Chapter 367: A Whole Library Pavilion of Ghost Control Technique

After Qi Suian and Emperor Zhiyue struck a deal, arrangements were quickly made. A high-ranking member of the Royal Family was sent to receive him.

As for Yan Jingxing and Nangong Yuan, Qi Suian paid them no further attention.

His goal had been achieved. Whether those two lived or died was completely unimportant.

"I don’t know where you’ve come from, but to get the complete Ghost Control Technique from His Majesty, you must have paid a hefty price."

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dong Xiu, and I’m..." The high-ranking official from the Royal Family briefly stated his identity.

Qi Suian only remembered the name, ignoring everything that followed.

Something about being one of the heads of the Royal Family’s ghost laboratory—it had nothing to do with him. All he wanted was the Ghost Control Technique.

They walked different paths, so there was no reason to conspire together.

Dong Xiu led Qi Suian to the Library Pavilion, where the Ghost Control Technique was stored.

The Ghost Control Technique wasn’t a single discipline, but rather the culmination of the Royal Family’s research—a truly all-encompassing collection.

"Alright, Lord Dong, stop showing off the Royal Family’s achievements to me. I know what you’re up to."

"You’re just trying to get your hands on the yang qi ahead of time," Qi Suian cut in.

The man hadn’t shut his mouth the entire way, constantly trying to subtly impress upon Qi Suian how powerful the Royal Family was and just how high his own status was.

Dong Xiu didn’t feel the least bit awkward about being exposed. He simply said, "Ah, so you saw right through me. My acting skills are still lacking, it seems."

"But my offer is sincere! Just give the yang qi to me, and I guarantee you’ll live a life of luxury during your time with the Royal Family!"

He assumed Qi Suian was joining the Royal Family; otherwise, why would Emperor Zhiyue have allowed him into the Library Pavilion?

"I have no desire to get caught up in your political games."

"I will only give the yang qi to Emperor Zhiyue. Whose hands it falls into after that has nothing to do with me," Qi Suian refused him outright.

’Give it to him? Dream on.’

The Royal Family had numerous factions. If Qi Suian gave it to Dong Xiu, he would inevitably offend all the others.

As for Dong Xiu’s promises? ’Words are cheap. Don’t take them seriously.’

Only by giving it directly to Emperor Zhiyue could he avoid future trouble.

This made Dong Xiu’s expression sour. He felt like everything he’d just done was a complete waste of time.

"The Library Pavilion is just inside. You have His Majesty’s edict, so you can go right in."

"I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t accompany you further." With that, Dong Xiu flicked his sleeves and stormed off.

He was inwardly cursing Qi Suian. ’You ungrateful bastard. Just wait until you’re officially in the Royal Family. I’ll make you regret this.’

Qi Suian neither knew nor cared what the man was thinking.

It was just a case of fawning over those you need and scorning them when you don’t. He was the same way—the moment Yan Jingxing and Nangong Yuan lost their value, he’d stopped paying them any mind.

They were two of a kind, so he naturally wouldn’t use this to criticize the man. Unless, of course, there was something to be gained from it—then Qi Suian was more than happy to apply a double standard.

Once Dong Xiu was gone, Qi Suian walked straight into the Library Pavilion. He presented the edict from Emperor Zhiyue, and no one tried to stop him.

There were no cliché, melodramatic scenes of people deliberately trying to make things difficult for him.

Without some fated opportunity on the line, a protagonist’s plot armor wouldn’t activate its taunt or intelligence-reduction effects.

After entering the Library Pavilion, he didn’t attract any particular attention. Qi Suian simply started going through the books from the beginning.

’Couldn’t these experiment logs be a little more concise?’ Qi Suian was exasperated.

Fortunately, he could still understand them, and his standards weren’t that high to begin with.

It was called browsing, but in reality, he was recording.

He wasn’t in a hurry to study or ponder the contents. First, he would have his smart-brain record and store everything.

And that was when his behavior started to attract attention.

FWOOSH—he’d flip through an entire book in an instant, which made a considerable amount of noise.

Many members of the Royal Family in the Library Pavilion cast their gazes toward Qi Suian, only to see a stranger.

This made them even more curious.

However, no one stepped forward to stop or question him. After a few curious glances, they returned to their own books.

What else were they going to do? Deliberately cause trouble or try to put him down? What kind of idiot would choose to do that?

They’d rather spend that time reading.

Thus, the Library Pavilion soon fell silent again, save for the sound of Qi Suian flipping through books. Only those who entered later would spare him a couple of glances before looking away and moving on.

With Qi Suian’s ability, his recording speed was incredibly fast. In just half a day, he had recorded the entire contents of the Library Pavilion.

He even "borrowed" and recorded the books that were currently in other people’s hands.

A few were unwilling, but after some "physical persuasion" from Qi Suian, he managed to complete the recording whether they handed the books over or not.

This naturally caused some dissatisfaction.

But what the hell did that have to do with Qi Suian? He’d always been an unreasonable person.

Once he was done, he left the Library Pavilion. As for the yang qi, Qi Suian delivered it to Emperor Zhiyue as promised.

This put Emperor Zhiyue in an excellent mood.

"To have memorized all the books in the Library Pavilion in just half a day is truly incredible," Emperor Zhiyue said, toying with the orb of yang qi in his hand.

"You’re too kind. It’s just a little trick of mine," Qi Suian said, paying the compliment no mind.

Following that, Emperor Zhiyue placed the yang qi into a container, handed it to a nearby Guard, and instructed him to have it delivered to the Royal Family’s facilities.

"Now that we’ve successfully cooperated once, I believe we can move on to a deeper partnership, wouldn’t you agree?"

"I wonder... are you willing to sell the method for extracting yang qi?" Emperor Zhiyue asked casually.

"Sell it? Of course, I’ll sell it."

"The question is, what are you prepared to offer in exchange?" Qi Suian asked offhandedly.

He had obtained all the books in the Library Pavilion, which was equivalent to obtaining the complete Ghost Control Technique. It contained all of the Ziyue Dynasty’s research on ghosts, the "truth layer," Ghost People, and more.

So, theoretically speaking, the only value the Ziyue Dynasty had left to him was as a source of experimental subjects.

"To be honest, now that you have the Ghost Control Technique, I truly don’t know what else you could possibly lack," Emperor Zhiyue admitted frankly.

Hearing this, Qi Suian immediately thought of something he needed.

"Now that you mention it, I have thought of something," Qi Suian said. "I want ghosts. Two thousand of them, and they have to meet some special requirements..."

Qi Suian remembered that the Tai Sui God required processed ghosts and a "humanity accelerant" to evolve.

’Isn’t this a perfect opportunity dropping right into my lap?’

After hearing the requirements, Emperor Zhiyue gave a wry smile.

"Ten ghosts. At most."

Qi Suian was asking for too much. If it were simply a matter of two thousand ghosts, that would be no problem. He could take Qi Suian directly to the Sealing Vault in the Celestial Capital and let him pick whichever ones he wanted.

But with so many requirements and restrictions, two thousand was simply impossible.

Just to prepare ten that met his criteria would likely require the sacrifice of numerous Royal Shadow Guards.

"That’s too low. I’ll meet you halfway—one thousand..." Qi Suian was clearly dissatisfied. ’Haggling is one thing, but this is cutting it down to the bone.’

"Just ten. More than that is impossible," Emperor Zhiyue interrupted. "To meet your requirements, I would have to deploy nearly a thousand Royal Shadow Guards just to prepare *one* of those ghosts."

"The yang qi is important, but as long as there are survivors, the Royal Family can eventually extract it on our own. It’s just a matter of time and cost."

"The *method* is far less important than the Golden Body Ghost and the yang qi itself."

Now that Emperor Zhiyue had a sample of yang qi, reverse-engineering the process wouldn’t be difficult.

The difficult part is never going from one to two; it’s going from zero to one.

That was why the Golden Body Ghost and the yang qi itself could be traded for the Ghost Control Technique, while the extraction method alone could not.

The Ziyue Dynasty had been fighting ghosts for far longer than Qi Suian imagined.

"Ten is still too few. You’ll have to sweeten the deal."

"You can use other things to make up the difference." No matter how convincingly the Emperor argued, Qi Suian wasn’t going to accept.

Ten ghosts, assuming no losses, would only be enough for five evolutions.

After all, half of them had to be used as the accelerant.

Seeing Qi Suian concede a step, Emperor Zhiyue’s expression softened. "Fine. I will give you a list. You can choose from it yourself."

"Since you have the Ghost Control Technique, you surely don’t want to just study it from dead books. I will also provide you with a private chamber on the Royal Family’s grounds, fully equipped with the tools you’ll need for your practical studies."

’Can’t deny it,’ Qi Suian thought. ’With these two conditions, Emperor Zhiyue was being quite considerate.’

Not only was he offering resources, but a laboratory as well.

Otherwise, Qi Suian would have had to find a stable location in the Celestial Capital and build a laboratory himself.

---

"He spent half a day in the Library Pavilion. It seems he’s really joining the Royal Family."

"The inert Golden Body Ghost and the yang qi." The Crown Prince looked at the report in his hands. This was certainly a bit unexpected.

At the same time, however, the man’s value had also diminished significantly.

Although the Royal Family dabbled in politics, their focus was primarily on matters related to ghosts; their power in other arenas was not as great.

"Then... should we still try to recruit him?" an advisor asked hesitantly.

In his view, once someone joined the Royal Family, trying to win them over was an effort where the costs outweighed the benefits.

"Of course, we must. Have our men prepare a gift. I will pay him a visit personally."

"This man is very likely connected to the Eternal Purgatory. Otherwise, His Majesty would not value him so highly," the Crown Prince said softly.

Not many people knew about the Eternal Purgatory.

It was, after all, too bizarre a matter. If word spread, it would affect the morale of the people.

Nevertheless, the Ziyue Dynasty’s exploration of the Eternal Purgatory had never ceased. The Royal Shadow Guards and the Ghost People were, in fact, two of its products.

Other wondrous items, such as the Longevity Dew, also originated from there.

Furthermore, the Royal Family theorized that the Eternal Purgatory was likely the source of all ghosts. If they could uncover its truth, they might one day be able to eliminate the ghost threat entirely, allowing the Ziyue Dynasty to become the true ruler of the world.

It was precisely this ambition that had driven successive generations of Ziyue Emperors to invest vast amounts of manpower and resources into this endeavor.

The returns, however, had also been substantial. Even if these achievements could not be made public, they had become part of the Ziyue Dynasty’s hidden foundation.

"Even after I ascend the throne, I will undoubtedly need to have a deep relationship with this man. It is far better to establish a good rapport with him now than to try and build one from scratch later." The Crown Prince saw things clearly.

’Either way, I have to build goodwill with him. It’ll be much easier to do so now, before he’s been tempered into a slick old fox by the trials of the court.’