Mortal: Supreme Being of the Ghost Path

The joints remained suspended silently in mid-air, motionless.

Qin Han stared indifferently at the snow-white knuckle, waiting for a response.

However, after a long while, there was still no movement from the joints. The Xuan Gu Old Demon seemed to be completely dead, not even letting out the slightest breath.

Playing dead?

Qin Han sneered inwardly.

With a thought, an invisible, terrifying force suddenly enveloped his joints.

That power was neither magic nor divine consciousness, but rather the power of the rules inherent in the world within the cauldron itself.

In this world, he is the master; with a single thought, all things are born and die, and he can command them at will.

At the same time, a light blue figure skipped and hopped over from a distance.

It was a Soul-Crying Beast!

The little monkey whose origins had been reversed by Qin Han was now running happily towards them, and in no time at all, it climbed up Qin Han's robes onto his shoulder.

It perched on the shoulder, its light golden eyes fixed on the bone joint in front of it, emitting a low creaking sound as if issuing a warning.

Qin Han raised his hand and rubbed the head of the Crying Soul Beast, his gaze never leaving that bone joint.

A moment later.

The joints finally reacted.

A ball of emerald green light slowly floated out from the joints, flickered in mid-air, and finally transformed into the face of an old man with a weathered and gloomy expression.

The face was covered with wrinkles, the eyes were sunken, and the triangular eyes were full of fear and unease. Judging from the description in the original work, it should be Master Xuan Gu.

"Young friend!"

Xuan Gu's voice trembled and was urgent, echoing within the world of the cauldron.

"Please spare my life! If you would spare my life, I am willing to serve you as your master for life, in the body of a ghost slave! I know countless extraordinary skills and secret techniques, and I am willing to teach them all to you!"

Qin Han remained expressionless, simply watching him quietly.

Seeing that Qin Han remained unmoved, Xuan Gu grew increasingly anxious and quickly added, "Fellow Daoist, have you ever heard of the 'Mysterious Yin Scripture'? It is one of the most powerful demonic arts in the Chaotic Star Sea. I am willing to include it as well..."

However, he suddenly stopped halfway through his sentence.

Those eerie eyes stared intently at the faint ghostly aura surrounding Qin Han, a strange light flashing in them before they quickly changed their tune, their tone becoming even more fervent:

"So, fellow Daoist, you, like me, cultivate the path of demons and ghosts! I have a method here called the 'Mysterious Soul Refining Demon Technique,' which can cultivate the most profound Mysterious Soul Body in the ghost path. Wouldn't you like to know more about it?"

He paused, and seeing that Qin Han's expression remained unchanged, he gritted his teeth and continued to raise the stakes:

"Moreover, I possess several secret caves containing numerous treasures, which I am willing to offer to my master! If only my master would spare my life..."

After a long silence, Qin Han snorted coldly. With a slight thought, the power of the rules of the world within the cauldron suddenly condensed, and a terrifying pressure capable of destroying the world emerged out of thin air, like an invisible mountain pressing down on the remnant soul of Xuan Gu!

"ah--!"

Xuan Gu let out a shrill scream, his aged face contorted violently, and the emerald light around him flickered, as if it would shatter and dissipate at any moment.

"Master...Master, spare me!!"

Xuan Gu's voice was intermittent, filled with fear.

However, Qin Han watched coldly until Xuan Gu's screams grew weaker and weaker, almost to the point of his soul being scattered, before slowly withdrawing that oppressive aura.

At this moment, Xuan Gu's remnant soul was panting heavily, and the green light around his body had dimmed considerably, clearly indicating that he was quite frightened.

He dared not have any more thoughts, and just hovered in mid-air, trembling, not daring to even look at Qin Han.

Only now did Qin Han speak, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable air of authority:

"I have a few questions for you. If you utter a single falsehood, hmph!" He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was crystal clear.

"This old servant wouldn't dare! This old servant will certainly tell you everything he knows without reservation!" Xuan Gu quickly replied.

Qin Han looked directly at Xuan Gu and slowly spoke:

"Where did you obtain the method for refining the 'Asura Sacred Flame'? As far as I know, this flame is one of the three sacred flames of the Ghost Path, and even many ghost cultivators are unaware of it. How did you find out?"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Gu's expression changed slightly, a complex look flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his respectful demeanor.

"Reporting to Master,"

He took a deep breath, as if recalling a very distant memory.

"That was obtained by chance in an ancient corpse-raising place in the outer sea where Yin energy gathered when I had just formed my Nascent Soul in my early years. No, it was obtained by chance when I had just formed my Nascent Soul."

Upon hearing this, Qin Han was suddenly jolted.

This is like a pillow being delivered when you're about to fall asleep. I was just trying to recall where such a place for raising corpses existed in the original story, and I didn't expect to get a clue so quickly!

"An ancient place for raising corpses?"

Although he was very excited, Qin Han remained outwardly calm, only raising an eyebrow slightly and asking a question in return.

"Exactly." Xuan Gu nodded. "That place is extremely secluded, with ancient restrictions covering the outside. If this old servant hadn't stumbled into it by accident back then, there would have been no way to discover it."

"Tell me in detail," Qin Han said calmly, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

Xuan Gu quickly responded, and after a moment of contemplation, said:

"That place is a very large island. I stumbled upon it by accident back then, and I saw that the island was heavily protected by restrictions and had many formations. It was clear that the person who set it up had put a lot of effort into it."

"The entire island was shrouded in a layer of gray-black mist, and that mist was not ordinary yin energy, but seemed to be an extremely special and rare 'corpse evil energy,' which was extremely domineering. If an ordinary cultivator inhaled a breath of it, at best his foundation would be damaged, and at worst he would go mad on the spot."

Qin Han raised an eyebrow slightly but remained silent.

Xuan Gu continued, "Furthermore, the island is littered with skeletons—the skeletons of cultivators, the skeletons of demonic beasts, and even the remains of some enormous ancient beasts, scattered everywhere. They all appeared to have possessed considerable cultivation in life. This old servant roughly estimates that there are at least dozens of skeletons at the Nascent Soul level alone."

"Besides these, there are altars of various strange shapes, some round, some square, some high, some low, scattered throughout the island. The altars are covered with ancient runes, which this old servant cannot decipher due to my limited knowledge."

"There are also countless fragments of magical artifacts, swords, spears, halberds, bell towers, and cauldrons scattered among the bones. Although most of them have lost their spiritual power, you can occasionally find one or two that are still usable."

Xuan Gu paused, his tone tinged with emotion:

"This old servant speculates that it was very likely an ancient battlefield, which was later transformed into a deadly place for raising corpses by someone with great supernatural powers. It should have been used to cultivate some evil and forbidden techniques."

"If I'm not mistaken, the corpse aura there is not naturally formed, but rather accumulated over countless years and reinforced by array formations to reach that scale."