Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 421 Ghost Domain Deal
Under a clear, bright sun, a black whirlwind swiftly approached the majestic city before stopping, revealing the imposing figure of a ghost general.

It was the ghost in the Blood Soul Banner that Song Xian had just named 'Number One' because it was a ghost general generated from the first layer of restrictions on the Blood Soul Banner.

Each layer of the Blood Soul Banner contains a ghost, and these ghosts may very well grow into ghost generals in the future. It would be too troublesome to name all the ghost generals, so Song Xian named them according to the layer of the restriction.

Since they themselves didn't know what their own name was, they naturally accepted this title.

On the city walls, a group of minotaurs stood. When they saw "Number One" suddenly appear, the minotaurs visibly panicked and started chattering incoherently.

One of the minotaurs, who appeared to be the captain, shouted something to 'Number One'.

Since Song Xian didn't quite understand the language of these minotaurs, he didn't ask 'Number One' to respond. Instead, he put his hands behind his back and pretended to be indifferent to them.

He came to visit this city because he learned from the ghostly figure that only one first-level ghost general named 'Siji' was stationed there.

This city is also part of the Ghost Bull Clan's territory, but its strategic location is not as important, and its resources are not as abundant. Therefore, the Ghost Bull Clan only sent a first-level Ghost General to be in charge.

The Ghost Bull Clan has a total of more than a dozen Ghost General Realm cultivators, most of whom are based in their base, 'Bull City', while a few are stationed in other cities outside.

Song Xian selected this person from among the sixteen ghost generals, intending to make him his partner, and thus came here.

There are two main reasons why this person was chosen.

Firstly, because this person's cultivation level is relatively low, it is relatively safe to contact him. Even if he discovers that he is hiding, he can leave calmly.

Secondly, this "private base" has more contact with visitors from outside the island, because the town where it is located is in the northwest of the island and borders the sea, and many outsiders come to the island from here.

Generally speaking, the more contact one has with people from external forces, the more open-minded one becomes, and the more accepting of cooperation one is.

Conversely, those who are closed off from the world and don't interact much with the outside world are more conservative in their thinking and less likely to be approachable.

Not long after 'Number One' waited outside the city, a group of ghostly figures came out to greet it. They faced it from a distance as if they were facing a formidable enemy. One of the ghostly figures left the group and came to 'Number One'. Its empty eyes flashed with a faint red light.

Immediately afterwards, Song Xian heard Number One's voice ring in his mind.

It turned out that the ghostly figure was questioning Number One about his identity, origin, and purpose.

Song Xian then responded by having Number One tell Ghost Shadow that he came from the Eastern Wilderness, was of the Ghost Ape Clan, named Number One, and had come to see 'Private Base'.

Both the Eastern Wilderness and the Ape Clan obtained their information from the captured ghost shadow. It turns out that this sea area is called the Heavenly Sea, and far away from this sea area, there is a continent called 'Kama'.

The continent of Kama is divided into five major regions: the Eastern Wilderness, the Western Desert, the Southern Ridge, the Northern Plains, and the Central Continent.

'Haji Island' is located to the east of the Kama Continent. Occasionally, some people from the Eastern Wilderness would come to this island, so Song Xian pretended to be from the Eastern Wilderness.

As for the ape race, they are a powerful race in the Eastern Wilderness.

Perhaps the ghostly figure noticed that Song Xian's physique resembled that of an ape, and thus asked Number One if they were members of the Eastern Wilderness Ape Clan.

Having received a reply, the ghostly figure in front of the city immediately returned to the city wall.

After waiting for a while, a captain-level ghost finally came to the front, respectfully bowed to Number One, and invited it into the inner room.

Song Xian naturally followed Number One into the city. The inner pavilions stood tall, while the minotaurs mostly lived in the outer city.

The so-called outer city refers to the area outside the restricted barrier. These minotaur are actually reserve soldiers of the Minotaur clan's ghost cultivators.

The minotaurs who can live here all possess talent and can become 'cultivators' like Ghost Shadow, while minotaurs without talent are not allowed to enter this city.

This kind of talent is actually similar to the spiritual root of the human race. It cannot be seen on the surface of a mortal being and needs to be tested.

On their path to cultivation, they also undergo a process similar to molting from the mortal realm. At that time, they will wash away their physical bodies and become like ghosts shrouded in black.

What's particularly interesting is that after becoming ghost cultivators, although they lose their ability to speak, they can still communicate normally with the minotaur beastmen of their own race who have not yet transcended to mortal form.

They can hear the voices of the minotaurs, and the minotaurs can also receive the information they transmit.

A dozen ghostly figures escorted Number One through the outer city and into the inner city shrouded in a dark green barrier. Song Xian followed them into the inner room.

Within the inner city, no more minotaurs could be seen. After walking for a short while, they arrived in front of a magnificent black palace.

At this moment, he sensed an unusual fluctuation, somewhat like a cultivator's divine sense sweeping across. He immediately realized that it was the ghost general from the 'private foundation' inside the hall probing him.

Not knowing if the other party had discovered him, Song Xian dared not follow Number One any further for safety reasons, even though he was not afraid even if his identity was exposed.

With his strength, he could say he had no problem dealing with a ghost general who was only at the first level of cultivation, but he was at least confident.

However, he came to discuss cooperation, not to compete with others, so he naturally wanted to avoid conflict.

Even if he killed this ghost general named 'Siji', it wouldn't do him much good; at most, he would only gain a ghost crystal.

Once their identities are discovered, the news will quickly spread throughout the entire island, and Number One will inevitably become a wanted person as well.

If a cooperation can be reached, this place will become his base for obtaining a continuous supply of ghost crystals.

As the group of ghosts approached the palace, Song Xian had already explained the situation through his mind via the Niwan Palace, while he himself remained hidden in the shadows to observe.

.........

Inside the black palace, a tall, armored ghost general sat atop the high stone steps.

The leading ghost led Number One inside, bowed respectfully to him, and flashed red light in his eyes.

Number One stood upright in the center of the hall, his head held high and his empty eyes staring straight at the ghost general on the stone steps.

The private sector members stared at the unfamiliar outsiders before them, and no one asked a question first, as if they were engaged in a silent contest.

The hall was completely silent, and the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

The private individual believed that the other party was doing this on purpose, trying to overwhelm him with their imposing manner and to display their noble status.

According to their custom, visitors must first greet them as a sign of respect, but Number One remained motionless, staring intently at him.

The private foundation was not to be outdone, and the two remained deadlocked.

In reality, Number One doesn't understand these so-called rules at all.

"I'm here to cooperate." After a moment of silence, Number One spoke first. In fact, its silence was not to compete with the other party in terms of momentum, nor was it intentional.

Instead, it was trying to communicate with Song Xian. After repeatedly trying to send messages to Song Xian through the black mist-like gas inside its body but receiving no response, it took it upon itself to 'speak'.

"I heard you come from the Eastern Wilderness and are of ape race origin. Are all apes in the Eastern Wilderness so ignorant of etiquette?" The voice of the man with flickering flames in his eyes, filled with displeasure, echoed in Number One's mind. "This is what I brought for the trade." Number One pulled a fist-sized, translucent, dark green bead from his robes and tossed it to the other man with a flick of his wrist.

Siji reached out and caught the flying bead. After glancing at it, he sensed the yin energy contained within it and was somewhat surprised. He then held it in his hand and examined it carefully.

This item is the Yin Soul Pearl that Song Xian obtained in the cave where he acquired the Xuan Tian Fusion Fire Technique. Each of these Yin Soul Pearls is of superior quality, and there are as many as a hundred of them.

Although these superior quality Yin Soul Beads are rare, their uses are not widespread, so there is not much demand in the market, and naturally they cannot fetch high prices, and they are even difficult to sell.

After Song Xian led his disciples to obtain these Yin Soul Pearls, he stored them in the treasury. Since then, the sect's finances had not been under much pressure, so these Yin Soul Pearls were kept in the treasury and not sold.

Unexpectedly, it came in handy at this moment.

The Yin Soul Pearl is not formed naturally, but is artificially crafted to store Yin energy.

This was something crafted by cultivators, and the ghosts on the island had never seen it before, so they found it novel.

After repeatedly examining the Yin Soul Pearl in his hand, 'Siji' finally asked a question.

"What is this? Where did it come from? What is its purpose?"

"This item is called the Yin Soul Pearl. It was refined by one of my partners. Its specific function is to store a large amount of Yin energy."

"Storing Yin energy?" Si Ji toyed with the Yin Soul Bead in his hand, greatly intrigued: "How do you plan to cooperate?"

"I brought a lot of these Yin Soul Pearls this time, hoping to exchange them for crystal cores. If you think it's acceptable, please exchange them for crystal cores." Number One relayed the request according to Song Xian's instructions.

"How should this be stored?" After hearing this, Siji did not immediately agree or refuse.

Number One then took out a Yin Soul Bead from his pocket and demonstrated the method of collecting and releasing Yin energy in front of him.

"Besides this, did you bring anything else?"

"No. This is the only thing we have right now."

"You came all the way from the Eastern Wilderness just to sell this?" There was a hint of suspicion in Siji's voice.

"Everything else has been sold along the way, and now only this is left."

“How are you going to sell it?”

"I only need the crystal core, nothing else. You can keep the Yin Soul Pearl for yourself to study at your leisure. If you find it useful, you can exchange it for the crystal core. We can discuss the specific price."

"How strange. I've never seen a merchant like you before, coming all the way from the Eastern Wilderness alone, selling only these beads, and only trading with crystal cores. What else did you sell along the way? Was that all traded with crystal cores?"

“That’s my business. You just need to decide whether you want it or not. If you don’t, I’ll go find another buyer.”

"Give me some time to think about it. You can stay here for now."

"No need. I'll come when you need as much time as you need."

“If you insist on trading crystal cores, I don’t have that. However, I can show it to our leader. If he’s interested, he can offer some crystal cores in exchange for it. If you’re willing, I can take you to see the leader.”

"I have some things to take care of and cannot go there now. I will come again in five days."

Number One turned and left. Private Base watched him go without stopping him, but simply gestured for the Ghost Shadow leader beside him to follow.

After getting far away from the city and confirming that no one was following him, Song Xian revealed himself. After learning about the conversation between Number One and the city lord's private base, he began to ponder.

He was certain that the Yin Soul Pearl was useful to those ghosts. This thing was like a mobile Yin meridian, and no matter where it went in the future, it could release the stored Yin energy for cultivation. How could it be useless?

But he didn't know how to set a price, because he knew nothing about the local trade system.

Fortunately, ghost cores aren't particularly valuable here, as the captured ghost had already explained.

Although the crystal core is the crystallization of the ghost general's cultivation, it is not very useful to ghosts.

Just like demon cores, demon cores are very valuable and useful to cultivators. Almost all high-level pills require demon cores.

However, for demonic beasts, the value of demon cores is far less than that for cultivators. It is only because of the existence of cultivators that the price of demon cores is inflated.

However, there were no cultivators here, only ghosts.

The only use of ghost crystals for these ghosts is to absorb their internal yin energy, but this does not benefit cultivation; it can only help the body recover its depleted yin energy.

Its function is somewhat similar to the Qi-restoring pill used by cultivators. Of course, its effect is much stronger than that of the Qi-restoring pill, but it is not as able to instantly restore one to a perfect state as the Spirit Milk.

Its main advantage is that it does not require refining and absorbing at the same time.

You can do other things while absorbing the yin energy inside the crystal core. The most common scenario is that two ghost generals are fighting, and one of them has exhausted too much yin energy. He will take out a crystal core and absorb the yin energy inside while fighting.

Therefore, while the value of crystal nuclei in this world is not that high, it is not some cheap roadside item either.

Song Xian brought all the Yin Soul Pearls from the sect's treasury this time, expecting to exchange them for at least ten Ghost Crystals.

Of course, the most important thing is to find long-term partners; only in this way can the relationship last.

…………

In the eastern region of the Muhe Grassland, inside a magnificent mansion, an old man with graying temples, a hooked nose, and a sinister face slowly entered, exuding an aura of authority without anger.

Inside, a middle-aged, robust man had been waiting with his head bowed. After leading him inside, he respectfully bowed and said, "Elder, we have found out that the one who killed Bonn was a cultivator from Yinyuan Island."

"Yinyuan Island? Why kill Bonn?" The old man's voice remained completely calm.

"They are a powerful organization in Jinhai. The island lord calls himself Yinquan Shangren and is a Nascent Soul cultivator. Decades ago, he sent a team to search for something called the Ghost Spirit Pearl."

"The person my disciple captured was perhaps not of a high enough rank; he didn't even know what the Ghost Spirit Pearl was, only that it was a treasure of Master Yin Quan, stolen by his disciple..."

The middle-aged man recounted the whole story of how the Ghost Spirit Pearl was stolen and how the Yin Spring Ancestor sent people to investigate and search for it, before continuing.

"Over the past few decades, they have been searching for this item everywhere, killing many people in the process. Recently, they have been looking for a man named Feng Ziqing, who is a prime suspect in stealing the Ghost Spirit Pearl."

“Feng Ziqing had been here before and had dealings with Born, so they’ve set their sights on Born, hoping to get clues about Feng Ziqing’s whereabouts from him.”

The old man remained expressionless, his voice still calm and collected: "Clean them up."

(End of this chapter)