Yuan Ming carried the doubts in his heart and carefully sensed Lin Junsheng's cultivation process.

The very next moment, he found that the feeling of Lin Junsheng's cultivation technique in operation, the flow of mana within the body through the meridians, and so on were much clearer than the sensations he had felt when he had possessed the little Emperor and experienced the Burning Explosion Skill.

Since the cultivation technique practiced by Lin Junsheng was very similar to the Nine Elements Technique, and Yuan Ming had mostly learned the Nine Elements Technique on his own, with no elder instructing him or sharing insights, this direct perception in comparison with his own experience of cultivating the Nine Elements Technique proved somewhat beneficial.

However, Yuan Ming's purpose in burning incense to possess Lin Junsheng this time was not for these matters but to investigate whether this person was involved in the recent assassination attempt on himself. Now, with Lin Junsheng sitting here motionless in cultivation, he could not find out anything.

Yuan Ming tried to influence Lin Junsheng, but although they seemed to be close at hand, they were also as if separated by a vast distance. No matter how he tried to channel his Soul Power or make other efforts, he could not affect the other party in the slightest.

A sense of helplessness welled up inside him.

All he could do at this moment was to share the other's field of vision and sensations.

"This must be the difference between the counterfeit Black Incense and the original Black Incense," Yuan Ming concluded after his attempts and had to give up reluctantly.

Not long after, his vision darkened once more, and his consciousness returned to his own body.

Yuan Ming opened his eyes and his brows slightly furrowed.

This time, the incense making used the same materials, only adding the incense ashes from the Lord Mansion. Although the feeling of possession was clearer than before, the duration was much the same. It seems this was all due to the use of different incense ashes.

The incense burner could not be used again for seven days. It was impossible to uncover the truth behind the assassination in the short term, and changing his following travel plans had become inevitable.

Yuan Ming took out a Beast Skin. It was a map of the Southern Border he had drawn based on the information he had gathered. Without returning to Central Earth through the Northern Territory, his only options were detouring through the Eastern Domain or the Western Region.

The Southern Border and Western Regions have always been mysterious, said to be controlled by a large Cultivation force with religious overtones, highly xenophobic, barely interacting with the other three regions, and strictly forbidding Cultivators from other places from entering the Western Region.

Yuan Ming's gaze landed on the Eastern Domain of the Southern Border marked on the Beast Skin map. At the moment, that seemed to be the only way to go.

After a short contemplation, he took out a somewhat dirty Token from his Storage Ring.

This item was given to him by Immortal Xuanhua when he purchased the Qingxuan Incense at the Black Rock City Market. The man had claimed to be from the Eastern Domain's Xuanhua Temple and said if Yuan Ming ever passed by the Eastern Domain, he could drop by for a visit.

He hadn't taken the man's words seriously at the time, but he kept the Token in his Storage Ring as it didn't take up much space.

However, as the combined effects of the Qingxuan Incense and elixirs during his cultivation and his deepening exploration into various Spirit Incenses, he had to re-evaluate this cultivation item that was not highly regarded in the Northern Territory.

Yuan Ming had many things he wanted to do, and he would not have made a special trip to the Eastern Domain if it were not absolutely necessary. However, the current situation forced him to take such a trip, and it coincidentally provided an opportunity to ask that old Taoist priest for guidance on Incense Making.

With this in mind, he roughly planned out the route on the Beast Skin map and then rode his white Jade Shuttle out of the valley towards the East.

The area of the Southern Border and Northern Territory was vast. Although the white Jade Shuttle was quite fast for travel, it consumed a lot of mana. The Green Cloud Crane did not require as much mana to operate, but had insufficient endurance. Yuan Ming alternated between the two, traveling almost day and night, and it still took him a full five days to reach the border of the Northern Territory.

Although the Southern Border Eastern Domain was not as closed off as the Western Region, it was feared that entering rashly, especially by flying, would easily draw the attention of the Cultivation World in this area and cause unnecessary trouble.

Yuan Ming hoped to keep a low profile, and he easily entered the Eastern Domain by blending in with the ordinary merchants and civilians.

The Eastern Domain was coastal, and the human cities there were generally wealthier than those in the Northern Territory. The people also lived more peacefully. Yuan Ming walked on foot, immersing himself in the simple and natural world of ordinary people, which eased his tension considerably.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed uneventfully.

Yuan Ming then relaxed a little and continued on his way as planned on the Jade Shuttle.

Half a day later, a towering Green Mountain appeared in front, its aura filled with a rich Spiritual Energy, making it an excellent place for cultivation.

Such a prime cultivation location was generally occupied by a Cultivation Sect. Yuan Ming was about to divert his path when he suddenly stopped his tunneling light and looked towards the top of the mountain.

From this vantage point, he could vaguely make out the situation at the peak, where many buildings were in a state of disrepair, presenting a desolate scene devoid of human presence.

He was somewhat puzzled and controlled the Jade Shuttle to quickly approach the mountain.

Closer now, the condition of the Green Mountain became clearer.

Both the peak and the mid-mountain were dotted with buildings that looked like they had once belonged to a not-so-small Cultivation Sect. They were now ruined walls covered with moss and cob

Yuan Ming's expression suddenly changed as he looked towards a dilapidated hall halfway up the mountain.

This place seemed to be a shrine, where a desk in the nearly collapsed corner was haphazardly covered with several ancestral tablets inscribed with the names of cultivators.

The site had clearly been long neglected; the offering table and ancestral tablets were covered with a thick layer of dust, and there was only half a portrait left on the wall behind the desk, barely discernible as an elderly immortal with a noble demeanor.

Yuan Ming's gaze shifted, and he quickly walked towards the collapsed corner, bent over to move some broken bricks and tiles, and revealed an ancient bronze incense burner leaning against a piece of wood, filled with a considerable amount of grey-black incense ashes.

He looked at the incense burner before him, his mind racing with thoughts.

The previous possession experience had made Yuan Ming realize that black incense made from different incense ashes had slightly different effects on possession. The incense burner was his greatest aid, and if he could figure out the specific details of how the incense ashes influenced the effect of possession, it would be a major breakthrough in uncovering the mysteries of the original black incense.

Yuan Ming took some incense ashes and found a secluded place in the Green Mountain to begin making incense.

His incense-making skills had become quite proficient; he quickly finished crafting a stick of Possession Black Incense.

The Tai Chi pattern on the incense burner was now fully lit, and Yuan Ming inserted the stick of incense into it and ignited it.

Images of Lin Junsheng, the little Emperor, and his father General Yuan flashed through his mind, but in the end, he focused on his father, and darkness soon enveloped his vision.

When he regained consciousness, he was already inhabiting General Yuan's body.

At this moment, General Yuan was seated in a carriage, eyes closed in meditation, appearing to have just returned home from court.

Yuan Ming found his father's inner condition was very clear — the flow of mana within was vividly presented in his mind, even clearer than when he possessed Lin Junsheng, almost as if he was examining the lines on his palm.

"It seems that different incense ashes indeed produce different effects, the ashes from Liu Xin Sect seem to be a bit more effective than what I got from Iron Tiger Town," Yuan Ming had anticipated this and was not surprised.

The carriage soon arrived at General Mansion, and General Yuan changed into casual clothes and quickly entered a side room in the wing.

A beautiful woman in her forties, wearing white, was sitting alone in the room. She had a blue jade hairpin on her head and a snow-white fur coat draped over her shoulders. Her eyebrows curved like crescent moons, faint as distant mountains, and she exuded a demeanor of extreme grace and propriety.

Yuan Ming looked at the woman before him and felt an indescribable rush of emotions; she was the wife of General Yuan, his mother.

Compared with the memory lodged in his mind, lines had formed at the corners of her eyes, and strands of silver could now be seen amidst the black hair at her temples.

"My lady, your cold hasn't improved yet; why have you come out?" asked General Yuan.

Yuan Ming tensed up, his mother was sick with a cold? Indeed, her complexion did not look very good.

A cold could be minor or serious and should not be taken lightly. It was a pity that he was not home; otherwise, he would have definitely examined his mother's pulse.

No sooner had this thought formed when General Yuan suddenly moved forward and took hold of the white-clothed woman's wrist.

"It's just a minor ailment... Why are you holding my hand? You know nothing of medicine!" the woman in white asked in surprise.

"It's nothing..." General Yuan was taken aback and released her hand, then sat down on a nearby chair, somewhat baffled.

He did not understand why he had taken hold of his wife's wrist; it was as if the strange thought had suddenly arisen in his mind.

Yuan Ming was also stunned; what just happened? Could his thoughts have influenced his father's actions?

"Is there any news of Ming'er?" the woman in white did not mind the General's odd behavior and asked.

"Rest assured, we have found him," a trace of a smile appeared on General Yuan's stern face.

"Really?" The woman in white stood up involuntarily, her voice filled with surprise and delight.

"Absolutely true. And Ming'er has even turned misfortune into a blessing by joining a Sect in the Southern Border to practice cultivation, becoming a person of the Immortal Path," General Yuan said.

"As long as he is safe! Ming'er, that stubborn child, once wanted to join Chang Chun Temple, but they didn't accept him due to his lacking talents. His pride wounded, he swore off entering the Immortal Path in a fit of anger. But I knew in his heart he must have been unwilling to accept that. Now it seems his wish has been fulfilled," the woman in white sighed in relief.

"Although Ming'er is now a cultivator, his cultivation is still shallow, and traveling from the Southern Border to Da Jin is a long journey. I have sent someone to fetch him; I believe he will return home soon," said General Yuan.

Yuan Ming's thoughts stirred; it seemed that General Yuan was unaware that he had not traveled with the guards sent to him. It appeared that the Southern Border was too far from Da Jin Capital, and there was not a convenient means of communication like talismans between them.

He shook his head, his thoughts returning to the incident just before.

Apart from the incense burner's built-in black incense, which could directly control someone's actions, whenever he possessed someone using his own crafted spirit incense, he had always been just an "onlooker" experiencing it firsthand; he had never influenced the actions of the possessed. Even when he possessed Lin Junsheng seven days ago, he had tried to influence the latter, but to no avail.

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