Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 174 Returning to the City. (First Update!)

Zheng Li immediately stood up, used one hand to cast a series of [Spirit Pivot Control Banner Technique] spells, and with the other hand outstretched, reached out to grab the Soul-Summoning Banner from a distance.

Whoosh!
The next moment, the soul-summoning banner stuck in the ground shot out and instantly fell into his palm.

Zheng Que put away the incantation, then gripped the flagpole tightly with both hands and waved it left and right like a large flag.

Swish...swish...swish...

As he vigorously waved it, gusts of cold, bone-chilling wind immediately swept out from the black banner.

The soul wind transformed into a gray-black mist, swirling and crisscrossing within the room, causing the curtains to rustle and all the furnishings to be shrouded in a layer of gloomy, damp mist, making the entire cabin feel like an ice cellar.

This is a spirit-summoning wind, which can command the surrounding ghosts and make them work for you!
Immediately afterwards, Zheng Que continuously poured his spiritual power into the Soul-Summoning Banner. On the surface of the banner, protruding faces appeared one after another. These faces were of various shapes and sizes, and after appearing, they quickly emerged from the banner, revealing the forms of ghosts.

The auras of the ghosts varied in strength. At first, only the third level of the [Tongue-Pulling Hell] appeared. Gradually, the fourth, fifth, and sixth levels of the [Tongue-Pulling Hell] appeared... The number of ghosts increased, and soon the originally spacious cabin was completely filled.

These ghostly creatures swarmed together like a tide, filling the surroundings. Their cold, malicious eyes stared straight at Zheng Que, showing no aggression or provocation, yet also no sign of docility or obedience.

The cabin, already chilling to the bone, now seemed to be submerged in a freezing pool. Everything in sight appeared to be shrouded in layers of black gauze, and the intense yin energy blurred the vision, making it all blurry and impossible to see clearly.

Just then, a familiar face appeared on the black banner.

Qingli's head peeked out from the banner, looked around, and then her neck, upper body, arms, waist... She quickly floated out of the banner and appeared in the cabin.

Back in reality, Qingli immediately looked at Zheng Que and nodded slightly with great satisfaction, saying, "Well done, human boy!"

As she spoke, she immediately found a beam, hung herself up on it, and began to swing comfortably on the swing.

At this moment, Qing Li's body was brimming with energy and rich in yin energy, her strength reaching the peak of the seventh level of the [Tongue-Pulling Prison].

Watching this scene, Zheng Que nodded to himself.

Now, this soul-summoning banner has only two functions in his hands: one is to cast a soul-summoning wind; the other is to summon the ghosts within the banner and to collect the ghosts into the banner.

In addition, since he has not yet truly refined the Soul-Summoning Banner, the ghosts within it will not attack him, but they will not obey his commands. Only the main soul, Qing Li, can command these ghosts.

While pondering, he activated the Soul-Summoning Banner again, collecting all the ghosts in the cabin except for Qingli into the banner.

After repeatedly activating the Soul-Summoning Banner, Zheng Que felt that his spiritual power was greatly depleted. He stood still and adjusted his breathing slightly. After his spiritual power recovered a little, he took the Soul-Summoning Banner and walked to the white jade plum vase under his feet.

"Miss Shu, I can barely control the Soul-Summoning Banner now. I wonder what I need to do to release you?"

Zheng Que stood before the white jade plum vase and asked in a loud voice.

After he finished speaking, he waited for a moment, but the dark gray mist in the white jade plum vase remained at the bottom without any movement, and he did not hear any response from Shu Yunying.

Zheng Que felt a little strange. Shu Yunying hadn't woken up yet?

This "evil" from Shujiabao is at the ninth level of the [Tongue-Pulling Prison], with a cultivation level higher than Qingli's. Now that Qingli has awakened, Shu Yunying is still asleep.
Is it because Shu Yunying was sealed?

Thinking of this, Zheng Que did not waste any more time. He picked up the white jade plum vase and tried to put it into his storage bag, but found that he could not put it in. So he opened the soul-nourishing bag and finally managed to put the white jade plum vase away.

Next, he tried to put the soul-summoning banner into his storage bag. This time, there were no problems, and the banner was put into the storage bag very smoothly. After doing all this, Zheng Que turned to look at Qing Li hanging on the roof beam and immediately said, "Qing Li, come with me for a bit."

As he spoke, he opened the Soul Nourishing Bag and put Qing Li away.

Then he walked out of the cabin and onto the deck of the Dharma Boat.

At this moment, the sun shines brightly, illuminating the surrounding fields. The night dew that had condensed on the grass and leaves near and far has mostly dried up. A wild wind blows, creating layers of green waves, and the air is filled with the fresh scent of grass and trees.

Niannu and Kulan stood guard on the deck, keeping watch on all sides.

Upon seeing Zheng Que approach, Ku Lan acted as if nothing had happened, immediately bowing to him and softly saying, "Young Master."

Niannu also bowed and said, "My lord!"

Zheng Que nodded slightly, then opened the Soul Nourishing Bag and put Ku Lan and Nian Nu into it as well.

There is a rule in Taiping County that it is not allowed to release ghost servants in front of ordinary people in the town.

Therefore, before entering the city, he had to collect all the ghost servants into his soul-nurturing bag.

Thinking of this, Zheng Que jumped off the Dharma boat and put it away.

Having made all the preparations, he glanced at the outline of Taiping County in the distance, then took out a [Concealing Breath Talisman] and stuck it on his body. Instantly, all his aura was covered by a layer of shield, completely contained, without the slightest leakage.

At this point, Zheng Que silently reviewed everything in his mind to make sure he hadn't missed any details before taking a step and heading towards Taiping County.

Everything at the city gate was as before. The armored soldiers patrolling clattered as they approached. When they saw someone coming, one of the soldiers immediately stopped, raised his hand to his sword, and stared at him warily. But once they saw Zheng Que’s face, their guard quickly lifted, and the line of soldiers parted to let Zheng Que come and go as he pleased.

It was obvious that the soldiers had memorized Zheng Que's appearance from his previous visits to Taiping County.

Step, step, step...

Footsteps echoed through the wide city gate. Zheng Que entered the city smoothly. The hustle and bustle that greeted him made him breathe a sigh of relief. The prosperity and liveliness before him seemed to be the same as before.

But soon, he frowned slightly; the eerie atmosphere permeating the city seemed a little stronger than before…

While pondering, Zheng Que wasted no time and quickened his pace toward the offering hall.

The lives of ordinary people along the way remained largely unchanged, but the number of cultivators had decreased significantly.

Zheng Que quickly arrived at the offering workshop, where there were slightly more cultivators and many stalls on both sides, displaying talismans, pills, spells and the like, with occasional scattered hawking cries.

He didn't stop and headed straight for the Merit Office.

Inside the Merit Office, the same old man, Qiu Tingfang, was still in charge.

Noticing someone enter, Qiu Tingfang, who was admiring a piece of pottery, looked up, glanced at Zheng Que, and immediately asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you here to receive a mission?"

(End of this chapter)