Baoluo was jackfruit, Feng Miaojun’s great love. When she first saw it, she was surprised that it also grew in Jin territory. However, jackfruit requires humid soil and abundant sunshine, and suitable planting areas around Caixing City were scarce. People mostly grew it for ornamental purposes. As for eating it, only a few commoners had tried it—it wasn’t considered refined enough for the elite.

By coincidence, her estate had over a dozen jackfruit trees. After tasting a season of sweet fruit and finding the flavor authentic, she had cultivators examine the land. Learning that the soil and water were good, she spent money to buy all the nearby jackfruit trees, transplanting them to her estate and ordering careful nurturing. By the second year, production had increased considerably.

She wasn’t in a hurry to supply the market. Instead, she used her connections to send the fruit to the royal palace and the homes of officials and noble ladies. This fruit had a peculiar taste—those who disliked it detested it, like Mo Tichun, while those who acquired the taste became increasingly addicted. Even the King of Jin occasionally remembered and wanted to taste a bit. The preferences of the powerful had always set trends for commoners, so this seasonal fruit began to spread from the mansions of young masters and ladies to wealthy civilian households.

Only then did Feng Miaojun begin limited market sales. First, her estate’s production was limited, and second, as the saying goes, rare goods command high prices. All the jackfruit trees around Caixing City were now in her estate. If others wanted to imitate her, they would have to buy trees from other regions. Moreover, they would need to consider whether the climate was suitable. Within these short two or three years, she wouldn’t face any worthy competitors.

Princess Hanyue, having received bad news, also felt stifled in the palace. The two agreed on a time, and she returned home.

Only then did Feng Miaojun have time to close her doors and take out her newly acquired treasure, the Star Sky Awl. She bit her index finger and dripped blood onto the wooden handle of the awl. There was a tiny groove there that immediately absorbed the blood droplet, leaving no trace.

She repeated this process nine times.

Mo Tichun had said that a State Preceptor would need only one drop of heart blood to claim the Star Sky Awl, but with her shallow cultivation, she would need to perform this ritual for nine days before the treasure could be subdued by her.

Each drop of blood was driven by spiritual power, the key being that it came from her heart. Although the total was only eighteen drops, it exhausted her to the point of pallor, making her want to collapse into bed, not unlike when she had fought with the monster. Moreover, she had to recite incantations, maintain her focus, and actively communicate with the artifact’s spirit, striving to make it recognize her as its master sooner.

The final dozen breaths of the exercise were truly more exhausting than the latter half of a marathon she had once run… Nevertheless, she persevered with determination and gritted teeth, despite her bloodless face.

When she finished, she was drenched in sweat.

Then, a warm and gentle pulsation flowed from the wooden handle of the Star Sky Awl into her heart. Without any words, she understood that this magical tool once used by immortals had willingly accepted her as its master. The vibrations it transmitted, while not exactly emotions, conveyed reverence, submission, and even some excitement.

It was the joy of finding a new master after being dormant for countless years.

Feng Miaojun was overjoyed, holding it in her embrace for a long time without letting go. Now, no matter how sharp the awl was, it couldn’t harm her. The feeling when holding it was completely different from before. After recognizing its master, the Star Sky Awl could be absorbed into the master’s body, nurturing itself with spiritual energy. The stronger the master, the stronger it would become.

Previously, she knew this was a lethal weapon. Despite being thin and small, when concealed against her arm, it still possessed the characteristic coldness of metal. After refinement, however, the Star Sky Awl became so familiar, as if it were an extension of her arm, able to act according to her will. Although she had never used it against an enemy, Feng Miaojun instinctively knew it would be a hundred times more handy and comfortable than her pair of Water-Splitting Daggers.

At the same time, she also sensed the Star Sky Awl’s special properties.

A hundred times sharper than mortal swords—this was the minimum requirement. It also came with the property of “Light as a Swallow,” which could increase its master’s movement speed by twenty percent.

How practical! Feng Miaojun gave it a mental thumbs-up. If she had to rely solely on herself to increase her speed by twenty percent, the difficulty would be sky-high.

The second effect was more peculiar. After stabbing an enemy, it would cast a curse called “Bone-Sucking Marrow-Tapping,” continuously drawing the opponent’s life force and transferring it to the wielder. This effect could last for about a quarter of an hour.

Feng Miaojun raised her eyebrows, thinking that this curse was truly sinister, even its name carrying a sense of ruthlessness. However, she had to admit it was an excellent method for survival in desperate battles. With this give-and-take effect, it placed double pressure on enemies.

Of course, using it against Yun Xi wouldn’t be worthwhile—his life force would be equivalent to hers.

Hmm, why did she suddenly think of this person again? She shook her delicate head, driving him from her mind.

These two properties were certainly rare, but they alone weren’t enough to demonstrate the Star Sky Awl’s preciousness.

The truly remarkable aspect of this divine awl lay in its “plasticity”:

It could evolve a third property suitable for its user as the wielder’s cultivation and realm increased.

There was no mention of when or how this evolution would occur. Could she interpret it as randomly generated? Feng Miaojun was curious about what special property its previous owner had received, but the Star Sky Awl lacked intelligence and memory, unable to answer such profound questions.

After this bout of wild joy came confusion.

State Preceptor Mo had vast powers and shouldn’t have misjudged. So what about the promised nine days needed to refine and claim ownership? Why had she succeeded on her first attempt?

After much thought, she could only conclude that it probably had something to do with her spiritual energy attributes.

It was known that she shared the same set of spiritual energy with Yun Xi, so naturally, their attributes were identical. Who would dare say the spiritual energy of the dignified State Preceptor of Wei wasn’t high-grade? Perhaps the Star Sky Awl recognized her value or saw her potential, thus so readily accepting her as its master.

It seemed she had once again ridden on the State Preceptor’s coattails.

Feng Miaojun silently apologized to Yun Xi in her heart: I’ve benefited from your light again, yet accidentally killed your man—I’m truly sorry.

Speaking of which, during last night’s life-and-death battle, she had unexpectedly lifted a thousand-jin stone, something she had never done in her previous training. Fundamentally, she had used spiritual energy far exceeding her reserves.

Extrapolating from this, could it be that the more spiritual energy Yun Xi lent her, the higher-level techniques she could use and the greater their power would be?

Perhaps few had researched this topic before, because almost all cultivators’ spiritual energy reserves came from themselves—living within their means, with no place to overdraw.

But Feng Miaojun was different. She was attached to—no, that’s not right—she relied on a mobile treasure house of spiritual energy. As long as she borrowed and returned, couldn’t she reach some kind of understanding with Yun Xi?

But then she remembered his unpredictable temperament and moods, and they also lacked good means of communication…

Never mind. It was still a direction worth pursuing, something she would need to carefully consider over time.

With this thought, the excitement from refining the magical tool gradually subsided, and fatigue overwhelmed her.

Feng Miaojun turned over and fell asleep.

Thousands of li away, someone unexpectedly shivered. A nearby attendant softly asked: “Have you caught a chill?”

He waved his hand, his expression inscrutable.