A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

’What is this trial testing?’

At a square table, Lü Zhong sat cross-legged, lost in thought.

Thanks to his extensive experience in Talisman Making, he spent less than an hour creating three dozen talismans: two dozen Evil Exorcism Talismans and one dozen of the more potent Evil-breaking Talismans.

He didn’t make them all Evil-breaking Talismans because they required an exorbitant amount of Yang Qi.

Moreover, since he was using his own blood to create them, it was impossible to make only Evil-breaking Talismans without risking excessive blood loss, which would in turn affect his strength. He had to settle for the next best option and use some Tier One Evil Exorcism Talismans to fill out the ranks.

Still, this would be more than enough.

A single Evil Exorcism Talisman was sufficient to obliterate the souls of mere ghosts.

He pondered for a moment, but with so little information, Lü Zhong came up empty. He couldn’t deduce the purpose of the trial.

Just then, a bell tolled!

DONG!

Midnight had arrived!

Outside the window, the darkness suddenly deepened. A parade of a hundred ghosts was on the move.

A strange wind rose from nowhere, rushing toward the candle flame inside the room.

”Hmph!” The snort was as sharp as a clap of thunder.

Without even a glance, Lü Zhong seized the blood-stained brush with his power and hurled it into the gust. A piercing shriek rang out as a ghostly shadow materialized.

It was only a small, tusked fiend.

Scorched by the Yang Qi, it instantly turned to ash.

A moment of silence fell outside.

Then, the sound of water came from the kitchen, followed by a great SPLASH, as if something dripping wet was climbing out of the stinking water cistern.

DRIP, DRIP... The sound of dripping water drew closer.

A bloated, humanoid figure emerged from the kitchen, raising its claws and lunging at Lü Zhong.

To be honest, it didn’t scare Lü Zhong.

It did, however, thoroughly disgust him.

With a flick of his wrist, he flung out an Evil Exorcism Talisman, and the room was instantly lit up as if by a golden torch.

Finally, as payback for the revulsion he’d just felt, Lü Zhong made sure to toss an Evil-breaking Talisman out the window, intending to teach the things outside a lesson.

For a moment, it was as if the sky had brightened.

After a chorus of ghostly wails and demonic howls, silence returned to the surroundings.

Even the night air seemed to turn as gentle as water.

The rest of the night passed without incident.

「The next day was a rare, brilliantly sunny day.」

Unfortunately, a thick shroud of resentment hung over the village, making the scorching sun appear somewhat dim. Though it should have been the sweltering dog days of summer, the sunlight felt cold on the skin, devoid of any warmth.

When Lü Zhong stepped out of the house, he saw the ground covered in Resentful Spirit Dust. He surmised that a great number of ghosts must have been incinerated last night. ’This might be useful,’ he thought, and with a sweep of his sleeve, he collected it all.

In order to pass the trial, he began searching for information.

Protected by his Spirit Talismans, he strode brazenly toward the village center.

He hadn’t even gotten close when he heard the sound of weeping.

It was faint and intermittent, almost imaginary.

As Lü Zhong drew nearer, he discovered a figure in mourning clothes at the entrance to the ancestral hall. Its back was turned to him as it wept, burning paper offerings in a brazier.

Ignoring the figure, Lü Zhong first cast his gaze into the ancestral hall.

Inside, coffins were stacked high, leaving only a narrow path for a single person to walk through.

Beyond this narrow passage, the hall’s interior was dark and deep. In the center rested a blood-red sarcophagus, which was still dripping blood as a seething, malevolent aura ceaselessly overflowed from it.

Seeing this, Lü Zhong began to understand the purpose of the trial.

’They throw someone into the Wilderness Ghost Village and strip away their power, most likely to create a special environment to test a cultivator’s adaptability.’

’To pass this trial, I’ll probably have to deal with the coffins in the ancestral hall.’

To test his theory, Lü Zhong took a detour to get a look at the front of the figure burning paper offerings. When he saw its bleeding, ferocious face, he thought, ’Good thing I was cautious and didn’t just walk up and ask it questions.’

’Otherwise, if this vicious ghost had attacked, I would’ve been in for a world of hurt.’

As if sensing his gaze, the ghastly creature lifted its head.

Before it could speak, an Evil-breaking Talisman was already flying toward its face.

”AAAAAH!”

Amidst piercing screams, the vicious ghost was burned to a pile of ashes by the Yang Qi.

After dispatching the vicious ghost, Lü Zhong collected the Resentful Spirit Dust. He no longer felt the substance was useful but gathered it out of habit. Once he was done, he glanced back at the ancestral hall. Influenced by the death of the ghost at the entrance, the Blood Coffin had begun to vibrate.

”Mere ghosts dare to make trouble?”

Lü Zhong snorted, not an ounce of fear in his heart. With a wave of his hand, he sent a full dozen Evil Exorcism Talismans flying. They transformed into twelve streaks of light and shot directly at the ancestral hall.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Unexpectedly, a Barrier materialized outside the ancestral hall.

Though it twisted and warped from the impacts, it still managed to block the Evil Exorcism Talismans.

At the same time, the sound of churning earth erupted behind him.

Lü Zhong turned to see a crowd of undecomposed Walking Dead. Judging by their clothes, they were once residents of this village, but some unknown tragedy had befallen them, leading to them being refined into Walking Dead and buried before the ancestral hall.

Their bodies now glowed with a bloody light. Controlled by the Blood Coffin in the hall, they all lunged at him, intent on tearing the living man to pieces.

Without a second glance, he flicked out an Exorcism Talisman.

As a vast wave of Yang Qi erupted, the corpses once again fell still.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! With the horde of Walking Dead dealt with, Lü Zhong shifted his focus back to the ancestral hall. Without hesitation, he launched three Evil-breaking Talismans.

As expected, the Barrier formed from resentful energy could not hold. It shattered, and the ancestral hall collapsed along with it. The coffins inside scattered across the ground, releasing a multitude of Vengeful Spirits with ghastly appearances. Before they could even reveal their malevolent nature, they were struck by the residual Yang Qi and their souls were annihilated.

With the obstacles cleared from his path, Lü Zhong walked smoothly up to the Blood Coffin.

Without a second look, he kicked the coffin over.

What rolled out was not a ghost, but a living, breathing old Daoist. However, he had been so deeply corroded by Yin Qi that he had long become something half-human, half-ghost.