Pushing open the door.

A young man, around seventeen or eighteen years old, came into view. His face still carried a hint of youthful sharpness. Unlike the other ordinary disciples of Fei Xian Peak, Chen Daoqing's gaze toward Wen Jiu was not filled with flattery—only a sense of goodwill.

But that was enough. After all, Chen Daoqing was a third-generation immortal.

"Daoist Chen."

Wen Jiu calmly clasped his fists in greeting, showing neither excessive enthusiasm nor deference due to Chen Daoqing's status.

Chen Daoqing returned the greeting before getting straight to the point. "Daoist Wen, three days from now, we're having a small gathering. It'll be attended by some of the more outstanding apprentice disciples and official disciples of Fei Xian Peak."

"You must come."

Chen Daoqing didn't spell things out explicitly, but Wen Jiu understood his meaning.

The assessment was approaching, and it was only natural to establish some familiarity in advance. That way, they could stick together on the main peak, avoiding isolation or bullying.

Even a minor Night Patrol Division had factions—how much more so would the main peak?

Chen Daoqing nodded and then added with a touch of praise, "Daoist Wen, your talent in unorthodox cultivation is truly rare. Among our group, only two others can compare to you. One is the granddaughter of the elder in charge of the alchemy room, and the other is Peak Master Ji's youngest disciple. Both have access to abundant resources. Were it not for their exceptional backgrounds, they might not even be your match."

"Daoist Chen flatters me."

Wen Jiu was well aware.

Such praise was always a precursor to the real topic.

As expected, Chen Daoqing handed over an invitation—it was from the Chen family. The intent to recruit him was unmistakable.

Wen Jiu wasn't surprised.

He was willing to interact with his peers and build relationships. Over time, repeated contact could develop into useful connections.

But if he accepted the Chen family's offer, it wouldn't be a network—it would be a restraint.

Families always sought profit. Someone like Wen Jiu, who only wanted to stay in the land of corpses and the dead, would never be acceptable to the Chen family. To avoid entanglement, it was best not to accept their favors.

"Daoist Chen, I'm used to walking my own path," Wen Jiu said, directly rejecting the invitation.

He had expected some reaction—perhaps a mocking remark. But to his surprise, Chen Daoqing simply took the invitation back without hesitation. "I knew you'd say that. If I'd realized sooner, I wouldn't have wasted my time thinking of ways to compliment you along the way… I'm not even the type to give compliments!"

With that, the refined image Chen Daoqing had been maintaining collapsed in an instant.

So, he really was just a young man at heart.

Straightforward. Honest.

To be honest, dealing with people like this was much more comfortable.

After a bit more conversation, Wen Jiu saw Chen Daoqing off, promising to attend the banquet at Wangshan Tower in the trading district three days later.

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Once Chen Daoqing left, Wen Jiu headed straight for Fei Xian Peak's library. After inquiring, he found the section on ghostly treasures. He hadn't expected much, but to his surprise, he actually found something.

The book detailing the Ghost-Face Pagoda Fruit was an old, dust-covered manuscript—fifty years old, judging by its age.

Flipping through it carefully, Wen Jiu found many ghost-related treasures, each more sinister than the last. There were descriptions of their cultivation methods and cultivation insights, but the methods were just as eerie.

Glancing over the pages, Wen Jiu focused on the annotations about the Ghost-Face Pagoda Fruit. The information was far more detailed than what he had previously seen in the system's daily reports, but it still did not confirm whether it could bring the dead back to life.

Apparently, fifty years ago, only one person had ever attempted it—and he ended up neither human nor ghost due to his failure.

Skipping the unnecessary details, Wen Jiu's gaze landed on another effect of the Ghost-Face Pagoda Fruit.

Soul Attraction.

Simply put, it lured wandering spirits.

The dense ghostly aura it emitted was irresistibly tempting to spirits.

Additionally, it could be used to cultivate Soul Puppets. If a spirit absorbed enough of the fruit's ghostly energy, it would lose its self-awareness and become a puppet under the cultivator's control.

However, raising Soul Puppets rapidly consumed the Ghost-Face Pagoda Fruit's ghostly energy, preventing it from bearing fruit. Even if one created an army of Soul Puppets for battle, their value would still not compare to a single ripe fruit.

A mature Ghost-Face Pagoda Fruit was a top-tier first-grade heavenly treasure.

Due to its rarity and unique properties, it was even more valuable to ghost cultivators than an ordinary second-grade heavenly treasure.

Thus, the original author of the manuscript advocated for cultivating the fruit rather than using it for Soul Puppets. The recommended cultivation method? Absorbing the life force of cultivators.

"In that case, its greatest use for me is attracting spirits and raising Soul Puppets... and I happen to need a large number of spirits to nurture my black ghoul."

Wen Jiu carefully examined the effective range of Soul Attraction. The author hadn't provided an exact figure, but at minimum, it covered fifty miles. If the fruit developed a grotesque ghost face, the range extended to at least a hundred miles.

Seeing the words "a hundred miles," Wen Jiu couldn't help but feel pleased. With this, he could lie in wait for spirits to come to him instead of searching for them.

No more exhausting trips.

For Wen Jiu, this was the best possible news. It meant he could cultivate quietly, without wandering from place to place.

What made him even happier was the fact that ordinary cultivators couldn't sense the Ghost-Face Pagoda Fruit's spiritual pull.

Only ghouls can.

"Perfect!"

Wen Jiu was overjoyed.

Low profile.

That was exactly what he needed.

After returning from the library to the land of mangled corpses, Wen Jiu immediately went to the burial grounds, opened the corpse-nurturing coffin, and revealed the Ghost Face Pagoda. Then, he had the black ghoul use the Three Rivers Ghost Concealment technique, silently lying in wait.

Ten breaths.

Just ten breaths.

Three wandering souls greedily drifted over.

Two had just formed, while one was comparable to the first layer of Qi Refinement.

The black ghoul, upon seeing them, was immediately eager to pounce, but Wen Jiu pressed it down with one hand.

No.

They had to be fattened up before being slaughtered.

At their current state, these three wandering souls wouldn't provide much benefit to the black ghoul—barely enough to be used for refining Heavenly Fiend Water.

But wandering souls were scarce, not an endless resource. The black ghoul couldn't just devour them recklessly.

Soon.

As the three wandering souls greedily absorbed the ghostly aura leaking from the Ghost Face Pagoda, two more attracted souls drifted over.

Then came the sixth, the seventh…

In less than a hundred breaths—ten wandering souls.

"This isn't just waiting for rabbits to come to a trap… this is waiting for an entire herd!" Wen Jiu was both excited and satisfied.

Soon.

After a dozen breaths of feeding on the Ghost Face Pagoda, the ten wandering souls transformed into soul puppets, recognizing Wen Jiu as their master.

Completely obedient.

Utterly expressionless.

To Wen Jiu's delight, a few of the newly formed souls, after absorbing the dense ghostly aura for less than a hundred breaths, had already evolved into true wandering souls. The ones comparable to the first layer of Qi Refinement even showed signs of breaking through.

As expected.

The black ghoul grew even more excited.

Had it been capable of speech, Wen Jiu had no doubt it would have burst into laughter.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Daoqing came knocking once more.

This time, for a small gathering.

His purpose was to give Wen Jiu some reminders—mostly about people's preferences, what they liked to hear, what they didn't. But Wen Jiu didn't really care.

He was only attending this banquet to make an appearance. He had no illusions about building friendships on a first meeting.

Nor did he believe that a single gathering would change how those people saw him—a corpse nurturer.

People's prejudices were like mountains.

They could be concealed.

But rarely changed.

Wen Jiu understood this all too well.

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