Chapter 214: Chapter 208: And We're About To Begin!
"Welcome to the second portion of the Grand Tournament." A high-ranked elder began speaking.
In front of them stood an amazing stretch of land. Land that made most feel uneasy and hesitant to enter. The land seemed to hold not a single speck of life within it but even with this, many of the disciples could tell that many dangerous creatures seemed to inhabit the ever-expansive lifeless plain. This was the Endless Plains of Yin.
Many departed spirits have been said to be chained to these plains. If one was to die within the plain, their soul would never make it back to the reincarnation cycle. Forcing them into wandering the infinite grassland until they were devoured by other ghosts or devoured others. A majority of cultivators on the continent went out of their way to avoid this place for good reason. As there is a frightening rumor that suggests that if one wanders into the Endless Plains without sufficient mental and soul protection their very being could be possessed and taken over by a wandering spirit within the plains.
"This test will be very simple. All you have to do is go into the Endless Plains of Yin and bring back as many ghosts as you can." He explained.
Everyone was obviously very apprehensive about this test. The information about the Endless Plains of Yin was being spread around those that passed and failed. No one wanted to step forward and be the first one to step out of the Immortal Forest. It was very clear where the Endless Plains begin and the Immortal Forest ended. The light brown grass sucked of all life marked an obvious contrast to the vibrant dark green grass from the Immortal Forest.
"But as you all are now, it would be no different from asking you to commit suicide if we sent you in as you are now." The elder suddenly added. "So, take these amulets with you before stepping in." Another elder used his storage ring to release a sizable mound of identical amulets.
They floated in the air due to the elder using his qi. All of the amulets held a silver chain that allowed one to hang from their body. The amulets themselves were wrapped in several talismans that completely hid whatever was being wrapped by the amulets. There was a perfect number of amulets for every disciple that passed. However, those that had spirit beasts were forced to part with their beasts as there weren't enough amulets to spare for them.
This included Lei Zhi who had to put his spirit beasts inside golden beads from the capture spell made specifically for spirit beasts. He was hesitant to put Xiang inside the golden bead because he wasn't sure if he was even a spirit beast. But he tried it anyway and it failed. So, now he was at a loss at what to do. He didn't want the little guy to get possessed or attacked but then he thought about the little fella's special ability. Could it be possible for him to even make ghosts happy? Would a happy ghost still plan to do evil or would they pass on to their next life?
"What's up Lei?" Bing walked over to him.
"I don't know what I should do with Xiang. He isn't a spirit beast so he can't go inside the capture spell and I'm not sure if he can handle ghosts."
"Why not put him in your storage ring?" Ying suggested, coming from behind Bing.
"Storage ring?" Bing questioned.
"Worth a shot, right?" Ying shrugged.
"I'll try it after I see if he can handle ghosts. He gets lonely easily. I don't want to leave him in there for too long." Lei voiced his concerns.
"Aren't ghosts afraid of Yang energy? Why don't we just stick together and if we meet up with any ghosts Ying can just make some fire!" Bing shared his idea.
"If we stick together how are we supposed to catch ghosts? If you haven't forgotten Bing, this is a competition! Remember? We're not supposed to help each other." Ying reminded him.
"Ehhh. No one has to know. It isn't like the Elder said helping each other wasn't allowed." Bing kept his voice low to keep the elders from hearing. "Plus, if we stick together, the easier it'll be to capture any ghosts we encounter and pass this test."
"I'm willing to follow Bing's plan. We'll be safer in numbers and less likely to run into trouble or be bullied by others if we're all together." Lei Zhi nodded in agreement.
"What about those two?" Runt pointed to Wan Qing and Hu Tao. Qing glaring at Hu Tao with enough killing intent that one could faintly see the image of a giant butterfly hovering above her.
"They'll catch up to us after fighting." Ying waved off his concern.
Both Hu Tao and Wan Qing were great trackers. Hu Tao with his cloud will be able to spot us from above and easily catch up to us while we're walking. Wan Qing's butterflies could share anything they see or sense with her and could travel great distances. She also can fly with her giant fan so they weren't worried about her being left behind either.
"Sounds like we have a plan then." Jie smiled.
"I'll be traveling for a little while. After I'm finished with my business, I'll rejoin with you all." Jing added.
"Business?" Ying asked.
"There are many powerful treasures inside the Endless Plains. I'd like to explore and find some." She answered.
"There are?" Bing questioned.
"Danger and opportunity always follow one another. Special places like this where few people are willing to explore always hold great treasure." Jing explained.
"So would it be better if we separated then?" Runt asked.
"I wouldn't say that. You never know what you could encounter inside a place like this. Sometimes having an extra person or two could be the key to getting away with your life." Jing didn't want to mislead them.
"I believe we should stick together. Only if things get really bad should we split up on our own." Lei Zhi said.
"I'm fine with that." Bing spoke up.
"Let's get moving then." Ying was ready.
'I'll be fine inside the plains right, Mom?' Li Li asked. He didn't want to be left behind.
"Yep. You'll be fine." Jing soothed his worries.
It was because of him and his martial arts that Jing was 100% confident in passing this test. Li Li had two martial arts that Jing believed would bring his power to an entirely new level after this test. Gluttonous Spirit, his cultivation martial art, and Ghost King's Chilling Breath, his auxiliary martial art. Gluttonous Spirit gave Li Li the ability to see the world of the dead even while he's alive and devour souls and spirits alike. Swallowing souls and spirits strengthen his own soul. As of now, neither Li Li nor Jing knows if there is a limit to the number of souls he can consume. However, they do know that there are limits to how he can eat a soul.
Li Li cannot eat the souls of any living being. Li Li can't swallow the souls of any uninjured spirits. And Li Li can not eat any souls with strong yang qi unless he wanted to injure his own soul. All of these were found out through Li Li's own testing and shared with Jing.
Ghost King's Chilling Breath was similar to Gluttonous Spirit but instead of strengthening his soul directly, this martial art helped him improve his soul control. This auxiliary art gave Li Li the ability to summon, command, store, lead, sacrifice, strengthen, and control souls and spirits. It was because of this skill that Li Li understands so much about souls in the first place. He learned that beings that die with strong emotions are stronger than those that die without them as souls.
Now ghosts were another subject that Li Li wasn't too sure about. From what it sounds like to him, ghosts are just souls that kept their original personality or souls that want to steal the lives of others. He was excited to find out about the ghosts inside the Endless Plains of Yin.
"How are we supposed to capture a ghost?" A disciple asked.
"The amulets are built with more than just protection for you from getting your bodies stolen. If you encounter a ghost with the amulet on, you will be able to fight against it using your martial arts. But please understand that if your amulet somehow gets damaged or you lose it, consider yourself dead. You only have one life. Don't throw it away by being careless." He warned.
"Elder Lee... You still didn't tell us how to capture ghosts..." Someone pointed out. All he did was tell them that they can fight against ghosts and don't lose the amulet.
"Ahem." He coughed, somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry about that. Slipped the mind. Anyway, just place your amulet on the ghost's body when it's weakened and you should be able to capture it within your amulet." He soon explained.
"Now that the instructions are out of the way, you may all begin and walk inside. You have three days to capture as many ghosts as you can and escape the Endless Plains before the second test is over." Elder Lee sent them off but no one stepped forward.
Jing was the first to step forward with Li Li perched on her shoulder. Lei Zhi, Bing, Ying, Runt, and Jie followed behind her. Wan Qing and Hu Tao stayed behind as they had unfinished business. They were the last two to enter inside the Endless Plains of Yin. Once they stepped into the realm where Yin qi reigns supreme, Wan Qing immediately chased after the fleeing Hu Tao. He laughed as if he was playing a very fun game of tag and not being chased after by a young lady who wanted nothing more than to tear him into pieces.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
CaptainBoyHole
CaptainBoyHole Comment/Review on the story readers and give me ideas on possible xianxia things you want to see! No guarantees that I will add what you want. But it helps to have ideas out there. Please point out any mistakes you notice or anything you're not clear about. I'll try to answer them and fix them to the best of my abilities.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone