After withdrawing his consciousness, Gu Zhe began examining his class panel again.
There had been another change.
[Name: Gu Zhe] [Class: Mysterious Origami Craftsman] [Rank: Mortal] [Class talent: Ritual Transmutation] [Skills: Basic Paper Effigy Technique (beginner), Basic Paper Figure Technique (beginner), Basic Paper Artifact Technique (beginner), Basic Paper Control Technique (beginner)] [Spirit points: 0] [Storage: One tiny bit of ghost spirituality ×1]
Gu Zhe's eyes lit up.
Collecting rent offerings had actually unlocked a storage section on his class panel.
He connected his consciousness to the storage. It was a hazy gray void, with a faint bit of ghost spirituality drifting inside.
[Ding. One bit of ghost spirituality detected in storage. It can be converted into spirit points. Convert?]
He did not convert it immediately.
Gu Zhe instinctively understood.
This was not storage in the conventional sense. At least for now, it could not function as a spatial ring or anything like that.
It could only passively store items offered from the netherworld through the power of his class talent.
With a flicker of his consciousness:
[Ding. Warning: insufficient compatibility with the rules of reality. Once withdrawn, the item cannot be returned to storage.]
He checked the storage.
At that moment: [One tiny bit of ghost spirituality ×2]
He thought it over.
He had to give it a try.
He made up his mind.
"Withdraw!"
A small wisp of eerie vapor appeared directly in his palm.
Gu Zhe felt a chill spreading from his hand.
It was not particularly icy, but it seemed to penetrate straight into his heart.
Perhaps this was not the yin energy of the netherworld, but something connected to a proper ghost's reason, intelligence, and thoughts. It did not make Gu Zhe feel uncomfortable or confused. Instead, his mind seemed to grow even calmer.
Gu Zhe had always liked thinking things through. He could analyze certain details and put them together with what that old ghost called Old Zhou had said.
A theory began to form in his mind.
Perhaps cultivation for ghosts was like practicing martial arts in novels. Absorbing that netherworld energy was like accumulating internal energy. As that "internal energy" solidified their souls, it also nurtured this spirituality. Spirituality was like their cultivation realm, preventing ghosts from dropping a rank just because a fight depleted their yin energy!
Besides, ghosts were surely different from humans. If there were Vengeful Ghosts, there had to be normal ghosts too. Was the difference their reason and Spiritual Wisdom? Was this spirituality the foundation that sustained both their realm and their rational minds?
Then what sustained the realms of those insane ghosts?
He shook his head.
He stopped dwelling on it. He would find out eventually.
Just then, another notification sounded in his mind.
[Ding. Main body detected in contact with an object containing spirit points. Absorb?]
Of course he would not absorb it. If that were what he wanted, he could have converted it directly in storage.
Gu Zhe mainly wanted to test whether things from the netherworld could appear in reality, and what would happen once they did, so he would have some idea of what to expect.
Now that he had found a source of spirit points, however small, he was already far better off than when he had been fumbling in the dark. There was no need to rush anymore.
During that brief moment of thought, the "rent" payments in the Underworld continued.
Another ghost paid its rent.
So Gu Zhe carried on with his experiment without worry.
The small wisp of eerie vapor kept evaporating. Yes, evaporating. In the two breaths he had spent thinking, half of it had already dissipated.
If he remembered correctly, wisps had escaped when the ghost took it out in the Underworld, but the effect had not been obvious.
In the real world, it was far more pronounced.
Gu Zhe found a glass bottle and put it inside. It evaporated a little more slowly, but he still could not stop it.
Did it need something like the crystal bottles in novels? Or was it because it was daytime? Perhaps it was the difference between the Yin-Yang World, and the world had not changed enough yet?
He watched that bit of ghost spirituality slowly dissipate completely.
Gu Zhe ended his experiment.
He had not found any use for it in reality anyway. A rough understanding was enough for now.
Gu Zhe knew nothing about the cultivation described in legends. He did not dare put this spirituality from a ghost into his body.
If it failed to strengthen his soul or will and caused problems instead, that would be bad.
He already had his class panel. Gu Zhe knew where his foundation lay. There was no need to keep grasping for more; he only needed to improve step by step using what he could rely on.
He studied the panel carefully.
The new storage section was not the only change. He also discovered another skill in his skill list-Basic Paper Control Technique (beginner)!
Had this skill emerged because I controlled my paper figure in the netherworld?
Whatever the reason, another skill was always a good thing.
Paper Control Technique, huh? Compared with the other three origami skills, this seems more supernatural. And it really did come from practicing supernatural powers in the Underworld!
[One tiny bit of ghost spirituality ×4]
Five ghosts had paid their rent in total.
Next... anticipation appeared in Gu Zhe's eyes.
"Convert into spirit points!"
[Converting... spirit points +0.065... +0.068... +0.062... +0.064...]
A few hundredths each. It looked a little pathetic!
Gu Zhe understood.
These ghosts measured out their spirituality very precisely. Each portion converted into around 0.6 spirit points. It seemed spirituality really was important, and that old ghost who took the lead had set an example.
Gu Zhe was not disappointed.
Having any income of spirit points was already good.
After all, the land there was free, and the eerie apartment building eerily produced its own water, electricity, and gas. Do not ask why. The answer was that eerie things defied common sense, and netherworld ghosts did not follow the rules of reality!
So he had "cost control" firmly in hand!
It was practically all pure profit, and no one had come to collect taxes yet.
Besides.
These ghosts were all rookies. They had only recently returned from the netherworld, and few had many years of cultivation. Every last one was broke.
According to that old ghost, he was already quite the skinflint landlord!
The conversion was actually completed in an instant.
At that moment:
[Name: Gu Zhe] [Class: Mysterious Origami Craftsman] [Rank: Mortal] [Class talent: Ritual Transmutation] [Skills: Basic Paper Effigy Technique (beginner), Basic Paper Figure Technique (beginner), Basic Paper Artifact Technique (beginner), Basic Paper Control Technique (beginner)] [Spirit points: 0.259] [Storage: None]
"Not bad, not bad. I'm not far from upgrading a skill! I can really coast from now on. I'm a young master of the illustrious Gu Family, a former second-generation freeloader. Studying diligently every day? I can't bear that kind of disgrace!"
Gu Zhe had always been flexible, changing his approach with the circumstances. Earlier, he had said he needed to work steadily; now, it had suddenly become a disgrace.
This was called being meek when he had no options, then confidently coasting once he did!
"As for upgrading my class talent, uh, let's not talk about that. Let's not."
"Master, would this be acceptable?"
"Hmm!"
His consciousness descended again.
"So it's an old friend!"
Gu Zhe looked at Qiu Jianguo, who had brought his servant along. The old ghost looked somewhat obsequious now.
He held a dark, eerie fruit. Its skin was uneven, covered with densely packed little bumps that would absolutely terrify anyone with trypophobia.
"My lord, would you accept this in place of rent? My soul really is wasting away, and I don't have enough spirituality..."
Gu Zhe looked at the object in his hand.
Clearly, it was no rare treasure.
If it truly were a treasure, he probably would have eaten it himself long ago.
"Heh, although this Wooden Tumor Fruit can replenish pure netherworld energy, it's still a little inferior to everyone's spirituality."
"Brother, you think you're something special just because you've got a Wooden Tumor Fruit?"
The speaker was another ghost who looked equally down on his luck.
Seeing Qiu Jianguo trying to "game the system," the ghost could not resist speaking up.
Humans and ghosts were much the same, really. People worried less about scarcity than unfairness, and ghosts were no different.
As the ghost spoke, the ghost also looked at the servant standing beside Qiu Jianguo, guarding him with a solemn expression.
Those eyes were filled with envy and resentment.
Not just that ghost, either. Many ghosts were watching the servant, their gazes occasionally passing over the paper effigy Gu Zhe controlled.
They seemed a little alike!
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Qiu Jianguo's face when his ploy was exposed, and he was about to say something.
Gu Zhe's eyes flashed.
"Heh, since you're an old friend, I'll allow it just this once!"
An old friend?
Many of the ghosts began to understand.
Was this old ghost's servant really connected to him?