Chapter 8: Coincidence, Shameless Master Recognition.

Outside the window, the bright moon quietly climbed the horizon. Pristine moonlight gradually spread across the earth, draping a layer of silver gauze over everything. Bo Xuenong sat quietly by the window, her left hand holding a piece of wood while her right tightly gripped the Suspended Ink. Under the moonlight, she continuously polished the wood in her hand. Wood shavings fell with each stroke of the Suspended Ink, and the wooden doll gradually took shape.

Once the outside was fully shrouded in moonlight, Bo Xuenong used the Suspended Ink to slice open her palm. Blood from the wound quickly dripped onto the wooden doll. As it absorbed more and more blood, the wooden doll gradually turned red. Bo Xuenong swiftly drew a pattern on the back of the Snow Doll, and her eyes began to glow red.

Bo Xuenong glanced out the window, confirming that night had fully fallen. She raised her hand and thrust the Suspended Ink toward the Blood Doll’s chest.

As the doll’s chest was pierced, pain transmitted to Bo Xuenong’s own chest. She ignored it and pushed the Suspended Ink deeper with more force, murmuring lowly under her breath.

After Bo Xuenong’s voice sounded, the Suspended Ink in her hand began to shorten and shrink, eventually becoming the size of a silver needle before she fully embedded it into the Blood Doll’s chest.

“Cough!” Bo Xuenong let out a low cough as blood threads emerged from her mouth. She still ignored it and slapped her palm heavily onto the Blood Doll. Immediately after, the Suspended Ink at the Blood Doll’s chest lit up. The doll’s short body rapidly grew, instantly becoming the same size as Bo Xuenong.

The doll had only a rough outline at first, but as its body enlarged, its features gradually sharpened. Its skin also changed, becoming more and more human-like—and increasingly resembling Bo Xuenong.

Only when it became identical to Bo Xuenong did the glow of the Suspended Ink fade.

At this point, Bo Xuenong’s own skin was no longer fair and soft. It had not only turned red but also become rigid and tough, like wooden blocks.

Bo Xuenong touched her hard, wooden skin and satisfactorily curved her lips. Unfortunately, the Blood Doll could not speak. Its lips moved for a long time without sound, and its eyes were vacant and lifeless, not quite like a normal person. It could pass for a short while, but… glancing at the completely naked Blood Doll, Bo Xuenong furrowed her brows.

The Blood Doll, connected to her thoughts, immediately flew into the bedding, pulled the covers over its body, and closed its eyes.

Bo Xuenong’s brows relaxed. She deeply eyed the Blood Doll that looked exactly like her, then quickly walked to the window. Confirming no one was around, she pulled a mask from her Storage Ring to cover her face and vanished into the night. Moonlight shone into the room, illuminating only the Blood Doll wearing her appearance, lying motionless on the bed. The real Bo Xuenong had already melted into the darkness, heading straight for Phoenix Spirit Mountain.

Bo Xuenong had cultivated immortality for five hundred years. All along, she learned whatever Shen Yanting taught her—until Shen Yanting gifted her the Suspended Ink as her Lifebound Sword.

The Suspended Ink was truly a fine sword. Though it lacked a Sword Soul, its spiritual power was abundant.

Most wonderfully, after breaking through to the golden core stage and gaining the ability to control her sword with her intent, she discovered spell arts engraved on the Suspended Ink Sword. The characters were extremely tiny and unique; she would not have seen them if the Suspended Ink had not revealed them to her.

Bo Xuenong had considered telling Shen Yanting about it, but strangely, she could not bring herself to speak. She had also suspected something wrong with the Suspended Ink, yet it understood her so well—not only knowing her thoughts but also mimicking her blood energy. It cared for Shen Yanting and feared her just like Bo Xuenong did. Giving up the Suspended Ink meant she would struggle to find another Lifebound Sword so suited to her. Moreover, for sword cultivators, damaging a bound Lifebound Sword would heavily injure oneself—there was no need unless in special circumstances.

Unable to inform Shen Yanting, Bo Xuenong had never closely examined the spell arts. Only during the day, when she thought of avoiding Shen Yanting’s sight to kill, did she decide to look—and she found just what she needed. The technique she had just used was called the Breath Exchange Technique.

To perform the Breath Exchange Technique, one first nurtured a piece of Spirit Wood with their fresh blood until it developed the same blood energy. Then, drawing the seal and casting the spell exchanged blood energy and aura with the Spirit Wood. For three days, the Spirit Wood would transform into the caster, absorbing all their aura—appearance, scent, everything—becoming an independent entity. The caster’s body remained humanoid, but their aura became that of wood: cold, bloodless, boneless. It was a top-tier method for evading pursuit.

Bo Xuenong could not wait three days. She carved the Wooden Doll to resemble herself as closely as possible and embedded her constantly blood-attuned Lifebound Sword, the Suspended Ink, into its body to compensate for insufficient blood energy. Of course, there were flaws: the Blood Doll could not become independent; it only moved according to Bo Xuenong’s will. Without control, it was just a log, easy to expose. Also, it did not look entirely real, and the pain it felt transmitted to her…

At this thought, pain crept up Bo Xuenong’s chest again.

It would not kill her, but it hurt.

Guan Caimei had to hurt more than her for Bo Xuenong to be satisfied.

Ever since returning from Phoenix Spirit Mountain, Bo Xuenong had been fixated on Guan Caimei. That predatory gaze was etched in her heart, and Guan Caimei’s greedy inner voice echoed endlessly in her ears. Her mind had not known a moment’s peace; only blood could soothe that irritation.

She could not wait another instant. She would rather endure the injury to kill Guan Caimei tonight.

It was what Guan Caimei deserved.

Guan Caimei had not only eyed Shen Yanting like prey but also lusted after her, scheming to ally with others to defile her. Not sending her to death would betray Shen Yanting’s nurturing grace. The only frustration was not yet identifying the male and female protagonists from Guan Caimei’s heart voice, which irked Bo Xuenong.

Asking directly might not yield an answer from Guan Caimei.

With a grim face, Bo Xuenong pondered how to interrogate Guan Caimei. The more she thought, the more irritated she grew.

The hastily made Blood Doll had limited endurance time. She had to hurry back to ensure Shen Yanting noticed nothing. Moreover, Feng Yingbo on Phoenix Spirit Mountain had higher cultivation than her. If discovered killing a fellow disciple, Master would surely be furious.

Bo Xuenong slowed her steps slightly, wondering if she should let Guan Caimei live two more days. But she quickly sped up again, a clear voice in her mind: Someone like Guan Caimei, who lusted to defile Master, was better off dead!

—

Now like a piece of wood, Bo Xuenong landed on Phoenix Spirit Mountain without a sound, not even startling the birds in the trees. Following her daytime memory, she raced upward. Before reaching Guan Caimei’s residence, she spotted Feng Jin from afar.

Bo Xuenong cast spell arts to enhance her vision and hearing sensitivity.

From a distance, she saw Feng Jin furtively clutching an ancient book. Looking around to confirm no one was there, she buried it under a tree, then knelt before it, clasping her hands in sincere prayer: “I’ve wronged you by burying you in Frugal Hollow these years—please don’t blame me. Feng Yingbo regularly sorts my Storage Bag, so I had to hide you here. I’ll dig you up tomorrow for proper study!”

Bo Xuenong silently approached. Feng Jin had already left the tree and was preparing to depart.

Her steps were hurried. Bo Xuenong closed the distance without delay and faintly caught one inner voice from her.

【Heaven bless…】

Bless? Bless what?

Bo Xuenong recalled Feng Jin’s daytime heart voice mentioning digging up a forbidden technique manual from Frugal Hollow. She had not paid much attention then, doubting any manuals there—Frugal Hollow was just a nickname for Fu Aoqing’s courtyard, and Bo Xuenong knew her strength well. Yet Feng Jin had truly dug something up from Frugal Hollow and buried it here, so carelessly…

Bo Xuenong eyed the small dirt mound, the fresh soil, and the little flower stuck in as a marker. Her cold face twisted for an instant. She could not tell if Feng Jin meant to hide it or advertise its presence.

Since Guan Caimei came to the mountain, Bo Xuenong felt this Sixth Junior Sister grew stranger, but she had no habit of meddling. She withdrew her gaze from the mound, intending to hurry to Guan Caimei. But just as she moved, a gust of wild wind blew, knocking a Little Sparrow from the tree. It landed squarely on the mound. As the Little Sparrow flapped its wings, the covering soil was pushed clean away. Oblivious, it flew up again, pecking downward before leaving—and hooking the ancient book.

The Little Sparrow seemed to disdain the book and flung it down forcefully. It landed perfectly at Bo Xuenong’s feet, coincidentally flipping open several pages.

Bo Xuenong instinctively glanced down, and her eyes stuck there. Prominently written were the words “Soul Searching Technique.”

Too much of a coincidence. Bo Xuenong had just been agonizing over identifying the male and female protagonists from Guan Caimei’s heart voice when this forbidden technique appeared before her.

A trap? A scheme?

The book was dropped by Feng Jin—was she plotting against her? What for?

Did Feng Jin even dare plot against her? Her heart voice seemed so timid.

Bo Xuenong stared at the book, undecided on picking it up, when it suddenly flew into her hand. It shrank smaller and smaller until, at a certain size, it burrowed under her skin, forming a faint cyan line on her left palm…

Though Bo Xuenong had never seen this, she had read about it in books: this was how divine objects recognized their master.

Recognition as master? A book recognizing a master? Was this book a divine object?

If not witnessed personally, Bo Xuenong would not have believed it… No, even seeing it, she doubted its reality. She was now in the Blood Doll’s body, wooden through and through, without a drop of blood… It had skipped the blood-binding step for recognition… Feng Jin had a big problem. Could she hear Guan Caimei’s heart voice too? Or hers?

Yet she seemed uninterested in stopping her from killing Guan Caimei—and even wanted to help.

Bo Xuenong looked up at the moon. The silver moonlight made the chill on her face grow heavier. She no longer wrestled with the book, swiftly heading toward Guan Caimei’s residence. Casually summoning the book, she flipped through the Soul Searching Technique’s contents. The more she read, the graver her expression became…