This Taoist Master is too Frivolous

The teacher of the Daois Class was stunned, thinking he’d misheard, and cautiously asked, “Director Xu, do you mean…I should go catch a few ghosts?”

Classroom students took a moment to rally their wits.

Upon hearing the teacher’s words, they were finally able to make sense of it…

Great!

It turns out that everyone had misunderstood!

Why would a ghost be asked to visit the Martial Arts Academy as a specimen?

“Catch what?”

Xu Yang was speechless: “The ghosts in Xi Xia are enthusiastic and willing to help. Just go take a walk in Long Flow River scenic spot, and do as I said.”

He took out his phone, glanced at the time, and said, “There’s still plenty of time. Go there quickly and come back. Then all teachers and students of the Daois Class should go to the lecture hall for a combined class… As a Daoist, if you haven’t seen ghosts and don’t understand their habits and tactics, how do you expect to catch ghosts in the future?”

Xu Yang walked out of the classroom with his hands behind his back, seemingly relaxed.

In the classroom…

After a few quiet seconds, a huge uproar erupted.

Students began a heated debate!

In their ranks, only very few had previously encountered ghosts!

While everyone had a natural fear of ghosts, they were also keenly curious. Having already enrolled in the Daois Class, they were bound to face ghosts in their study of Daoist skills. Having early insight would undoubtedly be beneficial for their future training.

The teacher, however, was smiling bitterly.

Was it real or made up?

Being from out of town, he had been transferred from the Spirits Management Bureau. Years ago, he was selected to study at the “Maoshan Daoist Acadamy” jointly run by the Spirits Management Bureau and the Maoshan Sect, and joined the Bureau upon graduation.

After practicing Daoism for eighteen years, he had reached the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

He had seen quite a lot in this time.

Of course, he had heard of Xu Yang’s fame, but he did not understand Xu Yang’s stature in the ghost and spirit circles in Xi Xia.

Feeling both doubtful and hopeful, he had no choice but to obey. Today was the first day of term after all, and the director had given orders. He promptly said, “Study by yourselves for now… Are there any local students from Wu City in the class? Who knows where Long Flow River is?”

A student stood up.

“Mr. Huang, I know. My house isn’t far from Long Flow River!”

“You’re on. Let’s go. Show me the way to Long Flow River scenic spot.”

Exiting the classroom, Mr. Huang got in his car and quickly left the city with the student guiding him to the Long Flow River scenic spot.

On the way, he asked the student, “Director Xu mentioned that there are ghosts in the Long Flow River scenic spot. Since your house is near there, do you know about this?”

The student answered, “I’ve heard people mention it, but I have never seen it with my own eyes… Apparently, Director Xu held his wedding in a farmhouse just outside the Long Flow River scenic spot. The procession came from the mountains at the time, and many ghosts came that day. But they were all killed with a single punch by a man!”

Wedding?

A wedding procession?

Mr. Huang squinted his eyes.

It had long been rumored that Director Xu married a female ghost. The news had spread throughout the martial world.

Could it be…

Is everything Master Xu said true?

He drove straight to the Long Flow River scenic spot, heading into the mountains.

As they ventured deeper into the scenic spot, Mr. Huang’s face turned serious. He said to the student following him, “Stay close to me. The Yin energy is extremely strong in these mountains. There must be powerful Yin spirits and malevolent beings residing here!”

It was broad daylight.

The sun was shining brightly outside.

But the mountains were gloomy and misty. Every now and then a breeze would blow through, giving off a chilling sensation accompanied by a “whoo whoo whoo whoo” noise.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a burst of Yin wind blew by.

A man appeared in front of them.

“A Red-Clothed Ghost!” Mr. Huang exclaimed, his face changing drastically.

“Sir, he is wearing white,” the student responded, confused.

With a serious look on his face, Mr. Huang quickly said, “The term ‘Red-Clothed’ is a classification for Yin spirits and malevolent beings. Its strength is similar to that of a Martial Arts Innate Grandmaster or an Entering Dao Realm Daoist… when I confront him later, you run!”

However…

Unexpectedly, the ghost did not attack.

Instead, it politely greeted them and asked, “Why has the Daoist friend come to my Long Flow River?”

Mr. Huang, who was initially flustered by the sudden appearance of the Red-Clothed Ghost, calmed down. Remembering Xu Yang’s instructions, he bowed in return, saying, “I am here to deliver a message from Director Xu.”

“Director Xu?”

The Red-Clothed Ghost paused, “Is it the Northwest Hammer King, leader of the Jingming Sect, master of Xi Xia Ghost Market, and my husband, Master Xu?”

Listening to the string of titles, Mr. Huang numbly nodded.

The ghost’s attitude changed instantly, becoming even more enthusiastic. He rushed up to Mr. Huang, grabbed his hands, and asked, “Friend, can you please tell me in detail how my husband ended up being Director Xu?”

At this moment, Mr. Huang’s feelings were complicated.

He never thought his first close encounter with a Red-Clothed Ghost would involve hand-holding, rather than fighting…

He calmly withdrew his hand, explaining the establishment of the Martial Arts Academy in Wu City.

The ghost excitedly said, “Oh… I know about the establishment of the Martial Arts Academy in Wu City. That stiff spirit in the Ghost Market last time mentioned it. The director of this Martial Arts Academy, is it my husband? My husband…why didn’t I get even a hint about this!”

“Wait… you mentioned that my husband asked you to deliver a message. What was the message?”

Mr. Huang repeated Xu Yang’s words.

He initially thought that the Red-Clothed Ghost might be resistant or disgusted.

But instead, the ghost’s eyes glowed red with excitement. He put his finger to his lips and let out a loud whistle!

Immediately, a thunderous noise echoed from the mountains. From the hilltops, ghosts rushed towards the foot of the mountain, “howling” as they went.

“Brothers!”

“Your chance to shine has arrived!”

The Red-Clothed Ghost announced, “Now, our husband has become the director of the Wu City Martial Arts Academy. Their Daois Class needs a few ghosts to serve as examples…”

“What?”

“Husband?”

“Me, pick me!”

“Count me in!”

“Damn, what can a small Karami like you do?”

Suddenly, hundreds of ghosts from all over the hills began to argue over the available spots. Two even got into a fistfight, throwing ghostly punches overall.

The one in red pleaded, “Stop fighting everyone, truth is if Master knew, wouldn’t he hammer y’all?”

Upon hearing this, the many ghostly spirits shuddered in fear. Some of the faint-hearted even turned white from fear!

The one in red continued, “How about this… count me in, all we need is five more, no need to rush everyone; the Martial Arts Academy isn’t for a day only, there’ll be plenty of chances in the future!”

“Alright friends, our quota is set. Please kindly lead the way!”

“Oh…”

Snapping back to reality, Master Huang hurriedly said, “Let’s go, we need to get back … students are waiting for class.”

………

Wu City’s Martial Art Academy.

Dean’s office.

“Ding!”

“Ghosts have been scared. Merit points +20.”

“Ding!”

“Female ghost has been scared. Merit points +30, Dance skills +1”.

“Ding…”

As Xu Yang was sitting at his desk playing online games, a string of system notifications made him pause.

What’s going on?!

Without doing anything, suddenly a wave of merit points came in?!

Opening the system’s property panel, Xu Yang looked and found that his remaining 6,000 merit points had risen to 14,000.

“Could it be that someone is using my reputation to scare ghosts?”

Xu Yang thought to himself.

It seems that this is the only possibility.

Half an hour later.

Master Huang returned and brought back six ghosts.

Upon receiving the notice, teachers and students from the five Daoist classes at Wu City Martial Art Academy all rushed to the main classroom, even those from the martial arts class reacted to the news.

Six ghosts went on the stage one by one. After paying respects to Xu Yang, they greeted the students and showed a lot of courtesy. During the class, they were very attentive and showed their abilities and tactics to the students.

One of the ghosts even twisted its own head off, telling the students that ghost bodies are compiled of Yin energy, so their bodies aren’t their weaknesses, and generally, they won’t die even when their bodies burst.

During this class.

Many students filmed and posted it online.

Soon.

Wu City Martial Art Academy quickly became a hot search topic, garnering attention from the whole netizens.

As Dean of Wu City Martial Art Academy, Xu Yang, of course, “caught fire” all over again. He became the “dean from another family” in the mouths of netizens.

About everything online, Xu Yang had no clue.

He didn’t have the time to pay attention to it either.

After ending a calm day as a dean, Xu Yang started becoming busy.

First, he went to a funeral shop, checked that Ma Xiaotiao stocked up well enough, and went to the toy shop to reorder a truckload of “toy weapons”. That night, he gave all the weapons to Yue Qiluo, asking Yue Qiluo to distribute them to her Yin soldiers, to ensure the safety of Xi Xia Ghost Market.

In the evening, Xu Yang contacted Wang Defa.

Elder Wang had been running around places such as Wu City and Xi Xia these days, supposedly “taking his disciples to Purifying the Mind in the Mortal Realm”.

The master and disciple arrived at the funeral shop together.

After a conversation.

Wang Defa promised to help guard the Ghost Market from any unexpected events the next night.

After the Ghost Market closes, he would secretly join Xu Yang in entering the Underworld Palace.

After sending off master and disciple Wang Defa, Xu Yang got a text from Dr. Wan.

The texto was very simple. It was the name of a hotel and room number. At the end of the text, it was written, “Miss you!”

As promised, Xu Yang went straight to the hotel.

……

At the same time.

Underworld Palace.

In Wrongful Death City, six thousand eight hundred miles away in the west, within the Black Forest, atop Blackstone Mountain.

In less than half a month, Blackstone Mountain became lively once again.

A group of ghosts, armed to the teeth, patrolled back and forth on Blackstone Mountain.

Figure by figure, flew in from a distant place, settling down in Blackstone Mountain.

There are a total of twelve ghosts, each with a mighty aura. The weakest among them was at the peak Ghost King level …

Of course.

In the Underworld Palace, the term “Ghost King” isn’t a ‘state,’ but a designation!

These twelve ghosts were the Twelve Guardian Deities of Blackstone Mountain.

There’s only a single Ghost King in Blackstone Mountain!

That is the Supreme Sage Qingxu, clad in his Daoist Robe, Xu Zhiyuan.

“Great King!”

“Great King!”

Seeing Supreme Sage Qingxu, the Twelve Guardian Deities all kneeled on one knee.

As Supreme Sage Qingxu “drawing ghost symbols” on the table, he asked, “How’s the battle situation recently?”

One of the coarse spirits stood and said, “Great King, we’ve already taken over all nine peaks in the Black Forest now. The brothers have rallied the troops and are prepared to press forward till Fengdu City’s territory ….With these weapons, we believe that Blackstone Mountain could become the largest Ghost Realm within ten thousand miles around in at most a year!”

Qing Xu True Man put down the symbol pen and said: “Tell the brothers not to be anxious… Also pick eight hundred smarter brothers, tomorrow is the Ghost Festival, I want to take you guys to the human world for a walk!”

The Twelve Guardian Deities took their orders and left the compound.

The Supreme Sage Qingxu, Xu Zhiyuan, continuously performed dream-invoking secret spells.

Undoubtedly…

The attempt to invoke the dream failed.

He frowned deeply, a bad feeling spreading in his heart!

“How is this possible?”

“I’ve been trying to invoke dreams for more than ten days, seven times a day… but not even one has worked. Xu Yang’s talent and bone structure are not good enough. He absolutely can’t practice Daoism… Even if he could, where can he stay awake for more than ten days?”

Could it be…

Something has happened to my great-grandson?

Lu Shan Sect’s…

Did they disregard the rules of the martial world and took actions?

Taking a deep breath, Xu Zhiyuan thought to himself: “Great-grandson… Don’t worry! Your grandpa will be back tomorrow night!”