Prologue

Preface

Preface

Inside Void-Purging Temple on Cloud-Coming Peak in Heaven Gate City.

Void-Purging Temple was the number one temple in Heaven Gate City, yet its temple master was merely a young man in his early twenties.

However, among those with any status or prestige in Heaven Gate City, absolutely not a single person dared show the slightest disrespect to this young man in his early twenties! Because everyone knew that this young master of the temple was a man of mighty capability.

Because the eldest young master of the Wang Household in Heaven Gate City acted dissolutely and came into conflict with him, they sent people to assassinate him, only for the attempt to fail. Afterward, all twenty-six members of the Wang Household were put to death, leaving not a single survivor!

The Black Dragon Society, overlords of the Heaven Gate City underworld, went to Void-Purging Temple to draw lots and, failing to get their way, sent subordinates to block the gates. As a result, every single core member of the Black Dragon Society lost their life and none escaped! All the remaining thugs who participated in the blockade were reduced to vegetables.

The young daughter of the Li Household in Heaven Gate City suffered from a terminal illness and was on the verge of death. She went to Void-Purging Temple for help and was fully healed in three days!

Incidents like these were too numerous to list.

The renown of Void-Purging Temple arose entirely from all this.

The temple master was named Hu Donghan, originally nothing more than an orphan.

When he was ten years old, he wandered from parts unknown to Heaven Gate City and subsequently founded Void-Purging Temple on Cloud-Coming Peak. Then, after passing through more than a decade of development, an obscure Daoist temple had already become a prominent presence with both status and prestige within Heaven Gate City.

The back mountain of Void-Purging Temple.

Upon the cliffside of the back mountain, there was a stone cave.

Descending from the stone cave, there was an iron chain. Walking along the iron chain, the cavern grew progressively larger and led lower and lower. Reaching the depths, there was a pitch-black pool of water. The stench emanating from the pool was utterly foul, and one bubble after another continuously churned within the water.

At the center of the water pool, there was only a single ink-black rock. Seated cross-legged atop the rock was a young man.

Hovering back and forth above the young man's head were several wisps of mist. As the mist drifted, they emitted miserable, shrill roars from time to time, vaguely passing right through the young man's body. Each time these wisps of mist passed through the young man's body, his physical form would transform into a skeleton. This scene possessed an indescribable uncanniness.

This young man was precisely Hu Donghan!

Others only knew that Hu Donghan was a man of great capability with grand fortune and mighty cultivation, yet they did not know the reason why. As for all of this, only Hu Donghan himself knew the truth in his heart.

Hu Donghan was merely an orphan. In his childhood, he had scrambled and fought to survive, tasting every kind of hardship. When he was ten years old, Hu Donghan accidentally obtained a Daoist scripture from a ruined rural temple, titled True Exposition of the Ghost Path.

Hu Donghan could not read at the time; he merely felt that when this Daoist scripture was kept close to his body, he was immune to both cold and heat, making it wondrously unusual. In order to explore the mystery of this Daoist scripture, Hu Donghan began to teach himself how to read characters, and once he was able to fully decipher the contents of True Exposition of the Ghost Path, he practiced strictly in accordance with the material within.

By beginning to practice True Exposition of the Ghost Path, Hu Donghan also gradually discovered the wondrous aspects of this Daoist scripture. Within True Exposition of the Ghost Path were Ghost-Nurturing Art, Bone-Refining Art, Corpse-Nurturing Art, and numerous other systematic techniques, ranging from controlling ordinary ghost spirits to subsequently elevating the grade of ghost spirits and beyond. All sorts of methods were entirely complete. Relying on the practice of the contents within True Exposition of the Ghost Path, Hu Donghan also revealed his own extraordinary traits.

Then, after over ten years of cultivation, although Hu Donghan controlled five ghost spirits, three zombies, and two skeletons, the elevation of his own personal cultivation was extremely slow, and he was fundamentally unable to suppress the force of the backlash. Once a backlash occurred, Hu Donghan's fate would undoubtedly be certain death!

True Exposition of the Ghost Path is truly a wondrous Daoist scripture! Even in the Age of Law's End, one can still cultivate it! It is only a pity that the Age of Law's End is after all unsuited for cultivators to survive in. Even with True Exposition of the Ghost Path, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth is thin, so what use is it? Having cultivated for a mere decade or so, I have already entered a dead end! If I cannot break through this time, destruction of body and soul is a foregone conclusion...

Within True Exposition of the Ghost Path lies the Five Ghosts Barrier-Breaking Great Art. If I can succeed, the ocean is wide and the sky is vast. If I fail, everything is reduced to naught!

The Land of Utmost Evil is already here, the five ghosts are all present, and the zombies and skeletons protect the Dharma. Five Ghosts Barrier-Breaking Great Art, break for me! Break! Break! Break! Break!

The wisps of mist wandering around Hu Donghan suddenly plunged into his body, and amidst a chorus of shrieks, Hu Donghan's physical form transformed into a skeleton.

Half a day later, the foul water within the black pool surrounding Hu Donghan's skeleton churned violently, fiercely slamming against the skeleton.

The skeleton instantly reverted into a body of flesh and blood, and five wisps of mist flew out from within Hu Donghan's body, their howling sounds growing even more shrill. Afterward, these five wisps of mist once again charged toward Hu Donghan.

As expected, I still failed... A shred of lucidity flashed through Hu Donghan's divine sense, tinged with slight regret.

Immediately following this, the five wisps of mist pierced through Hu Donghan's body, tearing away large swaths of flesh and blood and leaving behind only a single skeleton.

Inside the skeleton, strands of pale gray mist churned unceasingly.

Several seconds later, the skeleton burst apart, only to be burned completely to nothingness in midair by the green flames transformed from the five wisps of mist—

Leaving not even a corpse or bone behind!