Li Cheng ignored Li Shifan’s words, his expression grave and wary as he stared at Zhang Deming.

After a long moment, seeing no change in Zhang Deming, he finally asked hesitantly, "You... are you feeling unwell?"

Zhang Deming looked baffled. He glanced down at himself in confusion and said, "Senior, are you asking if I’m injured?

"Ha, don’t worry. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. It just used up a lot of energy, but it’s nothing serious."

Li Cheng studied Zhang Deming intently for a long moment. Finding nothing abnormal about him, his deep, ethereal eyes flickered, and he let out a low sigh.

"Sigh, I’m getting old.

"The young people these days... each one is harder to understand than the last. You two can sort this out yourselves!"

With that, he said no more and simply vanished from the sky.

The scroll in the sky sank back into the space between Li Shifan’s brows.

’That old geezer... Looks like he knew for sure about that eerie, cold air, and he knew it entered my body.’

’And those last words... did he realize I was snatching that cold air?’

’Makes sense. I was a bit too obvious about kill-stealing just now.’

’Every one of these old monsters... damn, none of them are simple. They’ve lived for so long, and if nothing else, their minds alone are incredibly hard to deal with.’

Li Shifan looked baffled. He looked at Zhang Deming and asked, "Senior Brother, what was that about with my ancestor?"

Zhang Deming snapped back to reality. He glanced at Li Shifan and said, "I guess he’s satisfied because he completely drained you dry this time.

"You know... Wise Man’s Time. Everything feels dull and tasteless. Hmm, we’re both men, you should get it."

Li Shifan’s face twitched, and his brow jumped as he stared at Zhang Deming. He wisely shut his mouth and asked no further questions.

He focused his Heart Spirit inward and mentally reached out to the scroll. "Ancestor, what was that all about?

"Your reaction made it seem like Senior Brother Zhang had suddenly been hit with Possession. I didn’t notice anything abnormal. He’s still the same shameless Senior Brother."

"Sigh... I’m getting old.

"Don’t ask me. Go ask him yourself!

"That Senior Brother of yours... he’s unfathomable!

"If he’s not willing to talk about it, then don’t press him. It’s not worth creating bad blood between you two.

"He’s someone you should befriend unconditionally. You’ll find it’s well worth it in the future."

"Er, what do you mean, ’befriend unconditionally’?" Li Shifan’s expression stiffened as he latched onto the key phrase.

"Figure it out for yourself. Just don’t mess it up. As for that Senior Brother of yours... I have no desire to provoke him anymore." With that, Li Cheng fell silent.

"Ancestor? Ancestor!"

After another low sigh, the scroll went completely quiet.

No matter how Li Shifan called out, there was no response.

Helpless, Li Shifan could only withdraw from his inner world.

Watching Li Shifan’s Heart Spirit withdraw, Li Cheng sighed to himself again. ’The young people these days are getting more and more terrifying!

’I originally thought that now that I’m an Artifact Spirit, I could bear a bit of sinful Karma. It would even increase the Lifebound Scroll’s killing power, so it wouldn’t be an entirely bad thing.

’It would’ve been better than this kid suffering and ruining his future. But who the hell would have thought someone would actually rush to take on Karma for himself!

’I’ve lived for eight hundred years, and today, I’ve truly seen it all!’

...

Li Shifan withdrew his Heart Spirit. The moment he came to his senses, he saw Zhang Deming looking at him. "So? Did you manage to pester your ancestor through his Wise Man’s Time?"

Li Shifan: "..."

Seeing his speechless expression, Zhang Deming pursed his lips. "Guess not. That really is...

"Looks like he drained you pretty hard this time."

Li Shifan turned his head away, ignoring Zhang Deming completely. At the same time, his eyes flickered as he mulled over his ancestor’s words.

’It seems Senior Brother Zhang has become so mysterious that even my ancestor is wary of him now?’

’But why worry about it?’

’I don’t have any problems with Senior Brother, and we’ve faced life and death together several times. When we team up, isn’t it better for him to be stronger?’

He mentally shook his head, pushing the matter from his mind completely.

Zhang Deming, however, pondered for a moment. He sent his Heart Spirit into his repository, where he saw that a red light ball had already finished forming.

When Zhang Deming touched the light ball, his eyes lit up with delight.

He exited the repository and opened the help page.

Sure enough, a few new entries had appeared on the help page.

1–11. [Omitted]

12. The red light ball of energy is a Karma Light Ball. It can also be called Sin, Evil Fruit, etc. Acquisition method: Please explore on your own.

13. Karma governs slaughter. It can be used to modify or erase any code or entity related to the editor. The amount consumed depends on the target and desired effect. Please explore on your own.

14. For more functions, please explore on your own.

So he had obtained a Karma Light Ball. Zhang Deming was overjoyed.

’Modifying code and all that was secondary. The key was that anything related to the editor’s code could be modified or even erased.’

’Does that mean obliteration isn’t just an empty threat anymore?’

’After all, the Spirit Nurturing Technique and the Spirit Nurturing Bead were also created by the editor!’

’That’s related to the editor, right?’

At that moment, as Zhang Deming gazed at the red light ball radiating an endless, baleful aura, it seemed so very precious to him!

Just then, a Merit Light Ball and a Qi Fortune Light Ball also began to coalesce.

’This sheep, Li Shifan, is shedding wool again. How delightful!’

After a long moment, once all the light balls had stabilized, Zhang Deming checked their values.

Merit: 2.6, Qi Fortune: 7.2, Karma: 1.0.

’The favor of saving his life made the Li Family’s prize sheep shed a decent amount of wool. My Qi Fortune increased by 3 points, and my Merit by 0.7.’

’A decent haul, especially the Merit. That stuff is hard to come by.’

’Aside from the ten Merit points I got from the initial trial run, more than half of all my Merit has been fleeced from Li Shifan. I’m definitely not letting this sheep go. I’ve got to keep shearing him.’