Hermit in the Mountains

After answering his disciples' questions for several hours, Gu Changsheng disappeared from the Dao Realm and returned to the real world.

长生殿

A dark purple banner of ten thousand souls floated in front of Gu Changsheng. He entered the banner with his divine sense and guided its derivative functions to begin creating four smaller banners.

Inside the banner, pieces of dark wood, dark stones, and dark iron were combined by a force to form a dark purple banner pole.

Monster hides, spirit beast hides, tough tree bark, and spirit silkworm silk were blended together to form dark purple banners;

The banner has 81 stars that form a star map.

Spirit vines, spirit silkworm silk, and demonic beast tendons were kneaded into strips of dark purple binding ropes;

The rope was tied with eighty-one knots evenly, like eighty-one stars.

The banner pole, banner surface, and binding rope form miniature versions of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

On the surface of each of the Wanhunzi banners, a single character is embroidered in faint detail.

East, South, West, North.

A week later, half of the Yin energy and fortune within the banner had been consumed, and the Four Directions Myriad Souls Banner was successfully conceived.

Gu Changsheng withdrew his divine sense from the Myriad Souls Banner and looked at the Myriad Souls Main Banner in front of him. A thought crossed his mind.

A banner bearing the banner of ten thousand souls flew out and hovered around the main banner.

The Four Directions Myriad Souls Banner and the Main Banner are a set of spiritual treasures. They are both considered to be in the embryonic stage of spiritual treasures and are expected to be promoted to the category of innate spiritual treasures in the future.

The Four Directions Myriad Souls Banner does not possess the authority of a Netherworld decree, but it has created a Netherworld passage between itself and the main banner.

The secondary banners and the main banner are interconnected, with the main banner serving as the main base, allowing for the flexible mobilization of Yin soldiers from all directions.

Due to the level of the spirit treasure embryo, the maximum teleportation distance of the Netherworld Passage is five thousand kilometers.

In other words, the farthest the flag can be thrown is 5,000 kilometers away from Mount Kurong.

The range of the ghost soldiers' activities is unrelated to this distance restriction;

The ghostly soldiers emerge at sunset and depart at sunrise, regardless of distance.

Gu Changsheng plans to build a City God Temple within the Yin Si system as a place to station troops;

The four-sided banners serve as the four gates to the underworld, responsible for transporting ghost soldiers and receiving ghosts.

With this in mind, Gu Changsheng summoned Yin Kui and his five strongest lieutenants who had developed sentience.

Only those ghost soldiers who develop sentience can serve as deputy generals.

The moment the six Yin Kui ghosts appeared in the Hall of Longevity, the temperature inside the hall dropped by more than ten degrees, and a chill emanated outwards.

Dahuang and Qingniu sensed the aura of the Six Dao Tree Realm and instantly became alert. They only relaxed their guard after noticing Yin Kui's aura and realizing that he had no killing intent.

Yin Kui Liu Gui knelt on one knee, his posture upright, his left fist clenched and placed on his chest, giving a military salute.

"Your subordinate pays respects to Lord Ghost Lord..."

"No need for formalities!"

"Thank you, Lord Xie..."

Yin Kui stood in front, followed by five lieutenants with soul-locking chains around their waists and soul-devouring spears in their right hands.

Gu Changsheng raised his hand and called out names from left to right, bestowing upon them names and conferring upon them the rank of Ninth-Rank Yin Official.

"From this day forward, your names shall be: Gui Yi, Yin Dong, Yin Nan, Yin west, and Yin Bei;"

"I hereby appoint you as Ninth-Rank Yin Generals, to assist Yin Kui in commanding the Yin Army;"

"Imperial Edict—"

As the word "Imperial Edict" sounded, five clusters of dark purple light flew out from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and entered the brows of the five people.

The five ghosts, who had been granted official titles, knelt on one knee, their left fist clenched in front of their chest, and their right hand holding the Soul-Devouring Spear.

"Your subordinates, Ghost One, Yin East, Yin South, Yin West, and Yin North, kowtow to thank Your Majesty the Ghost Lord for the bestowal of this title."

Gu Changsheng looked at Yin Kui, "Yin Kui, from this day forward, you are promoted to Eighth-Rank Yin General, commanding the armies of the Five Directions;"

"The army of ghost soldiers is divided into five directions: the Central Army, the Eastern Army, the Southern Army, the Western Army, and the Northern Army."

"The Central Army is stationed in the main banner space, responsible for deploying troops, imprisoning spirits, cultivating spirit soldiers, and supporting all parties."

"Ghost One will serve as your deputy general, assisting you in managing the central army."

"Yin Dong holds the Eastern Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and is stationed three thousand kilometers to the east, responsible for patrolling, apprehending, and searching for treasure in the east."

"Yin Nan holds the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls of the South, and is stationed three thousand kilometers to the south, responsible for patrolling, apprehending, and searching for treasure in the south;"

"Yin west holds the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls of the West, and is stationed three thousand kilometers to the west, responsible for patrolling, apprehending, and searching for treasure in the west;"

"Each of you four will select a deputy general, and a thousand ghost soldiers will enter the corresponding military flag."

"Three days later, it will be officially deployed to all directions."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Changsheng waved his sleeve, and the Myriad Soul Banners flew from all directions toward the four ninth-rank Yin generals.

The six Yin Kui ghosts responded in unison, "Yes..."

The six demons transformed into black light and fled into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

With a thought, Gu Changsheng sent the Myriad Souls Banner to the left and planted it on a jade platform.

The Investiture of the Gods is located on the jade platform next to the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Gu Changsheng probed the Investiture of the Gods with his divine sense, and found the interior space filled with rich and pure incense power and divine fortune.

His divine sense swept over Silver Moon Peak again, and he glanced at the white snake that was about to transform into a dragon.

His gaze fell upon the ancient town of Shou'an, forty kilometers away, and the Shou'an River, which was several hundred meters wide and nearly a hundred kilometers long.

The appointment of the White Snake as the River God of the Shou'an River may accelerate the process of transforming into a dragon.

If another white tiger is selected and appointed as the mountain god of the mountain peak behind Wanshou Village.

The three entities together form the underlying divine court system.

Land deity, mountain deity, dragon maiden—this combination looks very promising.

Gu Changsheng decisively transmitted his voice to the white snake, instructing her to descend the mountain under cover of night and swim along the stream to the Shou'an River;

Familiarize yourself with the hundred-kilometer Shou'an River waterway and subdue the monsters within it, in order to prepare for the investiture ceremony.

After arranging for the white snake, Gu Changsheng used his divine sense to probe into the Qinling Mountains, beginning his search for the most suitable mountain god.

He wasn't fixated on the White Tiger; as long as it was suitable, it could be a spirit deer, a plant spirit, etc.

On Silver Moon Peak, the white snake, who had been cultivating in seclusion in the pool, awoke and listened attentively to the voice that echoed in her mind before poking her head out of the water.

As the silver moon appeared beside the pool, the white snake blinked and spoke in a soft, sweet voice.

"Sister Silver Moon, the Mountain Lord has instructed me to descend the mountain and cultivate at the Shou'an River."

Yin Yue hummed in agreement. "Just follow Master's instructions."

"Don't disgrace Silvermoon Peak when you go out. If you need anything, you can contact me through the Dao Realm."

A hint of joy flashed in the white snake's eyes, and she nodded. "Sister Xie, I will definitely not let you down."

That evening, as the White Snake departed, the Silver Moon appeared to see her off.

Yinyue stood by the pool, stretched out her right hand with her five fingers spread, revealing a somewhat rough bronze ring in her palm.

"Keep this bronze ring safe. It doesn't have much space, but it'll be enough for you."

"Second Senior Brother is refining weapons..." Yin Yue grumbled for a moment, then waved her hand, "Go ahead."

"Thank you, sister!" With that, the white snake opened her mouth and swallowed the jade ring.

"Splash......"

The white snake's enormous body flew out of the water, and the swirling water it created fell back into the pool.

"Sister, I'm leaving." With that, the white snake flew away.

Silver Moon released her divine sense and saw the white snake pass through the great formation and fall into the stream at the foot of the mountain.

A white figure swam swiftly through the stream towards the outside of the mountains.

Only after the white snake swam into the Shou'an River did she withdraw her divine power, turn around and return to the palace to meditate and cultivate.

Inside the main hall, Yin Yue sat cross-legged on a jade bed, and a fluffy white rabbit jumped onto her lap.

The man and the rabbit became engrossed in meditation and spiritual practice.