"Let go, Granny. If you don't, you'll remain stuck at this level for the rest of your life." Wen Zishan spoke with earnest persuasion. "For us martial cultivators, true progress can only come when our hearts are unburdened. You've been consumed by the memory of that battle from years past, blinded by hatred and single-mindedly intent on killing me. How can you ever hope to ascend to a higher realm of martial Dao?"
"You dare lecture me, boy?" Granny You glared at Wen Zishan.
The latter shrugged. "I'm only telling the truth. And these are things you already understand, Granny — you simply refuse to acknowledge them." He sighed again. "Yang kid and little Xueting probably believe the face you're wearing now is your true appearance, and that the breathtaking woman who appeared in the Divine Wanderer Mirror was merely an illusion you conjured. But only you and I know… your appearance in the Mirror was your real form. What you look like now is nothing more than a disguise. You're a woman yourself, Granny — why put yourself through such torment?"
"Why bring all this up?" Granny You's tone softened for reasons even she couldn't explain.
"I'm simply saying that your aptitude may not be inferior to mine. If you could resolve the knot in your heart, there's no reason you couldn't one day reach the Emperor Realm."
At these words, Granny You's entire body trembled. Her gaze sharpened as she fixed it on Wen Zishan, and she demanded in a low voice, "Do you truly mean what you're saying?"
Wen Zishan smiled. "Honestly, these weren't my words."
"Then whose were they?"
"Some old codger who can't stay out of trouble and lives without a care in the world." Wen Zishan seemed deeply reluctant to speak the person's name.
Though he didn't utter it, Granny You's eyes blazed with sudden recognition, as though she had figured it out.
"The Qingyang Divine Temple needs my help standing alone against the odds. Will you lend me yours?" Wen Zishan asked, his gaze earnest as he looked at Granny You.
Granny You studied him for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, her voice dripping with mockery. "This old woman has killed not a few of your Qingyang Divine Temple's finest disciples. And you hold no resentment toward me whatsoever?"
"The Heavenly Dao is constant, but fate is fickle. Those who couldn't cross that threshold simply hadn't cultivated enough!" Wen Zishan said gravely.
Granny You's expression shifted several times, and she fell silent. After a long pause, she suddenly roared, "Get out! Get out of here!"
Wen Zishan merely smiled faintly. "Think it over carefully, Granny."
As soon as the words left his lips, his entire figure gradually faded from this space, as though he had never been there at all.
Granny You stood alone, her expression cold and her features shifting with indecision.
…
Time drifted onward. A full month had now passed since Yang Kai arrived at the cave dwelling on Purple Bamboo Peak with Gao Xueting.
Throughout this period, he had remained sequestered in seclusion, refining the Slave Insect Bracelet.
At first, the bracelet had shown no reaction whatsoever. Yang Kai remained patient and unflustered, ceaselessly battering the bracelet's seals with his own power. As time passed, the Emperor Treasure gradually began to change.
It slowly started accepting Yang Kai's spiritual sense and Source Qi.
This refinement process was like peeling away layers from a cocoon — painstaking and laborious. Only by clearing away every obstacle could Yang Kai have a chance to successfully refine the Slave Insect Bracelet and imprint his own soul mark within it, making it truly his.
On this particular day, Yang Kai continued the same routine as always.
But at a certain moment, a strange humming sound suddenly rang out. Immediately after, the air within the sealed chamber trembled faintly, and at the same time, Yang Kai felt a searing heat on his hand, as though the Slave Insect Bracelet had been set ablaze.
Rather than alarm, joy surged through him — he recognized this as a sign that refinement was nearing completion. Without hesitation, he poured his full power into the bracelet, flooding it with everything he had.
The scorching sensation on his hand grew more and more intense. The Slave Insect Bracelet seemed to have rekindled a spark of sentience, bouncing wildly against his palm in a desperate bid to break free from his grip.
But Yang Kai would allow no such thing. He clamped down on it with iron resolve.
Gradually, the burning transformed into something else — an unbearable tingling, as though ten thousand ants were gnawing at his palm. That numb, prickling sensation crept from his hand through his entire body, reaching deep into his very soul, leaving him profoundly uncomfortable.
The tingling soon morphed into outright agony — not just physical, but spiritual as well, as if his soul were being sliced into countless fragments and ground to dust.
Yang Kai couldn't help but let out a strained howl.
He continued flooding the bracelet with even more powerful surges of spiritual sense and Source Qi, gritting his teeth against the unimaginable torment.
After two more days of this, Yang Kai suddenly felt his entire body lighten. All of the strange sensations vanished in an instant.
And at precisely that moment, the Slave Insect Bracelet erupted with brilliant light. One by one, tiny runes — each no bigger than a grain of rice — rose from its surface like fireflies dancing into the air, lending the entire chamber an almost ethereal beauty.
The runes were extraordinarily profound. One glance at them was enough to evoke a sense of wonder and mystery, as though they possessed a life of their own, flickering between existence and oblivion.
The once unremarkable Slave Insect Bracelet was now suffused with an imperial aura, brimming with the majesty of an Emperor Treasure.
Yet rather than any joy, Yang Kai's expression turned solemn.
Moments later, all of the intricate runes withdrew back into the bracelet. In his mind, Yang Kai heard a crisp crack — as though something had finally shattered. Immediately after, his spiritual sense and Source Qi surged forward without the slightest obstruction, flooding deep into the Slave Insect Bracelet.
That resounding crack within his consciousness was unmistakably the sound of the bracelet's final barrier being breached.
This meant the refinement was more than halfway complete.
However… since the Slave Insect Bracelet was not a newly born Artifact — it had previous owners — the greatest test was yet to come.
His spiritual sense pouring in, Yang Kai quickly detected a stream of pure, refined power rushing to meet him from within the bracelet.