Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 422 Ghostly Cultivation Techniques
Lu Zheng looked at Chi Mei with a smile and said, "Let me introduce ourselves a little more. We come from Anguo, and we mainly study Confucianism and Taoism. We have been traveling around to broaden our horizons and, incidentally, to eliminate evil and protect the righteous path."

"Young lady, don't be nervous. Although I, Lu, have killed many gods, demons, and ghosts, I am still very reasonable."

"You've killed countless humans, gods, demons, and ghosts?" Chi Mei's eyes flickered; these words only made her more uneasy.

She didn't think Lu Zheng was bragging; after all, she believed Lu Zheng truly had the ability.

Moreover, she was a Confucian cultivator; she was not an ignorant wild ghost. Among human cultivators, Confucian scholars, who read the classics, were among the least fond of demons and ghosts.

Not to mention demons and ghosts, even powerful Confucian scholars are not afraid of gods and Buddhas.

"Hehe, is that so..." Chi Mei smiled somewhat reluctantly, "You two are indeed guests from afar. Anguo is not close to Guizhou."

Lu Zheng nodded. "It is quite far. Have you ever traveled far before, young lady?"

Chi Mei said, "I am just a little ghost in the mountains. It is already difficult enough to live in a place like Ghost State. How dare I go out and see the world?"

Beside her, Qingwan quickly brewed some spiritual tea and poured a cup for Chimei.

"Thank you." Chi Mei quickly took the teacup and expressed her gratitude.

A fragrant spiritual tea wafted from the tea. Chi Mei couldn't resist taking a sip and discovered that she could also absorb the spiritual energy within it.

Lu Zheng looked at Chi Mei and asked, "How did you come to build such a ghost village?"

Chi Mei held her teacup, hesitated for a moment, and explained, "It was another ghost who told me."

“Explain in detail.” Lu Zheng’s tone was calm, but carried an air of undeniable authority.

Chi Mei's expression shifted, and she whispered, "I once went to Ghost City and encountered a powerful ghost. It told me how to build a ghost village, absorb people's essence to cultivate, and said that you can store up the excess human essence and trade it like spirit stones..."

Lu Zhengdao: "Let's take a look."

Upon hearing this, Chi Mei reached into her hand and produced a small, square stone, no bigger than a thumb, from who-knows-where. The grayish-white stone contained a wisp of special essence.

Chi Mei said, "This is a spirit stone, which is just as valuable as a spirit stone in Ghost Continent."

Lu Zheng only glanced at it before he could tell that this stone was similar to the Gathering Yang Pearl he had seen before, but the quality of this refined stone was not as good as that of the Gathering Yang Pearl.

Lu Zheng asked, "How many years have you been running this ghost village? How many people have lived here?"

“It’s been almost fifty years…” Chi Mei said. “At first there were only a few people, and then it gradually grew to this many.”

"I forgot exactly how many people there were, but all the humans who came here were there voluntarily."

"As you can see, they live very well here. I'm just taking some of their yang energy."

“They couldn’t live like this outside.”

"You won't attack me because of this, will you? If I die, they won't be able to survive either..."

Fearing that Lu Zheng would kill her, Chi Mei couldn't help but try to excuse herself.

Chi Mei added, "I'm not the only ghost doing this here. There are many villages like this in Ghost Continent. Compared to other villages, the humans here are considered to be doing quite well."

Chi Mei lowered her voice again and said, "Moreover, the officials in Ghost City all know about these villages. As long as you give them some benefits, they'll turn a blind eye..."

These ghost villages can be considered illegal gathering places, but the officials don't investigate and the people don't complain. As long as it doesn't get reported to higher authorities, the gods and officials of Ghost Prefecture won't care.

Even more living people coming to Ghost State would be beneficial to its development.

Of course, if something goes wrong, some ghost villages, if exposed, can simply blame the ghosts and be done with it.

Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "There are many ghost villages?"

Chi Mei said softly, "I don't know the exact number, but I know of at least six ghost villages, some of which have populations of over a thousand..."

Lu Zhengdao said, "Don't tell them that so many people are refugees who fled here."

“Uh…” Chi Mei said softly, “You can also buy people in Ghost State and outside, but the price is quite high. I usually have people go out to recruit relatives and friends. The people who come here didn’t have a good life before, so it’s easier for them to go back and call for help.”

It's not convenient to buy people from other states and counties, and people from Ghost State are too expensive, so Chi Mei has to send the villagers out to recruit people.

As for why she wasn't the one to arrest or search for people, the reason is simple: there are many gods in other prefectures and counties, so it's not worth taking any risks herself.

"Oh, sometimes, people are even willing to pay to come to Ghost State."

Chi Mei explained, "But that's another matter. Some people want to become ghosts after death and need to find an auspicious burial site, but most of the good spots here are already taken, so they can only pay money..."

“I knew a ghost before who sold his territory to a powerful clan as a burial site and obtained a lot of rare and precious materials.”

"It is said that the person who was buried there later actually became a ghost, and then secretly went back to his family to enjoy a good life."

Even though the Chu state government explicitly prohibited such behavior, some people still managed to exploit loopholes.

"Tsk tsk..." Qing Wan couldn't help but marvel upon hearing this.

Chi Mei continued, "My little place isn't anything special. If you want to see something, I can take you to Ghost State City. There are many wonders there that you've definitely never seen before. It's getting late, so why don't you two stay here for the night? Tomorrow we'll..."

Lu Zheng said calmly, "We've gone off on a tangent."

Chi Mei's expression stiffened slightly, and she forced an unnatural smile.

She tried to change the subject, it seemed Lu Zheng had no intention of letting her actions slide.

Chi Mei wanted to say that she was a ghost from the Chu Kingdom, and that the two outsiders had no right to interfere here.

When you think about how you could be slapped to death, nobody would care.

Chi Mei's thoughts flickered, and she raised her hand, taking out a handful of spirit stones and placing them on the tea table. "When traveling, let's treat each other as friends?"

Chi Mei smiled broadly, "I hope you two can understand our difficulties."

Qingwan blinked, thinking to herself that they had piles of spirit stones on them, while this female ghost's wealth was rather meager.

Lu Zheng sipped his tea and began to ponder.

Seeing this, Chi Mei dared not speak further, her expression filled with unease.

She had encountered some impressive people before, but none of them had ever put her under such pressure.

Even though Lu Zheng didn't reveal his aura at all.

Chi Mei felt a deep-seated fear that she couldn't shake off, as if Lu Zheng was completely restraining her.

For a moment, the atmosphere became a bit cold.

Qingwan sat there oblivious, supporting whatever Lu Zheng wanted to do.

After a moment, Lu Zheng looked at Chi Mei.

Chi Mei couldn't help but avoid eye contact; this reaction reminded her of how the villagers faced her.

Lu Zheng said slowly, "From now on, you are not allowed to absorb the yang energy of those villagers anymore."

“Okay,” Chi Mei replied without hesitation.

Some things you should agree to first, and then focus on saving your own life.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Think it over before you answer me."

Chi Mei's expression froze. She would no longer absorb the villagers' yang energy, which would not only deprive her of her main cultivation method but also her source of essence stones.

And if that's the case, why is she supporting those villagers?

Release those villagers, or what should we do with them...?

Chi Mei's mind raced as she pondered how to give Lu Zheng a satisfactory answer.

Chi Mei couldn't help but curse her bad luck for running into these two people.

She really wanted to say that she would no longer care about the ghost village and would become a wandering ghost, but the other party would definitely not believe her nonsense.

After a while, Chi Mei said in a serious tone, "I promise you, I will no longer absorb the yang energy of those villagers. This ghost village will still be under my control. If you don't believe me, we can make a contract."

Lu Zheng asked leisurely, "What about the others?"

Chi Mei's eyes flickered slightly, and she couldn't help but retort, "You didn't ask me to consider anyone else..."

Lu Zheng said, "Didn't I tell you to think it through before you speak?"

Chi Mei opened her mouth, then sighed and said, "What exactly do you want? Just tell me what you want, and I'll agree to anything."

Humans are hard to fathom, and Crimson Enchantress has already given up.

Lu Zheng remained silent, took out a pen and paper, and began to write.

Chi Mei couldn't resist her curiosity and wanted to take a look, but she felt that the words Lu Zheng wrote were a bit too bright for her to see clearly.

Soon, Lu Zheng finished writing a cultivation technique and shook off his own aura. "This is a cultivation technique of a ghost. I see you are only at the third realm, and it will be difficult for you to even break through to the middle stage of the third realm... This technique is enough to allow you to cultivate to the fourth realm, and you don't even need to absorb human essence to cultivate."

This is a cultivation technique that Lu Zheng saw at the Wan Jing Lou of the Yunmeng Sect. It is considered a relatively good ghost cultivation technique.

However, for the Yunmeng Sect, such a cultivation technique is of little value and can be viewed without even needing contribution points.

Back when Lu Zheng was in the Yunmeng Sect, he saw all sorts of cultivation techniques that didn't require contribution points.

Upon hearing this, Chi Mei's beautiful white eyes lit up.

As a ghost, she knew very well that cultivation techniques that could be practiced to the fourth level were rare even in Ghost State City, and were quite expensive.

She estimated that even if she saved up spirit stones and essence stones for a lifetime, she still wouldn't be able to afford such a cultivation technique.

Without cultivation techniques, one would need to encounter a great opportunity to break through to the fourth realm on their own.

Chi Mei didn't think she would encounter such an opportunity.

Hmm? No! Isn't this the kind of opportunity we're facing now? Chi Mei's eyes sparkled.

"Is this for real?" Chi Mei couldn't help but ask.

Lu Zheng casually took out a high-level cultivation technique, which inevitably aroused Chi Mei's suspicion.

Lu Zheng said unhurriedly, "What value do you have that I would want to deceive?"

Chi Mei thought about it and realized that there really wasn't one.

Chi Mei smiled and said, "Young master, your background is not simple. Why don't you take me in? From now on, I will do my best to serve you and serve you faithfully."

She's met a benefactor; she should cherish this opportunity.

Lu Zheng remained calm, thinking that if Chi Mei were to follow him, she wouldn't be able to withstand the righteous aura that he so casually exuded.

Lu Zhengdao said, "You stay here and agree to some conditions, and I can pass on the cultivation technique to you."

(End of this chapter)