Lingering Netherworld Ghosts

Xuanguo Estate.

Mansion.

After Chen Mu and Chen Yao returned, they separated and went back to their respective courtyards.

During this time, Chen Mu took some time to visit Ning Qiang, then returned to his bedroom and cultivated the Golden Jade Art until dusk.

Afterward, Chen Mu summoned the system interface and once again performed Soul Roaming in the Netherworld.

On the withered grave soil.

Chen Mu's soul shadow appeared silently. The first thing that came into view was Geng He's ghost shadow. He was floating there, his pale face showing cracks from the temples.

These cracks extended downwards, crossing the two brown streaks of blood tears, covering his entire face. The black rope around his neck also showed signs of decay.

Wisps of black smoke were dissipating from his entire body, but he himself had not dispersed.

Seeing this, Chen Mu thought for a moment and then said, "Your wife has passed away, you should know that. However, your daughter is doing well, and her child is quite intelligent. I can look after them a bit in the future."

Geng He's obsession was attached to him, so he should have known what happened in the present world. The fact that he was still unwilling to completely disperse was likely because he still had some lingering obsession with his only daughter.

Upon hearing Chen Mu's promise, Geng He's soul shadow finally changed. The cracks on his face rapidly spread and became finer, until his entire face seemed to shatter like a mask.

The black rope around his neck also decayed and fell off, turning into specks of black mist and disappearing.

Finally.

Only a blurry figure resembling a middle-aged man remained. He bowed to Chen Mu, then turned into countless white light spots, completely disintegrating and vanishing.

And as Geng He's soul shadow completely disappeared, a prompt sounded in Chen Mu's ear again.

[Prompt: You gained 25 Soul Points]

"He was hiding so much..."

"If he had been this shrewd when he was alive, he wouldn't have ended up like this."

Chen Mu shook his head slightly as he looked at the spot where Geng He had completely dissipated.

He now roughly understood the source of Soul Points. They were likely the Soul Points accumulated by these Netherworld Ghosts. After the ghost's obsession dissipated, all the Soul Points belonged to him. These Soul Points were converted by the system into pure Soul Points, which could be used directly to strengthen himself.

This also explained why the stronger the Netherworld Ghost he encountered, the more Soul Points he could gain.

Geng He's situation was clearly because what he had done in the present world was not enough to completely eliminate his obsession, so he had lingered, stubbornly waiting for him to come to the Netherworld. It was only after he gave the promise to 'look after them a bit in the future' that he was completely satisfied, and his obsession completely dissipated and disappeared.

He hadn't seemed this shrewd when he was alive, but after death, with only a wisp of obsession remaining and no consciousness, he still knew to demand more from him, which made Chen Mu chuckle.

But he didn't care much.

With his status, taking care of Geng He's daughter was just a matter of a single sentence. If Geng Rong's son had some talent in the future, he could even recommend him for an official position. It was all just a matter of convenience anyway.

Chen Mu even wished Geng He had hidden more, preferably a few hundred or a few thousand Soul Points. After all, these Soul Points were practically free, and didn't require much effort or time.

Speaking of which, so far he hadn't encountered any particularly difficult obsessions to eliminate. They were all relatively easy to complete, perhaps due to good luck.

Chen Mu didn't linger.

After Geng He completely dissipated, he continued to float forward.

Then he encountered a new ghost shadow.

This ghost shadow didn't look terrifying. It was an extremely aged old man, with prominent cheekbones and sunken eye sockets, so old that he looked like he could fall apart at any moment.

However, the clothes he wore were incredibly luxurious, brocade robes with python patterns. These python robes were not something just anyone could wear; at the very least, one had to be a Duke or Marquis to be qualified.

[Ji Xiang]

[Origin: Anping Marquis]

[Resentment: Born as the only legitimate son, inherited the title, but the heavens were unfair, giving him power, vast wealth, countless beauties, but not longevity. He only lived to ninety-six before his life ended.]

[Obsession: Returning to the Yang world]

Looking at the system description, Chen Mu's face was expressionless.

He had just been thinking that the obsessions of the Netherworld Ghosts he had encountered so far were all easy to eliminate, and then he encountered one that couldn't be eliminated, one that delusionally wanted to return to the Yang world. Also, this resentment... was it humblebragging, or insatiable greed?

Moreover, he still had an impression of this Anping Marquis. If he remembered correctly, he had died of old age more than ten days ago, which was exactly around the time he had arrived in this world.

Dying of old age at ninety-six was already considered a long life among the Eight Dukes and Fourteen Marquises.

"You've lived long enough."

Chen Mu spoke slowly.

Ji Xiang's ghost shadow floated in the air, his sunken eye sockets staring at Chen Mu with a faint glow. Hearing Chen Mu's words, his curled-up old bones suddenly straightened up.

Naturally, the current Chen Mu wouldn't be easily frightened by a mere ghost shadow, let alone this Anping Marquis, whose Yin soul strength was even inferior to Cui'er's.

He shook his head slightly.

Chen Mu directly moved away.

But the Anping Marquis's aged ghost shadow seemed unwilling to let Chen Mu leave and immediately followed him, acting as if he had latched onto Chen Mu and wouldn't give up until he had entangled him completely.

The current Chen Mu had already reached the realm of a fifth-rank Sorcerer and could perceive more things. He vaguely sensed that the Anping Marquis's ghost shadow seemed to be forcibly entangling its obsession onto him.

"Hmph."

Chen Mu stopped and let out a cold snort.

He naturally wouldn't be polite towards a ghost entity that had already died, with only a trace of obsession remaining, yet still forcibly entangled itself with him.

He pointed a finger.

Buzz!!

A beam of sword light burst forth, instantly covering the Anping Marquis's ghost shadow.

Amidst the intertwining white light, in almost an instant, the Anping Marquis's ghost shadow was completely cut into pieces, shattering and exploding into clusters of light points.

However, even though he had completely annihilated the Anping Marquis's ghost shadow with one strike, Chen Mu did not show a relaxed expression. Instead, he frowned slightly and looked at the exploding light points.

He saw.

After the exploding light points completely collapsed, tiny black dots actually appeared. These black dots quickly gathered together, transforming into a wisp of blackEthereal Mist!

This wisp of blackEthereal Mist quietly hovered there, giving Chen Mu the feeling that it was the same kind of thing as the black mist in the distance, just extremely faint and thin.

Immediately after.

Amidst the intertwining black nether mist, it gradually spread out again, re-transforming into the ghost of the Anping Marquis, exactly the same as before, without the slightest change.

"As expected, the Netherworld Ghosts are different from those in the present world..."

Chen Mu watched this scene and pondered for a moment.

With the strength of the Anping Marquis's Netherworld Ghost Soul Points, if he were in the present world, even if he turned into a vengeful ghost to harm people, under the strike of his Heart Sword, his soul would be scattered on the spot, leaving not even a trace.

But in the Netherworld, after enduring the strike of his Heart Sword, although his soul body was shattered, it quickly recovered, and there was no change compared to before.

These Netherworld Ghosts seem to have been more or less contaminated by that black mist.

And this black mist clearly possesses the characteristic of being indestructible. Even if it has been diluted countless times and is extremely dim, there is still a qualitative gap compared to his realm, making him unable to destroy this black mist.

Undying and indestructible!

Chen Mu moved away again for a distance.

But the ghost of the Anping Marquis immediately followed, looking as if it had forcefully latched onto him.

"Troublesome."

Chen Mu shook his head, then stopped, suddenly stretched out his hand, and pointed his finger directly at the ghost of the Anping Marquis. This time, he did not use Daoist Arts, but simply touched it.

The ghost of the Anping Marquis did not react and immediately touched Chen Mu's finger.

To be precise,

It touched the layer of dim white fluorescence on Chen Mu's body surface.

Crack!!

Like an electric shock, the white fluorescence exploded.

In an instant, the wind and clouds changed color!