Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Six Celestial Ghost Gods, Primordial Spirit Awakens

”Jiang Lai!?”

Zhang Fan never would have dreamed that he’d run into Jiang Lai again in Yujing City, at Night is not bright.

In Zhenwu Mountain, those three encounters had left an indelible impression on Zhang Fan.

She was like the mist in the mountains, mysterious and unpredictable, stirring curiosity and longing in others.

Zhang Fan stood up, just about to go over.

Just then, a young man walked in from outside the door, dressed casually, quite good-looking, especially between his brows and eyes—a hint of easygoing charm.

”Let me introduce—this is...” Wen He pointed at the handsome young man.

”My surname is Jiang, like ’the bright moon shines on the mighty river...’”

”Jiang Hu!”

The charming young man approached with a beaming, sunlit smile, greeting Zhang Fan with striking familiarity.

”You’re the new colleague, right!”

”I’m Zhang Fan.”

Zhang Fan nodded, responding mechanically, but all his attention was focused on Jiang Lai.

”Finally, a living person has arrived!”

”...”

Night is not bright always had only a handful of people, and it had been a long time since any newcomer joined. If this kept up, even cultivators couldn’t stand being beasts of burden every day.

As the saying goes, smoking doesn’t kill the lungs, drinking doesn’t wreck the stomach, you may live to a hundred alone, but work saps ninety years—meetings every day, kneeling soon awaits.

Only with new blood can cultivation prosper, only then can one look towards longevity.

”If there’s anything you don’t get, just ask me.” Jiang Hu said warmly.

In Night is not bright, Bai Buran was the boss, Old Yu was too old, Wen He and Jiang Lai were both women; now at last came a peer of similar age and gender as him.

”Alright!”

Zhang Fan let out a dry laugh, but his peripheral vision still drifted, intentionally or not, to Jiang Lai—yet she acted as if she hadn’t noticed him at all, quietly returning to her workstation.

”Is she blind or what!?”

Zhang Fan muttered, seizing a spare moment to find Wen He.

”Sister Wen, Jiang Lai...”

”What, have a crush on the girl already?” Wen He looked at Zhang Fan, showing the fond smile of an aunt, then lowered her voice: ”That’s the boss’s relative, started just a week ahead of you.”

”The boss’s relative!?”

Zhang Fan’s expression was odd. After hesitating a moment, he walked over to Jiang Lai and asked in a low voice, ”Weren’t you up on Zhenwu Mountain? How come you’re here?”

”Same as you.” Jiang Lai replied without even lifting her head; after that, no matter what Zhang Fan asked, she stayed silent.

”How could there be such a coincidence.”

Zhang Fan couldn’t help but glance at Bai Buran’s office, doubt bubbling in his heart.

Back then, his stepping onto the path of cultivation at Zhenwu Mountain had a lot to do with Jiang Lai. This mysterious girl saved him multiple times; even his eventual awakening of Samadhi True Flame at Qingwei Palace, merging with the Zhenwu Jade Scroll, was linked to her by some unseen thread.

On his way down the mountain, Zhang Fan had even asked Po Jie, but the latter insisted there was no such person on Zhenwu Mountain.

Now, Jiang Lai openly appeared at Night is not bright and became the boss’s relative?

Once is a coincidence, twice is by chance, but after that it’s impossible to explain away.

It wasn’t until the hard-won lunch break that Zhang Fan saw Jiang Lai rise and leave the company.

”Jiang Lai!”

Seeing this, Zhang Fan hurried after her.

”Why are you following me?” Jiang Lai’s voice was low and clear as she stopped at the far end of the corridor.

”Don’t tell me you don’t remember me.” Zhang Fan couldn’t help but blurt out.

”I remember you.” Jiang Lai’s ethereal eyes bore into Zhang Fan’s.

”I asked Senior Brother Po Jie about you—he said there was no such person on Zhenwu Mountain.” Zhang Fan said bluntly.

”I remember you, but you don’t remember me.” Jiang Lai said softly.

”Hm!?”

Zhang Fan froze, unable to fathom it, his expression growing stranger by the second.

”What nonsense are you saying?”

”We’ve met before.”

Jiang Lai murmured, turning to look down the quiet corridor; at that moment, the lights above them flickered unpredictably.

”You mean on Zhenwu Mountain?” Zhang Fan asked as soon as the words left his mouth, realizing it was redundant.

”Long before that.” Jiang Lai said calmly.

”Long before that? Why don’t I remember? We’ve met before?” Zhang Fan paused, then asked suspiciously.

”When?”

”Ten years ago.”

Just those three simple words made Zhang Fan’s brow twitch.

Ten years ago had been the year when calamity struck his life.

That year, his mother perished in a car crash, and from then on, he lived with Zhang Lingzong.

”I was only twelve then. Were you my elementary school classmate?” Zhang Fan asked uncertainly.

”Let’s talk when you remember.”

Jiang Lai shook her head and turned to leave.

”Wait.” Zhang Fan raised his hand.

Bzzz...

Suddenly, Jiang Lai spun around and gently pressed her right hand against Zhang Fan’s chest.

Immediately, he staggered, his body losing balance as, at the same time, his Primordial Spirit was struck out of his body.

”Six Celestial Ghost Gods!”

Rumble...

As soon as Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit experienced an Out-of-Body Experience, heaven and earth darkened, soaked in blood-red; six ancient palaces surfaced before him, standing at six directions, within each, supreme and terrifying shadows surged and flickered—like tangled bones, corpses hanging on trees, ominous forces colliding, chilling hostility swirling.

”Primordial Spirit Outer Scenery!?” Zhang Fan’s heart trembled.

For Daoist cultivation, the key lies in four words: Primordial Spirit Activation.

Once the Primordial Spirit is activated, one can witness thousands upon thousands of outer scenery—especially while wielding magic—where reality blurs, truth and illusion intermingle, you might see ghost gods, or enter the Evil Realm Spirit Realm, or gaze upon Immortal and Buddhist Spiritual Artifacts, flowers raining from the sky, scrambling the mind.

”Men rule by day, ghosts roam by night.”

”Yin and Yang divided, each governed by their respective lords.”

”Great rebellion invokes calamity—Six Celestial Ghost Gods.”

”...”

Low chanting resounded around Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit, as if incantations and secret mantras were being recited. The outer scenery before him was chilling and terrifying. Six ancient palaces stood at six points, slumbering shadowy figures about to emerge, emanating dreadful waves.

At that moment, Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit bore unbearable pressure, every inch feeling on the verge of exploding.

Rumble...

All of a sudden, Zhang Fan’s Primordial Spirit shuddered violently; his vision turned pitch black.

Torrential rain poured, thunder rolled.

In that instant, it was as if he had returned to that night ten years ago.

The night when Zhang Fan’s mother died in the car crash.

Twelve years old, kneeling in the downpour, the night eternal, everything around a blurred murk; he rubbed his eyes desperately, unable to see a thing.

”Ahhh...”

In that moment, a shrill, anguished scream rang throughout this world where the Night is not bright, as if from Purgatory itself.

”Retreat... retreat... don’t mistake him for an ordinary little ghost.”

”Don’t pit your Primordial Spirit against his... you can’t win... this little ghost cultivates Divine Demon as well...”

Harsh voices echoed in the pitch-black world, carrying restless, turbulent unease.

Rumble...

A bolt of thunder split the sky, silencing all the clamorous voices at once.

Zhang Fan’s eyes snapped open, only to find he was still standing at the end of the corridor. Sweat had soaked through his shirt. Looking around, there was no trace of Jiang Lai—as if nothing had ever happened!