A Bountiful Harvest

Your character, "Daoist Initiate," has been critically injured. Role-playing in the Lore World has ended.

Yang He woke up in his home in the Main World. Contrary to his expectations, he didn't experience a near-death sensation. He just found the Main World's thin yin qi very uncomfortable.

Having not practiced cultivation before, he hadn't had a direct comparison.

Now, he understood it was like a sea fish brought into freshwater.

Yang He took deep breaths and, after a long while, adapted to the Main World's environment.

He had an illusion that the Main World was in a spiritual energy-depleted, end-of- Dharma age, or rather, that he hadn't even glimpsed the tip of the iceberg.

Yang He frowned slightly.

It was currently nighttime in the Main World, when yin qi should be at its peak. Yet, it didn't even reach one or two-tenths of the Lore World's.

He found it hard to imagine how one could cultivate in the Main World. He feared it would take over a decade just to advance to Hungry Ghost.

"Something's not right. Since the Main World has the Great Si Dynasty Court that has lasted for two thousand years, and even a glimpse of it includes the cultivation methods of the Way of the Chained Ghost, it definitely can't be an end-of-Dharma age."

Yang He activated his Spiritual Vision, and after some wandering, he returned to the second layer of hell.

[Spiritual Vision: 14.3 points]

He could see that as long as he courted death in the Lore World, his Spiritual Vision would never be depleted. It wouldn't be long before he fell to the third layer of hell.

"It's a pity the Daoist Initiate died. I had finally established a relationship with Grandmaster Taiyi..."

"Huh?"

Yang He's expression was one of surprise. He belatedly noticed the panel's prompt: the Daoist Initiate character was only critically injured, not completely dead.

He recalled the experience before his death. It seemed Grandmaster Taiyi had intervened using the sixth finger.

"It seems it's not necessary for the character to die for me to return to the Main World."

A smile spread across Yang He's face. He then took stock of the rich rewards from this trip, a total of six items, which materialized as phantom images floating before him.

[Obtained Ghostified Wildcat]
[Obtained Gongs and Drums tainted with resentment qi]
[Obtained Mudman of the Substitute Ghost]
[Obtained Incense and Candles of the Earthbound Ghost]

[Character Daoist Initiate did not die. If items are not redeemed, they will be inherited by the next role-play.]

Normally, when a character died, any unredeemed items would be converted into Spiritual Vision, allowing the character to inherit them as if they were temporarily stored in the Lore World.

There were pros and cons. Re-entering the Lore World and encountering danger could potentially damage the items.

Yang He examined them one by one. The first four items were as he had anticipated.

Yang He quickly made a decision, not intending to hoard too many "underworld" items.

"Redeem the Gongs and Drums tainted with resentment qi and the Mudman of the Substitute Ghost for Spiritual Vision."

Yang He's temples throbbed with a dull ache. His Spiritual Vision reached 20.2 points for the first time. The previously blurry spirits and monsters became clearly visible.

Not far from the earthen house, there was a massive Ox-Ghost.

The Ox-Ghost was crouched in an alley, greedily licking the leaked yang energy of mortals. However, due to the barrier between humans and ghosts, it could only get a superficial taste, causing its expression to contort severely.

"In the second layer of hell, Hungry Ghosts are already everywhere."

"Weak ghosts have ethereal bodies, unable to radiate yin qi. Hungry Ghosts are more solidified, with yin qi surrounding them within half a meter. Judging by this..."

"Madam Yin is at least a Fierce Ghost."

Yang He withdrew his attention. The Incense and Candles of the Earthbound Ghost appeared in his palm. After all, they could temper yin artifacts, so he definitely had to keep them.

"Perhaps the quality of the copper coin sword can advance further."

Yang He wrapped the copper coin sword in a cloth. The Black Cat, however, was chosen to be redeemed into the Main World.

The moment the panel displayed the prompt, a cat's meow echoed out of nowhere in the courtyard.

The Black Cat landed nimbly, its head affectionately rubbing against Yang He's thigh. On the surface, it appeared to be just a pure black wildcat with heterochromia.

"Meow?"

The Black Cat looked around belatedly, its fur bristling.

As a half-ghost, half-cat, it could perceive the numerous ghostly shadows in the Main World, which terrified it. After a long while, it regained its composure.

Yang He tossed the Black Cat into the shadows, and it immediately vanished into thin air.

Even its ghost eyes couldn't detect the Black Cat's presence. Only Spiritual Vision could capture it. It seemed to have inherited some of the cat ghost's special traits.

"Being half-ghost, half-cat isn't bad. If you became a cat ghost, you wouldn't be able to stay in the mortal realm."

Yang He stroked the Black Cat's head, and it responded affectionately.

He had expected the Black Cat to become more docile after discovering the dangers of the Main World. However, not long after, its curiosity took over.

The Black Cat licked its paws and kept peering out of the courtyard.

Yang He didn't stop it. It was the Black Cat's nature. Thanks to its unique half-ghost, half-cat state, it could thrive in the Main World.

Even cultivators possessed by hungry ghosts might not be able to handle the Black Cat.

"Don't leave Peibai City. Remember to come find me when day and night alternate."

The Black Cat could no longer consume food from the mortal realm and had to absorb yin qi to survive. However, being half-ghost and half-cat, it couldn't digest yin qi.

Just as Yang He was about to release his yin qi, his ghost eyes opened on his forehead.

A drop of yin qi, like water yet like mist, landed at his feet. The Black Cat's pupils contracted, and it approached the yin qi, circling it as if it had found catnip.

Yang He's expression was subtle, and he couldn't help but communicate with his ghost eyes.

The ghost eyes were only at the weak ghost stage and lacked significant spiritual intelligence.

The reason they reacted immediately to Yang He's thought of feeding the Black Cat was purely because the ghost eyes possessed memories from the Lore World.

"It seems the ghost eyes will accompany me to the Lore World. It's not a bad thing; at least changing my guise won't cause a backlash."

The Black Cat licked the yin qi clean and melted into the darkness along the shadows of the wall.

Yang He continued to look at the remaining items. He noticed that as time passed, the phantom images before him were becoming increasingly faint.

If he didn't exchange them soon, they would be integrated into the Daoist Initiate's role.

[Acquired 〈A Yin Meridian〉]

[Acquired 〈Potential Ghost〉]

The yin meridian obtained from the Daoist Initiate's cultivation was not unexpected; Yang He had anticipated it. He just hadn't expected the system to count the Potential Ghost as well.

Yang He gazed at the Potential Ghost, realizing he could easily absorb it.

Unfortunately, his ghost eyes showed a hint of resistance.

If he were to directly absorb it, the two ghosts would likely fight for his body, turning him into a monster that was neither human nor ghost, something Yang He wanted to avoid.

"Now is not the time. I need to figure out the drawbacks of absorbing a second ghost."

"The Main World is too strange. It feels like danger lurks everywhere, yet the Great Si Dynasty Court has such a low presence..."

Yang He didn't believe Song Zhi's promotion to the hungry ghost stage was a mere coincidence.

After all, the conditions for a ghost eye to advance to the hungry ghost stage were extremely stringent, requiring not only twelve eyeballs from different weak ghosts but also the aid of a marvel.

"Speaking of which, what's the current situation with Song Zhi after his second revival?"

"Has he completely ghostified, or has he become... something even more unknown?"

Yang He had no intention of revealing his strength and aimed to keep a low profile as much as possible.

He looked at the phantom yin meridian before him, realizing that the opportunities in the Lore World were his true reliance for establishing himself in the Main World.

"Exchange for the Yin Meridian."

The yin meridian flowed into Yang He's body, and his ghost eyes rejoiced.

Compared to the Lore World, Yang He was extremely cautious and careful in the Main World, slowing down the absorption of the yin meridian to avoid damaging his yang energy.