Chapter 3: 003 candied haws cannot be without soul

However, ghost envoys were not invincible.

They harbored one singular vulnerability: Daoist magic.

This very Daoist magic was a system originally developed by the Heavenly Court to assert control over the Underworld.

Once the Underworld submitted, everyone became colleagues; it was deemed more appropriate to discuss matters amicably, as constant threats and violence would only invite ridicule.

The true predicament, however, lay in the fact that Daoist magic was not exclusive to the Heavenly Court; through unknown means, and for reasons no one could fathom, various channels consistently allowed this power to leak into the mortal realm.

In most ordinary worlds, the occasional emergence of beings skilled in Daoist magic posed little concern.

After all, with the raw power of souls at their command, Black and White Wuchang (TL Note: Refers to Hei Wuchang and Bai Wuchang, two deities in Chinese folk religion responsible for escorting the spirits of the dead to the underworld.) could always forcibly apprehend any living soul when working together.

Moreover, cultivators often harbored a deep reverence for ghosts and deities, making them far more cooperative with the ghost envoys’ operations than the average person.

No one, after all, wished to be marked down and ultimately reincarnated as a maggot.

However, in a Xianxia (TL Note: A genre of Chinese fantasy fiction that typically involves magic, cultivation, and immortal beings.) world, all of the above considerations were utterly nullified.

Spells capable of suppressing me were abundant, seemingly flying everywhere.

The entire world was fixated on achieving immortality in this lifetime; reincarnation and rebirth held no appeal or concern for anyone.

As for the prestige of immortals, it was precisely the least effective currency in this realm.

Wasn’t the very goal of cultivators to ascend to immortality or godhood, to depose the Heavenly Court’s inhabitants, and claim their seats for themselves?

Reverence for ghosts and deities? Non-existent.

Furthermore, based on the novels I had read in my previous life, Xianxia worlds likely possessed specialized cultivation techniques for refining souls.

No wonder the previous Black Wuchangs had fled faster than the last; no wonder the Heavenly Court had been so willing to grant me an advance reward; no wonder Yama King (TL Note: The King of Hell in Chinese mythology.) never attended court; no wonder the ghost soldiers of the Underworld were all so lax…

It dawned on me then: in this world, ghost envoys didn’t venture into the mortal realm to reap souls; they went there to play a game of desperate survival!

Truly, everything was going awry, save for the soft sensation emanating from the back of my hand… Hmm?

I glanced down to find a snow-white hand gently caressing the back of my own.

Surely, this was a blatant attempt to take advantage, wasn’t it?

As if oblivious to my searing gaze, White Wuchang (TL Note: Refers to Bai Wuchang, one of the two Wuchang deities.) said with an almost doting tenderness,