Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!

"Northeast direction?" Jiang Yuan squinted his eyes as he looked over.

The sky of the Netherworld always appears gray and oppressive, occasionally emanating a chilling red glow, which makes him feel uncomfortable and unsatisfied. However, visibility is not an issue; as far as the eye can see, black trees twist grotesquely, resembling a wild dance of ghosts in the wind.

Lotus Peak, true to its name, resembles layers of blooming lotus.

Wan An pointed out a location near the central area, where a steep cliff rises quietly in the dim light.

"I'll go have a look. Is there any other issue you need my assistance with?" He took a paper crane out from his Storage Bag and blew on it.

Since the Paperman and Paper Horse Skill leveled up to seven, the experience progress slowed down tremendously, but the crafted paper cranes are exceedingly exquisite, almost indistinguishable from real ones at first glance.

"Thanks for your care, I currently lack nothing, and cultivating the 'Ghost Immortal Scripture' is going smoothly without troubling Mr. Jiang anymore." Wan An hesitated briefly before deciding to speak: "But... do you remember Lin Dayou? The orphan living in Anping Town with his mother was rescued with me during the mining incident.

I gave him some paper money, and he opened a small shop in the city to earn some money through trade. A few days ago, he saved up enough paper money to buy a few Dream Talismans, hoping to meet his wife and child in a dream.

As it turned out, he said his wife and daughter, Chunxi, successfully visited him in a dream; only his son, Chunsheng, failed despite using three talisman papers.

Lin Dayou is worried if something happened to his son, but his wife and daughter said everything is fine at home in the dream too. It's not a big deal and initially, he didn't want to trouble you, but I thought if we could help, then why not do him a favor. So, do you know what might be the reason for this, Mr. Jiang?"

Unable to visit in a dream?

Jiang Yuan thought, never having encountered such a thing, but Tang Qin once taught him a small spell that could let lonely spirits visit their family in dreams, presumably more effective than the talisman.

So, he considered it, found the small skill, and directly shared it with Wan An via progress bar, "Since you are now practicing the Cultivation Technique as a Ghost Cultivator, you should be able to perform the Dream Communication Technique to unite Lin Dayou with his family. Give it a try, and if it still doesn't work, let me know, and I'll check the situation in Anping Town when I get a chance."

Indeed it's not a big deal, but suddenly a thought flashed through Jiang Yuan's mind.

As he rode the paper crane to the deep mountains to inspect further, he opened the relationship panel and noticed the list of believers who worship him as the "Mountain God" was missing Lin Chunsheng.

"Hmm? Something seems off; this kid..." He thought deeply, but couldn't recall much about Lin Chunsheng.

Just remember that he and his apprentice begged to become disciples, but the system judged Wan Mingchuan as sincere; Lin Chunsheng lacked conviction and could potentially betray, plus at the time Jiang Yuan thought these people were just NPCs in a game and Lin Chunsheng lacked cultivation talent, so he left things to fate and didn't bother further.

In theory, although saving lives wasn't meant to earn gratitude, since they are worshiping the "Mountain God" now, Qiao Mei and her daughter Lin Chunxi's Faith Value soared to nearly ten thousand while Lin Chunsheng had none.

Is it disbelief in the "Mountain God"? Or is there some other reason his father couldn't manage even a dream visit?

"Perhaps I can sneak a peek when passing by Anping Town one of these days." Jiang Yuan didn't pay much mind; it was just a spur-of-the-moment thought since learning the "Fire Eyes Golden Gaze" small skill from Xiao Bai, he hadn't seen any mortals in the Wilderness World, nor had he used it in the real world.

Mulling over whether he should use the Active Skill to glance at Lin Chunsheng, along with the system evaluation for details, he might uncover why the boy hasn't been able to receive any dream visits.

The paper crane danced gracefully in the wind, traveling at great speed.

"Ah woo~"

Indeed, as he approached the mountain peak, he heard ghostly howls, sounding like a big creature.

[Ghost Soul Beast: A specter unable to refine excess devoured souls, extremely powerful and destructive. Typically found on the eleventh floor of Hell, serving Ghost Messengers by turning stone mills to torment souls as punishment.]

A creature resembling a stone giant but with a beast's fanged head lay rudely under the cliff, digging a massive pit with its claws and absorbing the dense Yin Fiend energy with apparent enjoyment.

"How did something from the eleventh floor of Hell end up here?" Jiang Yuan felt curious as he glanced at the details.

Before he could ponder further, the Ghost Soul Beast seemed to detect human presence, opened its rage-filled eyes, and charged with a roar!

"What the heck? You're showing off on my turf, and you dare attack me?" Faced with the sudden assault, he wasn't flustered and immediately summoned the Soul Refining Banner.

"Whoosh!"

The eerie wind howled as the sixth-level Soul Refining Banner unfurled gloriously, its opening like a massive umbrella capturing the Ghost Soul Beast, rendering it motionless.

The opponent evidently lacked intelligence, relying solely on its massive size to remain immobile, tussling with the Soul Refining Banner without knowing to resist, just incessantly digging soil with its claws, seemingly trying to bury itself to dodge the attack.

"Heaven-Burning Flame!"

"Black Flame Storm!"

Generally speaking, Netherworld ghosts are of the Yin type, while fire element skills perfectly counter them, hence fire attacks are the most effective against ghosts.

Indeed, as the Ghost Soul Beast was struck by two skills, its health bar dropped halfway in an instant, eventually fully succumbed to the Soul Refining Banner.

[Absorbed a Ghost Soul Beast, estimated 49 hours to refine evil energy]

[Soul Refining Banner usage rate: 65%]

Having smoothly dealt with the problem, Jiang Yuan rode the paper crane in a circle around the area, apart from the deep pit exuding streams of Yin Fiend energy, the system found nothing unusual; nor did the Earth Mirror Book skill trigger.

"This is just an ordinary valley, so why is the tool ghost from Hell showing up here?" He puzzled over it, deciding to visit neighbor Tang Qin on his way to inquire about the situation in Hell.

Lotus Peak is his secondary home, and all safety risks must be eliminated; discovering potential dangers after spending substantial resources and effort to establish it would be challenging to address.

Tang Qin heard of the esteemed guest's arrival and hurriedly came out to greet, "Since hearing from predecessor Xie, I realized my transaction of offerings with mortals was quite inappropriate and am currently remedying it. I haven't had the time to contact Mr. Jiang, is this visit a prompt for the Void Journey?"

"The Void Journey isn't urgent; we'll negotiate when you're done with your matters." Jiang Yuan cut straight to the point, asking, "I came to inquire about the Ghost Soul Beast. What do you know about it?"

Why suddenly interested in the Ghost Soul Beast, could Mr. Jiang intend to venture into the eleventh floor of Hell?

She invited him to sit, pondered for a moment, and said, "Actually, I've never seen a Ghost Soul Beast; I've only heard they are unintelligent ghostly creatures raised by Ghost Messengers using evil spirits, usually found on the eleventh stone-pressing Hell, pushing mountain-like stone mills to punish evil spirits.

It's said the Ghost Soul Beast is incredibly powerful and vicious, if some tough evil spirits escape, Ghost Messengers send them as the vanguard to track and kill the fleeing evil spirits."

"Escaping from the Eighteen Layers of Hell?" Jiang Yuan thought, I might have devoured a tool ghost dispatched by Ghost Messengers!