Yin Master of the Lower Altar, Divine Troop Altar

"Was that truly a divine being descended into the world?"

White Crane Boy looked at the spot that had suddenly become empty before him, a rare trace of surprise appearing on his face.

Huang Bai had been standing there just moments ago, yet in the next instant, he had vanished into thin air without leaving behind the slightest trace of an escape technique. Even with White Crane Boy's eyesight, he could not tell what method the other party had used to leave.

"Mount Jinhua, Huang Bai..."

White Crane Boy murmured the name under his breath, several guesses arising in his heart.

Could he truly have some deep connection with Wong Tai Sin's lineage?

Could he be someone who had emerged from Huang Chuping's lineage, or perhaps even the reincarnation of some divine being?

White Crane Boy's true form was as enormous as a mountain. Though he had taken human form now, the divine majesty born of incense offerings still lingered around him. Behind him, an immense Dharma Form faintly emerged.

Elsewhere, Great Black Buddha Mother's lotus Dharma Form completely shattered.

This also meant that the task Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict had assigned Huang Bai was complete.

The ancient temple remained the same ancient temple, desolate and dim, as though it would never see daylight.

Suddenly, the incense table lit up with golden radiance once more. Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict slowly appeared, its golden light making the entire ancient temple seem a little warmer.

Not long afterward, Huang Bai's figure condensed within the temple again.

"I'm back."

Huang Bai rolled his shoulders and stretched lazily, looking visibly more relaxed.

This time, the difficulty had not actually been too high.

Of course, it was not because Great Black Buddha Mother had been too weak, but because that world had proper gods after all.

Huang Bai set the backpack on his back onto the table. After opening it, he directly poured out a pile of ancient books and miscellaneous items.

Inside were methods for spirit-writing and inviting gods, secret manuals of evil arts for refining poisonous water and Toad Water, as well as the shackles artifact borrowed from Ksitigarbha Temple.

Huang Bai picked up the pair of shackles and examined them twice, a satisfied expression appearing on his face.

"This thing really is pretty good."

"It can expand and contract, and it can even restrain ghosts and Dharma bodies. This is the first artifact I've truly gotten my hands on."

Of course, beyond that, the Death Summons Writ and talisman arts left behind by White Crane Boy were what truly made him covetous.

Especially that Thunder Arts technique.

With a single strike, it could even split apart an evil god's Dharma Realm.

Huang Bai steadied his mind and opened the copy of Dharma Teaching's Yin Altar Spirit Cultivation Method left behind by Great Black Buddha Mother.

"Spirit Army Altar, altar-ground Dharma Realm..."

He slowly read on, his gaze growing increasingly serious.

According to Daoist terminology, things like Great Black Buddha Mother were actually called Yin Masters.

A Yin Master was a ritual master who, after death, did not enter reincarnation or ascend to the heavenly realms, but forcibly remained in the human world, relying on incense offerings, blood sacrifices, and evil arts to sustain itself. If they went a step further, they would subdue mountain spirits and ghosts to do their bidding.

The weaker ones were often secretly worshipped by a single household.

Many of those northeastern spirit-medium traditions were actually connected to this sort of thing.

Those somewhat stronger became beings like Great Black Buddha Mother, worshipped by an entire village and even cultivating a Dharma Realm of their own.

And this method explained how to establish a "Spirit Army Altar."

To put it plainly, it was an altar for raising ghosts.

Ghosts were raised within the altar, troops were refined within the altar, yin energy was accumulated in ordinary times, and when needed, they were released to kill enemies.

Those Daoist practitioners who summoned heavenly soldiers, invited heavenly generals, and called forth Yellow-Turban Strongmen belonged to the Upper-Altar Troops.

Great Black Buddha Mother's path, on the other hand, belonged to the Lower-Altar Troops. What it raised were wandering souls, wild ghosts, vicious spirits, and evil entities.

Huang Bai continued reading.

"To cultivate this altar, one requires an altar, with soil from a grave buried within it. A Qi-Nourishing Talisman must be affixed to the altar's opening. In ordinary times, one must deliver departed souls, using their yin energy to nourish the soil."

"Over time, if Yin Soil can be cultivated, ghosts may be raised and troops refined. The heavier the yin energy, the broader the Yin Soil, and the more troops one may possess."

Beyond that, this method also contained an even more wicked shortcut.

Blood sacrifice.

Using living humans' flesh and blood to stimulate Yin Soil could rapidly form a ghost altar.

Great Black Buddha Mother had gone even further, directly refining herself as one of the troops. She used the troop altar to nourish herself, ultimately refining herself into the fiercest ghost within the altar.

At this point, Huang Bai finally understood everything completely.

"So that's how it is."

"Besides troop talismans, it also has sacrificial refinement, soul delivery, ghost raising—an entire set of methods."

"This is the real great harvest from this trip."

He closed the book, already having a clear idea in mind.

Something like a Spirit Army Altar would definitely be of great use.

It was just troublesome to set up.

A Spirit Army Altar was not merely an altar. Outside it, one also needed a sacrificial platform, banners, incense tables, offerings—an entire set of items, none of which could be omitted.

Only after cultivating the art to a profound level could one shrink the altar and carry it around.

The true foundation of major sects often lay precisely in this.

If a Spirit Army Altar was maintained for hundreds or thousands of years, the yin soldiers, ghost generals, and guardians within would all become the sect's foundation.

A sect on the level of Mount Mao might possess tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of ghost generals. Some senior members of the sect might even become Yin Masters after death and guard the altar from within.

Those things could not be accumulated overnight.

Ordinary independent cultivators had it much worse.

They had little incense power and no real inherited foundation. No matter how long they raised troops in their Spirit Army Altars, they usually ended up with only a few mountain spirits and minor ghosts, barely enough to keep up appearances.

Thinking of this, Huang Bai was no longer in a hurry.

"No matter what, I should start preparing first."

For those who cultivated the arts, a Spirit Army Altar was something they would need sooner or later.

After all, once many Daoists became strong enough, unless they encountered an especially troublesome situation, they would not personally take action at all. More often, the troops would advance first while guardians cleared the way.

"Yaksha can go inside first and serve as a general."

Many of the minor ghosts in a Spirit Army Altar were consumable assets to begin with. If they died, they died; more could simply be raised.

Only those who truly survived mountains of corpses and seas of blood were qualified to slowly be refined into great generals of the altar.

Huang Bai read through the method several times, and only after confirming that he had memorized it all did he place the book on the bookshelf beside him.

The bookshelf that had once stood empty now finally held a few things.

Ancient books, artifacts, Death Summons Writs, shackles...

The ancient temple, which had originally been as cold and lifeless as a dead object, now bore at least a faint trace of human presence because of these things.

Huang Bai stood before the bookshelf for a while, then smiled softly.

"In the future, there will only be more and more books from the myriad worlds."

His path had always been to travel through different worlds, witness the methods of every school, and cultivate all the secret arts under heaven.

That was what made it interesting.

Huang Bai returned to the incense table, sat down cross-legged, and prepared to regulate his breath while waiting for the next Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict.

"Hopefully, the next world will truly teach Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life."

The thought had only just crossed his mind when his gaze suddenly stopped.

Besides Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict, there was unexpectedly another item on the incense table.

It was an incense stick.

It was roughly one foot and three inches long, crimson from end to end. Extremely fine patterns of light flowed across its surface, making it clear at a glance that it was no ordinary incense.

Huang Bai reached out and picked up the incense stick. Information corresponding to it immediately surfaced in his mind.

[Cause-Severing Incense]: Upon entering the next world, there will be no Heavenly Dao task. You may return to the ancient temple at any time, and may remain for no longer than three years. Light this incense, and when it burns out, you may return.

Huang Bai's eyes immediately lit up.

"This thing is pretty good."

No Heavenly Dao task meant he would not have to risk his life the moment he entered.

He could also return at any time and remain for up to three years.

This was practically the same as being given a world for rest and recuperation.

Three years was enough to accomplish many things.

After all, he had only stayed in the previous world for half a year in total.

Huang Bai carefully put away the Cause-Severing Incense, then sat back down before the incense table and quietly waited for Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict to light up again.

Who knew how much time passed.

At last, Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict glowed again, and new words slowly appeared.

Huang Bai first removed the Cause-Severing Incense. Then that line of text vanished as well, leaving behind only the world's name.

"Proceed to Resident Evil."

Huang Bai stared at those words and was rarely stunned for a moment.

"Resident Evil?"

"This counts as a horror world too?"

By now, he had more or less figured out Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict's preferences. The worlds he had experienced one after another had basically all been horror worlds.

But Resident Evil... wasn't that just a zombie movie?

Huang Bai thought about it seriously, then felt that there did not seem to be any problem with that.

"True enough."

"Zombies are corpses too. How could corpses not be terrifying?"

A world like this was perfect for testing out the Spirit Army Altar method.

Thinking of that, Huang Bai's mood improved instead.

"Perfect. I'll use it for practice."

He rose to his feet, put away the Cause-Severing Incense, and brought his ritual sword with him as well.

"Off I go."

Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict transformed into a streak of light and entered Huang Bai's left arm.

In the next instant, his figure completely vanished from the ancient temple.

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