Ghosts.
They are the dead.
They are also what the soul transforms into after a person dies.
But this does not mean that a soul will definitely turn into a ghost after death.
For most people, once the physical body dies, the soul finds it very difficult to survive on its own. After losing its vessel, the soul becomes extremely weak, so weak it's almost like a wisp of consciousness. Forget encountering cultivators; even exposure to sunlight is more than it can bear. Moreover, souls are a favorite delicacy for all manner of demons, monsters, and evil spirits. With just a bit of bad luck, death is certain.
Of course.
There are no absolutes in this world.
If one's luck is good enough, and the soul drifts to a place rich in yin energy, it can cultivate in peace, transforming the soul into a specter. From then on, it embarks on the path of ghost cultivation. Although this path is more difficult than the cultivation path, if one treads it steadily, it's not impossible to achieve the status of a Ghost Immortal in the future.
Humans can become immortals.
Ghosts can too.
Not only ghosts, but demons can become Monster Immortals, and even spirit beasts can become Spirit Immortals.
Whether it's the path to Ghost Immortal, Monster Immortal, or Spirit Immortal, all are far more difficult and dangerous than the path of ordinary cultivation.
Gu Qingfeng could see that although this Aunt Xue was still just a specter, she was no ordinary one. She was a specter of holy, radiant light.
If a person's soul is radiant and holy, it must have undergone a tribulation of immortality, its soul purified by the Immortal Dao.
In other words, Aunt Xue was an immortal in her past life. For some reason, her physical body perished, and to survive, her soul had no choice but to evolve into a specter.
However.
Once transformed into a specter, a pure soul is no longer pure. The so-called holiness and radiance will gradually fade.
This is order. This is law.
Yet, Aunt Xue's spectral form still contained an aura of holiness.
This situation could only arise from two possibilities.
Either, at the moment of her death, Aunt Xue used an immortal treasure to forcibly reshape her soul into a spectral body.
Or, Aunt Xue's identity in her past life was not that of an ordinary immortal. As for what identity that was, Gu Qingfeng couldn't guess for the moment.
But one thing he could see: although Aunt Xue's specter was powerful, it was also very weak. He didn't know if she was injured or affected by something.
He considered whether to probe with his divine sense, but after careful thought, he decided against it.
He had once ascended to the Nine Underworlds Emperor's Throne.
Although the heavens had stripped him of that throne, the seed of the Nine Nether Fire remained within him.
That thing was a symbol of the Nine Underworlds Emperor's Throne, one of the overlords of the Dark Laws.
Specters inherently belong to the spirits of darkness.
Gu Qingfeng was genuinely worried that probing might frighten Aunt Xue's specter.
If it were just the Nine Nether Fire, he wouldn't be so concerned. The truth was, Gu Qingfeng also possessed the soul of an Avici Asura.
What was that thing?
It was the Lord of the Dead. Throughout heaven and earth, all dead spirits must pay homage to it.
Specters are not only spirits of darkness but also spirits of death.
He didn't even need to manifest the Avici Asura soul; merely leaking a trace of its Asura aura would be enough. Forget Aunt Xue being just a small specter; even a Ghost King or Ghost Immortal would have to kneel and worship.
"Aunt Xue...
You...
What's wrong?"
Ouyang Ye noticed Aunt Xue's expression was strange, even somewhat pained. She knew Aunt Xue was a specter and couldn't stay in the sun for too long, but the sun had long since set. Moreover, a few days ago, Aunt Xue had said she had mostly recovered, no longer affected by sunlight and more than capable of handling even a Daozun. Given that, why did Aunt Xue look so uncomfortable now?
"N-nothing."
Aunt Xue shook her head, indicating she was fine, but her gaze remained fixed on Gu Qingfeng. The fear in her heart grew stronger, so intense she could barely withstand it. She even felt an impulse to kneel and kowtow.
How could this be!
Aunt Xue truly didn't know and couldn't imagine why.
Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng smiled helplessly and stopped staring at Aunt Xue. If he kept looking, who knew how terrified this woman might become.
Just then, a strange sound came.
It sounded like someone had belched.
Immediately after, a muddled voice followed: "Good wine...
Truly a delicacy of the mortal world!
The wine doesn't intoxicate the man, it intoxicates the mortal realm... Master Gu, is there...
Is there any more fine wine?
This humble one...
would like another two jars."
"Who's there!"
Ouyang Ye exclaimed in surprise, shouting, "Who's speaking?"
As her voice fell, a small claw stretched out from inside a wine jar on the table, followed by a little head. A palm-sized turtle crawled out of the jar, looking dazed and drunk. It rubbed its eyes, belched again, and then, whether from not being fully awake or being too drunk, tumbled straight off the wine jar.
"Ouch!
This wine...
The kick is damn strong...
This young master is still a bit dizzy..." Watching this scene, Ouyang Ye's beautiful eyes widened in astonishment.
A turtle?
And a talking turtle at that?
Ouyang Ye knew some spirit beasts possessed intelligence and could speak human language. Not only did she know, she had even seen one—Su Hua had a talking spirit bird. But a little turtle that could not only talk but also drink wine and curse was a first for her.
"Old Nine...
What's the deal with this little turtle?"
"What do you mean, what's the deal?"
Gu Qingfeng laughed. "It's a little pet I keep."
"You keep it?
A pet?
I've never seen it before."
"Well, you're seeing it now, aren't you?"
Girls tend to like cute, well-behaved little creatures, and Ouyang Ye was no exception. She had always envied Su Hua's talking spirit bird. Now, discovering Gu Qingfeng also had a talking turtle, she felt both shocked and pleasantly surprised. She walked over, wanting to pet it a couple of times.
Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng quickly stopped her. "Don't touch it. This little fellow bites."
"How could such an adorable little turtle bite?"
Seeing Ouyang Ye's delighted expression, Gu Qingfeng didn't stop her further, but he remained secretly on guard against the little turtle.
"Little fellow, you're so small and cute."
Ouyang Ye crouched down, blinking her big eyes at the little turtle. She reached out and stroked its shell, smiling. "Tell big sister, what's your name?"
"Hmm...
Who goes there!"
The little turtle was drunk, and the effects hadn't worn off. It lifted its bleary head, looking at Ouyang Ye with sleepy eyes. "Who are you? What are you touching? Am I someone you can just touch?
Master Gu, who's this little wench? Is she your sweetheart?
If she's your sweetheart, I'll let her touch me."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head, wondering what nonsensical nonsense this little fellow had picked up during its time wandering outside.
"Hey, little fellow, don't talk nonsense! This young lady is not a 'little wench,' and I'm certainly not his sweetheart!"
"Then who are you?"
"This young lady's name is Ouyang Ye. You can call me Elder Sister Ouyang!"
"Elder Sister?"
The little turtle leaned against the wine jar, rolled its little eyes, curled its lip, and sneered disdainfully. "Little wench, why don't you take a piss and look at your reflection? You want to be this young master's elder sister?
Believe it or not, one bite from me will make you question your entire life."
"Hehe, big sister doesn't believe you."
The little turtle opened its mouth to bite, but Gu Qingfeng's voice came: "If you dare bite, I'll make you question your life too."
The little turtle pouted, retracting its head again, muttering, "Fine, for Master Gu's sake, I'll let you off today. But don't touch me next time...
Huh?
Something's off... This young master feels like you look awfully familiar, little wench..."