Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

Luo Ying, the Ghost King, stopped in front of Han Wujiu, actually half a head taller than him, and stared at his face: "That one actually takes on a secret disciple. I haven't returned to the sect for hundreds of years and didn't even know about this."

She paused. "Are you sure it was a task personally assigned by that person?"

Han Wujiu didn't say anything more.

He took a piece of white paper from his sleeve and handed it over with both hands.

He asked Lin Zhao for this before he left. The paper itself has no spiritual power; it's just an ordinary object.

However, it bears the mark of True Lord Qingyuan, which Lin Zhao copied onto the white paper based on the mark on the mission letter.

Luo Ying, the Ghost King, stared at the pattern for three breaths, the eerie green in the depths of his pupils flashing slightly before returning to silence.

"Put it away."

Her tone was a bit more serious than before, "I've dealt with those four Nascent Soul cultivators from Qinglan Immortal City. True Monarch Xuanjing is the most cunning; he was probably the one who devised the delaying tactics."

She turned to look at the gray sky outside the hall. "He wants to break the deadlock?"

Han Wujiu nodded.

After a few moments of silence, Ghost King Luo Ying suddenly changed his tone: "Go find your grandmaster. Perhaps through this matter, our lineage can return to the sect."

Han Wujiu nodded again.

This is the real reason why he was willing to help Lin Zhao.

The sect has recently made a big move—he's registered in the Enforcement Hall, so he's much more informed than other ghost cultivators in the Nether Bone Domain.

Preparations for the Great Expedition are no secret, and all parties are making preparations.

The sect is in dire need of manpower.

But their lineage—the ghost cultivator lineage hidden away by the sect.

Even if someone has achieved extreme yin and returned to yang, becoming no different from an ordinary nascent soul, they are still not accepted by the sect and are in a state of exile.

They were trapped in the Netherworld Bone Domain, like prisoners.

If I can take this opportunity to return to my sect, I will no longer need to be trapped in this gloomy place.

Perhaps we can even leverage the sect's resources to advance further.

Of course, this level of planning was beyond the capabilities of the two of them.

The true ruler of the Ghost Cultivation lineage is True Monarch Qingyou, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

-----

a few days later.

An unnamed hill, low in stature and entirely gray-black, is a common sight in the Nether Bone Domain.

Ghost King Luo Ying led Han Wujiu to a stop in front of this inconspicuous rock wall.

She raised her hand and cast a spell; a flash of light appeared at her fingertips and disappeared into the stone surface.

Ripples spread across the center of the rock face, and the gray-black color faded outwards, revealing a pitch-black door.

The door slid open silently.

A pale white light shone through the door.

Han Wujiu narrowed his eyes slightly and followed Luo Ying inside.

This is a palace.

The dome was hundreds of feet high, with a bright moon formed by an array hanging above it, casting down a cool and gentle white light.

On either side stood carved black crystal pillars, their bodies entwined with glowing ghost vines that seemed to breathe as the light moved through them.

The stone surface underfoot was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the moonlight from the dome.

A fourth-grade superior magic weapon, the Mysterious Nether Palace.

If Lin Zhao were to come here, he would be astonished. This is a high-grade fourth-tier palace magic treasure, on par with his Luo Tian Palace.

Qingyou Zhenjun was a pretty young woman who was squatting in a flower field in a corner of the palace, planting flowers.

The sea of ​​flowers wasn't large, only a few dozen feet in circumference, and it was covered with tiny, pale blue blossoms that gleamed coldly in the moonlight.

She was holding a seedling in her hand, carefully burying it in the soil.

Luo Ying, the Ghost King, and Han Wujiu exchanged a glance, then walked over helplessly and pulled her out of the sea of ​​flowers from either side.

Qingyou Zhenjun was dragged out of the sea of ​​flowers by two people, who were holding his arms, and he was still clutching a small shovel in his hand.

She was forced to sit down in a chair, tilted her head, and didn't understand what they had to do that made them so anxious.

Ghost King Luo Ying repeated what had happened before. Han Wujiu took out the white paper bearing the mark of True Lord Qingyuan.

Qingyou Zhenjun looked at the mark.

Then her expression changed, and all the nonchalance between her brows disappeared.

Those once clear eyes instantly returned to a deep, dark light, a cold and profound glint.

This is the true Azure Nether True Lord.

She wasn't some kind of sect prodigy in her youth; she was just an ordinary disciple with average talent.

After failing to achieve the Core Formation after Foundation Establishment, he became disheartened and came to the Nether Bone Domain to cultivate the Ghost Path.

They had no resources, no legacy, and no powerful backers.

She started from the lowest level of ghost cultivation, devouring, fighting, and struggling.

She spent a thousand years. Her cultivation level rose from Foundation Establishment all the way to the late Nascent Soul stage, and she killed more than ten fourth-tier ghost kings.

In the vast Nether Bone Domain, spanning over ten thousand miles, she was the only late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

But what's the use?

Ghost cultivators are not allowed to leave the Nether Bone Domain at will.

A territory of 100,000 li is large enough for ordinary ghost cultivators, but for a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, it is just a large prison.

She has been here for two thousand years, her cultivation stuck at the late Nascent Soul stage, unable to advance any further.

There is no opportunity to become a Nascent Soul in the Netherworld.

She had long given up hope, which is why she planted flowers here.

Qingyou Zhenjun looked at the mark and said calmly, "You want to leave this place?"

Luo Ying and Han Wujiu naturally had the same idea.

Han Wujiu is alright – after all, he didn't really die and is still nominally registered in the Law Enforcement Hall, so leaving the Nether Bone Domain shouldn't be too difficult.

It's incredibly difficult for Luo Ying to leave even once; her identity as a ghost cultivator is like an invisible chain, keeping her firmly locked here.

Luo Ying spoke, her tone more urgent than before: "This is an opportunity. The sect's expedition is imminent. If True Monarch Qingyuan says a word to the sect and gives us a chance, we will have a chance to return to the sect. Master may even have a chance to break through to the Nascent Soul stage with the sect's resources."

If she were still in the sect, with her cultivation and combat power, she would have been qualified to access the sect's Nascent Soul inheritance long ago.

Unfortunately, there is no Nascent Soul Transformation lineage in the Nether Bone Domain.

If one could seize this opportunity to obtain the sect's Nascent Soul Transformation opportunity—ascension to Nascent Soul—it wouldn't be impossible.

She sighed and spoke slowly, "You know my situation."

In his early years, he held a lowly position in the sect. After switching to the Ghost Path, he was even less favored by the sect's Nascent Soul cultivators and never had any contact with True Monarch Qingyuan.

Who knows what that person was thinking? Lin Zhao went to Qinglan Immortal City on a mission; his arrival in the Nether Bone Domain was just an accident.

"But that might not have been an accident."

Luo Ying's tone was somewhat stubborn, "Lin Zhao's arrival in the Nether Bone Domain might have been tacitly approved by True Monarch Qingyuan, and might even be for the sake of our lineage returning to the sect."

She herself felt unsure of herself when she said those words.

But she clenched her fists, her voice even more resolute than before: "Even if it isn't, we must treat it as if it is, Master. We've been trapped here for too long; we have to give it our all."

Qingyou Zhenjun looked at this stubborn disciple.

Luo Ying had followed her for many years, from the Core Formation stage to the Nascent Soul stage, and she had never asked her for anything.

The hall fell silent.

Moonlight streamed down from the dome, landing on Qingyou Zhenjun's shoulder, half of her profile in the light and half in the shadows.