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The remnant souls in the courtyard were too weak to arouse Zhou Yi’s interest.

Based on his past life’s conjectures about ghosts, there was one place that surely housed genuine spirits.

The heavenly prison.

Year-round, it never saw the light of day and was home to many who had been wrongfully imprisoned and died under brutal torture—a perfect setting for the aggrieved and vengeful ghosts.

“Perhaps the reason why the jailers’ life spans are so short is that they are constantly accompanied by shadowy souls, tainted by their yin energy, which reduces their longevity. I’ve been in the heavenly prison for over twenty years and have never heard of a fierce ghost harming anyone, so they aren’t particularly powerful entities,” Zhou Yi reflected.

“I’ll draw another Peaceful Home Talisman and try it out in the heavenly prison tomorrow.”

Zhou Yi planned to stay in the mundane world for a few hundred years, until he could no longer improve his cultivation, and then find a way to reach the Cultivation World.

During this time, the heavenly prison would serve as his base of operations; he had to clean out the hidden spirits. First, to prevent the revelation of the Longevity Dao Fruit, and second, because no one wants ghosts peeping on them.

After the first Peaceful Home Talisman was drawn, Zhou Yi’s brushstrokes flowed much more smoothly the second time around.

After destroying more than a dozen pieces of talisman paper, he finally managed to successfully create another.

“It seems that entry into talisman drawing isn’t so difficult after all. Yu Jie had instruction for several years and yet didn’t succeed. Perhaps I have a natural talent for talisman making?”

Zhou Yi was quite pleased with himself; drawing talismans, though not as lucrative as alchemy, would be a handy skill to have once he entered the Cultivation World.

The next day.

Arriving at the heavenly prison early, Zhou Yi wasn’t sure of the effective range of the Peaceful Home Talisman, so he purposely chose a central location to activate it.

An invisible wave swept across the cells, conjuring gusts of chilling wind out of nowhere.

The wind carried the faint sound of crying and wailing, and the chill brushed past his ears as if someone was whispering secrets.

“As expected, there are many shadowy souls!”

Zhou Yi looked around the heavenly prison, which could well be described as a nest of lingering spirits.

Hanging from the ceiling were humanoid shadows, like bats suspended in a cave, their pairs of crimson eyes all fixed on Zhou Yi. Most were indifferent and emotionless, but some bore poison and hatred, likely those who died by Zhou Yi’s hand in life.

There were even more in the cells—huddled in corners, clinging to walls, or lying on straw mats, each in a different pose.

The prisoners, sleeping alongside shadowy souls every day, didn’t need torture to have their lifespans cut short by the corrosive yin energy.

A shadowy figure emerged silently from the ground and stealthily climbed onto Zhou Yi’s back, with arms formed from mist tightening around his neck.

“Hmph!”

True Yuan flowed out of Zhou Yi’s body, and the shadow melted into nothingness like butter in fire amidst a shriek of agony.

“Out of compassion, I shall send you all on your way to reincarnation!”

His True Yuan transformed into Sword Qi, sweeping out fast as lightning, pulverizing the remnants of souls before they could even think to flee.

“Senior, spare my life…”

A woman’s startled cry came from above, and Zhou Yi saw a shadow slowly morphing, revealing a face and materializing a dress of emerald green mist.

“A female ghost!”

Zhou Yi flashed in front of the woman, examining her with curiosity, “You seem somewhat familiar?”

The woman said, “Senior, I am Huang Yuniang, the daughter of Huang Heng from the Ministry of Rites. I was imprisoned here a year ago, and during that time, you took care of me…”

“You’re Old Huang’s daughter?”

Zhou Yi quickly recalled Huang Heng, who was wrongfully imprisoned a year ago on charges of embezzlement.

A mere fifth-rank official accused of embezzling three thousand taels of silver, he didn’t qualify for the heavenly prison, let alone his wife and daughter being imprisoned with him.

The reason behind it was simple. Wei Chang, a notorious lecher from Divine Capital, had unexpectedly seen Huang Yuniang’s beauty and, disregarding his own dignity and public ridicule, sent for her hand in marriage.

He proposed to make Huang Yuniang his concubine and promised to ensure Huang Heng’s promotion and prosperity in return!

Considering himself from an honorable lineage, Huang Heng could not endure such an insult and harshly rebuked Wei Chang as shameless.

A few days later, he was denounced by a colleague, accused of accepting three thousand taels of silver from merchants while supervising the National Academy’s repairs.

Wei Chang originally intended to keep the family of three in the heavenly prison to bring them to their senses, hoping to continue with the marriage later. However, Huang Heng, frail in health, died within a month.

His wife followed him in despair, while Huang Yuniang, to avoid Wei Chang’s harassment, took her own life in the cell.

Zhou Yi felt pity for the Huang family’s plight and always gave them a few extra spoonfuls of porridge when serving meals.

“Back then you were disheveled, and I wondered why Wei Chang would be in such a rush, even for someone like you.”

“My father said many women were abused in the heavenly prison, so he told me to mar my appearance to avoid…”

Huang Yuniang corrected herself, “Senior, of course, you’re different. You only punish the bad and the wicked, never mistreating the wrongfully accused.”

“You saw all that?”

Zhou Yi’s voice remained calm and impassive, his True Yuan ready to become a sword at any moment.

As a wronged spirit, Huang Yuniang had become extremely sensitive to life force and hastily explained.

“I am aware that senior is an Innate Grandmaster, fond of drinking and listening to prisoners’ stories, secretly slaying those who try to break out, and turning a blind eye to the wrongfully accused attempting to escape…”

“Hmm.”

These past two years, after making significant progress with the Devouring Heaven Demonic Technique, Zhou Yi had not shown any anomalies since absorbing Inner Qi no longer increased his True Yuan.

The only thing that might be considered a flaw was his eternally unchanging appearance!

“Why are you different from those other remnants?”

There were more than a hundred lingering spirits in the heavenly prison, all dazed remnants except for Huang Yuniang.

Huang Yuniang obediently replied, “Senior, after my death, my soul attached itself to the Jade Hairpin, and by being nurtured by it, I was able to retain my intellect and memory.”

Zhou Yi asked further, “As a ghost, do you understand any Divine Skills or techniques?”

“I can absorb the essence of humans to strengthen my ghostly form, and I can possess people to disturb their spirits,” said Huang Yuniang.

“However, I can only possess the weak and ordinary; those who are robust and have strong yang energy are difficult to approach. Those cultivators with substantial achievements exude strong Qi-Blood, and getting near them feels like being scorched by fire.”

Zhou Yi nodded slightly, “So you’re planning to hide here in the heavenly prison instead of going through reincarnation?”

The lingering spirits were far weaker than expected, yet that also made sense since they were merely a year old as ghosts.

“The vendetta against my parents cannot coexist under the same sky!”

Huang Yuniang knelt on the ground and pleaded, “This humble girl asks the senior to lend a hand. After avenging my parents, I am willing to offer my life-sustaining Jade Hairpin and serve you night after night!”

“…”

Zhou Yi was suddenly taken aback and somewhat annoyed, “What are you talking about?”

Huang Yuniang murmured, “Hidden in the shadows, I heard the senior and colleagues talk daily about the Spring Breeze Building, Oiran, and the like; I thought you were of a flirtatious nature.”

After her entire family unjustly died and she became a vengeful ghost, Huang Yuniang had come to a realization.

All the dogmatic social etiquette was meaningless; to avenge her parents, she was willing to become a slave or a maid.

“My surname isn’t Ning!”

Zhou Yi had no interest in ghost knights and said, “There are many in the Heavenly Prison who are worse off than you. A mere Jade Hairpin is not enough to transform into a ghost; is there another reason?”

Huang Yuniang fell silent for a moment, then said, “In life, I liked to read ancient books, and my father specially collected some for me, including a volume of Daoist scripture that I recited day and night, clearing the mind and brightening the spirit.”

Zhou Yi’s eyes lit up, “Recite it for me to hear!”

“The Daoist scripture is named ‘Cultivation of the Spirit Theory by the True Person of Qing Wei’.”

Huang Yuniang recited, “Upon birth, humans embrace the harmony of yin and yang… All methods of nurturing the spirit, the heart should be like that of an infant, serene internally…”

After Zhou Yi memorized and recited it several times to himself, he indeed felt refreshed, with a slightly clearer sense of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

“With such profound scripture, your father never read it?”

Huang Yuniang murmured, “Father could have become a ghost too, but with only one Jade Hairpin to rely on, he urged me with his dying breath not to do evil and chose to let his soul scatter.”

“Old Huang was somewhat inflexible in thinking, but he had a resolute nature.”

Zhou Yi asked, “How am I to help you take revenge, by slapping Wei Kang to death?”

An Innate Grandmaster can undertake an assassination without shedding their face. Only a master of the same level would find it hard to trace. A strand of True Yuan attached inside the target’s body would detonate on its own once the distance was great enough.

If waiting for an opportunity, when the victim carelessly stumbled and hit their head, one could take the moment to stir around inside their brain a bit.

The world would only think that Wei Kang, having committed countless wrongdoings, accidentally tripped and fatally hit his head.

This was the method Zhou Yi thought of in a short time. A normal Innate Grandmaster would hardly bother with such trouble, likely storming into Wei Kang’s residence and beating him to death in front of everyone.

In a melodramatic way, one might say “A Grandmaster must not be insulted,” with an air of overwhelming arrogance!

“The vengeance for my parents must be exacted by my own hands.”

Huang Yuniang said, “With my feeble strength, I cannot leave the ten-zhang range of the Jade Hairpin I reside in. I ask the senior to assist me by placing the Jade Hairpin beneath Wei Kang’s bed.”

“That’s simple.”

Zhou Yi said, “After your revenge is taken, either find a new place to go or enter the cycle of rebirth—you shouldn’t stay in the Heavenly Prison.”

“Senior, could I go to the imperial prison?”

Seeing Zhou Yi’s expression darken, Huang Yuniang quickly continued, “I must also trouble the senior to send this humble girl away from the Divine Capital to find a dark place, and that will suffice.”

Zhou Yi asked, “Why do you not wish to enter the cycle of rebirth?”

Huang Yuniang said, “Even the smallest creature clings to life; I do not know if there is reincarnation in this world, and even if there is, that reborn self would not be the same person.”

Zhou Yi nodded in agreement, “Remember the final instructions of Old Huang.”

Huang Yuniang kowtowed in gratitude, then swore to the heavens.

“I will heed my father’s teachings and never commit harmful deeds. Should I break this vow, let heaven and earth exact their wrath upon me!”

…

Wei Kang’s residence.

The inner quarters.

The sixty-two-year-old Wei Kang, still strong in his later years, had just settled down with his newly taken concubine, Wan Yu, after a half-night of exertions.

In his dreams, he saw boundless white mist rolling, hazy and blurred as if it were the Immortal Realm.

Within the fog appeared a woman in green robes, beautiful as a flower, seductive and affectionate.

“My lord, come over!”

The voice was ethereal and elusive, her form enchanting and voluptuous, and Wei Kang’s gaze was immediately fixed.

“My beauty, wait for me…”

As he said so, he rushed forward, only to grasp at air; her voice then came from behind him again.

“My lord, I am here!”

With eyes only for the gorgeous woman, Wei Kang pursued her relentlessly, no matter how many times he missed, completely unaware that his lower body was gradually becoming transparent.

At this moment.

The day had already brightened.

Not daring to disturb Wei Kang, the concubine carefully rose to see the lady of the house.

By midday, Wei Kang was still deep in slumber, unresponsive like a walking corpse.

Only then did people realize something serious had occurred!

When the old dowager learned of this situation, she hastily called for Imperial Physician Ge from the palace to examine him.

After taking his pulse carefully, Imperial Physician Ge shook his head, “The lord of our country shows a normal pulse, only a bit weak and unreceptive to nourishment; he shouldn’t be comatose.”

Having enquired in detail, the old dowager sent someone to escort Imperial Physician Ge back to the palace.

Wei Kang’s eldest legitimate son, Wei Chang, volunteered, claiming he wanted to discuss his father’s condition with Imperial Physician Ge to seek a proficient doctor for treatment.

Once they were outside the door, Wei Chang lowered his voice and inquired.

“Imperial Physician Ge, can my father still wake up? With such prolonged unconsciousness, could there be danger to his life?”

“My medical skills are humble; the Princely Heir should seek others for consultation.”

Imperial Physician Ge dared not say more and hurried onto the carriage.