This time, Han didn’t need to split his focus or pace himself for Yun Duo. He cranked the flying carpet to its limit, tearing through the sky like a comet, leaving mountains and rivers blurring behind him in an instant.


    He glanced at the wooden frog’s pointer—not Qinghua County, and a good stretch beyond it. “Pretty good at running,” he muttered. But if they hadn’t bolted far enough by now, they weren’t getting away today.


    “An Lang, play it by ear when the time comes,” Han said, reaching out to her in the Ghost Dwelling.


    “Master, could you spell it out a bit clearer?” An Lang replied. “What exactly am I supposed to do?”


    “Play it by ear” didn’t click for her—what “ear” was she listening for?


    “Fine—watch my cues.”


    “I don’t get your cues!”


    “…” Useless ghost. How did I end up binding you? I must’ve been out of my mind. Back home, you’d have been swindled and sold off for parts by now.


    “Do what I tell you when I tell you!”


    “Oh, that I get.”


    Wind roared as Han rocketed forward. He reckoned he’d covered a thousand miles already—not that it took long. With his soul cultivation fueling the artifact, the speed was unreal. A jet, basically.


    A small river came into view below—ten to twelve feet wide, crystal-clear, thick with water grasses. Han spotted a fisherman working the banks from afar, a village faintly visible in the distance. He checked the Ghost and Spirit Division’s map: Big River Village, Little Grass River.


    Flying past, he suddenly noticed the frog’s tongue loop back, pointing behind him. He halted midair, scanning Little Grass River from above, then eased back slowly. At one spot, the tongue flipped forward again. It was just a basic gadget—no fancy AI here. Tongue-wiggling was as smart as it got.


    Han peered down at the river. This stretch ran deeper, with shadowy nooks. The fisherman was a good distance off, so Han descended, his mental energy surging into the water like a battering ram, probing below. The moment it hit a certain point, his Righteous Aura flared—stronger than last time. It didn’t twitch for no reason; there were triggers.


    “Clever hiding spot,” he said. His mental force poured out, a raging dragon churning the depths. The water turned murky in seconds, water grasses shredded to bits.


    Boom! The surface exploded, two figures bursting out, auras blazing. One hovered in the air, the other landed onshore.


    “Two of them?” Han’s brow creased. His senses pegged them—a Day Wanderer and a Bone Refiner. Both reeked of evil, nothing righteous about them.


    “Bonus catch,” he mused.


    The airborne one was a woman; the shore guy, a one-eyed man. “Where’d this kid come from, sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong?” the woman snarled, her eyes glinting with murder.


    One-Eye, though, clocked Han right away. “Tai Bai’s Han?”


    Han gave him a once-over, cross-referencing Yuan Yihan’s soul-search intel. “Heavenly Mother Sect. Didn’t expect you’d know me.”


    Qinghua’s bloodbath was a joint Heavenly Mother Sect and Impermanence Hall job—two ringleaders. Now both were here.


    One-Eye sized Han up, laughing. “Of course I know you. Your head’s worth a fortune. Lady Su Tiannu herself name-dropped you. Bet she’d be thrilled if I hauled it back.”


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    Han’s face stayed blank. Su Tiannu digging up his identity wasn’t a shock—he’d gone in as “Jia Ming,” loud and proud, to infiltrate their hideout. The fallout was messy; getting sniffed out was par for the course. Whatever—she was just the sect’s new Heavenly Maiden, still green. He wasn’t sweating it.


    “Bring your head back, and Qinghua’s two hundred-plus might cheer too,” he shot back, summoning An Lang.


    “A ghost-tamer? That’s your big move?” the woman sneered. “Over your head, kid.”


    “You old hag, you’re toast!” An Lang snapped, trash-talking on sight. “Master’s sending you straight to hell!”


    As she yapped, the carpet shot up and zipped far off. “Die, you creeps!” she hollered from a distance.


    The carpet peeled out, leaving Han’s soul hovering alone. One-Eye’s face tightened, realization hitting. “Day Wanderer?”


    “Han, you’ve been playing it close to the chest,” he said. “Everyone’s so dazzled by your martial skills, they missed your soul rank.”


    “Day Wanderer or not,” the woman scoffed, “he can’t take us both, can he?”


    Wanna bet?


    A wail pierced the air—yin energy billowed. A naked infant appeared on the woman’s shoulder: blood-red eyes, oversized head, long tongue lolling, three arms, body etched with eerie runes. Its smile was chilling, a nightmare in flesh.


    “Good boy, Mommy’s got a treat for you,” the woman cooed, patting its head with a disturbingly gentle look. The ghost infant screeched and charged Han, the woman unleashing sorcery right behind it. On cue, One-Eye swung from below, conjuring a lion’s head of true essence that roared toward Han.


    Mid-stage Day Wanderer. Fresh Bone Refiner. Han clocked their levels cold.


    The Heavenly Light Wheel flared behind him, the Marvelous Tree hovering overhead. Golden light shimmered across his soul, cascading in radiant shields. He reached out, snagging the ghost infant mid-lunge. It didn’t dodge—sped up, jaws gaping, revealing jagged, bloodstained teeth.


    Boom! Sorcery and martial strikes slammed his defenses. His grip closed on the infant, soft white light spilling from his hand. The Purify Heaven and Earth Mantra boomed across the battlefield. The ghost infant thrashed, shrieking, but Han didn’t flinch—purification power flowed steady.


    “What are you doing to my baby?!” the woman howled, her face warping as she dove at him. One-Eye leapt, his jump freakishly high, closing in.


    Han’s free hand slashed the air—brilliant, multicolored light erupted, vast and unstoppable. Daily scripture recitals had beefed up his Righteous Aura; it wasn’t static anymore. The ghost infant’s struggles weakened, its blood-red eyes clearing, monstrous traits fading. In moments, it looked normal—its smile human, innocent, giggling as it reached for Han’s face.


    His stern mask softened. But the infant’s hand never made it—its form dissolved into light, scattering into the sky. Not a child’s soul anymore, but a fused abomination cleansed by Han’s power, returned to its essence. Back to where it belonged.


    Under the mantra and Triple Light Blessed Mirror’s double whammy, Han had forcibly purified the ghost infant mid-fight, stripping the enemy of a key weapon. If there’s an afterlife, that kid might get a decent shot, blessed by the light.


    The purification faded. Han eyed the pair. “Standing here tanking your hits, and you still can’t touch me. Weak.”


    His surging Righteous Aura left them reeling, looking worse for wear. Yin Spirit sorcery and Manifest Saint-grade natal artifacts? Defense on a whim. Han’s raw strength just made it absurdly effective.


    “You dared do that to my child!” the woman shrieked, her voice a piercing wail, face twisted in madness. Han met her gaze, fire flickering in his eyes. Cold yin flames erupted around her out of nowhere.


    “Agh!” She screamed, agony searing every inch of her soul-body. Flight failed her; she plummeted.


    Han didn’t bother with her—a mid-tier Day Wanderer, same realm as him, didn’t need both yin-yang flames. One yin blast handled it. He turned to One-Eye, who’d already dove into the river, slicing through water and weeds like a fish.


    A Day Wanderer shouldn’t outpace a Bone Refiner, yet he’d bailed the second she fell—no hesitation. All that big talk, and he was the fastest runner. His agility underwater tipped Han off.


    “Human-demon hybrid? Water clan blood?” Han snorted. “Parlor tricks.”


    He plunged in, water spraying dozens of feet high. His soul morphed into the Sea-Overturning Demon Flood Dragon. The Water-Repelling Pearl shard stayed in his ring, not soul-carried—but no matter. He’d always been a natural in water.


    One-Eye banked on his bloodline edge to escape—or at least offset Han’s strength with terrain. Too bad he didn’t count on Han being a triple-threat: land, sea, air, no sweat. Spotting the dragon soul, One-Eye panicked. A half-demon outswimming a flood dragon? Fat chance.


    He shot out of the water—straight into a waiting Righteous Law Sword.


    Shing! Light streaked, air shredded. True essence flared, blood energy boiled—but it couldn’t stop a Manifest Saint-grade righteous blade. The evil in him melted like snow in a furnace under the sword’s aura. It punched through, sending him crashing into the river, only for dragon-force to hurl him skyward again.


    Up or down, nowhere to run!