Old Ghost Ji talked back, but in reality, he'd been beaten into submission.

Because the Sixteenth Ancestor of Fuyu Mountain was widely recognized as the strongest after the Thirteenth Ancestor of Fuyu.

Getting your ass kicked by someone like that really isn't something to be ashamed of.

Otherwise, how do you think I know all this?

It's all because Old Ghost Ji told me himself.

He acts all stubborn, but actually, he uses the Sixteenth Ancestor of Fuyu to brag about himself.

Being able to survive a beating from the Sixteenth Ancestor of Fuyu, and make a comeback now—yeah, that's worth showing off."

At this point, Lord Zhu lowered his voice and said,

"Actually, not many people know this, but when the Sixteenth Ancestor of Fuyu beat him up, he was still young and far from being the Sect Master, so don't go mentioning this to Old Ghost Ji."

Wen Yan couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

After chatting for a while, Lord Zhu hesitated and finally gave a serious reminder.

"I got word earlier that at Scorching Sun Headquarters, and even the Old Celestial Master, they've pretty much reached a conclusion.

They're probably about to launch—or maybe have already launched—the next stage of Spiritual Qi Resurgence.

This next phase, it's gonna involve the Nether Souls.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of birthday banquets. It's not even a round year—what's the point of all this trouble?

But this time, a bunch of the Nether Soul-type folks will be showing up, so get to know them a bit.

Having a few familiar faces, some connections, if something really goes down in the future, at least it'll be easier to talk.

After all, with Nether Souls, as you know, everyone's got their own obsessions—it's really not like demons, who are easy to unite.

If you ask me, odds are the Scorching Sun Department's gonna have to throw down with the Nether Soul crowd sooner or later.

I don't really want to see that happen, but I know it's almost impossible to avoid.

There's not much I can do, just use this birthday banquet to give a little heads up to those willing to show some respect.

Tell them not to get any wild ideas they shouldn't have, as long as nothing big goes wrong, that's enough.

As for the other Nether Souls, I really can't control them."

"You're a righteous man, Lord Zhu." Wen Yan cupped his hands in salute.

To make it this far—this is already the limit.

Wen Yan understood too—a lot of Nether Souls are just too stuck on their obsessions, they really can't be talked out of it.

After leaving Lord Zhu's tea room, Wen Yan snuck over to Old Ghost Ji's guest room. He was pretty envious of Old Ghost Ji's method of blessing liquor.

...

Shen Zijun found the Grave Walker and handed him a bundle of incense.

"There's something I'd like to ask your help with."

"Please, go ahead."

"I want to retrace the path Brother Wen took to get here, see if I might encounter the Heart-Probing Ghost—this is extremely important to me."

"Ah… well…"

"I'm counting on you. No matter what happens, it has nothing to do with you."

"I can't make that call—I'll have to go get Lord Zhu and Brother Wen's approval first."

"Forget it then, let's not trouble Lord Zhu…"

Shen Zijun shook his head and turned to leave.

After leaving, he took out a paper crane, channeled a wisp of aura into it with one hand.

The paper crane flapped its wings and took off. He walked to a desolate tomb, stamped his foot, and the tomb split open, revealing a yawning black entrance.

The paper crane flew ahead, and he followed it inside the tomb, walking along a narrow path. Before long, he reached the side of a main road.

Shen Zijun stared at the road—and the countless Nether Souls on it—in shock, gasping for breath.

"So this really is the Nether Path.

It really is only on the Underworld Road that you'll encounter the Heart-Probing Ghost.

When did this Nether Path appear?"

Shen Zijun followed the paper crane, stepped onto the road, feeling the dense Yin Qi here. There was some sort of vague resonance pulling him forward, so he immediately steeled his mind and followed the crane.

Who knows how long he walked—he ended up on a side path, to the Zhao Family's house, came out from the basement, never even left Old Zhao's villa before turning back to that path again.

...

At Scorching Sun Headquarters, the General Director was having a video call with the Old Celestial Master.

"Old Celestial Master, what's your view?"

"Trying to block it is useless—might as well channel it.

Forcefully blocking it will turn out just like Fengdu—it'll take centuries for the aftereffects to wear off, and even now, you still can't get rid of them completely.

This time, the beginning and the focus is definitely down south.

The Nether Soul Realm is right between Nanwu County and Luoyue County, and Nanwu County already has an entrance to the Nether Path. There's just no way to block it—we can only guide it.

Call it luck, that entrance isn't big, and it's inside Virtue City.

Once Virtue City expands to the north, that'll be the city center. With all that human presence, fortune, and Yang Energy, it's definitely enough to keep things under control.

The Dragon Mother Archway is also in Virtue City.

Just call it damn good luck.

Things have already been going so much smoother than we expected.

We didn't even interfere recklessly, and people are already living there—humans, ghosts, demons, zombies, Demon Kings, Taoists, Professionals, all kinds of weirdos. We've almost got the whole set.

No matter what happens next, all we can do is guide and redirect."

The General Director looked at the Old Celestial Master's slightly weary face and showed some concern.

"You don't have to keep watching Cloud Sea every single day, Old Celestial Master. Try to get some more rest."

"No worries, this old body of mine can easily hold on for another decade or so. You just pay closer attention to where the signs might appear."

"Will do. I've already got people keeping close tabs on every place linked to Nether Souls."

...

Under the night in Virtue City, delivery riders on their little electric scooters were still weaving through the streets and alleys.

The delivery guy picked up the order, took a glance, tsk, that's a big one—a hundred-plus items.

He made his way over to the villa neighborhood like always, stopped at Wen Yan's family gate, hung the food on the door, then grabbed the fifty bucks weighed down with a brick beside it, shouting inside as he did.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.