A good businessman will usually have a way to certify that their merchandise is in good condition, to ensure they have the trust and approval of the customer. If the businessman skips that step and just directly starts trying to sell the product to the customer, the results wouldn’t be as good. But with certified proof from an impartial party, things would be very different.

That was why Xu Qing needed to come to the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar. This was only the first step in his plan, but it was a very important one. If this part of the plan didn’t work out, then he had contingencies, although the plan would then have become a lot more complicated.

His ultimate goal was to be a good businessman, and make a deal with the Ghost Emperor’s three spiritual souls and seven physical souls. The spirit automaton of the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar provided his certification.

After an incense stick’s worth of time, the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar’s spirit automaton used a special method to communicate with the three spiritual souls and seven physical souls. After that, Xu Qing left.

He stood atop Qingqin’s right head as the great bird flew in the direction of the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain.

The further south he got, the less snow there was. The lands gradually changed from white to green, until eventually he saw the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River. All of a sudden, he found himself wrapped up in memories. How could he have imagined when he left that he would end up being gone for years? And how could he have guessed that he would return like this?

Qingqin let loose a caw that brought Xu Qing out of his memories.

“Senior, we can’t just randomly go around wiping out species. But I’ll try to find a good opportunity for you soon.”

Qingqin seemed a bit disappointed as he flapped his wings and followed Xu Qing’s directions toward the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain. Not too much time passed before they had arrived.

In these lands, the mountains were like skeletons, the trees were like bones. Human skin formed the ground covering, with clumps of hairlike vegetation. And it was scraped dry by a harsh wind that turned everything as dark as night. From high in the air, it was possible to see mounds of corpses and pools of blood everywhere. A hellish stench filled the place.

In the past, Xu Qing had wondered why the Swordsage Court allowed an organization like this to exist. But now he understood. The Ghost Emperor wasn’t really dead. And he was so powerful that his three spiritual souls and seven physical souls possessed undying power. In other words, as long as the Ghost Emperor still existed, they couldn’t perish. Perhaps it wasn’t that they couldn’t die, but rather, that it was impossible to kill them. What was more, if the situation got extremely urgent, and they were willing to give up their independence, then the Ghost Emperor… might awaken.

If that happened, then the existence of every living being in Sea-Sealing County could be determined by a single thought on the part of the Ghost Emperor.

That was something nobody wanted to bet on.

Based on what the Swordsage Palace knew of this ancient Smoldering God, if he woke up, he would be famished, and it was entirely possible that he could devour entire prefectures and even counties. That was why the governor had always treated the Ghost Emperor with as much care as any forbidden ground.

In the final analysis, it just went to show how much humans had declined. In the days of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, the three spiritual souls and seven physical souls would have remained fully suppressed, and there wouldn’t have been any chance that the Ghost Emperor could wake up.

The three spiritual souls and seven physical souls all knew the reality of the situation, which was why they didn’t go too far in building power structures. And the small nations within their borders were made up of all sorts of species.

Xu Qing didn’t have a good impression of the three spirits. However, considering the urgent situation on the front lines, he had to suppress that dislike.

As he neared the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain, winds swirled, the ground quaked, and rifts opened up in the sky. In the past, the mountain had featured three enormous peaks. Now there were only two. The mountain that had once been Nethersprite’s home was a crumbled mound. As for the other two mountain peaks, though, they were still enormous thrones like they had been before.

On the right side was a huge throne made of bones, and surrounded by countless deceased souls. Sitting on it was a gigantic emaciated figure, with a fleshy hump on his back covered with greenish-red veins that pulsed and wriggled. That was one of the three spirits, the earthly soul. It was August Spirit Sunslaughter! He looked up, his gaze cold as he observed Qingqin flying toward him.

The other mountain peak was surrounded by black mist, making it difficult to see what was within. However, raspy breathing could be heard from within. That was the strongest of the Ghost Emperor mountain’s souls, the heavenly spiritual soul. It was August Spirit Sporelight!

Surrounding the mountain were countless cultivators who trembled as they sensed the pressure from above.

“Halt!” said August Spirit Sunslaughter.

“CAW!”

Given how ferocious Qingqin was, there was no way he would just blithely obey August Spirit Sunslaughter. Instead, he started slowly flying circles over the mountain. In fact, he even stretched his left head down and gobbled up some of the cultivators from down below. Chewing sounds echoed out, mixed with screams. Apparently Qingqin liked the flavor, so he dropped down and landed on the ground. His massive frame was even larger than the mountain itself, so he just stood there eating some of the terrified cultivators from below while glaring challengingly at the earthly spiritual soul. 𝙡𝙞𝒓𝙚𝓪𝙙.𝒄𝓸𝓶

That said, he was aware of Xu Qing’s larger goal here, so after looking around, he extended his right head out until it was just in front of the mountain.

August Spirit Sunslaughter ignored the chaos amongst his subordinates and fixed his gaze on Xu Qing.

“I remember you, insect!” he said coldly. “How dare you come back here!”

From within the defensive shield cast by Qingqin, Xu Qing looked back calmly at August Spirit Sunslaughter and said, “If I’m an insect, then what are you?”

Xu Qing didn’t waste any more words. He activated his Ghost Emperor palace, and also threw out a handful of demonization talismans. Instantly, a projection of the Ghost Emperor mountain appeared. Majestic pressure radiated out as the Ghost Emperor’s eyes opened, causing the entire Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain to tremble.

And yet, August Spirit Sunslaughter’s facial expression remained the same as before.

“A projection created from enlightenment, inserted into a heavenly palace, and summoned via Supreme Void demonization talismans. There’s a lot involved in doing that. But you’re not the only one who can do it. All of the three spiritual souls and seven physical souls are still around. What did you think you were going to do? Say you’re the reincarnation of the Ghost Emperor? That you have the Ghost Emperor’s legacy?” August Spirit Sunslaughter stared at Xu Qing. “What a joke! That spirit automaton isn’t on the same level as us. It’s a servant, nothing more. Its senses are a bit one-sided, and besides, it surrendered to humans. That message you had it send us did nothing.

“This war is between you humans and the Holytides. We’re not going to lift a finger. The fact that you forced Nethersprite into helping out is already as far as we’ll let you go.”

With that, Sunslaughter closed his eyes.

Xu Qing remained calm. He’d known all along that it wouldn’t be easy to strike a deal. Given the level of Sunslaughter’s cultivation base, he would obviously know why Xu Qing had come.

“What happens,” Xu Qing said, “if I take my Ghost Emperor palace and upgrade it into a nascent soul? And after it’s a nascent soul, what if I make the Ghost Emperor projection into a dao soul? Then, what if I take it to the next step, and when I reach the Spirit Trove level, I turn it into one of my secret troves, and combine it with a heavenly dao? If I summon it then, will you still look down on it?”

Sunslaughter’s eyes remained closed as he coolly replied, “You want the Ghost Emperor as a secret trove? The secret troves of the Spirit Trove level need to start out as minor worlds that plunder heavenly daos and assimilate them. Heavenly daos are inherently arrogant, so even if you assimilate one, you can’t force it to do anything. You could never even think of fusing one with the Ghost Emperor!”

“What if it was my personal, life essence heavenly dao, and it would do anything I wanted?” Xu Qing waved his hand, and his bluegreen dragon appeared, pulsing with the might of a heavenly dao, as well as a connection to his life force. When it roared, it sounded like heavenly thunder crashing in all directions.

August Spirit Sunslaughter’s eyes snapped open. It was the first time he had reacted visibly.

On the other mountain occupied by the heavenly spiritual soul, the black mist suddenly stopped seething, and the sound of breathing ceased.

Xu Qing continued. “What if my cultivation base eventually reaches the Void Returning level, and I use Void Returning strength to manifest an entire world? What if I put the Ghost Emperor mountain in there and turn it into a ghost world? And then I connect it to the secret trove and my Ghost Emperor projection which was already fused with a heavenly dao? And they all combine…? If that happened, and I said I had the legacy of the Ghost Emperor, would you still say it was impossible?”

After a short moment of silence, August Spirit Sunslaughter growled, “It’ll take far too long to do that. Besides, there’s no way of knowing if you’ll actually pull it off!”

Xu Qing shook his head. “I’m not sure why you yourself haven’t done this. Perhaps it’s because your identity makes it impossible for you. Or perhaps it would disturb the balance between all of you. Either way, it doesn’t matter. As for it taking too long, that doesn’t matter either. What does matter is that I’m giving you a possibility! It’s the possibility of becoming complete as I get stronger!

“All I have to do is complete that legacy, and then it won’t matter if I have complete control over the Ghost Emperor mountain. I’ll still be able to break the shackles binding you to the mountain. You’ll be able to keep your undying power, but at the same time, be an independent entity. In the truest sense, you’ll be free.

“This deal is a simple one for you. You don’t actually have to do anything. Even that spirit automaton understands the situation.”

Xu Qing was being serious. Based on his previous understanding, plus details he’d uncovered in the Swordsage Palace, he had come to realize what the Ghost Emperor’s three spiritual souls and seven physical souls actually wanted. They wanted independence. Freedom. And they also wanted to keep their undying power.

Sunslaughter remained silent for a very long moment. He had no choice but to admit that this swordsage’s hypothesis was logical and also feasible. And just as the swordsage said, the three spiritual souls and seven physical souls wouldn’t have to do anything to make it happen. It would be great if the plan worked, and if it didn’t, it wouldn’t harm them at all.

He looked over at the black mist, within which was the heavenly soul.

All of a sudden, an ear-piercing voice erupted from the black mist. “If we don’t have to do anything, then we shouldn’t have to go to war with the Holytides.”

Xu Qing breathed an inward sigh of relief. The fact that they were still talking went to show that his offer had some merit. He knew full well that he was trying to sell a story. And these people weren’t fools. But as long as his story was good enough, feasible, and logical, then it meant he had already hooked them. Now he just needed to make sure it sounded worth it to them. And that meant he just needed to fix the right price.

“I don’t want you to go to the battlefield and fight the Holytides,” he said, his voice softening. “I just want you to help me with Forbidden by the Zombie. One time. After that, you can sit back and do nothing. You can just wait for your freedom to come to you.”

This time, he wasn’t using threats. He was just being practical. Everything he had said was the truth. All it relied on was him continuously becoming stronger over time.

In the end, he was still selling a story. But it was a very well-rounded story. And the price he was asking for wasn’t very dramatic. Stupid people might be swayed by their emotions to make a decision, but not these two. These two souls… wouldn’t do much of anything unless the price was right.

Silence reigned on the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain.

Th𝑖s chapter is updated by 𝑙𝘪𝓇𝑎𝒹.𝘤𝑜𝘮