Yuan Ming steadied his mind slightly, practiced some breathing control, and after midnight struck, he took out a stick of Black Incense, planning to possess the disciples who had followed Zuo Qinghui in Little Lake City to see if Chang Chun Temple was already aware of Zuo Qinghui's affairs.

Although he had already arrived at the Black Wind Desert, it was still necessary to keep an eye on the situation at Chang Chun Temple, otherwise, if they came looking for him, he would be at a disadvantage.

However, when he took out the Stealing Heaven Tripod, he suddenly paused.

He sensed a stream of Desire Power, thicker than any he had felt before, winding around the exterior of the Stealing Heaven Tripod like tentacles.

Yuan Ming was greatly surprised. Previously, the Desire Power was always thin like threads, so why was it so dense now?

He tried to envelop this Desire Power with his Divine Sense and sent it into his Sea of Consciousness, discovering that it also contained emotions like admiration, aspiration, inferiority, and anxiety.

Moreover, as he refined and assimilated this stream of Desire Power, he vaguely sensed its source, not too far away, seemingly within Xiansha City.

Yuan Ming showed a look of delight, released the transparent soul crow from his Sea of Consciousness, and sent it straight toward the source of this Desire Power.

The transparent soul crow, capable of traveling much farther and faster than ordinary soul crows, could also change into various forms, making it more suitable for scouting.

Although the crow had its own consciousness, its Soul Power was of the same origin as Yuan Ming's, allowing Yuan Ming to share its senses.

...

In the inner city of Xiansha City, Zhang Yu's Mansion.

As the butler of the City Lord of Xiansha City and an ordinary human, Zhang Yu had also gained the privilege to reside in the inner city.

This status had been handed down from his grandfather's generation, and whenever he mentioned it, he felt extremely fortunate that his grandfather had found such a good master.

Now, having worked at the City Lord Mansion for over thirty years, married with children, he saw his son growing up and thought it was time to start training him to take over.

Yet, faced with his father's suggestion, his son Zhang Xiu was particularly resistant.

"Bang—"

Zhang Yu harshly pushed open the door, saw his son clumsily hiding a book, and immediately became furious.

"You worthless thing, I told you to study accounting with your Uncle Li, and you dare to lie about being sick to read leisure books here, hand them over to me now!"

"Dad, I don't want to learn those things," Zhang Xiu said with a mournful face.

He was only thirteen or fourteen, his face youthful and tender, his black hair messily tied up, clearly unkept on a regular basis.

It's worth noting that on his left cheek, near his ear, there was a very clear burn scar, looking like a violent tornado.

Zhang Yu quickly stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Xiu, snatched the hidden book from his hands, and opened it to see the title "Mr. Sheng's Eastern Travelogue" boldly written on the cover.

"You don't want to learn accounting, then how will you take over my position? By reading these leisure books, can you serve the City Lord well?"

Zhang Yu angrily scolded and tore "Mr. Sheng's Eastern Travelogue" in half.

Zhang Xiu, seeing his beloved book torn, became instantly emotional and madly lunged at his father, grabbing the torn pieces of the book.

"Dad, I don't want to follow your path, nor do I want to stay in this rotten place to be some butler, I just want to go out and see the world, why can't you understand me, let me be free!" Zhang Xiu cried, holding the book.

Zhang Yu looked at his son with disappointment, "Xiu'er, you are too naive. Do you know how many people in the city have fought over this position you disdain? You speak lightly of going out to see the world, but have you looked at the scar on your face, can you even go out? You want freedom, fine, I'll give it to you, you can leave right now and I'll see if you starve to death today or tomorrow!"

Zhang Xiu sobbed silently, without a word.

"Ah, you'll understand when you grow up, son. All this is for your good. You were born in the Black Wind Desert, being able to follow my path is already a great fortune," Zhang Yu said with a sigh, seeing his son's state.

Zhang Xiu looked up, his eyes carrying a dim glimmer of hope, "Father, is there really no other path for me?"

"Son, just accept your fate. In this world, only those high above Immortals can truly achieve freedom. We mortals don't have the luxury of choice," Zhang Yu shook his head.

Zhang Xiu lowered his head dejectedly, tears welling up in his eyes which he forcefully held back.

Seeing his son like this, Zhang Yu added, "Think hard about what I said today. As for these leisure books, if you honestly attend your classes starting tomorrow, I'll still let you keep them, but if today's situation happens again, don't blame me for being heartless."

With these words, Zhang Yu stood up and left the room.

Watching his father's somewhat stooped back, Zhang Xiu couldn't help but feel a deep bitterness, stumbling back onto his bed, raising the torn halves of "Mr. Sheng's Eastern Travelogue," and as the stories from the book flashed through his mind, along with the vivid landscapes described within, his view blurred uncontrollably again.

Outside the window, the transparent soul crow witnessed everything that had just happened, then withdrew its gaze and burrowed into the ground.

At the same time, Yuan Ming also opened his eyes, suddenly realizing.

The Desire Power swirling around the Stealing Heaven Tripod was indeed produced by people who had read his book, no wonder it carried emotions of admiration and longing.

It seemed that many of the Desire Powers previously absorbed by the Stealing Heaven Tripod likely came from his readers as well.

Yuan Ming then recalled the argument between Zhang Xiu and his father, his thoughts a whirlwind.

The word 'freedom', easy to say, but to truly achieve it, is extremely difficult.

Yuan Ming, once a prisoner from the Southern Border, now a traveler through the Desert, recalls his past, feeling most acutely the phrase "not in control of one's own fate."

What about ordinary mortals? And Immortals? They all are inevitably inside this worldly prison, toiling tirelessly, but rarely able to break free of their destinies.

So-called freedom is but the surplus of the strong and the luxury of the weak. His earlier refusal to join Chang Chun Temple, and later, his battle with Zuo Qinghui, weren't these for the sake of freedom?

Yuan Ming pondered, his eyes filled with confusion at first, gradually turning resolute.

He longed for freedom, aspired to unrestricted exhilaration. No difficulty could alter his thoughts, nor could it destroy his will.

Yuan Ming shook his head, his mood gradually stabilizing, and he resumed studying the changes in the Stealing Heaven Tripod.

From what he understood so far, the transfer of Desire Power was greatly affected by distance; the farther apart, the more diluted the transferred Desire Power became.

Since Zhang Xiu was the closest to him, the Desire Power he transferred was much denser than others'.

To verify his guesses, Yuan Ming immediately began experimenting.

He left his dwelling and walked in the opposite direction from Zhang Xiu.

As expected, as Yuan Ming gradually distanced himself, the Desire Power transmitted from Zhang Xiu started to thin, and the sensation of its source became increasingly vague.

When he reached several miles outside Xiansha City, he completely lost sense of the source of the Desire Power.

"It seems the sensing range of the source of Desire Power is only thirty miles," Yuan Ming muttered.

Yuan Ming thought of something else and took out a stick of Black Incense, made from the Zhenling Sect Ancestral Hall Incense Ash, thickly entwined with Desire Power.

He activated his Divine Sense and touched it, but couldn't absorb it at all.

"It appears I can only absorb Desire Power targeted at myself, not that of others," Yuan Ming muttered.

In the Black Wind Desert, hot winds howled, pulling up clouds of dust.

Yuan Ming didn't linger outside the city. He turned to head back when suddenly, from behind him in the sandy soil, over a dozen blue lights shot out, aimed at his back.

A cold gleam surged in Yuan Ming's eyes, and his form unexpectedly soared into the air, then silently landed several meters away.

The blue lights missed their target and struck where Yuan Ming had been standing, but they were a dozen blue Ice Cones, exceedingly sharp.

A figure in a gray robe peeked from the origin of the blue lights, glaring menacingly at Yuan Ming, yellow light flashed over his body as he dived back underground, evidently another Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Naturally, Yuan Ming wouldn't let him escape. A strand of Divine Sense shot out from his forehead, employing the Dream Butterfly Illusion Technique.

The gray-robed man, who had just dived underground, suddenly stiffened. His fierce eyes became vacant as he burrowed out from the ground.

A flash of bloody sword light swept by, and the gray-robed man's head fell off, blood gushing out and staining the nearby sand.

Yuan Ming grabbed the man's Storage Bag, used the Fireball Technique to turn the body into ashes, then headed back to the city.

He had noticed this man lurking underground nearby, likely planning to ambush a Cultivator returning from treasure hunting or hunting beasts, intent on robbing and killing. For such people, he naturally wouldn't show mercy.

Nevertheless, being only a few miles from Xiansha City and yet someone was laying ambushes to kill, just as rumors stated, Black Wind Desert was indeed as chaotic and fraught with danger at every turn.

Yuan Ming quickly returned to his dwelling, his Divine Sense exploring the Storage Bag; inside were six or seven hundred Spirit Stones, a few ordinary Magic Artifacts, the highest being Mid Grade, and a dozen low-level talismans, nothing extraordinary.

But Yuan Ming was still quite pleased. If he ran out of Spirit Stones in the future, he considered taking a tour of the Black Wind Desert and killing some bandits; he might be able to cover his expenses.

He took all the Spirit Stones and talismans, inserted the Black Incense into the Stealing Heaven Tripod, sat cross-legged, and possessed the body of Zuo Qinghui's disciple.

That disciple of Zuo Qinghui was currently cultivating in Chang Chun Temple. Yuan Ming, using the Soul Seal, commanded him to inquire about Zuo Qinghui from the other disciples.

Yuan Ming's Moonlight Technique had broken through the Fourth Level, significantly enhancing his Divine Soul Power, easily imprinting the Soul Seal on him.

Zuo Qinghui often traveled outside, sometimes not returning for years, hence these disciples also seemed unaware of Zuo Qinghui's death, and Chang Chun Temple had yet to discover this fact.

After ending the possession, Yuan Ming felt a release. Although unsure how long he could keep this secret, at least for the short term, he didn't have to worry about anyone coming after him.

Moreover, now situated in the Black Wind Desert, the longer he could stall, the less likely Chang Chun Temple would find any clues or trace his whereabouts.

For the time being, Yuan Ming set aside his worries and continued to extract the Desire Power swirling around the Stealing Heaven Tripod, starting his cultivation.

Threads of Desire Power entered his Sea of Consciousness, slowly refining.

However, very soon, he felt waves of inexplicable and indescribable chaotic emotions surge through his mind, forcing him to temporarily stop absorbing and operate the "Moonlight Technique" to calm his mind.

After a long while, Yuan Ming finally freed himself from the emotional turmoil, glancing at the Stealing Heaven Tripod and sensing the swirling Desire Power, he couldn't help but sigh deeply.

This Desire Power was clearly right before his eyes, yet he simply couldn't take it away, truly frustrating.

He wondered when he would be able to break the golden rune restriction outside the tripod and probe into the Stealing Heaven Tripod's interior to absorb the refined Desire Power?

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