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As soon as the words were spoken, a distant rumble of thunder echoed.

Both cultivators and ghosts: "..."

How ridiculously coincidental was that?

Wen Qiao and the others glanced at Shi Wuming, silently wondering whether the thunder had been summoned by other Human Cultivators or if the Undying Sea was about to be hit by another thunderstorm.

Gui Wei’s face turned ashen as he stared in the direction of the thunder. After waiting a while and confirming no second strike followed, he finally let out a long sigh of relief before glaring at Shi Wuming. "Do you not know that we Ghost Cultivators fear heavenly thunder the most? Don’t spout nonsense like that again."

Internally, he cursed the man for being a jinx.

Shi Wuming, however, found it amusing. He absolutely wouldn’t admit this thunder was caused by his own cursed luck—it had to be a coincidence. Chuckling, he said, "Hey now, Young Master Gui, no need to get worked up. As long as you keep your nose clean and don’t go breaking girls’ hearts, you’ll be fine. By the way, why is Miss An cleansing the gray mist around here?"

At this, Gui Wei perked up, no longer bothered by Shi Wuming’s earlier provocation.

"The gray mist ahead contains Soul-Devouring Shadows—they devour cultivators’ souls, trapping them in hallucinations until they self-destruct. If they latch onto you, the consequences are dire." He glanced at them. "You weren’t attacked by them, were you?"

"No, they vanished too quickly for us to engage."

"Damn, you got lucky," Gui Wei remarked half-heartedly before continuing, "Miss An is a Music Cultivator. The melody she’s playing now is the 'Soul-Satiating Melody,' which not only purifies the malign energy from the gray mist but also repels the Soul-Devouring Shadows."

Wen Qiao and the others suddenly understood. They turned their gazes to Miss An, who was focused on playing her zither. She was picture-perfect, elegant beyond compare, and though she, too, wore white robes like other female Ghost Cultivators, she lacked their eerie pallor. Instead, she carried an aura of transcendent grace—no wonder Gui Wei had chased her all the way to the Undying Sea.

Shi Wuming chuckled. "So Miss An is truly remarkable."

"Of course," Gui Wei replied smugly, as if the praise had been directed at him.

Shi Wuming decided not to argue—debating with a ghost with lovesick brains would only make him look foolish.

At that moment, Wen Qiao asked, "Young Master Gui, have you seen Young Master Ji?"

"You mean Ji Liuliu? No, I haven’t traveled with him..." Gui Wei answered absentmindedly before realizing who had spoken. His gaze immediately locked onto Wen Qiao.

Though he had seen her a few times since entering the Undying Sea, it had always been from a distance, across the deck of the ship. Yet no matter how many times he saw her, he couldn’t deny her stunning looks—few female cultivators could hold a candle to her. Before, her overly pale complexion had seemed to dull her radiance, but now, she appeared in her full glory, her radiance putting mortal women to shame...

Suddenly, Gui Wei realized something was off.

He stared at Wen Qiao and the others in horror, his voice going shrill. "You—you’re actually Human Cultivators?!"

Wu Xiongan and the others turned to look at him, unable to hide their disdain. "We’ve been here this whole time without hiding it. How’d you miss that?"

They had initially assumed that, like the Ji family’s Ghost Cultivators, this young master had long been aware of their true nature—hence his calm reaction upon meeting them again.

Now they realized he’d just been dense as a brick.

Gui Wei’s expression shifted before settling into sudden understanding. "No wonder you were able to develop that pill formula—you’re Human Cultivator alchemists."

Alchemy was a supplementary skill perfected by Human Cultivators, who had the natural edge in it, unlike Ghost Cultivators who lacked the necessary conditions. So it wasn’t surprising that Human Cultivators could devise such medicinal solutions.

With such talent, it was no wonder the Ji family hadn’t cared whether they were human or ghost, dragging them along anyway.

Though Gui Wei was a skirt-chaser, he still had a good grasp of the bigger picture. Smiling, he asked, "Which one of you is Master Ning? Would you be willing to join our Gui family? If you do, we’ll offer you triple the perks the Ji family provided—you’ll get the royal treatment!"

No one had expected the ghostly young master to react so swiftly, immediately jumping straight to poaching them rather than keeping his distance.

Wu Xiongan and the others looked at Ning Yuzhou, understanding that Gui Wei’s interest lay solely in his alchemical talents—they were just the entourage.

Ning Yuzhou replied with a mild smile. "Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Gui, but we won’t be staying in the Netherworld for long. We’ll be leaving eventually."

To their surprise, Gui Wei burst into laughter as if hearing a joke. "Master Ning, it's not that I want to dampen your spirits, but the spatial passage between the Underworld and the human cultivation realm has long vanished. Returning is impossible."

"Why impossible?" Shi Wuming retorted. "Then how did we get here this time?"

"That was merely an accident caused by the Fallen Dragon." Gui Wei wasn't entirely ignorant and understood the situation clearly. "I heard you were brought here accidentally by the Fallen Dragon. But going back? Unlikely. You can't just boss around a Fallen Dragon."

Opening a spatial passage between two realms is damn near impossible—not something that can be done casually.

Ning Yuzhou said, "How would we know without trying?"

Hearing this, Gui Wei wisely let it go. After all, once they tried and faced reality, they'd give up eventually. Then the Gui family could poach them.

As they spoke, several figures emerged through the gray mist and arrived.

Wen Qiao and the others turned to look and saw a group of Ghost Cultivators.

Upon arrival, the Ghost Cultivators instinctively glanced at Miss An before sweeping their gazes over Wen Qiao's group, their expressions tightening slightly. Finally, they focused on Gui Wei.

"Master Gui, how are things here?"

Gui Wei put on airs of a dignified noble. "Miss An is working on it. We'll need to wait a little longer."

The Ghost Cultivators fell silent at this, though their eyes kept darting toward Wen Qiao's group. They grew more wary when they noticed two cultivators at the Yuanchuang Stage among them.