Several days later, early morning.

Before 5 a.m. arrived, the clanking sounds of hammering emanated from the Fire Workshop.

In a casting house, steam rose in clouds as Yuan Ming, bare-chested, gripped the casting hammer and continuously struck the iron ingot on the anvil, bright red sparks scattering in all directions.

His expression was focused, his eyes locked onto the iron ingot, as if nothing else existed in his sight.

His arms and the casting hammer moved in seamless unison, what appeared to be merely a grasp was in fact the subtle operation of the Exorcism Technique, channeling Mana into the hammer, creating an extension of his body.

Yuan Ming hammered down one blow after another, increasing speed, inching closer to his target.

"Clang, clang, clang…"

The urgent sounds resonated like pearls dropping onto a jade plate, eventually forming a distinctive rhythm.

Eight hundred thirty-seven, eight hundred thirty-eight…

Nine hundred forty-one, nine hundred forty-two, nine hundred forty-three…

Sweat poured off Yuan Ming like oil, and large beads of sweat continuously rolled down from his forehead, splashing onto the ground with a patter.

"Almost there, just a bit more…" Yuan Ming clenched his teeth, murmuring insistently in his mind.

Nine hundred seventy-eight, nine hundred seventy-nine…

His arms had stiffened, the motion of swinging the hammer was starting to deform, yet he struggled to stay in control, ensuring not a single strike deviated.

But there are limits to human strength, eventually insurmountable by willpower alone.

At the nine hundred eighty-first hammer strike, what was once a clear and pleasant sound now carried an unwanted dullness.

Yuan Ming knew then that he had failed again.

He stopped his motions, refraining from any more meaningless hammer strikes, and watched as the iron ingot on the anvil slowly cooled.

The Fire Mink that had been watching by his side sensed Yuan Ming's disappointment and quickly ran up to him, reaching out with its paw to grab the casting hammer, seemingly wanting to help him continue forging.

Yuan Ming patted its head and smiled as he set aside the casting hammer.

He wasn't feeling lost, but reflective. His Divine Soul Power was not weak and his practice of the Exorcism Technique was relatively smooth, but there was still some distance to full integration, which was the main reason for his failure in refining the embryo.

At this moment, a figure approached from a distance, it was Fang Ge.

"Your progress has been faster than I imagined. To be able to hammer continuously nine hundred eighty-one times in just a few days is already enough to refine spirit beast saddles and bridles. You've surpassed most of the disciples at the Fire Refining Hall," he said upon reaching Yuan Ming.

"Thank you for the compliment, Senior Brother, but I'm still nineteen strikes short of that goal," Yuan Ming replied.

"A miss is as good as a mile. The difference might seem to be only nineteen strikes, but the actual distance is still far," Fang Ge nodded with a serious expression.

Yuan Ming was about to respond with further polite remarks but swallowed his words, feeling a bit awkward, wondering whether Fang Ge was there to encourage him or to belittle him.

"I understand, my gap isn't just a matter of nineteen strikes, but in strength, skill, and even the level of concentration, there's still much to improve," Yuan Ming reflected and then said.

"I can see that you don't truly enjoy Artifact Refining, so I'm a bit puzzled. The Master has specifically instructed that you don't need to sift and refine the embryo, why then are you still so persistent, even putting in more effort than others?" Fang Ge asked with a serious yet puzzled look on his face.

"Because I don't like taking detours," Yuan Ming replied, looking at his earnest Senior Brother.

"Hmm?" Fang Ge was even more puzzled.

"When faced with a mountain, I prefer to climb over it rather than go around it," Yuan Ming explained with a smile.

"Very well! With that attitude, you are very close to the goal of hammering a thousand times without pause," Fang Ge said, his face breaking into a smile upon hearing this.

...

At night.

A full moon hung in the western sky, pouring down bright, clear moonlight, casting its glow through the window.

Yuan Ming sat cross-legged with eyes closed in his room, holding an incense burner in his lap, enveloped in a hazy light as he cultivated the "Moonlight Technique."

The Little Fire Mink comfortably leaned against his feet, eyes half-closed, in a state between sleep and wakefulness.

Yuan Ming practiced Inner Observation with Divine Thought and could clearly see the Inner Scenery of his Sea of Consciousness; he had almost completely suppressed the hidden dangers from cultivating the Fur Cloak Technique.

The dark red mist that permeated his Sea of Consciousness now obediently retreated to the fringes, daring not to cause further trouble.

Yuan Ming manipulated the Magic Formulas with his hands, silently reciting the spell of the Moonlight Technique in his heart, as Divine Thought began to gather and power increasingly converged.

Suddenly, a thought emerged, and the Divine Power surged out of the Sea of Consciousness, exploring through the meridians around his body.

He sought to accomplish Inner Observation of all meridians.

As the Divine Power shot forth, it split into two channels, entering the Ren and the Du meridians.

These two are the largest Yin and Yang meridians of the human body; upon entering them with Divine Thought, he could clearly see the Ren meridian traveling down from the forehead, past the temple, tip of the nose, throat, into the chest, and all the way down to the crotch.

Each acupoint along its path was like a station on a postal route, each lit by its own lamp.

In the Du meridian, Divine Thought observed from behind the head, along the spine, all the way down, as if traversing the Great Wall, flanked by beacon towers at each acupoint, blazing with roaring fires.

As his Divine Thought split and ventured down both meridians, Yuan Ming felt a faint pain in his head, but it was still within a tolerable range.

Yet beyond these two branches, there still remained seven meridians on the face and head: the Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming, the Gallbladder Meridian of Foot Shaoyang, the Bladder Meridian of Foot Taiyang, the Large Intestine Meridian of Hand Yangming, the Sanjiao Meridian of Hand Shaoyang, the Small Intestine Meridian of Hand Taiyang, and the Liver Meridian of Foot Jueyin.

Divine Thought similarly needed to enter these seven meridians simultaneously, which meant it had to split into seven paths.

In order for his practice of the Moonlight Technique to progress, Yuan Ming steeled his heart, and a thought suddenly emerged.

The next instant, seven streams of his scattered Divine Thought simultaneously entered these meridians, beginning the process of Inner Observation.

For a moment, the inner scenery of each meridian and every major acupoint became clearly visible within Yuan Ming's mind.

Yuan Ming's head felt as if it was about to explode, a wave of unbearable pain surging forth.

He clenched his teeth, forcibly suppressing the urge to open his eyes and give up on the continued assault, but his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

This was the spasm of muscles triggered by intense pain.

The Little Fire Mink by his feet, awakened by Yuan Ming's abnormal condition, couldn't help but open its eyes.

It saw Yuan Ming's pale face, sweating forehead, and trembling body, and couldn't help but squeak anxiously.

Just then, it suddenly saw a silver shadow stand up on the ancient pine outside the window and arched its back, baring its teeth and grimacing in that direction.

The shadow moved with an elegant stride, gradually emerging from the tree shadow, revealing a coat of soft silver-white fur under the moonlight that exuded a noble and elegant air.

The Little Fire Mink, despite the silver cat's beautiful appearance, did not relax its guard, and flames even flickered in its bared teeth.

However, the silver cat was completely unconcerned by its threatening postures, and continued to walk with elegant steps along the branches, leaping lightly onto the windowsill.

Just as the Fire Mink felt threatened and was about to attack, its eyes suddenly met the heterochromatic pupils of the silver cat.

A mesmerizing and bewitching glow lit up in those pupils, and the Little Fire Mink found its sight distorted, as if it were gazing at a small mountain made of Fire Crystal Stones and Fire Jade.

Its eyes entranced, the corners of its mouth involuntarily curled up in a smile-like arc, but it seemed to remember Yuan Ming was in danger, and forcefully struggled to resist the temptation.

But as those Fire Crystal Stones and Fire Jade "rattled" down towards it, it couldn't resist the temptation and pounced forward helplessly.

It was not that it lacked backbone; there were simply too many Fire Crystal Stones.

The silver cat glanced at the Little Fire Mink rolling on the ground and sticking out its tongue licking the air, eyes full of disdain.

Afterward, her gaze landed on Yuan Ming.

By this point, Yuan Ming was more than just pale; his forehead was tightly furrowed with an expression of intense pain.

His Divine Sense had almost completely surged forth, aiming to traverse all meridians in one go and then rush straight to the Dantian, incorporating all three inner sceneries into his Inner Observation and completing a thorough self-examination.

But halfway through, he felt his dispersed Divine Sense starting to falter.

"Could it be that the intensity of Divine Thought is insufficient?" Yuan Ming wondered.

After just a moment of hesitation, the remaining Divine Power within his Sea of Consciousness began to bifurcate and surge towards his meridians.

The inner scenery observed by Yuan Ming's Divine Sense suddenly expanded, and all twelve regular meridians, as well as the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, became completely transparent to his Inner Observation in an instant.

"Fool."

At that moment, the voice of the silver cat abruptly rose within Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness.

Yuan Ming was startled and felt that the voice was very different from before, seeming distant and ethereal.

Before he could respond, his mind suddenly emptied, a strong, chaotic killing intent surged within his Sea of Consciousness, uncontrollable.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the previously suppressed dark red mist began to spread wildly, no longer restrained by the power of Divine Sense, and started to erode Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness thoroughly.

And Yuan Ming's Divine Thought spread throughout his meridians, like generals battling outside, was caught off-guard, and didn't have time to return to the rescue.

Just as his Sea of Consciousness was about to be completely overrun, a clear moonlight enveloped him and a mysterious chanting resonated in his ears.

In his Sea of Consciousness, which was being eroded, a light suddenly shone, and the dark red mist was immediately repelled.

Yuan Ming finally got a moment's respite, and his Divine Thought quickly began to retract back to his Sea of Consciousness, stabilizing after some time.

His eyes suddenly opened, the whites laced with blood vessels, his body already drenched in cold sweat.

Yuan Ming's gaze was focused; he glanced at the Little Fire Mink rolling on the floor before turning his attention to the windowsill.

A beautiful and mysterious silver cat sat gracefully on the windowsill, looking at him with disdainful heterochromatic eyes, just as it had earlier at the foolish Little Fire Mink.

"Thank you," Yuan Ming stood up and thanked the silver cat.

The silver cat glanced at the incense burner he held in his hand, paying no heed, hesitated for a moment, then turned to leave.

"Wait," Yuan Ming said quickly, gesturing for the cat to stay.

The silver cat paused, hesitated briefly, and then turned halfway to look back.

"Your previous gift of the Moonlight Technique, did you see that I had a backlash from the Fur Cloak Technique and that you did it on purpose?" Yuan Ming asked.

"You're not completely hopeless... not entirely foolish," the silver cat finally responded, but her tone was still far from kind.

"I see, it seems I owe you a favor," Yuan Ming said sincerely, undeterred.

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