"As for that guy's power, it's a type of confusion ability. It's very special, but also very dangerous. The reason he was able to successfully control half of your body before was because of this power. Although he's locked up now, until we find a solution, don't let him out."
I nodded, the sensation of the Thought Ghost locked deep within my instinct domain still clear to me.
Don’t forget the unique traits of your Ghost Souls. In battle, use their strengths well. It won’t be easy, but you have to adapt—let your body and mind truly ingrain these lessons. Only then can your power grow.
I acknowledged him with a smile and stood up. Heavenly Soul stowed away the luminous white tree.
"That's enough for today. It's morning outside already. We'll continue tomorrow. Don't you have to open your shop?"
At that moment, Sylvia Blue flew over to us with a sleepy look, drool still hanging from her mouth. I helplessly wiped it away for her; her hair was a mess too.
"Breakfast! I want breakfast! Soy milk and fried dough sticks!"
"Alright, alright, I know."
Back at the shop, just past six, I checked the soybeans I’d left to soak overnight. Sylvia watched with bright anticipation as I brought out the juicer, letting the beans soak a little longer.
"Wait a bit. We'll eat after I buy some food."
My mind felt overloaded from everything I'd absorbed overnight—I needed time to process it all. Sylvia didn't join us; she was determined to try making soy milk on her own. Only Heavenly Soul and I went out to buy food.
"Qingyuan, tonight when you fight with me, just use the power of one Ghost Soul. Fight me with that, then add them one by one."
I gave a grateful smile and thanked him. Heavenly Soul really gets me—he knows I can't handle complicated things all at once, so he breaks the process down into manageable steps.
When I returned to the shop, sure enough, a large bowl of thick, glue-like soy milk sat on the counter. Sylvia was sipping at it, unfazed.
"It tastes kind of weird."
"You didn’t add enough water and the temperature was too low. Let me make it again."
I put down the food and Heavenly Soul helped me get started.
All day, my thoughts were consumed by the Ghost Souls. Around noon, I threw together a simple meal for Sylvia, and she devoured it with pure delight.
By evening, the shop was packed. I was still deciding which Ghost Soul to use against Heavenly Soul. In the end, I chose Sha Ghost.
At night, I moved the grill into the Ghost Domain. Sylvia happily grabbed her favorite food, planning to eat and watch.
Standing in the open clearing, I felt a strange discomfort. Sha Ghost had merged with me, and the Deathbane Aura coating my skin thickened, turning viscous like mud. I shaped two Deathbane swords and watched Heavenly Soul in silence.
"Impressive. Such concentrated Deathbane Aura can break through most restraints, but it's still not enough to wound me."
I hummed and flew straight at Heavenly Soul, swinging my twin swords at him. With two crisp clangs, he skillfully deflected my Sha energy swords and stabbed back.
I dodged in a hurry, but a surge of Dao power sealed my movement instantly. I could only cross my swords to block Heavenly Soul’s blade. He smiled and pressed harder, sending me flying. When I landed, he was already in front of me, slashing down.
I suddenly had an idea, pouring Sha energy into my swords. They buzzed and quickly exceeded their limit, exploding with a bang. The wild Sha energy blasted Heavenly Soul’s sword away and engulfed him.
I quickly formed two new Sha energy swords, found Heavenly Soul’s position, and charged in swinging.
"Dao power will only get stronger, Qingyuan, especially when provoked."
With a flash, my eyes widened—a streak of white light cut my swords in half. Heavenly Soul’s blade stopped right in front of my eyes. I swallowed hard. I lost instantly.
With a whoosh, Sha Ghost left my body, letting out a helpless sigh.
"You still can’t synchronize with my power, Qingyuan. It’s difficult, but coordination is necessary."
I considered it quietly. When I unleash Deathbane Aura, I blend my own with what Sha Ghost provides, making it denser. Yet, there's a subtle mismatch—my Deathbane Aura is thinner than Sha Ghost's, so the mixture turns to sludge: dense in appearance, but lacking true solidity. The only advantage is that I can wield Deathbane Aura far faster.
"Keep fighting me with Sha Ghost until you achieve complete resonance."
I hummed and took a break, thinking about how I could fully synchronize with Sha Ghost.
"There’s another problem, Qingyuan."
"Go ahead."
I watched Heavenly Soul. After taking a sip of tea, he spoke.
"You can use Sha energy to form weapons, and it has substance. But have you noticed a problem?"
I hummed.
"Sha energy may have substance, but it can’t carry all my power."
"That’s why you need Ghost Weapons."
I looked at Heavenly Soul in surprise.
"Like the weapon Beauty?"
Heavenly Soul nodded.
"Beauty is a remarkable Wraith Armament, but it doesn't suit you. Yin Chou could hold his own against Xu Fu partly because he reclaimed some Blood Deathbane power, but mostly thanks to Beauty. That kind of delicate weapon isn't for you, Qingyuan. You need a Wraith Armament that can withstand the immense force within you. The darkness offers little in the way of materials, but the void does."
My eyes widened in astonishment as Heavenly Soul smiled and stretched out a hand. A huge, pitch-black stone, the size of a chair, appeared. I immediately felt something was wrong and my instincts reacted.
"An Instinct Stone?"
I swallowed. Heavenly Soul hummed in response.
"This stone is dense beyond belief and can manifest primal instinct. If you forge a Wraith Armament from it, your power will increase dramatically."
I hummed.
"Do you know how?"
Heavenly Soul put away the huge Instinct Stone and shook his head.
"I can’t make weapons myself. You need to find a ghost craftsman, like that Ou Yezi type you know."
I hummed.
For now, only the Dark Banquet can forge you a sword in this darkness. Practice with a physical blade, but don’t touch the Instinct Stone—it’ll harm you. Use a substitute for now.
We left the Ghost Domain. I contacted three Dark Banquet members, and the artisan said she’d come by soon.
"I know part of the method for making Ghost Weapons."
"So how do you do it?"
Heavenly Soul nodded. After we sat down, Sylvia was already asleep. My mind was full of the shadow of that greatsword revenant—the future Ghost Weapon of Zhang Qingyuan, able to change form, like a sword-gun hybrid.
Thinking about it, it was probably made by Lu Ban.
First, you must take a piece of your own Ghost Soul and merge it with metal. That’s how you create a true Wraith Armament—because it’s alive, born from you. When forging, you can fuse in fragments of all your Ghost Souls, so the weapon can bear their power.
After an hour, I sensed the artisan had arrived and quickly opened the shop.
"Zhang Qingyuan, if you want a weapon, what exactly do you want?"
I hummed, then took out pen and paper and sketched a broad-backed sword. The artisan looked at me in confusion, then Heavenly Soul explained what the weapon needed to do. The artisan pondered for a while before replying.
"It’s difficult, but not impossible. With our current technology, it’s doable, but it won’t fully harness your power. For materials, we’ll use metal condensed from dark power, and artificial souls as substitutes—they won’t be very strong, though."
"That’s fine."
Heavenly Soul smiled. I nodded. After the artisan left, we kept drinking. It was already past four—two hours till sunrise, and soon we’d go buy food.
"By the way, won’t Xiao Hei be upset if you help me like this?"
Heavenly Soul smiled and shook his head helplessly.
"Don’t worry. After watching you two for so long, I understand everything. When I go back, I’ll help him with his power too. That way, it’s fair and he won’t complain, right?"
While waiting for the artisan to make the sword, we didn’t fight. A week passed, and it still wasn’t done—there was a problem. Sleeper went to help.
"With all this help, I really feel flattered."
I said, and Heavenly Soul shook his head.
"It’s not them helping you, Qingyuan. You need to understand something—it’s the darkness helping you. It expects much more from you than from the others, so that’s why they’re helping you."