Vitality

Nangong Yiyi said she had no ability to revive Qianqian.

But she could make her stay with me forever.

She only needed to cultivate alongside her. I immediately wanted to refuse.

There was no other reason. Leaving aside whether Qianqian herself agreed or not.

Even if she did, I could not be so selfish. Wouldn't it be better for Qianqian to reincarnate? Why should she follow me?

Before I could speak, Qianqian stepped forward and asked Nangong Yiyi,

"Can it really be done? If it can, I'm willing."

I stared at Qianqian in disbelief, then cried out, "Qianqian, you can't do this."

Without waiting for Qianqian to reply, I hurriedly added, "You should go reincarnate properly.

Be born into a good family in your next life. Following me will only hold you back."

Nangong Yiyi said at that moment, "You really are a foolish boy.

She has already become a Malevolent Ghost and gained a bit of cultivation. Why would the underworld let her off so easily?

If you send her to the underworld to reincarnate now, that would truly ruin her.

Any ghost with cultivation who goes to the underworld must endure all eighteen kinds of torture before being allowed to reincarnate."

I asked Nangong Yiyi in confusion, "Why? Qianqian has never harmed anyone. Why should she be punished?"

Nangong Yiyi explained, "The underworld only accepts ordinary ghosts. Once a ghost has cultivation, it is no longer merely a ghost.

That is called a 'Ghost Cultivator,' one who seizes the creation of heaven and earth. Naturally, the underworld will not let them off.

Either cultivate until you are incomparably powerful, so they fear and dread you.

Or never set foot on the path of cultivation and honestly go reincarnate.

What they fear most are those whose bottle is not full yet sloshes half-full. If they are caught, they will be played to death alive.

The reason she can still remain here is that those Ghost Messengers have not discovered her yet.

Once they do, she will be dragged back for punishment. If she resists, they can kill her on the spot."

I said indignantly, "This is far too unfair. How could there be such an unreasonable rule?

There are cultivated ghosts in the underworld too. Why should ghosts cultivating in the Mortal Realm be punished?"

Nangong Yiyi said this world had never been fair.

Besides, ghosts cultivating in the underworld were their own people, while those cultivating outside were Rogue Cultivators.

Another reason was that Rogue Cultivators were unfettered, with no force capable of controlling them.

So Rogue Cultivators did whatever they wanted and usually caused catastrophes that blotted out the sky.

Then they patted their asses and left, leaving the mess for others to clean up.

Forget the underworld—even if she were discovered by cultivators in the Mortal Realm, death would be hard to escape.

At that moment, Qianqian stepped out, knelt on the ground, and said to Nangong Yiyi,

"Please help me. Even if I cannot reincarnate, that is fine. I can spend my whole life following Brother A Tong."

Nangong Yiyi put away her indifferent expression as well, then asked somewhat sternly,

"Have you thought this through? You will follow this foolish boy forever, watch him marry and have children, watch him be born, grow old, fall ill, and die.

Qianqian nodded firmly. I wanted to persuade her, but Qianqian said to me,

"Brother A Tong, you don't need to say anything. I have no family left in this world. I just want to follow you."

Looking into Qianqian's eyes, I did not know what to say.

I feared she would not survive the tortures if I let her reincarnate. I sighed, then nodded.

Qianqian said to Nangong Yiyi again, "Can you teach me? I want to learn cultivation from you."

Nangong Yiyi was decisive as well and agreed immediately.

Qianqian kowtowed three times to Nangong Yiyi, then looked at me with tears brimming in her eyes.

My nose stung. I helped Qianqian up and said to her, "All right, we'll talk about what comes later when it comes."

Nangong Yiyi teased from the side, "Can you two stop being so mushy?

Besides, I said I cannot revive her, but I never said she definitely cannot be revived."

I was startled and hurriedly asked, "How can she be revived? Can the dead really be brought back to life?"

Nangong Yiyi nodded. "It is difficult, but not impossible.

You are still far too far from such methods. Cultivate well.

With your aptitude and attributes, anything may be possible in the future."

I asked Nangong Yiyi how it could be done.

Nangong Yiyi said I should go to the underworld and fight King Yama. If I won, I could have him arrange for Qianqian to reincarnate.

Her memories would not be erased, and I would only need to wait for her in the Mortal Realm.

My face darkened as I replied, "What kind of nonsense is that? If I had that ability, I would have stepped on my own left foot and taken off from the spot.

I would not have ended up in such a sorry state when I went to the back mountain with Martial Uncle this time."

"There is only this one way, which is why I told you to cultivate well and strive to become stronger sooner.

After all, I have expectations for you." After hearing Nangong Yiyi out, I nodded weakly.

Then Nangong Yiyi said, "Little brother, that thing in your Martial Uncle's courtyard is no simple matter.

His cultivation is quite formidable too. I just do not know why he has no memories.

Or rather, why he lacks part of his memories. It seems as though a portion of his memories has been lost."

I said I did not know either. I had heard Martial Uncle say before that his own master had given it to him.

Then he had brought him back to Maoshan, and Martial Uncle had brought him here afterward.

After hearing me, Nangong Yiyi looked at me in some surprise and asked, "Your Martial Uncle is from Maoshan?"

I said he was, though that had been in the past. It seemed he no longer was.

Nangong Yiyi muttered to herself, "No wonder his talismans are so powerful. So he is from Maoshan. That explains it."

I said those talismans were indeed powerful, among the highest-grade talismans in Maoshan.

I simply had never seen with my own eyes exactly how powerful they were.

Fear appeared on Nangong Yiyi's face as she said, "Put it this way: even a Ghost Emperor would have to retreat three paces upon seeing one.

Killing a Ghost Emperor may be unlikely, but injuring one is possible. In any case, they are terrifying."

Hearing that, I was secretly shocked. These talismans truly lived up to their reputation.

Then I asked, "Sis, you said the ghost inside that jar is very powerful. Between the two of you, who is stronger?"

Nangong Yiyi looked at me and said, "Right now, he is no match for me, but the gap is not large.

If his memories were complete, I would be no match for him."

I did not quite understand, so I asked, how did this have anything to do with memories?

Nangong Yiyi pondered for a while, then explained,

"Ghosts differ from ghost to ghost. Every ghost above the level of Ghost King has its own unique method of circulating power.

The way that fellow in the jar circulates yin energy within his body is a complete mess, which has greatly reduced his strength.

And he cannot use ghost techniques, so he is no match for me now.

If the man in the jar had complete memories, I would have no confidence in winning.

If my 'Soul Artifact' could rise one level, then I would have the strength to fight him."

My interest was piqued, so I asked Nangong Yiyi, "Then what is your Soul Artifact?"

Nangong Yiyi wore a bitter expression and took out a 'fan' broken into two pieces.

The entire fan was jade-green, with black-and-white light floating up and down across it.

Seeing that, I said uncertainly, "This is... a fan?"

Nangong Yiyi nodded and said it was her 'Lingxiao Jade Fan.'

It had been damaged during her battle with the Corpse King and had yet to be repaired.

To repair the fan now would require quite a long time.

It would also require a great amount of yin energy, but that yin well had been destroyed by my Martial Uncle.

I did not know how to respond, so I said nothing. After all, Martial Uncle had indeed crippled that well with a single palm strike.

Then I rubbed my nose and offered Nangong Yiyi a few words of comfort.

They sounded somewhat dry, though. I knew a place like that could not possibly be found just because one wanted to find it.

Nangong Yiyi sighed, then carefully put the fan away.

She stood there afterward, sighing and lamenting. I did not know why she was so upset.

Only later did I learn that for a Ghost King to forge a Soul Artifact of their own was harder than ascending to heaven.