Wang Quan returned from the third level to the great tomb's main hall.
He did not investigate the fourth level, but instead tallied his income and expenses.
Then he felt that the returns were not proportional to the investment.
After a moment's hesitation, he asked a Yin Spirit beside him who was repairing his thigh, "Senior brother, I feel the returns from the first three levels aren't very high. How are the later levels?"
The Yin Spirit paused, then smiled. "From the fifth level through the Tenth Layer, provided you suffer no losses each time you enter, the deeper you go, the greater the returns."
"Especially the Tenth Layer: killing the general once can earn you around ten million in money."
Wang Quan looked thoughtful. "If you get injured..."
The Yin Spirit smiled. "If you end up like me, injured with missing arms or crippled legs, you'd be better off selling resources outside, or gathering ordinary resources for money."
Wang Quan surveyed his surroundings and fell silent at the sight of so many Yin Spirits with missing arms and severed legs.
Clearly, injuries were as commonplace as everyday meals here; those who escaped unhurt were few and far between.
"Either stick to the first five levels, or cultivate a thousand strands of magical power and get close to Foundation Establishment. Only then could you avoid injuries, I suppose!"
Just then, the tenth doorway distorted, and over a dozen Yin Spirits appeared at its entrance, along with a cultivator drenched in blood.
Every Yin Spirit present looked over, and their expressions darkened.
The returning group was the team that had charged into the Tenth Layer earlier, led by a cultivator in his physical body.
Now, those dozen or so Yin Spirits were all missing parts. The worst off had nothing left but a head.
The cultivator who had brought his physical body in also had his flesh split open, exposing stark white bones. He was in a wretched state.
The Daoist Scriptures all around shone, and billowing black smoke rose from the Yin Spirits.
The cultivator present in his physical body formed seals with both hands and chanted scripture. Billowing black smoke rose from him as well.
Wang Quan sighed. "Even such a powerful team ended up this badly?"
The Yin Spirit beside him fell silent for a moment. "Fewer and fewer cultivators are willing to come purge this great tomb now!"
"Otherwise, with another dozen or so Yin Spirit experts helping, this team would never have ended up in such a sorry state!"
Wang Quan nodded. "The main problem is that it doesn't make money."
"If it did, more and more cultivators would be willing to come."
The Yin Spirit shook his head. "It isn't a question of making money."
"There are fewer cultivators who have mastered Daoist Scriptures."
"People never liked coming to the second-layer world much to begin with. With the overall number of cultivators declining, even fewer come here."
"On top of that, the veteran cultivators have left the Lower Court, and there aren't enough powerful cultivators to replace them. In another eighty or a hundred years, this place will be completely abandoned."
A thought stirred in Wang Quan's mind. "If it's completely abandoned, will that affect the Real World?"
The Yin Spirit laughed. "It won't affect the Real World. It will merely leave cultivators entering the second layer from elsewhere with one less safe zone, one less foothold, and a little more danger!"
Wang Quan looked thoughtful.
From the booklet's introduction, he had learned that within ten thousand li of this second-layer world, the Drowning Dao Lower Court was the only place where cultivators gathered.
The locations corresponding to the Scripture Repository and the Coffin Dormitory were safe zones.
Cultivators arriving from afar could rest in these two places, replenish their resources, and even leave coordinates.
The next time they entered the second-layer world, they could have their Yin Spirits appear directly here, then continue their journey.
These two places also relied on the Yin Spirit cultivators' constant maintenance to remain in existence.
If no Yin Spirit cultivators came in the future, the light of these two places would also disappear.
Then visiting Yin Spirits and powerful cultivators would have no foothold.
It sounded as though the impact would not be particularly great.
But in the second-layer world, the existence of one node after another like the Drowning Dao Lower Court was precisely what formed its foundation.
Without these foundational nodes, the range in which Yin Spirit cultivators could operate in the second-layer world would inevitably shrink drastically.
That would inevitably bring a whole series of consequences.
"I read in the booklet that besides killing the evil over and over, there's another method: using the [People-Crossing Scripture] to purge it permanently."
"Why doesn't everyone use the [People-Crossing Scripture]? Are they afraid that completely purging the evil would leave them with no materials to obtain?"
The Yin Spirit froze, his expression turning strange. "You actually know about the [People-Crossing Scripture]?"
Wang Quan nodded. "It was written in the booklet..."
At that point, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
Envy, jealousy, and resentment filled the Yin Spirit's voice. "They say only cultivators who have mastered the Ten Thousand Scrolls Dao Canon have a chance of deciphering the [People-Crossing Scripture]."
"But that chance is extremely small. One in a thousand? Or one in ten thousand?"
"I've been in this Lower Court for over a decade, and this is the first time I've met a cultivator who possesses the [People-Crossing Scripture]."
"Brother, you've struck it rich!"
Wang Quan... fell silent.
Only now did he realize that his ability to decipher the People-Crossing Scripture from the booklet was probably related to the [First-Rank Dao Seal].
I never expected even a booklet for newcomers to be like spells and the Fundamental Method: the contents you see differ depending on how many Daoist Scriptures you've mastered.
At this point, the other Yin Spirits, including the cultivator present in his physical body, all gathered around.
The cultivator present in his physical body saluted him and said excitedly, "Fellow Daoist, you know the [People-Crossing Scripture]?"
Wang Quan nodded.
They had definitely all heard what he had just said. There was no point denying it.
By now, he also realized that the [People-Crossing Scripture] might be extremely precious.
"Senior brothers, if you want to learn the [People-Crossing Scripture] too, I can tell you."
The cultivators shook their heads frantically. "Please don't bring disaster upon us."
"If we can't decipher the [Scripture of Deliverance], it means we have no destined affinity with this scripture."
"If you tell us and we use it, we'll probably meet violent deaths someday."
This was just like the Fundamental Method: if you could decipher it, you could use it; if you could not decipher it, you could not use it.
Wang Quan nodded.
Then the cultivator present in his physical body smiled. "Brother, they say the [People-Crossing Scripture] can permanently purge evil. Is that true?"
Wang Quan shook his head. "Using this scripture for the first time requires a hundred strands of magical power. I haven't used it yet."
The Yin Spirits grew excited. "Brother, why don't we go test its power together?"
Seeing their reaction, Wang Quan nodded. "All right!"
"Let's go to the first level!"
The cultivators nodded. "Let's go!"
Whoosh!
For a moment, every Yin Spirit-whether whole, missing arms or legs, or even reduced to nothing but a head-surged through the first-level doorway with Wang Quan.
After the Yin Spirits entered the first level, another Yin Spirit arrived in the hall.
Seeing not a single companion in the hall, the newly arrived Yin Spirit cultivator felt his hair stand on end.
He retreated from the great tomb and cried out in terror, "Disaster! Disaster!"
"A great terror has appeared in the Great Tomb!"
"Everyone inside is dead!"
What?
The Yin Spirits outside were dumbfounded and stunned.
"Impossible!"
"Hundreds of Yin Spirit experts are stationed inside. They've fought in the great tomb for years. How could they be dead?"
One Yin Spirit sneered. "I only came out a cup of tea's time ago. There were still plenty of people then. How could they suddenly be gone?"
Disbelieving, he plunged into the great tomb.
Only a few seconds later, he came back out, beside himself with panic. "They really are gone!"
"Not a single person is left!"
The Yin Spirits refused to believe it, then agreed to enter the hall together.
Once inside, they discovered to their horror that in the hall suppressing the great tomb, only the Daoist Scriptures on the walls still shone. Apart from that, everyone who had been there before had vanished.
Hundreds of Yin Spirit experts, along with a powerful cultivator present in his physical body, had all vanished simultaneously without a sound?
At that moment, every cultivator felt their hair stand on end.
Before you continue