His absorption of qi that night was slow and difficult. It had been a few hours and yet his cultivation had not progressed at all.

Van stood up and stretched his muscles, hoping to refresh himself.

[You need to relax,] Jet instructed.

Van sighed.

"Tell me more about the phantom brand we placed on Hans and Freya," he requested, acknowledging the source of his worries.

The duo's status, resources and connections as the scions of a merchant family were very useful. If they remained undercover by Klaus' side, they would also allow Van to keep an eye on him.

Adding the fact that they knew about his wolves, it was imperative that they remain under his thumb.

Jet spent a moment gathering its thoughts.

[Even in the old days, the phantom brand was considered obscure. Few people deigned to understand it. Now that millions of years have pa.s.sed, it's impossible that someone still possesses the knowledge and skill to remove a phantom brand.]

Van tilted his head.

Even if someone did not have the knowledge or skill, what about brute force? Surely something that a 1st level Qi Distillation cultivator could place would not be too difficult to destroy.

He conveyed his doubts to the ring.

Jet gasped dramatically, [The single brain cell has finally split into two!]

[Yes, well. Incredible things often come with fatal flaws – that is the Heaven's way. The phantom brand is unrivalled in the lower cultivation levels as it requires little spiritual power and only a moderate level of mental ability to pull off. Under its influence, the victim cannot disobey the will of the inflictor in any way.

[But it can be broken quite easily.]

Van nodded. His suspicions were correct, after all.

Jet continued.

[An external party cannot do so unless they understand the 'trick' behind the brand. However, the victim themselves can break it easily.]

[Once the victim's cultivation exceeds the inflictor's by more than a single cultivation level, the brand will dissolves by itself. This also happens if the victim's mental energy exceeds that of the inflictor's.]

Van paced around the banyan tree with brows furrowed.

Hans and Freya were already in the 2nd level of Qi Distillation. If either rose up a level before Van broke through, he would lose control over them and they would no longer be bound to the oath he had forced on them.

His footsteps halted.

"It seems the 99th meridian cannot wait."

Jet pulsed in agreement.

Van closed his eyes. Not including Jet, there was the turtle sh.e.l.l, the beast core, some spiritual iron gra.s.ses and the incomplete starsteel weapon. Of these, only the beast core would help in unblocking 99th meridian.

Van sighed. However, recalling the starsteel staff improved his mood.

According to Jet, starsteel was prized for its chaos attribute, which meant that it simultaneously favoured all elements and yet also none. When paired with another material, it had the effect of tremendously amplifying that material's strengths and reducing its weaknesses.

Consequently, in conventional weapons-making, starsteel was always paired with a more aggressive metal. The lack of a second metal in the staff was the thing that allowed Jet to conclude that it was an unfinished product.

Sadly, Van could do little other than reminisce about the staff. If he dared to pull it out in the middle of sect grounds, there was little doubt that he would be in deep s.h.i.+t with the person it had been stolen from.

Van lightly petted the banyan tree's bark.

On the upside, he had made some gains from this little run into the forest.

Now, anything Hans and Freya owned belonged to him, including their rewards for ranking in the top three of the Woodcutting Sect. This would almost triple the number of herbs he would receive from the Herbal Hall at the end of the week. This was very nice indeed.

"Let's see what they bring me tomorrow morning," Van said. He had ordered them to turn over their personal belongings to him. Perhaps he would find some nice things that could help his cultivation.

_______________

At the break of dawn, the servants woke as per usual and were ushered into the victuals hall for breakfast. Despite having had porridge for weeks on end now, Van was yet to tire of the taste. Sitting next to Ryan, he shoved spoonfuls of food into his mouth without pausing.

About halfway into the bowl, Van noticed that Ryan had altogether stopped eating. He looked up, only to see an unusual on the boy's face. While he usually looked tired and overworked, today his eyes were bright.

Van swallowed his mouthful of porridge and looked questioningly at the other boy.

Ryan, engrossed by the conversation occurring at the table, placed a finger on his lips and pointed to his ears. Van shut his mouth and listened carefully.

Immediately, the sound of two high-pitched, prep.u.b.escent voices reached his ears. These two voices came from the young twin brothers sitting across the table, s.h.i.+n and Lim, who both recently turned ten. They were well-known amongst the servants due to their young age, mischievous natures and adorable faces.

The servants sitting around them were engrossed by the twins description of their terrifying discovery the previous day.

"We were just minding our own business when suddenly we stumbled upon a giant spider's web in the forest. Frightened, but curious, we circled around the tree only to find a giant tunnel on the other side of the ginormous tree…there were deep, worm-like gouges in the sides of the tunnel…as if a vengeful ghost had used its fingers to claw its way out of the tree..."

"Despite our fears, our curiosity carried us forwards. With our hearts in our mouths, we advanced through the hole in the tree's trunk…

"...and scariest of all, we found a set of torn up servants' robes inside the tree! There was even underwear!"

The audience gasped.

"A vengeful ghost is haunting the forest, we're sure of it! It lures pa.s.sing servants into its tree lair and then eats them, leaving only their clothes behind!"

Van choked on his porridge.

The total mess he had left behind yesterday in the tree was being interpreted as the remains of a vengeful ghost's victim!

Ryan looked at Van with an expression of deep concern on his face.