Chapter 1584 - 1108: Deep-Fried Ghosts (Part 2)

Chapter 1584: Chapter 1108: Deep-Fried Ghosts (Part 2)

A burst of Five Elements Cloud-Piercing Thunder, and the drifting wandering ghost was turned into a wisp of blue smoke and completely dissipated.

[Ghost Pearl +1]

[Ghost Pearl: A substance heavily laden with Yin Energy, an energy crystal contained within wandering ghosts. Spirit Ghost food; raw material for refining certain Elixirs; raw material for building structures]

"Its usefulness is quite broad; it seems there are indeed plenty of wandering ghosts floating around here." Jiang Yuan pinched the chilly pearl, carefully observed it for a moment, and then stored it in his Storage Bag.

Soon after, the same white shadow floated by once more.

This time, he didn’t use any other skills but launched the Soul Hook!

[Mysterious Soul Fragment +1]

Given the close distance and being prepared, Jiang Yuan saw clearly that the replica was identical everywhere, even the monster mark on top was the same. But the counterfeit lacked the system-provided detailed analysis. Upon seeing the overly clean panel, it was immediately obvious he needed to use the Soul Hook.

Of course, he could also use the Peach Wood Sword purchased with 500 Gold Coins from the System Mall, Attack Power +100, effective against both authentic and counterfeit enemies.

Clearly prepared for newcomers, he had more advanced alternatives and didn’t buy it.

All the way down the barren path, he slain a few more wandering ghosts and sliced fragments. Just as he arrived at the foot of the hill, he suddenly turned, circumvented a large stone, and returned to the other side to see a large marsh-like expanse of black magma.

It was somewhat reminiscent of the asphalt used in childhood roof patching, pitch-black, clumpy, and bubbling thickly.

The atmosphere was hot and dry, with a vaguely faint burnt aroma, reminding him of the old popcorn burst roaster at his hometown street corner. Each time the popcorn was done, accompanied by a thunderous "bang", a fireworks-scented burnt aroma would waft out.

"Tsk! That smell has me craving popcorn a bit." Jiang Yuan collected his thoughts, took out the Purple Crystal Shovel from his Storage Bag, and began digging into the magma-laden ground.

Using the most advanced tool for the most basic job, effortlessly.

Every three shovels removed a small section of magma, occasionally Mother-of-Pearl Soil would drop though no urgently needed Black Fire Crystal was seen. Since constructing a structure requires only one piece, this implies its drop rate is not high.

"Glug~"

"Glugglug~"

The shoveled magma plot refreshes at exactly midnight, regardless of how much he had flattened, it would restore completely, allowing daily repetition of basic material gathering.

"Glug!"

As he was focused, suddenly a mega bubble emerged a step away, followed by a human head!

"Oh man!" Caught off guard, Jiang Yuan was startled, backed up two steps, and instinctively swore.

[Polluted Fried Ghost: An evil ghost that escaped from the oil cauldron hell of the abandoned Eighteen Layers of Hell after a disaster occurred. In life, it bullied the weak; in death, it suffered agony from the execution in the oil cauldron hell, painfully tormented, yet its body burning with fiery poison unbearable, only able to hide in high-temperature locations. It cannot reincarnate, can be captured and refined into the Workshop; can be slain]

Fried Ghost?

Seeing the terrifying image of the other wreathed in black magma, he thought, true to Old Underworld style, this looks notably creepy.

Unexpectedly, the faint scorching aroma floating in the air was actually emanating from the Fried Ghost! If one were to add some breadcrumbs and fry till golden...

Stop, stop, can’t think like this!

Jiang Yuan halted his expanding thoughts immediately, yet still couldn’t stop the imagination.

When he was young, he listened to elders tell ghost stories; whenever they told of Zhong Kui catching ghosts, they would emphasize that He would eat ghosts. He didn’t understand it then, thinking Zhong Kui seemed more horrifying than the evil ghosts, but in retrospect, dealing with these golden-fried, aromatic evil ghosts isn’t so hard to accept.

After all, fried chicken, fried pork chops, technically they are corpses, right?

The main reason Fried Ghosts seem extraordinarily terrifying is their semblance. A different shape might make them less frightening.

"Phew!"

Lost in thought, the Fried Ghost perceived the human presence, and immediately opened its dry mouth to reveal sharp white fangs, spewing out a scorching breath.

"Clang!"

Jiang Yuan hadn’t had a chance to activate his shield before a beam of golden light flashed, his arm’s Clone Arm Ring darted forward to defend against the attack.

Used to clones, forgotten about the Divine Artifact’s automatic guardian effect.

He retaliated with a Ghost Immortal Scripture, and while waiting for cooldown, he dug several more magma chunks. Had the Fried Ghost not occupied that spot indicating it couldn’t be excavated, Jiang Yuan would’ve sought to shovel out the Fried Ghost directly.

The opponent attacked, but with Golden Seal Shield + Clone Arm Ring protecting him, damage was nil; when skills cooled down for Jiang Yuan’s strike, he tossed a Ghost Immortal Scripture, and the Fried Ghost’s health bar plummeted.

[Fried Ghost Bone +1]

[Fried Ghost Bone: Exuding a tempting burnt fragrance, golden-fried crispy ghost bone, once favored by Underworld Ghost Messengers as a drinking snack. Eating it can enhance Mana and heal old wounds. Can produce Ghost Food, foster Spirit Ghosts]

The Fried Ghost’s health bar depleted, a trophy resembling a golden-fried chicken rack bone auto-stored in the Storage Bag.

Extremely curious, Jiang Yuan promptly took it out, flipping it back and forth to examine.

A perfect "bone" image, jointed at both ends, approximately thirty centimeters long, with a diameter just right for gripping. Regarding its state, it seemed potentially a leg bone, with a surface carrying a layer of ideally fried oil residue, and exposed bone with fried product’s golden hues.

Upon taking it out, the alluring burnt aroma grew more intense.

"Ghost Messenger’s drinking snack? The key is eating it can bolster Mana, heal old injuries; that truly is good stuff." Jiang Yuan inexplicably thought of Ghost Messenger Ma Hongtu who got his hat snatched and was beaten.

Upon hearing from Qu Luming, Black Impermanence was probing the lost hat case, yet couldn’t grasp it so far.

While Xuanyuan Yangguang had mentioned visiting the Old Underworld for Water of the Yellow Springs, saying a way to reach here was using the Ghost Messenger’s Official Hat! Could the one who took the hat be targeting the Old Underworld, now hiding somewhere?

[Black Fire Crystal +1]

While pondering, and stowing the Fried Ghost Bone in the Storage Bag, Jiang Yuan’s two shovels yielded a much-needed building material.

Objective achieved, he wasn’t inclined to return to the summit’s Fuyun Courtyard; instead, he turned and resumed the main road, continuing downward.

[Unlocked Region; complete main storyline tasks to unlock map]

Unlike the seals on the previous two courtyards, the path end at the hill’s base was a dense mist, obscuring all sight. Jiang Yuan reached out to touch it, finding similar sensation as an invisible Barrier completely separated both sides.

Beyond the mountains, what indeed lies there?

On the return trip, Jiang Yuan mused, pondering it’s likely mountains, rivers, and such scenery. Sealed off by mish-mash mist adds mystery, he eagerly anticipated leveling the courtyard, receiving the map, and exploring beyond!

[Would you like to spend: Dark Wood X1000; Pine Board X500; Stone X1000; Mother-of-Pearl Soil X30; Black Fire Crystal X1; Cold Crystal Jade X500 to construct Refining Workshop?]

Click Yes, chose a location, still a sweep of mist drifted over.

Amidst clattering noise, progress bar completed as mist dispersed, was an ancient-style structure resembling the Pill Furnace.

At first glance, somewhat reminiscent of Taishang Laojun’s Alchemy Furnace from Journey to the West, albeit less refined. Round below, square above, six ventilation windows; inside door reveals a simple workspace interface.

A solitary Divine Fire silently burned, three trays, awaiting refinement of evil ghosts.

[Main mission: Build Second Level Fuyun Space. Reward: Area Map +1]

[Task 1: Construct Refining Workshop completed. Reward: Low Level Magical Treasure Ghost-Catching Net +1 issued]

[Task 2: Capture one hundred evil ghosts. Reward: Building Materials Gift Package +1]

[Low Level Magical Treasure Ghost-Catching Net: Can capture all low-level Ghost Species, can be upgraded in Treasure Forging Workshop]

[Evil Ghost: Includes Insect Ghost, Wandering Ghost, Fried Ghost, Curse Ghost among all Ghost Species.]

"Ghost catching, then!" Jiang Yuan freshly returned to the courtyard, now needed to run the map again.

The Ghost-Catching Net was more perfunctory than the single-use Capture Net. Held in hand, it was a glow-emitting hoop, about the same size as a plastic hoop at a night market – so small, how does it catch ghosts?