Chapter 536: Pan Lao (4/10, Autumn Subscription)

"Later, countless people studied this mysterious Ghost Spirit Root, claiming to possess it, yet all of them showed the phenomenon that cultivating the 【Ghost Dao】 would lower a human's strength, and as soon as they fell a realm, the 【Yin Messengers】 would appear on their own! As if cultivating the Ghost Spirit Root was something even more heaven-defying than achieving an immortal's seat! Unacceptable to the Heavenly Dao, eyed by the Yin Messengers!"

"After that, the 【Ghost Spirit Root】 completely became a legend, becoming a monstrous lie. Everyone who chased after the Ghost Spirit Root, without exception, met with a tragic death."

"The examples mentioned above still cultivated normally until the 【Ghost Dao】 raised them a great realm. Most people hadn't even reached that step before dropping dead on the spot. The 【Ghost Dao】, or rather the eerie cultivation path, conflicts with humanity's cultivation methods to begin with. Forcing cultivation would cause the inner 【Origin】 to collapse, let alone anything else. Those who could cultivate results were all great powerhouses."

"Even these great powerhouses all fell before the 【Yin Messengers】, fell before the 【Ghost Spirit Root】. From then on, Ghost Spirit Root became an extremely taboo term in the cultivation world. Persuading someone to cultivate the Ghost Spirit Root was no different from persuading them to seek death."

"Originally I didn't plan to say this much, but seeing that you, Xiao Ye, still seem to have thoughts in this direction, I'll just lay it out clearly, to prevent you from being momentarily confused and falling into the 【Ghost Spirit Root】's great pit later, where even immortals would struggle to save you!"

After hearing Lord Han's words, Fang Yue finally gained a rough understanding of the 【Ghost Spirit Root】.

Could it really be, as Lord Han said, that I simply was stimulated by An Shenyi's 【Fierce Origin Pill】, causing the 【Ghost Eye】 to appear, similar to the current Lin Ling?

Fang Yue felt a bit depressed. To think he'd been assuming all along that a Ghost Spirit Root had attached itself to him, that he was going to be invincible. Turns out the Ghost Spirit Root wasn't just dangerous, it was damn well fake—it was all his own wishful thinking…

Just as his mood was feeling stifled, the back of his hand suddenly started burning again.

That blood-red mark cursing 【Wu Yu】 had been asserting its presence more and more frequently lately.

Regarding the issue of cursing 【Wu Yu】, Fang Yue had asked Lord Han, who had no solution either—curses weren't within his area of expertise.

"Master, I'll be going then."

"Mm."

After taking his leave of Lord Han, Fang Yue stepped outside and found You Sisi long gone, with only a Yu Baiyi yawning, guarding the doorway.

Seeing Fang Yue, Yu Baiyi gave a start.

"Ye Baiyi, you've finally come out. Lord You waited here for half the night, and when you still hadn't come out by the second half, she left and told me to stay here waiting for you to come out."

Yu Baiyi's attitude toward Fang Yue carried a hint of flattery and ingratiation, slightly different from usual, and noticeably more enthusiastic.

Fang Yue was only briefly startled before immediately figuring it out.

Clearly, You Sisi hadn't deliberately hidden her intention to promote him to Green-Robed.

Green-Robed and White-Robed might seem to differ by only one rank, but in reality the difference was huge.

Green-Robed could already govern a county. Without superiors visiting, they were essentially the city lord of the county, and there were only three of them.

By the higher-ups of the Green Division's intent, three Green-Robed were enough to hold down a county.

Indeed, under normal circumstances, three Xiantian Realm martial artists holding down a county shouldn't be a problem.

In any case, as far as Fang Yue knew, Heiqing Shanmai rarely saw Calamity-grade anomalies appear; Blood-grade was already the ceiling under normal circumstances.

Anomalies mostly acted alone, and even at the same grade, humans were inferior to anomalies.

But three Xiantian Realm Green-Robed, coordinating with Postnatal Realm White-Robed, Black-Robed, and Gray-Robed, were enough to handle Blood-grade anomalies.

Unfortunately, the situation Qingsi County was currently facing was clearly not anything routine.

The pressure that 【Coffin-Pulling Anomaly】 gave off was fundamentally not on the level of a Blood-grade anomaly.

"I need to get stronger, I need to get stronger fast!"

Thinking of the agreement with Lord Han, Fang Yue silently clenched his fist; the burning sensation from the curse on the back of his hand also showed no sign of fading.

"Did You Sisi, having you guard here, give any instructions?"

"Yes. Lord You said after going to the 【Gong Xun Dian】, go to Wan Min Chang and report to her. She wants to gather the villagers there to arrange unified evacuation."

Only with the common people at heart can one become a good official.

From this point, You Sisi was a good official. Despite having many immature thoughts and actions, these could be gradually corrected and matured over time.

Fang Yue seemed to already see the future You Sisi becoming the pillar of Qingsi County, leading Qingsi County to grow and prosper, becoming the first great city of Heiqing Shanmai.

"Qingsi City… not bad either."

Fang Yue had Lord Han's inheritance, and staying in Qingsi County he could still develop. Combined with everyone, including Lin Ling, having thoughts of rebuilding Gu Yue Cun, naturally there was no thought of leaving Heiqing Shanmai.

Staying here to put down roots and sprout, seemed not unacceptable either.

Of course, this was only Fang Yue's temporary thought. If he encountered a situation where his cultivation couldn't progress, and Qingsi County couldn't provide help, then naturally he'd still have to go out. Moreover… he still needed to find the Palace Master of 【Qian Yao Palace】 to resolve his curse 【Wu Yu】.

No one in Qingsi County knew what 【Qian Yao Palace】 was, but if it was the Capital of Qing Guo, Qing Cheng, someone should know where 【Qian Yao Palace】 was.

Qing Cheng had various names for outsiders—some called it Jingcheng, some called it Qing Capital. In short, it was the most core and strongest city of Qing Guo.

Fang Yue also rather yearned for Qing Cheng, having a bit of an urge to go see it with his own eyes.

But before that, he'd first learn a Martial Technique and strengthen himself before talking further.

The 【Gong Xun Dian】 was also inside the Green Division. Fang Yue had passed by it several times before, but never entered, wondering what this unpopular building was for.

Now, led by Yu Baiyi, arriving here, he finally knew this was the 【Gong Xun Dian】.

A spacious room with only a long counter standing in the middle, separating inside from outside. An old man working an abacus, wearing small round glasses, squinted as he calculated something.

"Pan Lao."

Yu Baiyi respectfully bowed.

Fang Yue followed suit with a bow.

People like Pan Lao, Jue Lao—though nominally holding White-Robed positions, their actual status was second only to Green-Robed. Below the three Green-Robed, their status was the highest.

Although this hadn't received official recognition, nor any Document to prove it.

Within the Green Division, this was the unspoken consensus. Every meeting, these old men with specialized skills received everyone's respect.

If there were questions about matters under discussion, their opinions were also prioritized for reference.

Stepping back, these were the White-Robed in charge of affairs, managing all the Merit Point issues throughout the Green Division. Wouldn't being impolite to such people just be asking for trouble for oneself?

"Here already?"

Pan Lao clack-clack stopped his abacus. He seemed to have a slight cast in one eye; one eye swept over the two of them in a slant, then his gaze settled on Fang Yue.

"Tch!"

(End of this chapter)