Lu Qingmo never did answer Han’s question. Was he just messing with her at this point?


    In a jade bowl, the clear, translucent Spirit-Awakening Nourishment Liquid was slowly absorbed by the Marvelous Tree. Incantations transformed into intricate runes, flowing into the tree’s core. Then, in a sudden moment, the shrunken tree quivered, and the jade bowl crumbled to dust. A faint glow radiated from the Marvelous Tree, exuding an aura that felt… different. Alive, vibrant, brimming with vitality.


    Inside the tree, every incantation symbol Han had infused since he began working on the artifact converged, forming a glowing orb the size of a fingernail. The power of the Spirit-Awakening Nourishment Liquid permeated every inch of the tree, saturating it with a nurturing, spiritual energy. The orb pulsed, flickering between light and shadow as if it were breathing, gradually drawing in that pervasive spiritual force until it consumed it all.


    Then the orb started to move—its path erratic, unpredictable. Zoom out, though, and a pattern emerged: it was weaving through the fragment of Han’s soul he’d embedded in the tree. As it traveled, that soul shard dimmed, as if the orb were siphoning off some ethereal essence—靈性, the innate wisdom all living beings possess. Finally, the orb slipped out from the center of Han’s soul fragment, leaving it faint and fragile.


    His consciousness snapped back, breaking free from the perfect fusion with the artifact and withdrawing from the tree. The soul shard returned to his body like a swallow to its nest. Han shook his head. “It didn’t damage the core of this soul piece, but it’ll need a few days to recover.”


    He had plenty of healing tricks up his sleeve—potent ones—so this kind of wear and tear didn’t faze him. The Marvelous Tree floated up, resizing to normal. Han could sense the shift: it was alive now, a stark contrast to its former lifeless state. That glowing orb inside? A spirit seed, birthed through the Spirit-Awakening Nourishment Method.


    Step one—Soul Gathering into a Spirit Seed—was complete. Next up: nurturing it. Once the seed grew strong enough, a faint spirit would naturally emerge from within. Step two: Spirit Nurturing. Step three: using rare elixirs and sorcery to raise the spirit within the artifact. Gather, awaken, nurture—three essential phases to breathe life into a dead object. No shortcuts.


    If the target were a living beast or a Yin Spirit artifact with an existing soul, you could skip the first two steps and jump to nurturing. But Han’s natal artifact was a special case: tied to him, yet spiritless from the start. He had to build it from scratch.


    Stowing the Marvelous Tree in his Soul Realm, Han slipped into secretly cultivating his Life Artifact. Using lifespan to nurture it—that’s what made it a “Life Artifact.” Unlike the Life-Resting Martial Art, this could be done discreetly in his Soul Realm, safe from Lu Qingmo’s prying eyes. Normally, even hidden cultivation would tip someone off—burning lifespan causes obvious fluctuations in your state. But Han? He wasn’t normal. No one could tell what he was up to, and the lifespan drain stayed under wraps.


    Shimmering wisps of light drifted into the Marvelous Tree, subtly transforming its essence. The freshly formed spirit seed basked in the lifespan’s power, growing brighter and stronger. Across from him, An Lang sat quietly, cultivating her Life-Eating Ghost, steadily siphoning his years.


    Yeah, Han was feeding a ghost with his own body daily now. Honestly, he was probably the only ghost master like this in the world. An Lang was touched to tears, but she lived in constant dread. Every day after her session, she’d rush to check on him—making sure he was still kicking, terrified she’d accidentally drained him dry. The past few days had been so bizarre, she felt numb. Watching Han burn through his lifespan nonstop? It spooked even a ghost. Lu Qingmo kept saying it was fine, but An Lang half-wondered if she secretly wanted Han gone.


    Still, sucking up the “young master’s” life force? An Lang couldn’t deny it felt exhilarating.


    At dawn, a commotion outside the pavilion jolted Han awake. Stepping out, he spotted Yun Duo arriving solo—no Yun Yun in sight. He had a hunch what was up. Yun Duo showing up at this hour usually meant trouble. She wouldn’t barge in over some random cultivation question.


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    “You’re just in time,” Yun Duo said. “Something urgent came up—needs both of you.”


    “What’s going on?” Han asked. “Where are we headed?”


    “No specific spot,” Lu Qingmo cut in. “Head out of Black Cloud Town toward Qinghua County. Use your spiritual senses to scan the area for anything suspicious. Anyone who raises a red flag, nab them and haul them back here.”


    “What happened?” Yun Duo asked, puzzled.


    “Qinghua County—that’s where I found that Heavenly Mother Sect hideout before, right?” Han said. “Trouble there again?”


    Qinghua sat right next to Black Cloud.


    “Yep, and it’s a big mess,” Lu Qingmo confirmed. “Last time we hit the county seat, I told you the chaos here’s been rippling out, throwing Tianyue’s counties into disarray.”


    Han nodded. “I remember.” It came up on their last trip—Ye Lao and Lu Qingmo had hashed it out. Black Mountain had drawn a flood of out-of-county cultivators into Tianyue, a mixed bag of troublemakers. Some stirred up chaos en route to Black Cloud—murders included. Worse, evil cultivators slipped in, skipping Black Cloud to wreak havoc across the counties, practicing dark arts and demonic techniques.


    Local forces couldn’t handle it—county overseers topped out at Visceral Realm, with Sinew Realm as their backbone. They had to call the county seat for backup. Tianyue City reacted fast, dispatching teams from the county government, Martial Stabilization Office, and the Ghost and Spirit Divisions, rallying local factions to stabilize the region and crack down on the riffraff. Lu Qingmo had even suggested Han duck out to patrol the counties if he wanted to dodge the heat—get out of Black Cloud’s vortex. He’d passed.


    Until Black Cloud settled, Tianyue’s chaos would simmer. Most folks didn’t know it, but the counties had been a mess for a while. Tianyue City poured in resources, but wiping out every threat? Tall order. The world’s interconnected—Black Mountain’s storm couldn’t leave the surrounding areas untouched. That’d defy logic. It’d dragged too many into its orbit—willing or not, directly or indirectly.


    “Ye Lao sent word last night—got it just now,” Lu Qingmo said. “A few days back, Qinghua County picked up traces of evil cultivators. The authorities were on it, but…” She paused, a cold fury flashing in her eyes. “Last night, those bastards made their move. Over two hundred dead in Qinghua County!”


    Han’s gut lurched. “Two hundred-plus? In the county seat?!”


    Yun Duo’s eyes widened, disbelief written all over her face.


    “Right in the damn county seat!” Lu Qingmo snapped. A civilized hub under Great Qi’s laws, and overnight, over two hundred slaughtered by evil hands. A colossal case—bound to draw every eye and spark a full-on manhunt.


    “Who’s behind it?” Han demanded. “Who’s crazy enough for this?”


    “From the scene’s clues, looks like Heavenly Mother Sect followers,” Lu Qingmo said, her voice icy.


    “Heavenly Mother Sect…” Han muttered. A cult like that deserved to be wiped out. You can’t guard against thieves forever—playing defense always leaves gaps.


    “Word from Qinghua to the county seat says they’d sniffed out leads and were closing in,” Lu Qingmo explained. “But the evil cultivators panicked, triggered their setup, and unleashed that massacre. Then they fought their way out. Took losses, but plenty survived—scattered and slipped the net.”


    “The county seat’s livid. Yuan Yihan and a deputy from the Martial Stabilization Office already left with a crack team for Qinghua. Since it’s close to Black Cloud, Ye Lao wants us to pitch in—hunt these creeps down.”


    “I’m on it,” Han said without hesitation.


    “Me too—I’ll go with Han!” Yun Duo chimed in.


    Lu Qingmo nodded. “Not just you two. I’ve alerted the Ghost and Spirit Division and the Martial Stabilization Office—tons of folks are mobilizing. If those rats head this way, we nail them.”


    “Any descriptions? Features?” Han asked.


    “Nope,” Lu Qingmo said. “So anyone who pings your gut, grab them. Better to nab the wrong guy than let the right one slip. Any mix-ups in the field? The court’s got your back.”


    She fixed Han with a look. “And you’ve got a knack for sniffing out evil cultivators if you run into them.”


    Han caught her drift—she meant his Righteous Aura. “Depends if they’ve practiced dark arts—shifted their vibe,” he said. “If they’re Heavenly Mother Sect but running normal martial or sorcery skills, I might not clock them.”


    “Still gives you an edge over most,” Lu Qingmo said, fair as always. “Their strength’s within your range, but don’t get sloppy. They’ve got martial artists and cultivators mixed in.”


    Yun Duo’s presence doubled as a chance for Han to watch her back—Lu Qingmo cared about her disciple, even if she didn’t show it loud.


    “Got it,” Han said with a firm nod, then took off with Yun Duo, bolting from the peach grove. They hopped on a flying carpet and shot out of Black Cloud Town. They weren’t alone—within minutes, squads of others roared out in all directions.


    Time to hit hard and hit fast!