"Did sister Zhou say anything?" Han Xuhan asked his two minions who had just returned back to Xiao Wu's house.

"She told us to deliver this to you." Zhanxian handed over a small, folded piece of paper.

As Han Xuhan leaned forward to take the letter from Zhanxian, he noticed a detail for the first time since he had gained his second sight.

Zhanxian's middle finger's distal phalanx, the starting point of the minion's bone cultivation, did not quite match the rest of his body according to his ghostsight.

Similar to Tun Shi Tian, Zhanxian's body was neither full of colors, nor a disjointed mess of threads resembling childish scribbles. Both minions' celestial body was made up of neatly organized, bundled-up lines that collectively created an outline perfectly mirroring the minions' physical bodies.

But now, upon closer inspection, Zhanxian's middle finger appeared to be different from the rest of his body. Among the numerous grey threads that jointly created this finger bone, there were many black threads.

Han Xuhan recognized the shade of these black threads, mainly because this same color was all around him.

This black color was the exact shade that he could see in the plants everywhere.

From his observations so far, the celestial body of living beings was invariably made up of organized bundles of colorful threads, which created a rainbow-like silhouette.

In the case of plants, however, there were only two types of threads- grey and black.

Logically speaking, the grey color was quite possibly the color that represented 'lifelessness' in the Consciousness Matrix... In other words, the grey threads symbolized the lack of consciousness.

But plants were conscious organisms. In that case, the black threads were very likely to symbolize the consciousness of the plants.

But Tun Shi Tian was an undead. He had a consciousness, but it was an unnatural consciousness, detached from this body which was merely an artificial vessel Han Xuhan had made for the bird.

As an existence standing between the boundaries of life and death, it was logical for Tun Shi Tian's body to not contain all the attributes of a living organism. The bird's celestial body was indeed made up of organized threads, but it was entirely grey, a perfect fusion between the living and the dead.

So, what did the fact of Zhanxian's finger containing black threads signify?

That Zhanxian was turning into a tree?

Not a likely conclusion.

What could it be?

Right then, Han Xuhan recalled the growing influence of his minions on his dao tower.

Oh.

Oooh!

Ooooh Shit!

Could this possibly mean that once Zhanxian's entire body turned black, he would become a real living entity separate from Han Xuhan, outside his control?

The distal phalanx bone carried around it the qi armor Zhanxian had cultivated. To reach the second layer of the physique transformation realm, Zhanxian would have to cover the rest of the fingers in that hand, as well as the palm; at least that was what the manual stated.

So far, Zhanxian had managed to cover three more fingers with qi armor. But these fingers did not display any black threads in his celestial body. Why?

If his speculations were correct, it was because Zhanxian hadn't completed his second layer cultivation yet. Once completed, the rest of the fingers as well as the palm would display more black threads.

Everything is so intricately connected!

Interesting! Very interesting!

Han Xuhan made a mental note to run some experiments on the minions while he opened the letter from Yuen Zhou. Xiao Wu leaned over to take a peek, making Han Xuhan recall that the letter might contain sensitive information.

"This might not be for your eyes, brother Wu. Don't be nosy."

"Oh? You and sister Zhou are exchanging secret letters now, eh?" Xiao Wu said, his white teeth flashing.

"Hehehe! Letters aren't the only secret thing we are exchanging," Han Xuhan said shamelessly.

Xiao Wu, about to make another snide, teasing comment, froze. "Wh-wait, seriously?!"

Han Xuhan smiled like a shark as he silently read the letter, ignoring Xiao Wu's shock.

Send your minion here for some preliminary lessons before master begins our class tomorrow. I hope you've made some progress on your part of the deal.

By the way, congratulations in advance for your second minion.

Congratulations in advance?

For what? What was she talking about?

Han Xuhan's eyes fell on Tun Shi Tian's claws, where he had helped the owl create the first fragment of its qi armor according to the instructions of the Spiritual Bones technique.

He needed only a glance to determine the changes made in the size of the armor just tonight; it was truly prominent.

In just half a night of cultivation, the qi armor over Tun Shi Tian's right claw had reached 90 percent completion from 60 percent.

Han Xuhan's eyes flicked towards Zhanxian's hand sharply, examining the armored fingers once more, this time more critically.

Indeed, even Zhanxian's progression had advanced by more than 10 percent in this short timeframe. He hadn't noticed it only because Zhanxian's armor was already much more expansive in size compared to Tun Shi Tian, hence rendering the changes less eye-catching.

Good. Very good. Tun Shi Tian was about to step into the path of a real cultivator as well. The Stronger the meat shields, the safer the commander.

But what effect would this have on his dao tower?

Han Xuhan's delight disappeared instantly.

Thinking for a few seconds, he decided to push back Tun Shi Tian's breakthrough a few days. Until he could comprehend the practice and effects of Kong Ye's astral columns, it would be prudent not to damage his dao tower further.

But one thing could not be postponed. If he wanted Hai Yin Zhe to become a cultivator under Kong Ye and Yuen Zhou's tutelage, the little snake needed the most important tool to utilize the opportunity.

Hai Yin Zhe, like any other ordinary snake skeleton, did not have a body that could sustain qi. So the most critical problem he had to take care of right now was to push the snake towards the path of artificial cultivators first, just like his other two minions.

Funnily enough, the source of his artificial cultivation method was Yuen Zhou herself, little Zhe's soon-to-be teacher...

Han Xuhan was very interested in seeing how she was going to handle the snake's cultivation method. Surely, she might just let drop a hint or two regarding artificial cultivation at some point, knowingly or carelessly.

This was Han Xuhan's second scheme, hidden inside his first strategy to make use of Yuen Zhou's gifts.

She was smart enough to see through it, of course. But was she patient enough to deal with a toddle without resorting to some shortcuts?

If Yuen Zhou tried to make little Zhe an efficient cultivator, she would have to sacrifice some precious information about artificial cultivation that was still unknown to Han Xuhan.

"Tun Shi Tian," he called.

"Yes, master?"

"Here's a qi crystal. Try to see how much progress you can make by tonight. But if you get close to completing the full 100 percent of the qi armor on your claw, stop right before breaking through."

Tun Shi Tian sent a hesitant look at the sky. "The favorable condition seems to be gone. I haven't been able to sense the awesome feeling anymore since the storm disappeared."

"I'm aware of that. Do what youre told."

"Alright, as you wish."

Tun Shi Tian's behavior right now was the very epitome of obedience and flexibility!

As the bird received the crystal and left for Xiao Wu's backyard, Han Xuhan gestured toward Zhanxian.

"Monitor the owl. If he tries to break through to the second layer of the physique transformation realm without informing me...interrupt it."

The whispered command made Zhanxian shudder.

Interrupting someone's breakthrough was one of the vilest crimes a cultivate could commit against his peers! And their master clearly told him to do exactly that to his second minion!

What did this mean?

The master's fury has long surpassed its limits! He was ready to kill!

Zhanxian internally swore to never step outside Han Xuhan's orders for the next few weeks at least as he nodded meekly and followed Tun Shi Tian's tail.