Inventory

The cicadas chirped as the moon gradually rose in the east, its silver light casting shadows on the hills and bathing the ancient, traditional house in a layer of frost.

After finishing her soup, Junior Sister went to rest at You Su's repeated insistence. Though she was a night owl, she couldn't keep going for two days without sleep while taking care of You Su. Moreover, You Su himself couldn't bear to see her exhausted, so he sternly ordered her to sleep.

You Su had regained a good deal of his strength. Leaning against the headboard, he fumbled with the Universe Bag in his hands.

He had lied to Junior Sister, telling her it was spoils of war he'd won from defeated enemies like Wu Ping. He claimed it was a pouch made of special materials that could best preserve the spiritual energy of freshly picked spiritual mushrooms and other rare treasures, making it a very valuable item.

He told her they wouldn't be able to use it anyway, and that he'd sell it later for a large sum of money, splitting it with her fifty-fifty. The young girl wiped away a drool, patted You Su's head with relief, and even washed the pouch clean for him.

It wasn't entirely Ji Lingruo's fault for believing him so easily. After all, once a Universe Bag is bound to an owner, it can only be opened by injecting the owner's Mystic Qi. To outsiders, it just looked like a finely embroidered pouch.

And You Su was now the Universe Bag's new owner.

There were two ways to remove the restrictions on the Universe Bag. One was extremely troublesome, requiring a visit to Tian Qi Divine Mountain to have an array master perform a complex "unbinding" procedure. The other was incredibly simple: the old owner of the Universe Bag had to disappear.

Establishing a connection with a Universe Bag that had become ownerless again was also extremely easy, similar to the "imprinting" phenomenon in nature. Whoever was the first person to inject Mystic Qi into it became its new owner.

You Su channeled the recovered Mystic Qi in his body into the bag. He suddenly felt a connection to his consciousness, a feeling as if the Universe Bag wasn't an independent, small space, but rather an extension of his own sea of consciousness.

The dazzling array of items inside felt as if they were placed directly within You Su's mind; he could retrieve whatever he wanted the moment he thought of it.

You Su took stock of this hard-won windfall in his mind.

The space inside wasn't actually very large; a set of rosewood tables and chairs took up more than half of it. Below that were three different sets of teaware, along with several jars of elegantly packaged teas. It was clear that True Man Ling was quite fond of tea.

You Su hadn't expected such a repulsive Evil Cultivator to have a refined side, finding it both strange and plausible.

Searching further, he found many magical artifacts and tools whose functions he didn't know. They were all more or less tainted with evil energy, likely used by True Man Ling during his wicked deeds.

Several ancient texts caught You Su's attention, titled Ruyi Wind-Controlling Technique, Selected Five Elements Sorcery, and Spiritual Treasure Knowledge. Faint, dried bloodstains could still be seen on their aged pages, clearly indicating they were spoils True Man Ling had plundered from others.

Strangely, although he had never learned these characters before, he could naturally understand their meaning.

You Su briefly flipped through them. Apart from the Ruyi Wind-Controlling Technique, which was somewhat interesting, the other two seemed to be basic texts from the Spiritual Treasure Sect. No wonder True Man Ling had lied about being from that sect.

Though these two books were general in content, they contained profound mysteries. For You Su at this moment, they were invaluable. He had been a Sword Cultivator since childhood, and his Master had only taught him swordsmanship. Besides wielding a sword, he knew almost nothing about other uses of Mystic Qi. These two books were an excellent way for him to understand Mystic Qi.

Next, You Su found several books about Evil Cultivators. From the names of these cultivation techniques, he learned that True Man Ling's original sect was the Evil Banishing Sect. He silently committed this to memory.

However, he wasn't interested in the cultivation methods of Evil Cultivators. Only the Tome of Evil Spirits caught his attention. He flipped through it for a long time but couldn't find any Evil Spirits similar to Junior Sister or Mistress.

Besides that, there were only miscellaneous items of little value. Surprisingly, he also found a large number of Spirit Stones. These were the currency used in the cultivation world. Besides their high trading value, they could also be used to rapidly restore Mystic Qi.

With this unexpected windfall, You Su could truly be considered wealthy.

He took out the Evil Warding Token, which had regained its vibrant green color, and idly flipped it between his fingers. While thanking True Man Ling, he began to carefully reflect on the changes that had occurred around him and within him these past few days.

He had a preliminary understanding of the whole affair: True Man Ling, for some unknown reason, had targeted the Mandarin Sword Sect. His original plan was likely to use an Evil Spirit to invade his body, causing him to fall into chaos and cooperate with him in killing himself, Junior Sister, and Mistress. This plan had not only been seen through by him but was also thwarted from the very beginning by Mistress's sword.

Indeed, Mistress's sword wasn't meant to kill me, but to sever the Dream Centipede on my neck. She saved me, but I misunderstood her.

The Evil Spirit that corrupted Junior Sister and Mistress must have been extremely powerful, causing him to see them in his dreams, and then, as True Man Ling had predicted, to see a Lantern Ghost, leading True Man Ling to mistakenly believe his plan was proceeding smoothly.

There were also many incomprehensible aspects to the battle with True Man Ling later.

For example, why did I suddenly see True Man Ling transform into a monster? If it was because my cultivation was sufficient, I should have been able to see him from the start. And his was clearly an Evil Spirit of flesh and blood. As True Man Ling said, authority across different categories isn't universal, so what was the reason I could suddenly see him?

You Su made a reasonable guess: the Evil Spirits on Junior Sister and Mistress weren't one, but two.

The one attached to Junior Sister was an Evil Spirit of flesh and blood, while the one within Mistress was an Evil Spirit of the Dream Master category. Furthermore, their authority was so high that True Man Ling realized it and completely abandoned his resistance.

So, after eating the rotten flesh that Junior Sister had cut off, I also fell into evil, gaining a surge of flesh and blood power, and even managing to briefly restore my vision, ultimately turning the tide.

From this perspective, despite falling into evil, both Junior Sister and Mistress saved me once.

Thinking of this, You Su was filled with mixed emotions.

He seemed to foresee how arduous the road ahead would be. He would have to hide the fact that the three of them were infected by evil from everyone, while also searching for a way to remove the evil spirits from them.

But he wouldn't regret his choice.

"It doesn't matter anymore. No matter if it's True Man Ling, Lord, Divine Revelation Chuyun, or any of that nonsense, none of them can stop me."

You Su tightened his grip on the Evil Warding Token, roaring inwardly with heavy determination, like a wounded lion facing a pack of hyenas, refusing to yield.

Suddenly, he sensed an anomaly from the Evil Warding Token; it actually trembled slightly. You Su didn't understand why until he injected Mystic Qi into it, and it returned to its calm state. However, several lines of text appeared in his mind:

The Southern Yang Continent's Tian Qi Divine Mountain is holding a grand sacrifice to the Immortal Ancestors. However, a Dream-Eating Ghost has stolen treasures from the altar and fled, likely reaching the Central Yuan Continent. Those on Mount Henggao holding an Evil Warding Token, if you have any clues, report them promptly! Remember! Those below the Feather Transformation Realm must not act rashly! -- Tian Qi Divine Mountain Evil Warding Department.

As soon as You Su finished reading, before he could even think, his eyelids felt heavier than a thousand pounds, and he fell unconscious.