The substitute spirit resembled a scarecrow from rural fields that frightened away birds and beasts. However, after being modified through artifact techniques, it did more than just scare animals. Cultivators could practice their spiritual techniques on these substitute spirits to improve their proficiency.

Almost every martial academy and sect had substitute spirits specifically for disciples to practice their spiritual techniques.

For someone like Xiang An’ge, who specialized in artifact techniques, the modifications made to substitute spirits served many more purposes. He could completely allow them to act as citizens of the Formless Nation, letting them grow freely.

Each substitute spirit was made of wood with paper expressions pasted on their heads to denote identity. Xiang An’ge had even categorized the substitute spirits in the city as good or bad.

Some substitute spirits looked fierce and menacing, yet instantly changed their expressions when Xiang An’ge walked by, running away in fear and timidity.

This wasn’t Ming Li’s first visit to the Formless Nation, so she was used to these oddities. After all, it wasn’t news to her that Xiang An’ge was an eccentric who focused solely on researching artifact techniques.

Xiang An’ge had drawn a clear boundary between himself and the world. The Formless Nation was his world, while the Tonggu Continent was the outside world. No matter how the situation changed outside, it had nothing to do with him.

He only cared about changes within his Formless Nation.

“Did you gain anything from your battle in the Bei Jing Gui Yuan?” Xiang An’ge turned to look at Ming Li, but before she could answer, his expression suddenly changed to realization. “I suppose your gain was becoming shorter.”

Ming Li ignored his cold joke. “The people of the Wandering Ghost Tribe are very strong.”

Xiang An’ge asked curiously, “How strong?”

Ming Li replied, “Comparable to a Pilgrim.”

Xiang An’ge said, “Is that comparison to you, or other Pilgrims?”

They exchanged a glance, and Ming Li said, “Compared to me.”

Xiang An’ge nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense, otherwise, you wouldn’t have died there.”

Ming Li responded, “You seem to be asking pointless questions.”

Xiang An’ge blinked, his gaze moving past her to land on Qing Ying. “How did such a beautiful young lady end up in this condition?”

Ming Li said, “It was Cui Yaocen’s brother who did this to her.”

Xiang An’ge realized, “No wonder you want to kill Cui Yaocen’s brother too.”

Ming Li glanced at Qing Ying beside her and asked, “How confident are you in performing a secondary blood nourishment transfer technique?”

Xiang An’ge answered quite promptly, “Fifty percent.”

After hearing this, Ming Li began to hesitate, wondering if she should wait until she had cultivated back to the Pilgrim realm before proceeding. But then Xiang An’ge added, “But her Spiritual Court meridian is very strong. If her survival instinct is also strong, then the success rate would be eighty percent.”

With that, she felt reassured again.

Xiang An’ge ruled over his domain like a king. His nation was not small in scale. The imperial palace was magnificent with gold and jade, and the city walls towered high, giving off an aura of majesty and severity. The landscape of flowers and trees was unparalleled, with substitute spirits visible everywhere, day and night, nurturing the growth of these plants.

In the Formless Nation, even a single flower might live more happily than people outside.

Both Xiang An’ge and Ming Li were people of action. Upon returning to the Formless Palace, they immediately began examining Qing Ying’s condition. The table was laden with various medicines and tools they would need to use.

Ming Li sat nearby watching, and the two chatted occasionally. “Have you seen my junior brother in these past few years?”

“Which junior brother of yours?”

Ming Li replied, “Zhou Zixi, the one who’s very skilled with the Eight Meridian Formation.”

“Haven’t seen him,” Xiang An’ge shook his head. “What about him?”

So he wasn’t involved.

Ming Li didn’t know whether to be happy or disappointed. She probed further, “How has the relationship between Cui Yaocen and Ye Yuanqing been these past few years?”

Xiang An’ge replied, “Don’t know.”

“What has the Scripture Saint been busy with?”

“No idea.”

“Where has Yuan Lu been?”

“Don’t pay attention to that.”

Ming Li mimicked his expression of sudden realization and said, “I understand now. You don’t know anything.”

Xiang An’ge turned to her in surprise, “You’re not just finding out that I don’t know anything.”

Ming Li sighed, “You should go out more. Don’t tell me you haven’t even attended the Pilgrim conferences?”

“I haven’t gone since you died. Since no one can discuss artifact techniques with me, what would I go for?” Xiang An’ge said disdainfully. “Just sitting there listening to them talk about this and that, what a waste of time.”

Ming Li nodded.

Perhaps the reason they could be friends was that they were both equally detached in a certain sense.

Detached from the future direction of this continent.

What initially prompted Xiang An’ge to approach Ming Li was that during her first attendance at the conference of Pilgrims, after listening to Scripture Saint’s lengthy discourse, Ming Li had seemingly earnestly asked, “Do Pilgrims have obligatory duties to fulfill?”

What duties.

Wasn’t everything about reaching the pinnacle of strength?

Ming Li knew she wouldn’t get much information from Xiang An’ge, so she focused on Qing Ying’s recovery. Xiang An’ge, however, had quite a few questions.

“What does it feel like to die once?”

“It doesn’t feel like anything,” Ming Li said. “When you’re dead, you don’t feel anything.”

Xiang An’ge asked, “Do you have any thoughts on how you came back to life?”

“Perhaps,” Ming Li said. “It’s still just speculation.”

“And what’s the situation with your star meridians?” Xiang An’ge turned his head, his gaze lingering on her. “The Eight Meridians all seem to be there, but something feels strange.”

Ming Li looked down at her hand, spreading her fingers and then closing them. “It is strange indeed. My cultivation speed is faster than before.”

“You didn’t need to cultivate before,” Xiang An’ge said irritably. “Your awakening has already brought you to the seventh meridian full realm. You only cultivated the Heart Meridian. How can you compare speed?”

Ming Li said, “I think it took me about seven days to cultivate the Qi Circulation Meridian to its full realm, and after a month, the Yin Meridian reached its full realm. The remaining six meridians are all maintained at the fourth or fifth realm.”

While repairing the cracks on Qing Ying’s face, Xiang An’ge spoke rapidly, “Each realm has seventy-nine heavens. The fastest I’ve seen is one realm per month. You directly reached full realm in seven days, then another full realm a month later. Compared to others, you’re fast, but compared to yourself, you’re slow.”

At Ming Li’s current cultivation speed, she might break through and become a Pilgrim again within this year.

Once Xiang An’ge started working, he became completely focused. Later, his attention was entirely on Qing Ying, ignoring Ming Li.

Ming Li watched until deep into the night. Only after ensuring there would be no problems did she quietly leave and go outside. Lanterns were lit outside the palace, with substitute spirits coming and going silently. One of them stopped in front of her and presented a card that read: Dine?

She pointed to the “no” on the card, and the substitute spirit ignored her, going off to water and weed the flowers in the imperial garden.

Ming Li walked toward the side palace where she was staying. Inside, not only were substitute spirits tending to flowers and trees, but a small, snow-white dog was eating. She ignored the substitute spirits and walked up to the dog, crouching down nearby to patiently watch it eat.

She very much enjoyed watching cats and dogs eat. When she had nothing to do, she could watch for an entire day.

In the past, her junior brother would accompany her to watch as well.

Another leisurely and satisfying day passed slowly.

Zhou Zixi appeared in the hall. He intended to call out to his senior sister, but saw her with a serene expression, her eyes smiling as she watched the small dog eat.

In his memory, there were many such scenes.

He could watch for an entire day.

Zhou Zixi gazed at Ming Li, suddenly wondering what feelings he had when looking at Ming Li like this in the past—what was it like? When Ming Li smiled, he would involuntarily smile along, and when she turned to look at him, it seemed his heart would suddenly stop beating.

So the “senior sister” that had reached his lips paused. Zhou Zixi didn’t call out to her, but watched quietly as he had done before.

Those fragmented and miscellaneous memories of ordinary yet fulfilling daily life, when recalled now, were all heart-stirring.

When the little dog finally finished eating and went off to chase the busy substitute spirits, Ming Li, who had been following it with her gaze, turned around and only then discovered her junior brother standing behind her.

“When did you arrive?” Ming Li asked happily.

Zhou Zixi walked forward, looking down at her thoughtfully. After a long while, he bent down to get closer, to see her more clearly.

Ming Li didn’t move and asked, “What is it?”

Zhou Zixi gently stroked Ming Li’s face and said with unprecedented calmness, “Senior sister, it seems I did like you a lot before.”

Ming Li nodded.

Zhou Zixi smiled, and Ming Li smiled along with him.

Smiling because her junior brother had gained some insight.

Thanks to his senior sister, Zhou Zixi was able to enter the Formless Nation for a look. He was quite satisfied with the environment filled with substitute spirits. He wanted to explore further, but Ming Li tugged at his sleeve and said, “Let’s make something to eat. The ingredients in Formless Nation must be more plentiful than those on my ship.”

Zhou Zixi responded coolly, “I’m not your junior brother, am I your royal chef?”

Ming Li nodded while laughing.

The substitute spirits seemed to have heard the keyword and floated over to Ming Li again, presenting a card asking if she wanted to dine. Ming Li again selected “no.”

Zhou Zixi asked, “Why not let it cook?”

Ming Li answered without thinking, “Isn’t it you who always nags when I’m out not to eat food from strangers?”

Zhou Zixi thought to himself about what kind of nonsense he had been saying before. He headed toward the kitchen of the side palace, with Ming Li following behind him, chattering away. After all, this place was full of substitute spirits, so no matter how strangely she behaved, nobody would care.

*

Qing Ying’s condition was somewhat complex, involving both puppet techniques and the blood nourishment technique to transfer star meridian power. Xiang An’ge thought about which one to start with for an entire night, and finally decided to first improve her puppet state and strengthen her Spiritual Court meridian before proceeding with the blood nourishment technique.

Ming Li asked how long it would take, and Xiang An’ge said, “Seven days from now. At that time, we’ll perform the blood nourishment technique while altering the puppet state.”

“Seven days later,” Ming Li looked toward Qing Ying. “Can she understand complex words and give responses by then?”

Xiang An’ge asked, “What kind of response do you want from her?”

Ming Li said, “I want to ask her about her senior brother’s whereabouts.”

“Depending on how you phrase your questions, she should be able to respond by then,” Xiang An’ge said, then glanced at her. “Why are you always looking for junior brothers and senior brothers? Even this junior sister was just found.”

Ming Li sighed, “When you die for five years and come back, you’ll also search the world for your substitute spirits.”

“I won’t,” Xiang An’ge flatly refused. “If I die, these substitute spirits will cease to exist too. I won’t need to search—I’ll just create new ones.”

Ming Li: “…”

Heartless.

During the seven-day waiting period, Ming Li focused on cultivation. The star power in the Formless Nation was abundant, and with so many substitute spirits, it was very convenient to practice physical meridian techniques. Soon, her physical meridian was cultivated to its full realm.

When the door opened and closed, Xiang An’ge saw that Ming Li, who had been practicing spiritual techniques against substitute spirits in the imperial garden, had already reached three meridians at full realm.

He said, “Your cultivation is as simple as drinking water. Such talent is hard not to envy.”

Ming Li turned to look at him. “I told you before, my cultivation speed has increased.”

While others had to ponder how to resonate with star meridians, how to master spiritual techniques, and how to use them to advance realms, Ming Li didn’t need to think about any of this. She knew everything and faced no obstacles. She only needed to practice more, and her realm would naturally improve.

One day, Xiang An’ge felt the urge and sparred with Ming Li. After one bout, Ming Li’s Spiritual Court meridian advanced by two realms.

Xiang An’ge discovered that fighting with Ming Li actually accelerated her cultivation, so he stopped engaging with her.

Ming Li contemplated as she looked at her palm. The flame of pilgrimage occasionally flickered, appearing and disappearing in her palm. The initial burning sensation had also relatively weakened, though she wasn’t sure if it was related to her realm advancement.

*

On the evening of the seventh day.

Ming Li sat in the room watching Xiang An’ge awaken Qing Ying’s eight meridians. Only after confirming there were no issues did she lower her head to write and draw on paper, seemingly casually asking, “Do you know what needs to be done to wash away the humanity of Earth Ghosts?”

Without turning his head, Xiang An’ge replied, “Do you need to find ways to wash away the humanity of Earth Ghosts? The unfortunate ones simply lose it directly.”

Ming Li said, “There are also those who aren’t unfortunate.”

Only then did Xiang An’ge turn around. “Why don’t you explain what you mean by the humanity of Earth Ghosts? Whether Earth Ghosts have humanity or not, you and I should know best. Pilgrims may deceive the world, but why are you beating around the bush with me?”

Ming Li stopped writing and looked up.

Earth Ghosts are monsters that only know how to kill.

Earth Ghosts become cold-blooded and unfeeling after killing their first person.

Earth Ghosts have no human emotions.

Earth Ghosts are the embodiment of evil.

All lies.

When enough people believe a lie, it becomes the truth. So some Earth Ghosts began to believe: this is what I am.

But more Earth Ghosts live among humans, looking at those around them with doubt. We are all the same, so why must we hide while they can live openly in the sunlight?

Perhaps the highest realm of a Pilgrim’s Qi Circulation Word Incantation is not to destroy a city with one word, but with one sentence, to change everyone’s fate.

Seeing Ming Li blink in slight confusion, Xiang An’ge put down what he was holding, walked over to sit across from her, and said, “Oh, you’re not a Pilgrim now, so you’ve probably forgotten some important things.”

Ming Li frowned.

Xiang An’ge said, “Even if you once were, you’re not now. To converse with it requires eight meridians at full realm. See, you can’t hear its voice now, can you?”

Ming Li knew what “it” referred to, so she shook her head thoughtfully. “Indeed, no wonder I always felt something was off about matters related to Earth Ghosts.”

“The first person who said Earth Ghosts were evil wanted to eradicate them. The first person who said Earth Ghosts needed to awaken had felt compassion for them. Throughout generations, whether Pilgrims sympathize with or despise Earth Ghosts, it doesn’t change the fact that they need to be eliminated,” Xiang An’ge spoke of these great secrets with an expression as casual as discussing the day’s weather. “But as a Pilgrim, certain Earth Ghosts still need to be killed if they have truly become evil, and that’s what you did.”

“I can’t tell you the rest. Keep cultivating diligently. I think it won’t take you long to return to being a Pilgrim,” Xiang An’ge stood up again. “And I don’t need to know about Earth Ghost matters. I have no interest in outside grudges.”

Ming Li calmed herself and pondered, beginning to recall various past events.

*

When she reached the Life and Death Realm, just one realm away from becoming a Pilgrim, she sat quietly under the eaves of the courtyard watching the Milky Way at night. Dong Yeshou sat beside her, brewing tea while telling her about celestial phenomena.

Ming Li hadn’t been listening. Her clear eyes reflected the stars above, and in the moment before her breakthrough, she asked, “Father, why do people only have eight meridians?”

As the words fell, in the instant Dong Yeshou turned back, the North Dipper gained a new Pilgrim.