Mei Chao Bing didn’t need long to find what he was looking for: Just a few hundred meters further into the chasm, he saw the first of the vengeful spirits. It was hovering in the air, very much looking like a displaced shadow that was being thrown down here by some unknown object.

The only clue that it wasn’t one was the way it moved. Clearly, that didn’t follow the movements of some object but was done by the shadowy figure itself. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be twisting and superimposing on itself.

Mei Chao Bing hesitated for a moment and then pulled out his sword. From what Yan Hong Min had said, he should be able to fill the magical box bit by bit. So, he could first try it out with this spirit. If it worked, he could go and fill the rest of the box, but if not, he could instead fight against it and leave.

Looking at the box in his hand, he couldn’t help but worry. Yan Hong Min had stressed that he wasn’t supposed to open it under any circumstances until the moment he actually wanted to attack somebody with it. Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten to tell him how exactly he was supposed to fill it up.

Could he simply hold it up into the air and hope for the best? That didn’t seem like such a good idea. Unfortunately, the space in the magical box was limited or he could have given it a try with his own spiritual energy. Now though, he’d have to test it with the vengeful spirit instead.

Mei Chao Bing sighed, gripped the hilt of his sword more tightly, and closed in on the spirit. Needless to say, it noticed him soon enough. With the faintest of sounds, it rushed toward him. If he hadn’t been paying close attention to his surroundings, he might have thought this was simply a breeze brushing through the chasm.

He used his sword to deflect the first blow, raising the magical box at the same time. Then … nothing happened.

Mei Chao Bing’s lips twitched. If he made it back to the Teng Yong Sect after this matter in the border region, he should have a longer talk with Yun Bei Fen’s second senior martial brother to drive home the importance of detailed instructions for his inventions.

He narrowed his eyes and focused on the spirit while trying to find out what the problem was. Did the two of them need to make contact? In that case, this would get a lot more difficult. He’d basically have to hit the spirit with the box instead of his weapon. In theory, that might not be a problem but with how small the box was, he’d have to get very close.

Fending off another row of attacks, Mei Chao Bing shifted his grip on the box and finally lunged forward. He cut the spirit with his sword first and then struck out with the box next. It seemed to make contact but with the nebulous body of the spirit, he couldn’t say for sure. Either way, the magical box stayed as it had before. If he had really made contact, then that also wasn’t the solution to his problem.

Mei Chao Bing’s brows furrowed while he pulled back. Thankfully, there was only one spirit or he’d have been in big trouble by now. Either way, what else could he try? Come to think of it, if any kind of energy could be used, then might be difficult.

Surely, Yan Hong Min would have thought of that at least. Not to mention that he also wouldn’t have risked accidentally taking in energy. Just imagine what would happen if you were to dive into the sea to get to a specific place to store energy, only to arrive and realize the magical box was already filled up. No, now that he thought about it more closely, he also realized that contact alone shouldn’t be able to fill up the box. Instead, there had to be some kind of sign that it was supposed to absorb the energy around it.

The vengeful spirit came after him, getting further away from the end of the chasm.

Mei Chao Bing relaxed slightly. Yes, there was only one opponent. He could take his time to figure this out. Anyway, the answer was likely an easy one. Yan Hong Min might unnecessarily complicate some things but in general, his ideas seemed workable. So in this case, it should be something he’d be able to think of.

He parried a few more attacks, meanwhile further retreating toward the center of the chasm just in case. At the same time, his mind churned. The magical box was a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. If he wanted to signal it to take in energy, there shouldn’t be many ways. Either there was some kind of switch or something else he had to do.

He didn’t have time to take a closer look at the box right now but he had held it when he was in Yan Hong Min’s study and also when he showed it to the guardians. He hadn’t noticed anything that might be used to turn some kind of energy-sucking mode on. In that case, what could it be?

He narrowed his eyes. If there wasn’t a mechanical solution, then the most likely thing outside of that … should be spiritual energy. Actually, it made sense. Maybe this could even be a way for the magical box to recognize the person supposed to use it by virtue of their energy. It wouldn’t be strange considering everything Yan Hong Min had told him.

Mei Chao Bing pulled back from the vengeful spirit and mobilized his spiritual energy, letting a sliver of it touch the magical box. Immediately, the array on top lit up. Mei Chao Bing’s eyes widened and he hurriedly held it up, facing the vengeful spirit again.

Before he could even be grateful that he seemed to have guessed right, the spirit was sucked into the box. As soon as the last bit of it vanished, the array on top of the box dulled again as if he had only imagined what had just happened.