Chapter 24: The New Home is Great!

“Why? Because there are ghosts, of course!”

Caiyi, who had just woken up, spoke with a smile while combing her waist-length hair.

“Didn't Senior Sun tell you?”

Luo Chen was greatly shocked. “Ghosts?”

Caiyi tossed her long hair back. “Why are you so surprised? It’s perfectly normal for there to be ghosts in the cultivation world!”

That’s true!

This was the cultivation world, not Earth. Why was he acting so surprised?

“It is common knowledge that there are ghosts in the Inner City, and quite a few of them at that.”

Caiyi explained leisurely. Anyone who had lived in the Inner City for a while could talk about it.

The Yuding Domain had actually only been opened up three hundred years ago.

Before that, this vast territory was part of the Million Mountains of the Eastern Desolation.

Four hundred years ago, the Yuding Sword Sect launched a massive campaign to conquer the mountains, spending enormous resources on an opening war involving sixteen different sects.

Among them, seven were high-level sects with Nascent Soul cultivators!

The six extreme eastern domains currently on the map were even more heavily involved, with major sects from the other five domains dispatching large numbers of Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators.

It took a century of warfare to finally stabilize this domain three hundred years ago.

That century-long war of expansion saw humans and demon beasts fighting tooth and nail for every inch of land, resulting in countless casualties.

In the end, the Yuding Sword Sect emerged victorious.

Victory was achieved, but it left behind a massive mess.

For instance, various ghosts—both human and demon beast—were mixed together, nearly turning this land into a ghost realm.

To address this situation, the major sects developed mature methods of response.

Various techniques for soothing, dissipating, and collecting souls emerged one after another.

As for ghosts that were too powerful to be eliminated in the short term, they were suppressed and worn down instead.

Nowadays, many of the large marketplaces in the Yuding Domain actually serve to suppress numerous powerful ghosts, including those at the Ghost General or Ghost King levels.

Why was the Dahe Marketplace built with Inner and Outer Cities?

In reality, it was to converge the spiritual energy from the spiritual veins to be used to wear down the ghosts suppressed beneath.

“As for us, we happen to be suppressing a Ghost King-level entity. Especially that single-room house you live in; it sits right on the formation eye, so the Yin energy is quite heavy.”

Caiyi stared at Luo Chen with a beaming smile, waiting for the little fellow to show a look of terror.

However, Luo Chen was no fool.

The fact that Old Man Sun was willing to rent the house to him, and that Caiyi dared to live in this courtyard, meant there was no real danger.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Is it a male ghost or a female ghost?”

Caiyi froze, and after reacting, she spat out, “It’s a lecherous ghost!”

After the joke passed, she said seriously, “Don't worry about anything. This grand formation was set up by a Golden Core Master, using the Inner City as a base to harness the power of the spiritual veins. A Ghost King cannot affect our lives or cultivation; at most, it just gets a bit cold when you're sleeping.”

“Heh, as a grand cultivator of the fourth level of Qi Refinement, how could I be afraid of the cold!” Luo Chen gave a confident smile, fully displaying his poise as a cultivator.

Caiyi smiled and stood up.

“Alright, I have to get to work. Shall we chat again tomorrow morning when you're free?”

Starting work at this hour?

Luo Chen looked doubtfully at the setting sun.

“If I may ask, what is it that you do?”

“I dance at the Tianxiang Pavilion. Come visit when you have time!” Caiyi left with a beaming smile, leaving behind a faint fragrance.

Looking at his neighbor's graceful silhouette, Luo Chen could roughly imagine how beautiful she must be when she danced.

Unfortunately, this master couldn't afford it!

Luo Chen returned to his room. After cleaning it earlier and letting it ventilate all afternoon, there was finally no more strange odor.

The neighbor, Caiyi, who lived in the main house, had even given him a piece of musk.

She said that if he burned it in an incense burner, it would not only smell good but also repel insects.

“I don't have an incense burner; I'll just burn it in a bowl, the effect will be the same.”

After lighting the musk, Luo Chen began taking things out of his storage bag.

There wasn't actually much—aside from various medicinal herbs, it was just pots, pans, and bowls.

Some items bore charred, blackened marks.

In last night's battle, half of his room had collapsed from the fire.

He had eventually used a small Cloud-Rain Talisman to extinguish the flames.

The items he managed to salvage were not many!

The medicinal herbs he had specifically taken out and categorized that afternoon were almost entirely destroyed.

Only the bedroom and the kitchen had escaped the disaster.

His only stroke of luck was that the valuable primary ingredients were kept in his storage bag and hadn't been taken out for processing yet.

After tallying them up, the losses were significant—precisely one hundred and eight spirit stones!

However, the gains were also immense!

The first cultivator to die provided a set of mid-grade Dharma tools, the Jade Green Blades, which were actually wood-attribute flying daggers.

One mother and six sons; they could form a formation as a set. If one had enough time to arrange them into a formation, their power would be comparable to high-grade Dharma tools.

They were perfect for his use.

In addition to the flying daggers, there were also one hundred and fifty spirit stones in that cloth bag.

It could be said that this single inheritance was enough to compensate for Luo Chen's losses and even turn a massive profit.

And the expert he had strangled was even more formidable!

A high-grade flying sword and a low-grade flying tool—both would be hot commodities if sold.

However, Luo Chen hadn't decided how to handle them yet.

After all, these things were "hot potatoes"!

That fellow was likely a fifth-level Qi Refinement cultivator, yet he possessed a pile of good things.

He used a Divine Speed Talisman for his entrance and a Blazing Sun Talisman to destroy the house.

He wore a high-grade Daoist robe with inner armor, wielded a high-grade flying sword, and even had a Earth-Guard Talisman.

If you added the Lotus Leaf Flying Disk flying tool, he was essentially armed to the teeth.

Luo Chen had rarely seen such a luxurious configuration in the Outer City.

If the opponent hadn't underestimated him, and if Luo Chen hadn't possessed the Soul-Breaking Nail—which was engraved with a second-tier armor-breaking formation—and used a sneak attack, the one who died would definitely have been him.

But having killed him, Luo Chen had long since become indifferent to it.

Of course, considering the potential retaliation from the man's deep background, Luo Chen had immediately dealt with the traces and retreated into the city.

Those traces wouldn't stay hidden for long.

But every day hidden was a day gained; an enemy couldn't exactly come into the Inner City to kill him!

No one wanted to risk their life to provoke the rules established by the Yuding Sword Sect.

For the time being, he should remain cautious, and he also needed to replenish his lost medicinal herbs as soon as possible.

Only by earning enough spirit stones could he escape his current predicament of slow cultivation.

After taking everything out, Luo Chen looked at the empty, large room.

“When I go out to purchase medicinal herbs tomorrow, I'll pick up a few shelves to divide the space.”

“I also need to buy sieves, pestles, peach wood, and agarwood.”

“Oh right, I also need to buy a chamber pot!”

Before cultivating, Luo Chen felt a bit nostalgic for his old house with the courtyard, the large playground, and the small stream.

Back then, he could urinate without any inhibitions.

Not like now, where the cost of disposing of night soil every month was enough to cover two months of his previous rent.

However, after circulating the Eternal Spring Technique once, Luo Chen's complaints completely vanished.

“Is this the charm of a first-tier spiritual vein?”