The night was clear, with bright stars scattered thinly across the sky.
Zhong Shenxiu walked into the middle of the courtyard. His eyes were pitch-black as he abruptly activated Spirit Vision.
In his vision, everything around him was shrouded in a hazy veil. The plum tree, its branches twisting like horned dragons, now seemed to be baring its claws and fangs.
From within the well, smoke constantly billowed forth, warping the light and carrying a hoarse voice.
So this is... the perspective of a Yin Spirit?
Zhong Shenxiu murmured to himself. He was experiencing the ability of the Shepherd.
Even his thoughts spread outward. He sensed not only a dark alternate space, but also a much broader and stranger world.
"The Spirit World?! Or perhaps... the Eastern Netherworld?"
Sensing the dense Yin Fiend aura within it, a hint of delight appeared on Zhong Shenxiu's face. "This is a fine place. Special forms of Profound Yin Fiend Qi and Yellow Springs Fiend Qi, for instance, can only be found in the Netherworld..."
Of course, ordinary cultivators—even those in the Gang Sha Realm, like the Spirit Crane—could hardly sense the path to the Netherworld.
And even if they sensed it, they might not necessarily be able to enter the Netherworld.
But Zhong Shenxiu could do so. He could even avoid certain Eastern rules. This was a privilege belonging to the Shepherd.
However, when he tried to peer deeper into the Netherworld, he discovered that he... didn't know how!
"I feel like I can do it, but I simply don't know how..."
Zhong Shenxiu was somewhat speechless. "Perhaps... I need to try and explore it slowly?"
He somewhat understood. This was the drawback of lacking a prerequisite profession. Otherwise, if he had once been a [Spirit Medium], he would surely have become familiar with the Spirit World long ago and gained the ability to travel through it with his soul.
Fortunately, for now, it only meant that he had to go through the trouble of trying things one by one.
From the perspective of Eastern Daoist Arts, his cultivation realm had already reached the required level, so some Daoist Arts came naturally to him and required little effort.
"The greatest ability of the Shepherd, apart from communing with the Spirit World, is manipulating souls."
"The only Vengeful Spirit I'm manipulating right now is the Headless Count."
With a thought from Zhong Shenxiu, another "person" suddenly walked out of his body.
It was tall and thin, with no head, and wore a formal coat adorned with two rows of golden buttons. It was none other than the Headless Count!
The moment this Vengeful Spirit appeared, black blood began seeping endlessly from beneath its shoes. Black mist spread outward from its body, seemingly transforming the surrounding environment unconsciously.
"Manipulating it isn't quite like moving my own arm, but at least it's as obedient as a well-trained dog now."
Zhong Shenxiu was satisfied. After some thought, he looked toward the clearly problematic well. "Go!"
The Headless Count stepped forward. It seemed as though a great hole split open in the void before it, swallowing it inside.
This legendary count had apparently been proficient in spatial spells while alive. After death, the ability it carried was also related to space, making it an exceptionally powerful Vengeful Spirit.
Only a few seconds later, it reappeared where it had been, a translucent soul clutched in its hand.
"As expected, there really is a ghost here!"
Zhong Shenxiu nodded.
In such a vast Fufeng City, countless people died every year. There were bound to be some lingering ghosts.
It was just that ordinary ghosts possessed little strength. Besides, Daoist Officials suppressed them, and any that dared to emerge and act arrogantly had already been exterminated. The ones left were probably all a bunch of hiders.
If the Headless Count is rated as upper fourth-class, then this one is lower first-class... utter trash.
Although he felt somewhat disdainful, Zhong Shenxiu still chose to command this ghost in order to test his ability and obtain some information.
His spiritual perception spread outward, reaching over the translucent soul.
The powerful aura instantly caused the dim radiance emanating from the soul to tremble violently, as though it were a soap bubble that would burst the next moment.
The Headless Count released its grip and stepped aside.
The soul, meanwhile, slowly solidified. It stabilized from its illusory state and transformed into the figure of a scholar in blue robes. Terror appeared on his face. "Don't..."
Although he gradually became stronger, the light in his eyes slowly faded. In the end, he seemed to have completely become a puppet, standing beside the Headless Count.
"This ability is indeed completely different from the Daoist Arts of the Profound Yin Soul Control Fragment!"
As he carefully experienced the ability of the Shepherd, Zhong Shenxiu could not help sighing.
The Shepherd's control over souls was practically assimilation. It erased all of the other party's emotions, turning them into puppets, while their memories and such remained intact, allowing Zhong Shenxiu to read them with ease.
Furthermore, because their spiritual perceptions were linked to their master's, they were extremely convenient to control, and their strength would also increase to a certain extent. However, if they died, they would inflict some damage on their master.
If the Shepherd's ability was overbearing, then the Profound Yin Soul Control Fragment felt more like the way of a sovereign.
Souls refined by its Daoist Arts could still retain their reason and emotions. For example, this scholar would probably kneel down and call him "my lord" or something, becoming one of Zhong Shenxiu's Yin soldiers.
Even if it died, only a minor soldier would be lost. As long as suitable materials were available, it could be refined again.
Its own strength, however, received no increase whatsoever.
Moreover, if its power increased too greatly, it could easily turn around and bite its master.
"Finally, in terms of numbers, the Shepherd can at most subdue one more Vengeful Spirit like the Headless Count. Or I could dilute that quota and turn it into a dozen or so lower-grade Yin Spirits... As for the Daoist Arts of the Profound Yin Soul Control Fragment, the number of ghosts I can command increases with every breakthrough in realm. In other words, one follows a route of quality and elite forces, while the other follows a route of quantity..."
Zhong Shenxiu looked toward the expressionless scholar and began browsing through his memories.
While in a spirit-medium state, the feeling was like watching a film from a third-party perspective. It was extremely novel and interesting.
"So this scholar's name is Wu Tong. He was a native of Fufeng. He began his education at eight, and passed the xiucai examination at twelve... Unfortunately, he repeatedly failed the examinations afterward. In anger, he turned toward the path of immortality. He spent more than a decade seeking immortality and asking about the Dao, but only found some things of uncertain authenticity. In the end, he failed to cultivate anything at all and died of illness at thirty-six..."
"Still, there are countless dead people in the world. Those who don't immediately go to the Netherworld and instead become Yin Spirits must have encountered some opportunity... He probably cultivated some achievements unconsciously, though they weren't significant—he merely gained a spirit after death."
"Besides, Fufeng City was far too dangerous. He hid here and there, eventually concealing himself within the water vein beneath this residence..."
Zhong Shenxiu had little interest in these matters. Instead, he looked toward the cultivation manuals of uncertain authenticity that Wu Tong had found.
Ninety-nine percent of them were fake, but there was one genuine fragment of a technique.
"No... it isn't for cultivating Daoist Arts. It's for refining magical artifacts... And it's severely damaged. No wonder Wu Tong took the wrong path."
Zhong Shenxiu became somewhat interested.
His knowledge had improved considerably by now, and he had gained some understanding of the Gang Sha Realm.
This realm primarily focused on cultivating seventeen natal spells. However, the Daoist Arts beyond those were not useless.
Apart from some of the most basic auxiliary ones, if one was truly unwilling to abandon the rest, they could be used to refine protective magical artifacts!
Before you continue