Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

Chapter 423: Ghostly Calamities

“Old Lu should break through in three to five days. Just wait for him,” said Elder Gai with a smile, showing great concern for Lu Yang and the other two juniors.

“Recently, a lot of ghostly calamities have appeared around Han Shui City. If you have nothing else to do these days, you can go to Han Shui City and catch some ghosts. When you return, you can exchange them for contribution points. I’ll write you a proof letter,” Elder Gai said, caring for the group.

“Ghostly calamities?” Lu Yang was puzzled. With the state governor overseeing Han Shui City and the Corpse-Driving Sect backing it, what ghost would dare to cause trouble?

Elder Gai sighed, “Didn’t the former state governor get arrested due to reports, along with a bunch of officials? There was a reshuffling of the Desolate Lands’ officialdom.”

“At this time, Han Shui City suddenly encountered several ghostly calamities. Even rules can’t completely suppress them, so there must be a Unity expert in secret opposition.”

“The newly appointed state governor hasn’t even found his footing yet, and he’s already facing such trouble. His handling of it hasn’t been adequate, so the ghostly calamities remain unchecked.”

“The Nine Nether Sect is the best at controlling ghosts. The governor suspects that the Nine Nether Sect is secretly stirring up trouble and is investigating, but no results have been found so far.”

“As the Corpse-Driving Sect is a renowned sect in the Desolate Lands, it’s only natural for us to take responsibility, encouraging disciples to deal with the ghostly calamities. The level of these ghostly calamities isn’t high, and you should be able to handle it.”

“Of course, you can also choose to stay in the sect and study the art of corpse driving. It’s up to you.”

How could it be Nine Nether Sect causing trouble? They were busy running their barbecue shop—how could they have time for this? Were they not earning enough from the shop?

Regardless of who was causing the ghostly calamities, as disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect, they had to deal with it.

After bidding farewell to Elder Gai, the voice of Everlasting Fairy echoed in Lu Yang’s mind.

“That old man just now wasn’t alive. He was a Living Corpse. The technique used to refine him was quite advanced.”

“Who?” Lu Yang thought he had misheard.

“That old man just now.”

Lu Yang’s mind raced as he instantly pieced together the most likely scenario, cold sweat dripping down his back: Elder Gai had died, and no one knew. Someone had refined his corpse to create the illusion that Elder Gai was still alive.

“Brother Zhao, I noticed something odd about Elder Gai just now,” Lu Yang tentatively asked.

Zhao Po gave a thumbs-up, “Brother Lu, what keen eyes you have! You could tell that the person sitting there wasn’t my master, but a Living Corpse he had refined.”

“What’s going on?” Meng Jingzhou and Barbarian Bone were intrigued.

Zhao Po smiled and explained without any hesitation, “We Corpse Drivers have long dealt with corpse qi and death qi, causing an imbalance of yin and yang in our bodies. This leads to physical weakness—not to mention comparing ourselves to someone like Brother Meng, even ordinary cultivators have stronger physiques than us.”

“A Corpse Driver’s entire cultivation is invested in the refinement of their Living Corpses. For safety reasons, once they reach the Spirit Transformation Stage, Corpse Drivers no longer reveal their true selves to the outside world. Instead, they use a refined Living Corpse in their place.”

“It’s not just my master—all the elders in the sect use Living Corpses to represent themselves publicly. No one knows where their true bodies are.”

“Moreover, most Corpse Drivers prefer not to interact with outsiders. They are introverted and silent, so it’s perfect for them to use a Living Corpse as their substitute, why wouldn’t they do it?”

Dealing with corpses all the time made most Corpse Drivers introverted; Zhao Po was one of the few exceptions.

“So that’s how it is.” Lu Yang suddenly understood that he had been overthinking it.

“Next, should we head to the classroom to study, or should I take up a task and join me in solving the ghostly calamities?”

Lu Yang smiled slightly, speaking righteously, “Of course, we should go and deal with the ghostly calamity! Old Meng here has the Single Bachelor’s Spirit Root and has formed two Single Bachelor’s Golden Core. His Pure Yang Physique will make any ghost flee for their lives!”

“With Old Meng leading the way, solving the ghostly calamities will be a piece of cake!”

Although it was rare for Lu Yang to praise him, and everything he said was true, Meng Jingzhou couldn’t bring himself to be happy about it.

“You’re the one with the Single Bachelor’s Spirit Root! Your whole family has a Single Bachelor’s Spirit Root!”

Sometimes Meng Jingzhou really wanted to give Lu Yang a set of Single Curse Fist, but he didn’t dare.

His intuition told him that if he gave Lu Yang a set of Single Curse Fist, the karmic backlash would be even worse than it is now, and it would truly be irreparable.

“Just you wait, Lu Yang. When I become an immortal, I’ll give you the full set!”

“So, does this mean we can freely take on Golden Core Stage missions?” Zhao Po thought out loud. With the four of them at Golden Core Stage, they could sweep through any ghost related missions for that level.

Lu Yang waved his hand grandly, “Be bolder when picking. We can even take on Nascent Soul Stage missions.”

Zhao Po was surprised for a moment, but he quickly realized that with the four of them working together, dealing with a Nascent Soul Stage ghost shouldn’t be a problem.

“Alright, I’ll go find a Nascent Soul Stage mission. The three of you wait here for a bit.”

While Zhao Po went to take up the mission, Lu Yang, having nothing to do, took out his Nine Nether Token and contacted Vice Sect Leader Petrified, inputting a message.

“Our Heavenly Court Sect has a Heavenly King currently in the Desolate Lands’ Han Shui City. We’ve discovered ghostly calamity outbreaks here, and the state governor suspects it’s your doing. Was it your sect?”

After waiting for a while, there was no response from the Nine Nether Token. Lu Yang thought Vice Sect Leader Petrified might be busy and hadn’t seen the message, so he was about to put it away when the token suddenly heated up, and a long response appeared on its surface.

Lu Yang was speechless, “So, it wasn’t that Vice Sect Leader Petrified didn’t see it, he was just furiously writing.”

Vice Sect Leader Petrified’s reply read:

“This is pure slander! Those bastards in the imperial court are once again dumping their crap on us. Our Sect Leader thinks Young Sect Leader Lu’s idea of ‘Store outlets’ is great. Right now, Nine Nether Sect has too few strong members, and we should focus on cultivating to increase the number of Unity Stage and even Tribulation Crossing Stage experts. Most of our sect’s activities are currently on hold. The whole sect is busy running chain stores and making money. This was the Sect Leader’s decision.”

…

At the Nine Nether Sect branch, Vice Sect Leader Petrified was furious when he saw Lu Yang’s question.

“We barely have enough time to make money! Who has the time to cause ghostly calamities? What benefit would we even get from it? This isn’t the first or second time the court has slandered us. Whenever something mysterious happens, they blame our demon sect. As if we have the time for such nonsense!”

As he replied to Lu Yang, he cursed angrily. If the Heavenly Court Sect misunderstood and thought Nine Nether Sect was acting on its own without considering the bigger picture, it would make future cooperation difficult.

After finishing the reply, he thought he should explain more to Lu Yang, but found that the Nine Nether Token was no longer functional.

“It needs to cool down for five more days. What a hassle.”

Vice Sect Leader Petrified leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead, “Wait, why am I worrying about this? The Sect Leader is in Desolate Lands!”

He took out another Nine Nether Token and relayed what Lu Yang had said to the Sect Leader, asking how they should handle it.

The Sect Leader quickly responded with just one sentence.

“I’m in Han Shui City.”

(End of the chapter)