After looting the body in every conceivable way, I decided that since I had ended up here, it was worth looking for something interesting. Besides, I needed to stay wary of my pursuers, so I activated foresight for five minutes ahead and cautiously made my way through the corridors and staircases, descending lower and lower. About five minutes later, I spotted the ghost again. It slipped through the end of a corridor, but this time, it had no chance to escape. I wasn’t in a hurry, so I simply tracked its position and movements with my psionics, following its route step by step.

By tailing the ghost, I managed to navigate through the labyrinth of tunnels and avoid countless traps. Eventually, after about half an hour, the ghost stopped in one of the chambers, hovering motionless. By now, I was deep in what could only be described as true catacombs. All the gold and jewel-adorned passageways were far behind, replaced by roughly hewn stone.

Entering the chamber with the ghost, I saw it floating above a sarcophagus containing an ancient mummy.

"Hello there, could you please point me path to the library?" - I asked. I have to start a conversation somehow. Who knows, maybe this ghost would be more helpful than that old man in the jade orb.

The ghost turned around, and to my dismay, it was indeed the same old man from the orb. I had jinxed it. However, this version wasn’t trying to prattle or pretend to be some great cultivator. Instead, it frowned immediately, radiating an ominous stormy glow. It seemed as though lightning danced in its spectral eyes. However, my foresight of future indicated to me I wasn’t in any danger.

"How did you get here?" - the ghost asked in a booming voice, entirely unlike the pitiful bleating of its jade counterpart. This voice carried an inner power and an awareness of its own grandeur.

"Well… I walked and kept walking until I arrived" - I explained my movements, avoiding specifics.

The angry expression faded from the ghost’s face, and it seemed to calm down slightly.

"Are you one of those who came to undergo the trial?" - it asked.

"Yes. Is this your tomb?" - I replied with a question of my own.

"Indeed. This is where my true body rests. You’re the first to reach this place in ten thousand years. How did you find it?"

"I followed you."

"What?" - The shock on the ancient cultivator’s face was evident. - "How did I not notice you?"

"No idea" - I shrugged. "Maybe you were lost in thought?"

"Wasn’t it you who triggered the trap at the entrance?" - The ghost still couldn’t let it go.

"No, that was one of the assassins sent after me."

"What? Someone else was here?" - This time, the ghost was truly angry, though fortunately not at me.

"Not just was — there should still be two more nearby, looking for me."

"Alright, let’s deal with this."

Before I could even croak out a reply, I was teleported back to the trap that had started my journey through this dungeon. The ghost examined the corpse closely, scratching its spectral head with a spectral hand.

"I can’t sense any Qi emanating from this body" - it muttered.

"That’s because I consumed all of it" - I explained. - "His head’s over there, it should still have some Qi left."

The ghost immediately grabbed the head, holding it in front of itself. For a moment, I thought it might say something like, ‘Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio!’

"Fifth level of Foundation Formation. How did you kill him?" - it asked, astonished.

"The trap killed him. I just finished off the nearly-dead body."

"And you absorbed his Qi? That amount of energy should have torn you apart! Also, Qi from another person is toxic, you can’t absorb it without first purifying it."

"I stored it unprocessed within my body. I’ll refine and absorb it later when I have time."

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The ghost immediately began scanning me with its own Qi. I felt as though I was being x-rayed from head to toe.

"What an interesting technique. I’ve never seen anything like it" - the cultivator marveled.

"Is this even a proper technique?" - I sighed in mock despair. - "It’s more of a quick-and-dirty fix. I just threw this structure together to avoid wasting free Qi. But it’ll do for now. Later, I might adapt it into a proper seal or crystal. Why let something this valuable go to waste? Gathering this much Qi with breathing techniques would take years."

"Hmm... you continue to surprise me more and more. Such a pragmatic approach at your age" - the ghost mused. - "As for your problem, it really can be solved with a seal. Look at this."

The ghost extended its hand, and a glowing circle appeared on the wall in front of him, filled with countless inscriptions and lines. It was an order of magnitude more complex than the one Cheon Wan Yu had demonstrated when implanting the seal of subjugation.

"And what does each part do?" - I tried to coax the ghost into a mini-lecture. I had already memorized the entire seal and the energy characteristics of its components. Psionics, even in its limited form, offered remarkable capabilities.

The circle immediately lit up in various colors, highlighting individual parts of the intricate pattern.

"Here is the central core, which allows Qi to be stored in compressed space. This section binds the seal to the hand, this part conceals the seal, here is where the Qi is absorbed, and this segment regulates Qi extraction from the seal, controlling the flow and energy source."

"And how does the seal fold during application?" - I asked a critical question. The seal appeared as a circle initially, but later deformed into its functional form.

"Watch."

The circle folded in on itself like intricate origami, transforming into the shape of a wide bracelet or a cylinder.

"Does it have a module for forcibly extracting Qi?" - I added. - "Sometimes it’s impossible to place a hand directly into the target’s channel, so I need a way to draw Qi from the body and direct it to the hand."

"Hmm..." - The ghost pondered, examining the unfolded blueprint with the look of a seasoned professional. - "We could insert a pump here and a block that generates a Qi blade." - Several new elements appeared on the blueprint, rearranging the nearby patterns.

"Perfect, I’ll take it! Wrap it up" - I said with the tone of a satisfied customer.

"What?" - The ghost blinked in confusion, before a spark of amusement flashed in its eyes. - "Ah, you little scoundrel. Fine, I’ll apply this seal for you. You’ve given me a few interesting ideas, so consider it a fair exchange."

The seal shot toward my arm, folding itself and integrating into my body. A stylish tattoo appeared on my skin, radiating an aura of ancient mystery and immense power.

"Thank you, honorable one. Unfortunately, I don’t know your name. My name is Tan Ji Tao."

"My name was erased from the annals of history, so there’s no point in remembering it" - the ghost sighed. - "Tell me, if you had to choose between submitting to the Laws of the Gods or following the Rules of the Demons, what would you choose?"

"Neither!" - I replied confidently without hesitation. - "The only rule is, there are no rules. There’s only one law — the law of my will. Neither gods nor demons can dictate their will to me. If the heavens rise against me, I’ll cast them into the abyss of Chaos. If hell wages war on me, I’ll shackle it in the chains of Order. If fate itself defies me, I’ll devour it alive and become the new fate. As long as my soul exists, I will be free!"

By the end of my impromptu manifesto, I noticed the ghost's eyes glimmering with hope. "Perhaps... you might be able to..." - he murmured softly. - "Were you searching for the library?"

Before I could answer, two cultivators, the same ones who had been hunting me, burst out from the nearest corridor. "There he is!" - one of them managed to shout before freezing in place like a wax figure. Only their wildly darting eyes betrayed that they were still alive.

"So, you're the ones who infiltrated my tomb. Let’s see" - the ghost mused as he inspected them. - "I see, the rings. You’re wearing enchanted rings designed to bypass my security system. Clever. But that won’t work anymore. From now on, anyone wearing such a ring will be eliminated as soon as they step inside."

"When I meet the maker of these rings” - I said with a sly grin, - "I’ll be sure to... not tell him about this."

"You may keep all the belongings of these intruders. I’ve modified both their rings and yours so they can no longer deceive the spirits of this place" - the ghost said nonchalantly, waving his hand.

With that casual motion, the life in the two cultivators’ bodies simply ceased. I couldn’t tell exactly what he had done, but even the cells in their bodies stopped functioning.

"My main interest is your seal’s performance and their Qi reserves" - I said, flashing a wicked smile.

First, I transferred the stored energy from the reserve in my hand into the seal to test its capacity and functionality. Then, approaching one of the corpses, I focused on the seal, issued a command, and a meter-long spectral blade extended from my palm. As soon as I drove it into the body, all the Qi within the corpse flowed instantly into the seal.

"Bear in mind” - the ghost interjected - "that this blade function will only work as long as the energy I’ve embedded in the seal remains active. Once it’s depleted, the blade will be disabled."

"Got it” - I replied with a nod.

Deactivating the blade, I turned to the second body. This time, I enveloped my hand in Qi and drove it directly into the abdomen, tearing through clothing and skin. The Qi coating served not only as protection from blood but also as a kind of grinder, shredding any barriers in its path. This was an improved version of my old 'Qi Blade', more efficient, but significantly more energy-intensive. Extracting the Qi this way took nearly a minute.

As I was finishing the energy transfer, the ghost spoke again. - "I’ve reserved a spot for you in the library. When you’re done with the bodies, follow this arrow."

A familiar glowing arrow appeared on the floor next to me.

"Farewell” - he added before teleporting away.

"Thank you, honorable one, for your kindness” - I said aloud to the empty air.