Many cultivators panicked, and even their Yin Spirits grew unstable.
Any means capable of making hundreds of Yin Spirits, along with a cultivator who had descended in his physical body, vanish without a sound in such a short time was truly terrifying.
"Something... must have gone wrong with this Great Tomb."
"Everyone... let's get out of here!"
The Yin Spirit cultivators were terrified and prepared to flee.
Just then, the hall suddenly trembled.
The next second, more than two-thirds of the Yin Spirits fled straight out of the Great Tomb.
Of those who remained, some Yin Spirits had gone limp with fear and forgotten how to flee, while others relied on their formidable strength and watched the changes in the hall.
Then, to their astonishment, they discovered that the hall had grown larger.
Amid the densely packed Daoist Scriptures, a blank strip the width of a chive leaf had appeared.
The sight left them both delighted and puzzled.
They were delighted because:
An expanding hall meant they could carve and inscribe more Daoist Scriptures on it.
What puzzled them was: why had the hall expanded?
"I've been coming to this Great Tomb for forty or fifty years, and this is the first time I've seen it expand."
"What's going on? Could it be because that cultivator who descended in his physical body killed the Tenth Layer's Grand General so many times?"
By now, the frightened Yin Spirit cultivators had also recovered their senses and hurried to notify the Yin Spirits who had fled.
Soon, almost all the Yin Spirits returned. They crowded around the newly formed blank strip, examining it and endlessly speculating and discussing.
In the end, everyone agreed that the cultivator who had descended in his physical body must have caused it.
It seemed that only a powerhouse of his caliber could bring about such a change.
A short while later, the hall trembled faintly again, and another blank strip the width of a chive leaf appeared.
Everyone exclaimed in admiration, "That cultivator who descended in his physical body really is impressive."
"Could he have killed the Grand General again?"
However, one Yin Spirit objected, "Impossible!"
"He hasn't even come out and gone back in. How could he have killed the Grand General again?"
"Besides, someone manages to kill the Grand General every year, but the hall has never grown larger!"
Everyone was doubtful.
Just then, a Yin Spirit suddenly looked toward the entrance to the First Layer. "Look..."
The cultivators turned their heads and saw the entrance to the First Layer distort slightly.
Hundreds of Yin Spirits and a cultivator who had descended in his physical body appeared, clustered around a Yin Spirit cultivator.
Hm?
Something wasn't right!
Shouldn't all the Yin Spirits have been clustered around the cultivator who descended in his physical body?
How... had it become the other way around?
The cultivators stared fixedly at the Yin Spirit in their midst.
Smoke shrouded that Yin Spirit's face, preventing them from seeing him clearly.
"Everyone, the hall expanded just now!"
"Did that have anything to do with you?"
Everyone asked.
The cultivator who had descended in his physical body coughed. "It had nothing to do with us. It was all thanks to this fellow Daoist!"
He pointed to Wang Quan's Yin Spirit. "This fellow Daoist has mastered the People-Crossing Scripture, which can permanently purge evil creatures. Each time he permanently purges one, the Great Tomb's power is permanently weakened a little."
"The resulting effect manifests as the hall expanding."
At these words, the Yin Spirits were stunned.
They looked at Wang Quan, then at the cultivator who had descended in his physical body, finding it unbelievable.
The person who had permanently weakened the Great Tomb was just an ordinary Yin Spirit cultivator?
Unbelievable.
At that moment, a Yin Spirit cultivator asked, "What is the People-Crossing Scripture? Can we learn it?"
The cultivator who had descended in his physical body smiled. "Master the Ten Thousand Scrolls Dao Canon, and you'll have a chance to learn the People-Crossing Scripture from that little booklet!"
At these words, the Yin Spirits immediately fell silent and stopped entertaining thoughts of the [People-Crossing Scripture].
They were all orthodox cultivators and knew that techniques with Daoist Scripture prerequisites could not be practiced freely by just anyone.
Those who rashly attempted to practice them generally met a bad end.
At that moment, Wang Quan gave a respectful salute. "Everyone, I'll take my leave now!"
The cultivator who had descended in his physical body hesitated. "Fellow Daoist, will you be coming again tomorrow?"
Wang Quan nodded. "Yes!"
"From now on, I'll come here once every night!"
At these words, the Yin Spirits who had accompanied him to the First Layer rejoiced. "Thank you, fellow Daoist!"
"If you come often, it won't be long before we have a chance to completely level this Great Tomb and project the buildings of the Real World here."
"When that happens, this stronghold of ours will be even more secure."
Wang Quan nodded, then willed it. The next second, his Yin Spirit vanished into thin air.
After Wang Quan left the Second-Layer World, the Yin Spirits asked questions and discussed his [People-Crossing Scripture].
In the end, the cultivator who had descended in his physical body coughed and described what Wang Quan had done on the first floor.
After hearing this, everyone sighed in wonder. "If I'd worked a little harder back then and mastered the Ten Thousand Scrolls Dao Canon, perhaps I would have had a chance to master the People-Crossing Scripture too!"
The other Yin Spirit cultivators nodded in agreement.
The cultivator who had descended in his physical body smiled wryly. "Plenty of cultivators have mastered the Ten Thousand Scrolls Dao Canon."
"But how many of them can comprehend the People-Crossing Scripture?"
Hearing this, everyone lost even more interest in the People-Crossing Scripture.
At that moment, one Yin Spirit's eyes darted about. "Since his People-Crossing Scripture can permanently purge evil creatures, shouldn't we find a way to have him purge more of them and weaken the Great Tomb?"
The cultivator who had descended in his physical body shook his head. "The People-Crossing Scripture consumes an enormous amount of magical power. Unless everyone provides him with medicine to replenish it, he can only purge one evil creature a day."
Hearing this, everyone laughed it off and never brought the matter up again.
Pills that replenished magical power were quite precious. They were reluctant to use them themselves, so how could they be willing to give them to an outsider?
The Real World:
When Wang Quan's Yin Spirit returned to his physical body and entered his Inner Landscape, the information on the [First-Rank Dao Seal] changed:
[Yin Virtue +2]
Hm?
Yin Virtue?
Wang Quan was taken aback at first, then smiled.
According to the Daoist Scriptures, Yin Virtue was connected to the Underworld. With enough Yin Virtue, one could exchange it for residences and other things there.
After a living being died and their Dao came to an end, things such as souls and Yin Spirits would fall into the Underworld.
With Yin Virtue, they could reside in the Underworld for a long time and might even have a chance to become ghost deities, enjoying a free and unfettered existence of sorts.
Without Yin Virtue, they would immediately make a trip through the Six Paths of Reincarnation and start anew.
However, Yin Virtue was difficult to obtain, and acquiring it came with no notification.
Most people gained Yin Virtue without knowing it.
They would be even less likely to deliberately repeat the deed to gain more later.
But his [First-Rank Dao Seal] gave him a notification.
That way, he could naturally keep earning Yin Virtue in the future.
At that moment, Wang Quan also discovered that his Yin Spirit had become a little more condensed.
It was equivalent to the effect of collecting purple qi and refining his Yin Spirit with it for two days.
"It seems permanently killing evil creatures can strengthen my Yin Spirit too."
"All the more reason to go to the Second-Layer World tomorrow."
On the one hand, there were Yin Virtue and his Yin Spirit.
On the other hand, the Second-Layer World was mysterious, and he wanted to learn more about it.
Even more, he wanted to know: If I purge all the evil creatures in the Great Tomb little by little, causing it to disappear and allowing the buildings of the Present World to be projected there, will I gain even more benefits?
Before you continue