A Helping Hand from the Plane Will!

By the time he returned to Kong Mansion with Miss Meng, it was already afternoon.

After handing her the organized materials, Miss Meng chose to begin her usual cultivation.

The longer she stayed by Ming's side, the more she understood that her talent was nothing remarkable. If she wanted to remain by his side, she had to work hard.

Watching Meng Hongchen's spirited figure disappear around the corner of the corridor, the faint smile on Kong Ming'an's face slowly faded.

Turning around, Kong Ming'an returned to his Laboratory.

With a ding, his identity verification succeeded. The heavy Alloy Door slid open soundlessly, then sealed tightly behind him after he stepped inside.

The Laboratory was as brightly lit as ever. The air was dense and carried the metallic chill unique to such a place, instinctively putting one on alert.

Returning to his station, Kong Ming'an took a crystal box from his Soul Guide Storage Ring.

The crystal box was specially made from high-strength isolation crystal and an Isolation Soul Guide Array. It could preserve the vast majority of special materials within it, preventing their properties from losing effectiveness with the passage of time.

And inside the crystal box before Kong Ming'an lay nothing more than a carving knife.

The carving knife had an ancient design and was entirely a heart-palpitating Dark Red-green. Its blade was long and narrow, its edge glinting with a cold, ghostly sheen.

Twisted dark-gold patterns wound around its handle, faintly exuding negative auras of coldness, resentment, and Greed, as though countless departed souls were wailing and howling within it.

Without a doubt, this was the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife.

In the Original Work, Huo Yuhao was supposed to obtain this carving knife at an auction in Star Luo City several years later.

But now, it had fallen into his hands.

Not long after awakening the memories of his previous life, he had used his authority to send people searching for many of the opportunities that had appeared in the Original Work. The Spirit Devouring Carving Knife was one of them.

And hard work paid off. More than half a year ago, his men had purchased it for a mere four hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins from the descendant of a ruined noble family in the Star Luo Empire, whose household had been destroyed after suffering the backlash of the carving knife's evil intent.

For the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife, whose true nature was Life Gold, that price was practically a steal.

Kong Ming'an did not take it out immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused, gradually adjusting his mental state to its peak.

Half a year. A full half year!

From the day he obtained the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife, the work of purifying it had never ceased.

Although Electrolux was not with him, his absolute control over his own Spiritual Power allowed him to avoid being affected by the resentment and curses on the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife.

With that advantage, he used his own Spiritual Power to peel away the resentment and curses on the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife bit by bit, as though unraveling silk.

The bad news was that the process was inefficient. The good news was that it worked, and the process of stripping away the resentment and curses could also temper his Spiritual Power to a certain degree.

For that very reason, stripping the resentment and curses from the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife every day had become part of his daily Spiritual Power training.

Slowly extending both hands, Silver Brilliance Color threads of Spiritual Power emerged from his fingertips. They gradually wrapped around the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife inside the crystal box, precisely winding around the curse threads that coiled and tangled together like venomous snakes.

Without the slightest resistance, the silver threads cleanly peeled strands of curses away from the filthy evil intent clinging to the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife's main body, then skillfully shredded them with the Silver Brilliance threads.

Every stripping and shredding was accompanied by violent trembling from the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife and shrill screams beside his ears, like the cries of countless resentful souls.

But Kong Ming'an, long accustomed to it, merely silently felt his Spiritual Power becoming stronger and purer, as though hammered beneath those piercing shrieks.

Time slowly passed. This purification of the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife took longer than any before it.

Because... today was the final stage.

Kong Ming'an's fingertips remained as steady as ever. The fine Silver Brilliance threads were like surgical blades, precisely cutting away the resentful souls on the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife one stroke at a time.

"Bzzzz—!!!"

The Spirit Devouring Carving Knife erupted with unprecedented vibrations!

The final and most central mass of Dark Red curse essence on the blade, so dense it seemed impossible to dissolve, was tightly bound by dozens of Silver Brilliance threads and forcibly dragged out from the core of the blade bit by bit!

"Roar—!"

A mournful roar originating from the level of the soul exploded within Kong Ming'an's Spiritual Sea, attempting to distort and influence his mind. He ignored it completely.

Without any hesitation, the Silver Brilliance threads suddenly tightened, and pure Spiritual Flame abruptly appeared!

"Sizzle—!"

Like red-hot iron plunged into icy water, the struggling curse essence let out its final wail beneath the incineration of utterly pure spiritual will. Then it rapidly melted, vaporized, and vanished.

And as the final trace of filth dissipated, the once sinister and terrifying Spirit Devouring Carving Knife within the crystal box underwent a heaven-shaking transformation!

Its gloomy green, like grime accumulated over a thousand years, faded away to reveal the dazzling brilliance beneath.

The blade became as though carved from the finest jade, crystal-clear throughout and radiating an Emerald Green glow that refreshed the spirit.

It was an unimaginably vast and utterly pure aura of Life, flooding the entire Laboratory in almost the blink of an eye!

"Life Gold..."

Kong Ming'an stared unblinkingly at the Life Gold before him, now revealed in its true form. His eyes held several traces of relieved ease and a rare flicker of joy.

Half a year of effort had finally borne fruit!

Without question, this carving knife forged from Life Gold would become a powerful aid in his future research into Life Energy and exploration of the mysteries of "Vitality"!

Without much hesitation, Kong Ming'an reached out, preparing to personally experience the pure Life Gold.

However, just as his fingertips touched the Life Gold...

A sudden change occurred!

"Rip!"

An extremely faint crack, yet one that seemed to tear apart space itself, abruptly sounded in the air less than three feet before Kong Ming'an.

A spatial rift as thin as a strand of hair, yet so profound it seemed capable of swallowing all light, appeared before him without warning.

Immediately afterward, a tiny gray ball of light, so weak it seemed as though it could go out at any moment, drifted out of the rift like a guttering candle in the wind.

Kong Ming'an: "?!"

The ball of light flickered uncertainly, its aura as weak as dust, as though a slight breeze could scatter it.

Yet the faint spiritual ripple it emitted was ancient and pure beyond measure, carrying endless vicissitudes and wisdom. It put Kong Ming'an on guard almost instinctively!

The gray ball of light seemed to notice something as well. It slowly turned toward Kong Ming'an, or rather... the Life Gold in his hand.

The next moment, an aged yet exhausted voice sounded directly within Kong Ming'an's Spiritual Sea:

"Such pure and vast Life essence... Life Gold? Hehe... I never thought that this remnant soul of mine, on the verge of dispersing at any moment, would actually still have... a chance to survive..."

The weariness in that voice grew heavier and heavier. After a slight pause, the gray ball of light flickered and conveyed a clearer thought into Kong Ming'an's Spiritual Sea:

"Kid... would you like to make... a deal with me?"