chapter 17

Sensing something unusual, Su Yu made a few more slashes. But after just a few breaths, he noticed that the wound on his face slowly started to heal, the blood stopping as well.

Su Yu then touched the place where his leg had been broken earlier. He had forgotten—where there had once been exposed bone, now there was only unbroken skin. All the injuries he had sustained on South Wu Mountain had disappeared. The wounds were gone without a trace, as though he had never been injured.

The Ink Beast, seeing his actions and noticing that Su Yu was about to try again on his face, hurriedly stopped him. "Wait! Don't cut it anymore… Don't human cultivators care about their appearance? You've used so much force, and you can see the bone!"

Su Yu's face was visibly slashed to the bone, but in no time, the flesh covered the bones again, and the wound healed.

He put down the bloodstained stone and suddenly asked, "What about the pearl's effect?"

The Ink Beast paused, "How did you know?"

Su Yu thought to himself that it was as he suspected. The healing of his injuries wasn't due to the totem, but because of the Ink Spirit Pearl.

He had been injured before, and the totem hadn't had such powerful healing abilities. The totem in his Dantian could only make a loud fuss and force him to stay alive, hanging on to his life, but it hadn't had the miraculous ability to heal like this. The only thing that could bring about healing was likely the Ink Spirit Pearl that had recently entered his Dantian.

"You swallowed the Ink Spirit Pearl," the Ink Beast said, lying flat, sounding weak. "It's a spiritual treasure from the ancient times, and also the core of the Mountain Seal Monument. South Wu Mountain is ruined now, but by swallowing the Ink Spirit Pearl, your Dantian has become the place where the Ink Spirit Pearl will form its monument."

No normal person would swallow the Ink Spirit Pearl. It was famous as the Mountain Seal Monument, and the places where the monument was established in the past were always places rich in the energy of heaven and earth.

But here was a human, not a place of spiritual veins, and this was the first time the Ink Beast had ever seen the Ink Spirit Pearl form a monument inside a human body.

The Ink Beast's tail scraped the ground, glancing at the totem, before continuing, "In other words, unless you die, you are now the only host of the Ink Spirit Pearl and the master of the Evil Abyss. As long as the Ink Spirit Pearl still has pure energy, it will automatically protect its host."

Protect him? Su Yu pressed his hand against his abdomen, his expression unclear. Although the Evil Abyss had now devolved into just a single Ink Spirit Pearl, this pearl not only provided him with pure energy but also healed him.

With just these two effects, this pearl had become something quite significant to him.

After passing through South Wu Mountain, Su Yu had realized that only when his sea of consciousness was disturbed intensely did his confused memories within his sea of consciousness become more pronounced. Since falling from the cliff, he didn't know where he had come from, nor who had placed him in a life-and-death situation.

This feeling unsettled him.

The pure energy provided by the pearl worked much faster than allowing his totem to slowly absorb the external Yin energy. Not only did this pure energy suppress his occasional hunger, but it also stimulated his sea of consciousness and helped control the totem within his body…

It was a bit troublesome, but it did have some use.

"You said it can form a monument—how does it form a monument?" Su Yu asked.

The Ink Beast had been talking for a long time without seeing any reaction from him. But now that it saw Su Yu was finally interested, it couldn't help but get excited and said tearfully, "You're interested now, aren't you?"

Su Yu: "Stop talking nonsense."

"The Ink Spirit Pearl is a spiritual item from ancient times. Back then, it could be embedded into a stone tablet to form the Mountain Seal Monument. One reason was that it was placed in a place rich in spiritual veins, and the other reason was that it had many ghost followers to support it, which gave the monument its spiritual energy." The Ink Beast summarized, "Now the Ink Spirit Pearl has taken root in your spiritual eye, so the first step is done. What we need now is…"

"Where will the ghost followers come from?" Su Yu frowned and asked.

The Ink Beast: "..."

Where would the ghosts come from…? Before, the seal had been broken, and the Mountain Seal Monument was gone.

The ghosts who could run had escaped, and the ones that couldn't had their souls scattered. The remaining Yin energy in the mountain had all been consumed by this brat, leaving nothing.

"Because now the Ink Spirit Pearl has its own spirit, we don't need to awaken it like in the ancient times… The simplest way to form a monument is to send more Yin energy into the Ink Spirit Pearl," the Ink Beast said carefully, its voice tentative. "You absorbed the Yin energy from South Wu Mountain earlier, and I was able to materialize. Now, as long as we send enough Yin energy, the Ink Spirit Pearl will grow and form a monument."

Su Yu tried to send the Yin energy in his Dantian toward the Ink Spirit Pearl. The pearl absorbed all of it. After a few more tries, the black color of the pearl seemed to become more solid.

It seemed the Ink Beast wasn't lying. This Ink Spirit Pearl could indeed absorb the Yin energy to advance.

"I'm bound to you now. I would never deceive you!" The Ink Beast, seeing that it had been given permission, carefully avoided the totem and secretly began to extract the Yin energy from Su Yu's Dantian. "Don't worry, I know where the escaping ghosts went. We can chase after them and capture them to form the ghost followers of the Evil Abyss—"

Before the Ink Beast could finish its words, there was a rustling sound nearby, accompanied by faint voices.

The Ink Beast immediately became alert and said, "Someone is coming."

The sudden noise broke Su Yu's train of thought. He glanced around, and in the dark, formless vision, a few strange glows appeared.

South Wu Mountain wasn't a safe place. The sounds were coming from afar, likely from cultivators patrolling the mountain.

Su Yu calmly pushed the surrounding broken bones and bloody clothes into the dirt pit, then wiped the remaining blood off his body. He reached for the tattered clothes placed beside him.

These clothes likely still contained the spiritual energy of the cultivator who wore them, as they didn't feel completely torn apart when touched.

"They'll be here in a little while, enough time for you to put the clothes on…" The Ink Beast said, then paused, seeing Su Yu's awkward attempt at putting on the clothes. It was stunned for a moment. "You… you don't know how to put on clothes, do you?"

Su Yu struggled to put on the clothes, his movements awkward, and he couldn't even tie the belt properly. The outer robe hung loosely on him. When he heard the Ink Beast's question, his hand paused for a moment. His sea of consciousness was a mess, and although he knew that people needed to wear clothes and knew how to wear them, when it came to doing it himself, he felt strangely unaccustomed, like he was an observer rather than the one putting the clothes on.

This feeling was unfamiliar, as if he had seen people wear clothes but had never done it himself.

No matter how much the Ink Beast knew, it understood that if a powerful cultivator discovered this human child, it would be in deep trouble. Panicking, it hurriedly guided him: "Hurry, put your left arm in first, the left side! Why are you putting the right side in?!"

The news of the ancient seal at South Wu Mountain had already spread. The Qi family, following Xuan Yu Villa, came to the area, and the most satisfying part for them was the opportunity to suppress the Su family. Over the past few years, the two major families in the Southern Region had been openly at odds, especially after the Su family allied with the Northern Region's Cang Xue Sect. The Qi family had often been suppressed by the Su family, not to mention the recent secret events involving the Su family and the Gu family. The Qi family was far from pleased.

But this dissatisfaction changed after the news of the ancient seal spread from South Wu Mountain. The Su family had initially discovered the ancient seal. If they had been the first to control it, other factions would have had nothing to say. But the Su family couldn't take the ancient seal, and when things escalated, their misconduct became widely criticized. Xuan Yu Villa intervened, and the remaining tasks were left to the Qi family.

A few Qi family cultivators were discussing the situation freely.

"Did you hear? The Su family's spirit boat was driven out by Xuan Yu Villa. I heard that an elder has already arrived at Tianluo Mountain. You know, whenever an ancient relic appears, they have to inform Tianluo Mountain. The Su family couldn't take control of this place, and they tried to hide it. They've forgotten about the extreme northern Demon Abyss from a few hundred years ago. Now the Su family can't explain themselves, and they're about to make enemies with Tianluo Mountain."

"What does it have to do with the Su family? They've suffered, and we stand to gain. This time, our young master will definitely suppress the Su family."

The cultivators looked toward the young master walking leisurely nearby. He wore an exquisite robe, with expensive accessories at his waist. His face was full of youthful energy, and his presence was completely out of place in the desolate, wind-swept South Wu Mountain. In addition, at his feet was a demonic beast no taller than an adult's knee. The beast, too, was dressed in an extravagant robe, with snow-white fur gleaming and a sturdy body resembling a little chubby creature.

The young master waved a fan with gold and jade inlays, casually tossing a priceless golden spirit fruit. The small demonic beast jumped and caught it. The master and beast walked in tandem, shining brightly, their accessories jingling as they moved.

At that moment, the little demonic beast seemed to notice something. It suddenly ran away from the young master, darting into a nearby patch of low grass.

The other cultivators hurried to follow. As they leapt into the grass, they saw the little demonic beast rush toward a withered tree, baring its teeth as it appeared to be licking something. The Qi family cultivators hurried forward to see what was happening, and they stopped upon seeing the beast lying on top of a person, licking them repeatedly.

"You are…?" One of the Qi family cultivators froze, his gaze falling on the figure lying beneath the demonic beast.

The person was in tattered clothes, several rips and tears visible. But more importantly, the person was a young boy, perhaps fifteen or sixteen years old. His face was pale and devoid of color, and his half-naked, fair skin was stained with dirt, as though he had been through a chaotic escape. He was hurriedly pushing the demonic beast off him, his wrist too thin to have much strength. He was struggling to keep the beast from getting closer.

The Qi family cultivators had never seen this person before. He was an unfamiliar face, and there was no family emblem on his clothes, so he must have been an independent cultivator who accidentally stumbled into this place.

The demonic beast seemed intent on getting closer to the young boy, but Qi Yan raised his hand to stop the others from approaching and called to the beast, "Little ginseng, don't scare him."

The demonic beast halted in its tracks. It still wanted to approach the boy, but it had to stop because of its master's command. Its tail flicked back and forth, making a whimpering sound.

Su Yu heard the sounds around him lessen and looked up at the speaker. His vision revealed several flashes of light, and among them, the most intense was the person speaking. He had already realized that these flashes of light were the spiritual energy gathered in a cultivator's body, and the person who was called "young master" had the highest cultivation of this group. The mixed and scattered energy around him…?

"That's the demonic energy of the demonic beast. This person is not simple. This young demonic beast has a very high bloodline." The Ink Beast explained. "One of the abilities of the natural spiritual eyes is that you can see the spiritual energy of the world, the spiritual energy of cultivators, the demonic energy of beasts, and the Yin energy of evil spirits. You can see all of it."

In the Eastern Chu cultivation world, the cultivation of "qi" was paramount. Cultivators breathed and absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to reach the level of a revered elder. But all beings in the world, not just humans, had their own energies—humans cultivated spiritual energy, demons cultivated demonic energy, and ghosts cultivated ghostly energy, each having its own level of attainment. Once someone started on the path of cultivation, they would condense the energy in their body, which could then be seen as "qi" by those with natural spiritual eyes.

Seeing Qi Reveals a Person's True Nature, and Can Also Pierce Illusions

The sudden approach of the demonic beast was likely due to the chaotic spiritual energy around it. Perhaps it had sensed the surrounding aura and couldn't resist acting on it.

Noticing that the cultivators had not moved any closer, Su Yu slightly turned his face, eyeing them with some suspicion. Could it be that a swordsman was not among these people?

"Don't worry, I've cast an illusion technique to disguise you. They won't recognize you," the Ink Beast quickly intervened, using the Yin Qi from the Ink Spirit Pearl to cast an illusion around Su Yu. It hadn't expected that this cultivator wouldn't even know how to perform the simplest illusion technique, relying on it to help: "I can only obscure your face. In their eyes, your appearance will change slightly, but I can't hide your eyes or body. You'd better not expose yourself in front of them. Find a way to cover it up…"

While saying this, the Ink Beast suddenly noticed a Golden Core cultivator tossing a golden fruit towards the little chubby demonic beast. It couldn't help but lick its teeth. "Golden Spirit Fruit... this scent, at least a hundred years old... How can you eat so much and not choke on it?"

Su Yu didn't pay any attention to the Ink Beast's mumbling. After ensuring his face was concealed, he began to carefully observe the approaching cultivators.

This was his first time being so close to cultivators, apart from having had direct contact with a soul entity like Zhang Fugui.

The surroundings quieted down, and while Su Yu was observing the cultivators, the Qi family cultivators were also scrutinizing him.

Qi Yan dismissed the other cultivators and the demonic beast, then cautiously approached the young boy.

As soon as he approached, the boy took a small step back, his movements indicating avoidance. "Which sect are you from, fellow cultivator? I am from the Baihong Qi family of the Southern Region in Donghuan. The conflict at South Wu Mountain has been handled by the Qi family and Xuan Yu Villa, who are currently sealing the mountain. If you face any difficulties, feel free to ask the Qi family for help."

After a moment, the boy did not respond. Instead, he looked around, seemingly testing the situation.

Qi Yan then noticed the boy's eyes. His gaze was dull, as though he couldn't see anything. Even when avoiding the demonic beast, his pupils showed no reaction. Could this person be blind?

Qi Yan, who was adept at reading people's expressions, frowned. Normally, when people heard the Qi family or Xuan Yu Villa's name, they would show some sort of reaction. But this boy not only didn't react, he didn't show any sign of surprise or doubt. Qi Yan hesitated before asking, "Fellow cultivator, do you recognize the Qi family?"

The boy, seeing that no one else had made a move, took another small step backward.

Qi Yan frowned further, noticing the boy's strange behavior. He asked again, "Fellow cultivator, do you remember who you are?"

The boy shook his head.

The other Qi family cultivators exchanged confused glances.

This person is blind, yet he doesn't even know who he is…?

There had been many cultivators lost or missing in South Wu Mountain, and the Qi family cultivators had been patrolling the area for that reason. They had already rescued several cultivators, but this boy's condition seemed the most troublesome they had encountered. Seeing the signal from the young master, one of the medical cultivators stepped forward to examine the boy.

As soon as the medical cultivator approached, the boy instinctively pulled back, and when the cultivator touched him, the boy immediately raised his hand to push it away.

Seeing this, the medical cultivator quickly explained, "Fellow cultivator, please don't be alarmed. I am a medical cultivator. I'm just here to check your injuries."

Su Yu had no idea what would happen if he left South Wu Mountain, nor where this place even was.

Previously, he had Zhang Fugui to guide him, but now, with the Ink Beast, which had been living in the mountains for over a thousand years, it was unlikely to be of much use. The Ink Beast had also said that the Yin Qi in South Wu Mountain had dissipated, and since the Ink Spirit Pearl could absorb Yin Qi, he needed to find a place with stronger Yin Qi… There were many cultivators outside, and these were his only chance to leave the mountain.

With that thought, he relaxed his body a little.

The medical cultivator grasped the boy's wrist, and after a moment, sighed in relief. But as he examined further, his frown deepened, and after a long silence, he spoke.

"The pulse is extremely weak, as though Yin energy has entered the body, causing disarray in the breath. There's no trace of spiritual power… Recently, many cultivators we've rescued have been affected by the Yin Qi in South Wu Mountain, leaving them unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, and some have even lost their minds…" The medical cultivator paused before continuing, "His memory is unclear, his eyes don't work, and his condition is more serious. I'm afraid my abilities are insufficient; we'll need a senior cultivator to investigate his situation further."

Qi Yan stared at Su Yu for a while, noticing that the boy didn't react at all, even when others touched him. There was a slight defensive instinct, but it didn't seem like an ordinary reaction. He ordered, "Take him back. When the elders return from patrolling the mountain, let them check on him."

Two Qi family cultivators moved to support Su Yu and started leading him forward.

"You're good at pretending," the Ink Beast said, now less nervous. It had feared that Su Yu would simply throw these cultivators aside, but instead, it praised him. "That young master from the Qi family is at least a peak Golden Core cultivator, and you managed to deceive him."

There was nothing left in the mountains. To help the Ink Spirit Pearl grow, getting close to cultivators was the quickest way.

Cultivators hunt demons and eliminate evil… they know where to find what he needs.

The two Qi family cultivators, one on each side, held onto Su Yu's arm, murmuring comforting words.

Su Yu didn't respond. He lowered his gaze slightly, feeling the residual warmth from their hands on his arm.

When he was carried by Zhang Fugui, the sensation had been the same—cold and lifeless. But now, being touched by others, he felt an instinctive aversion, as if he had to continue playing along. He had already pulled his arm away from the two cultivators.

…It was as if, long ago, he had been forced to rely on others, an uncontrollable sense of disgust, as if he were at the mercy of someone else.

As Su Yu got lost in his thoughts, the mixed Yin Qi in his dantian began to move slowly. Unnoticed in a corner, the Ink Spirit Pearl, which had been fed, began to stir. A vortex of wind formed around it, quietly absorbing the surrounding Yin Qi and continuously drawing it into the pearl. The pearl grew darker, and the faint outline of a monument appeared within.

The Ink Beast lay within the dantian, its tail swishing back and forth.

This boy… doesn't even realize what a treasure he holds, does he?

Totem spiritual eyes, unusual blood, and the Abyss of All Evil…

…This is the young Lord of the Ten Thousand Ghosts.