Chapter 462: Meeting an old friend

Li Qi jumped down without hesitation, having already made his plans.

First, he would see if there were any vendors in this place.

This was already the Deep Ocean area, and those who ventured here and traded were mostly adventurers seeking wealth, many of whom came for the Dragon Lord's remains.

He would acquire some ingredients from them to complete the Peng Hai Cauldron's commission; it didn't matter if he couldn't buy all of them, as the research vessel would continue forward, and he would surely be able to buy everything.

In any case, Peng Hai Cauldron had already given Li Qi the full payment, with a lot of surplus, so there was no need to worry about money.

Second, he would prepare offerings and personally sacrifice to Shen Tu Yu Lei, thanking them for the Divine Qi that had once helped him.

Third, he would look for any special souvenirs in the East Sea, buy some, carve them into hairpins when he returned, and give them to the rabbit, and also bring some local specialties for his other friends.

Finally, he would explore Mount Dushuo, and then remember these experiences in his mind, turning them into his own foundation, which might prove useful at some point, becoming the key to opening a certain great door for him.

With a plan in mind, the rest was action, so Li Qi was among the first to jump ashore; he wasn't afraid of Mount Dushuo or the Gate of Ten Thousand Ghosts at all.

They had already said that the treasure ship would protect everyone, and Li Qi could now see an invisible Qi罩 (Qi barrier) covering his body, preventing ghosts from approaching and Yin Qi from disturbing him; he was very safe.

This was an invincible pass; going out with a Fifth-Rank treasure ship was that useful; if he had come alone, he would probably have been eaten by ghosts and monsters outside.

It's just... it's a bit of a coincidence.

A Fifth-Rank treasure ship was not such a simple thing, but his contact with it seemed to be a matter of course, and he was naturally invited by the Dao of Reason.

The knowledge of the Dao of Reason and the Spirit Dao, and the Shen Yijun related to the Dragon Soul, were also the same.

It was impossible for there to be no hidden hand behind this.

Li Qi's current guess was that the hidden hand should be the True Dragon, after all, this was his initial thought; after he arrived in the East Sea, the True Dragon would inevitably test him and throw him bait.

Since the bait was thrown, he would just eat it with peace of mind, and there was nothing else he needed to do, at most giving some hints to the East Sea, and after that, he could sit back and wait for the East Sea to intervene in the Sun-Moon Orbit.

With the East Sea stirring things up, it would be easier to break the deadlock and allow the vitality of Mount Luofu to emerge from it.

Li Qi was mediating in the middle, and he felt that he could become the bridge between Mount Luofu and Shaman God Mountain; after Mount Luofu's recovery, he could make Mount Luofu lean towards Shaman God Mountain.

Many times, the only thing missing between cooperation and division is a little trust.

Li Qi believed that as a Invoker, he could become the fulcrum of this trust, allowing Mount Luofu to hand over the Dao opportunity to Shaman God Mountain, completely exchanging it for life and an unobstructed Legacy.

But all of this required first stirring up the waters.

Therefore, facing these temptations from the True Dragon, Li Qi stepped in without hesitation, all for the ultimate goal of following the fishhook, climbing onto the fishing rod, and meeting the Dragon who was fishing.

However...

Li Qi truly hadn't thought about what the Shen Yijun elder and his dragon-slaying team were; maybe it was truly a coincidence? After all, Li Qi felt that such powerful individuals might not be manipulated by others.

No one can calculate everything; this has always been Li Qi's thought; there will always be all sorts of accidents.

Man proposes, God disposes.

Thinking about these things, Li Qi had already walked to a city gate on the shore, only to see a market outside the north and south of the city gate.

Inside, there were countless ghosts moving about, some short ghosts about two feet tall, others giants several feet tall, among them men, women, old and young, officials, soldiers, monks, and Daoists, bustling to and fro, merchants buying and selling goods, donkeys carrying loads, carts loaded, nothing was absent.

It was still dark all around, enveloped by Yin Qi, and sunlight could not penetrate at all; the only light source was the large peach wood that pierced the sky, so the weather remained cool and dark.

Li Qi squinted at the city, feeling it was illusory and subtle, as if he could see it, yet also as if he couldn't.

He turned his head to look at the market over there, vaguely discerning two rows of Buddha statues by the roadside, their eyes closed, as if they dared not open them to see anything.

If it were an ordinary person, they would be trembling with fear at such a strange sight, but Li Qi was not particularly afraid; he knew that he had encountered a 'Ghost Market'.

Hmm, good luck, such a thing, though strange and inexplicable to ordinary people, was just right for Li Qi.

Shaman, itself belonged to a type of 'strangeness'; generally speaking, in many Ghost Market stories recorded by Mortals, the Shaman were indispensable characters.

Moreover, ordinary people would enter and exchange their lifespan or promises for the ghosts' items, but Li Qi had plenty of things to trade with these ghosts.

So he strode towards the Ghost Market.

Walking inside, there were numerous ghosts, some with green faces and fangs, some covered in sores, some covered in pus and blood, some with flickering phosphorescent fires, appearing everywhere.

However, there were also many, like Li Qi, who looked similar to ordinary people, and he could even see quite a few demons swaggering around in their original forms.

Snake demons coiled and moved through, fox demons swayed with every step, luring the ghosts behind them.

Li Qi also saw a figure dressed like a dignitary, seemingly a powerful Great Evil Ghost, riding in a sedan chair, but inside the sedan chair was a coffin, carried by eighteen ghost servants, with a cloud of powdered beauties and a mist of wine and meat behind, jade bowls and golden goblets shining on the tables, very arrogant and ostentatious as it paraded through the market.

An ordinary person in such a gloomy and eerie place would probably be terrified, but Li Qi, walking through this Ghost Market, felt increasingly novel.

How interesting, so a powerful Great Evil Ghost's sedan chair actually contains a coffin, how fascinating, how fascinating!

Li Qi looked around, strolling for a quarter of an hour, when he saw a ghost shop by the roadside, seemingly a pawnshop, with many dazed people standing inside.

He looked closely and found that they were all Soul Emergence! (Souls that had left their bodies)

Li Qi saw several demon ghosts constantly blowing Qi at these nascent souls, exhaling Yin Qi to stabilize their Spirit Souls.

He immediately became interested; Li Qi had read about this situation in books, which said that demon ghosts would sneak into The Way of Dreams, luring people's nascent souls to Soul Emergence and come to the Ghost Market.

At this time, people were dazed, thinking they were dreaming, so they would do business with the demon ghosts in their dreams, pawning their lifespan, or other valuable things, in exchange for the demon ghosts' help.

Some sought wealth, and the demon ghosts would buy it with money; some sought children, and the demon ghosts would bribe the underworld officials to have ghosts reincarnate into their homes; there were also various strange requests, as long as the demon ghost could satisfy them and the person could afford the price, the transaction could be made.

Many woke up from their dreams, dazed, some not even knowing that they had sold decades of their Yang Qi to exchange for some money.

Li Qi observed the process of those nascent souls, thinking they were dreaming, and constantly conversing with the demon ghosts, attempting to record it.

However, at this moment, Li Qi suddenly discovered that those demon ghosts seemed to have seen Li Qi, so they stopped blowing Qi at these nascent souls and quickly fled.

Li Qi saw the demon ghosts calling out to someone as they fled.

But not long after, Li Qi heard a voice say, "Your Excellency, disturbing others' business in the Ghost Market is probably not appropriate, is it?"

This voice... why does it sound familiar?

As Li Qi wondered, he turned his head back.

Upon seeing, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

A person... no, a ghost, wearing a dignified yamen runner's uniform, was staring at him.

This was none other than Li Weng!

When Li Qi was in Li Prefecture, the first time he dealt with a Human-Ghost dispute, it was Li Weng, whose grave had been dug up by the Wang family!

He never thought that after escaping from that grave, he would come to this Ghost Market, and judging by his appearance, he had even gotten an official position? He had just scared the demon ghosts, and they had called him to warn Li Qi!

Li Weng saw Li Qi, first frowned, then suddenly seemed to remember something, enlightened, he clapped his hands, changing his previous stern expression, and exclaimed in surprise, "Invoker! How did I meet you here?! Are you dead?!"

"Do I look dead? I just came to this Ghost Gate to see what the Ghost Market looks like, and look at all this Yang Qi on me, I'm perfectly alive," Li Qi said with a smile, stepping forward to greet Li Weng.

This old ghost, who was hundreds of years old, seemed to be doing well now, wearing a yamen runner's uniform, and his cultivation had improved a lot; he was now quite good among the Eighth-Rank.

"Invoker, why did you come to this Ghost Market? We are truly fated," Li Weng said with a smile.

"Indeed, fated. I never thought there would be a day when I would meet you again, Li Weng. Besides fate, there's nothing else to say," Li Qi also said with a smile, appearing somewhat surprised.

He was indeed very surprised; this was where the East Sea's Ghost Gate was located, and to meet an old acquaintance here was truly nostalgic.

"I came from the East Sea, how did you come, Li Weng? You should have been in Baiyue back then, right? How did you end up here?" Li Qi and Li Weng began to chat, asking about each other's situations.

Li Weng also seemed very happy and immediately replied, "That's a long story. After I reconciled with the Wang family, everyone was happy. Invoker left with the excess water Qi, and the Wang family hired someone to rebuild my grave according to the pattern you mentioned, Invoker. After that, I no longer cursed but blessed, and the Wang family has been rising steadily ever since, even embarking on the Cultivation Path."

"And I cultivated in seclusion in my grave for three years. After three years, an underworld official came to my door."

"I originally thought the underworld official was coming to arrest me and throw me into Reincarnation. I was already sighing and ready to surrender, but the underworld official said that I had a karmic connection, was imbued with Divine Qi, and had the Five Elements pattern in my body, and now that I had become a force, from then on, unless I chose to, I could avoid Reincarnation and cultivate the Ghost Dao, living a second life."

"Only then did I realize that the whip Invoker struck me with had the Divine Qi of a Ghost Emperor on it. It was truly thanks to Invoker's help that I was able to escape Reincarnation."

Li Qi heard this and said with a smile, "I didn't know about this at the time either, so I can only say it was all your karmic connection."

"That may be so, but Li Weng dares not forget Invoker's great kindness. Speaking of that underworld official, he said that since I would not enter Reincarnation, he asked if I would be willing to test into the City God's office and get a proper background. I thought that was a good idea, so I went to the City God Temple and tested for the position of a yamen runner, and even entered the Ghost Gate, becoming a proper underworld official. Now I'm assigned under the Great Peach Wood of Mount Dushuo, overseeing this Ghost Market, presiding over justice for all the little ghosts, which can also be considered the Righteous Path." Li Weng said, bowing respectfully to Li Qi, thanking him for his help back then.

It was Li Qi who used the Divine Qi of a Ghost Emperor to transform him and designed a true Five Elements pattern to temper his ghost body, allowing him to cultivate independently and escape Reincarnation; it was all thanks to him, and calling it a rebirth would not be an exaggeration.

Now that he was an underworld official and had gained experience, he understood even more how astonishing it was for a Invoker, who was not even ranked, to be able to produce a Spiritual Artifact with the Divine Qi of a Ghost Emperor.

Perhaps... this Invoker was a Disciple of Shaman God Mountain, which was far more prominent than his own position as an underworld official.

As for the mention of Ghost Emperors, both parties understood this point.

The two brothers, Shen Tu Yu Lei, were actually the Eastern Ghost Emperors among the Five Directional Ghost Emperors.

The Eastern Ghost Emperors, the brothers Shen Tu Yu Lei, govern the Great Peach Wood of Mount Dushuo.

The Southern Ghost Emperor governs Mount Luofu.

The Western Ghost Emperor governs Fan Tomb Mountain.

The Central Ghost Emperor governs Baodu Mountain.

The Northern Ghost Emperor governs Luofeng Mountain.

That's right, Mount Luofu is actually also a Ghost Gate.

As one of the ten great Grotto Heavens of Dao Orthodoxy, Mount Luofu itself naturally has many peculiarities. Firstly, its layout: Mount Luo has existed since ancient times. Fu Mountain was originally one of the peaks of Penglai, and during the time of Yao, a great flood caused it to float from the sea to Mount Luo, hence the combined name Mount Luofu.

On the summit, there is a 'Zhu Ming Cave', which is called Zhu Ming daily, also known as Yaozhen, belonging to Yang Ming, red in color, a place of extreme Yang.

Underground, there is also a Ghost Gate, a place of extreme Yin.

The two combined to form Mount Luofu's Yin and Yang merged pattern, which is also why Mount Luofu's cultivation method and Dao Orthodoxy attach such importance to Yin and Yang changes.

"Haha, at that time, I also didn't know that the Divine Qi of Shen Tu Yu Lei had such effects, so it was a happy accident. By the way, when I first arrived, I saw countless Spirit Souls being tortured outside here. Does Li Weng know what that's about?" After the pleasantries, Li Qi eagerly began to inquire.

Having an old acquaintance who was an underworld official here, it would be foolish not to ask; this was all knowledge that only underworld officials would know.

"Oh, Invoker is asking about that? Although it's a Ghost Gate in the Yang world, it's still the Underworld, after all. Those outside are all evil ghosts, people who have committed crimes. If their merits and sins cannot offset each other, they must suffer torture until their atonement is complete," Li Weng explained. "So all the ten thousand ghosts caught here must first be examined by the Ghost Emperors. If they are extremely evil, they must first suffer torture outside before they can enter Reincarnation."

Li Qi nodded and said, "So that's how it is. Then, any ghost that can appear inside here isn't that bad, actually?"

"Indeed. They can't be called good people, but at least there are no extremely wicked ones. However, their time to stay on this island is also limited. Unlike underworld officials who don't enter Reincarnation, their spiritual bodies will gradually dissipate. This is called 'Yin Lifespan'. Once their Yin Lifespan is over, they must reincarnate."

At this point, Li Weng asked curiously, "Invoker, it's not easy to come to this Ghost Gate. You said you came from the East Sea? How were you able to avoid being corroded by Yin Qi?"