Chapter 170: The Water Ghost Menace

Lu Bai pondered for a moment, then tried to stimulate the Ancient Mirror with his Blood Qi. He silently recited in his mind, ’Nether Candle.’

Suddenly!

In the air before him, half of a nearly transparent candle slowly materialized.

WHOOSH! A ghostly blue flame suddenly lit up on top of it. The candlelight flickered, burning silently.

The candlelight gave off no heat at all. Instead, it radiated a chilling aura.

Lu Bai didn’t feel much, but He Liangzhi, who was cultivating nearby, suddenly shivered.

He Liangzhi glanced back at the strange candle floating in front of Lu Bai and instinctively took a few steps back. He felt a wave of unease, and his scalp tingled. "Brother Lu," he asked, "what in the world is that thing you’ve conjured up?"

Lu Bai quickly withdrew his Blood Qi, and the strange candle gradually disappeared.

"Brother He, what did you feel just now?"

Lu Bai asked.

He Liangzhi thought for a moment before saying, "It’s hard to describe. I just felt a chill, my heart pounded, my chest felt tight, and I just wanted to get far away from that thing."

’It sounds pretty ordinary. Not that powerful, is it?’

Lu Bai didn’t feel right about experimenting on He Liangzhi, so he decided he could only wait for a future opportunity.

For the next few days, Lu Bai remained at the Evil Extermination Bureau, cultivating the Fiery Sun Technique.

However, it had been drizzling for the past two days, and the sun was nowhere to be seen, so his progress with the Fiery Sun Technique was extremely slow.

His Cultivation had stalled ever since he opened one meridian.

This highlighted the gap between an Earth Tier Technique and those of the Celestial Tier or Ultimate Skill level.

The power of the Fiery Sun True Qi itself was no weaker than some Celestial Tier Innate Techniques, but its cultivation was too dependent on the weather and had many restrictions.

In his spare time, Lu Bai could only occasionally read through materials about the Celestial Divine Land, the various Vassal States, and the Martial Dao to supplement his knowledge.

Among the Innate Techniques were several Ultimate Skills, the most famous of which was the Eight Desolates Returning Essence Scripture, created by the Desolate Emperor.

It was said that this Cultivation Technique had eight Chapters in total, and while cultivating it, one could absorb eight types of Innate Essence Qi—heaven, earth, wind, lightning, water, fire, mountain, and lake—and integrate them into one’s body.

Regardless of one’s location, cultivation was not restricted by celestial phenomena or geography.

Heaven, earth, wind, lightning, water, fire, mountain, and lake—these encompassed nearly everything in the world.

If one mastered all eight Chapters, it would rank first among all Innate Skills in terms of both True Qi power and cultivation speed!

Among these, the Heaven and Earth Chapters were the most powerful.

Unfortunately, only seven Chapters of the Eight Desolates Returning Essence Scripture remained, and they were in the possession of the Shi Country Royal Family.

According to the records about the Divine Land Countries, the current Four Great Dominator Countries had supposedly risen to power by inheriting the legacies of four of the Ancient Martial Emperors.

The White Emperor, the Cyan Emperor, the Black Emperor, and the Red Emperor.

The legacy of the Desolate Emperor, however, had been carved up by the Ten Central Earth Countries.

Among them, the Wu Country obtained the Desolate Emperor Ancestral Coin.

Meanwhile, the Shi Country, through numerous campaigns, had obtained seven Chapters of the Eight Desolates Returning Essence Scripture, lacking only the Celestial Chapter.

Its whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

If one were to cultivate only a single Chapter of the Eight Desolates Returning Essence Scripture, it would barely qualify as a Yellow Tier Technique.

With three Chapters, it could reach the Profound Tier.

If one cultivated the six Chapters—water, fire, mountain, lake, wind, and lightning—it could reach the Earth Tier.

Adding one more Chapter would double the cultivation speed, allowing it to surpass the Celestial Tier and rank as an Ultimate Skill!

With seven Chapters, the Eight Desolates Returning Essence Scripture could already be called an Ultimate Skill.

One could only imagine the power this Innate Skill would have if it were complete.

Although Lu Bai had no money, he still visited a few Auction Houses to ask around.

He came up empty-handed.

Lu Bai also found time to visit the Four Seas Pavilion in Jingzhou City, hoping to ask about Yu Daoxuan and Yun Luo.

Unfortunately, he didn’t see either of them.

Judging by the reaction of the person at the Four Seas Pavilion, it seemed they didn’t even know who Yu Daoxuan and Yun Luo were.

Jingzhou City had also been quite active these past few days.

It was said that security in the city had been tightened. The Prefecture Government Office was arresting people everywhere, and had already apprehended many Mo Country people who were staying in the city, throwing them into the dungeons for interrogation.

Just yesterday, the Demon Suppression Bureau, the Demon-slaying Bureau, and the Commandery Garrison joined forces, inviting several True Master Martial Dao from the city to go to Stone Forest Valley together. It was quite a display of force.

Judging by this formation alone, the assassination that night seemed to have nothing to do with the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Or perhaps, it was just a single individual within the Demon Suppression Bureau colluding with the Mo Country Martial Artists in secret.

Still, Lu Bai didn’t dare to let his guard down.

During the day, he would wander around the city to familiarize himself with Jingzhou City.

At night, he would dutifully return to the Evil Extermination Bureau.

「Another day passed.」

As Lu Bai was cultivating the Fiery Sun Technique, He Liangzhi hurried in from outside, his brow furrowed.

"What’s wrong?"

Lu Bai asked.

"There’s trouble at the Jingshui River. Come on, come with me to see the Commander."

He Liangzhi called out.

Lu Bai followed him.

The two of them arrived in a secret chamber.

He Liangzhi said, "Commander, people from outside Jingzhou City have been trickling in to report to the Evil Extermination Bureau. They say Water Ghosts have appeared in the Jingshui River and have already killed many people."

"Water Ghosts?"

Mo Tang’s brow furrowed.

Among the hundred types of ghosts, Water Ghosts were a particularly troublesome kind.

If they could be lured out of the water, they were much easier to deal with.

But if a Water Ghost remained in its own aquatic territory, its power would increase by a distinct level.

And once a Martial Artist entered the water, even a True Master Golden Core would find their combat strength greatly weakened and suppressed while fighting underwater, making it incredibly perilous.

The deeper the water, the greater the surrounding pressure.

Unless one could cultivate to the Returning Void Realm and condense a Primordial Spirit, they couldn’t stay underwater for an extended period.

He Liangzhi continued, "Someone from the Fujiao Gang said that one of their merchant ships, which was trading with the Shi Country, capsized yesterday. More than half of the people on board died, and only a few brothers who were strong swimmers managed to escape.

Several cases of disappearances and deaths have also occurred among the fishing families near the Jingshui River.

Someone saw their own family member suddenly get up in the middle of the night, as if answering some kind of summons, and walk step-by-step toward the Jingshui River. No matter how others called out to them, it was useless. They couldn’t even be stopped by being physically pulled back."

Mo Tang said, "That’s the effect of a Water Ghost’s Illusion Realm."

Lu Bai suddenly recalled something. "During the Red and White Collision Evil that night, the young Water Ghost was killed, but the other Water Ghosts escaped. The ones in the Jingshui River are most likely the same ones we saw that night."

"Exactly. That was my guess as well."

He Liangzhi nodded and said, "By that count, the funeral procession we saw that night must have had more than a dozen Water Ghosts!"

An idea struck Lu Bai, and he said, "I’ll go to the Jingshui River and take a look."

"Don’t go!"

Mo Tang’s expression turned grave. She immediately stopped Lu Bai and shook her head. "Neither you nor Xiaohe are to go there. Do not leave the city!"

Mo Tang’s injuries had not yet healed, so she was unable to take action herself.

She led Lu Bai and He Liangzhi out of the secret chamber and into the main hall of the Evil Extermination Bureau, where she summoned several Evil Exterminator Guards.

"Cheng Yu, you three will go to the Jingshui River and investigate the situation. If you see Water Ghosts, do not engage them underwater. Ascertain their level and return to report to me."

"Yes, Commander!"

Cheng Yu and the other two bowed, accepted their orders, and departed.

Mo Tang then said, "Tang Fei, you and your four men will leave the city for the banks of the Jingshui River. Tell the nearby fishing families to move into the city as soon as possible, and temporarily halt all boats at the ferry crossing."

"Yes, Commander!"

Tang Fei and his four men turned and left.

"How about I go along and take a look, too?"

Hearing there were Water Ghosts, Lu Bai was a little eager to test himself, and he asked tentatively.

Mo Tang shook her head. "Jingzhou City’s defenses are stretched thin right now. That True Master Martial Dao from the Mo Country still hasn’t been caught, and now the Water Ghost menace has resurfaced. It’s too dangerous for you to leave the city."

Although Lu Bai’s Exotic Beast Chongming Bird was Tier Three, its combat power would be more than halved if it went into the water, leaving it unable to protect him.