Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 270 New Allies: King Qin

These two "ghosts" are not actually ghosts.

At least not entirely.

One of them is Zhang Chengdao's nascent soul, which can leave the body at will. Although it looks similar to the nascent soul that leaves the body during the Astral Projection stage, it actually has many limitations. However, it is still very easy for it to act like a ghost and not be seen by ordinary people.

The other is the real ghost cultivator who was "revived" by the spiritual water of Tianchi a month ago, and is also Zhang Chengdao's current ally - the King of Qin.

Just as Zhang Chengdao had guessed, this King of Qin was indeed from "outside." However, according to him, this world was not some kind of grotto-heaven, but a normal world without spiritual energy.

That's right. In the beginning, this world was completely devoid of spiritual energy. It was only after the King of Qin and another person accidentally entered that they brought in some barely perceptible spiritual energy.

This spiritual energy is practically non-existent in this world, and therefore of little use. If this continues, the two will inevitably be trapped and die in this world devoid of spiritual energy.

Finally, having exhausted all other options, the King of Qin decided to dismember his own body and use the body of a Nascent Soul cultivator to nourish the world, so that the world could have the initial conditions for "spiritual energy revival".

As for the other person...

“We made a pact that in order to preserve my soul, I would follow the path of incense and deities, and at worst, I would become a ghost cultivator in the future. He, on the other hand, would try to spread the arts of immortality so that the spiritual energy of this world could be restored as soon as possible.”

King Qin's real name was He Yu. When he mistakenly entered this world, he had just broken through to the Integration Stage, which was a whole realm higher than the cultivation of the other cultivator who had also mistakenly entered the world. Therefore, the effect of his self-disintegration was naturally much stronger than that of the other cultivator.

He Yu was quite lively—or perhaps it was because he had been a fool for thousands of years.

He drifted around Zhang Chengdao, muttering to himself, "Normally speaking, even if I were to disintegrate and nourish the world, it would take at least tens of thousands of years for the spiritual energy here to recover to a level where we cultivators could leave. But with his help, it would only take about seven or eight thousand years..."

"Actually, since I started cultivating immortality, I have never heard of a cultivator who has lived that long, unless they have truly become immortals, which are legendary beings."

"Even in my sect, the most senior elder is only less than two thousand years old."

"But we really have no other way. Otherwise, are we supposed to stay in this world without even spiritual energy and be emperors? This wretched place is poor and desolate, without even spiritual energy, and we can't even eat well. Only a fool would be willing to stay here like this!"
"Sigh! If only this were a small, hidden world! At least leaving wouldn't be so troublesome; I could just set up a teleportation array and get out! But it turns out to be a very powerful, large world! Damn it!"

Zhang Chengdao, He Yu's "savior," shrugged while drinking cola and concluded, "Unfortunately, you trusted the wrong person."

He Yu was so aggrieved that he was almost in tears. He waved his hand and said, "Sigh! Stop talking! I'm just grateful that I'm still conscious! Otherwise, I might have died in this world and no one would have known!"

At this time, there was still about a month before the Immortal Destiny Conference was to be held.

The village, which serves as a "trial formation," is still under construction.

In fact, Zhang Chengdao had already finished most of the buildings and such. What was really getting him stuck was the "tasks" and "plot" that were giving him a real headache!

He wanted to copy all the games he played before his transmigration, but during the deduction process, he discovered many "technical problems," namely, there were many aspects that were impossible to replicate with his cultivation level and the magical techniques he had learned.

While he was so worried that he couldn't sleep, King He Yu of Qin actually "came back to life"!

Well, strictly speaking, he died thousands of years ago. It was only because he soaked in the Heavenly Pool for a period of time and the surrounding spiritual energy was relatively abundant that He Yu gradually regained his senses.

It also brought Zhang Chengdao a lot of unexpected information.

But this guy is pretty unlucky.

According to him, he sacrificed himself, then mistakenly trusted his good brother, who turned around and disappeared, almost selling him out!
If it weren't for his son, who was born in this world, being powerful enough to preserve his "temple of worship," he might have already vanished by now!

He Yu didn't rashly commit suicide. Instead, he first found a place, married the daughter of a local "rich man," and then established a small state—the Qin state.

Only after gaining economic strength and sufficient power did he begin to teach his son how to be a ruler. Fortunately, after his death, with the support of a country, He Yu was enshrined as a god, and it would be safer to follow the path of incense offerings and deities in this way.

According to He Yu's original vision, with the policies he formulated and the descendants he had carefully trained, the Qin state would surely be unified, and he would become the supreme deity of the country. In the future, after the spiritual energy revived, his strength would not be underestimated. Even if he was far inferior to the Nascent Soul stage cultivators before their physical dissolution, he would not be so bad that he would have to cultivate again for hundreds of years before he would have a chance to leave this world...

But...

He Yu's luck was obviously not good. First of all, he did not have a descendant who could "carry on the legacy of six generations". Secondly, he did not expect that although the world did not experience the spiritual energy revival as he had planned, martial arts, a special cultivation path that borrows from spiritual energy but does not rely entirely on it, was born.

The emergence of martial arts led to a reshuffling of the world's格局 (geju, a term referring to the overall structure or pattern of the world). The Qin state, for example, was crushed by the rolling wheels of history under the emergence of various grandmasters and great masters, appearing only briefly in history books and not even occupying a single page.

Fortunately, He Yu's son was very obedient. He not only strictly followed He Yu's instructions and built a temple for him, but also embellished the story of He Yu's campaigns in the south and north with some mythological elements, which effectively promoted the faith. He also spent half of the national treasury to build a "Tomb of the King of Qin" for him.

These actions powerfully enabled He Yu to successfully become the greatest believer in Qin and Shu, and also allowed him to successfully preserve his soul for thousands of years. As for his cultivation level, it wasn't much. According to Zhang Chengdao's observation, even with the power brought by so much incense and faith, it was roughly equivalent to a cultivator at the Core Formation stage, no higher.

However, the methods of ghost cultivators and those practicing incense and deity cultivation are strange and complex, and Zhang Chengdao often doesn't understand them, so in a real fight, it might be a 50/50 chance...

Of course, Zhang Chengdao knew He Yu's cultivation level, but He Yu did not know Zhang Chengdao's.

He initially thought Zhang Chengdao was his friend, only he didn't know why he had changed into a persona that seemed to exude an air of arrogance—

"Hahaha, you even got a full head of white hair, you're really something else, hahaha!"

He Yu, who had ridiculed Zhang Chengdao quite a bit, was so embarrassed after learning that Zhang Chengdao was not the friend he had entrusted to him that he pretended to be weak all day and hid in Tianchi Lake, refusing to come out no matter what.

To be fair, he was indeed his "savior." He Yu only needed a day to adjust his mindset before he climbed out as if nothing had happened and resumed exchanging ideas with Zhang Chengdao.

It was around this time that Zhang Chengdao gradually learned about He Yu's affairs.

When Zhang Chengdao talked about himself, he didn't mention anything about systems, cheat codes, or games. Instead, he said that he was also a cultivator who had strayed into this world, but unlike others—

"I like to hoard things. Even if I can't leave for the time being, I carry enough resources to support a world. I estimate that the spiritual energy will recover soon."

Zhang Chengdao boasted in this way.

He Yu nodded, expressing his admiration for Zhang Chengdao: "I can see that. I've never seen anyone carry a wood-seeking tool with them before!"

He Yu knew Xunmu very well. He explained that Xunmu was also called Damu, with branches reaching for thousands of miles, reaching the clouds, hanging down to the four extremes, and covering the Yuyuan Abyss. It was a giant tree that connected the two worlds of Yin and Yang, life and death. Its root system was the pillar that supported the entire Yin realm. There was even a saying: If Xunmu died, the Yin realm would disappear.

"Of course, that's just a rumor. In fact, the underworld is not an underground world, nor is it supported by wood. Moreover, 'Yu Yuan' means the place where the sun sets, and it is not the underworld at all. It's just a misconception!"

He Yu is practically a living human form... well, a walking encyclopedia of ghost forms.

He could answer almost all the questions that Zhang Chengdao encountered.

Because of the sheer number of questions asked, including some that made He Yu look at Zhang Chengdao with disbelief, He Yu became quite curious about him: "Hiss, that's strange of you. You don't know anything, but your cultivation level is at least at the Nascent Soul stage, right? And your physical body, even with white hair, looks like you're only in your twenties?"

"To be honest," Zhang Chengdao admitted, "my physical body is indeed only in its twenties, and I haven't been cultivating immortality for very long."

"Hmm? You've possessed a body? No, that's not right, it doesn't look like it. Your physical body and soul are perfectly integrated, it doesn't seem like possession... Wait, you don't mean to say that you've only been cultivating immortality for less than twenty years, do you!?"

He Yu was so frightened that he seemed to float into the sky. He circled around in the air several times before calming down. He glared at Zhang Chengdao and said, "Could you be one of those legendary geniuses who only appear once every ten thousand years?!"

What kind of good cultivator can break through to the Nascent Soul stage in less than twenty years!
He Yu was greatly shocked: "Even a second-generation cultivator couldn't be this exaggerated! I cultivated diligently for five hundred years before I reached the Nascent Soul stage!"

To this, Zhang Chengdao nodded shamelessly and said, "Yes, I may indeed be a genius."

Choosing to tell the truth to a limited extent was also a well-thought-out decision by Zhang Chengdao.

First of all, as a cultivator who came to the path of cultivation halfway through his life, his knowledge and basic understanding of the Dao of Immortality are indeed worrying. If he wants someone to help him, he should at least show some sincerity. For his own safety, it is acceptable to conceal the truth to a certain extent. But to deliberately deceive him is rather "small-minded".

Furthermore, Zhang Chengdao was quite keen to cooperate with this "King of Qin".

He Yu's goal is to leave this world after it is completely "upgraded" and return to his original world. Zhang Chengdao's goal, besides wanting to experience cultivation, is also to return to the modern world he lived in before he transmigrated.

Is it that chilled soda isn't appealing enough, or that Steam games aren't fun enough?

He was hoping to play Skyrim for three days and three nights after its release! He'd waited over a decade for this, and now he'd been tricked—it was utterly unacceptable!

In short, the human and the ghost, who both wanted to leave and hoped to quickly "upgrade" this world into a cultivation world with normal spiritual energy concentration, hit it off after several exchanges and decided to cooperate.

He Yu even said optimistically, "Since I've already become a ghost cultivator, I might as well become the first Ghost King and help you manage the ghosts that will run around everywhere in the future. Then we can directly build a Yin Realm to help this world develop faster!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengdao's heart stirred: "Good idea. I have a preliminary plan that I can give you some practice and a try-it-out. By the way, I'll create a 'Netherworld' in people's minds. Do you want to do it?"

He Yu had been living in a daze for thousands of years and was feeling incredibly stifled. Upon hearing this, he was extremely excited and said decisively, "Let's do it!"

(End of this chapter)