Chapter 470 – Breeding Ghosts Like Gu, Eastern Sea’s Machinations, A Depressed Xie Yu, and Shadows Over the Jade Capital - Part 1

As Li Yuan listened to the explanation, he absentmindedly picked up a pure white worry-free flower.

The moment it touched his hand, the flower let out a strange

hissing

noise, then quickly melted into a wisp of white smoke and vanished.

Li Yuan gave a bitter smile. “Yan Yu, I’m afraid a lot of the stuff here is useless to me now.”

In truth, ever since he broke through to third rank, even his

Equipment Box

had undergone a transformation.

All the old items had sunk to the bottom, dulled into a lifeless gray. Only a few remained active, floating above the rest.

「

Equipment 1: 1-mace (x30)

Equipment 2: Thousand-Mile Thread

Equipment 3: Ghost Hammer

Equipment 4: Nine Provinces Provisional Patrol Token

」

The grayed-out items could still be taken out, but whenever he tried to touch them, they would simply dissolve into nothing.

And since new items had to be placed into the Equipment Box through physical contact, even the worry-free flowers from the Flower Shop couldn’t be stored anymore.

Yan Yu glanced at the giant crimson energy membrane shielding his body and said casually, “Then pick out something you

can

use.”

Li Yuan nodded and began rummaging through the clutter.

Eventually, his Equipment Box gained two new entries.

「

Equipment 5: Mirror of Sin (x2)

Equipment 6: Hungry Ghost Cage (x1)

」

The Mirror of Sin was a high tier item, particularly rare were those that could reflect fourth rank martial artists. Even more precious, each mirror could only be used once or twice before becoming useless. Naturally, the ones Yan Yu gave Li Yuan were the kind that worked on fourth rank martial artists.

The Hungry Ghost Cage, on the other hand, was a compact item, somewhat reminiscent of the Black Lotus the Lotus Cult had previously unleashed, but with its own horrifying twist.

The Black Lotus would erase the memories of everything in its radius, turning them into exotic beasts under its influence.

The Hungry Ghost Cage was a palm-sized, pitch-black cage. Once thrown, it would envelop an entire small village.

Everyone within would lose their memory, and then transform into ravenous ghosts, knowing only one thing, and that was eating. Whatever they saw, they devoured. Flesh, wood, metal, even each other...until their bodies burst from overindulgence.

And the terrifying part? Whether the cage was activated or deactivated was entirely up to the user’s will.

Compared to the widespread chaos of the Black Lotus, the Hungry Ghost Cage had a much smaller range, but that also meant its devastation was tightly contained. A surgical nightmare.

These were the two most powerful ghost items currently in Yan Yu’s possession.

Especially the Hungry Ghost Cage, she’d never let anyone use it before. It had always been kept hidden away. Only now, with Li Yuan’s arrival, had she finally decided to hand it over. Because she trusted him.

The Flower Shop, after all, was a top-tier ghost entity, on par with the likes of the Exotic Beast Park and Apparel Atelier.

The Mirror of Sin was a unique creation jointly produced by the shop and Yan Yu herself.

The Hungry Ghost Cage, meanwhile, was the result of a bizarre collaboration between the boar from the Exotic Beast Park, the Flower Shop, and Feng’er.

With a unique entity like Yan Yu involved, creating ghost items was far more efficient than relying on the average sentient ghost.

Li Yuan stared blankly at the descriptions of the two ghost items. For a moment, his thoughts drifted, overwhelmed by a strange sense of disorientation.

It felt like the world was shifting into a darker, more terrifying phase, one where past experience was no longer any guide at all.

A fourth rank like Peng Mi was practically unstoppable. But now, even a low rank undying husk wielding a Mirror of Sin could take him down. Unthinkable, just a few decades ago.

“How fast the times are changing,” Li Yuan couldn’t help but sigh.

“Indeed,” Yan Yu echoed, her voice soft with reflection.

She stood at the edge of the twin-layered red-and-black barrier, draped in her signature long ghostly dress, lips painted crimson. The boundary membrane around Li Yuan had grown thicker. What had once been as thin as a strand of hair was now as thick as a finger, standing out like a sore thumb.

They exchanged a glance, then chatted for a while about Sheng'er, before the conversation shifted to the Revival Tree God.

It was only then that Yan Yu recalled something important. “The Revival Tree God told me that time is running out. To accelerate the Grand Union of Yin and Yang, the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain has already dispatched two more groups of envoys.

“These envoys have power bases in the Central Plains. They’re either from the Five Elements Alliance or one of the Buddhists or Daoists. The Revival Tree God couldn’t confirm which. But what he

could

say was this. These envoys are at least as strong as him.”

Li Yuan’s expression darkened slightly. “Where are these two groups now?”

Yan Yu thought for a moment. “They were sent to support other ghost domains. The Revival Tree God said that while the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain does value me, they won’t place all their hopes on me. They’ve chosen two other targets, and they're helping

them

too.

“As for who these other targets are, even the Revival Tree God doesn’t know. But he does know one thing, the Immortal Domain’s first objective is to split the ghost realms into three factions. Then...the three great ghost domains will fight among themselves until only one remains.”

Li Yuan’s heart skipped a beat. His pupils narrowed. He had originally hoped to leverage Yan Yu to control the pace of the Grand Union of Yin and Yang, to keep the final choice in

his

hands.

But clearly, that wasn’t going to happen.

The Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain was employing a brutal

Gu

incubation strategy—raising three contenders, letting them devour each other until only the strongest survived.

If Yan Yu didn’t start devouring the other ghost domains quickly, she’d fall behind. And once she was the weakest among the three candidates, she’d be devoured herself.

In other words, she

had

to push for the Grand Union of Yin and Yang. Not because she wanted to, because if she didn’t, she’d be erased.

Li Yuan glanced at her again. There was no panic on her face. Ghosts...did not feel fear. And Yan Yu was no exception.

He said quietly, “Yan Yu, then go ahead. Devour as much as you can. Don’t hold back.”

In that moment, the realization settled in. Yan Yu was no longer a wildcard. She was a piece on the board.

And pieces on the board only have two fates. They could eat, or they would be eaten. No matter how powerful...that truth remained.

Li Yuan sighed inwardly.

Even someone as formidable as Yan Yu...once she’s drawn into the game, she’s still just a pawn.

But

he

wasn’t a pawn. Because he’d always stayed behind the scenes. Though...he wasn’t a player either—not yet. He still wasn’t strong enough.

“Alright, Husband...” Yan Yu answered softly. Then added, “Don’t worry. As long as Sheng'er is with me, I’ll always have a sliver of humanity left.”

As she spoke, a black crow burst from the ghost domain within her. It fluttered over and playfully landed on her shoulder, chirping with boundless energy, “Mama!”

The moment that word left its beak, the divine coldness in Yan Yu’s eyes softened, just slightly, flickering with a faint glimmer of warmth.

The crow saw that Li Yuan was about to turn away and piped up cheerfully, “Papa, stay and have a meal with us!”

Li Yuan smiled. “Sure.”

With that, he stepped forward, intending to move a large stone to use as a table.

But just as he made a move, Yan Yu spoke gently, “Let me handle the household chores, Husband.”

“...” Li Yuan fell silent. The words, so familiar and domestic, carried across the years like a warm echo from another life.

A moment later, two ghostly attendants in white glided over, effortlessly lifting a long, flat, pitch-black slab of stone and setting it down before them.

Half of it was anchored in the ghost domain, the other half extending into Li Yuan’s Yang domain.

The little girl in red pulled flowers from her basket and began placing them carefully on the stone table. Yan Yu sat down gracefully.

More ghost attendants followed, bringing basket after basket of food and laying them out on the table.

Most of the dishes were still frozen solid, sealed in glistening blocks of ice. But the variety was astonishing—so many kinds of food, it almost looked like some master chef had cooked up a feast and then immediately shoved it all into cold storage.

The crow chirped energetically, “Papa, I asked for this food. Mama had them bring it, and then they stuck it in the ice box!”

Li Yuan controlled the heat in his palm and gave a gentle puff. A soft flame fanned out, melting the icy blocks in moments. Steam rose, and the food returned to life. It was hot, fragrant, and inviting.

The crow hopped to the edge where the ghost and human realms met, flapped its wings excitedly, and cawed, “Let’s eat!”

A family of three. Strange as they were. Unconventional as the setting might be. The moment was warm, even before the meal began. And so the three of them ate together.

Li Yuan chatted as he chewed. “Yan Yu, when are

you

going to cook again? I still think about your cooking sometimes.

“Remember when I said I’d bring you a kid to raise when I was staying in Cloudpeak Province? Well, that kid turned into a Khagan. He’s bursting with Yang energy and totally out of luck, no chance of him coming here to enjoy a quiet life.”

Li Yuan kept talking and talking, one thought tumbling into the next.

“...” Yan Yu ate silently, her expression calm. She didn’t dislike hot food, but it wasn’t something she enjoyed either. She no longer

needed

to eat. And if she had to, something cold and lifeless would suit her far better. But she

did

love family meals.

At times like this, the world around her, usually monochrome, suddenly seemed to bloom with color. The ghost domain, usually grim and deathly, felt like a garden in spring.

Then, as if performing a magic trick, Li Yuan pulled a blood-red flower from his robes.

The moment it touched the table, its roots straightened themselves and began to

patter

across the stone, scuttling like a spider until it reached Yan Yu, where it froze, then tried timidly to back away.

But it couldn’t retreat. Li Yuan’s will held it firmly in place.

Yan Yu blinked, surprised. She looked from the flower to Li Yuan.

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a smile.

She smiled back.

The little crow chirped, “Papa gave Mama a flower!”

Yan Yu snorted softly. “We’re an old couple already. What’s the point of giving me flowers?”

Li Yuan replied, “This flower is called the Eternal Demon Bloom. Once planted, it can multiply endlessly. Your world is too black and white, Yan Yu. Let me give you a splash of color.”

Yan Yu thought for a moment, then said, “Then I’ll have to plant it right at the entrance.”

Li Yuan glanced around and said, “It’s all barren anyway. Turning the whole place red might not be so bad.”

He paused, then added, “But this flower’s beauty is deceptive. It gives off a hypnotic aura. Even a sixth rank martial artist could lose themselves in it, get trapped in illusion, and end up as fertilizer for the next bloom.”

Yan Yu glanced at the little girl in red beside her.

Without a word, the child suddenly moved—eerily calm, her steps slow and deliberate—as she walked up to the Eternal Demon Bloom and grabbed it in one swift motion.

The flower let out a strange shriek, writhing as if it wanted to escape.

But within a single breath, it fell still.

Yan Yu said softly, “Don’t worry. I can keep it under control. From now on, if I plant flowers like this outside the Ghost Prison, they’ll be exactly what I want them to be. If I say they’re dangerous, they’ll be dangerous. If I say they’re just flowers, then that’s all they’ll be.”

She looked at the vibrant crimson petals and added in a gentle voice, “Thank you, Husband.”

Li Yuan said, “Yan Yu, for now, keep it inside the ghost domain. I got that flower from the Holy Tree Temple. If the Revival Tree God really

is

the one behind it all, then the moment he sees this bloom, he might suspect I’m still alive.”

Yan Yu nodded softly. “Alright.”

After the meal, Li Yuan took his leave.