Look at this man and see how outrageous he is.

  After seeing the girl naked, Xia Li killed her, took her storage ring, and didn't even bother to bury her—just tied a rock to her body and tossed her into the water.

  "Crack the spiritual imprint on the storage ring."

  Xia Li walked far from the pond before taking stock of his gains. He did feel a bit guilty, honestly.

  But just a bit.

  In the future, if he encountered similar situations, he could tolerate the other party three times to avoid causing today's kind of misunderstanding.

  A quarter-hour later, the storage ring was cracked. Besides her personal belongings, it contained over three thousand low-grade spirit stones, two spirit artifacts, and various pills and talismans.

  Of course... the most important thing was this:

  The girl actually had a map of the Autumn Mountain Secret Realm and the eighth-ranked Qi Refining spirit treasure—Lightning-Struck Wood.

  "What a haul! Did I just achieve my goal directly?"

  Xia Li was a bit dazed. What kind of luck was this?

  A top-ten spirit treasure that was hard to find even in the Autumn Mountain Secret Realm was now quietly sitting in his storage ring.

  Well, technically it was the girl's storage ring, but it was his now.

  However, Xia Li also realized he'd gotten himself into trouble. Among the clothes in the storage ring was a Cloud Mountain Sect uniform.

  The style looked somewhat special.

  There was also an item proving the girl's identity—a Cloud Mountain Sect waist token.

  The front was engraved with "Inner Sect," and the back bore her name: Song Yu.

  In one encounter, he'd really killed a Cloud Mountain Sect inner disciple over a disagreement.

  The Cloud Mountain Sect was a fairly renowned sect in the area. Only Foundation Establishment cultivators could enter the inner sect, but the girl's cultivation was only eighth-level Qi Refining—same as Xia Li.

  Otherwise, Xia Li wouldn't have chosen to attack directly. If her cultivation had been even one level higher than his, he would have had the patience to let her finish speaking.

  Being in the inner sect at Qi Refining meant she was either exceptionally talented or had an impressive background.

  He'd really done it now.

  "Whatever. I prepared thoroughly anyway. Even if I've caused trouble, I'm not afraid..."

  Xia Li had faked his cultivation. If he claimed he could kill Song Yu, the Cloud Mountain Sect people probably wouldn't believe it even if beaten to death.

  But he'd heard that sects set up soul tablets for talented disciples, allowing them to know immediately when someone died. The Cloud Mountain Sect would probably learn of Song Yu's death soon.

  They would definitely send people to investigate!

  What to do?

  After some thought, Xia Li decided not to rush. Leaving hastily now would only expose him. The best choice was to wait until his five remaining days were up before leaving.

  That way, he'd appear calm and composed.

  So where to go next?

  After more deliberation, Xia Li decided to simply go to the location marked on the map in her storage ring.

  Maybe he could grab more while he was at it.

  If Xia Li guessed correctly, Song Yu's unfinished words were probably meant to trick him into coming along as cannon fodder.

  Half a day later.

  At the marked location, Xia Li arrived at a dark cave entrance. From within came a bone-chilling cold and a heavy stench of decay.

  〖Yin ghost aura detected〗

  〖Recommend holding Lightning-Struck Wood for protection〗

  The Heaven Chip immediately offered advice. Now Xia Li understood why Song Yu had kept the Lightning-Struck Wood without refining it.

  Perhaps she hadn't obtained it in the secret realm, but brought it from outside specifically to explore this ghost-infested cave.

  So-called yin ghosts were a type of spiritual creature. After the Spiritual Revival, Earth's technology had already decoded them.

  They weren't hard to deal with—the key was having the right countermeasures. In gaming terms, they were mechanic bosses.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Without using the mechanics, they could kill you above their level.

  Master the mechanics, and you could kill them above yours.

  "Heavenly thunder counters yin ghosts. This Lightning-Struck Wood is nice, but it can only passively protect the body."

  Xia Li really wanted to return to Earth, buy a bunch of ghost-killing tech, and come back to explore. Unfortunately, the mysterious ring was still on cooldown.

  "Activate autopilot mode and force a discharge to knock me unconscious."

  Xia Li gave the Heaven Chip a command.

  He knew yin ghost methods were bizarre and terrifying. The Lightning-Struck Wood could only protect his body from yin energy erosion.

  He'd encountered yin ghosts on Earth. Shaft Seven at the mine was a burial ground, and the unscrupulous Company had directly dug up the graves to force mining operations.

  To avoid "property damage," the Company had taught them what to do when encountering yin ghosts.

  Call for help, then shock yourself unconscious.

  His Heaven Chip was better than what he'd had back then—it could knock him out and then pilot his body forward.

  This way, he was essentially handing control of his body to an AI that had no fear, no weaknesses, and didn't know what terror meant.

  Can ghosts scare an AI?

  The answer was obviously no.

  When facing a ghost's cognitive assault, the AI would simply display a big question mark.

  And so...

  Xia Li felt his head go numb, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness completely.

  He didn't know how much time passed.

  When Xia Li's awareness returned, he found himself at the deepest level of the cave.

  〖Autopilot complete. Would you like to view the playback?〗

  "View."

  As he spoke, a replay of everything his body had experienced began playing before his eyes.

  Swimming through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, crossing a bridge of ghostly hands, voluntarily crawling into a terrifying bloody maw, accompanied by bizarre yin ghosts the entire way.

  Those illusions were extremely horrifying and bloody, but the AI felt nothing at all.

  If he'd been the one advancing, even knowing they were illusions, his fear would have deepened uncontrollably until he completely fell for the yin ghosts' tricks.

  After viewing the playback, Xia Li finally examined the cave's depths to see what was hidden here.

  He quickly made a discovery.

  On the cave wall grew a thumb-sized crystal lotus, like a work of art.

  The crystal lotus emitted strange fluctuations—not spiritual energy, but a more unique and extraordinary type of energy.

  Just staring at the crystal lotus for a while made Xia Li feel dizzy.

  "Third-ranked spirit treasure... Spectral Crystal Lotus!"

  After recognizing the treasure, Xia Li immediately averted his gaze. The joy in his heart was beyond words.

  The top three Qi Refining spirit treasures were, strictly speaking, tied for first place.

  The ranking still existed because the Spectral Crystal Lotus was less versatile than the top two.

  The second-ranked spirit treasure was the Innate Golden Core. Refining it brought endless benefits, and upon reaching Golden Core stage, it guaranteed at least a seventh-grade golden core.

  The first-ranked spirit treasure was the Dao Foundation Seed. Even a mortal who obtained it could instantly become a prodigy—a heaven-defying treasure that could change one's fate. It had the widest applicability and the strongest effects.

  As for the third-ranked Spectral Crystal Lotus, its main function was singular:

  Transforming divine sense into divine thought.

  Divine sense was a wisp of the soul, while divine thought was a strand of it.

  Only by cultivating divine thought could one further cultivate the divine soul.

  Though everyone possessed a divine soul, it remained dormant in most. Only upon reaching the true Divine Soul realm could one survive death with an intact soul, allowing the divine soul to exist independently outside the body.