“Is this… an artifact of the Little Sky Net Sect?”

Han Yu stared at the seven-foot-long, silvery-white spindle lying on the table. It hummed with a faint, cold energy.

Elder Lü nodded. “Correct. Have you seen something like this before?”

“I have,” Han Yu explained. “Back at the Spirit Field Department, Deacon Lu exposed a spy. The spy escaped, but he left behind a similar silver spindle. However, that one was small—palm-sized. This one is as large as a man.”

Elder Lü chuckled, though there was a hint of disdain in his voice. “Ah, yes. I recall that incident. The Little Sky Net Sect… from the Sect Leader down to the lowest disciple, they all love to be deliberately mystifying. Even when fleeing for their lives, they leave behind these tokens, as if to say they are too sophisticated to simply run away.”

He tapped the large spindle. “This one has a history. After Song Wanxiong broke through to the Nascent Soul realm, he clashed with Ye Guxing. The two Golden Core cultivators from the Little Sky Net Sect tried to flee. Song Wanxiong swatted them out of the sky, sending their artifacts flying. This one crashed near Wanchun Valley.”

“I picked it up on my way back.”

Han Yu frowned, his caution kicking in. “Master, this is the magical artifact of a Golden Core cultivator. Is it safe to bring it into the Sect? Could the owner recall it? Or worse, use it to spy on Wanchun Valley’s internal affairs?”

Elder Lü smiled and shook his head. “rest assured. The two from the Little Sky Net Sect were terrified by Song Wanxiong. They won’t dare show their faces for a long time.”

“Furthermore, even if a Golden Core cultivator wanted to use this as a listening device, the distance is too great. We are separated by a hundred thousand miles and two layers of heavy restrictions—the Guardian Formation and the Main Peak Formation. It is impossible.”

Elder Lü paused, his expression turning thoughtful. “Unless, of course, they infiltrated the immediate vicinity of Wanchun Valley. But that is unlikely.”

Han Yu nodded, relieved, but still puzzled. “Master, we don’t cultivate their techniques. What use is their unique artifact to us?”

“If I forcibly refine it, it might reject my Spiritual Power. And if I ever encounter a Little Sky Net Sect cultivator, they could easily seize control of it and turn it against me.”

“For others, it would indeed be useless trash,” Elder Lü agreed. “But you cultivate the Star Luo Traction Technique.”

“The Little Sky Net Sect’s artifacts manifest as threads of silver-white Spiritual Power. Your Star Luo Traction Technique also utilizes Star Luo Threads. Since our sect lacks specific combat methods for your technique, you rely entirely on your own exploration. This spindle might serve as a valuable reference.”

Han Yu’s eyes lit up. “I understand. Thank you, Master!”

Although Star Luo Threads were invisible to the naked eye, to Han Yu’s spiritual perception, they appeared as fine silver wires. The similarity to the Little Sky Net Sect’s aesthetic was indeed striking.

“Treat it as a toy,” Elder Lü said casually. “If it’s useful, keep it. If not, destroy it. It matters not.”

He then reached into his robe and produced three jade slips. His expression grew serious.

“What I truly wanted to give you are these.”

Han Yu took the slips, feeling their cool surface. “Master, what are they?”

“The spoils of war,” Elder Lü said grimly. “When we swept through the Spirit Beast Sect, we searched for resources. But Song Wanxiong was utterly depraved. To fuel his breakthrough, he consumed everything. Every pill, every spirit stone, every herb. He drained the disciples, the spirit beasts, and even the mortals he had been ‘fattening up’ like livestock.”

Elder Lü sighed. “I couldn’t even find a scrap of food for your crows. The entire sect was a hollow shell.”

“However,” he pointed to the jade slips, “the Transmission Tower’s formation self-destructed, but we managed to salvage some technique manuals. The three sects made copies. I selected these three specifically for you.”

He tapped the first slip. “This is the continuation of the Beast Heart Psychic Pact. It will guide your cultivation of the technique all the way to the Golden Core realm.”

“The second is a manual on Nurturing Spirit Birds. It is a secret art unique to their sect, far superior to our general beast-rearing methods.”

“The third… is the Spirit Beast Formation.” Elder Lü’s eyes gleamed. “It is a secret array technique that allows a cultivator to link multiple spirit beasts into a combat formation. It is incredibly powerful for both offense and defense. The difficulty lies in controlling a large number of beasts simultaneously—something most disciples cannot do. But for you, it is perfect.”

Han Yu held the jade slips, his hands trembling slightly.

Even though they were copies, the value of these techniques was immeasurable. A complete inheritance leading to the Golden Core realm? A lost formation art? These were treasures that no amount of Spirit Stones or Merit points could buy.

He took a deep breath and bowed low, his forehead nearly touching the floor.

“Master’s kindness… this disciple will never forget it for eternity.”

Elder Lü laughed warmly and pulled him up.

“Nonsense. You possess the Universal Comprehension talent, and you are my disciple. If I didn’t nurture you properly, I would be a peerless fool—hiding a diamond in the mud and refusing to let it shine.”

“To be honest,” Elder Lü admitted with a wry smile, “your talent is so exceptional that it gives me headaches. I constantly worry that my teaching isn’t enough and that I might delay your progress.”

He patted Han Yu’s shoulder. “Go back and study the jade slips slowly. For now, try the spindle. Let’s see if the Star Luo Traction Technique has any affinity with it.”

Han Yu bowed again, composing himself.

He turned to the table and focused. Circulating his Spiritual Power, he activated the Star Luo Traction Technique.

An invisible Star Luo Thread drifted out and touched the silver spindle.

Snap.

The connection was instantaneous. Han Yu felt as if his thread had latched onto a perfectly compatible extension of itself.

He gave a mental tug.

Whoosh!

The seven-foot-long heavy silver spindle snapped upright on the table.

Elder Lü reacted instantly. He summoned a copper mirror artifact, expanding it into a shield between Han Yu and the spindle.

“Disciple! Is that you?”

“It is me, Master.”

Han Yu’s eyes were wide with surprise. “It… it feels incredibly easy. It’s as if the Star Luo Traction Technique and the Little Sky Net Sect’s arts share the same origin.”

With a thought, the massive spindle flipped horizontally in the air, floating as effortlessly as his own flying sword.

But there was more.

As the Star Luo Thread channeled energy into the spindle, Han Yu felt a feedback loop. The spindle was feeding energy back into the thread.

His first Star Luo Thread was rapidly approaching Perfection. A second thread was already beginning to form.

Han Yu relayed this to Elder Lü.

Elder Lü lowered the copper mirror, looking fascinated. “That explains it. The founding ancestors of the Southern Domain sects were a mix of rogue cultivators and disciples from the Central Heaven Domain. It is highly likely that your technique and theirs branched from the same root source.”

He nodded in satisfaction. “It seems I brought back the right souvenir. Keep practicing, Disciple. See how much benefit you can wring out of it.”

For the next twenty days, Han Yu vanished from the Battle Hall.

He spent his time in seclusion, maintaining his daily regimen of the Green Grain Qi Cultivation Method and the Blood Refining Technique, but devoting every other waking moment to the spindle.

The process was slow, but the rewards were staggering.

Under the constant grinding of the Star Luo Threads, the physical form of the seven-foot spindle began to change. The silver exterior faded, turning translucent, transforming into a weapon that possessed physical mass but was nearly invisible to the naked eye—just like the threads themselves.

Simultaneously, Han Yu’s mastery of the technique skyrocketed. He now controlled five Star Luo Threads.

By the end of the month, only the two sharp tips of the spindle retained their original silver color.

Elder Lü even invited Sect Leader Qi and Elder Yan to inspect the process. The Golden Core experts agreed: Han Yu was using a slow, methodical grinding process to completely overwrite the artifact. Once finished, all traces of the original owner would be erased. Even if the Little Sky Net Sect cultivator stood right in front of him, they wouldn’t be able to seize it back.

Han Yu sat cross-legged in his room, the nearly invisible spindle floating silently before him.

Suddenly, he frowned.

The Star Luo Thread connected to the spindle vibrated.

It wasn’t his doing. It was a resonance. A distinct, magnetic pull coming from outside.

Han Yu opened his eyes, his gaze shifting toward the window.

The owner of the spindle… was coming to Wanchun Valley?