Chapter 76: The Mandate of the Province and Prefecture!

Wang Zhenling had just boasted about being the vanguard of the army. If he retreated now, it would feel like he was contradicting himself. As he hesitated, Chen Wu suddenly rode up swiftly from behind and urgently said, “The situation has changed. The commandant has ordered the army to retreat!”

Chen Wu, like Chen San, was a master from the Chen family of Hezhong, a native scion of the clan. Naturally, Wang Zhenling recognized him. This news brought Wang both relief and confusion.

Before he could ask further, Chen Wu explained, “The commandant has received word that the cultivators of Wugu Valley launched a surprise attack on many practitioners in Wuji Mountain, killing over a dozen formidable experts there. They have taken control of the entire mountain... and have even opened the ghost gate within it!”

“What?” Wang Zhenling’s heart jolted. The government had sent troops to eradicate the Wuji Mountain because its Qi practitioners, though numerous, were disorganized and lacked unity—a mere rabble. But if someone had forcefully unified the factions of Wuji Mountain, things would become much more complicated.

What was even more terrifying was that the Wugu cultivators had maliciously opened the ghost gate within the mountain.

In this world, there was no underworld; spirits and ghosts gathered in famous mountains and great rivers. When their numbers grew, they often formed ghost domains—self-contained spiritual realms isolated from the living world.

In fact, even in Wang Zhenling’s previous life, early mythology spoke of mountain gods governing ghosts, such as the Lord of Mount Tai and the Governor of Mount Hua.

The mountain god of Wuji Mountain was said to have perished in ancient times. Though no longer present, the ghost domain still existed.

If the Wugu cultivators had opened the ghost domain, no wonder Xiaji County had fallen into such a state!

Wang Zhenling realized with dread that the ghost prison within Xiaji County might have been shattered, releasing the imprisoned guilty spirits.

His heart sank as he urgently ordered the troops to retreat.

But at this moment, it was too late to escape.

Suddenly, a shadowy cloud rose, quickly enveloping the sky, turning the daylight gloomy.

Along with the sudden onset of wind and rain, countless grasses and trees rustled violently. A mournful wind and bitter rain filled the air, as if the wails of ghosts echoed everywhere.

Both Wang Zhenling and Chen Wu’s expressions changed, and the entire Guangyang Township militia became restless and fearful.

“Hurry, we must fall back and regroup with the main army. The commandant has already sent a plea for reinforcements; experts will arrive soon. Once we retreat, we will be safe!” Chen Wu urged.

Wang Zhenling agreed and immediately ordered a withdrawal.

However, retreating was far from straightforward.

The howling wind and rain stirred every bush and blade of grass, as if ghostly creatures might emerge at any moment.

What was worse, the sky was darker than before a summer storm, as if the world had turned gray. Shadows of ghosts appeared openly all around without any restraint.

Soon after the troops began to pull back, they stopped—lost.

The world grew dim and murky; the path to all sides was gone.

Seeing the surroundings utterly changed from what they had been, Chen Wu shouted, “This is bad—we’ve fallen into a ghost domain!”

A ghost domain was a region sealed off by the overwhelming presence of ghosts and dense yin energy, temporarily drawn into the shadowy underworld.

The last time Wang Zhenling faced an assassination by a Wugu cultivator, he was trapped in a similar ghostly maze.

Wang Zhenling tried to use the power of his official seal to break through and return to the living world.

But this time, the glow of the seal was immediately swallowed by darkness.

The power of this ghost domain was too strong—beyond what his official seal could dispel, at least at his current level!

Seeing this, Wang Zhenling’s face paled again, fearing that this time the entire militia might be doomed.

At that moment, countless ghostly figures gathered from all directions. They were gaunt, clad in tattered garments, their bodies wrapped in strands of black energy like shackles, making them look frenzied and ferocious as they lunged at the militia.

“Damn it!”

Originally, hundreds of vigorous young men had gathered, their collective vitality blazing like fire. Through training and formation, they had become a formidable force.

Though not comparable to the formal army that could strike terror even in the realms of immortals and gods, they were still not easily intimidated by ordinary ghosts.

But here, within the ghost domain, they were utterly suppressed by the yin energy.

Wang Zhenling employed the art of qi observation and saw the vitality above each militia member’s head fade from fiery red to a pale white.

Looking at their faces, all were deathly pale, void of any blood.

This struck a chilling chord in Wang’s heart—this time, the entire militia was likely to be annihilated.

The qi observation technique Wang Zhenling used came from the Grand Celestial Temple’s Nine Heavens Primordial Yang Longevity Creation Chart.

The Heavenly Lotus Seed had stolen official qi to use for itself. Unwittingly, Wang had learned this divine art through repeated exposure.

Now, using it unconsciously, he felt only bitterness.

Yet when Wang’s gaze shifted to Chen Wu, he was momentarily stunned.

As mentioned before, Chen Wu was like Chen San.

Even Chen Da, who had once sniffed out Wang Zhenling’s killings, was merely a servant of the Chen family of Hezhong.

The Chen clan was a great family occupying tens of thousands of acres of prime farmland and manors, with tens of thousands of servants and retainers.

With such a long lineage, countless talents could be nurtured even among mere household servants.

Yet, Wang saw that Chen Wu’s vitality remained strong and unyielding, as if untouched by the oppressive ghost domain. Deep within his qi, a faint golden aura of his innate destiny emerged.

Human fate was more complex than it appeared.

Qi represented movement and change.

Thus, qi could be divided into innate destiny and external fortune.

Most qi observation techniques only perceived the external fortune.

For example, recent luck—finding money on the road, gaining official favor—these were external fortunes, constantly fluctuating.

The core innate destiny, however, was carried from birth and was difficult to alter.

Though it could not determine one’s upper limits, it definitely set their baseline.

At this moment, Wang Zhenling was amazed to see Chen Wu’s qi reveal a golden innate destiny despite the ghost domain’s suppression.

A golden innate destiny meant Chen Wu possessed the mandate of a prefecture or province.