Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 449: A Question and an Answer. (First Update!)

In the spacious pharmacy, a faint, bitter aroma, a mixture of various medicinal herbs, wafted through the air like drifting smoke.

On the ebony counter shaped like the character "乚" facing you, eight characters are inlaid with mother-of-pearl: "Eight corners return to their proper place, five flavors harmonize."

The inscription appears to have been there for a long time, with many signs of wear on the edges, but the mother-of-pearl inlay remains bright and beautiful, suggesting that it has been frequently wiped and maintained.

"...Why are you here, sir?"

On the open ground near the entrance, Zheng Que stared at the elegantly dressed monk who came out from behind the small door behind the counter and asked in a deep voice.

Tuzhou Qingrao Prefecture?
For a candidate from a barren land, the use of the [Concealment Technique] is quite good!

The elegantly dressed cultivator looked Zheng Que over with interest and said in a low voice, "My name is Yan Dong, and I am an examinee from Yinshan Prefecture in Hengzhou."

"When did Fellow Daoist Zheng enter this 'strange' place?"

"Besides fellow Daoists, who else did you see in this 'strange' event?"

Zheng Que stared at Yan Dong, having secretly used the [Discerning Technique], but he did not notice anything unusual.

The elegantly dressed cultivator before us was not a ghost in disguise; he was indeed a cultivator from the imperial court!

After thinking for a moment, he immediately replied, "Before I answer your question, you should answer mine first."

"May I ask, fellow Daoist, why are you here?"

"I didn't see you when I came in!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Dong frowned slightly. He hadn't expected that a candidate from such a small place would dare to show him no respect whatsoever.

However, considering that this place was "strange", he didn't want to cause any accidents over such a small matter. After a slight hesitation, he said, "After the Immortal Trial began, I found this 'strange' place as soon as possible and entered it."

"Among the candidates, Song Jiaoyin, who comes from the Qinzhou Prefectural Governor's Office, is the same."

"Besides the two of us who came in on our own initiative, there were five other candidates at the ninth level of Qi Refining who were being chased by ghosts and, in their panic, hid in this 'strange place'."

"There is another cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment who came to Blood Pass in search of an opportunity to form a Core Formation."

"A total of twelve people."

“You’re not among these twelve people; you must have just entered this ‘strange’ situation.”

"Alright, I've answered your question. Now, it's your turn."

A rogue cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment, seeking an opportunity to form the Core Formation?

Zheng Que frowned. He didn't know if the rogue cultivator Yan Dong mentioned was the same Liao Zhanbo he had seen when he entered earlier.

But judging from Yan Dong's words, there are more than just the people he saw when he came in about this "strange" incident!
Thinking of this, Zheng Que immediately said, "You count one spot, plus Song Jiaoyin from Qinzhou, whom you mentioned. That makes five Qi Refining Level 9 candidates and one rogue cultivator, so there should be a total of eight people."

"But who are the remaining four?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Dong did not respond to Zheng Que at all, but instead looked at him quietly.

Zheng Que immediately realized that this was his second question, and the other party would not give him any explanation until he answered the question he had just asked.

So he immediately said, "When I came in just now, there were eleven people in total."

"Besides myself, there is Duke Dingguo's young master, Yin Congyi, and his four subordinates."

"And there's also a candidate from my Tuzhou prefecture."

"And three Qi Refining Level 9 candidates from Chongzhou." "The last one is also a late Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator who came to Xue Tong Pass to seek the opportunity to form a Core."

"Furthermore, before I entered the 'Strange,' a massive ghost tide broke out at Xue Tong Pass. If you did not see the ghost tide before you entered, then you must have entered the 'Strange' before me."

Yan Dong listened carefully, nodded slightly, and quickly wrote down the information about the people Zheng Que mentioned. Then he said, "I did meet Yin Congyi, the young master of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, not long ago."

"It's a pity that although that young master is exceptionally talented, he hasn't reached the Foundation Establishment stage yet, otherwise he wouldn't have fallen for the trap so easily."

"As for what you just asked, of the remaining four people out of the twelve, two are my subordinates, and the other two are Fellow Daoist Song's attendants."

"Including these four, there are exactly twelve people."

Has Yin Congyi been infected?

Zheng Que was somewhat surprised. Although the young master of the Duke's mansion was only at the ninth level of Qi Refining, he had a profound foundation and pure spiritual power. His background was in no way inferior to that of a sect disciple, and he even had the potential to reach the Heavenly Rank Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, the opponent also had four Foundation Establishment stage subordinates guarding them...

As he pondered, Zheng Que felt a chill run down his spine. The danger of this "strange" place was no less than that of the Wanshan Temple on Yaotai Mountain.

Furthermore, Yan Dong claimed to have brought two subordinates with him, but in his current perception, the only living people in the entire pharmacy were the two of them and Xue Shuangzi, the "evil spirit."

Those two subordinates of the other party have most likely also gotten into trouble.

Zheng Que then asked, "Fellow Daoist Yan, what exactly do you mean by being 'caught in a trap'?"

"Is that Fellow Daoist Yin dead now?"

"Or have they been assimilated by the 'weird'?"

Yan Dong looked at him, slowly shook his head, his gaze somewhat strange. He quickly looked past Zheng Que and landed on Xue Shuangzi, saying swiftly, "I just answered two of your questions, but you only answered one of mine."

"You need to answer one more question before you can continue."

"Tell me, how did you manage to control that 'evil spirit'?"

Zheng Que did not hesitate and immediately replied, "Drive..."

Before he could finish saying the last two words of "Ghost Control Technique," he suddenly felt an immense sense of crisis descend upon him. The hairs on his body stood on end involuntarily, and his scalp tingled. It was as if a sharp blade was hanging overhead, ready to strike at any moment.

This intense sense of crisis, while not quite reaching the level of a death warning, was not far off, causing him to subconsciously swallow back all the words he was about to say.

Seeing Zheng Que suddenly fall silent, Yan Dong smiled slightly and reminded him meaningfully, "Fellow Daoist Zheng, do not lie."

"Otherwise, something very bad will happen."

You can't lie?

Is this Yan Dong's magic?

Or is it the rules within this "weirdness"?

Zheng Que's mind raced, and he quickly came to his senses. He tried saying "soul-summoning banner" again, but the result was the same as before. He could only utter one word before a huge sense of crisis rose in his heart, and every pore on his body seemed to be howling with unease. All of this made him instinctively stop talking.

This doesn't look like magic!

Are they fragments of "law"?

Thinking of this, Zheng Que suddenly opened his arms and pulled Xue Shuangzi into his embrace, then smiled at Yan Dong and said, "She is my destined partner!"

(End of this chapter)