Chapter Thirty-Two: Lost in a Maze of Spirits

Skill points: 9.
A narrow escape, ending in delight.
Nothing compares to the joy of gaining skill points.
“The second beast.”
“The Mountain Demon, the Rabbit Demon, the Giant Serpent Demon—three beasts in all, bringing me three Rank D merits.”
“Great Li Mountain is rich in beastly resources; it's the perfect place for leveling up.”
Baili Feihong drew out the Black Soul Jade and absorbed the demon soul and demonic aura from the Giant Serpent Demon.
The corpses of the Rabbit Demon and Giant Serpent Demon lay discarded on the ground; Baili Feihong had no intention of dealing with them further.
“They may attract other beasts, bringing me some risk.”
“Setting bait and waiting in ambush is the best way to lure monsters.”
Weighing the pros and cons, Baili Feihong chose not to leave. Instead, he found a place to conceal himself and continued to wait.
Great Li Mountain was shrouded in sinister mist, teeming with beasts. Venturing deeper to hunt would only be more dangerous.
The greatest fear was failing to find beasts, only to become prey himself, stalked and ambushed.

Jiang Dongliu arrived at Great Li Town.
His golden, glass-like eyes swept over the town, spying out invisible threads of energy wrapping the entire settlement like spider silk.
Anyone who set foot in Great Li Town would be noticed by some master skilled in secret arts.
“Great Li Town, all-in-one funeral services.”
“How interesting—so this is an Underworld stronghold.”
Jiang Dongliu suppressed the power in his gaze, a cold smile on his lips as he looked on the uncanny town.
The Demon Suppression Bureau had grown weaker with each generation; such a strange place as Great Li Town was allowed to exist unchecked, its members’ identities uninvestigated.
“Gongyang Yan must never have been here; otherwise, with her martial arts insight, she would have spotted some clues.”
“If I recall, an Underworld Yama once perished at the hands of the Gongyang Blade Saint.”
The Ten Yama Lords of the Underworld, all peerless experts who had manifested their Yama Aspects.
Yet none could survive a single move from the Gongyang Blade Saint.
The Underworld’s presence here, and Gongyang Yan’s connection to the Gongyang family...
Jiang Dongliu stroked his smooth chin, pondering whether the clues he’d gathered could serve his purpose. How to use them? What was his goal?
This information was invaluable, worth a fortune.
If the sect learned that one of the Underworld’s strongholds was right here in this quiet little town, would they bring their elders to exterminate them all?
“I cannot report this to the sect. With the Underworld and Gongyang clan both present, it grants me a great deal of room to maneuver.”
With this in mind, Jiang Dongliu stepped into Great Li Town.
To catch the tiger's cub, one must enter its lair.
Besides, the Underworld’s people would not act against me now.
If they did, their stronghold would be exposed, and the Guliang imperial forces would descend upon them.
Stepping into Great Li Town, sharp gazes converged on Jiang Dongliu.
Clad in white, with a long sword on his back and a smile on his face, Jiang Dongliu paid no heed to the Underworld’s outlying members before him.

The Constabulary.
A group galloped in on horseback, their steeds halting steadily before Jiang Dongliu.
Fang Delong eyed the young wanderer before him with grave suspicion.
“Brother, are you here in Great Li Town on funeral business?”
Fang Delong saw the white-robed youth was not to be trifled with, and cautiously probed.
The residents of Great Li Town were famed for their funeral trade; in Dongbin City, they were well-known. Nine out of ten strangers entering Great Li Town did so to employ its people for burial rites.
“No.”
Jiang Dongliu stood in the street, his gaze sweeping the surroundings, pausing on every merchant standing in front of their shops.
His lips curled into a faint, cold smile.
“I’ve heard that Great Li Mountain in Dongbin City is the financial nexus of the realm. The dragon veins of the world run through countless mountains, varied and strange, yet I’ve never heard of a dragon vein’s financial nexus, so I’ve come to see it for myself.”
Looking toward the towering peaks behind Great Li Town, shrouded in sinister energy, their majesty was unmistakable.
In Jiang Dongliu’s eyes, a financial nexus was nothing more than a burial mound.
“Great Li Mountain is rife with beasts, exceedingly dangerous. If you’re not here for funeral business, I’d advise you to return to Dongbin City.”
Fang Delong relaxed a little.
Yet, for some reason, a strong sense of unease gnawed at him.
For this patrol, the constables were fully armed and equipped; even against martial arts masters, he felt no fear with a dozen guns at hand.
“Firearms are fine things, indeed.”
Jiang Dongliu glanced at the long-barreled weapons strapped to the constables, offering a word of praise.
Times were changing.
A tide was rising—an unstoppable trend.
And gunpowder, a humble thing, had been an accidental product of alchemy by sect experts.
No one had imagined that once it entered common hands, it would stir up such a storm.
But Jiang Dongliu understood: as long as martial arts sects endured, gunpowder would never truly rise.
True martial giants—even if demons returned—could contend with such terrors.
With a palm, mountains and rivers could be opened; with a fist, stars destroyed.
Fang Delong’s expression grew ever more serious.
“Brother...”
He was about to say more, but the youth had vanished from his sight.
Fang Delong could not even perceive how the man had left.
He had simply disappeared before his eyes.
Cold sweat prickled his skin; he spat quietly.
He knew he had encountered a true master.
“Financial nexus?”

The Divinity Surveillance Bureau was founded later.
Yet its mystery surpassed even that of the Demon Suppression Bureau.
“In the 450th year of Great Yuan, the Divinity Surveillance Bureau was established.”
“The tale of Dongbin’s financial nexus began in the 500th year.”
“Did the second chief conceal something about Great Li Mountain?”
Golden eyes glimmered with the extreme radiance of the Dao, trying to pierce the mountain’s mist.
But the supernatural gift of his eyes, so often unfailing, was blocked by the fog; he could not see through Great Li Mountain.
Jiang Dongliu was about to step into the mountain when he suddenly looked up in shock, goosebumps rising all over his skin.
A terrifying gaze had fallen upon him; if he entered the peak, he sensed with utmost certainty that he would die.
After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Dongliu withdrew his foot.
He turned and left.
Cold sweat drenched his face; his composed expression was gone.
Only one thought remained:
There is great terror here. Do not enter.
“Financial nexus, Divinity Surveillance Bureau chief, Underworld’s perimeter guards…”
Jiang Dongliu felt as if he had glimpsed a world-shaking conspiracy.

“The eighth beast!”
Baili Feihong panted.
His inner blood essence was greatly depleted.
At the same time, he had finished all the provisions he carried.
The corpses of beasts piled up like mountains.
Blood from the monsters flowed across the earth, the air thick with a pungent stench.
“I’ve harvested 27 skill points, enough to exchange for nine Rank D merits.”
The glow of dusk pierced the mist, casting a fiery halo across the sky.
Baili Feihong knew he had to leave Great Li Mountain before nightfall.
Before arriving, he had thought to spend several days here.
But once inside, he would not stay even a single night.
Picking up the rabbit beast’s corpse, he prepared to descend the mountain.
He wandered, circling the mountain until the sun set and darkness swallowed the slopes, still turning about halfway up.
“Lost in a maze?”
Baili Feihong’s face turned grim.
But glancing at his skill points, he felt a little more at ease.