Once Joy Zheng left, Evan Lin headed back to his room and closed the door behind him.
He was still holding Raymond Cold’s cane—the same magic artifact Raymond had used earlier.
Raymond Cold claimed he’d reached the Life-and-Death Mage rank ages ago, but every single spell he practiced was pure yin-type ghost art. My own Vajra '卍' True Mantra is way beyond any ordinary technique—it’s basically the ultimate anti-ghost secret, so I could crush him from every angle. If he’d trained some other style, I could’ve killed him, but it definitely wouldn’t have been this easy.
Evan figured, if Raymond Cold had specialized in some other branch of magic, sure, he still could’ve finished him off, but it wouldn’t have been such a walk in the park.
He shifted his gaze down to the cane in his hand.
At first glance, the cane looked pretty old—a dried-up stick, almost. But the moment he touched it, a wave of icy, chilling energy seeped into his palm.
This magic artifact must be what Raymond used to summon the Ghost-Soul Well.
All that corpse-qi and ghost miasma in the Ghost-Soul Well is useless to me, but it’s perfect for feeding the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll.
Thinking of this, Evan focused his mind and tapped the cane lightly against the floor.
In the next instant, a pitch-black, sinister well mouth appeared right in the middle of the floor. From inside came a chorus of ghostly wails, and waves of chilling yin energy poured out into the room.
"Come out."
Evan Lin spoke coolly, and in a flash, the Three Maiden Spirits appeared, circling in front of him.
They stared hungrily at the Ghost-Soul Well, their eyes full of longing, but none of them dared to make a move without permission.
"You may enter the well and cultivate, but how far you get depends on your own luck and skill."
With Evan’s permission, the spirits let out a cheer and dove straight into the Ghost-Soul Well.
Right now, the Three Maiden Spirits’ strength is about equal to third-grade Vajra. They don’t have physical bodies and can’t gather qi force, but with their yin energy, they’re still pretty decent.
If they ever reach the Pointing-to-Mystery Realm, their usefulness will skyrocket.
Evan mused about it for a moment, but honestly, the gap between Vajra and Pointing-to-Mystery is just massive.
He’d really felt that difference back when he fought Morgan Yang.
There’s no shortage of skeletons and ghost energy in this Ghost-Soul Well—plenty for them to train on. The only thing I’m not sure about is whether this artifact can regenerate, or if it’ll just vanish once it’s used up.
Evan shook his head, thought it over for a second, then decided to let it go for now. He pushed open the door and stepped outside.
After walking a few steps outside, Evan ran into Old Sun.
Old Sun spotted Evan and greeted him respectfully, "Young master."
With Old Sun’s guidance, Evan found out where the Southriver Sword Sect and Warren Wu’s people were staying.
There were quite a few people from the Southriver Sword Sect. When Dominic Ding got Evan’s call earlier, he didn’t dare slack off. Worried something might go wrong, he personally escorted Selina Zhu back to Oceanport.
When Evan pushed open the door to Dominic’s room, Dominic was studying a sword manual—the Myriad-Phenomena Unity Sword art Evan had given him when leaving Heavenly Sword Mountain. The sword art had six forms in total.
Dominic’s right arm had originally been severed by Evan, so his strength should’ve taken a huge hit. But after training in the Myriad-Phenomena Unity Sword, not only did he recover, he even advanced to the peak of second-grade Vajra—just one step away from first-grade.
The sound of the door startled Dominic. He turned his head, saw Evan walk in, and quickly stood up, bowing, "Young Lord!"
"Mm."
Evan nodded slightly, glanced at the sword manual in Dominic’s hands, and asked, "How many forms of the Myriad-Phenomena Unity Sword can you do now?"
"I can barely make it through the fifth form, but every time I get halfway, I run out of steam and can't keep it going," Dominic admitted, looking embarrassed and a little ashamed.
As the Southriver Sword Sect Master, Dominic was always known for his swordsmanship. Yet now, Evan had casually left him this Myriad-Phenomena Unity Sword art, and Dominic still couldn’t figure it out—it made him uneasy.
"The fifth form, huh?" Evan glanced at him. "With your strength, I figured you’d barely manage the fourth form. Didn’t expect you to even touch the fifth—that’s impressive."
Dominic’s face lit up at Evan’s small compliment, unable to hide his excitement. "It’s all thanks to the sword art you left behind, Young Lord. Just a few glances at it were enough to completely change how I see swordsmanship."
Evan waved him off. "No need for flattery. Did you bring what I asked for?"
"I brought it."
Dominic’s heart tightened. He quickly turned around and grabbed a wooden box wrapped in ice from the side.
He set the box on the table, watching Evan nervously.
Evan traced his finger lightly over the box. The ice surrounding it evaporated into mist right before their eyes, drifting up into the air.
"Last time, I cut off your hand and spared your life so you’d serve me and guard the stone statue."
Evan’s tone was indifferent.
Dominic stood silently to the side, not daring to speak.
"You’ve served your punishment by now."
"Today, I’ll restore your arm as a reward. But if you ever have even a hint of disloyalty again, next time I’ll take your life."
Evan’s expression was calm, his words clear and deliberate.
The moment Evan finished, Dominic was overjoyed. He dropped to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly, shouting, "I’ll never forget your kindness, Young Lord! For the rest of my life, the Southriver Sword Sect will follow wherever you lead!"
As soon as Dominic finished his vow—
The wooden box beneath Evan’s fingertip exploded into splinters, revealing the severed forearm inside.
Even though it had been preserved in ice, after a few months, the severed arm still showed some changes.
Once the arm was exposed, Evan grabbed Dominic’s healed stump and, in the next moment, released a surge of blazing fire from his palm, burning the wound open again.
The intense pain made Dominic’s face go ghostly pale, but he gritted his teeth and didn’t make a sound.
Once the fresh flesh was fully burned open, Evan picked up the severed forearm and, channeling spiritual qi, slowly fused it back onto Dominic’s right arm.
Half an hour later—
Evan withdrew his hand; Dominic was drenched in cold sweat.
He glanced at his right arm—it was completely restored. He tried moving it and felt perfectly comfortable.
"I’ll have Warren Wu prepare some medicinal herbs for you. Use them as poultices, and in half a month, your arm will be as good as new."
"Get some rest."
Evan swept out of the room, leaving Dominic kneeling once more with his head bowed low.
"Respectfully sending off the Young Lord!"