To save his own life, Xue Gui of the Heavenly Ghost Sect answered every question Zhou Wuji asked.
Even without Zhou Wuji prompting him, Xue Gui took the initiative to volunteer a great deal.
Seeing how cooperative Xue Gui was, and being very curious about the Heavenly Ghost Sect himself, Zhou Wuji chatted with him a while longer.
Seeing the eastern sky faintly brightening, Zhou Wuji knew he could talk no longer. After all, this place was not far from Yunyang City, and there was no telling whom he might run into in broad daylight.
"We cultivators of the Heavenly Ghost Sect cannot bear the light of day, and our sect's rules are strictly enforced. Lowly cultivators like us simply have no choice..."
"Enough."
Zhou Wuji cut off Xue Gui's endless babbling and asked impassively, "Do you have any last words?"
Terror filled the ugly old man's face, quickly shifting into a look of pleading. "I have held nothing back, telling you everything I know! Please, spare me!"
"At the threshold of life and death, you ought to speak words of warning or reflections on life, not waste your breath on nonsense."
Zhou Wuji felt not the slightest sympathy for Xue Gui. To cultivate to Rank Six in the Heavenly Ghost Sect, one inevitably had to refine the living souls of mortals; there was no telling how many innocent, wronged souls had died by his hands.
Just as imperial law decreed, all people had the right and duty to execute such demonic cultivators.
Before Xue Gui could beg again, true qi erupted like a thorn from the bamboo cane in Zhou Wuji's hand, piercing deep into Xue Gui's brain.
This Night Rain Sword Qi, transformed from his true qi, was profound and icy cold, piercing straight through the soul.
Never mind Xue Gui—even a Rank Six martial artist would surely die from such a strike pressed directly against the skull.
The ugly old man's body shuddered faintly. His pupils dilated, and the spiritual light in his eyes slowly faded away.
Water-like thunderous light flowed along the bamboo cane as well, washing over every inch of Xue Gui's body, inside and out.
Zhou Wuji knew Xue Gui was dead, but there was no telling what sinister contrivances the man carried, so he destroyed them all at once with Yin Thunder.
Opening the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, he found that Xue Gui possessed a destiny pattern of four taels and six candareens.
Without a second thought, he converted it into four taels and six candareens of primordial profound spirit and invested it into the Tianji Sword.
This sword art used magic as a blade. While inferior in rank to the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Yin Thunder, it was exceptionally subtle and marvelous.
Having previously poured in two portions of primordial profound spirit of over two taels each, he had only barely cultivated it to the proficient realm.
For a secret art of this caliber, low-grade primordial profound spirit was simply of no use.
Purple light descended, unfolding a pocket world wherein Zhou Wuji cultivated the Tianji Sword with bitter dedication.
The Tianji Sword transformed the star power into the permutations of water, fire, yin, and yang, which was why the Tianji lineage excelled in artifact crafting.
Zhou Wuji cultivated day and night in the pocket world, truly comprehending the transformations of the Tianji star power...
By the time the purple light faded, his Tianji Sword had reached the realm of mastery.
Looking at the notations in the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, Zhou Wuji could not help but sigh with emotion.
This was the equivalent of Xue Gui bitterly practicing the Tianji Sword for an entire lifetime, only to reach the mastery realm.
Moreover, this took into account his own incomparably deep foundation in the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture, along with his profound understanding of the Northern Dipper star domain.
From this, one could see just how intricate this dharma sword technique truly was.
Even at the mastery realm, the Tianji Sword offered no solution for dual cultivation of magic and martial arts.
In essence, the Tianji Sword remained a transformation of magic power, merely converted into sword qi to acquire an exceptionally sharp edge.
There were corresponding sword forms as well, but they were remarkably simple.
Clearly, the Big Dipper Seven Stars Sword was an integrated set of sword techniques. Extracted on its own, the Tianji Sword was somewhat lacking in sword forms and footwork. Even more so, it lacked an overarching principle to govern the technique.
Fortunately, he possessed profound attainments in the Xiaoxiang Sword, allowing him to integrate the Tianji Sword into it.
When True Person Zhihua had taught him the Tianji Sword without hesitation, he had likely seen this as well.
Reining in his stray thoughts, Zhou Wuji flicked his finger to release a strand of Tianji Profound Yang Sword Qi.
The sword qi landed upon Xue Gui like a spark of azure star flame. The flame flared violently in an instant, reducing Xue Gui into a boiling mass of azure blaze.
In the blink of an eye, Xue Gui dissolved into floating motes of starlight, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.
Zhou Wuji had witnessed the might of the Tianji Profound Yang Sword once before, yet performing it himself still left him astonished.
The Tianji Profound Yang Sword was not true fire; rather, it transmuted Xue Gui into blazing light—an extraordinarily domineering method of transformation.
Precisely because of this, it left no trace whatsoever after killing, making it practically an indispensable divine technique for murder away from home.
Before dawn, Zhou Wuji returned to the stone cottage.
Opening and closing the stone cottage would normally make noise, but Zhou Wuji cast a detached portion of the Five Yin Pouch over it, screening out all sound.
Never mind the two young disciples, who would notice nothing amiss—even Martial Uncle Yiping would hear no disturbance.
Back in his room, Zhou Wuji took out all the items from the Five Yin Pouch.
The most valuable was undoubtedly the book titled the *Dark Yin Samsara Scripture*, a foundational secret art of great importance to the Heavenly Ghost Sect.
The copy in Xue Gui's possession had been passed down for several centuries, counting as an important heirloom magic implement even within the Heavenly Ghost Sect.
The moment Zhou Wuji saw this manual, he knew Xue Gui's status was out of the ordinary, by no means as humble as the old man had claimed.
As for why the old man dared to carry it on his person, it was naturally because the *Dark Yin Samsara Scripture* was recorded in cipher script, unreadable to outsiders.
As a foundational secret art of the Heavenly Ghost Sect, practicing this method also required paying homage to the Lord of Heavenly Ghosts, also known as the Ten-Thousand-Zhang Ghost of High Heaven.
Without an adept of the sect presiding over the sacrificial rites to receive the talismanic register of the Lord of Heavenly Ghosts, one could not cultivate the secret arts of the Heavenly Ghost Sect at all.
Zhou Wuji had talked with Xue Gui for a long time, questioning him in detail about the internal workings of the Heavenly Ghost Sect, including how its various secret arts were practiced.
Xue Gui had not cared about disclosing this; even if a Rank One Celestial Master obtained the manual, they still would be unable to cultivate it.
The various demonic factions had terrible reputations, yet for their lineages to endure unbroken, they naturally possessed formidable divine abilities.
Zhou Wuji, however, wanted to give it a try. A complete *Dark Yin Samsara Scripture* held considerable value.
With the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, he might be able to bypass all the rituals and directly cultivate this method.
When that time came, he could reap all its benefits while avoiding every one of its perils.
The secret arts of the Heavenly Ghost Sect possessed their own subtleties, and more importantly, methods of the Heavenly Ghost Sect would not be traced back to him.
As the saying went, people were good or evil, but dharma was neither orthodox nor demonic.
Besides the manual, there was also a weighty Soul-Calling Banner. The pole supporting the banner was forged from dark iron blended with human blood and refined souls, known as Hundred Souls Iron; in truth, it was a six-foot spear.
Housed within the Soul-Calling Banner was a Rank Six ghost soldier. Such ghosts, refined from human souls, were exceptionally ferocious and very clever.
Zhou Wuji had refrained from destroying the Soul-Calling Banner because he wanted to see if he could master the *Dark Yin Samsara Scripture*.
If he could command such a ghost, it might prove useful.
As for Ghost Sword Xue Ying, he was a Rank Five expert who was not only proficient in controlling ghosts, but also well versed in the Seven Yin Soul-Snatching Sword, making him formidable indeed.
The havoc wreaked by the malevolent spirits in Wu Family Village was bound to be connected to Xue Ying. As for the specifics, Xue Gui truly had not known.
Zhou Wuji was somewhat curious about this. However, a Rank Five ghost cultivator was quite different from a Rank Five ghost.
Ghosts were dull-witted after all, whereas a ghost cultivator was a living person who would not let himself be manipulated at will.
Although the secret arts Zhou Wuji cultivated strongly countered ghost cultivators, and his true qi was powerful, and he possessed the White Rainbow Sword to boot, he could not afford to underestimate Xue Ying.
A Rank Five cultivator might possess some treasure or secret art. In any case, Zhihe would naturally handle the matter; it was not his place to step forward...
Though Zhou Wuji possessed the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, he would never look down on the heroes of the world.
Right now, what he ought to do was use his strength against the weak and amass cultivation resources as quickly as possible, rather than challenge formidable foes.
After breakfast that morning, Zhou Wuji took the *Dark Yin Samsara Scripture* and sought out Daoist Yiping.
"Martial Uncle, do you recognize these characters?"
"Lunar Serpent-Insect Seal Script. This script has quite a history. Legend has it that ancient sages created it based on the shifting forms of snakes and insects.
"At first, it was used to record prayers for humankind, but later it gradually became dedicated to witchcraft, and in the end, it became the exclusive script of the demonic sects..."
Daoist Yiping had lain idle for years, but he had not merely spent his time lying down; guarding Feixuan Hall, he had read countless books.
He enjoyed pondering such curiosities, and he truly did recognize the Lunar Serpent-Insect Seal Script.
Daoist Yiping handed the manual back to Zhou Wuji. "This thing is sinister. I won't touch it.
"I'll simply teach you to read the Serpent-Insect Seal Script. In truth, it's very simple."
Zhou Wuji smiled. His martial uncle truly feared trouble. Still, this was fine; it gave him a chance to learn more knowledge.
The Demon Sect favored the Lunar Serpent-Insect Seal Script, so learning it would prove useful in the future.
Zhou Wuji studied the script with him for two days. With his powerful memory, he recognized several thousand characters.
Looking at the *Dark Yin Samsara Scripture* again, he could already understand most of it.
However, the Serpent-Insect Seal Script was exceedingly complex. A single character often had multiple interpretations, requiring profound attainment in the script to derive the correct meaning from the context.
After waiting for two days, Zhou Wuji was just thinking of visiting Jin Ying to ask for news when an acolyte arrived with a message: "Martial Uncle Wuji, the abbot requests your presence."
The acolyte added a reminder, "Martial Uncle, there are guests from outside this time, so please change your attire."
Zhou Wuji understood: the envoys from the Celestial Master Mansion had arrived.
He had refrained from going out these past two days precisely to wait for the Celestial Master Mansion's people.
Changing into a brand-new Daoist robe and hair ribbon, Zhou Wuji buckled on the White Rainbow Sword and took Yang Tieying, who had also changed into a new robe, along to Tianshu Hall.
Upon entering Tianshu Hall, Zhou Wuji saw Abbot Zhihe and Hall Master Daoist Yiding, with two Daoists standing opposite them.
Flanking them stood several dozen Daoists from the various lineages of the Lower Court. A large gathering was needed to show the Lower Court's high regard, which was basic etiquette for receiving envoys from the Celestial Master Mansion.
Of the two envoys from the Celestial Master Mansion, one was an old acquaintance, Zhishan. This old Daoist belonged to the Yuheng lineage, and during the assessment, he had posed quite a challenge.
Yet it was precisely Zhishan's obstruction that had led him to crack the Five Dragons Gang's blood sacrifice case.
Zhou Wuji had remembered Zhishan's difficult attitude, so seeing the beaming Zhishan today stirred rather complicated feelings within him.
This time, Zhishan was clearly standing in the lower position. The truly important figure was the Daoist beside him, who possessed crane-white hair and a youthful complexion, wore a purple robe embroidered with gold patterns, and sported a Primordial Chaos One Qi Cap on his head. Across his chest was the pattern of the yin-yang twin fish representing Primordial Chaos One Qi—clearly an expert of the Hunyuan Cult.
Daoist Yiding beckoned to Zhou Wuji. "Wuji, come forward and pay your respects to Seniors Zhichong and Zhishan of the Celestial Master Mansion."
The Seven Daoist Sects shared the same origin and lineage, using the same generational naming poem:
*Dao de tong ming jing, zhen chang shou tai qing. Xuan zhi yi wu shang, tian yuan miao li sheng.*
These twenty characters laid out the generational hierarchy of the Daoist sects with absolute clarity.
Among the Seven Daoist Sects, the Hunyuan Cult stood at the head, and the Great Heavenly King of Primordial Chaos One Qi was universally recognized as the head of all deities.
As an expert of the Hunyuan Cult, Zhichong held a status half a generation higher than Zhihe and Zhishan, who shared the same *Zhi* generation.
Naturally, these were tacit rules within the Daoist sects. In practice, circumstances varied from person to person.
Zhou Wuji stepped forward, bowed with hands clasped in greeting, and paid his respects.
Zhichong looked at Zhou Wuji in his flowing green robe, his eyes filled with admiration.
He swayed his horsetail whisk and praised, "Handsome and dashing, like a celestial being. Truly outstanding!"
Zhichong then turned to Zhihe and said, "With such a genius in your esteemed sect, how could it fail to flourish?"
"Senior Brother overpraises him. Though the boy has some wit, he is young after all, and his cultivation is shallow. It is far too early to say anything..."
Zhihe offered a few polite demurs. This was basic courtesy, but also a way to shield the junior.
If Zhihe joined in praising Zhou Wuji just because someone else gave compliments, it would only do Zhou Wuji a disservice.
It was true that the seven lineages of the Arctic Sect were at odds, but before outsiders, one had to protect one's own; they could not become a laughingstock.
Zhou Wuji lowered his head and kept his gaze downcast. There was no need for him to speak here; listening obediently was enough.
Just as Zhihe had considered, there was no reason to air his grievances with the Yuheng lineage in front of outsiders.
Doing so would not only make Zhichong laugh at the sect's internal discord, but would also make him look brash, impulsive, and unfit for great responsibility.
After Zhichong and Zhihe exchanged a few more pleasantries, Zhichong said with a solemn expression, "Now that Wuji has arrived, please set up the incense altar to receive the decree of Celestial Master Qingxu."
The incense altar was already prepared. Zhichong placed the decree scroll upon it and prayed silently before the Arctic Celestial Emperor.
As the abbot, Zhihe also offered incense, bowed in worship, and prayed silently.
Once the ritual was complete, Zhichong took up the scroll, unfurled it, and read aloud: "Decreed to Zhou Wuji of Yunlong Branch Abbey: endowed with keen perception and spiritual wit, profoundly versed in the Daoist arts, harboring compassion in his heart, and breaking through demonic perils with wisdom.
"He is hereby granted a seventh-rank ordination certificate and awarded the Star Gold Cloud Brocade Robe and the White Jade Horsetail Whisk..."
Chapter 127