Ghost Catching System

Chu Hao leaned against the rock, poking his head out. The two of them saw a bizarre creature covered in bone spikes, its body also covered in rotting flesh, emitting a heavy stench of decay.

The monster was biting a ghost; the unlucky spirit was being torn to shreds, rendered unrecognizable.

Chu Hao cast an appraisal. He saw that the bone-spiked, decaying creature had a combat power value of no more than 2,000, which eased his mind.

Kuwu Beast.

Chu Hao possessed the Ancient Desolate Scripture; any Ghost Demon or evil spirit that had ever appeared in the Yang Realm was recorded within its pages. The Kuwu Beast, according to the Ancient Desolate Scripture, was a strange entity whose existence defied common sense, supposedly being a creature from the space between the Yin and Yang Realms. However, even the author of the Ancient Desolate Scripture wasn’t entirely certain if this was true.

A creature lingering in the cracks between the Yin Realm and the Yang Realm, existing in a state of half-death—this was known as a Kuwu Beast. Kuwu Beasts usually could not return to the Yang Realm, nor would they go to the Yin Realm, living a life of extreme sorrow.

Where did the souls of deceased creatures go when the Underworld didn’t yet exist at the dawn of time? They went to a place of lingering between life and death, a precursor to the Underworld as it’s known today. It was only after the establishment of the Underworld that these Kuwu Beasts, Kuwu people, and Kuwu ghosts were barred from the cycle of reincarnation, simply due to their vast numbers.

This particular Kuwu Beast had been dead for who knew how many years. Covered in bone spikes, it was pecking at ghosts.

BANG!

A stone struck the Kuwu Beast, causing it to stagger and tumble. It quickly scrambled up and, with the sound of colliding bones, displayed its rage in Chu Hao’s direction.

Wang Junshu, startled, blurted out, ”What are you doing?”

Chu Hao wanted to hunt it to see if there would be any gain.

As the Kuwu Beast charged, Chu Hao swung his staff, smashing it to smithereens.

”DING! You’ve killed a Kuwu Beast and gained 10,000 experience points.”

As expected, I got experience points!

Chu Hao walked over to the ghost the Kuwu Beast had been tormenting. The ghost was in extreme pain, already broken into several pieces, yet still alive.

Chu Hao found it unbelievable. For this ghost to still be alive after all that... his eyes were looking right at him.

Shattered into pieces, yet miraculously alive. This is no ordinary ghost; a normal one would have perished long ago.

In the Yang Realm, ordinary people cannot see ghosts. The Underworld, however, was different; due to the rules of heaven and earth, ghosts seemed to possess true physical bodies.

The ghost looked at him with utter despair and uttered a single sentence, ”Save me!”

Chu Hao asked, ”Where is this place, and how far is it from the Ghost Gate Pass?”

After death, all souls were supposed to report to the Ghost Gate Pass, but this ghost was clearly special.

”Save me, and I... I’ll tell you,” the ghost said weakly.

Chu Hao shrugged. ”Look at the state you’re in. How am I supposed to save you?”

The ghost replied, ”In my clothes, there’s a Soul Gathering Talisman. You just need to piece my body together and then affix the Soul Gathering Talisman to it.”

Chu Hao looked puzzled. He then noticed that the ghost’s clothes weren’t modern; they resembled ancient attire. Reaching into the ghost’s pocket, he indeed found a talisman paper—a black talisman paper, its color strikingly unique.

System Notification: ”Soul Gathering Talisman. Exchangeable for 10,000 Pretentiousness Points.”

Chu Hao was shocked. This item could actually be exchanged for ten thousand Pretentiousness Points—that’s an enormous amount!

Upon further thought, it made sense. For a soul, already in pieces, to be gathered and restored by a talisman was indeed a heaven-defying item.

Chu Hao hesitated. This was worth ten thousand Pretentiousness Points. He was currently in the Underworld; with more Pretentiousness Points, his chances of survival would be greater.

Chu Hao said, ”Answer my question first.”

Despite his agony, the ghost replied, ”This is the Land of the Vast Ancient. You’ve all come here, and you’re telling me you don’t know? Stop joking with me.”

Chu Hao stroked his chin. ”What is the Land of the Vast Ancient?”

The ghost was clearly taken aback and sized up the two of them before finally speaking, ”The Land of the Vast Ancient is a region outside the Underworld, the domain of the Foreign Ghost Army. We Ghost Cultivators use this place as a trial ground.”

Chu Hao and Wang Junshu looked astonished. This place is outside the Underworld?

They had never heard of what lay beyond the Underworld, and moreover... What exactly are Ghost Cultivators?

Their curiosity piqued, Chu Hao and Wang Junshu asked again, ”What are Ghost Cultivators?”

The ghost was visibly angered. ”Stop... Stop making fun of me! I’m not going to last much longer.”

In his view, for them to appear in the Land of the Vast Ancient and claim not to know about Ghost Cultivators... they had to be Ghost Cultivators themselves! What else could they be? They must be mocking him.

Wang Junshu glanced at Chu Hao, silently asking whether to save this Ghost Cultivator.

Chu Hao said disdainfully, ”You’re pretty weak yourself, to be tormented into this state by just one Foreign Ghost.”

The self-proclaimed Ghost Cultivator retorted angrily, ”I was ambushed! As if that trash Foreign Ghost could reduce me to this state on its own!”

Suddenly, the Ghost Cultivator sensed something amiss. His nose was mangled, yet he still sniffed the air. ”Why do I smell a living person? How strange.”

A living person? Chu Hao thought.

He asked, ”What would you do if you caught a living person?”

The Ghost Cultivator replied, ”Buddy, don’t joke around. How could there be living people here? But if there really was one, naturally, I’d absorb their Yang Qi. That’s far more profitable than killing a hundred Foreign Ghosts.”

Chu Hao just hummed in understanding and redeemed the Soul Gathering Talisman.

”DING! Host has redeemed the Soul Gathering Talisman, obtaining 10,000 Pretentiousness Points.”

TSK! TSK! This thing is too good. Redeeming it yields ten thousand Pretentiousness Points; it’s absolutely drool-worthy!

Seeing the Soul Gathering Talisman disappear, the Ghost Cultivator became frantic. ”You!!”

Chu Hao said indifferently, ”Sorry, I can’t save you.”

The Ghost Cultivator exclaimed, ”Why?”

Chu Hao replied coolly, ”Because I am exactly the living person you were just talking about.”

”What!”

The Ghost Cultivator’s head buzzed, completely bewildered. Living people? Here? In the Land of the Vast Ancient, a place outside the Underworld? How could that be?!

Ghost Cultivators... So such beings, powerful ones at that, actually exist in the Underworld. Chu Hao’s expression became concerned. From what this Ghost Cultivator said, they seem to have a particular fondness for the living. Heaven only knows how many Ghost Cultivators are in this place.

Wanting to gather more information, Chu Hao asked, ”Tell me, what are Ghost Cultivators?”

The Ghost Cultivator, still reeling from the shock, stared blankly at Chu Hao and Wang Junshu.

Chu Hao didn’t waste any more words. Since their existences were fundamentally incompatible, what else was there to discuss? He pulled out the Ghost-whipping Whip and lashed out.

”AH!” the Ghost Cultivator screamed.

This pain was countless times more excruciating than the torture he had suffered from the Foreign Ghost. The Ghost-whipping Whip truly lived up to its name as a Divine Artifact for punishing ghosts; Chu Hao couldn’t get enough of it.

”Answer my questions properly, and you might be spared further pain,” Chu Hao said.

The Ghost Cultivator, terrified and agonized, pleaded, ”Stop, I... I’ll talk.”

”Ghost Cultivators are practitioners of the Netherworld,” he explained. ”The higher their cultivation and the greater their enlightenment, the higher their status in the Netherworld.”

Chu Hao asked, ”What’s the difference between Ghost Cultivators and Ghost Officiants?”

Fearing another lash from Chu Hao—the pain of which was indescribable—the Ghost Cultivator was truly terrified and hurriedly answered, ”Ghost Cultivators are the pillars of the Netherworld. When the Foreign Ghost Army invades, it is the Ghost Cultivators who resist them. Ghost Officiants and Netherworld Soldiers also include Ghost Cultivators. They are akin to law enforcement in the Netherworld and hold a higher status.”

Chu Hao finally understood. So that’s how it is.