The group sat down and began leafing through the papers while Wen Meng, like a county assistant beside a magistrate, continuously explained them to them.

In just a few days, more than a dozen cases involving ghosts and specters had appeared. But in Zhou Bai’s view, most of them were little more than hearsay. Only three warranted real attention.

He separately sorted out the documents recording those three cases.

“In a farmstead outside the southern gate of Hangdu, an old person from one household rose from the dead during the burial. The coffin has already been buried, but there’s still been movement these past few days.”

Daoist Hou could not help saying, “A wrapped rice dumpling. I know this well.”

Zhou Bai and Wen Meng looked at him with strange expressions. Daoist Hou laughed awkwardly. “I mean, handling wrapped rice dumplings is something I’m pretty good at.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Zhou Bai handed the case file to Daoist Hou. That zombie was probably only at the level of a purple corpse at most, and it was even possible the report was merely an exaggeration. It might not even be enough to earn a single point.

Besides, the farmstead was rather far away. If Zhou Bai had time to spare, he would be better off hunting in the mountains and forests; he might even accumulate points faster that way.

What was more, Hangdu was now so vast that he alone was responsible for managing it. If he had to do everything himself, he really would become exhausted.

“No problem. Leave it to me. I, this old Daoist, have hated zombies my whole life.”

Daoist Hou agreed very readily. Now that he had just started on his ghost-path cultivation method, he naturally wanted to try it out, and this was also an opportunity to earn contributions.

The second case concerned a wealthy family surnamed Li in the city of Hangdu. It was said that some spirit was haunting their home, and several servants had already died.

For a spirit capable of killing people, Zhou Bai was naturally greatly intrigued.