Counterattack System appeared when I'm already At The Mahayana Realm

Chapter 361: Chapter 360: Ghosts Haunting

Even though conflict with the Great Witch Country was inevitable for Qin Luan, Jiang Li did not believe Qin Luan would lose.

After all, Qin Luan and Yuan Wuxing were both people Jiang Li had high hopes for, and he was quite confident in his own judgement.

Jiang Li quickly handled the reports from the guards.

Now the Imperial Palace has much fewer matters to deal with than before.

Jiang Li still remembered more than four hundred years ago, when he first came to the Imperial Palace, and saw the leader Liu and the old emperor dealing various matters reported by the guards, their faces weary and anxious.

There were disputes here, demon cultivators appeared there, and some areas did not obey the commands of the Imperial Palace…

Most of these issues arose because many forces were openly supporting the Imperial Palace while secretly disobedient, such as the Heavenly Secret Pavilion.

After Jiang Li reached the Mahayana Realm, he paid a visit to these forces one by one, politely asking them to behave.

Knowing that the present Human Emperor had achieved the Mahayana Realm against the natural order of things and then was visited by Jiang Li, these forces immediately expressed their absolute commitment to the principles of the Imperial Palace.

They understood fully well that Jiang Li being polite was just the first step; if they did not learn their lesson, Jiang Li would take the second step and let them experience the true power of the Mahayana Realm.

Since then, the affairs the Imperial Palace had to handle dramatically reduced, and Jiang Li felt at peace letting Liu reside over the Imperial Palace.

Two days passed, and the bored Jiang Li was playing Rock Paper Scissors with his own reflection in the mirror.

Unfortunately, it was a constant draw.

It would have been fun if he could win even once against the mirror, or the mirror could win once against him.

The affairs handled by the Imperial Palace were much fewer than four hundred years ago.

“There’s a matter that requires your judgement, Hall Master.” A guard stood straight, aiming to leave a good impression on Jiang Li.

“Speak.”

“Some countries claim that ‘ghosts’ have appeared within their territories, and the guards stationed in those countries also report that there indeed seem to be things resembling ‘ghosts.’ However, they are currently unsure of the nature of these ‘ghosts,’ and so far, no harm or injuries caused by ‘ghosts’ have been reported.”

Jiang Li put away his mirror and sat up straight, his posture more regulated. This matter sounded serious.

There were endless folk tales about ghosts, such as avenging fierce ghosts, unfinished love affairs between humans and ghosts, and so on.

When he first arrived, Jiang Li understood nothing and thought these folk tales were real, just because he hadn’t seen a ghost due to his lesser cultivation and limited exposure. However, with his significantly expanded knowledge and repeated reading of the classics left behind by immortals, and after hearing about the workings of reincarnation in the Underworld from long-existing immortals and old Buddha, he no longer believed that ghosts existed in the human world.

After death, souls automatically enter the Underworld and do not stay in the human world for cultivation.

Only the Underworld contains ghosts.

The words of the long-existing immortal could be quoted, “This is the law of the operation of heaven and earth and cannot be violated.”

This is as true as one plus one equals two, two plus two equals four, Foundation Establishment follows building a Golden Core, and Nascent Soul occurs after the Golden Core. These unchanging laws make up the foundation of the world. If they were to change, it would cause chaos across heaven and earth.

Jiang Li rolled out the map of the nine provinces: “Tell me, where have ghosts appeared?”

The guard stepped forward and pointed out the places where ghosts had been sighted.

“Great Zhou, Tian Yuan, Dream River, Great Wei… So many places?” Jiang Li was surprised. It would be understandable if a cultivator’s mysterious abilities were mistaken for a ghost.

But six out of the nine empires claimed the presence of ghosts, and their stationed guards also reported the same. This issue seemed more complicated than he had thought.

The nine empires represented not only power, but also heritage. With their knowledge, they wouldn’t act like naive cultivators who get fearful at the sight of shadows, mistaking them for ghosts.

The report described an entity that couldn’t be seen either visually or with divine sense, but a voice from their hearts continuously told them, look back, look back, there’s something behind you.

This feeling was especially strong in at night, passing by a graveyard.

And this was not the experience of nascent cultivators in Qi Cultivation stage but of God-transformation stage cultivators.

Jiang Li even saw pictures drawn by guards who claimed to have seen ghosts, vague white figures, as if they could dissolve into the air at any moment.

Jiang Li frowned; this thing really did seem like a ghost.

He wrote a command and handed it to the guard: “Take thirty people with you to these places, connect with the local countries, tell them it’s my command, and request cooperation in the investigation to see if we can find any clues.”

Jiang Li used the Remote Communication Talisman to contact Huang, the captain who liked to wallow in self-pity, giving him something to do.

“You’re the closest to the Dream River Dynasty, go there and investigate. Report any findings to me.”

“Yes!” Huang was excited, feeling trusted with an important task.

“Hall Master, I have returned.” Liu, the captain, was energetic, as if rejuvenated, his face even becoming younger due to his good mood. He went from looking old to middle-aged.

“Great timing, continue presiding over the Imperial Palace. I’m going to Great Zhou for a look.” Jiang Li left. The Dream River Dynasty was the westernmost empire in Kyushu; he let Huang take responsibility while the Great Zhou empire was the easternmost; hence, he wanted to examine the situation personally.

Liu was very adept at settling into Jiang Li’s position.

After Jiang Li left, another enthusiastic guard rushed into the hall: “Hall Master, there’s a matter… Captain Liu, how are you back so soon?”

The guard looked disappointed.

Captain Liu:

It seems that you, young man, don’t want your salary anymore.

According to the locations marked on the map by the guard, Jiang Li arrived at Anyang City of Great Zhou.

The officials of Anyang City had reported multiple times that there was a possible ghost in Anyang City.

Jiang Li extended his divine sense but could not find any ghost. However, he did meet a familiar person in the city courthouse.

A symbol of Great Zhou’s legal code— the Body Integration Realm cultivator Du Ping.

“Du Ping, what trouble have you gotten into this time?” The Lord of Anyang City was speechless. He had risen from the depths of Anyang City’s prison, and Du Ping had been detained in Anyang City for a while, hence the two were acquainted.

Word was that as long as Du Ping did not break the law in the next fifty years, Jiang Li would allow him to join the Imperial Palace. The fact that Du Ping dared to break the law again demonstrated his disregard for Jiang Li’s goodwill.

“This is outright slander!” For the first time, Du Ping did not admit to breaking the law, displaying an unusually firm attitude.

“I understand you wish to join the Imperial Palace. But this is not a reason for you to deny your wrongdoing.”

“The facts are clear, your denial wouldn’t change them.”

“I, Du Ping, dare to take responsibility for my actions. If I have done something, I will admit it, if not, I won’t. Now they are saying I harassed a woman while drunk, I would never do such a thing!”

Du Ping pointed at the witnesses nearby. These people all said that he drank a lot of alcohol last night and harassed a woman while he was not in his right mind.

Du Ping might not remember what he did when he was drunk, but he knew he wasn’t that kind of person, so he firmly denied the events of last night.

He had broken the law nearly a thousand times and had a criminal record taller than him, but he had never harassed a woman!

“After drinking, I, Du Ping, only strip my clothes and behave rudely, but never harass women!” Du Ping declared proudly.

The Lord of Anyang City didn’t understand what Du Ping was so proud of.