The sky was faintly bright as Chen Pingan left the inn, bidding farewell to the dozing shopkeeper behind the counter.

The young shopkeeper, unconcerned, simply nodded, acknowledging the departure.

Although the young wanderer with the bamboo hat was checking out two days early, the coins wouldn’t end up in his own pocket anyway, so the young shopkeeper was rather listless. He instructed a cleaning lady to tidy the room and decided to deal with it later.

The young shopkeeper turned his gaze to the deserted street outside the inn, the young wanderer already gone from sight.

He thought of the rumors circulating from Mural City and grew disgruntled. The opportunities presented by the three celestial maiden paintings had all been snatched away by outsiders. He had wasted time and energy frequently visiting, only to realize these goddesses were likely more interested in a man’s looks and family background. This realization left the young shopkeeper feeling deflated, like a rat digging its own grave.

Chen Pingan left the market and headed towards the Ghost Domain Valley entrance archway. He paid the gatekeeper of the Hemp Robe Sect five snowflakes, receiving a jade token inscribed with nine-layered seal script in return. If he managed to leave Ghost Domain Valley alive, he could reclaim two snowflakes with the token.

The toll wasn’t too steep, only equivalent to a dozen bowls of Swaying River’s Yin-drenched tea.

Moreover, this celestial coin could be borrowed from the Hemp Robe Sect. So, in the Bone Beach’s northern kingdoms, many desperate fugitives would do three things upon entering: spend a few coins at the Swaying River Shrine to burn incense and pray to the river deity, try their luck at the Mural City’s goddess paintings, and buy a copy of “The Assurance Collection” at the Helpless Pass market. Once past the archway, they could leave their lives to fate.

Having paid, and receiving the token inscribed with “Majestic Celestial Might, Slaying Myriad Ghosts,” Chen Pingan knew that most powerful yin spirits in the southern cities of Ghost Domain Valley wouldn’t actively provoke those bearing the token. After all, the Hemp Robe Sect’s Master Guo Chi, a celestial immortal, was stationed in Ghost Domain Valley year-round, frequently leading two squads of cultivators to hunt yin creatures. However, the city lords, big and small, wouldn’t necessarily restrain their wraiths and wandering souls because of this. Early on, many southern city lords didn’t believe in this and liked to ambush and kill those wearing the tokens. As a result, Master Guo Chi, at great cost, led several direct disciples of the Ancestral Hall, who were earth immortals, to venture deep into their territory. She risked damaging her foundations to behead the culprits as a warning. The reason Master Guo Chi had been so slow to reach the Jade Pure Realm was largely due to her daring battles. She had been stuck in the Nascent Soul realm for far too long.

The most dangerous time was when Master Guo Chi returned severely injured, carrying the heads of three city lord yin spirits on her belt. After that, the old sect master confined her to the back mountain prison, forbidding her from leaving until she reached the fifth realm. When she finally emerged, her first act was to return to Ghost Domain Valley. If the founding ancestor hadn’t laid down a decree before his death and ascension, strictly forbidding the sect masters from activating the celestial weapon bestowed by a Central Earth sect, mobilizing the ten thousand yin soldiers it contained to attack Ghost Domain Valley, Master Guo Chi would have likely disregarded the sect’s depleted strength and led her army to the Bone Lookout City.

Besides Chen Pingan, who was traveling alone, there were three other groups waiting there, some friends exploring Ghost Domain Valley together, others with close-following bodyguards, all waiting for the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

Venturing into Ghost Domain Valley for training, unless courting death, required an auspicious time.

Elders from families or sects were each urging their younger generations to be careful in Ghost Domain Valley. Many reminders were simply clichés, already written in “The Assurance Collection.”

Chen Pingan tied the token to his waist, standing slightly apart, warming his hands with his breath.

When the hour of Mao arrived, the old Hemp Robe Sect cultivator standing in the center of the first two-toned glazed archway stepped aside and offered a blessing, “May you all have smooth sailing and safe passage.”

Chen Pingan smiled knowingly.

He truly had a good name, Peaceful Journey.

Chen Pingan walked last, passing through archways of different shapes and inscribed with varying content, a feast for the eyes.

For this venture into Ghost Domain Valley, Chen Pingan wore the blue robe called “Green Grass,” a gift from Wu Yi of the Purple Sun Mansion. From his spatial treasure, he retrieved the walnut bracelet given by Liu Zhimao of Green Cliff Island and a stack of yellow paper talismans he had drawn last night, all hidden in his left sleeve. The talismans were mostly entry-level ones from “The Scripture’s True Traces,” such as the Lamp Lighting Talisman and the Obstacle Breaking Talisman. Of course, there were also three Spatial Talismans, one drawn on rare golden talisman paper. It had consumed much of Chen Pingan’s spirit and energy last night and could be used to escape or to fight to the death. This golden Spatial Talisman, when combined with the Divine Man Drumming stance, would be most effective.

The group walked this road for the duration of an incense stick burning. They passed through twelve archways, flanked by two-zhang-tall armored generals, representing the opposing sides that created the Bone Beach ancient battlefield ruins. It was a brutal war involving two great dynasties and sixteen tributary states, lasting a full decade, until everyone was bloodshot and disregarded matters of state. It was said that during that time, over ten thousand mountain cultivators from the distant North Continent came to observe.

Chen Pingan looked back, the figure of the Hemp Robe Sect cultivator guarding the entrance already blurred. The group stopped one after another, and suddenly, the world opened up. The sky was high, the land wide, but filled with gloomy clouds. The dense yin energy of this small world instantly flooded into their various apertures and qi reservoirs, making it difficult to breathe and feel heavy. “The Assurance Collection’s” Travelogue chapter had detailed instructions on how to deal with it. The three groups of cultivators and pure martial artists ahead were following these instructions, each resisting the onslaught of yin energy.

One young cultivator in a mud-gold robe underestimated the imposing yin energy of Ghost Domain Valley and was caught off guard. His face flushed red instantly. A woman beside him, carrying a saber and bow, quickly handed him a celadon bottle. After taking a sip of the Three Lang Temple Nectar brewed from his own sect, his complexion returned to normal. The young man was embarrassed and smiled apologetically at the woman, who returned a smile. She then began to survey their surroundings, exchanging glances with a black-robed old man who had been standing behind the young man the whole time. The old man signaled her not to worry.

Ghost Domain Valley was not only a good place for training but also a prime opportunity for enemies to send assassins.

The woman and the old man were both bodyguards.

The woman, around thirty years old, was a pure martial artist who had just reached the sixth realm, a rare sight indeed.

Although the North Continent was known for its strong martial spirit, there weren’t many female martial artists who earned the title of minor grandmaster. For someone so young to reach the sixth realm was even rarer.
Often, only the immortal clans with the title of “Sect” and powerful dynasties could cultivate such outstanding and loyal family retainers.

As for the black-robed elder, he was even more unfathomable, making it impossible to discern whether he was a pure martial artist or a Qi cultivator.

Among another group of Qi cultivators, a burly man held a “Jia Pill,” and donned a set of snow-white, military-grade “Sweet Dew Armor,” its lustrous surface emitting a gentle light, preventing the nearby Yin energy from approaching.

An old cultivator removed a box from his back, producing a subtle sound of porcelain clinking. He finally retrieved a *yu hu chun* bottle, its form as graceful as a woman’s figure. It was clearly a spirit artifact of considerable quality. As the old cultivator held it in his palm, wisps of pure Yin energy from all directions began to gather towards the bottle’s mouth. However, the Yin energy arrived quickly, but also dissipated quickly. After a moment, only a tiny grain-sized droplet of water condensed at the opening, floating gently in the air, never falling into the bottle.

A middle-aged cultivator flicked his sleeve, revealing a verdant, charming banana leaf banner in his palm. Pinching the rosewood banner pole with two fingers, he shook it, transforming it into a banner as long as his arm span. A golden tassel was attached to the wooden pole. As the middle-aged cultivator hung the banana leaf banner on his wrist and silently chanted an incantation, Yin energy washed over the surface of the banner like a stream cleansing a face. This was a simple method of tempering, simple in that all it required was retrieving the spiritual item. But in an entire continent, how many blessed lands had such pure and dense Yin energy? Even if there were any, they would have long been occupied and strictly guarded by the major sects, forbidding outsiders from defiling them. Where would one find a situation like the Hemp Robe Sect, allowing outsiders to freely draw upon it?

Two cultivators, traveling together in the Valley of Specters, exchanged smiles. The purity of the Yin spiritual energy within the Valley of Specters was indeed extraordinary, perfectly suited for Qi cultivators specializing in the ghost path.

“Truly, we’ve entered a gold and silver mine!”

“Now it depends on how much we can carry away!”

As for the military cultivator who possessed the Jia Pill, they had pooled their money to hire him as a bodyguard. The innate Yin energy nurtured by the Valley of Specters was not only more abundant than the Yin energy near the Bone Beach, bordering the Valley of Specters, and already filtered by the Hemp Robe Sect’s geomantic formations, but also contained a heavier chilling aura. The closer one got to the heart of the valley, the more valuable, but also the more dangerous it became. It was possible that they would have to fight Yin spirits and vengeful ghosts along the way. Success meant obtaining a few sets of bones, another source of profit. Failure meant utter ruin, a tragic end. Cultivators knew better than ordinary mortals the pitiful fate of becoming an Yin creature within the Valley of Specters.

Chen Ping’an glanced at them a few times before looking away.

Entering the valley to draw upon Yin energy was a major taboo. The Hemp Robe Sect explicitly warned in the *Book of Reassurance* that this act easily provoked the animosity of the local Yin spirits of the Valley of Specters. After all, who would welcome thieves into their home?

However, everyone had their own fate. If one had sufficient skill and courage, the Hemp Robe Sect would not interfere.

Finally, there were two people who looked like a young Daoist couple, each carrying a huge wooden box, as if they had come to the Valley of Specters to find hidden treasures. Besides Yin energy and bones, the most valuable things within the Valley of Specters were the many rare flowers, exotic grasses, and spirit beasts that grew within this small world. The *Book of Reassurance* had many records of them. However, the Hemp Robe Sect had opened its doors for a thousand years, and countless people had come here to try their luck. The Hemp Robe Sect cultivators themselves had specialists who searched for various natural treasures year-round. Therefore, in recent centuries, very few people had the good fortune to successfully find anything that made others envious.

Chen Ping’an squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and gently rubbed it in his palm.

It was indeed very cold, resembling the soil of a thousand-year-old tomb.

Chen Ping’an dropped the soil and picked up a stone nearby that was commonly found everywhere. He gently pinched it with two fingers and frowned. The stone’s quality was almost like mud, extremely soft.

“As expected of the Valley of Specters, such strange water and soil!”

The Hemp Robe Sect had built two towns within the Valley of Specters. One was called Lan She (Orchid Musk), located in the southernmost part, about the size of the Naihe Pass market. The other was called Qing Lu (Green Hut), located in the westernmost part of a mountain valley near the center of the Valley of Specters. It was half of the cultivation ground of the female sect master, Zhu Quan. This Guochi Immortal Master was stationed here year-round. In the past three hundred years, the city lord of Jingguan City had “visited” Qing Lu Town twice, both times alone, and fought with the Hemp Robe Sect’s Earth Immortal cultivators led by Zhu Quan. The battles were earth-shattering, with countless mountain peaks near the city shaved off by the Guochi Immortal Master, whose natal treasure was a Dharma blade.

Two roads leading north in the Valley of Specters were born as a result.

Going to Lan She Town was the safest and closest route, almost a straight line of about eighty li. Although the journey was short, there were several places around Lan She Town that were worth visiting, including scenic spots for tourists, such as a long-abandoned ancient underground palace and the rocky, snow-white White Head Peak. There was also a city that chose to attach itself to the Hemp Robe Sect. The city lord was the Yin spirit of a former national preceptor who specialized in Daoist talismans during his lifetime. He often bartered with visiting cultivators.

Going to Qing Lu Town, due to the winding mountains and rivers, the journey was as long as eight hundred li. As for flying on the wind, riding swords, or controlling Dharma treasures, the *Book of Reassurance* bluntly stated that even a Golden Core Earth Immortal was seeking death. As for Grand Cultivators of the Nascent Soul realm, unless they were ghost cultivators, coming to the Yin-filled, aura-rushing Valley of Specters had no meaning for training and would even wear down their Dao. Moreover, Nascent Soul cultivators were reluctant to get involved in the mortal world and rarely left their own blessed lands, wasting their time. Furthermore…

For example, the Hemp Robe Sect’s Elder Su, a Nascent Soul cultivator managing an intercontinental ferry, was a helpless move due to his despair of breaking through. It was no wonder that this old Nascent Soul was somewhat depressed.

Therefore, the Nascent Soul and Ascension realms were jokingly called thousand-year-old turtles and ten-thousand-year-old tortoises, respectively.

Chen Ping’an chose to go directly to Qing Lu Town and might not even take the “official road” painstakingly opened by the Hemp Robe Sect.

The youth who was obviously from a major mountain lineage and the trio of ghost cultivators and rogue military cultivators chose to go to Lan She Town. As for whether they would risk another trip to Qing Lu Town afterward, it was hard to say.

What surprised Chen Ping’an somewhat was that the Daoist couple, who appeared to have low cultivation levels, also took the dangerous road to Qing Lu Town.

The Daoist couple, most likely of wild cultivator origin, spoke softly, holding hands and heading north, encouraging each other. Although they had some anticipation, their expressions showed a hint of resolution.

“Truly, they’re earning money with their heads tied to their belts!”

Chen Ping’an quickened his pace, taking the lead and creating a large distance between them, better to walk ahead of them than to follow behind, avoiding their suspicion.
The other party was also intentionally or unintentionally slowing their pace, often stopping to either knead mud, pluck grass, or even dig up soil and stones, picking and choosing.

The distance between the two parties grew ever wider.

When the pair of rogue cultivators looked up again, the figure of the young chivalrous wanderer was already gone.

The sky within Ghost Domain Valley was gloomy, like the overcast skies of a rainy season, somewhat obstructing the view.

Chen Ping An quickened his pace.

This winding path leading to Green Reed Town tried to avoid the large and small cities in the southern Ghost Domain Valley that were divided by warlords. However, living humans walking through the Ghost Domain Valley, where the resentment of the dead congealed, were like fireflies in the night, very conspicuous. Many fierce ghosts that had completely lost their minds were extremely sensitive to the scent of yang energy. A single careless move, a slightly louder noise, would attract waves of fierce ghosts. To the powerful nether spirits who ruled a region, these fierce ghosts with decent combat power were like chicken ribs. Recruiting them would mean they wouldn’t submit to discipline or listen to orders, and they might even kill each other, depleting their own forces. Therefore, they were allowed to roam the wilderness, and were even used as training targets for soldiers.

Beside the path, in a dense forest where a flock of crows perched silently, Chen Ping An stopped and turned his head to look. In the depths of the forest, shadows flickered, and white robes swayed, suddenly appearing and disappearing in a flash.

Chen Ping An simply left the path and headed into the dense forest. The crows flapped their wings and flew away, and the withered branches trembled, as if ghosts were baring their fangs and claws over there.

But when Chen Ping An stepped into it, aside from some rusty armor and weapons that were half-buried in the mud, there was nothing unusual.

Chen Ping An tapped his toes and leaped onto a high branch of a withered tree. After looking around, he still didn’t find anything strange. But when Chen Ping An suddenly shifted his gaze and stared intently, he finally saw half a pale face peeking out from behind a tree, with scarlet lips. It was the appearance of a woman. In this lifeless dense forest, she alone met Chen Ping An’s gaze. The movement of her eyes was very stiff and rigid, as if she were examining Chen Ping An.

Chen Ping An adjusted his bamboo hat, intending to ignore the ghostly specter. Just as he was about to jump down from the high branch, he found that the branch under his feet snapped without warning. Chen Ping An moved aside, looked down, and saw fresh blood slowly seeping out from the broken area, dripping onto the soil below. Then, the armor that was buried deep in the earth and already covered in rust seemed to be put on, and the weapons were also “pulled out” from underground. Finally, more than a dozen empty “armored warriors” stood up, swaying and surrounding the tall, withered tree where Chen Ping An was standing.

Chen Ping An leaped down, landing directly on the shoulder of one of the armored warriors. Unexpectedly, the armor immediately scattered on the ground like ashes. Chen Ping An waved his sleeve casually, and as a little astral wind swept past, all the armored warriors turned into flying dust in the same way.

Chen Ping An turned his head to look behind him. The white-clothed woman, who had only shown half her face all along, was hiding behind a tree, feigning a delicate laugh, but without making a sound.

Chen Ping An asked with a smile, “Where are the fierce ghosts around here?”

The woman’s movements were stiff as she slowly raised an arm and pointed at herself.

Chen Ping An shook his head with a smile, “I’m talking about the kind that can’t be killed with a single punch.”

The white-clothed woman was stunned for a moment, and her face immediately became contorted. Underneath her pale skin, it looked as if earthworms were crawling around. She formed a palm knife with one hand, cutting through a tree as thick as a well mouth as if it were tofu, and then slammed down with a heavy palm, striking towards Chen Ping An.

Chen Ping An extended one hand forward, and astral energy formed a wall in front. After the broken wood collided, it turned into powder. For a time, dust blotted out the sky.

A chill ran through his feet, and two snow-white sleeves wrapped around Chen Ping An’s feet. Then, a woman’s head emerged from the mud.

No wonder she only showed half her face. Although half of her face was pale, it was still the appearance of a woman. The remaining half of her face only had a thin layer of skin covering the white bones. At first glance, she looked like an ugly woman with only half a face.

Her half-face looked like a pitiful woman about to cry, and she said in a trembling voice, “General hates me for being unfaithful. Just kill me, but don’t flay my face with a knife. I can’t bear the pain.”

Chen Ping An allowed her sleeves to entwine and restrain his feet, and looked down. “You are one of the four confidant ghost generals of the Skin-Smooth City Lord, right? Why are you so close to the road? I have the Hemp Robe Sect jade pendant on me. You shouldn’t be here looking for food. Aren’t you afraid of the Hemp Robe Sect cultivators causing you trouble?”

The white-clothed female ghost simply didn’t listen. She stretched out two fingers to tear the faceless half of her face. The white bones inside were still covered with sharp cutting marks. It was enough to see that she had suffered unusual cutting pain before her death. She cried silently, pointing to the exposed white bones of half her face. “General, it hurts, it hurts.”

Chen Ping An actually squatted down, clasped his hands in his sleeves, and looked at her. “Alright, your little mind-affecting trick is useless on me. I heard that Skin-Smooth City has always had a good relationship with the Hemp Robe Sect, but you have a group of deadly enemies. The leader is an earth immortal nether spirit who is good at close combat. He has few troops, only a dozen or so fierce ghosts, but they often commit crimes. Like border elite scouts, they come and go unpredictably. That golden core nether spirit likes to eat living people alive, especially Qi refiners. Falling into their hands is worse than death, like raising pigs and dogs. Today they cut off a leg, tomorrow they cut off a piece of meat, without hurting their lives. They are also sensible and dare not offend the ghosts of big cities. They only choose soft persimmons to handle, targeting your Skin-Smooth City. Every now and then, they secretly grab one or two female nether creatures, whose situation is even more tragic.”

The white-clothed female ghost turned a deaf ear, only muttering, “It really hurts, it really hurts… I know I was wrong, General, cut lightly.”

At this moment, white mist filled Chen Ping An’s surroundings, as if he was wrapped in an invisible cocoon.

Chen Ping An’s shoulder moved slightly, and his astral energy vibrated greatly, shattering the white mist.

The female ghost knew something was wrong. Just as she was about to burrow into the soil to escape, Chen Ping An smashed her forehead with a swift punch, causing her entire body’s nether energy to stagnate and become blocked. Then, Chen Ping An reached out and grabbed her neck, dragging her out of the mud and slamming her heavily on the ground. The white-clothed female ghost curled up, like a snow-white mountain snake whose tendons and bones had been broken, collapsing on the ground.

Chen Ping An sighed, “If you dawdle like this any longer, I’ll really get serious.”

The white-clothed female ghost chuckled and floated up, actually turning into a nether creature three zhang tall. The snow-white clothes on her body also grew larger accordingly.

The “Rest Assured Collection” had a few concise sentences to introduce this Skin-Smooth City nether creature.
The female ghost, calling herself Half-Face Makeup, was once a concubine of a meritorious military general. After death, she transformed into a vengeful spirit. Possessing a mysterious, ancient robe, she excelled at conjuring illusions of beautiful women, using mists to cloud cultivators’ minds, leaving them vulnerable to being harvested, their bones scraped, marrow sucked, and spiritual energy imbibed like fine wine. She was exceedingly difficult to kill, having once survived a direct hit from a sword strike by a wandering Earth Immortal sword cultivator of the Ghost Domain Valley.

A colossal white-robed ghost wafted, its sleeves undulating like waves in a river. It raised a hand, as large as a round cushion, and smeared it down its face.

It locked gazes with Chen Pingan, its remaining eye gleaming with the colors of iridescent glass.

Then, in an instant, it conjured a complete face from thin air.

Chen Pingan narrowed his eyes. “This is just you seeking your own demise.”

The female ghost began to circle Chen Pingan, drifting and swaying. Though her lips did not move, the sweet melodies of songbirds echoed around him, excessively saccharine, and bewitching. “Are you willing to kill me? Can you kill me? Why not entwine with me for a while? Merely a slight expenditure of your yang energy and spiritual essence, and you gain the desires of your heart with a beautiful woman. I profit, and you do not lose. What could be better?”

In the past, whether traveling through Treasure Bottle Continent or Willow Leaf Continent, or even during that accidental foray into Lotus Blossom Blessed Land, Chen Pingan would carefully conceal his trump cards. He would gauge his opponent’s strength, expending only the necessary power and means, always cautious and methodical. If he had encountered this white-clad yin creature elsewhere in the past, he would have started with fist techniques, followed by talismanic methods, then the flying sword Fifteen from his gourd, and only finally, the sword of the Sword Immortal on his back.

But today, Chen Pingan directly drew his sword, the Sword Immortal, and with a casual swing, severed the yin creature’s head. After the head, now reverting to its original form, hung in the air for a brief moment, it plummeted to the ground, and a deafening wail erupted from the half-woman’s face. As it was about to act, Chen Pingan impaled it to the spot with his sword. He then snatched the snow-white robe, crushing it into the size of a silk scarf, light as a feather, and brimming with spiritual energy. It was cool to the touch but lacked any yin aura, an excellent robe, perhaps not inferior to his own green grass robe.

This female ghost hardly possessed any true battle strength. As Chen Pingan said, a single punch would leave her half-dead, easily. However, her true body wasn’t present. No matter how much she was harmed, her core remained untouched, making her incredibly troublesome. Moreover, in this land saturated with yin energy, the incorporeal female ghost could likely use secret arts to die and revive countless times before Chen Pingan, until the “shell,” like that of a roaming Yin spirit, had exhausted its yin energy and severed its connection to the true body, would she finally cease her antics.

His flying swords, Initial and Fifteen, were the same. For now, they still couldn’t, like the legendary natal swords of the Land Sword Immortals, pierce through the currents of time, ignoring hundreds of miles of mountains and rivers, and kill enemies invisibly by following the faintest clues.

Only the Sword Immortal on his back was different.

The fleeting, fleshy-skinned female ghost of Skin-Smooth City, which had appeared as suddenly as it disappeared, not only had this “shell” completely scattered into oblivion in the blink of an eye, but it had also surely wounded the true form somewhere. The Sword Immortal silently returned to its scabbard.

Just as Chen Pingan stowed the exquisite robe in his sleeve, he saw a hunched old crone not far away. Her steps appeared slow, but she traversed great distances with each stride, appearing before him about a dozen paces away. The old crone’s face was grim. “Those were merely inconsequential probes. Why did you have to resort to such deadly force? Do you truly believe my Skin-Smooth City is an easy target? The City Lord is already on her way. Prepare to meet your end.”

Chen Pingan raised his head to look. A colossal palanquin chariot floated through the air, surrounded by a grand entourage. Female officials were like clouds, some holding jeweled parasols to shield from the sun, others carrying jade tablets to clear the path, and massive feather fans to block the dust. The palanquin chariot, surrounded by all, was like an emperor’s procession.

It seemed the City Lord of Skin-Smooth City had arrived in person.

In Ghost Domain Valley, the warlord-like spirits who carved out territories, and the powerful yin spirits occupying mountains and waters, were even more lawless than the island lords of Book Scroll Lake. It was only that the Skin-Smooth City female ghosts lacked sufficient power, so the evil deeds they could commit were limited, which was why, compared to other cities, their reputation was only slightly better.

Chen Pingan adjusted his bamboo hat, withdrew his gaze, and looked at the old crone, whose expression was shifting uncertainly. “I’m not someone easily frightened.”