Quyi County outskirts cemetery.
A sneaky figure danced a bizarre dance, and a great door appeared beneath his feet.
He followed the door down into an underground tomb.
The figure excitedly rubbed his hands together, the method indeed worked, and it opened the tomb.
However, the tomb chamber was empty, lacking the imagined rare treasures and valuable antiques, holding only a pitch-black coffin with its four corners nailed down by blood-stained nails, and atop the coffin lay a palm-sized seal.
He stealthily took the seal, with the words "Mountain Seal" inscribed at its base.
After taking the seal, the figure hurriedly left, not noticing that the coffin was shaking.
...
Corpse Chasing Sect.
"Typically, there are two methods of cultivation for those at the Void Refinement Stage, Red Dust Mortality or War Feeds War…"
As Zhao Po was promoted to the Void Refinement Stage, Lu Baqian personally instructed him, imparting various techniques of the stage.
Zhao Po was listening intently when suddenly a crisp sound came from within Lu Baqian's embrace, as if something had shattered!
Lu Baqian pulled out an object from within, a broken piece of Jade.
"Damn, the seal has been broken!" exclaimed Lu Baqian, his expression drastically changing.
"Sect Leader, what happened?" Zhao Po asked hurriedly.
"The seal is gone!"
"Seal? What seal?" Zhao Po still didn't understand.
"Six thousand years ago, one of our forebears in the Corpse Chasing Sect, for some unknown reason, let a zombie he had created slip beyond his control. That zombie had already cultivated to 'Unformable Bone,' just half a step away from becoming a Drought Demon!"
"The forebear and his zombie waged a fierce battle, and he desperately sealed the zombie but perished in the process, only fragmented messages returned to the Sect."
"But the most critical location of the seal wasn't communicated back, leaving our sect unable to deal with that zombie."
"Now, six thousand years have passed, and although that zombie was sealed, now that it has broken free, it must have reached the 'Drought Demon' Realm!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Po's expression also severely changed, a Drought Demon appearing meant scorched lands for thousands of miles, a catastrophe capable of ending the world!
"Our Sect's Elders have all vested their cultivation in their zombies, and the Drought Demon has absolute control over other zombies; they can't join the battle, so I'm the only one who can act!"
"We could ask the Dynasty for help!"
"It's too late, once a Drought Demon appears, it will undoubtedly flee. Once it gains strength, even those at the Tribulation Crossing Stage will be unable to contend with it; we must go quickly!"
Lu Baqian pulled out a compass, rotated the 'compass' on the compass, and the direction finally stopped at the east!
"It seems that the Drought Demon is in the east!"
Oddly, Zhao Po's heart panicked; he always felt that something bad was about to happen.
The Sect Leader facing this might be more dangerous than lucky.
"Sect Leader, isn't there another way to deal with that Drought Demon?"
"There is one possibility; our forebear possessed a Mountain Suppressing Seal, which is highly effective against Drought Demons, but this seal was crafted by the hermit family, the Divine Craftsman Wang Family!"
Lu Baqian sighed, "The Divine Craftsman Wang Family has been lost for a hundred years, nowhere to be found."
"Battling the Drought Demon is perhaps my destined fate!"
...
"Am I finally rid of this damned seal?" the coffin rattled as the female Drought Demon murmured to herself, how long had she waited for this day, three thousand or five thousand years?
Zombies, as long as their Spiritual Wisdom is not destroyed, and their bodies are not demolished, will grow stronger over time; a seal can only slow this process.
Over these six thousand years, she had slowly grown stronger, finally advancing from Unformable Bone to Drought Demon.
But becoming a true Drought Demon wasn't so simple; rejected by heaven and earth, only by undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation, Earth Tribulation, and Human Tribulation could one truly become a Drought Demon.
Five hundred years ago, tribulation clouds appeared in the tomb chamber, striking her to near death; fortunately, she survived, this was the Heavenly Tribulation.
The Earth Tribulation was the Mountain Suppressing Seal pressing on the coffin; only by removing it could she pass through the Earth Tribulation.
With the Mountain Suppressing Seal stolen by a grave robber, she was left with only the Human Tribulation.
"My current Realm is at the Half-step Tribulation Crossing Stage, once I emerge, I should encounter a Cultivator of similar strength; only by defeating this Cultivator can I transcend the Human Tribulation!"
The female Drought Demon chuckled, this was her domain, no one below the Tribulation Crossing Stage could defeat her unless they used the Mountain Suppressing Seal!
...
"If you ask me, our approach was all wrong; if looking for ghosts, then of course we should search in the cemetery," Constable Lu analyzed earnestly.
"Your words are sensible," Constable Meng nodded, agreeing with his colleague's opinion.
Wandering around the town in the dead of night and not even encountering a ghost's shadow, it was better to take proactive action rather than passively wait.
Two new constables, eager to prove themselves, resolved to handle the unexplained haunting incident no matter what.
"I heard there's a deserted area on the outskirts of Quyi County that's often used for burials; perhaps there are some aggrieved spirits there."
The two immediately agreed and headed to the cemetery on the outskirts.