The male supporting character was actually myself.

"Damn it, that old bastard! He dared to lie to us, we'll definitely settle the score with him when we get back!"

"The Ghost King will definitely try every means to hunt us down. Let's think about how to leave."

"We can't stay in the underworld for long. Senior Brother Duan and Xiao Su are both injured, so we can't delay any longer and must find a way back to the human world."

"Hopefully, Senior Brother Wang from Old B's side can escape safely, so he can send someone to the underworld to find us..."

…………

After briefly explaining the situation, Duan Tang and the others discussed countermeasures in hushed tones.

Jiang Chen looked completely bewildered. "I still don't understand. What happened in the middle? Why would this guy who suddenly appeared want to steal a ghost's soul energy? And then transfer that energy to a human? Isn't he afraid of offending your Listening Pavilion by doing this?"

"I've thought about it carefully, and that should be the case."

Duan Tangbian rubbed his injured right leg and explained, "The concubine favored by the Ghost King was born in a yin year, yin month, and yin hour. People with this characteristic have extremely yin soul energy, which is an excellent tonic for ghost cultivators. That's why the Ghost King favored her so much."

Although humans and ghosts are said to be on different paths, there are always exceptions.

For example, people born in the same Yin year, Yin month, and Yin hour; or cultivators practicing a special technique—they can all absorb the energy of extremely Yin ghosts. That old cunning bastard definitely wasn't doing this for the first time, otherwise he wouldn't have been so adept at it!

"Our Listening Pavilion is just a small sect barely able to make a living, and we don't have much martial power. Even if we offend him, there's nothing we can do about it."

Another celestial master said in a deep voice, "There are many heretical and evil sects in the human world that specialize in eating ghosts and cultivating. In addition, the underworld is overrun with ghosts and cannot be managed, so they are basically left to their own devices. Those guys are even more unscrupulous."

The old man probably never expected that the female ghost with the most yin constitution he had finally found would have a connection with the Ghost King.

They usually have dedicated partners for these kinds of shady dealings. They might be trying to scam us this time to make a quick buck. Senior Brother Wang has probably already…”

The rest of the sentence was left unsaid, and the others fell silent.

"If that's really the case, even if we hadn't provoked the Ghost King this time, we probably still wouldn't be able to leave smoothly." Duan Tang looked at Jiang Chen, whom he had just met, and sighed, "Young brother, you'll be living in the underworld from now on, we can't hold you back."

"We'll leave after we rest and recover from our injuries. If the Ghost King can explain the situation, there might still be a glimmer of hope."

Jiang Chen needed to gather more information about the underworld, so he took the opportunity to ask, "Is the Ghost King an official, on the payroll of the underworld? Assuming the client is a repeat offender and is trying to swindle the underworld people, are they really that confident they can kill so many of you without anyone noticing?"

Duan Tang pondered for a moment and replied, "It's also possible that he knew he had offended the Ghost King's concubine, so he took the risk by coming to a small gang like ours with no one to back him up."

Furthermore, those who travel to the underworld cannot linger in the realm of the dead for too long, otherwise their yang energy will be cut off, and they will die like fish starving for too long. So, killing us is very simple: temporarily block the passage between the realms of the living and the dead, and after three days, we will naturally be unable to return.

As for the Ghost King...

It's nothing compared to the established officials in the underworld. But as you can see, this is just a branch of the underworld in Dujiang City, yet it's so vast and teeming with countless ghosts. How many people are there in the entire underworld?

They can't handle it all!

As the saying goes, wherever there are people, there is a world of its own; even ghosts were once people.

Besides, how many years can a human live? A hundred or eighty years is considered a long life, while ghosts are waiting for their reincarnation numbers to be issued thousands of years in advance. As long as they have food and drink to replenish their energy, ghosts can live indefinitely.

The Ghost Market has existed and developed for so many years, and it's a complex web of various gangs and factions—it's a very murky place!

The Ghost King is at best a local tyrant who has lived a long time and possesses powerful soul energy, but even such a tyrant is someone we can't afford to offend.

"Then, how can ghosts cultivate? Are there any secret manuals or anything like that?"

"There are secret manuals, but they only teach you how to use energy. Some of the moves aren't very useful." Duan Tang explained patiently and without reservation: "The most important thing is how to gather energy."

Ghosts have no physical form; they are simply a source of energy.

If one can eat a full meal every now and then to maintain one's energy levels, one can live indefinitely.

If you can eat your fill every day, you'll have enough energy to accumulate and overflow. This overflowing energy is what you can use at will. So, if you can eat your fill every day for a while, you can naturally become the lowest level ghost cultivator.

Becoming a ghost cultivator isn't difficult; the challenge lies in leveling up.

The ways I know are: either you're super rich enough to eat graded ghost food, or you're ruthless enough to capture other ghosts and devour them without being detected by the ghost officials, or you go to the underworld to kill evil spirits and devour their inner cores.

"The Underworld?" The little white cat suddenly heard a familiar term and immediately perked up its ears. "Host, you should quickly ask him how the Underworld is set up in this mission world? Maybe we can even meet the Spirit King!"

A red figure suddenly appeared in Jiang Chen's mind, and he felt that the terms "Netherworld Prison" and "Spirit King" were very familiar.

Before he could ask further, Duan Tang explained, "The Underworld is no good place. As I just said, the time spent as a human is short, but the time spent as a ghost is long. With so many ghosts, it's inevitable that they will commit many evil deeds and fall into becoming evil spirits. They will be squeezed out by the laws of the Underworld and exiled to the Underworld."

It was a dark and gloomy place, teeming with all sorts of ferocious and evil spirits. No Taoist priest or ghost cultivator without some skill would dare to set foot there lightly.

But if you go in, slaughter evil spirits, and obtain their inner cores, they're priceless!

Ghost food of grade three and below can be made using spiritual herbs and fruits, but to make ghost food of grade three or above or to refine pills, one must have the corresponding level of evil spirit inner core.

It used to be a little better, but in recent years, with the reforms in the Underworld, no one is managing it, and no one dares to enter the Netherworld Prison easily. At most, they form groups to kill some low-level evil spirits in the surrounding area. Even so, a single Rank 3 Inner Core is worth tens of thousands of gold coins at the auction house!

The fluffy dumpling's deep blue eyes suddenly sparkled with countless golden stars. Wiping the drool from its mouth, it chuckled and said, "We've struck it rich! Host, we stuffed so many spirit cores into the food maker's space back then. They must be the inner cores he was talking about, right?"

With so many good things, we're guaranteed to win in the underworld this time!

Seeing his curiosity, another celestial master reminded him, "In the underworld, the inner core of an evil spirit is one of the most precious items. If you are interested, you can go to a bookstore and buy a book about it."

"If you could obtain the inner core and make it into ghost food or refine it into a pill to consume, you could quickly advance from a low-level ghost cultivator to a high-level ghost cultivator. With good luck, you might even become a Ghost King."

"Thank you all for your answers. I just bought a house and haven't settled in yet, so I'm going out to do some shopping and check things out for you while I'm at it." Jiang Chen stood up and smiled slightly. "I still have quite a bit of money in my account, maybe I'll get lucky and manage to get an evil spirit core."

Everyone, please rest and recover here with me. We'll make further plans later when I bring back some news.

After leaving the villa, he quickly made his way to a bustling street and found a bookstore where he bought a few books.

"Illustrated Guide to Evil Spirit Inner Elixir Appraisal", "Complete Guide to Inner Elixir", "Introduction to Inner Elixir Identification", "How to Identify Inner Elixirs in Five Minutes"...

Jiang Chen casually flipped through a book, quickly scanning it and beaming with delight—sure enough, the settings of the two mission worlds were completely identical!

The fluffy dumpling was overjoyed and excitedly pulled out a picture from the food-making machine's storage space. It had found the same picture in a book and meowed excitedly. "It's exactly the same! Hey hey, we're going to make a fortune this time!"

Chapter Seven: The Nineteenth Concubine

Finding a secluded spot, Jiang Chen took out a serving of Grade Nine Ghost Food from the food-making machine and devoured it in no time. A surge of abundant energy instantly spread from within to without.

This strange feeling is hard to describe; Duan Tang's use of the word "overflow" is very apt.

The Ninth-Rank Ghost Food contained enormous energy, which quickly replenished the original owner's depleted soul. Most of it seeped out and turned into a thick black mist that enveloped his body, and could change its form at will.

"So this is the form of the thick fog that appeared when the Ghost King appeared before." Jiang Chen suddenly realized. At the same time, he condensed the black fog that enveloped his body into a black line that looked almost tangible and wrapped around his wrist, which looked somewhat like a soul weapon.

The method of use is similar to that of Horcruxes, but it is not as powerful.

He mastered the technique after a few tries and now has the ability to protect himself.

The fluffy dumpling brought out another bowl of ninth-grade ghost food fish soup and asked solicitously, "Host, can you still eat? Have another bowl of soup, it's so great to be able to increase your strength just by eating!"

"No, I can't eat anymore for now." Jiang Chen shook his head, feeling the fullness in his "body". "Everything has to be done in moderation. If I eat any more, I might explode and die. I need to digest the energy I've already consumed and eat later."

"Okay, meow!" The fluffy dumpling happily put the soup away and asked, "What should we do next? Do you need me to help you find out what's going on with the Ghost King, meow?"

He beckoned the little white cat over, whispered a few words to it, and then it skipped away and disappeared down the bustling street.

The Ghost King's Mansion is located deep in the mountains, in the Lianhu District of Dujiangyin, a place with the heaviest yin energy and auspicious feng shui.

At this moment, ghostly figures bustled about in the grand mansion, yet not a single cough could be heard. The ghosts moved about under the slightly swaying white lanterns, creating a suffocating sense of oppression.

No ghost dared to speak or do anything that could be criticized. They were all silent and praying that the Ghost King would quickly capture the group of Taoist priests and vent his evil anger, lest they be beaten, punished, or even eaten if they were not careful.

"Damn you, Celestial Master!" The Ghost King angrily smashed the spiritual tea served by his servants, and the tables and chairs also shattered with a series of clanging sounds. He was so angry that he kept pacing around in circles.

Then, seeing the Ghost Doctor emerge from the inner room, the Ghost King demanded, "How is A-Yu?"

"Reporting to Lord Ghost King, the Nineteenth Concubine's condition is very bad." The Ghost Doctor spoke the truth tremblingly, and seeing the other party's expression change, he quickly added, "But there is still hope!"

Although the nineteenth concubine lost seventy percent of her energy and spirit, her soul wouldn't immediately dissipate. As long as a fifth-grade spiritual medicine is refined within three days, the nineteenth concubine can be fully restored!

A fifth-grade spiritual medicine?!

The enraged Ghost King immediately calmed down; that would require a fifth-grade evil spirit inner core.

While it may not be so precious as to be priceless, nor so expensive as to be unaffordable, is it really necessary?

Wouldn't it be better to keep the fifth-grade spiritual medicine for yourself to increase your strength?

It's such a waste to spend a huge sum of money to buy a fifth-grade evil spirit inner core for a concubine!

But then the Ghost King's anger flared up again. Damn it! It's all those damned Taoist priests' fault! A few clueless guys came to his door, and he had generously allowed them to see Yu Xian, thinking that having more friends meant having more options. He never expected that they would almost take her life.

If it were just an ordinary concubine, it wouldn't be a big deal, but Yu Xian was someone I met while I was doing business in the wilderness a while ago. I took a liking to her because she was pretty and charming, and she was being bullied by other wandering ghosts and had nowhere to go, so I played the hero and spent some money to bring her into the ghost market and raise her in my mansion.

Unexpectedly, such a small act of kindness yielded great results. The little beauty Yu Xian was born in a yin year, yin month, and yin hour!

For ghost cultivators, a pleasant appearance can nourish the soul and make cultivation faster, making it a walking furnace. But how could he not be angry that such an unexpected treasure was ruined by those guys?

Faced with a fifth-grade spiritual medicine versus a nourishing cauldron with minimal effects but long-term use, the Ghost King didn't even need to waver before deciding to give up on the beauty.

"A fifth-grade inner core..." he sighed, "is something you can only come across by chance, and finding one within three days is no easy feat."

The Ghost Doctor hurriedly followed his lead, flattering him, "Yes, these days even fourth-grade inner cores are extremely rare, let alone fifth-grade ones. Let's keep the Nineteenth Concubine on medicinal diets for now and see if she can get better."

The Ghost King was both heartbroken and furious, so he could only wave his hand to signal him to leave. Then, he gritted his teeth and thought that he had to capture those audacious celestial masters no matter what, tear them to pieces, and once they became ghosts, send them to the underworld to kill evil spirits and peel off their inner cores to pay off their debts.

Free strong laborers, why not take them!

Anyway, their practice of mingling with the dead to enter and exit the underworld is already a gray industry, so the officials in charge of the underworld are not so idle as to interfere so much.

"Lord Ghost King, Concubine Nineteen has woken up and is in great distress, crying and wanting to see you," a ghost maidservant serving Yu Xian reported cautiously.

He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Go tell the concubine that I'm busy chasing down the guy who harmed her and I must get revenge for her; I'm also trying to find a fifth-grade evil spirit core to heal her wounds. I'm busy and don't have time to go over there. Go and comfort her."

"Yes." The ghost maid didn't dare to utter a sound and respectfully withdrew.

The Ghost King didn't have time to deal with a useless furnace; he'd rather think about how to capture the Celestial Master.

The little white cat swaggered around the Ghost King's mansion a few times before hopping back to report.

"Tsk tsk, that little girl is quite pitiful, she died and was still scammed."

It perched on its host's shoulder, munching on dried fish and smacking its lips, sighing, "The world of ghosts is more cruel and complex than the human world. If you're unlucky, you might just be annihilated."

If she, a helpless little girl, could have relied on her talent to attach herself to the Ghost King, she could at least have lived a life of luxury and comfort, and even have the chance to be reincarnated into a good family through connections. Unfortunately, she was betrayed too badly.

"Host, should we get involved in this mess?"

Jiang Chen toyed with a few evil spirit cores in his hand, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Don't forget we still have a mission that's not finished yet. Exchanging a trivial trinket for connections is quite a good deal."

So just as the Ghost King was about to use his connections again to conduct a large-scale search for several Celestial Masters throughout the entire Dujiangyin region, a subordinate suddenly came to report that someone outside the door wanted to see him.

"No time. I, the mighty Ghost King, am busy with countless affairs of state. How could I possibly have time to meet some nameless nobody?" He sneered after hearing this. "If just anyone could easily come and see me, wouldn't the threshold of this mansion be trampled to pieces by ghosts?"

The subordinate almost bent over to the ground, replying obsequiously, "But the ghost who came said he knows the whereabouts of the escaped celestial masters!"

Upon hearing this, the Ghost King's eyes lit up. "Go and bring him up. If he dares to lie to me, I'll make him wish he were dead!"