Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto

Zhou Wuji had long felt that this would not go smoothly. Hearing Daoist Yiping say so actually lifted a weight from his heart.

"Please enlighten me, martial uncle."

Daoist Yiping frowned. "The abbot wants to ask about your master."

Afraid Zhou Wuji might act rashly, the old Daoist reminded him, "Abbot Zhiyuan is a Fifth-Rank scripture master, deeply versed in scriptural arts and possessed of profound cultivation.

"The questioning will take place in the Heart-Questioning Hall, which houses the Spirit Artifact that anchors the hall, the Heart-Questioning Mirror. If you lie, the abbot will certainly see through it."

"I understand." Zhou Wuji nodded.

A Daoist of Seventh-Rank Register Reception had suddenly died an unnatural death. Naturally, the lower monastery had to get to the bottom of it. He had prepared for this long ago.

Yiping added, "The abbot belongs to the Zhi generation. By seniority, he is your grandmaster. Just address him as Abbot, and do not be disrespectful..."

Zhou Wuji changed into a brand-new Daoist robe, shoes, and socks, redid his topknot, and made himself clean and presentable. This was the most basic etiquette.

The Heart-Questioning Hall stood behind the North Pole Heavenly Emperor's main hall, on the shaded side of the mountain, in an even more secluded location than the Flying Profound Hall.

Yet the Heart-Questioning Hall was clean and elegant. Its three-bay-wide main hall was roofed entirely with glazed tiles, its doors and pillars shone with vermilion lacquer, and its bluestone steps were spotless.

Upon entering the hall, Zhou Wuji saw a gaunt Daoist sitting on a meditation cushion, with a bronze mirror as enormous as a wall behind him.

The bronze mirror was hazy. It faintly reflected the Daoist's back and Zhou Wuji's figure, but neither could be seen clearly.

The Daoist wore a black-and-yellow Daoist robe and a star crown, and held a jade-handled fly whisk. His face was covered in wrinkles, his hair and beard were white, and his frame was thin. He looked very old.

But his eyes were bright and full of life.

Zhou Wuji immediately withdrew his gaze after a glance and bowed deeply with clasped hands. "Disciple Wuji pays his respects to the abbot."

With his Swordsmanship at minor attainment, Zhou Wuji's body had been integrated inside and out by his Swordsmanship. Standing there, he was upright yet naturally relaxed.

Moreover, holding an unparalleled divine artifact like the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment and killing enemies one after another had nourished a powerful confidence in his heart.

Even facing Zhiyuan, a Fifth-Rank scripture master and abbot of the lower monastery, he could remain composed.

Daoist Zhiyuan slowly raised his lowered eyes and carefully looked Zhou Wuji up and down.

The young man had handsome features and a tall, straight figure. Dressed in a brand-new, loose-fitting blue Daoist robe, with a carefree scarf tied around his topknot, he looked free-spirited and elegant.

He could not help nodding. The lower monastery had many disciples, but in bearing and presence, this child could be called the finest.

Eighth Rank at twenty-one-his aptitude and talent were quite good as well.

Zhiyuan said to Zhou Wuji, "Tell me in detail exactly how your master died. You must not speak a single false word."

With Yiping's instructions in mind, Zhou Wuji dared not speak carelessly and gave a detailed account of what had happened.

After listening, Zhiyuan could not help sighing deeply. "Yiyuan was exceptionally gifted, and his Swordsmanship in particular could be called exquisite. But he was too determined to excel. Going too far is as bad as falling short, and that brought about this calamity."

The old Daoist looked at Zhou Wuji and said solemnly, "Though your master was highly capable, he strictly observed the precepts. In the lower monastery, he could be called foremost in upholding them.

"I see that your temperament is somewhat flighty. In this respect, you must learn well from your master."

"I will engrave your admonition in my heart, Abbot, and never dare forget it." Before a Fifth-Rank scripture master, whatever Zhou Wuji thought inwardly, he was exceptionally obedient on the surface.

"According to the lower monastery's rules, you must go to the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto and slay a Sha Ghost before you qualify to receive the transmission."

"Yes." Zhou Wuji bowed in assent.

Over the past few days, he had looked through the sect's records and learned that a bottomless grotto lay beneath the North Pole Heavenly Emperor's main hall.

Earth Yin Qi accumulated within the grotto, gathering large numbers of wandering souls and Vengeful Ghosts.

Over time, it had become an ominous place.

The lower monastery had been built here precisely to suppress the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto.

Outside, a Seventh-Rank Sha Ghost posed no threat to him. But in a grotto thick with earth Yin Qi, a Seventh-Rank Sha Ghost's power would increase at least three- to fivefold.

The rule requiring those of Eighth-Rank Qi Ingestion to enter the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto and slay a Sha Ghost was explicitly recorded. The abbot was not making things difficult for him.

Zhou Wuji's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was delighted.

He had been wanting to find more Sha Ghosts, and here the abbot was delivering them right to his door!

The old man really knew how to do things!

Upon leaving the Heart-Questioning Hall, Zhou Wuji saw Daoist Yiping waiting outside.

Daoist Yiping gave him an inquiring look. Zhou Wuji nodded slightly, and delight appeared on Yiping's plump, round face.

With the abbot's hurdle cleared, things would be easy.

Back at the Flying Profound Hall, Daoist Yiping said, "I'll prepare a few Golden Light Talismans and Mind-Purifying Divine Talismans to protect you, along with three Golden Yang Pills. They will be enough to keep your mind and body from being eroded by Yin Qi, and can also replenish spiritual Qi and strengthen your Divine Sense.

"You also have senior brother's Seven Star Sword. As long as you stay on the grotto's first level and take care, you should be able to handle it."

Yiping saw that Zhou Wuji carried the Seven Star Sword. He knew that Senior Brother Yiyuan had refined this sword for many years, and that it was a formidable Law Artifact.

Though Sha Ghosts were ferocious, they had no intelligence after all. With Zhou Wuji's cleverness and composure, dealing with them would not be too difficult.

After a simple lunch at noon, Daoist Yiping personally escorted Zhou Wuji into the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto.

The grotto lay beneath the North Pole Heavenly Emperor's main hall. A passage led several dozen zhang underground to a pair of heavy wooden doors covered in bright red talismans written in cinnabar.

Two Daoists stood guard at the entrance. Daoist Yiping went over and spoke a few words, and the two Daoists pulled one door open, leaving a gap two feet wide.

Zhou Wuji felt a cold, sinister wind strike his face, its chill piercing his entire body, inside and out.

"Stay on the first level. Whatever you do, don't go deeper. There are Sixth-Rank ghost soldiers on the second level. It's very dangerous..."

Yiping gave him a few instructions, then spoke a few courteous words to the two Daoists guarding the grotto entrance, asking them to look after Zhou Wuji.

Zhou Wuji exchanged a few polite words as well, then entered through the doors carrying a bronze lotus oil lamp.

As the doors slowly closed, the passage grew darker and colder.

The dim yellow light of the bronze lotus lamp could illuminate only an area of about a zhang around him.

Carrying the lotus lamp, Zhou Wuji followed the passage downward. The farther he went, the more spacious it became, and the colder it grew.

Now, whenever he exhaled, he could faintly see streams of white breath. Despite his thick Daoist robe, his whole body was cold, and the hand holding the lamp was almost frozen stiff.

The grotto's cold was not merely a low temperature. Worse still, its invisible Yin Qi could penetrate straight into the marrow.

Though Zhou Wuji had achieved success in Qi Consumption, he could not keep circulating True Qi to resist the Yin Qi indefinitely.

Having experienced the Yin Qi's potency, Zhou Wuji no longer dared tough it out and took a Golden Yang Pill.

The Seventh-Rank spiritual pill, worth fifty taels of silver, produced immediate results.

A warm strand of pure Yang Qi arose from within and quickly spread throughout Zhou Wuji's body, dispelling all the Yin Qi. His spirits lifted, and his mind grew lively as well.

Only now did Zhou Wuji have the attention to spare to examine his surroundings. Though called a grotto, this place should actually have counted as an enormous enclosed mountain cavern.

The vaulted ceiling was several dozen zhang high, too far away for him to see clearly.

He could only see numerous divine images carved into the stone wall on one side, along with a great many runes for subduing demons and vanquishing devils.

As he continued deeper, the divine images and runes carved into the stone wall grew increasingly indistinct, as though weathered away.

Tiny blue-green points of light began appearing on the stone wall, like ghost fire. Zhou Wuji guessed they might be some kind of luminous moss, or perhaps a special mineral, or something formed from condensed Yin Qi.

After walking for well over half a double-hour, Zhou Wuji had found no Sha Ghosts, nor had he seen any Vengeful Ghosts or Fierce Ghosts.

He found this strange. The Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto was an eye of Yin Qi, a place of extreme yin, and would naturally attract all kinds of ghosts.

Like water flowing downhill, this was a natural Principle of this world.

Why was there not a single ghost?

Recalling the method Yiping had told him, Zhou Wuji pricked his fingertip with the Seven Star Sword and flicked out a few drops of blood.

A faint bloody scent spread, and the pure Yang Qi within the blood dispersed with it.

Gusts of sinister wind soon rose around him, and two crimson ghostly figures emerged from somewhere and lunged straight at Zhou Wuji.

Seventh-Rank Sha Ghosts could shift between the incorporeal and corporeal. Killing them was actually very difficult.

The dense Yin Qi within the grotto further increased the Sha Ghosts' might.

Fortunately, Sha Ghosts had no intelligence. Driven by Sha Qi, they hunted and killed all living beings by instinct alone.

Watching the two crimson ghostly figures swoop down, Zhou Wuji drew his sword and swept it across.

Brilliant sword light tore through the darkness, and the two crimson ghostly figures shattered within it.

His Swordsmanship had reached minor attainment, and his Qi followed his sword, unleashing all the power of the Big Dipper Seven Star Demon-Slaying Law Sword contained within the blade.

This strike also swept through the spiritual cores of both Sha Ghosts, directly extinguishing all their spirituality.

Words declaring the execution of Seventh-Rank Sha Ghosts immediately appeared in the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment.

Delight stirred in Zhou Wuji's heart. He took out the Five Yin Talisman and was about to collect the Yin Qi left by the Sha Ghosts when he saw masses of crimson ghostly figures rising from underground.

The crimson ghostly figures overlapped in layer upon layer, surging toward him like a vast bank of mist. For a moment, he could not count how many there were.

The ghostly figures lacked sufficient Sha Qi. They should all have been Eighth-Rank Vengeful Ghosts...

Rather than alarmed, Zhou Wuji was delighted. With his left hand, he drew a Golden Light Talisman from his sleeve, silently recited an Incantation, and activated it with True Qi.

The Golden Light Talisman turned into a sheet of golden light that fell upon the layers of red figures. Like hot water poured over snow, the golden light burned hundreds upon thousands of holes through the layers of blood-red figures, checking their surging advance.

Waves of shrill ghostly howls rang through the air.

The Seven Star Sword in Zhou Wuji's hand vibrated with a hum. Its slender blade abruptly transformed into a dense curtain of rainlike sword light-the Night Rain Sword of the Xiaoxiang Sword.

This Swordsmanship move was dense and somber, its sword intent profound. Only after reaching minor attainment in Swordsmanship could Zhou Wuji bring out the essence of the Night Rain Sword.

The dense, rainlike sword light fell, battering the layers of blood-red figures into scattered fragments...