Chapter 1215: The Source of Ghost Food

"Isn't that different from the ancient architectural style?" Lu Yang chuckled, finding the idea amusing.

"Isn't it... isn't it?" Mu Baiyi felt uncertain upon hearing Lu Yang's laughter. After all, Lu Yang was a true ancient prodigy, the one most qualified to speak about ancient architectural styles.

"Let's talk as we walk," Lu Yang said with a smile, gesturing for Mu Baiyi to lead the way.

"This way."

Mu Baiyi gestured for them to follow and led everyone to a riverside.

The mist on the river grew thicker, and a wooden boat was docked by the bank. Vice Sect Leader Shi Huagu untied the rope and ferried the group across.

"This place is called the River of Forgetfulness. It was also built according to the manuscripts left by Qin Haoran. The River of Forgetfulness encircles Fengdu. To enter Fengdu, one must be ferried across the River of Forgetfulness by a boatman."

"This river can detect if those on board are carrying dangerous items. Of course, there's no need for any of you to be checked," Mu Baiyi added this last sentence to avoid offending Lu Yang and the others.

Emerald green lanterns floated on the river, the same color as the ghost flames hovering above their heads, illuminating their path.

"It certainly has some character," Meng Jingzhou commented casually, as if he understood such things very well.

"Young Sect Leader Lu, where exactly does Fengdu's architectural style originate from?"

Lu Yang didn't answer directly but instead asked another question: "Sect Leader Mu, when do you think the ancient era ended?"

"Naturally, it was when the ancient immortals transformed stars into continents, after which the ancient era ended, and figures like the Central Heavenly Emperor established the Great Gan Dynasty on the ruins."

Lu Yang shook his head. "Wrong. There was a gap of 100,000 years between the transformation of stars into continents and the establishment of the Great Gan Dynasty. During these 100,000 years, a colossal entity emerged, known as the XinHuo Dynasty."

"What?!"

Both Mu Baiyi and Sect Leader Chi, Liu Zhen, were startled. Shi Huagu, who was rowing, almost dropped the oar into the river upon hearing this secret.

A vast dynasty spanning 100,000 years – they had never heard of it.

"Do you remember me saying that in the ancient era, the Heavenly Court and the Underworld stood side-by-side? One governed the living, and the other managed reincarnation."

"This Underworld, which governed life and death, was established during the XinHuo Dynasty."

"The Fengdu built by your sect bears some resemblance to the Underworld."

Yingtian Immortal, Suiyue Immortal, Jiuchong Immortal, Qinghe, and Ao Ling had all lived through the XinHuo Dynasty. From their descriptions, Lu Yang had a general idea of what the Underworld looked like, and it was remarkably similar to the Fengdu before them.

He wondered if Qin Haoran had coincidentally recalled memories from his first life or had fully awakened his memories when he drew the Fengdu manuscripts.

Lu Yang leaned more towards the former; it would be quite absurd if Qin Haoran, having fully awakened his memories, still failed his tribulation.

"So that's how it is!" Mu Baiyi was convinced that inviting the Heavenly Court Sect was the right decision this time. Only members of the Heavenly Court Sect would know such ancient secrets.

Everyone disembarked, and the magnificent and imposing ancient city of Fengdu appeared before them, solemn and grave, with an indescribable sense of antiquity.

This ancient feeling was not only reflected in the architectural style but also in the building materials.

Lu Yang stroked the city wall bricks and asked, "These bricks aren't newly forged, are they?"

"Young Sect Leader Lu has keen eyes. We accidentally discovered the ancient capital city of the Great Gan Dynasty during an exploration and moved its bricks here to construct Fengdu."

"All these bricks are from there?"

"All of them."

Lu Yang paused. The scale of Fengdu city was comparable to the capital of Great Xia. The fact that all the bricks used to build Fengdu came from an ancient capital city meant that the ancient capital city was as large as Great Xia's capital.

Which ancient capital of Great Gan could be so enormous? They had likely excavated the imperial capital of Great Gan.

The two city gates were as massive as mountains. Shi Huagu pushed open the heavy wooden doors, revealing countless ghosts of various shapes and sizes within the city, some as tall as two stories, others as small as a palm. The number of ghosts was in the tens of thousands.

For Fengdu's inauguration ceremony, the city was adorned with festive decorations, including large red lanterns. Each ghost even had a large red paper attached to it. Although Lu Yang and his companion knew Mu Baiyi's intentions were good, this scene, combined with Fengdu's gloomy environment and green ghost flames, looked utterly eerie.

"Hungry ghosts, Five Fiend ghosts, enchanting ghosts, ear and eye ghosts..."

Lu Yang considered himself knowledgeable about many types of ghosts, but there were still many he couldn't name or identify.

Mu Baiyi proudly introduced, "Almost all the ghosts in Great Xia are here."

Originally, the Nine Nether Sect didn't have so many ghosts. But with the proliferation of barbecue restaurants, staff members would search for ghosts in the local area during their free time. If they could recruit a ghost into the Nine Nether Sect, they would receive a generous reward based on the ghost's cultivation.

This was something the formerly impoverished Nine Nether Sect could never have achieved.

"Based on the ghosts' needs, we have also established academies, restaurants, tea houses, and other places, enough for them to live here indefinitely."

Lu Yang suddenly realized, "So, Fengdu city is a city specifically built for ghosts to live in?"

No wonder the Nine Nether Sect was so determined to build Fengdu city. It wasn't just a matter of faith; this was another reason.

"What do the ghosts eat then?"

While ghosts are beings of extreme Yin, for them to maintain basic activity, they require a significant amount of Yang energy. This is why ghosts feed on the Yang energy of the living. With so many ghosts living in Fengdu, the Nine Nether Sect couldn't possibly regularly capture people to feed them, could they?

"For that, we must thank Sect Leader Chi."

Sect Leader Chi smiled faintly, raising a hand in modesty. "I only provided a small bit of help. The main solution was your idea."

"Please take a look, both of you," Mu Baiyi said, pulling out a lamp from behind him.

"A solar-powered lamp?" Meng Jingzhou wondered. "Aren't solar lamps supposed to ward off ghosts?"

"This isn't like ordinary solar lamps."

Mu Baiyi pressed the switch, and the solar lamp glowed faintly, less brightly than the ghost flames above their heads.

"Ghosts absorb Yang energy, and the greatest source of Yang energy in the world is undoubtedly the sun."

"However, the sun is too strong. Only ghost kings can move about under the sun; ordinary ghosts die upon seeing the sun and cannot absorb its energy."

"And solar lamps happen to absorb the sun's Yang energy. So, I asked Sect Leader Chi if he could research a less bright solar lamp. If the brightness decreases, the released solar energy is less, and ghosts can then absorb it."

"Initially, I just wanted to try it, but I didn't expect it to actually work," Mu Baiyi said with a laugh, admitting he was uncertain before the attempt.

Once the ghosts' food source was resolved, the ghosts of Great Xia naturally flocked to the Nine Nether Sect.

The Blazing Sun Sect was very happy to cooperate with the Nine Nether Sect, even offering to provide solar lamps for free. Their sect's aim was to propagate the greatness of the sun, and now even ghosts relied on the sun, which amply demonstrated its greatness.

"So, does that mean all these ghosts will live in Fengdu from now on?" Lu Yang asked. This was an unexpectedly good development.

Managing ghosts was a recognized difficulty for the imperial court, and there was even ongoing debate without a definitive conclusion about whether ghosts had human rights.

If all ghosts lived in Fengdu, nothing could be better.

"Not all of them live in Fengdu. We also need ghosts to operate the barbecue restaurants and to work with the Blazing Sun Sect on developing new products."

"Can't humans do it?" Meng Jingzhou asked.

Mu Baiyi waved his hand. "Using humans would require paying monthly salaries, which is too expensive. Using ghosts only requires providing Yang energy."