Yuan Ming steadied himself, took a moment to regulate his breathing, and waited until midnight. He then took out a stick of Black Incense, intending to possess one of the disciples who had followed Zuo Qinghui in Xiaohu City to see if Changchun Temple was aware of Zuo Qinghui’s situation.

Although he was now in the Black Wind Desert, he still needed to keep tabs on Changchun Temple. Otherwise, if they came looking for him, he would be caught off guard.

However, when he took out the Stealing Heaven Cauldron, he was suddenly stunned. He sensed a wish power more intense than any he had ever felt before, wrapping around the cauldron like tentacles. Yuan Ming was greatly surprised. In the past, wish power had always been like thin threads. Why was this wish power so dense?

He tried to envelop this wish power with his spiritual consciousness and sent it into his sea of consciousness. He discovered that this wish power contained emotions of worship, longing, inferiority, and worry.

As he refined and absorbed this wish power, he vaguely sensed its source, which was not far from him, seemingly within Quicksand City.

Yuan Ming showed a look of joy and released the transparent soul crow from his sea of consciousness, sending it straight to the source of the wish power.

The transparent soul crow could travel much farther than ordinary soul crows, move faster, and change forms, making it more suitable for reconnaissance. Although this crow had its own consciousness, its soul power was the same as Yuan Ming’s, allowing him to share its five senses. “Quicksand City, Zhang Yu’s residence.”

As the steward of Quicksand City, Zhang Yu, though a mortal, had the privilege of living in the inner city. This status was passed down from his grandfather, and whenever he mentioned it, he felt immensely grateful that his grandfather had found such a good master.

He had worked in the City Lord’s Mansion for over thirty years, married, and had children. Now, seeing his son grow up, he thought it was time to train him to take over.

But his son, Zhang Xiu, was particularly resistant to his father’s suggestion.

“Bang!” Zhang Yu roughly pushed open the door and saw his son hurriedly hiding a book. He was instantly furious. “You little brat! I told you to learn accounting from Uncle Li, and you dared to lie about being sick to read idle books here. Hand it over!”

“Father, I don’t want to learn those things,” Zhang Xiu said with a tearful face. He was only thirteen or fourteen, with a face full of youth. His black hair was tied haphazardly, showing that he didn’t usually take care of it. Notably, there was a clear burn mark near his left ear, resembling a raging tornado. Zhang Yu quickly stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Xiu, and snatched the hidden book from his hand. The cover read “Sheng Gongzi’s Eastern Travels” in bold characters. “If you don’t learn accounting, how will you take over my job? Do you think reading these idle books will help you serve the City Lord?”

Zhang Yu scolded him harshly and tore the book in half.

Seeing his beloved book torn, Zhang Xiu became agitated and lunged at his father, grabbing the remnants of the book.

“I don’t want to follow your path, nor do I want to stay in this wretched place as a steward. I just want to go out and see the world. Why can’t you understand and let me be free?” Zhang Xiu cried, holding the torn book.

Zhang Yu looked at his son with disappointment. “Xiu’er, you’re too naive. Do you know how many people in this city would kill for this position you disdain?”

Zhang Xiu sobbed silently.

“Sigh, when you grow up, you’ll understand. I’m doing this for your own good. Being born in the Black Wind Desert, it’s already a blessing to follow in my footsteps.”

Seeing this, Zhang Yu couldn’t bear it and sighed. Zhang Xiu looked up, his eyes filled with a dim hope. “Father, is there really no other path for me?”

“Child, accept your fate. In this world, only those exalted cultivators can truly be free. We mortals have no choice,” Zhang Yu said, shaking his head. Zhang Xiu lowered his head in disappointment, tears welling up in his eyes but held back.

With that, Zhang Yu left the room.

Watching his father’s slightly hunched back, Zhang Xiu couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow. He staggered and fell onto the bed, lifting the torn “Sheng Gongzi’s Eastern Travels.” Memories of the stories and the magnificent scenes described in the book flashed through his mind, blurring his vision. Outside the window, the transparent soul crow witnessed everything and then burrowed into the ground.

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

The wish power of the Stealing Heaven Cauldron came from people who had read his book, no wonder it was filled with emotions of worship and longing.

So, the previous wish power absorbed by the Stealing Heaven Cauldron likely also came from his readers.

Yuan Ming recalled the argument between Zhang Xiu and his father, his mind filled with thoughts.

He, Yuan Ming, from a prisoner in the Southern Border to a wanderer in the desert, had experienced the feeling of being “helpless.” What difference was there between mortals and cultivators? Ultimately, everyone was trapped in this world’s great prison, struggling and toiling, with few able to escape their fate. Freedom was a luxury for the strong and a dream for the weak.

His previous refusal to join Changchun Temple and his battle with Zuo Qinghui were all for the sake of freedom.

Yuan Ming’s confused gaze gradually became firm.

He longed for freedom, for the joy of going wherever he pleased. No matter the difficulties, nothing could change his mind or destroy his will. Yuan Ming shook his head.

Calming his emotions, he began to study the changes in the Stealing Heaven Cauldron again.

From what he had observed, the transmission of wish power was greatly affected by distance. The farther away, the thinner the wish power. Zhang Xiu was the closest, so his wish power was much denser than others. To verify his assumptions, Yuan Ming immediately started an experiment. He left his residence and walked in the opposite direction of Zhang Xiu.

Sure enough, as Yuan Ming moved farther away, the wish power from Zhang Xiu became thinner, and his sense of its source grew fainter.

When he reached a few miles outside Quicksand City, he could no longer sense the source of the wish power.

It seemed the distance to sense the source of wish power was only thirty miles.

Yuan Ming thought to himself.

He then took out a stick of Black Incense, made from the ashes of the Precious Spirit Sect’s ancestral hall, which was rich in wish power. He tried to absorb it with his spiritual consciousness but couldn’t.

“It seems I can only absorb wish power directed at me. Other people’s wish power is useless,” Yuan Ming thought.

The hot wind howled in the Black Wind Desert, kicking up dust. Yuan Ming didn’t stay outside the city for long and turned to head back. Suddenly, a dozen blue lights shot out from the sand behind him, aiming at his back.

Yuan Ming’s eyes flashed with cold light, and he leaped into the air without warning, landing silently a few yards away.

The blue lights missed and embedded themselves in the ground where Yuan Ming had stood. They were a dozen blue ice spikes, looking extremely sharp.

A gray-robed figure peeked out from where the blue lights had come, glaring at Yuan Ming. A yellow light flashed across his body, and he burrowed back into the ground. Judging by his aura, he was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Yuan Ming naturally wouldn’t let him escape. He shot a stream of spiritual consciousness from his forehead, casting the dream butterfly illusion technique. The gray-robed man’s body suddenly froze, his fierce eyes turning blank. He emerged from the ground, and a flash of blood-red light severed his head, blood gushing out and staining the nearby sand.

Yuan Ming took the man’s storage bag, used a fireball spell to incinerate the body, and turned back to the city. He had long noticed this person lurking underground, likely planning to ambush cultivators returning from treasure hunting or beast hunting. But to think someone would set an ambush just a few miles from Quicksand City, the Black Wind Desert was indeed as chaotic and dangerous as rumored.

Yuan Ming quickly returned to his residence and examined the storage bag with his spiritual consciousness. Inside were six or seven hundred spirit stones, a few ordinary magical artifacts, the highest being mid-grade, and a dozen low-level runes, nothing remarkable.

He put away the spirit stones and runes, inserted a stick of Black Incense into the Stealing Heaven Cauldron, and sat cross-legged, possessing one of Zuo Qinghui’s disciples.

The disciple was currently cultivating in Changchun Temple. Yuan Ming used a soul imprint to make him inquire about Zuo Qinghui’s situation from other disciples. With his Death Moon method breaking through the fourth layer, Yuan Ming’s soul power had greatly increased, and he easily imprinted the disciple.

Zuo Qinghui often traveled for years without returning, so the disciples seemed unaware of his death. Changchun Temple had not yet discovered this.

After ending the possession, Yuan Ming felt relieved. Although he didn’t know how long this could be kept secret, at least for now, he didn’t have to worry about anyone coming after him.

Moreover, being in the Black Wind Desert, the longer he dragged it out, the harder it would be for Changchun Temple to find clues or track him down.

Yuan Ming set aside his worries and continued extracting wish power from the Stealing Heaven Cauldron, resuming his cultivation.

The surrounding wish power was sent into Yuan Ming’s sea of consciousness and slowly refined. However, soon, he felt a surge of inexplicable, chaotic emotions and had to stop absorbing, using the Death Moon method to calm his mind.

After a long time, Yuan Ming finally rid himself of the chaotic emotions. He looked at the Stealing Heaven Cauldron, sensing the wish power on it, and sighed.

The wish power was right in front of him, but he couldn’t take it. It was truly frustrating.

He wondered when he would be able to break the golden rune restriction on the cauldron and access the refined wish power inside.