The Spirit Communion Grass became much less energetic after it handed over its sprite core.
Tang Jie didn’t immediately pluck it out. He first needed to find a suitable container to hold it.
This was the Nether Domain, so there were no jade boxes or the like. Fortunately, one of Tang Jie’s soldiers was an unlucky zombie carrying a coffin on its back. This zombie was swathed in bandages and was always lugging around a coffin, which served as both its weapon and its home. If it were injured, it only needed to rest in the coffin for one night, and it would completely recover by the next day.
It was unlucky because Tang Jie had taken a liking to its coffin, which he wanted to use as the Spirit Communion Grass’s flower pot. The zombie considered the coffin its home and was unwilling to let it go, so Tang Jie lost his patience and slew it with one strike. He then kept going, killing the remaining ghost soldiers until only the two ghost generals and the ghost eagle were left.
After moving the Spirit Communion Grass to the coffin, Tang Jie returned to the Ghost March Ship.
His troops had dwindled to the two hundred ghost soldiers he had left on the ship, two ghost generals, and one ghost eagle. But rather than being sad, Tang Jie was in the finest of moods.
Ever since he had been forced to leave the Yan River, he had been constantly struggling for resources. Finally, he had broken free of this state, enriching himself with the resources of the Nether Domain.
After the Corpsespirit Flowers, he had gained yet another valuable resource in the Spirit Communion Grass.
This plant would make many things much easier for him.
As Maraju had pursued Tang Jie for many days, going back would also take some time. Tang Jie was in no rush, since he still had business to do on the road.
After four hours of travel, Tang Jie’s first target appeared before the ghost ship.
It was a ghost woman, her lower half a cloud of smoke and her upper half that of a human. A red thread was tied around her neck, indicating that she had died by hanging. She had quite the beautiful appearance, and the flush in her complexion indicated that her strength was at the level of a ghost general.
But the blank look in her eyes and her aimless floating indicated that she had yet to gain intelligence.
No intelligence meant she was difficult to control, so the Nether cities would not take her.
Tang Jie had the Ghost March Ship charge right at the ghost woman.
The ghost woman sensed the visitor and screeched at the approaching ship to warn them that this was her territory.
The Ghost March Ship barged forward.
Furious, the ghost woman opened her mouth and unleashed a cloud of frost at the Ghost March Ship, covering it in shards of ice.
Tang Jie was unconcerned, ordering, “Seize her.”
The two ghost generals lunged at the ghost woman.
While the ghost woman was powerful, she wasn’t more powerful than two ghost generals. While she fought with all her might initially, she gradually started to lose ground. But she was a stubborn ghost, refusing to give up despite her disadvantage, hissing and howling as she let out blast after blast of chilly energy.
Tang Jie gradually lost his patience and glanced at the ghost eagle, who smiled in understanding. “Still daring to resist?”
A claw reached out, manifesting in the air and seizing the ghost woman by the throat. That neck around which the red thread was tied was her weak point, and she was instantly rendered immobile and brought to Tang Jie.
The ghost woman was still struggling and unwilling to give up, her lower half churning and twisting as she glared at Tang Jie.
This sort of mindless ghost was innately difficult to tame.
Tang Jie looked at her and coldly said, “Ignorant creature, it’s your good fortune to be captured by me, so hurry up and submit!”
He slapped the coffin.
The coffin lid flew off, and a wisp of smoke drifted out of the coffin and into the ghost woman. The ghost woman shuddered, pain appearing on her face, but gradually, her eyes began to clear.
As her eyes grew brighter and brighter, the ghost woman ultimately bowed to Tang Jie and said, “This lowly ghost pays respects to her master!”
Tang Jie chuckled. “The blind have been enlightened!”
This was the power of the Spirit Communion Grass, granting intelligence to ghosts.
After all, ghosts were a kind of spirit.
Not only that, when granting intelligence to a ghost, the Spirit Communion Grass could also implant them with a desire to submit to a master designated by the Spirit Communion Grass. This was why the ghost woman had taken Tang Jie as her master the moment she had gained intelligence.
In the wilds of the Nether Domain, finding intelligent ghosts was much harder than finding powerful yet mindless ghosts.
The Spirit Communion Grass saved Tang Jie the trouble of running all over the place. He just needed to find strong ghosts.
There was still some distance to Nightdark City, plenty of time to catch ghosts.
Thus, Tang Jie started to catch various ghosts to bolster his forces.
The Ghost March Ship force swiftly grew in strength, going from three ghost generals to ten, twenty, and then thirty, with even a Ghost King among them.
This was a Preta, possessing a massive body and a large belly that could never be satiated. In terms of physical might, it was even stronger than Tang Jie with his perfect body, able to send him flying with one slap.
Even when the ghost eagle took action, taking down this Preta had cost Tang Jie three ghost generals and several hundred ghost soldiers. Fortunately, the fact that this was a Ghost King made the loss worth it.
After another few days, Nightdark City appeared in the distance, and Tang Jie stopped his ghost hunt.
The Spirit Communion Grass was too valuable to reveal lightly, as it risked causing him immense trouble.
Nightdark City was still mysterious and engulfed in ghostly energy.
The heads on the wall were still trapped in eternal torment, letting out cries of resentment, and the ghosts down below were still as intimidating as ever, shouting at every ghost that entered the city.
When the Ghost March Ship approached, the two ghost soldiers immediately dropped to their knees. “Hail, General Maraju!”
Tang Jie, playing the role of Maraju, didn’t reply, remaining seated on the throne as the Ghost March Ship entered the city.
There were many buildings in the city, the same as one would see in human cities, but all of them were thick with ghostly energy, and there were also many other differences.
There were resplendent palaces made from white bone and flesh, with dancing ghosts performing to mournful tunes. And there were also dilapidated burial mounds with no doors or windows, only a small hole for ghosts to go in and out.
There were also ghost houses of various shapes and sizes, and when one passed, one could hear wailings and lamentations. The ignorant would think that this was the sound of suffering, while those in the know understood that this was just the sound ghosts made.
But whatever the ghost, all of them would prostrate as the Ghost March Ship passed, all the wailing and howling ceasing, the streets falling utterly silent.
Such was the status of Yakshas in this city.
Nightdark City was a Yaksha city.
The Ghost March Ship moved all on its own to the largest estate in the city.
The two long-tongued ghosts in front immediately kneeled and mumbled out, “Hail, General Maraju.”
Tang Jie disembarked, followed by his ghosts. He then waved his hand, upon which the Ghost March Ship shrank down until it could fit in his hand.
After putting the ghost ship away, Tang Jie ordered, “Saros, take care of the little ones. I’m tired and need to rest.”
As Saros led away the ghosts, Tang Jie stepped into the Yaksha estate.
Thanks to Maraju’s memories, Tang Jie was very familiar with its layout and immediately headed to Maraju’s residence.
But before he could get very far, a voice rang out, “Maraju, you still have the face to come back!?”
Tang Jie turned to the voice and saw another Yaksha walking toward him—the first Yaksha he had encountered.
Maraji!
His name appeared in Tang Jie’s mind.
Tang Jie calmly replied, “Maraji, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t even try to deny it!” Maraji bellowed. “You dare say you didn’t go out to chase after that human? You cunning thing, when you got the news, rather than share it with me, you snuck off to catch him all on your own! That was clearly my prey!”
Tang Jie smirked. “If it was your prey, go out and catch it. Don’t waste time chatting with me.”
“It was because you went first that that human managed to escape!” Maraji pointed accusingly at Tang Jie. He was clearly blaming Maraju for ruining everything, not even mentioning that he was the one who had failed to detect that human in the first place.
Just as Tang Jie was about to reply, Maraji suddenly changed his tone. “But from how you look, it seems you didn’t fare that well. And I hear that you even lost your Nether Attendants, and their Severing Hook Scythes too! Hahahaha, without the Severing Hook Scythes, how can you make more Nether Attendants, and how can you carry out your duty of seizing souls? This is a grave offense, and I can’t wait to see how Father punishes you!”
Maraji heartily laughed, clearly delighting in Maraju’s misery.
Tang Jie was no longer a stranger to the Severing Hook Scythe.
Through Maraju’s memories, he had learned that these were important treasures for Nether Cities. Their greatest function was to create Nether Attendants, which had the ability to travel to the mortal plane and held the authority to seize souls. This was what made the Severing Hook Scythe so important. One could say that they served as a major source of ghosts for Nether cities.
They were like the womb of the Nether Domain, and through them, the Nether Domain could constantly create more ghosts.
And only Nether Attendants had the ability to use Severing Hook Scythes.
No other existence, not even a Ghost Emperor or Ghost Sovereign, was capable of this.
A Nether city had a limited number of these scythes, and Maraju, despite his noble status, possessed only two Nether Attendants, which gave him a source of ghosts. Now that the scythes had been shattered and the attendants slain, he had lost all his authority and essentially been castrated, no longer able to have children. It was no wonder Maraju had gone so crazy.
Anyone would go crazy after being castrated!
Tang Jie had dared to disguise himself as Maraju and venture into this city precisely for the Severing Hook Scythes!
This was the most important resource of the Nether Domain, just as valuable as the Corpsespirit Flowers and Spirit Communion Grass, if not more valuable.
With the scythes, he had the black grains, which presented limitless possibility in the Nether Domain!