"Come, stand up and practice," Yuan Ming silently chanted in his mind.

"Let's go to the imperial garden, I want to practice my Burning Explosion Skill again." Whether it was Yuan Ming's silent urging or not, the young Emperor actually wanted to practice the Burning Explosion Skill.

Yuan Ming was also becoming somewhat excited in his heart.

However, just as the young Emperor had risen, Yuan Ming felt a wave of dizziness and his Divine Soul returned to his own body.

"Burning Explosion Skill, so it's called the Burning Explosion Skill..." After regaining consciousness, Yuan Ming furrowed his brows, finding the name quite complex to reflect on.

He looked at the extinguished Black Incense before him, feeling somewhat depressed in his heart.

"Adding spirit stone powder doesn't seem to be very effective..."

This time, the duration of the possession had increased slightly, but it was only a few breaths longer than before.

However, these seemingly ineffective few breaths gave Yuan Ming an inspiration.

Perhaps the incense ashes were just the key to opening the threshold for possession, and so the quantity of it didn't affect the length of possession; to create an incense identical to the original Black Incense, it would probably require finding more of the corresponding spiritual materials containing Spiritual Power and continual experimentation.

And this, was something he could not accomplish in this small temple.

"It would be great if the time was longer. If I could display the Burning Explosion Skill with the little Emperor once more, I'm sure I'd gain a deeper understanding," Yuan Ming thought to himself.

It was as if he were a tribute student attending the imperial examination with a top scholar, not only able to see the latter's answer sheet but also to understand their thought process. Once he began to write, his words would flow smoothly without hindrance.

"Enough, I've been out for so long, it's time to start my journey back to the Sect. Just in time, as there are signs of a breakthrough in the cultivation of the Nine Elements Technique and the Moonlight Technique. It's time to return to the Sect for seclusion." Yuan Ming exhaled a breath of turbid air and slowly spoke.

He stood up and gathered the incense-making materials and the remaining incense ashes he had collected over this period into his Storage Bag.

He then took out the Storage Ring and transferred its contents into the Storage Bag, keeping it close to his body.

Once he returned to the Sect, these things should not be exposed.

After all the preparations were completed, Yuan Ming closed the room door, planning to inform Wu Sang before leaving.

However, after looking around, he couldn't find him anywhere.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to reach the temple gate, he heard a commotion outside, as if someone was wailing.

By the time he arrived, he saw Wu Sang with a face full of stubble, lying in the dust outside the temple gate.

"Senior Brother Gelong, you can't drive me away..." Wu Sang tried to grab Gelong's robe while continuously wailing.

"Hmph, you're addicted to gambling and never repent. There's no place for you here, so it's best you leave quickly," Gelong said with a look of disgust, rebuking him.

There weren't many onlookers around, but they were all wearing expressions of mockery, watching the commotion.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming understood. No wonder he hadn't seen Wu Sang for some time - he must have been overtaken by his gambling addiction after getting those silver coins, and ran back to Iron Tiger Town to gamble.

Yuan Ming silently shook his head, glanced once, and intended to leave.

But as soon as he stepped out of the temple, Wu Sang saw him and, like a drowning man grasping for a lifeline, lunged over to grab his foot.

"Wu Sang, what are you doing?" Yuan Ming deftly avoided him and asked with a frown.

"Please, help me, ask for mercy on my behalf." Wu Sang immediately pleaded.

"I am but a guest staying here; how could I have the right to make requests on behalf of the host? Brother Wu Sang, you should speak to the Galong Temple Priest yourself," Yuan Ming said with a smile.

After speaking, he also said to the Galong Temple Priest, "Thank you for your hospitality during this time. I will be leaving today."

Galong had no particular bond with him, and upon hearing this, he simply nodded slightly without saying a word.

"It's all his fault. I diligently made incense and attended to my cultivation duties day and night in the temple. It was he who came to me and disturbed my cultivation, leading me to fall back into my old ways," Wu Sang, seeing Yuan Ming unwilling to help, suddenly stood up and pointed at him, angrily accusing him.

Upon hearing this, the onlookers all cast doubtful looks at Yuan Ming.

"Out of gratitude for the guidance given to me by Lord Dog Teeth, I often gave Wu Sang incense money and provisions to be passed on to the temple, but I never asked him to use the money to gamble," Yuan Ming said innocently.

"Wu Sang, the temple hasn't seen any incense money from donors handed in by you. It seems you must have gambled it all away," Galong's expression hardened, clearly angered.

With this accusation, the onlookers' confusion turned to anger.

Wu Sang was deceiving Lord Dog Teeth!

"Those who have fallen into the river of desire tend to fall repeatedly, and even the great Lord Dog Teeth cannot remove your delusions. Wu Sang, Jiuli Temple does not welcome you. You should leave," said Galong, and with that, he turned and left.

Yuan Ming looked at the dazed Wu Sang, patted him lightly, and covertly slipped a gold bean into Wu Sang's pocket, remarking, "A gambling dog never dies a good death!"

Then he shook his head and walked away, definitively ending their karma.

As for whether Wu Sang could change his ways, Yuan Ming was not optimistic.

...

Half a day later.

Inside a tall building in Iron Tiger Town, within an exquisitely decorated private room.

Yuan Ming took out a wax-sealed envelope and a purse from his bosom and handed them to a well-dressed middle-aged man sitting opposite him.

The envelope had several large black characters written on it: "Personally sealed by General of the South, Yuan Zuochong!"

"Shopkeeper Qian, I'll have to trouble you with this," Yuan Ming said.

"Rest assured, if you're talking about reliability in the Southern Border and Northern Territory, nobody beats Zhonghai Commerce. I can guarantee with all my heart that your items will be safely delivered to the Da Jin Capital," the middle-aged Shopkeeper responded with a smile, weighing the purse in his hand.

Yuan Ming nodded, then stood up and left the building.

The dream of immortality is a distant one, yet a letter home brings peace to the heart.

The letter paper bore the seal of the White Jade Ring, which Father should surely recognize.

Now that my identity has been confirmed, although my memories have not fully returned and I cannot yet return to Da Jin, it's only proper to send a letter home to my parents, to free them from worry.

It must be nearly two years now since that diplomatic mission when I "disappeared" after the accident.

…

Half a month later, Yuan Ming returned to Biluo Cave.

He first reported to his Senior Brother Fang Ge, then he made his way back to his own dwelling.

Since Yuan Ming had locked the door when he left, no one had come to clean, and a thick layer of dust had accumulated inside.

He approached the window and immediately saw the note left for Xi Ying on the desk, still lying on the surface.

Only the white paper was torn in half, and on the bottom right corner of one half, there was a small cat paw print.

"Still quite feisty,"

Yuan Ming chuckled.

On the desk, there were also several other cluttered paw prints. Clearly, in his absence, not only had the Silver Cat Xi Ying visited, but Huo Chan'er had as well.

Just as Yuan Ming was about to clean up himself, Bo Tu hurried over with a basin of clean water.

He said he hurried to prepare as soon as he saw Yuan Ming's return.

Bo Tu worked efficiently and quickly cleaned the entire room, leaving every corner spotless.

After Bo Tu had finished his work, he prepared to leave.

Yuan Ming stopped him and gave him a bag of silver coins before letting him go.

Many of those serving as servants in Biluo Cave were like Hagon, who had fallen on hard times or had insurmountable difficulties, forcing them to be sold into servitude.

To Yuan Ming, gold and silver treasures didn't hold much meaning, but to them, they were still very important.

This was, in essence, returning to the common world what came from it.

After kneeling and thanking Yuan Ming profusely, Bo Tu left with tears in his eyes.

After a brief rest, Yuan Ming summoned the incense burner to his desk and continued to pour Mana into it.

By his count, today marked the seventh day.

About thirty minutes later, Yuan Ming ceased his actions, and the Tai Chi Pattern on the incense burner lit up once again.

He glanced at the burner, about to take out his homemade Black Incense, when the closed window suddenly opened and a shadow flashed by.

Yuan Ming tensed up, his instincts telling him to stow away the incense burner.

But before he could act, he felt a lightness in his hands. Looking down, he realized his hands were empty; the incense burner had vanished.

"Damn," Yuan Ming exclaimed, suddenly alarmed.

At that moment, he saw the figure of the Silver Cat Xi Ying at the window, the blue incense burner floating beside it, wrapped in a silver glow, connected to Xi Ying.

"Xi Ying? What are you doing?" Yuan Ming, slightly relieved to see the Silver Cat Xi Ying but displeased, asked.

The Silver Cat Xi Ying responded, "I'll borrow this ding for a few days." Then, with a graceful leap, it landed on the pine branch outside the window and sped away.

Yuan Ming sensed a hint of cunning in Xi Ying's eyes. Without hesitation, he swiftly leaped to follow him out the window.

However, once outside, Yuan Ming only saw the Silver Cat Xi Ying's figure disappearing over the wall and growing distant.

"Xi Ying…"

Yuan Ming shouted loudly, hurriedly giving chase.

The Silver Cat Xi Ying was incredibly fast, and Yuan Ming couldn't catch up. Xi Ying darted into the forest and vanished in an instant. With the limited range of his Divine Sense, Yuan Ming couldn't track him down.

Only then did Yuan Ming realize that the incense burner was in the hands of the Silver Cat Xi Ying.

He couldn't understand why Xi Ying would suddenly snatch his incense burner. Was it really just to borrow it for a few days?

In the past, Yuan Ming had taken out the incense burner more than once, even handing it directly to Xi Ying to examine. He'd never seen Xi Ying make any suspicious moves then.

The incense burner was of great significance to him. Yuan Ming tried to calm his agitated thoughts. He pressed two fingers to his forehead and cast the Moonlight Technique, drawing three soul crows from his Sea of Consciousness.

The soul crows spread their wings and flew into the forest in search of Xi Ying.

However, they couldn't find any trace of the Silver Cat Xi Ying anywhere.

Yuan Ming's brow furrowed into knots as he had long realized that if Silver Cat Xi Ying intended to hide, he would not be able to find him at all.

"Stay calm, I have to stay calm, there must be another way…" Yuan Ming stopped and forced himself to think calmly.

After regaining composure and thinking calmly, Yuan Ming indeed thought of a solution.

The incense burner was more than an ordinary Magic Artifact for him; there was a special connection between him and the burner.

Yuan Ming looked at his arm and then recalled the soul crows before sitting cross-legged on the ground.

He then touched the tattoo where the incense burner had once been on his arm and, with a focused Divine Thought, began to try and communicate with the incense burner, sending out the intention to summon it back.

Yuan Ming didn't know if this would work but it was the only thing he could try at the moment.

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