The instant the black cat's phantom plunged into his brow, a strange sensation arose in Xu Yuan's heart.
It seemed he had... gained another body?
That did not seem entirely accurate...
More precisely, he had gained a subordinate who obeyed his every command, and whenever he wanted, he could sense everything that subordinate sensed.
Xu Yuan was filled with wonder, but he did not investigate immediately.
The enormous commotion he had caused had already woken Zhang Yaying and Xu Kexin.
Mother and daughter rushed out of the bedroom, badly shaken, and it took Xu Yuan over ten minutes to calm them down.
Only after the two returned to the bedroom did Xu Yuan go back to his own room to investigate that mysterious sensation.
"Come here!"
With a slight shift of his thoughts, Xu Yuan issued a command to the subordinate within his perception.
A dozen or so seconds later, an agile cat with jet-black fur appeared on the windowsill, casting an obedient look at Xu Yuan through the glass.
At the same time, a clear message entered Xu Yuan's mind.
"Little Blackie greets his master!"
"Holy shit, Little Blackie?!!"
Xu Yuan instantly lost his composure.
He knew this cat. Or rather, there was not a single person in the entire residential complex who did not know this black cat.
Thanks to him, not a single household in the complex had suffered a rat problem in three years.
And the security guard, Old Master Lu, was particularly fond of Little Blackie and often bought spirit meat for him.
Spirit meat was Weird Beast meat.
But not just any piece of Weird Beast meat qualified as spirit meat. Generally, a whole Weird Beast only had one or two jin of it.
It was said to be exceptionally delicious and could also strengthen the body.
Yet despite how much Old Master Lu doted on Little Blackie, Little Blackie barely paid him any attention, strutting around the complex all day as though he owned the place.
"So if Elder Lu finds out I've bound Little Blackie's soul, he'll probably charge into our home and hack me up, right?"
Xu Yuan felt his scalp prickle.
No, that was not the point right now!
The point was that such an awesome talisman had only bound an ordinary cat!
If it had bound a red-pupil Weird Beast, he could have challenged a Divine Realm expert!
But thinking back on what had just happened, Xu Yuan could only feel helpless.
If he had not knocked the Spirit-Binding Soul-Control Talisman away, it might very well have bound his mother's soul.
And if Little Blackie had not happened to run into the flying talisman, that thing might even have flown back.
Or, even if it had not flown back, it would have bound someone else's soul.
Looked at that way, binding Little Blackie actually seemed like a pretty good outcome.
Besides, Little Blackie seemed to have developed spiritual intelligence after being bound. That was not bad either!
A cat with spiritual intelligence was bound to have plenty of uses!
"Come in."
Xu Yuan opened the window, and Little Blackie obediently jumped onto his desk and licked his paw, completely devoid of his usual swagger.
"Try sharing your five senses with me." Xu Yuan began testing that mysterious sensation.
"Huh? I don't understand, Master." Little Blackie shook his head.
Yet in the next instant, Xu Yuan felt himself gain two fields of vision.
One showed the desk in front of him and Little Blackie on top of it; the other showed himself and the room.
"So if I want to share Little Blackie's five senses, all it takes is a thought. I don't need his consent at all!"
Understanding dawned on Xu Yuan.
This Spirit-Binding Soul-Control Talisman really was overbearing!
But why did he suddenly feel a little like licking his hand?
Xu Yuan lowered the hand he had raised to his mouth and disconnected from Little Blackie's five senses.
Throughout the entire process, Little Blackie showed no reaction at all. Clearly, he had no idea what had just happened.
"Blackie, can you communicate with other cats?"
Xu Yuan thought he probably could. Although Little Blackie had gained spiritual intelligence, he should not have lost the ability to communicate with his own kind.
He just did not know whether the other cats, which lacked spiritual intelligence, could provide Little Blackie with any useful information.
"Why aren't you calling me by my full name, Master?" Little Blackie tilted his head in confusion.
"Because your full name always reminds me of someone I once knew."
Xu Yuan said, "Don't change the subject. Can you communicate with other cats or not?"
"Yes, and I have lots of underlings outside too. Do you have any orders, Master?"
"Huh? You even have underlings?" Xu Yuan was a little surprised.
"Of course! Every cat around here that dares roam outside is my underling. Cats from other areas all have to come pay their respects to me!" Little Blackie raised his head proudly.
"You even know about paying respects to the local boss. All right, you're a proper gangster!"
Xu Yuan gave him a thumbs-up, then said, "Pick out a few reliable underlings first. I'll have them help me keep an eye on someone!"
Who would they watch?
Lin Yuan, of course!
He wanted to see whether Lin Yuan was good or bad.
Of course, a bunch of cats spying on him might not gather much information, but trying was better than doing nothing.
"As you command!"
Little Blackie imitated a human cupping his fists, then leaped onto the windowsill and vanished into the night.
Xu Yuan wanted to see how far away he could share Little Blackie's five senses, but shortly after connecting, he saw an orange cat approach Little Blackie, rub against him vigorously, then raise its rear.
The corner of Xu Yuan's mouth twitched, and he hurriedly severed the connection.
As the morning sun rose, Xu Yuan got up early and eagerly opened his phone, wanting to see whether anyone in No. 3 Middle School's various group chats was discussing someone's death.
He hoped to learn who that scumbag who had dropped dead was.
But all the groups were quiet. No one had posted anything at all.
Xu Yuan did not feel disappointed. Someone dying was no small matter; people would discuss it sooner or later.
After getting up, washing, and eating breakfast, Xu Yuan left Zhang Yaying ten thousand yuan to replace the door and windows, then headed straight to the martial arts base.
The morning was still devoted to challenge matches, but most people had already used up their challenge opportunities for the week, so the matches were over by noon.
During lunch, Xu Yuan indirectly asked Zhang Juye about where Lin Yuan lived. As it turned out, Zhang Juye really did know, because he had also gone to Lin Yuan for tutoring.
With the address, all he needed was a photo of Lin Yuan, and Little Blackie's underlings could go watch him.
But he would have to take those cats near Lin Yuan's home first. If he left them to find it themselves, they probably would not manage.
After lunch, Xu Yuan began teaching martial techniques.
Sixty people in total had signed up with him. He arranged to coach ten each day, excluding Saturday, so everyone could receive one session within a week, differing only in who went first.
If anyone wanted private coaching, Xu Yuan would turn into the "that'll cost extra" guy. Either way, he would make money.
Once he finished coaching martial techniques, he continued cultivating according to his routine.
As vial after vial of body-tempering fluid went into his stomach, Xu Yuan could clearly feel himself getting closer and closer to Skin Grinding Third Stage.
Once he broke through to Skin Grinding Third Stage, his standard punching force would probably reach fifteen hundred jin, comparable to someone at Skin Grinding Seventh Stage practicing the Savage Bull Skin-Toughening Method!
By that reckoning, consuming so much body-tempering fluid was not really a loss. If he were practicing the Savage Bull Skin-Toughening Method, pouring in this much body-tempering fluid would only have raised him to around Skin Grinding Seventh Stage.
Besides, if he practiced the Savage Bull Skin-Toughening Method, his absorption rate would not be nearly so high. He would not even have the chance to pile on body-tempering fluid.
Not to mention that the Heaven-Shaking Art had a higher ceiling, along with an accompanying divine ability.
It really did burn through money far too fiercely, though. Thank goodness for his classmates' wholehearted support...