Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!
Chapter 224 Cold Crystal Jade

Chapter 224: Chapter 224 Cold Crystal Jade

The yin wind howled, and the paper-made Yin Warrior raised its blade to slay an unformed little ghost, then stood silently like a guardian deity.

"Well done. You’ve been working hard these days, but it will all be worth it when we find the Cold Crystal Jade," Wan An praised as he patted the paper figure’s shoulder.

Although they weren’t alive, in the eyes of the old man, being able to work and protect himself made these temporary paper figures akin to friends.

Moreover, carrying a significant responsibility, he was afraid of accidentally leaking any information, thus only dared to talk to the paper figures.

Lin Dayou was busy running his shop and making money; even if they occasionally met, their conversations revolved around how the business was going and whether they should bring in new products.

Lotus Peak was now enveloped in an array, so no other reckless wild ghosts disturbed it; yet inside the continuous mountain ranges, countless little ghosts remained trapped.

Wan An, inexperienced with the deep mountains, couldn’t understand why there were so many bizarre little ghosts, but fortunately, the Yin Warriors were impressive enough to clear away any small entities that got entangled in the array.

"After digging for so long, there must be some results by now, right?" He couldn’t sit idle, even though Bai Yunqi and Wan Mingchuan had advised him to just watch the Yin Warriors work. Wan An believed that if he helped a little, they might dig faster.

Now that the array was set up, allowing them to openly mine, he had purchased tools to work alongside the Yin Warriors every day.

The stones of the Great Yin Mountain were all black, combined with the constant dim weather and the gusty yin wind; even with lanterns hung, the light swayed irregularly, causing instability. As an ordinary old ghost, Wan An strained his eyes, afraid of missing anything valuable.

"Clang!"

The mining pickaxe suddenly made a muffled sound, numbing the tiger’s mouth.

Gravel crashed down, revealing a piece of pitch-black stone with a glistening sheen.

Wan An was taken aback, realizing what Mr. Bai meant during the dream when he said, "You’ll know it when you see it." Indeed, the Cold Crystal Jade was so distinct that even though he had never seen it, he knew from the moment he saw the stone emitting chilling evil energy that his efforts had finally paid off!

His strength was evidently insufficient to extract the hard Cold Crystal Jade. The Yin Warriors swung the pickaxe and, after some time, managed to mine several pieces of Cold Crystal Jade.

"No wonder it became a currency. Who wouldn’t be fascinated by it?" Holding the jade in his palm, Wan An looked at it from all angles for a while, then uttered a sigh. The Yin Warriors, without emotions, continued to mechanically dig deeper with their pickaxe.

The Cold Crystal Jade was entirely inky, transparent like jade, with countless lights flickering inside, resembling a piece of black jade trapping a cluster of starlight.

More importantly, the allure emanating from it required him to take several deep breaths to suppress his inner impulse—every ghost instinctively wanted to absorb the abundant Yin Sha power contained within.

Mr. Bai had warned multiple times not to succumb to the temptation of absorbing the Cold Crystal Jade’s power without restraint.

Otherwise, without the aid of a Cultivation Technique for absorption and refinement, one would transform into a pillar-like monster, eventually losing sanity and becoming a vicious ghost diva, fixated solely on power, and ultimately only face soul annihilation.

Wan An cautiously placed the Cold Crystal Jade into a prepared box, his mind and face beaming with joy, thinking of quickly dreaming to his grandson, finally seeing returns after such a long investment of time and money!

He teleported back to the courtyard and immediately used a temporary array to transport today’s harvest back to the Human World.

"Is Old Man Wan home?"

Wan An was just about to create a dream when suddenly he heard a knock and a familiar voice. He hurriedly got up, perplexed as to why the Yin Messenger suddenly came to the door.

Ma Hongtu was carrying snacks and a pot of good wine, his face smiling and knocking on the door.

In recent times, he had racked his brains to gather information, but as a Yin Messenger with no background and modest wealth, even sharpening his head didn’t find him a way in.

Thinking of not missing the chance, he decided to come to the old man’s place to probe for some inside information.

"What wind blew Brother Ma here? Quickly, come in!" Wan An hurriedly tidied up the room before coming out to open the door, both ghosts smiling courteously at their meeting.

Shaking his hand with roast chicken and duck, Ma Hongtu laughed, "With nothing else going on, I brought some good wine and food to have a drink with the old man. You ought not call me Brother Ma; it sounds too distant. Just call me Old Ma!"

"Oh, how can that be? You are on duty; anyone would call you Brother if they saw you."

"Hey, we aren’t strangers after all..."

......

Both pretentiously polite entered the room, set up the food and drink, filled the cups with wine. Seeming offhandedly, Ma Hongtu shifted the topic, asking, "How is the hunting going lately? Hunting in the Netherworld is different from the Human World, isn’t it?"

Wan An’s heart skipped a beat, thinking the Yin Messenger showing up wasn’t for good intentions, pondering whether he wanted money or heard something.

"I’ve just laid out the array to secure the place, haven’t had the time to explore. Does Brother Ma also take interest in hunting? What kinds of specters lurk in the Great Yin Mountain; can you tell me?"

"Specters aren’t much of a concern, but a few hundred miles northwest from Lotus Peak lies a Ghost Cultivator—Yin Mountain Corpse Maiden." Ma Hongtu took a sip of wine, casually leaking the clue while secretly observing the other’s expressions.

Wan An hadn’t heard of it before, curiously asking, "Corpse Maiden? Meaning it’s a female ghost? Is she formidable?"

"More than formidable!" Ma Hongtu felt a bit confused, wondering if Jiang Dao You arranged for the old man to carve out a mountain on the Great Yin Mountain without any relation to the Yin Mountain Corpse Maiden?

Or was this old ghost cunning, with acting skills so great he deceived even himself?

"Her real name is Tang Qin, a woman buried alive, becoming a Ghost Cultivator by happenstance and making a name in the Netherworld, occupying several mountain peaks in the Great Yin Mountain. If the old man frequently visits Lotus Peak, you’ll inevitably encounter Tang Qin’s subordinates."

"My mountain, my hunt, what’s that got to do with her? I reckon that ghost woman wouldn’t be that unreasonable to compete with me for territory?" Wan An smiled on the surface but planned in mind to inform Mr. Bai during the dream, the proximity poses a threat that can’t be ignored.

"That’s hard to say..." Ma Hongtu murmured, lowering his voice, "You have a grandson to rely on, don’t worry about money. You enjoy hunting and exploring the mountains; haven’t you thought about buying a Cultivation Technique or two to become a Ghost Cultivator yourself? Having real skills allows you some self-protection, even against minor ghosts, doesn’t it?"

Upon hearing that, Wan An was tempted, "Does Brother Ma have a way? If I truly can buy a True Skill allowing this old bones to cultivate some self-protective power, how much gold do I need? I might ask my grandson for more."

Seizing the chance, Ma Hongtu leisurely poured a cup of wine but didn’t drink it, twirling the cup lightly as he chuckled, "Old man, you misunderstand. Entering the path of cultivation can’t be settled with Paper Money; you need Cold Crystal Jade meant for Ghost Cultivators!"

Fearing the other wouldn’t take the bait, he lowered his voice to the barest whisper, "You’re not an outsider, which is why I boldly mention this. The Cultivation Technique I can sell is not ordinary. It’s the Ghost Immortal Scripture only cultivable by Yin Messengers, truly allowing an Ascension to Ghost Immortal!"