Yuan Ming pondered for a moment and decided to try again, focusing his thoughts on his father, repeatedly recalling in his mind, "Turn your head back, turn your head back..."

Having just sat down next to the beautiful woman in white after speaking, General Yuan picked up a cup of water to drink when he suddenly turned his head backward.

"Good, I'll immediately have Wang Shun take people to clean Ming'er's courtyard thoroughly again. Our family can finally be together. Hmm, what are you looking back at?" The woman in white, happy at the corners of her brows, saw General Yuan's action and asked with a frown.

"Did I look back..." General Yuan froze, realizing he had indeed turned his head back, his mind suddenly a bit confused.

"I'm talking to you about Ming'er's matter, can you concentrate!" The woman in white's expression darkened as she spoke.

"Understood, understood..." General Yuan, baffled and facing his wife's roar, quickly put down his teacup and nodded repeatedly.

Watching this scene, Yuan Ming felt a slight apology toward his father while simultaneously feeling surprise and delight. He could really influence his father's actions—could this also be caused by the incense ashes from the Liu Xin Sect?

"Ming'er has been missing for so long, the Emperor is also very worried. You should quickly send him this news to put his mind at ease," the woman in white continued their conversation.

"I have already sent people to pass on the message," General Yuan said.

"These two kids really... When Ming'er was initially rejected by the Chang Chun Temple and swore off the Immortal Path, the Emperor also decided not to pursue it. They are two stubborn and loyal kids," the woman in white recalled some past events, her expression becoming gentle.

"The Emperor has his own difficulties. His decision to not cultivate might not be entirely because of Ming'er. Once he enters the Foundation Establishment Stage, he'd have to abdicate to let a more virtuous person rule. The Emperor has yet to marry and has no offspring; once he abdicates, his lineage would likely be out of the succession," General Yuan said slowly as he picked up a cup of tea and began to drink.

Hearing this, Yuan Ming was taken aback; this was his first time learning that such a rule existed within the Da Jin Imperial Family.

"What of it? Thrones and powers are mere clouds passing by. Even if one sits at the pinnacle of glory, it ends up as a cup of loess a hundred years later. Only by cultivating to become an immortal does one hope to live as long as heaven and earth," the woman in white said.

"What Madam says is true. The Emperor has recently been absorbed in cultivation and has not been managing state affairs, leading to increasingly fierce power struggles in the court, which disturb me and halt any progress in my own cultivation," General Yuan remarked.

"Pursuing the Immortal Path is good, but having offspring is equally important. I've heard that reaching a high realm in cultivation makes having children very difficult. Should we arrange a marriage for Ming'er when he returns?" asked the woman in white, hesitating briefly.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming inwardly gave a wry smile.

His mother had always been arranging his matrimonial matters, having started looking for a wife for him before his mission to the Southern Border, and now she was thinking about it again.

"The worries of a mother for her child traveling a thousand miles," he thought. His disappearance had caused her endless worry, and now that she knew he was safe, she started thinking about this matter again.

Yuan Ming only wanted to focus on his cultivation and had no intention of marrying.

He used his thoughts to influence his father to oppose his mother's suggestion.

"Ming'er is still young; there seems to be no rush for him to marry," General Yuan indeed said what was on his mind.

Yuan Ming was overjoyed inside; the feeling of controlling others with his thoughts was truly gratifying and fun.

With this ability, the things he could do by possessing others in the future were boundless.

"What kind of words are these coming from a father? We cannot delay matters of marriage. I think the Prime Minister's younger daughter Lou Lan is quite suitable; she and Ming'er are childhood sweethearts, and I heard she also has a Spirit Root. Shall I send someone to inquire soon?" the woman in white, excited, chided her husband.

"Madam, please stop trying to matchmake. Ming'er has told me that Lou Lan from the Prime Minister's family has been devoted to the Emperor for many years; Ming'er and her are not suitable. Moreover, due to the Emperor neglecting his duties, the current court relations are complex—it's not a good time for Ming'er to marry. Let's discuss this matter later," General Yuan said with some concern.

Seeing her husband's serious expression, the woman in white did not pursue the matter further.

Yuan Ming, seeing his mother give up, also breathed a sigh of relief.

General Yuan and the woman in white then shifted to discussing some trivial family matters. Yuan Ming, feeling playful, continued to influence his father to interject with jokes, earning a good scolding from his mother.

Yuan Ming, watching his normally imposing and always stern father getting scolded, secretly chuckled to himself.

"Oh no, I got carried away with playing and forgot the purpose of this possession!" he reprimanded himself, attempting to use his thoughts to make his father discuss the assassination matter with his mother.

However, General Yuan showed no reaction this time and continued chatting about household affairs with his mother.

Yuan Ming frowned, wondering why it didn't work this time.

At that moment, darkness suddenly enveloped his vision—it was time for the possession to end, and when he awoke, his consciousness had returned to his own body.

Yuan Ming furrowed his brows in thought, pondering why his attempt to make his father discuss the assassination had failed.

After much contemplation, he realized a possibility: his father simply didn't know about the people from Chang Chun Temple coming to assassinate Yuan Ming.

Something his father was completely unaware of was naturally impossible for him to act upon.

"It seems that influencing the possessed with one's consciousness can't accomplish just anything," Yuan Ming thought to himself. What he could achieve would have to be tested in future possessions.

Yuan Ming's gaze shifted to the remaining incense ashes in his hands.

The sudden ability during the possession to influence his father was likely connected to these incense ashes.

He had been trying to use incense ashes for making incense for some time and gradually came to understand some things: the reason incense ashes could create magical spices was because they were transformed by the prayers and worship of people, initiating a peculiar change beyond his comprehension.

It was this peculiar change that made the spices made from incense ashes have miraculous effects.

Originally, according to Yuan Ming's conjecture, the more people who worshiped, the stronger this peculiar change would be, and the better the effect of the Black Incense possession.

However, the two recent possessions made him doubt whether this conjecture was valid.

As you know, the only worshipers in Iron Tiger Town were the Lord and his kin, whose numbers couldn't possibly exceed those of the incense burners at Jiuli Temple.

As for the Liu Xin Sect before him, it appeared not large in scale, even smaller than Biluo Cave, and the number of disciples could not possibly exceed the unending stream of incense burners at Jiuli Temple every day.

"Could it be because the incense tributors at Jiuli Temple are all mortals? There are cultivators at the Lord Mansion in Iron Tiger Town, and even more so, all the worshipers within the Liu Xin Sect are cultivators, hence the possession effect is the best?" Yuan Ming suddenly had this thought.

"Speaking of which, although the Liu Xin Sect has declined over the years, the accumulation of ash in this incense burner must be due to the accumulation over the years. The number of people who offered tributes in the past might not match Jiuli Temple, but perhaps the disciples' devout faith in the sect was much stronger."

Whether it was the previous conjectures or the current thought, they were preliminary speculations and would need to be slowly verified in the future.

Yuan Ming stood up, removed all the incense ashes from the incense burner, and left the Green Mountain, continuing towards the Eastern Domain.

A few days later, in a small city in the Eastern Domain, within a room at an inn, Yuan Ming sat cross-legged, scanning through several thick classics.

These were collected from the city, containing geographical and cultural records of the Eastern Domain.

Immortal Xuanhua had not told him where Xuanhua Temple was located, so Yuan Ming had to keep traveling while conducting his investigation.

After several days, he had not found Xuanhua Temple but had instead deepened his understanding of the Southern Border Eastern Domain.

The cultivation forces here in the Eastern Domain were similar to the Five Great Sects of the North Territory earlier, with four leading forces nearly managing the entire Eastern Domain cultivation world, one of which was indeed White Dragon Island.

These four major sects were powerful, and their actions were quite domineering. All the small to medium cultivation sects in the Eastern Domain were essentially vassals to these four forces.

Xuanhua Temple naturally did not belong to any of the four major sects; based on his conjectures, it was probably just one of the less famous, smaller sects.

However, there were significant differences in the secular aspects between the two regions.

The Eastern Domain did not divide power territories by families, but rather, the concept of a nation was stronger, likely influenced by the concepts from the Central Plains.

The country where Yuan Ming was currently located was called "Lie Country," which was considered a fairly large nation in the Southern Border Eastern Domain.

The books he was reading described the geography and famous landscapes of Lie Country, but unfortunately, even after reading to the end, he still could not find any trace of Xuanhua Temple.

Yuan Ming didn't mind. He picked up another book and continued reading.

He had his own methods to find Immortal Xuanhua; he just needed to wait a little longer.

Half a day later, Yuan Ming set aside the book in his hand, summoned the incense burner, and the Tai Chi pattern at the base of the burner was once again fully lit.

He deftly took out a stick of Black Incense, which was also made with Liu Xin Sect's incense ashes, and lit it in the incense burner.

Yuan Ming recalled the figure of Immortal Xuanhua in his mind, and his field of vision soon plunged into darkness.

When Yuan Ming's consciousness awakened, a dim stone chamber appeared before him, where Immortal Xuanhua was sitting, closed-eyed and cultivating.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Ming did not act rashly.

This time, possessing Immortal Xuanhua, he naturally wanted to figure out his location. Surprisingly, this person was also hidden in a secret chamber cultivating. Influencing him with intent might cause him to stand up, but that would disturb Immortal Xuanhua's cultivation.

Yuan Ming first observed the surroundings of the stone chamber. On the left side of Immortal Xuanhua, there was an incense burner, into which a purple Spirit Incense was inserted, emitting curling spirit smoke, seemingly similar to Qingxuan Incense, which could accelerate cultivation.

On the ground to his left was another incense burner, with a purple Spirit Incense emitting curling spirit smoke inside, seemingly a spirit incense similar to Qingxuan.

To the right side against the wall was a wide stone table, laden with a dazzling array of tools.

Ordinary people might not understand the uses of these tools, but Yuan Ming could tell that these were all tools for making incense, much more refined than the set of tools he had.

Yuan Ming carefully observed the surroundings, trying to deduce Immortal Xuanhua's location from some details. Unfortunately, the stone chamber was very ordinary, without any extra decorations, giving him no clues to work with.

"Well, if it causes a disturbance, so be it." He helplessly used his intent to influence Immortal Xuanhua, attempting to make him stand up and leave the stone chamber.

There was a slight ripple in Immortal Xuanhua's Sea of Consciousness, but it soon returned to calm, and his body continued to cultivate with closed eyes.

Yuan Ming inwardly smiled bitterly; it seemed that influencing Immortal Xuanhua was much more difficult than influencing his father.

This was normal; after the possession, he could sense the Divine Soul Power of both, and Immortal Xuanhua was indeed much stronger than his father.

Moreover, that purple Spirit Incense, besides accelerating cultivation, also stabilized the mind, reducing the impact of his intent to some extent.

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