Iron Brush Judge (Purple): An underworld judge who decides life and death, commands ghosts, wields the Book of Life and Death, and is the nemesis of all yin souls and ghostly creatures. Seven Orifices Exquisite (Purple): With seven openings in the heart and astonishing comprehension, any cultivation method or skill in your hands allows you to draw inferences from one instance.
Two purple stars replaced the red star, hanging high within the Fate Map.
The two Fate Attributes, Iron Brush Judge and Seven Orifices Exquisite, could be considered upgraded versions of Soul Reaper Envoy and Flash of Inspiration.
Like the Soul Reaper Envoy, the Iron Brush Judge could command ghosts.
And its ability to command ghosts had become even stronger.
With Fang Heng's current strength, he could command fifteen third-realm ghosts, or five fourth-realm ghosts.
The number had increased fivefold compared to the Soul Reaper Envoy.
This far exceeded Fang Heng's expectations.
"This is probably the difference between qualitative change and quantitative change."
Fang Heng murmured inwardly.
The Soul Reaper Envoy's ability to command ghosts was a qualitative change compared to ordinary cultivators.
The Iron Brush Judge merely allowed him to command more ghosts, which could only be considered a quantitative change.
If the Iron Brush Judge advanced into a golden Fate Attribute, the ghosts it could command might exceed a hundred.
He would truly be able to achieve a hundred ghosts traveling by night.
Beyond its improved control over ghosts, the Iron Brush Judge's greatest enhancement was an artifact-refining inheritance.
Book of Life and Death (Imitation)
Refining materials: Yellow Springs Water, Three Lives Flower, Underworld Ghost Page...
Fang Heng examined the inheritance of the Book of Life and Death (Imitation) in his mind.
He had received this inheritance together with the Iron Brush Judge Fate Attribute.
It explained in detail the refining process for the Book of Life and Death (Imitation).
Though this Book of Life and Death was merely an imitation and could not compare to the true Book of Life and Death—
Its effects were still astonishing, and its various profound methods opened Fang Heng's eyes wide.
The Book of Life and Death (Imitation) had two primary abilities.
First, it could seal yin souls and ghosts, and it could search through their past lives and memories.
This method was even more formidable than the Daoist School's soul-searching technique.
The soul-searching technique could not be used on divine aberrations.
Because during a soul search, one would be contaminated by divinity.
But the Book of Life and Death had no such concern.
Even a divine aberration could be searched without issue.
Beyond that, the Book of Life and Death possessed a great killing move.
If one wrote a yin soul or ghost's name and life history in the Book of Life and Death, one could curse it to death.
This kind of curse killing had already touched upon the level of karma, mysterious beyond all mystery.
With Fang Heng's second-realm strength, if he wrote a ghost's name and life history in the Book of Life and Death, he could curse a seventh-realm ghost to death.
Killing ghosts across realms—even across five whole realms.
It truly deserved to be called a great killing move!
Just looking at it made Fang Heng unable to resist taking a deep breath.
Of course, the conditions for curse killing were also extremely harsh.
He needed to know the ghost's name and life history.
That was not something easily accomplished.
Take Fire Barbarian, for example. During his long existence as a ghost, even Fire Barbarian himself had forgotten his former identity.
For Fang Heng to uncover it would be almost traceless and without a clue.
Only yin souls and ghosts that had died recently were relatively easy to investigate.
Or ghosts that had made a name for themselves and were known to the world could also be investigated.
This purple Fate Attribute, Iron Brush Judge, had brought an enormous improvement.
It made Fang Heng look forward to seeing what abilities its corresponding golden Fate Attribute would possess if the Iron Brush Judge continued to advance.
Beyond Iron Brush Judge, the Fate Attribute Seven Orifices Exquisite was also exceptional.
Improving comprehension was even more difficult than improving spiritual roots or physique.
Fang Heng only felt that his thoughts had become incomparably clear.
All kinds of inspiration poured into his mind like spring water.
It was as though everything in the world had become simple and clear.
It was far stronger than Flash of Inspiration, which worked only sometimes and failed at others.
Even his alchemy had improved by quite a bit.
He could hardly wait to rush to the alchemy room and put it into practice.
"What powerful comprehension!"
Fang Heng could not help but sigh. Joy surged in his dark eyes.
These two purple Fate Attributes had helped him tremendously.
Besides these two Fate Attributes, Fang Heng also wanted to improve Precognition of Danger.
Unfortunately...
The Fate Attribute Precognition of Danger could only advance directly into a golden Fate Attribute; it had no purple Fate Attribute.
This left Fang Heng somewhat regretful.
After collecting his thoughts, Fang Heng remembered that Rabbit Face had also given him a jade slip.
This jade slip contained Rabbit Face's master's insights from years of studying the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
Fang Heng took out the jade slip and sent his divine sense into it.
An enormous amount of information flooded into his mind.
Before Fang Heng could finish reading the jade slip's contents, a cry burst from his mouth.
"A spirit treasure!"
"This is actually a Destiny Spirit Treasure."
Fang Heng's expression changed twice in an instant, wild joy gathering in his eyes.
It seemed ready to pour out like the surging waters of a mighty river.
According to Rabbit Face's master's research—
The Heaven and Earth Chessboard and the Chess Pieces of All Beings together formed a spirit treasure.
A spirit treasure's spirituality was so powerful that it was no different from an ordinary human.
Powerful spirit treasures could even transform into human form.
Even if one stood before you, you might not recognize it.
However, during the war to destroy Yu, this spirit treasure had suffered severe damage, and its spirituality had been greatly diminished.
Eighty or ninety percent of its original spirituality had been cut away.
The remaining spirituality had also fallen into slumber, hidden from outsiders.
That was why other cultivators had failed to discover the Heaven and Earth Chessboard and the Chess Pieces of All Beings.
Moreover, according to Rabbit Face's master's research, the artifact spirit was sleeping within the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
An artifact spirit falling asleep had both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage was that the difficulty of refining it was greatly reduced.
The disadvantage was that its power would be greatly reduced, and replenishing its spirituality would be a grinding, time-consuming task.
With apprehension and excitement, Fang Heng finished reading the jade slip.
Although Rabbit Face's master had not refined the Heaven and Earth Chessboard—
He had made a guess about the conditions required for refining it.
The key lay in destiny!
To be precise, the destiny of Great Yu.
Only someone carrying Great Yu's destiny could refine this Destiny Spirit Treasure.
In a sense, this Destiny Spirit Treasure had been prepared for the remnants of Great Yu.
Fang Heng fell into thought. Then, in a flash of inspiration, an idea popped into his mind.
Wasn't the destiny he had absorbed from the Heaven and Earth Chessboard and the Chess Pieces of All Beings also Great Yu's destiny?
If he could...
The more Fang Heng thought about it, the more excited he became. He felt as if he had exploited a bug.
Great Yu's destiny could originally only be possessed by Great Yu's remnants.
But because of the Fate Map, he had absorbed Great Yu's destiny.
In a sense, he too could be considered to have inherited Great Yu's destiny.
After considering it, Fang Heng decided to give it a try.
He sat cross-legged and placed the Heaven and Earth Chessboard before him, beginning his attempt to refine it.
The Great Yu destiny within his body poured into the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
As destiny flowed into it, the chessboard began to emit a faint glow.
An ancient and mysterious aura spread outward.
Fang Heng could feel a wondrous connection forming between himself and the chessboard.
"It worked!"
Joy rose in Fang Heng's heart, and he hurriedly increased the infusion of his mana.
The chessboard's radiance grew brighter and brighter, finally transforming into a pillar of light that shot into the sky.
It illuminated the entire cultivation chamber as brightly as blazing lamps, like the rising sun in the heavens.
Had an array not concealed it, everyone in Yujing City would likely have seen this astonishing commotion clearly.
No one knew how long passed before the chessboard's light gradually faded.
Fang Heng slowly opened his eyes, delight gleaming within them.
He could feel that he had completely taken control of the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
It was as though it had become a part of his body, usable however he wished.
Even in the depths of the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, he could sense a faint trace of weak spirituality.
This must have been the Heaven and Earth Chessboard's artifact spirit.
Unfortunately, the Chess Pieces of All Beings were incomplete. The chessboard and pieces could not become one, and their full power could not be unleashed.
Furthermore, the artifact spirit's slumber also affected the Heaven and Earth Chessboard's power.
But...
Even a battle-damaged version of a spirit treasure was still a spirit treasure.
Its immense power needed no further explanation.
After refining the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, Fang Heng also learned its most basic use.
Surveying the earth veins!
Rivers and mountains were all under his control.
It was like playing a game with a vision cheat enabled.
For an emperor, it meant knowing all matters under heaven without leaving the palace gates, never again needing to fear treacherous ministers blocking his sight and hearing.
With a thought, Fang Heng released the power of the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
He wanted to test the effect of surveying the earth veins.
But the next second, the Fate Attribute Precognition of Danger took effect.
A tremendous crisis erupted within his spiritual sense.
Every hair on his body stood on end in that instant.
It was as though he had been targeted by some prehistoric beast.
"Looks like it won't work in Yujing City."
"Yujing City is beneath Father Emperor's very eyes."
"If I use the Heaven and Earth Chessboard to survey the earth veins, I'll be digging earth atop the Grand Tutor's head."
After thinking it over, Fang Heng left seclusion and headed to Dingling County in the Daishan Secret Realm.
Yujing City lay under Emperor Yuanchu's watchful eye, but the Daishan Secret Realm was far beyond the emperor's reach.
Upon arriving at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fang Heng secretly activated the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
At once, a clear map of the earth veins appeared in his mind.
The earth-vein map covered all of Dingling County, even including certain surrounding regions.
The feeling was like having God's-eye view.
It was as though the vastness of heaven and earth lay within his grasp.
The wonderful feeling nearly caused Fang Heng to lose himself in it.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, his gaze stopped on an area in northern Dingling County.
Fang Heng remembered that there should have been an Underworld Cold Iron Mine there.
The spiritual energy that should have been abundant there was instead abnormally thin.
Not only that, he could see what seemed to be Killing Intent mixed into the earth veins.
On the earth-vein map, the area where the Underworld Cold Iron Mine was located looked as though it had been blackened.
"This is... mine vein contamination!"
"It seems to have been caused by Killing Intent!"
Fang Heng's expression changed, and an ominous premonition rose in his heart.
The Underworld Cold Iron Mine was not far from the Imperial Estate.
If left unchecked, the Killing Intent contamination would likely spread to the Imperial Estate before long.
When that happened, the Sacred Emperor Rice in the Imperial Estate would suffer.
"Second Senior Sister, Lord Jian, come with me to the Underworld Cold Iron Mine."
Fang Heng did not delay or act arrogantly. He took the people from the Ministry of Agriculture and headed for the Underworld Cold Iron Mine.
As for the officials of Dingling County,
Fang Heng did not notify a single one of them.
He did not dare to be certain that the officials of Dingling County had nothing to do with the baleful contamination.
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