Chapter 493 – Fragrant Bait for Eunuchs, Receiving a Ghost Hammer From the Green Lotus - Part 3

That night.

Ying Zhuoyao was pulled through a door into a mountain cave by Li Yuan. There was no surprise in her eyes. Instead, she dipped her head with elegance, and greeted him with respectful calm, “Senior.”

Li Yuan’s voice rumbled low. “Cult Leader Ying.”

Ying Zhuoyao gave a soft smile, her gaze dreamy and veiled like mist over jade. “Just Miss Ying is fine.”

Her fair complexion was flawless and immaculate. That pristine elegance, once seen on the battlefield, had been the nightmare of her enemies when she led the ghost cavalry.

Silence filled the cave.

Then Ying Zhuoyao spoke again, voice as light as wind through reeds. “My master isn’t picky about allies. Whether it’s someone from the Eastern Sea’s Arcane Supreme Sect...or someone else entirely.”

Li Yuan studied her quietly. Truth be told, he hadn’t given this matter too much thought before. But now that she’d brought it up...it didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

“Why?” he asked.

She smiled again, sweet and charming. “The Arcane Supreme Sect thinks we don’t see through their little games, but my master sees all too clearly. Pit three great ghost domains against each other, then play judge, jury, and executioner. In the end, everything still dances to

their

tune.”

Her smile faded. Her expression turned cold.

“I told my master that this path is too passive. Too dangerous. But I also said...we didn’t have a choice.”

Her fingers folded neatly in front of her, resting atop her green robe like a noble lady at court. Then, quietly, she looked at Li Yuan with those eyes, clear as polished jade.

However, Li Yuan already knew the truth.

From Yan Yu, he’d learned the story behind jade husks. And with that, coupled with what he’d uncovered about the memory loss of the Wolfmother, it wasn’t hard to piece it all together.

This woman before him—this commanding, alluring leader of the Green Lotus Cult—was, at her core...a

tragic

figure. She was a puppet with broken strings trying to dance like she wasn’t.

Li Yuan paused for a breath, then rumbled, “Go on.”

Ying Zhuoyao said, “A man strong enough to kill Wei Huosheng, yet willing to sit here and listen to me. Senior, you don’t strike me as someone from the Western Extremes.”

Li Yuan replied, “Every land has more than one voice.”

She tilted her head. “And what voice do you speak with?”

He thought for a moment. Then answered, “My fate belongs to me, not to Heaven.”

“Exactly what my master always says.” Ying Zhuoyao’s smile returned, bright and brilliant.

She took a step forward, voice growing firmer. “The world is chaotic. Turmoil everywhere. History has already begun to roll forward like a giant wheel. And on this speeding cart, if you want to avoid falling off and being crushed into the dust, then you have to seize the reins. Wouldn’t you agree, Senior?”

“...” Li Yuan fell silent for a moment, then simply responded, “Yes.”

Ying Zhuoyao’s tone turned gentle. “Then...would you be willing to work with us?”

Li Yuan answered, “I can help you swallow up other ghost domains. With me, no blockade will hold. No barrier will stop you. But what’s in it for me?”

“Fearless soldiers, and weapons beyond imagination.” Ying Zhuoyao said.

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes. “What kind of weapons?”

“Would Senior be willing to meet my master?” she replied.

Li Yuan had already gone toe-to-toe with Happyland Zoo. As for this forbidden zone of Swallow Cloud Province, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it, but he wasn’t afraid either.

Besides...lately, something inside him had been stirring. A frustration he couldn’t quite shake. It was as if power surged through his body—power he

knew

was there—but he was wielding it in the most primitive way possible.

When he’d fought that man in the yellow armor, he should’ve been able to crush him outright. And yet, because the enemy had prepared in advance, the fight ended in a draw. Both sides had retreated.

He was getting tired of that. He needed weapons suited to his level. He needed

skills

suited to his level.

It was time to evolve, from brute force back to precision.

So when Ying Zhuoyao mentioned

weapons

, of course it caught his interest.

“The Ghost Lake isn’t easy to enter. It’s filled with danger,” Li Yuan said flatly. “I’ve already shown good faith. Shouldn’t you offer a little sincerity in return?”

Ying Zhuoyao replied, “Our sincerity...lies in the weapon my master keeps hidden. But that weapon is still in its resting place. If you want it, Senior, you’ll have to take it yourself.”

“What kind of weapon?” Li Yuan’s voice was calm, but direct.

The conversation had come full circle, back to the very first question.

He then added, “If I’m expected to take it by my own strength, then I should at least know if it’s

worth

the trouble.”

Ying Zhuoyao was silent for a moment. Then said, “It’s a unique iron hammer. A hammer that can steal the lifespan of others and forge their remaining years into a weapon.”

“...” Li Yuan froze. His thoughts immediately turned to the Ghost Hammer in his inventory. His pulse quickened. Could the hammer be a native artifact of this Ghost Lake?

He’d already asked Pang Yuanhua and Yan Yu to investigate it, but they'd come up with nothing. That had made him suspect the Ghost Hammer might be a lost relic of a now-vanished ghost domain.

But if that were the case...how was it still

working

? There was only one explanation. The place that birthed it...still existed. And that happened to be the Ghost Lake.

As for why no one could trace its origin? That, too, made sense now. No one could pry a secret artifact from the hands of a great ghost domain’s master.

“So, Senior? What do you think?” Ying Zhuoyao asked gently.

“Steal years of life? Forge weapons out of time itself?” Li Yuan gave a cold chuckle.

“Have you ever heard of

Master Li?

” Ying Zhuoyao replied.

“Speak.” Li Yuan’s voice dropped.

“Master Li forged the famed sword Sun and Moon Aloft. That legendary weapon...was crafted using a hammer that had been lost from the ghost domain,” Ying Zhuoyao explained.

“From what I know, Master Li was a hidden figure with many identities, a man of terrifying talent. But in forging a demonic weapon, he burned through his own lifespan. In the end, he died bitterly in the Western Extremes, his body consumed by the withered flames.

“

You’re

from the Western Extremes, Senior. You even

happen

to command the Withered Flame yourself. Surely you’ve heard the tale of the old Khagan. If so...then you know I’m telling the truth.” Ying Zhuoyaou smiled lightly.

“A shame. He could’ve gone far...” Li Yuan said quietly, unfazed.

Ying Zhuoyao watched him closely, but his nonchalance didn’t surprise her. It only confirmed her suspicions further.

Truthfully, she had done her homework before this meeting. She’d dug deep and researched carefully, yet none of the information she brought seemed to rattle him in the slightest.

This could only mean one thing. The figure before her was one of the elusive gods of the Western Extremes or that very

Master Li

himself. As for which it was? It didn’t matter.

She bowed slightly and continued, “Senior, the Ghost Hammer used by Master Li was just an old prototype. The one my master forged now...is far more refined, its efficiency far greater. With it, even ordinary mortals can forge their fleeting lifespans into legendary weapons.

“And more than that...I can become yours. I can work for you. Raise an army of fearless soldiers for you. After all, the ghost cavalry...were my creation.”

“People from the Immortal Domain will still come.” Li Yuan said.

“And?” Ying Zhuoyao smiled faintly. “They’re out in the open. You’re in the shadows. An alliance in the light...doesn’t stop another in the dark. When the time comes, we may need you, Senior, to tip the scales they’re trying to balance. Am I right, Senior?”

Li Yuan paused, thoughtful for a moment, then simply said, “Let’s go.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The next night.

Somewhere deep underground in Swallowcloud Province, a vast cavern stretched into the earth, its stone walls slick with cold, damp air that pressed in like a weight on the chest.

Scarlet flames burned silently along the walls, casting a hellish glow that seemed less like illumination and more like a ceremony—for a guest not of this world, but of something darker, deeper.

Li Yuan descended the stairs step by step, and, perhaps to ease his guard, Ying Zhuoyao walked ahead of him, leading the way.

At this level of the game, anyone worth their salt knew just how invaluable a jade husk was to a ghost domain.

Ordinary ghosts, even if they gained sentience, were still too dim-witted to hold power. However, a jade husk could act as their

brain

, a true vessel for will and command.

This also meant cultivating a jade husk was incredibly difficult.

So in this moment, Ying Zhuoyao herself was the hostage. The insurance. She stood ahead of him, unguarded, fully aware of the risk.

Soon, they arrived at the underground lake.

The water here wasn’t truly water. It moved with the slowness and weight of molten metal, dark and silent. Beneath its surface, vague human-like shapes could be seen drifting up and down, like the drowned or the damned.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

A strange, rhythmic pounding echoed from the darkness.

Then, emerging from the shadows, came a massive coffin. It was grand, gilded, almost regal... A floating fortress of death, drifting slowly across the lake’s surface like a luxurious barge meant for royalty long since dead.

As the coffin neared the shore, silence fell over the cavern like a death shroud.

Creak!

The lid shifted just slightly. The nearby torchlight, red and flickering, lit everything around it but could not penetrate the coffin’s interior.

It was like the mouth of an abyss had opened.

From that pitch-black slit, a hand reached out clad entirely in shards of white jade. It wasn’t rotted. Not even dead. The flesh was pale and flawless, more pristine than life itself. It looked like the hand of a statue carved from the finest white jade by a divine artisan.

And in that hand...lay a hammer. An iron hammer. Half as tall as a man, with a handle twisted into shape by two blackened, contorted legs, an exact match to the Ghost Hammer in Li Yuan’s Equipment Box.

But unlike his, this one had more. At the base of the handle, two pale, skeletal arms wrapped around each other in a tight spiral, forming a pair of cupped hands at the bottom. Ten white fingers interlaced like the petals of an unopened flower bud.

The hand held the hammer out from the coffin. And then, it stilled. No movement. No sound.

Ying Zhuoyao glanced at Li Yuan, then respectfully stepped back and bowed. “Senior, if you please.”

Li Yuan understood immediately. This was a

test

. A trial to see if he was worthy.

He looked once more at the blood-red question mark that was this ghost hammer, then down at the greyed out one he already possessed.

Without a word, a golden avatar stepped forth from his body. Too large for the cave, it hunched over to fit beneath the ceiling as it extended a hand toward the hammer.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

Instantly, Li Yuan’s avatar began to break down, its Yang energy unraveling like steam from hot iron dropped in snow.

But Li Yuan didn’t flinch. He was made of Yang. The loss was intense, yes, but far from fatal.

Then, like a sudden winter wind, a sharp coldness pierced the chamber. It was icy, ancient, and hostile.

CRACK!

With a sound like a bite, a large chunk of the golden avatar was torn away. Just like the moment he’d once caught the ghost child during their deadly game of hide and seek.

But this too...didn’t matter. It couldn’t touch the real Li Yuan. Perhaps realizing this, the pale jade hand slowly released the hammer.

The weapon dropped without a sound, landing on the ground with unnatural softness like falling into snow.

And then, the coffin lid slid shut again with a low groan.

The ghost-lake rippled once, then the coffin began to recede, drifting silently into the depths.

Li Yuan stepped forward and grasped the

new model

of the ghost hammer.

Ying Zhuoyao followed him, her voice calm as she began to explain its design.

The upper half of the hammer was meant for forging weapons. Li Yuan was already familiar with that.

But the lower half...was meant for

harvesting life

.

Once activated, the interlaced white fingers at the base would unfurl like a flower. If the hammer so much as touched a target, the open fingers would begin to draw out their lifespan endlessly and relentlessly.

A proper forbidden skill, no doubt. But still far better than burning his

own

lifespan to forge a weapon.

Li Yuan couldn’t help but wonder why something as blacksmith-like as this hammer would be hidden inside a coffin in the depths of a haunted lake. But after a moment, the thought passed. Great ghost domains like this often collected countless strange entities. One of them being a smith wasn’t that surprising.

When Li Yuan and Ying Zhouyao emerged from Ghost Lake, the sky was still dark.

Ying Zhuoyao stood on the barren plain and suddenly asked, “Senior...if I need to find you again, how should I do it?”

Li Yuan replied, “Find Peng Mi. I check in on him from time to time.”

“Understood.” She nodded with a bow, then smiled. “In a few days...that woman from the White Lotus Cult should come looking for you, too.”

“She’s a jade husk too?” Li Yuan asked, feigning casual interest.

“No,” Ying Zhuoyao said.

“Then what is she?”

That question hung in the air.

It was a test.

Li Yuan knew Ying Zhuoyao had intel on Bai Lianjue’s true background. The only question was...would she share it?

She paused only for a few breaths, then replied, “I suspect...she’s from the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain. But the Eastern Sea isn’t ruled by a single sect. I don’t know exactly who she is, or whether she’s friend or foe to the Arcane Supreme Sect.”

Li Yuan smiled. “That’s a good start.”

Ying Zhuoyao smiled back. “To a smooth partnership, then.”

With that, the two parted ways.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

As Li Yuan flew off, the ghost hammer shimmered once, vanishing neatly into his Equipment Box.

A new entry appeared with a soft glow.

「

Equipment 4: North Dipper Hammer

」

The fact that it could be stored confirmed it wasn’t cursed or unstable. But the name...that was the odd part.

North Dipper?

That was the name of a constellation from his world before crossing over.

Why would

this

hammer be named after that?

In ancient belief, the North Dipper governed

death

, while the South Dipper governed

life

.

[1]

And the pale, grasping hands at the base of the hammer was clearly meant to steal life.

“Fitting, I guess.” Li Yuan chuckled. Still, the connection nagged at him. Too coincidental? Or something deeper? He shook his head, unsure, but eventually decided to drop it for now.

Taking advantage of the night, he quickly flew back home.

Xie Yu was still awake, waiting for him.

After a bath, he climbed into bed, and the two leaned quietly against each other.

Li Yuan let his thoughts wander. He’d originally planned to slowly work his way into the Mountain Hall, feel things out, and play it safe.

But now...wasn’t there a real chance that he could just take the North Dipper Hammer, melt down the three banners and the Earthfire Sword left behind by Wei Huosheng, and forge a weapon fit for himself?

Then, with one decisive strike—no more games, no more schemes, just raw, unstoppable force—he could just end it all? No more backroom maneuvering. No more flies buzzing around rotten politics. Just one blow. One slash.

Maybe...he’d try it tomorrow.

He didn’t know how to forge a third rank weapon, but he

did

know how to make a fourth rank one.

All that mattered now was whether the sword and the banners could endure the years of life he was about to pour into them.

Sure, he’d put a lot of time into careful planning. But if brute force could bulldoze everything in one go...why not?

1. Going to stick with the Chinese terms here instead of localizing it to the Big Dipper and Sagittarius because we’re specifically referencing Chinese mythology. ☜