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

Chapter 326 Who Says You Can't Take the Underworld Civil Service Exam?

On the other side, Zhang Chengdao, who had left in a hurry, turned around and went to the underworld.

If there is anyone in this world who is most skilled in weapon crafting, it must be the old ghost He Yu, who has lived for countless years.

Even if he isn't a cultivator who mainly focuses on weapon crafting, he must know more about this than I do, and he's certainly better than my greenhorn disciples.

Unexpectedly, upon entering the underworld, they discovered that the entire underworld had changed drastically.

The once desolate and dark underworld now has a faint air of strict order. The buildings in the ghost city are lined up one after another, and the yin energy exudes a sense of solemnity. There are even "residents"!
Including the time I hadn't been to the underworld before my seclusion, it must have been only a few months, right?
Can the revival of spiritual energy allow for the normal birth of ghosts in this world?

Zhang Chengdao stepped into the ghost town with a puzzled look on his face, and then...

With a "thud," it bumped into the barrier and almost hit its forehead.

The entire ghost town was shrouded in a barrier, and the flowing light revealed a solemn and eerie atmosphere.

This barrier not only blocked entry and exit, but also locked away as much of the city's negative energy, such as ghostly energy and malevolent energy, as possible within the city. Moreover, it was clearly created when I was not there, so much so that I did not even have permission to enter!
Fortunately, when they circled around to the main gate of the ghost city, they saw the gatekeepers. One of them was a familiar Li Si—a little ghost separated by He Yu. The other was unfamiliar, with a stiff posture and a bluish-black face. He was not at all like Li Si, who looked no different from an ordinary person. He was probably a newly born ghost who had been selected to be a ghost messenger.

"Oh my, it's Sect Leader Zhang!"

Upon seeing Zhang Chengdao, Li Si immediately bowed warmly and said, "Sect Leader Zhang, the King of Qin has gone out to catch ghosts. Are you going to visit the Ghost City? I have the 'King of Hell's Decree' that the King of Qin left for you!"

As Li Si spoke, he pulled out a square plaque that looked neither like iron nor wood, with a large character engraved on it: 【阎】.

He handed over the King of Hell's Decree and explained, "With the King of Hell's Decree, one can freely enter and leave the Ghost City. This is also to prevent the newly arrived ghosts from running around and becoming difficult to manage!"

Interestingly, the concept of "King Yama" did not exist in the cultivation civilization of He Yu's original world. It was only after Zhang Chengdao gave him a "scientific explanation" that he found it so amazing.

Unexpectedly, He Yu adopted such a humble attitude that he simply replicated the things Zhang Chengdao had described to him as a gesture of goodwill.

It's not hard to understand. Putting aside the fact that Zhang Chengdao was practically He Yu's savior, if He Yu wanted to have a chance to break through this world barrier and return to his original world, he would have to rely on Zhang Chengdao to revitalize the spiritual energy. He didn't know how long he would have to wait on his own!

Therefore, He Yu went to great lengths to please Zhang Chengdao. Even if he wasn't obsequious in demeanor, he tried his best to comply with Zhang Chengdao's wishes and assist him in his work.

For example, the design of the entire underworld...

Zhang Chengdao took the King of Hell's Decree, and while looking at the small token over and over, he casually asked, "When will the King of Qin return?"

“Sometimes they come back as soon as it gets dark, and sometimes they don’t come back until after midnight,” Li Si replied. “The newly recruited ghost messengers are too weak to go out during the day. Only Lord Day-Roaming God and Lord Qin King can go out to catch ghosts during the day.”

Zhang Chengdao glanced at the other ghostly gatekeeper who looked somewhat dazed, and continued to ask, "Are there normal ghosts now?"

Li Si replied again, "I suppose so. New ghosts within a 300-mile radius of Baishi Mountain have already regained consciousness in the last half month. Those further away are no longer able to. Many of those closest to Baishi Mountain are already functional. Take this one, for example, Song Zheng, a scholar from Baozhou. He could sense qi before he died, but unfortunately, he didn't have time to draw qi into his body. He was killed by bandits on his way to seek the Dao at the Baishi Immortal Sect. However, precisely because of this, he had good aptitude. Even after becoming a ghost, he successfully embarked on the path of ghost cultivation. But since he has only recently died, he still needs some time to nurture himself before he can truly regain his senses!"

"The most troublesome thing is that even if these new ghosts are unusable, they cannot be left unattended. If the souls of the newly deceased are not guided in time, they may become resentful. Even if they do not become vengeful ghosts or vengeful spirits now, it is hard to say what will happen after some time. Therefore, both King Qin and the Day-Roaming God have to work day and night to guide the souls of the newly deceased to the underworld."

"I see……"

Zhang Chengdao nodded.

It seems that the spiritual energy revival has been happening faster than I had imagined.

The main reason is that the base number was too low in the past. If the concentration of spiritual energy were quantified, the concentration of spiritual energy in the ordinary world of cultivation civilization would be 100, while in this world of martial arts cultivation, it would probably only be a fraction of a percent. However, Zhang Chengdao's arrival suddenly raised it from a fraction of a percent to single digits, and the recovery speed was also visible to the naked eye. After all, it doubled from 1 to 2. Although there is still a huge gap compared to 100, it is quite abundant compared to a fraction of a percent.

While waiting for He Yu, Zhang Chengdao strolled around the ghost city.

Compared to its previous desolation, the ghost town has become inhabited in just a few months.

Not many, but walking down the street, you can at least see people... cough, you can see ghosts.

However, these ghosts did not seem to be in good condition. Most of them were in a daze, while a few who seemed to be clear-headed carried an indescribable "malice" about them. Especially when they looked at Zhang Chengdao, their eyes were as sticky as a piece of raw pork covered in fat.

This feeling was truly unsettling, especially since he carried the "life force" of a living person within him, which made the ghosts' eyes even more drooling and greedy when they looked at Zhang Chengdao.

It's not that they don't know what's good for them, but rather that it's an instinct they naturally possess as newly born ghosts.

Zhang Chengdao had to use magic to conceal his figure before the uncomfortable feeling disappeared.

Even so, these new ghosts still looked rather abnormal, not even as good as the gatekeeper ghost named Song Zheng at the entrance.

After walking for a while, we arrived at a secluded place. There were no more ghosts on the street. There was only an old woman who looked quite lively, huddled under the eaves of a thatched house, weaving something with some kind of fine dry grass.

Curious, Zhang Chengdao approached and found the old woman weaving a straw basket. She had only finished a small circle, and the shape of the basket was barely discernible. "Grandma, what are you doing?"

Out of sheer curiosity, Zhang Chengdao couldn't help but remove the concealment spell and politely asked.

"Weave baskets for my grandson to play with."

The old lady's accent sounded like that of the Sichuan region, but her pronunciation was very clear, which startled Zhang Chengdao.

The area in Sichuan is quite far from Baishi Mountain, and the state of spiritual energy recovery there is far inferior to that of the Daxing Mountain area. So how could a ghost in such good condition as this old lady be born there?
Moreover, she was nothing like those ghosts she had just seen on the street, who drooled over the smell of "life" like a cat smelling a mouse.

As the old woman spoke, she stopped what she was doing, habitually squinted, and carefully looked at Zhang Chengdao. She said expressionlessly, "Are you also a newly deceased ghost? You don't seem like it. You smell like a living person."

Zhang Chengdao then realized that although the old lady's state was very natural compared to the other ghosts, her facial expressions and tone of voice were still a bit stiff.

However, this defect will gradually improve as the old lady resides in the underworld and is nourished by yin and spiritual energy. It is estimated that she will be back to normal in about a month.

Zhang Chengdao nodded frankly: "Yes, I am a living person and a good friend of the King of Qin who governs this underworld. I came to see him about some things and took a stroll around the ghost city while I was at it."

"Ghost City is not a good place to visit; it's very eerie," the old woman said, then sighed. "If you're friends with the King of Qin, you're probably no ordinary person. Could you please ask my grandson to stop burning clothes for me all the time and instead give me more of these straw mat strips and reed stalks so I can weave things to pass the time?"

Zhang Chengdao thought for a moment, then agreed to the old lady's request and asked, "What's your grandson's name? Where does he live? I'll definitely pass on the message!"

The old lady thought for a moment and said, "His surname is Sun, and his name is Sun Pengzu. He lives in Jinyang City and works under the Prefect of Jinyang. I think he is some kind of official."

Zhang Chengdao quickly noted down the old lady's words, and then continued to probe indirectly, "Judging from your accent, you don't sound like someone from Jinyang!"

"No, I'm from Yuzhou, and my daughter-in-law is from the Tang Clan! Back then, she went to the Taiyue Sword Sect to seek the sword intent of some Sword Saint, and my son brought this whole family north here!"

Zhang Chengdao smiled and echoed, "Yuzhou? Yuzhou is great, it's a good place. I remember there's a Tang Clan there."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Zhang Chengdao mention Yuzhou and the Tang Clan, the old lady completely opened up. Her previously slightly stiff facial features even became more lively, and she rambled on, saying, "Oh dear, if you ask me, that sword intent belongs to the Sword Saint, not her. Even if she begged for it, it wouldn't be of any use. If she were truly powerful, she should have comprehended some sword intent herself! She made my son leave his hometown for nothing, and he's going to die here!"
"Fortunately, my grandson is promising and became an official under the prefect. Alas! My poor son and daughter-in-law didn't have the good fortune to live to see Peng Zu achieve success!"

After chatting with the old lady for a while and being given three straw baskets of different sizes as a token of gratitude, Zhang Chengdao finally left and waited for He Yu, who arrived late.

"Oh my, what a rare guest!"

He Yu had already sensed Zhang Chengdao's whereabouts from Li Si, so he hurriedly settled some matters with the Day Wanderer and rushed back to the Underworld, where he encountered Zhang Chengdao, who had left the Ghost City and looked helpless.

"It's been a long time, how have you been, Fellow Daoist Zhang?"

He Yu stroked his beard with a chuckle and asked.

Zhang Chengdao replied with a smile, "I'm sorry to have troubled you, Fellow Daoist He. I've been in seclusion for many days, and only now have I had time to come and visit you!"

Upon hearing this, He Yu teased, "Oh? It seems you don't come without a reason. May I ask what important matter Fellow Daoist Zhang has brought this time?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengdao recalled that every time he came to He Yu, it was because he needed help. This time was no exception. He felt a little guilty and smiled bitterly, "I can't hide it from Fellow Daoist He. Among my disciples, there is one named Huang Wu. He is insightful, honest, and has a great talent for weapon crafting. Recently, he even managed to develop a flying boat on his own using a book called 'Heavenly Craftsmanship Weapon Crafting'!"

"Alas, as the master, I may not know this, but you do, don't you? I know very little about weapon crafting, and I can't even teach him. That's why I had to come here to ask Fellow Daoist He for help, to see if he could give my disciple some pointers?"

"The art of weapon crafting..." He Yu stroked his chin, pondering, "Actually, I'm not very good at it either."

After saying that, he glanced at Zhang Chengdao, whose expression was becoming increasingly helpless, and could only nod and say, "Alright, it's better than you. I'll go take a look later!"

He then bargained further, saying, "However, you'll have to lend me a few more of your outer disciples. There are more and more ghosts these days, and there's no time to train new ghost messengers. I'm really short-handed, and I'm forced to go out and work every day myself!"

After speaking, He Yu simply spread his hands and added, "If I hadn't known you were coming, I wouldn't have come back! I wouldn't have been able to catch my breath until midnight! In this area of ​​over three hundred miles, anyone who dies has become a ghost. With just me and the Day-Roaming God, we're really stretched thin. And that's only because these newly born ghosts are relatively easy to catch! If it were any longer, and the spiritual energy were enough to nurture vengeful spirits and wronged souls, I really wouldn't be able to catch them all!"

After He Yu complained to him like this, Zhang Chengdao felt guilty and his eyes kept darting around.

Although he proposed the "project" related to the underworld and the netherworld, he only came to dig some waterways and build some structures at the beginning and then never took care of it again. He left everything to his strategic partner He Yu and became a hands-off manager.

He knew that He Yu's side was short-handed.

At least I still have quite a few gold-card disciples with protagonist templates that I can use. Whether it's Chang Ping'an, who seems foolish but is actually wise, or Murong Ruyan, who is scheming but not too deep and very protective of her own, or Ye Shuyun, who is now practically the executive vice sect leader of the entire sect, they are all extremely useful. Even the three-hundred-year-old beauty Tang Xiaoyu and the carpenter apprentice Huang Wu each have their own strengths and can be of help.

He Yu, on the other hand, only has one useful new day-roaming deity, a weasel spirit that he himself had kindly given him, which is quite pitiful.

After all, the new ghosts are all "crippled ghosts" and cannot be used, and the spirits and monsters have not had the opportunity to cultivate in less than a year. Therefore, apart from the disciples of the White Stone Immortal Sect, He Yu really has nowhere to ask for manpower!
We can't exactly hold some kind of underworld civil service exam to recruit talent, can we?
and many more……

Who says you can't take the civil service exam in the underworld!
(End of this chapter)