Realm of the Night God

After a month's time, Yang Haoran's injuries had completely healed. The grim wounds on his body had vanished without a trace, not even leaving behind a scar.

The soul pill within his body had naturally been fully refined long ago, and his strength had significantly increased due to this soul pill.

Soul pills were valuable treasures, but unfortunately, they were quite rare. Aside from exchanging souls for soul pills, as a Burial Master, Yang Haoran only received three soul pills a year, and he had to reserve one of these three for his subordinate, Night Watch.

Yang Haoran desired to enhance his strength, and soul pills were the quickest and most reliable way. However, the quantity of soul pills obtainable from the Yin Division was limited, so he became increasingly eager to refine his own soul pills.

During this period, Yang Haoran's communication with Xu Meijing became more frequent. Since their last meeting, it seemed their relationship had progressed further, at least from Yang Haoran's perspective.

During their regular conversations, Xu Meijing informed him that the soul-refining cauldron was in the process of being made. However, it would still take some time to complete. She promised to notify him as soon as it was finished.

Yang Haoran couldn't help but feel a bit excited about this. After all, having the soul-refining cauldron as Underworld Envoys was akin to having a cheat code in a game. The benefits were self-evident. However, they needed to use the soul-refining cauldron discreetly; otherwise, they risked being banned if their actions were exposed.

During this period, the serpent demon Bai Xue had recovered considerably from her injuries, although she still had a ways to go before complete recovery. Her prolonged recovery was due to her injuries being far more severe than Yang Haoran's.

She had already been injured before encountering the demon hunter, and the encounter only worsened her condition. She had come close to losing her life. This indicated the severity of her injuries, making complete recovery far from simple.

In theory, she should have left the grocery store by now, considering her improved condition compared to when she first met Yang Haoran. However, despite Yang Haoran urging her several times, she insisted on staying until her injuries were fully healed.

With no other choice, Yang Haoran allowed the serpent demon to stay. After all, the room was empty anyway, and as long as the serpent demon didn't cause trouble by preying on people, extending her stay was inconsequential.

Despite the serpent demon staying, Yang Haoran didn't focus much attention on her. Instead, he spent most of his days locked in his study, rarely venturing out. As for the grocery store, he hadn't stepped foot outside it at all.

Yang Haoran's study had undergone some changes during this time. Previously, there were only a few books in the study, but now, the shelves were filled with books.

These books were collected by Master Wu through various means. They ranged from bizarre spiritual phenomena to records of various religious sects and figures, legends of monsters and demons from different regions, and even some exorcism techniques.

During this period, Yang Haoran devoted a considerable amount of time to reading. However, he had barely scratched the surface of the books here.

Apart from reading, he spent more time practicing talisman crafting.

Today, as usual, Yang Haoran locked himself in his study early in the morning, repeating the two tasks he had been doing every day: reading and crafting talismans.

When tired of crafting talismans, he turned to reading, and when tired of reading, he resumed crafting talismans, repeating these two tasks.

At this moment, Yang Haoran looked at the talisman in front of him with a contented smile on his face. The desk was littered with talismans he had crafted, but all of them were failures, serving no purpose.

However, the ghost slaying talisman before Yang Haoran was a success—a talisman crafted by his own hands.

Picking up the talisman, Yang Haoran carefully inspected it. Once he confirmed its accuracy, a proud smile adorned his face.

"Heh, it's been nearly a year, and I've finally succeeded in crafting my first talisman."

Yang Haoran sighed with a mixture of relief and satisfaction. Throughout the year, his primary focus had been on studying the art of talisman crafting, but the ratio of effort to reward was disproportionate. Apart from successfully cultivating the power seed of a talisman master, he hadn't managed to craft a single talisman. Even relatively simple talismans like the ghost slaying talisman had eluded him until today.

Nevertheless, he maintained a positive mindset and refused to be discouraged. On the contrary, whenever he had spare time, he devoted himself to crafting talismans. As the saying goes, perseverance pays off. At this moment, he had finally crafted the first talisman of his life.

The successful crafting of this ghost slaying talisman meant that he had acquired another identity: that of a talisman master.

However, this title of talisman master had no connection to the Fu Sect, nor did he worship the deity of the Fu Sect or its ancestors.

He wasn't even devout to the Death God of the Yin Division, let alone the Fu ancestor of the Fu Sect. Compared to truly devout believers, he fell far short.

Devout believers were willing to sacrifice their lives for their faith, but he couldn't do that. At most, he offered incense and prayers, often skipping even these daily rituals when busy.

In contrast to devout believers, this Yin Division's Underworld Envoy, Yang Haoran, was far from devout, and he was increasingly unlike a believer altogether.

If he couldn't even devote himself to the Death God of the Yin Division, how could Yang Haoran become a believer of the Fu Sect? Even though he had finally become a talisman master, it couldn't change his inner beliefs.

Yang Haoran did have faith, but he only believed in one person: himself.

Just as he became a talisman master, Yang Haoran felt quite pleased. However, before he could fully appreciate the fruit of his efforts, a knock sounded at the door.

"Uncle Yang, it's Xiaokang," came Xiaokang's voice along with the knocking.

"What brings you here, Xiaokang?" Yang Haoran asked in confusion.

"There's an aunt downstairs who wants to see you. She says she's your friend," Xiaokang replied.

"An aunt? A friend?" Yang Haoran frowned, his face filled with curiosity.

He didn't know who the aunt Xiaokang referred to was, but since she had come to visit and claimed to be a friend, it was only natural to meet her.

"Sure, please bring her to the study," Yang Haoran responded.

With a word of acknowledgment, Xiaokang ran downstairs. The hallway echoed with the sound of his footsteps.

The ghost slaying talisman in his hand disappeared as Yang Haoran stored it in a separate space. Then, he switched his internal power seed, causing runic symbols to appear and disappear on his forehead, replaced by the Death Mark Seal.

As the Death Mark Seal appeared on his forehead, his Yin spirit power began to circulate within him again, shrouding his body in Yin Qi. The temperature in the study dropped instantly due to the emergence of Yin Qi, making the room chilly.

Meanwhile, his Talisman Spirit Power was sealed within him, no longer perceptible.

The Death Mark Seal only manifested for a moment before hiding on his forehead, invisible to the naked eye.

A mix of heavy and light footsteps approached in the hallway. Yang Haoran knew Xiaokang should be bringing the aunt he mentioned upstairs. Glancing at the clutter on his desk, he waved his hand, swiftly storing everything in the separate space to deal with later.

Another knock sounded, but this time, Xiaokang didn't speak. Yang Haoran removed the restriction barrier in the study and said, "Come in."

The door opened, and Xiaokang led a woman into the room. Seeing her, Yang Haoran was momentarily stunned before regaining his composure, his face lighting up with his trademark smile.

As the woman entered the study, she looked around with curiosity before turning her gaze to Yang Haoran.

Seeing Yang Haoran seated at the desk, the woman smiled and greeted him.

"Long time no see, little brother."

Yang Haoran's expression remained unchanged as he returned the greeting with a smile.

"Long time no see, Ren Min."

"Yes, it's been quite a few years. Are you happy or surprised to see me today?" Ren Min sighed, then smiled as she asked Yang Haoran.

"Heh, what do you think?" Yang Haoran replied with a smile.

"I think... you must be both surprised and happy to see me, so don't pretend to be calm in front of me," Ren Min said with a smile, thinking she had seen through everything.

Yang Haoran smiled faintly, then glanced at Xiaokang, saying, "Xiaokang, you can go about your business."