The stretch of neat land in front of Ming Zi made him pause.

Bending down to examine the soil of the suspiciously flat area, Ming Zi's brows creased in confusion.

"This doesn't feel right."

Ming Zi took out a crimson gem from his pocket and examined it while his feet carried him through the mile-wide flat area.

The gem's crimson glow brightened slightly with each of his steps forward. Soon, the gem was glowing like fiery coal, its light particularly eye-catching even under the bright sun.

Ming Zi sighed, and clenched his fist around the gem, snuffing out its brightness. Pocketing the gem, he was about to turn around, but something caught his attention.

"This type of residue..."

Ming Zi broke into a sprint so fast that he was way past the land once occupied by Pine town by the next five seconds, standing within the woods miles away from there.

"This qi doesn't belong to this planet," Ming Zi muttered to himself as his fingers twisted around a wisp of smokey substance, manipulating it into different shapes and states.

"Definitely a law manipulator, from the looks of it. That hidden realm should be around here according to Xuan Zi. But it looks like they got the wind of it already."

Despite thoroughly searching the woods for the next two hours, Ming Zi couldn't find the so-called portal that opened the way to the hidden world fragment.

There were signs of battles among physique transformation realm cultivators in some places. But not even an injured cultivator or a dead body remained for him to examine, a highly unusual phenomenon considering the battles that had taken place here were all very deadly for that level of power.

Yet Ming Zi couldn't even find a trace of blood anywhere near those areas.

But this was also a clue itself. Somebody had definitely been here and wiped out the traces that could be used to investigate what had happened. Whoever they were, their cultivation was at least close to Ming Zi's own. They had not bothered to hide all the traces of the battle, because they likely understood that whoever came to investigate would know of the conflicts here anyway.

Ming Zi put two and two together, and a hypothesis took shape in his mind.

During the battle, a law manipulator from a higher branch had visited this place, perhaps because they had something here that they wished to hide from prying eyes.

So they intervened and put a stop to whatever was happening here. Then they wiped off the more obvious traces and left a strand of their own qi as a proof of identification. Anyone with high cultivation base would recognize the proof for what it was and back off unless they had a bone to pick with the Law Manipulator Faction.

But...what relationship did that have with Pine Town's disappearance?

The law manipulator should know better than to mess around with random cultivators from other factions in a neutral territory like this solar system.

Ming Zi was both confused and pissed. After investigating for a while longer, he left the area and returned to the sect to meet up with Xuan Zi.

His report didn't affect the sect master much.

"All I need to be sure of is that no cultivator undergoing integration is going to come here and pick a fight with us. Since your excellency can guarantee that no such cultivators exist near the sect, I can rest easy. I am not particularly interested in the hidden world fragment or the inner working of the Law Manipulator Faction. So it is actually a good thing that the portal has disappeared. Curious foreign cultivators are no longer going to be attracted to that place and make trouble for us."

Xuan Zi's concern seemed to lie with his sect, something that Ming Zi mentally took note of.

"In that case, it is time I took my leave, little Zi. I need to inform the higher-ups in the family about the movements of the Law Manipulator Faction here. My hunch tells me something big is happening."

"As you wish, your excellency. I shall arrange for some elders to accompany you to the docks."

Xuan Zi left hurriedly. Ming Zi's eyes followed the sect master until he was out of sight. Making sure that no one else was nearby, Ming Zi took out a precious interstellar voice transmission talisman from his luggage.

Trrkkk...shshhshs...trrrk

A faint stream of meaningless random noise began to emit from the talisman.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

After fiddling with it for a few seconds, the talisman finally connected with the other side.

"Your Excellency, what happened? Have you discovered something?"

A clear voice came from the other side, making Ming Zi smile in elation. But the smile faded fast.

"Yes. But it doesn't have anything to do with Xuan Zi this time. That fellow seems to have finally accepted his fate as the sect master of a subsidiary branch," Ming Si said tersely.

There was a pause from the other side.

"That's good to hear," the voice finally answered.

"As for the issue I wanted to report... something happened to one of our spies stationed on this planet. He seems to have gone rogue during his integration process."

"And are you sure Xuan Zi wasn't behind that?" The voice cut in.

"Yes, I am. Xuan Zi never left the sect since my appearance here. Nor has he used any spells beyond the soul reformation realm. I investigated the place myself, and several clues suggest the involvement of the Law Manipulator Faction. I'll send you a detailed report once I've returned."

"...Law Manipulators? This is going to be troublesome. Regardless, thank you for your support, Your Excellency. I'll certainly remember this favor."

"It's fine," Ming Zi replied gruffly and cut off the connection after saying goodbye.

Ming Zi's departure was uneventful. Several elders from Xuan Zi's sect accompanied him to the docks. The spatial intersections were not a route he could take this time. So he had to resort to normal voidboats. Xuan Zi repeatedly reminded him to investigate the bottle of ancestry determinant potion. Ming Zi nodded along absent-mindedly.

The voidboat soon took off. Standing on the platform, Xuan Zi's solemn face broke into a smirk as he stared at the tiny silhouette of the boat getting tinier in the sky.

.................

"Third layer of physique transformation! Yeah, baby!!! Hoooooo!!!"

"First layer of Physique transformation! Yeah, baby!!! Hooooooo!!!"

"Hmph! Frog in a well, what's there to celebrate about on reaching the first layer?"

"Why? What's wrong with celebrating after reaching the first layer?"

"Reaching the first layer is just a fancy way of saying you're an inexperienced newbie! You're not even a real cultivator before you break through to the second layer! Stop making a big deal out of it!"

"Master, you're celebrating after reaching the lowest layer of the Physique Transformation realm among the current disciples of your generation. I mean, your cultivation used to be lower than that just yesterday, but you've not achieved anything to boast about either, have you?"

"...Damned brat! You dare talk back ?" Han Xuhan clutched his chest, feeling a fantom pain in his heart.

"So what? What are you gonna do? Threaten to lock me up in your dao base? Hah, go ahead! Nothing will make me happier! What else? Death? I'm already dead, baby! Torture? How the fuck would you even do that when I don't feel pain?"

"...Excellent points, but how do you feel about being eternally trapped inside a dark room, with rotting corpses, maggots, and an endless stream of repetitive deafening noise accompanying you till you go insane? I think I can certainly arrange that. I can also venture into the mouths of the most dangerous places on this planet and throw you in there to enjoy the show. What do you say?"

"....you're fucking insane, master."

Han Xuhan and Zhanxian tumbled out of the hut and started dancing in the yard pretending that the conversation just then did not happen. Neither of them looked like those graceful cultivators in the legends and paintings. Xuhan's hair stuck out at odd angles while Zhanxian....was a red skeleton, whose body was even more bizarre looking compared to before.

Zhanxian's body was now full of crisscrossing scars that glowed faintly whenever he wanted them to. Gas-like substance flowed along the grooves of his bones, creating a visage that any cultivator would recognize for what it was, a qi cycle.

The technique supplied by Yuen Zhou had three layers only. The first layer would allow the cultivator to copy regular cultivation process and control qi cycles, the second would improve the quality of the qi and control, and the third would eliminate some of the side effects.

While the technique gave off the impression that any normal cultivator could use it, Han Xuhan was careful enough to do some research beforehand. As it turned out, similar techniques were not unheard of.

He had asked around and in the end, brother Lin, the senior disciple running the archives had helped him get real information on the origin of the technique.

One of its main side effects was that constant contact with the barely controlled qi damaged the inner organs and killed the practitioners before they even reached the third layer.

He had learned that the creator of the technique had died soon after he discovered the qi poisoning phenomenon. He had secretly tortured and mutilated many innocent cultivators while creating the technique. Mental demons, vengeful friends of his victims, the pressure of many sects' enmity with him finally broke his resolve, resulting into his death during a qi deviation. However, the principles used to create the technique were known only to him. No one else could change its basics, and few would be desperate enough to mutilate themselves or others to carve permanent channels into their bodies.

Some had tried, of course. Those who were mad enough to follow the technique word by word managed to cultivate smoothly till the third layer, where most of them died and some survived by fluke and absurd luck. Those who did not stick to the basics and changed the technique ended up as monstrosities.

A few years later, all the bigwig cultivators declared the technique to have vile, demonic principles, and brought an end to its practice forcefully.

Han Xuhan had felt his heart go cold after he had fished out those information. If he had blindly trusted Yuen Zhou, his ending would have been the same as those reckless fellows!

But it also raised an important question. Why did Yuen Zhou give such an insidious technique to Qian Yun during their exchange? Qian Yun seemed well-informed enough to recognize the technique. Why hadn't he told Xuhan about this issue?

The answer came easily after a few seconds of thinking. Yuen Zhou wanted a leverage on Qian Yun, who in turn, wanted a leverage on Xuhan...

Once he started cultivating it, he'd have to ask for their help. Even if he only cultivated till the first layer, he'd notice the damage his body was taking under the influence of the qi. He'd have to contact them, beg them for some sort of solution, and agree to their demands....

So insidious! The world of cultivation was so insidious! Even friendly people were not to be trusted. Qian Yun and Yuen Zhou probably did not think there was anything wrong with their action. But to Xuhan, this mindset was terrifying.

But thinking ahead, this also meant that the source of this technique, Yuen Zhou might have some sort of a solution to the side effects. How else would she find a leverage to hold on him?

"How do I get my hands on this precious secret?"

While dancing energetically, Xuhan's head spinned with such thoughts. He needed to come up with another bizarre scheme if he wanted the info. It would be inconvenient to directly confront martial sister Zhou. He didn’t want her to become wary of him. To get her to open up, some foreplay was necessary.

But those things could be taken care of later. Right now, it was time for some celebration! One month of nonstop, money-burning sessions of qi cycling...

He had broken through to the third layer after so long! Some of his peers were still stuck on this level. He was no longer the trashiest disciple in his generation!

But that wasn’t even the highlight of the day. Zhanxian was about to get a new playmate. This time, Xuhan hadn’t made the mistake of creating a human skeleton. Rather, he had gone for a bird!

To Xuhan, information was the most useful resource. A scout that could fly up ahead and keep an eye on every direction was the best minion he could imagine. Even if it was absolutely trash like Zhanxian, it would be a great scout.

After a great amount of research, his target bird was fixed; an owl!

One of the few birds that could see during both day and night. Granted, its daylight vision was pretty weak, but Xuhan wasn’t exactly blind during the day, so it was the most optimal choice.

The trip to retrieve a soul through the skeletal monarch technique was uneventful, and Xuhan had no idea what type of personality the bird would have. But since it was just a bird, he probably didn’t need to worry much.

Now the skeletal bird was inside his dao base, slowly getting used to its undead life while Xuhan celebrated loudly outside.

And his celebration seemed to have attracted a guest.

"Underling, you broke through?" Mu Ran appeared outside his yard hurriedly and asked with a huff.