Lone Soul Ridge

Early the next morning, Hu Donghan woke up and yawned.

After eating the meal delivered by a menial servant, Hu Donghan meditated for another half hour, nurturing the spiritual power within his body before rising to his feet and leaving his room.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned a menial servant and instructed him to repair the room. Afterward, Hu Donghan left the outer disciples' courtyard again and headed to the foot of Overlapping Peaks' main peak, where he obtained a map of Overlapping Peaks from an outer sect steward and examined it.

The Yin Soul Sect had originally been a sect that played with ghosts.

Throughout the entire sect, from top to bottom, there were naturally countless places for raising ghosts within its sphere of influence. Graveyards, Mass Grave Mounds, burial grounds, and the like could be found everywhere in the Yin Soul Sect. If Yin Soul Sect cultivators wanted to hunt ghosts, they could run into who knew how many the moment they stepped outside.

The master of Overlapping Peaks was a late Golden Core powerhouse. In addition, Li Chengfeng usually paid considerable attention to nurturing his disciples, so within all the territory belonging to Overlapping Peaks, he had designated over a hundred ghost-raising grounds exclusively for Overlapping Peaks. These hundred-odd ghost-raising grounds also varied in strength.

Some ghost-raising grounds were ancient and thick with yin energy, and only cultivators of the Foundation Establishment Realm or above were permitted to enter. Some newly established ghost-raising grounds, meanwhile, served as trial grounds for Qi Refining Stage cultivators.

Hu Donghan was only at the Qi Refining First Layer. Naturally, he would not foolishly run to those advanced ghost-raising grounds to throw away his life. He swept his eyes over the map a few times before finally selecting the nearest ghost-raising ground to Overlapping Peaks—Lonely Soul Ridge!

Lonely Soul Ridge was a place for Qi Refining Stage cultivators to hunt ghosts. The yin souls and ghostly creatures within were not especially powerful. With Qi Refining Peak cultivation, one could practically run wild through Lonely Soul Ridge. However, in terms of scale, Lonely Soul Ridge counted as one of the larger ghost-raising grounds for Qi Refining Stage cultivators, so there were also many more powerful yin souls and ghostly creatures within.

However, upon seeing Lonely Soul Ridge, Hu Donghan suddenly recalled that several days ago, he had seen a bounty mission issued by Overlapping Peaks itself in the Outer Affairs Hall. It offered one Spirit Stone for hunting the yin souls and ghostly creatures of Lonely Soul Ridge—kill one hundred, and the reward would be his.

To Qi Refining Stage disciples who were desperately short on cultivation resources, this could be called immensely tempting!

One could imagine that the number of yin souls and ghostly creatures in Lonely Soul Ridge must have fallen to its lowest point by now!

The current Lonely Soul Ridge was something Hu Donghan dared to venture into, even with only Qi Refining First Layer cultivation!

"Lonely Soul Ridge is near Overlapping Peaks. At this stage, it must be one of the safest ghost-hunting grounds! It will only take about one or two hours to get there, and I should arrive around noon. If I head to other ghost-raising grounds, it will take at least half a day..."

"Every day at noon, yang energy is at its most vigorous. The strength of the yin souls and ghostly creatures around Lonely Soul Ridge's outskirts will also be somewhat suppressed. Comparatively speaking, hunting ghosts will be easier."

As Hu Donghan pondered, he had already made up his mind—no matter what, he would first go to Lonely Soul Ridge and take a look. If Lonely Soul Ridge was suitable for hunting ghostly creatures, that would naturally be for the best. If it was unsuitable, he would have no choice but to seek out another ghost-raising ground.

He walked down the mountain path of Overlapping Peaks to the mountainside, then crossed a suspension bridge. Only then had he left Overlapping Peaks.

Outside Overlapping Peaks stood another large courtyard.

Outer sect disciples occasionally came and went through the courtyard, but most were menial servants dressed in coarse clothes. Quite a few compartments were laid out within the courtyard, and inside them were skeletal beasts!

Although the Yin Soul Sect mainly played with ghosts, raising corpses and skeletons was also well within its abilities. While it was not as proficient at those as it was at playing with ghosts, it could still handle simple tasks.

The skeletal beasts raised in this large courtyard beneath Overlapping Peaks were mounts intended for the ordinary disciples of Overlapping Peaks. This place was somewhat similar to the mule and horse shops of the mortal world. The only difference was that the mounts here were for use within the sect, and they were completely free.

Seeing Hu Donghan walking toward the courtyard, one of the menial servants stepped forward and respectfully bowed to him. "Martial Uncle, do you require a skeletal beast for travel?"

Within the Yin Soul Sect, menial disciples occupied the lowest rank. All manner of large and small chores throughout the sect were basically handled by menial servants.

Though menial disciples also bore the title of "disciple," they were not entered into the Yin Soul Sect's register. Only after reaching the Late Qi Refining Realm could they join the outer sect and be formally registered. There were more than a million registered disciples in the Yin Soul Sect, while the number of menial disciples even exceeded ten million!

If Hu Donghan had not been given a pull by his child bride at a critical moment, then even if his luck had been good, he would probably only have become a menial servant now.

Hu Donghan nodded. "That is right. I wish to go to Lonely Soul Ridge, so I came here to find a skeletal beast for transportation."

"Martial Uncle is going to Lonely Soul Ridge?" The menial disciple's expression flickered with slight surprise. Then he pointed at a skeletal horse to the side and said, "Lonely Soul Ridge is only a little over one hundred and eighty li from here. If Martial Uncle wishes to arrive quickly, this skeletal horse should be fairly suitable. Skeletal horses have gentle temperaments. As long as Martial Uncle injects a strand of spiritual power into it, it should be enough for a round trip."

This skeletal horse truly had an impressive appearance. From top to bottom, its bones were neat and rounded, with faint corpse energy gathered within its frame. Within its skull, a weak soul-light flickered faintly. By skeletal beast standards, this skeletal horse was indeed a superior specimen.

Though the surprise on the menial disciple's face had flashed by in an instant, Hu Donghan still noticed it.

That was only natural. Within Overlapping Peaks, Lonely Soul Ridge was a primary ghost-hunting ground for Late Qi Refining Realm cultivators. Yet Hu Donghan's strength was merely at the Qi Refining First Layer—he was even weaker than this menial disciple!

"Then I'll thank you." Hu Donghan did not say much more to the menial disciple. With a calm smile, he took the reins from his hand, swung onto the skeletal horse, injected a strand of spiritual power, and galloped away.

Only after Hu Donghan's skeletal horse had gone far away did the menial disciple give a slightly disdainful snort and mutter under his breath, "Only Qi Refining First Layer, yet he dares go to Lonely Soul Ridge? This outer sect disciple truly does not know whether he's dead or alive! With a brain like that, he actually got into the Yin Soul Sect's outer sect. What a waste! It would be better to give such a fine opportunity to me..."

Though the skeletal horse was nothing but a frame of bones, corpse energy filled its frame and death energy floated around it. Riding it did not feel bumpy at all. Instead, with the death energy complementing it, the ride felt quite refreshing and comfortable.

Following the map of Overlapping Peaks, the skeletal horse galloped south for nearly an hour. As the ghostly baleful aura in the surroundings grew increasingly dense, wandering souls also began to appear around him.

Without realizing it, he had already arrived outside Lonely Soul Ridge.

(End of this chapter)