Chapter 62

"Jialan"

Lei Zhen, upon seeing the woman's face clearly, immediately showed a look of pleasant surprise and blurted out her name.

"It's actually Junior Brother Lei?" The young woman in green, upon seeing Lei Zhen, said indifferently, but her eyes flashed with a hint of surprise when they fell on Liu Ming.

"Junior Brother Lei? Are you the nephew of Senior Brother Lei?" The beautiful woman, upon hearing this, cast a sharp glance at the young man and asked coldly.

"Disciple greets Aunt Bing!" Lei Zhen, upon hearing this, glanced at the young woman in green and hurriedly bowed, somewhat enlightened.

The petite woman beside him also hurriedly bowed.

"Stand up. I have a good relationship with Senior Brother Lei, so you don't need to be so formal." The beautiful woman's expression softened slightly, and she gestured for them to rise. Then, her gaze naturally turned to Liu Ming.

"I am Bai Congtian from Jiuying Mountain, greeting Aunt Bing!" Liu Ming, though unclear about the identity of the beautiful woman, could only stifle his nervousness and bow slightly.

"Jiuying Mountain!" The beautiful woman nodded slightly, then, without much concern, led Jialan to a corner of the hall and waited there.

Because the beautiful woman was present, Lei Zhen and the petite woman naturally dared not converse casually.

For a moment, the entire hall became quiet.

After just a short while, a side door of the hall opened, and a man in his forties wearing a black robe walked out. He had a large, hooked nose and a rather stern face.

"Junior Sister Bing, why are you here?" The man in black, upon seeing the beautiful woman in the hall, was taken aback.

"Senior Brother Li, why can't I come? I'm bringing Jialan to the Netherworld Ghost Land to do some things." The beautiful woman said indifferently, as if she was very familiar with the man in black.

"I see. But Junior Sister should be well aware that the consumption of spirit apprentices and spirit masters for teleportation to the Netherworld Ghost Land is vastly different, and the required contribution points are also vastly different." The man in black, upon hearing this, showed a serious expression.

"I am well aware of this. Fortunately, I have accumulated enough contribution points recently, which should be enough for me to enter once." The beautiful woman replied without concern.

"If Junior Sister is willing to pay so many contribution points, there should be no problem." The man in black's expression relaxed upon hearing this.

The beautiful woman smiled faintly and said no more.

At this moment, the man in black glanced at Lei Zhen, Liu Ming, and the others, and then said:

"Since there are three more people here, it's just enough for one teleportation. Follow me."

With that, he ignored the three spirit apprentices, shook his sleeve, and took out a black ghost-head iron plate, walking towards a tall wall at the front of the hall.

The beautiful woman led Jialan and walked over unhurriedly.

Seeing this, Lei Zhen, Liu Ming, and the others naturally followed.

The man in black moved his arm and waved the iron plate in front of the wall, and a black light shot out, disappearing into the wall.

In the next moment, the wall became blurry, and a white, misty light door appeared out of nowhere.

The man in black walked in without hesitation.

The others naturally followed him into the light door.

Liu Ming felt the white light fade, and he found himself in a small chamber.

The chamber, except for the light door they came through, was surrounded by thick walls that reflected a metallic sheen, and were adorned with many intricate and mysterious spirit patterns, giving the entire chamber a mysterious aura.

In the center of the chamber was a silver array, about ten feet in diameter, with a complete circle of slots for placing crystals around its edge.

The man in black put away the iron plate, and the light door behind him vanished. He then took out a short, pale golden rod.

Seeing this, the others handed over their badges one by one, paying their contribution points.

After the man in black collected the contribution points, he put away the golden rod and took out several thumb-sized crystals, placing them in the slots around the array.

These crystals were different from what Liu Ming had seen before, emitting a pale black light, like black stars.

The young woman in green's expression changed slightly upon seeing these crystals.

"These are spatial crystals, which are very rare, even outside the five elemental crystals. Otherwise, why would we need to charge so many contribution points for teleporting you to the Netherworld Ghost Land? Normally, it would only take three or four crystals to teleport you, but now, with me included, it will probably require ten times as many." The beautiful woman, noticing her disciple's curiosity, explained briefly.

Upon hearing this, not only did the young woman in green nod, but Liu Ming and Lei Zhen also understood.

They had all heard of spatial crystals before, but this was the first time they had seen them in person.

Liu Ming carefully examined the crystals, as if trying to imprint their appearance in his mind.

As the beautiful woman had said, the man in black placed over thirty spatial crystals around the array, then turned to the group with a serious expression and said:

"Alright, you can enter the array now. Although you should already know the dangers of the Netherworld Ghost Land, I must remind you again. It is a place of true yin energy and ghosts, and regardless of your cultivation level, you can only stay there for a month at most. If you exceed this time, your physical body and soul may be assimilated by the yin energy, and you have a high chance of becoming a ghost. Therefore, you must return through the array within a month. If you are late, the consequences will be on you."

After saying this, the man in black made a hand seal and pointed at the array.

A buzzing sound rang out, and the entire array began to glow with various colors.

Seeing this, the beautiful woman, Liu Ming, and the others naturally did not hesitate to step into the golden array.

In a violent fluctuation, the figures of the beautiful woman, Liu Ming, and the others flickered and disappeared.

The man in black let out a light breath, sat cross-legged on the ground nearby, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

...

After a violent dizziness, Liu Ming finally opened his eyes again.

He found himself standing in another chamber-like room with the beautiful woman and the others, on a similar golden array.

The walls of the room were made of an unknown black stone, and there was a half-open stone door. Apart from them, there was no one else in the room.

"Let's go!" The beautiful woman said indifferently, then led the young woman in green out of the array and through the stone door, disappearing.

Lei Zhen and the petite woman exchanged glances and also walked out.

In a moment, only Liu Ming was left.

Liu Ming took a deep breath, feeling that the essence energy in the nearby void was much thinner than in the Man Ghost Sect, and there was a strange, cold energy mixed in. After a few deep breaths, he even felt a slight discomfort in his body.

He shook his head and calmly walked out of the stone door.

Outside the stone door was a large square, about ten acres in size.

The square was paved with black stones of the same material, and tall bronze pillars stood at the edges, surrounded by a thick, milky white light barrier.

In the center of the square were rows of black stone houses, about thirty to forty in number.

Between the stone houses, about a dozen Man Ghost Sect disciples were gathered in small groups, chatting.

"Little guy, is this your first time in the Netherworld Ghost Land?"

As Liu Ming was looking around, he suddenly heard a sharp voice from behind.

Liu Ming was startled and quickly turned around, only to find an old man with green hair and wearing a yellow leather robe sitting cross-legged near the stone door.

The old man was holding a pale silver disk, fiddling with several red, needle-like objects on it. At such close range, Liu Ming had not noticed him at all.

"I just saw Bing girl come here, tsk tsk, this girl hasn't been back here since she advanced to a spirit master, which is quite rare." The old man continued without looking up.

"Senior is..."

The old man's head was lowered, and Liu Ming could not see his face, but hearing his authoritative tone, he did not dare to be disrespectful and asked with a bow.

"You can call me Old Ghost. I am in charge of the teleportation array here and will send you back to the sect." The old man replied leisurely, finally raising his head.

Liu Ming, upon seeing the old man's face clearly, felt a chill even though he was usually very brave.

The old man looked like any other elder, except for the empty sockets where his eyes should have been, which were filled with two small, flickering green flames.

"Junior greets Old Ghost!" Liu Ming, after a moment of thought, managed to suppress his fear and bowed again.

"Good, among the little guys who see me for the first time, you are one of the braver ones. In recognition of this, I have a task for you. If you complete it, I will reward you." The old man's green flames flickered as he said.

"I don't know what the task is, but my cultivation is low, and I may not be of much help." Liu Ming hesitated upon hearing this.

"Hehe, it's just a small task that doesn't require much cultivation. I have a Yin Luo Pan that can show the exact location of ghosts within a hundred feet. If you help me find some ghost-faced fish in the nearby Yin River, I will give you this disk. How about it?" The old man chuckled and showed Liu Ming the silver disk.

"Can it show the location of ghosts? Is that true?" Liu Ming's heart stirred upon hearing this.

"With my status, do you think I would deceive you? Go quickly and come back. There is a Yin River three miles in that direction. Go quickly and come back." The old man seemed somewhat impatient.

"Since it's only three miles away, I will give it a try." Liu Ming felt a bit strange, but upon hearing the short distance and seeing the silver disk in the old man's hand, he nodded in agreement.

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