Chapter 43: I

As that cold yet softly sweet voice, filled with anger, cried out, Feng Xue's eyes lit up.

If she remained inside the painting, manipulating that ink spot would've been tricky—but since she's out now, isn't this just like catching an ordinary ghost?

The body pressing down did not stop, but the direction of the seal shifted slightly.

The spirit ghost in the painting had just relaxed, but the next instant, Feng Xue slammed the seal onto her "forehead."

A snowflake-like mark, carrying Feng Xue's magical energy infused with the vow-charter, flowed into the spirit ghost's body; Feng Xue shifted his spiritual perception—not much, but enough to extract the primordial qi saturating the altar's surroundings.

Ghosts instinctively absorb surrounding primordial qi; this is not a reflex like breathing that can be held back, but rather like cells that automatically draw in water through osmotic pressure—uncontrollable.

Primordial qi, magical energy, and vow-force entangled, merging into one within the spirit ghost's "body."

This isn't entirely accurate, though, because a spirit ghost is, at its core, merely a conscious aggregate of vow-force.

Even if it develops sentience, this essence cannot change until it reaches the realm of Yin's old peak birthing Yang's youth.

Feng Xue's magical mark spread like milk poured into coffee, slowly blending, and with that faint harmony, the spirit ghost finally realized something was wrong.

But at this moment, any struggle was already too late!

"Take Mo as your surname, I bestow upon you the name Ying. I command you to act—immediately. Those who defy my orders shall be cut to dust. Hear my call, aid me in my rites. Haste, as the law commands!"

As the incantation "Haste, as the law commands" left his lips, the vow-force charter seemed to solidify; Feng Xue felt his magical energy spontaneously coalesce into a specific structure, tracing a subtle pattern within the spirit ghost's body.

The spirit ghost still struggled, shouting, "Who gave you the right to name me!" Feng Xue, hearing this, narrowed his eyes and sneered:

"Don't like it? Then I'll change it—Dog Egg or Lucky? Hmm, you're a girl, though… how about Chunni?"

"Shhh!"

As Feng Xue pretended to pick up his brush, the mochi-like spirit ghost suddenly shuddered, her struggles weakening slightly; this moment of hesitation sealed her fate—the vow-force ropes tightened like tortoise shells, binding her fast. Feng Xue nodded in satisfaction, retracted his magical energy, and pressed the seal again onto the snowflake mark on her forehead.

The two marks overlapped; Feng Xue used the seal as a brush, dragging the imprint across her soul-body to leave the characters "Mo Ying." Thankfully, it was handwritten—if done with pure magical energy, this complex name would've turned into a messy blob.

When the strokes were complete, the once-mochi-like soul-body suddenly contracted, transforming back into the cold, detached figure Feng Xue had seen in the painting.

"Are you insane?!"

"Yes, yes!" Liu Yunxi, who had woken from her cultivation due to the primordial qi's disturbance and crept over to peek, nodded frantically from behind the door; Feng Xue raised an eyebrow and said:

"What? You don't like the name Mo Ying?"

"Of course not… well, okay, it's actually kind of fitting… but I had a name… hey? Wait, Bai Li was that guy's name… I never had a name… but that's not your excuse to name me arbitrarily! And don't just stamp your seal on other people's paintings!"

Admittedly, though this ghost seemed a bit dim, at least she was honest.

Feng Xue was pleased the ghost understood his naming aesthetic and nodded:

"If you behave, I won't stamp randomly."

"What do you mean 'behave'? What exactly are you ordering me to do?" The ghost stepped back half a pace, her already icy face now tinged with disdain.

Feng Xue paid no mind, pointing to the side:

"Bring me that cup of water."

"You think you're—" Before she finished, Mo Ying's body vanished with a flash, and the next instant, her mochi-form wrapped around the cup and flew into Feng Xue's hands.

"Not bad, but you didn't convert the 【Transfer】 magical energy, so you can't instantly retrieve things?" Feng Xue thought silently as he took the cup.

Though ghostly energy erodes magical energy, conversely, ghosts are also excellent vessels for magic; as long as a mystery cultivator transmits the appropriate magical energy to their cultivated ghost, they can use it as a conduit to instantly manifest many useful effects—like letting a ghost, normally incapable of physical interference, fetch objects.

Ghosts also lower the entry threshold for many spells—for example, the 【Tread Water Spell】 normally requires extremely precise magical control to form a layer of magical energy between foot and water, granting buoyancy and hardness to walk or even run on water. But with a ghost, you merely need to convert the corresponding magical energy and inject it into the ghost's body, then step on the ghost to sprint across water; if your magical energy is strong enough, "Riding the Ghost to Fly" isn't impossible.

As Feng Xue fantasized about "a hundred uses for ghosts," the mochi-like Mo Ying was loudly protesting beside him; seeing Feng Xue unmoved, she even opened her mouth and bit at his hand.

But without the master's permission, a ghost cannot use the master's magical energy; thus, this very ghost who had just served tea was predictably unable to touch him—she passed straight through.

Clearly shaken by this, Mo Ying twisted her form and slipped back into the painting, becoming a tiny ink spot, silent once more.

"Hehe, now that you've received the 【Vow Name】, whether you obey is no longer your choice! Come!"

Feng Xue pointed, and the ink spot immediately floated upward; faintly, one could see a fairy-like girl straining to cling to a dead tree, resisting being dragged out of the scroll.

But the Ghost-Subjugation Incantation was complete; this spirit ghost was now registered under the human realm's spiritual mechanism, officially Feng Xue's exclusive possession. If she were a living soul, forcing her would have entangled Feng Xue in karmic debt—but she was born from a cluster of vow-force, nourished by his magical energy and primordial qi; how could she possibly resist?

A pair of elegantly curved legs were dragged out of the painting, then half her body was yanked free.

"No! Don't bind me! I don't want to be bound!"

The spirit ghost kicked her long legs wildly, screaming like a shut-in dragged from her room; Feng Xue chuckled, gathered magical energy in his hands, gripped one ankle in each hand, and steadied her half-exposed waist, smiling lightly:

"If you won't come out, I can't guarantee what happens next."

"Shhh!"

The instant he finished speaking, the entire ghost shot out violently, her body—now imbued with the thought of "tangibility"—slamming into Feng Xue; the two tumbled together in a heap…

Note: "Ying" describes snowflakes falling, or can simply mean snowflake; "Mo Ying" evokes the image of ink dots spreading like snowflakes from an ink-wash brushstroke—this was Feng Xue's first impression of the spirit ghost (laugh).

By the way, "Star-Cradled Snowflakes"—the delicate snow falling beneath the starry sky—is the standard description of "ying."

ps1: I always feel dialect suits her character better and feels more authentic, but I worry readers won't understand, or audio narration will make it sound weird. Adding translations for every line is fine now, but once published, it'll feel like padding. Do you prefer dialect or standard Mandarin?

ps2: About whether cultivation can fuse jade pieces together—the answer is yes, but why doesn't Nanshan Residence do it? Because it's unnecessary. First, I've said the material is mediocre at best. Second, I've mentioned many times: mystery cultivators' Pre-Entry Method magical energy is extremely precious, so they won't do it themselves.

This is similar to D&D wizards losing experience when scribing scrolls (haven't played in a while, not sure if it's still like that); in this world's logic, it damages potential—so high-level wizards don't scribe spellbooks themselves, but outsource them to apprentices. Apprentices suffer harm scribing scrolls, but they do it to improve their magical knowledge and learn spells from their master.

But this world is gentler: I give you the spell, whether you practice is up to you. If you practice, I sell you materials and take your byproducts, at fair prices—mutual benefit. If you don't practice, you still owe me a favor—I never lose.

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(End of Chapter)