The Divine General Dao Path

The Yellow Springs Hall stood at the southern edge of the Wanhua Western Regions. It was neither particularly far from Chunyang Valley nor particularly close, lying a little over thirty thousand li away.

After Hong Fuxiu's Core Formation celebration ended, Xuan Zhen, Yunxiao, and Kou Ta led several Foundation Establishment Cultivators and over a thousand Divine Generals on the journey to the Yellow Springs Hall.

This was the first campaign of the Divine General Army. Calling them the Divine General Army was still somewhat of an exaggeration, as the Spirit Source Land possessed only a little over two thousand Divine Generals. Those two thousand-plus Divine Generals had already taken over the Immortal Palace's guard duties.

However, the Immortal Palace did not need so many Divine General guards, so they took turns standing watch.

Divine Generals did not need to cultivate on their own, but they required the nourishment of spiritual energy and the Golden Light Divine Curse. They did not occupy residences or cultivation grounds. However, the Divine General Nurturing Array in the Wuzhen Dao Palace was their dwelling and cultivation ground.

On ordinary days, they stayed on the Divine General Chessboard, receiving nourishment from the disciples of the Wuzhen Dao Palace.

Divine Generals were different from cultivators and Ghost Cultivators. Although they possessed independent consciousness, it was not very strong. While staying on the Divine General Chessboard, most of them remained in a deep sleep.

This state of slumber did them no harm and caused them no discomfort. On the contrary, it was the state they liked best.

Actually, Yang Zhengshan had never restricted their freedom, allowing them to wander throughout the Spirit Source Land. Yet whenever they had nothing to do, they still preferred to stay on the Divine General Chessboard.

As the number of Divine Generals grew, they became familiar presences throughout the Spirit Source Land.

Of course, there were also some oddballs among the Divine Generals. A tiny number of them disliked staying on the Divine General Chessboard and preferred to wander everywhere, lingering in the streets and alleys of Jade Capital City.

The oddest of them all was An Nianjiu.

This An Nianjiu had been formed from An Yuxing's Divine Soul. He had lost all his memories from before his death, yet retained many of his old habits. In particular, his habit of never being happy without alcohol had not changed in the slightest.

Above the vast sea of clouds, the fiery-red Vermilion Bird Cloud Boat rode the wind and broke through the waves.

The other Divine Generals obediently stayed in the cabin, either sleeping or chatting and shooting the breeze. Only An Nianjiu sat on the railing, gazing at the boundless sea of clouds while hugging his gourd of wine and leisurely savoring the liquor's searing bite.

Unlike the once-slovenly An Yuxing, An Nianjiu now wore a suit of Mysterious Black Scale Armor. His jet-black hair had been combed without a single strand out of place, and the space between his brows was filled with martial valor. A rugged aura surrounded him, making him look like a battle-hardened general.

He was no longer slovenly, not because he had developed a fondness for cleanliness, but because everything belonging to a Divine General was formed from Yin Energy. There was no need for meticulous grooming. With a single thought, he could change his appearance.

The An Nianjiu of this moment actually had the appearance An Yuxing had possessed in his youth. The An Yuxing of old had also been a great general on the battlefield.

"I knew you old bastard was hiding here drinking!" Xuan Zhen came to An Nianjiu's side and spoke with a half-smile.

An Nianjiu glanced at him and said disdainfully, "Didn't I tell you to stop bothering me?"

"Hehe, this poor Daoist only wanted to take a look at you, my Old Friend."

"Old Friend? Hmph, your Old Friend is already dead. The person I am now is me, not your Old Friend!"

"It's all the same, all the same!"

Xuan Zhen casually lifted his Daoist robe and straddled the railing beside the side of the boat.

Was An Nianjiu still An Yuxing?

This question actually had no meaning at all.

If you said he was, then he was. If you said he was not, then he was not.

Although An Nianjiu's origins lay in An Yuxing's Divine Soul, he possessed an independent personality unlike An Yuxing's and had a self-awareness of his own.

In the strictest sense, he was not the An Yuxing of old. He was a new existence.

Just like the other Divine Generals, they were all new existences.

Even the Divine Generals transformed from Ghost Cultivators were different from those Ghost Cultivators of the past, because their self-awareness had also changed.

However, many people in the Spirit Source Land still liked to regard certain Divine Generals as continuations of certain Old Acquaintances. Yang Zhengshan was no exception.

"Pour me a cup!" Xuan Zhen took out a wine glass and held it out before An Nianjiu.

"Don't you have any wine of your own?" An Nianjiu looked at the wine glass and spoke unhappily, but he still poured Xuan Zhen a cup because he could not beat him.

If he could have defeated Xuan Zhen, then given his temper, he would have slapped this annoying bull-nosed Daoist flying long ago.

Xuan Zhen completely ignored his displeasure. He took small sips of the rather strong wine and gazed at the vast sea of clouds. "Don't feel too bad. Some things are ultimately unavoidable, and some things simply follow the natural course of events!"

"Your existence is not merely a continuation. Your future should not remain immersed in someone else's past."

"You still have your own future!"

An Nianjiu looked at him. "The future? What future do I have?"

"Of course you have a future. As long as you exist, you have a future!" Xuan Zhen said earnestly, for once.

"We Divine Generals have no Dao Path to walk. How can we speak of a future?" An Nianjiu said.

This was the greatest flaw of Divine Generals. They could not cultivate on their own and could only passively accept nourishment from others. Although their strength could also increase, this passive improvement left them helpless and stripped them of the drive to advance.

Xuan Zhen said, "A Dao Path is also something people walk into existence. How do you know there is no Dao Path in this world belonging to Divine Generals?"

"Is there?" An Nianjiu pondered.

"Of course there is." Xuan Zhen looked at him with burning eyes.

"Where?" An Nianjiu furrowed his brow.

Xuan Zhen chuckled. "In you!"

"In me?"

An Nianjiu examined his own body. Naturally, he was not looking at his appearance but at what lay within.

Divine Generals belonged to Yin Souls, so their bodies were actually Soul Bodies.

"Ghost Cultivation?"

"It can be, and it can also not be!"

"Not?"

Xuan Zhen put on an inscrutable expression and said, "The Golden Light Divine Curse!"

An Nianjiu froze, then sank into deep thought. After a long while, he suddenly raised his head. "You want to use me as an experiment?"

"How can you put it that way? I only want to help you find a Dao Path belonging to Divine Generals!" Xuan Zhen grinned, though his expression was brimming with ill intent.

Xuan Zhen naturally had no intention of harming An Nianjiu. He truly did want to help An Nianjiu find a Dao Path belonging to Divine Generals. Of course, he also wanted An Nianjiu to help him verify some of his ideas.

The foundation of these Divine Generals was the Golden Light Divine Curse. Their core consisted of two things: one was the Soul Body, and the other was the Soul Seed nurtured by the Golden Light Divine Curse. The two merged into one, resulting in the special existence known as a Divine General.

An Nianjiu also knew that Xuan Zhen would not harm him, so he seriously considered Xuan Zhen's idea.

Most Divine Generals had rather simple minds. Although they possessed self-awareness, their thinking seemed to be subject to certain restrictions. They were like the Yin Soldiers of the Wuchang Ghost Sect: they also possessed self-awareness, but it was weak. Most of the time, they only obeyed orders, and their actions were rather rigid.

The same was true of Divine Generals, but they were different in another way. The restrictions on their thinking were not shackles. They could be opened and expanded.

What An Nianjiu lacked was basic common sense and an understanding of the Path of Cultivation. After all, he had lost An Yuxing's memories, retaining only some instincts and habits.

"The Golden Light Divine Curse is the foundation of the Eight Divine Curses and the source of the other seven Divine Curses. If you want to understand the Golden Light Divine Curse, you must first understand the origin of the Eight Divine Curses!"

"I happen to have nothing to do, so I'll teach you how to cultivate the Golden Light Divine Curse!"

Xuan Zhen began explaining the basics and profound principles of the Golden Light Divine Curse, pouring all his understanding of it into An Nianjiu.

At first, An Nianjiu was utterly lost, but as Xuan Zhen continued explaining, he still came to understand some of it.

Whether he could cultivate the Golden Light Divine Curse was still unknown.

But he was truly considering whether he could find a Dao Path belonging to Divine Generals within the Golden Light Divine Curse.

That was precisely the result Xuan Zhen wanted. He wanted to find a method that would allow a Divine General to improve himself, so that he would no longer need to spend his time and energy nurturing Divine Generals.

The Yellow Springs Hall was not merely a palace. It referred to a vast stretch of Abyssal Ground, and this entire stretch of Abyssal Ground belonged to Ghost Cultivators.

Just as Xuan Zhen and the others were hurrying toward the Yellow Springs Hall, it also welcomed a new master.

Xiang Yuan, the vice-Island Master of Ghost Island in the Wuchang Ghost Sect, had now been Appointed Hall Master of the Yellow Springs Hall.

The Wuchang Ghost Sect had three halls. In addition to the three halls, however, it also had several other institutions, such as the Corpse Sea, Ghost Island, and Wuchang Land.

Wuchang Land, the Corpse Sea, and Ghost Island actually referred to Grotto-Heavens. Wuchang Land was the main Grotto-Heaven of the Wuchang Ghost Sect and also its core.

The Soul Hooking Hall, Soul Refining Hall, and Soul Controlling Hall were all located within Wuchang Land.

The Corpse Sea, as its name suggested, was a Grotto-Heaven specifically used to store Yin Soldier Blood Puppets. It was like the warehouse of the Wuchang Ghost Sect, and no one knew how many Yin Soldiers were stored within the entire Grotto-Heaven.

Likewise, Ghost Island contained countless Ghost Cultivators. The Wuchang Ghost Sect had been named a ghost sect not because it possessed many Yin Soldiers, nor because all its members cultivated Yin-type techniques, but because it had once been a sect of Ghost Cultivators.

Ghost Island was the place where the Wuchang Ghost Sect had originated, and it was also the most mysterious place in the Wuchang Ghost Sect.

Each of the three great halls had a Hall Master, but Ghost Island had only one Island Master: the Wuchang Island Master, who was also the Sect Master of the Wuchang Ghost Sect.

In other words, Ghost Island was an institution directly governed by the Sect Master of the Wuchang Ghost Sect, and its status within the Wuchang Ghost Sect was even higher than that of the three great halls.

However, Vice-Island Master Xiang Yuan could not compare with An Wusheng, the Hall Master of the Soul Controlling Hall. Ghost Island did not have only one Vice-Island Master, but four, and Xiang Yuan ranked last among the four.

Within the main hall of the Yellow Springs Hall, Xiang Yuan sat upright in the seat of honor, looking down upon the gathered Ghost Cultivators below.

The doors of the main hall were built around Darkwood bones and carved with the Ghost God Twining Pattern. Faint blue phosphorescence shimmered between the black patterns. The pillars within the hall were all sheathed in Black Iron, while Bronze Candlesticks stood in rows on either side, their flames a ghastly green. Bluestone Slabs covered the floor, with Yin Energy seeping from the cracks and condensing into faint Ghost Fires that drifted about. Amid the hall's pervasive gloom, a trace of solemnity was concealed.

An Ink Jade Desk had been placed before the seat of honor. A Bronze Tripod sat atop it, and Soul Smoke drifted from within, coiling into the shape of a banner.

Apart from Xiang Yuan, there were more than twenty Ghost Cultivators in the hall. All of them possessed the cultivation of Ghost Generals, and every one of them had an extraordinary aura.

These Ghost Cultivators were the upper echelon of the Yellow Springs Hall. However, half of the hall's upper echelon had perished outside the Yang Family Blessed Land. When Xuan Zhen had captured the myriad ghosts, he had specifically targeted the Ghost Generals with profound cultivation.

Thus, most of the Yellow Springs Hall's higher-ups who had followed the Yellow Springs Old Ancestor into battle had become prisoners at Xuan Zhen's feet. Only a small portion had escaped and returned.

After returning, they had lived in fear every day, terrified that the Yang Family would come knocking at their door.

For this reason, they repeatedly sought aid from the Wuchang Ghost Sect. In the end, the Wuchang Ghost Sect sent Xiang Yuan to preside over the Yellow Springs Hall.

Since the Yellow Springs Hall had already joined the Wuchang Ghost Sect and become its fourth hall, the Wuchang Ghost Sect naturally would not abandon it.

Moreover, the Yellow Springs Hall held special significance for the Wuchang Ghost Sect. The Wuchang Ghost Sect's three great halls were all institutions of Immortal Cultivators. Although they cultivated Yin-type techniques and all controlled ghosts and Yin Soldiers, they were genuine Immortal Cultivators, merely practicing techniques that leaned toward the Yin attribute.

Absorbing the Yellow Springs Hall and making it the fourth hall was the hope of the Wuchang Ghost Sect's Ghost Cultivators. The Ghost Cultivators needed to establish an institution within the sect that stood alongside the three great halls, an institution belonging exclusively to Ghost Cultivators.

This was also one of the main reasons the Yellow Springs Old Ancestor had been able to join the Wuchang Ghost Sect so easily.

For this reason, the Wuchang Ghost Sect would not abandon the Yellow Springs Hall.

Within the hall, Old Ghost Tianfeng stood at the head of the gathered Ghost Cultivators. He lowered his head and bowed, putting on a humble appearance, but secretly studied Xiang Yuan in the seat of honor from the corner of his eye.

Xiang Yuan was tall and burly, carrying a formidable air. His features were resolute, but his expression was flippant. As he looked at the Ghost Cultivators in the hall, undisguised contempt and indifference filled his dark eyes.

Feeling his gaze, Old Ghost Tianfeng's heart tightened, and he hurriedly lowered his head even further.

In the former Yellow Springs Hall, beneath the Yellow Springs Old Ancestor, there had been four peak Ghost Generals: Tian Ye, Tian Feng, Tian Wu, and Tian Yi. These four Ghost Generals could all be considered disciples of the Yellow Springs Old Ancestor. He had personally trained them, and they had been his most capable assistants.

Under normal circumstances, the four of them had been responsible for managing all the affairs of the Yellow Springs Hall.

However, during the battle at the Yang Family Blessed Land, Tian Ye and Tian Wu had become prisoners at Xuan Zhen's feet, while Tian Feng and Tian Yi had escaped disaster because they had not gone to the Yang Family Blessed Land.

"To speak frankly, this prince does not like you useless wretches. In this prince's heart, you are completely worthless!" Xiang Yuan said in a flat tone.

Upon hearing this, the gathered Ghost Cultivators did not dare even breathe loudly. All of them hung their heads, standing as if dumbstruck.

The situation was stronger than the people in it!

With the Yellow Springs Old Ancestor dead, these Ghost Cultivators had become lone, wandering ghosts.

It was not that they had nowhere to go. With their strength, finding somewhere to settle down would have been easy.

However, it was always cooler beneath a great tree. Finding somewhere to settle down was easy, but once they left the Wuchang Ghost Sect and the Yellow Springs Hall, they would also lose their prospects.

With a powerful faction behind them, they could obtain more resources.

They wanted to become Ghost Kings, and they wanted to sit in the seat of power. Thus, they could only stand obediently here and listen to Xiang Yuan's humiliating words.

"However, since the sect has sent this prince to take charge of the Yellow Springs Hall, this prince has the responsibility to spur you all onward!"

Xiang Yuan's gaze swept across the Ghost Cultivators, and his tone grew even colder. "The sect will not assign the Yellow Springs Hall any missions for now, but you must not Slacken Off either. Work hard to improve your cultivation. This prince does not want his subordinates to be a pack of useless wretches!"

"Do you understand?"

"Understood. We will all obey the Ghost King's decree!" Old Ghost Tianfeng answered cleverly.

Only then did the other Ghost Cultivators begin echoing him in scattered voices.

Xiang Yuan gave Tian Feng an approving look and said, "Very good. Since you all understand, withdraw."

Actually, he had not wanted to come to the Yellow Springs Hall either. If the Sect Master had not personally arranged it, he would absolutely have refused to come and serve as Hall Master.

The Hall Master of the Yellow Springs Hall sounded like a Local Emperor.

But Xiang Yuan was an ambitious Ghost King. He would much rather remain on Ghost Island, where the Yin Spirit Qi was denser and the resources richer. On Ghost Island, he could obtain more resources, and he could also remain at the Sect Master's side.

In other words, he had gone from being a Close Subject of the Sect Master to a High Official in Charge of a Region.

His authority seemed to have grown considerably, but the benefits had not increased by much.