Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

Chapter 426: Why Does a Ghost Need Money?



Chapter 426: Why Does a Ghost Need Money?

(TL Note: Happy new years!!!)

“Which faction of ghosts do you belong to? Are you from the Nine Nether Sect?” Zhao Po asked, trying to sound intimidating as he interrogated the Drowning Ghost.

The Drowning Ghost shook his head vigorously, emphasizing that he meant no harm. “I ended up here purely by accident, really.”

“I was originally a fisherman from the East Sea. After drowning, I was filled with resentment and turned into a vengeful spirit. By chance, my corpse came across a piece of Yin Wind Stone, and that’s how I became a Drowning Ghost.”

“The East Sea is vast and boundless, with ten thousand kinds of living beings and schools of fish everywhere. I secretly absorbed the yang energy from various Sea Tribes, gradually raising my Cultivation. I advanced from a Drowning Ghost that couldn’t even stand sunlight to one at the Qi Training Stage, gaining enough strength to protect myself.”

“After securing my survival, I relaxed and wandered around the East Sea. Occasionally, I’d leap out of the water to scare people. My boldness grew, and I decided to explore the depths of the East Sea, where I hadn’t dared go when I was alive. But as soon as I left the safe zone, I encountered a fish king weighing over a hundred pounds. It opened its mouth wide, about to swallow me whole.”

“Realizing the danger, I quickly retreated to the safe zone, determined not to leave it again!”

“I continued cultivating slowly in the safe zone, devouring the yang energy from schools of fish, and sometimes even sneaking a bite of the fishermen’s offerings.”

“We fishermen have a tradition of offering sacrifices to the East Sea. But since I had drowned, it was clear that offering to the sea wasn’t going to keep anyone safe, so I ate the offerings without a second thought.”

“Later, I lost track of my cultivation stage as I focused solely on training, ignoring everyone. One day, I encountered a Cultivator who tried to capture me for refinement. I easily drove him off and took his storage ring and some cultivation techniques. After studying the techniques, I realized I had reached the late Foundation Building Stage. By that time, I had already been dead for 200 years.”

“Once I understood the direction of my cultivation, I resumed training. After another 800 years, I finally reached the mid Nascent Soul Stage. During this entire time, I never left the safe zone.”

“I had planned to wait until I reached the Spirit Transformation Stage before venturing out again. But to my surprise, someone ambushed me and knocked me out with a single slap. When I woke up, I was already in this pond.”

Lu Yang interrupted the Drowning Ghost’s story: “So, you have no idea who brought you here?”

“No idea.”

“Any distinctive traits about the person?”

“They were stronger than me.”

“… Continue.”

“After several days, I figured out that I was now near Han Shui City in the Desolate Lands of the The Great Xia dynasty, on the western edge of the central continent, separated by an unimaginable thousands of li from the East Sea.”

“In my current state, I couldn’t board a flying vessel or anything like that, so I had no choice but to stay here.”

“While exploring the area, I encountered a couple in Baishui Village. The man’s name was Liu San, and the woman’s name was Huang Zao’er—she’s the one lying unconscious here.” The Drowning Ghost pointed to the woman beside him, still passed out.

“At first, they were terrified of me, but after seeing I meant no harm, they grew bolder and asked if I could fake Huang Zao’er’s drowning to help them commit insurance fraud. In return, they promised to share part of the compensation with me.”

“At the time, I didn’t have a single coin to my name and was in desperate need of money, so I agreed.”

“With my abilities, it was easy to create the illusion that Huang Zao’er had drowned. Even the coroner couldn’t tell it was fake. After they received the insurance payout, they held a fake funeral for her while secretly hiding her with me.”

“The couple planned to leave Baishui Village after the situation calmed down and move to another city to start a new life.”

“But I didn’t expect this crackdown on ghostly disturbances. The court, in collaboration with the Corpse-Driving Sect, is specifically targeting me.”

“I didn’t want to cause trouble, so I ran whenever I saw people. If I couldn’t run, I just scared them away. Just a few days ago, I scared off a Golden Core Stage cultivator, and now you four Golden Core cultivators have shown up!” The Drowning Ghost looked aggrieved, almost losing its life over a bit of compensation.

None of the four were willing to believe just the Drowning Ghost’s side of the story, so Lu Yang asked, “How did Huang Zao’er end up unconscious?”

“I made her unconscious. Letting her live freely underwater consumes too much spiritual qi, so I knocked her out and put a protective barrier around her. It’s less effort that way.”

“Wake her up.”

“Alright.”

The Drowning Ghost, not daring to disobey, casted a small spell. A spark of light shot from its fingertip, and Huang Zao’er woke up.

Still groggy and unaware of what had happened, Huang Zao’er found herself surrounded by four people and a Living Corpse, the pressure from their presence overwhelming.

Terrified by the scene, Huang Zao’er answered every question truthfully. Her story was nearly identical to the Drowning Ghost’s. The couple had devised a scheme to commit insurance fraud with the Drowning Ghost’s help, intending to scam the merchant guild’s compensation.

“Something still doesn’t add up. Why does a ghost need money?” Meng Jingzhou narrowed his eyes, detecting a flaw in the Drowning Ghost’s story.

Ghosts, with their heavy yin energy, naturally make mortals feel uncomfortable. For a ghost to even enter a city would require a great deal of effort to disguise itself. Buying anything on the street would be nearly impossible, and visiting a merchant guild was out of the question—cultivators working there would see through the ghost’s disguise immediately.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Moreover, how much compensation could they possibly get from mortals? It wouldn’t even be worth a few Spirit Stones. A dignified mid Nascent Soul Stage ghost, who once dominated the East Sea, had no reason to need that little bit of money.

Take, for example, the three glamorous ghosts Little Five, Little Six, and Little Seven—working hard to serve households at night and not even asking for a single coin!

“You’ve got some nerve trying to deceive us!” Meng Jingzhou’s body ignited with fierce True Fire, glaring angrily at the Drowning Ghost.

“No, no! Even ghosts need money for certain things!” The Drowning Ghost cried out in grievance, scrambling to explain.

“Look, I’m a fisherman who drowned in the sea and became a saltwater ghost. Now that I’m in this cold pond, even though the yin energy is sufficient, it’s still freshwater, and I’m not used to it.”

“So, I asked Liu San and Huang Zao’er to use the compensation to buy salt and pour it into the pond. That way, the freshwater would turn into saltwater!”

Lu Yang: “…”

Meng Jingzhou: “…”

Barbarian Bone: “…”

Zhao Po: “…”

This was the first time they had ever heard of ghosts being divided into saltwater ghosts and freshwater ghosts.

Lu Yang secretly sent a voice transmission to Zhao Po, “You guys have a lot of ghosts in the Desolate Lands. Have you ever heard of water ghosts being divided into seawater and freshwater ghosts?”

“The Desolate Lands are separated from the East Sea by an entire continent. This is the first time I’ve seen a ghost from the East Sea,” Zhao Po admitted, feeling like his knowledge was inadequate.

Barbarian Bone was used to this kind of experience and even felt a sense of pride.

Following Brother Lu and Brother Meng, he always learned something new wherever they went.

Everlasting Fairy rolled around on the bed, her small feet kicking in amusement, laughing at Lu Yang’s lack of imagination.

“You see, you’re too narrow-minded! Didn’t I tell you about the two types of first-grade Golden Cores? One is called the ‘Three Rivers Five Lakes Core,’ and the other is the ‘Boundless Ocean Core.’ The biggest difference between them is that one uses freshwater, and the other uses saltwater!”

(TL Note: Mentioned in Chapter 211)

“This esteemed cultivator has already used the Universe in Sleeves Art to absorb the pond water. Just take a taste, and you’ll see!” The Drowning Ghost was still searching for evidence to prove it was telling the truth.

Lu Yang, with a dark expression, asked, “So, where did all the fish in the pond go?”

“They all died from the salt.”

(End of the chapter)


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