Within the boundless darkness of the void within the jade token, Meng Lin was seated with six items floating before her.

The space here was silent—endless and starless—yet stable under the authority of some unknown force, faint ripples appeared in space like an unseen ocean.

Before her hovered the two top grade spiritual items, and the two sacred grade items, as well as the two advancement tokens.

Meng Lin’s gaze first rested on the Celestial Thunder Blade.

Now that she had acquired lightning elemental Qi, the blade responded to her differently. The lightning within it no longer felt foreign or chaotic.

If she wished, she could upgrade it, however her eyes narrowed slightly.

Her mastery of the blade was insufficient. The weapon’s ceiling was high, but her foundation in sword techniques was shallow. Upgrading it now would only widen the gap between weapon and wielder.

A top-grade weapon was only as strong as the hand that directed it. It was one of the reasons she hadn’t relied on it often.

She shifted her attention.

The Mask of Infinite Faces and the Void State Tablet floated calmly in the darkness.

Both were sacred-grade items—rare beyond measure. But neither directly amplified her combat strength. The mask was for deception and infiltration. The tablet was spatial control and escape.

Her eyes moved again.

The Blood-Seared Needle hovered in silence.

Meng Lin remembered the red streak crossing the sky.

The swelling head.

The contained explosion.

If she had not possessed the needle, the battle with the Serpent Hawk would not have ended so cleanly. She would have been forced into prolonged combat. Her brute transformation might have gone out of control before she secured victory.

It was safe to say—

The needle had tipped the scales.

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

She had originally planned to wait until she could refine a top grade weapon for herself, however the process would take too long.

Thus, the choice rested on the two top grade weapons before her. Between the blade and the needle, she did not need to deliberate further.

The Weapon Enhancement Token drifted forward as if responding to her intent.

Without hesitation, Meng Lin extended her hand and pressed the token toward the Blood-Seared Needle.

The token shattered into motes of golden light that began to sink into the blood needle.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then—

The Blood-Seared Needle trembled.

A low, almost inaudible hum filled the void. Its surface darkened from faint crimson to a deeper, richer blood hue. Veins of red thread began to weave across its body, like branches from a tree.

The aura around the needle did not expand wildly. Instead, it compressed—tightening inward, becoming denser, heavier.

The killing intent surged.

The needle suddenly flickered—

And vanished.

Meng Lin’s eyes narrowed. She could still feel it through her spiritual sense, but barely. Its presence had thinned to a near-imperceptible thread, as though it had stepped half a layer out of reality.

A moment later, it reappeared.

Then it began to shrink.

Its already slender body thinned further, compressing until it was little more than a glimmer of red light—small enough to pass through the pores.

Then it expanded.

From its initial size of a few inches, it rose to one meter, then two and three.

In the end, it stopped at over five meters tall, radiating intense killing intent.

The red veins along its body pulsed once, and the surrounding void trembled faintly as a faint consciousness expanded from the needle.

Meng Lin watched calmly.

The massive form lasted only a breath before it began to compress.

In an instant, it thinned back into a slender streak of red, no wider than a silk thread.

The Blood-Seared Needle now hovered steadily before her.

Blood-Seared Needle
A low-grade sacred item bathed in killing intent. Its body condenses killing intent into a singular, penetrating point capable of rupturing both flesh and Qi with terrifying precision. After refinement, it can erase its presence from sight and greatly suppress its spiritual signature, rendering it nearly undetectable before impact. It can freely shrink to bypass defenses or expand to reinforce structural penetration. Its killing intent has deepened to a suffocating degree, capable of disturbing an opponent’s mind even before contact.

Watching the description, Meng Lin realized that the system isn't able to describe all of the abilities a sacred grade item possesses.

Thinking about it, it made sense as even the void state tablet, her first scared grade item is able to interact with space in multiple different ways.

She extended her hand, and the needle shunk into a streak of red that sank into her body, quickly arriving into her dantian, resting quietly above her Narscent Soul.

From the outside, nothing about Meng Lin changed.

But now, with a single thought, the Blood-Seared Needle could be released instantly—from anywhere on her body.

At last, Meng Lin turned her attention to the final item.

The Technique Enhancement Token floated quietly before her, giving off no aura.

Unlike the weapon token, there was no immediate answer as to how to use it.

She closed her eyes briefly and reviewed the most important techniques she possess.

The Six Lotus Rebirth Path.

A technique tied to her body's strength. If enhanced, it may evolve to the seven rebirth path, becoming a Nihility Realm Technique. In prolonged battles, it could determine life and death.

The Formless Cultivation Method.

Her most mysterious technique. The third form already allowed her to shatter even top grade spiritual items, it allowed her to deny both physical and spiritual structure itself. If deepened further, it might be even more frightening.

The Elemental Qi Convergence Method.

Her foundation.

It governed the refinement and balance of her elemental Qi—Water, Fire, Darkness, Mud, Erosion and now Lighting. Strengthening it could give access to more techniques of combined elements. It would give both immediate explosive gains and solidify her path long term.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

Even the Brute Vortex Cultivation Method could be upgraded.

That technique directly increased her raw combat output. When activated, her brute Qi surged violently, multiplying her power into a vortex. If enhanced, her attacks would become stronger.

But it was also dangerous.

For some reason she recognizes that the technique isn't suited for her brute qi, rather a different physique that uses a chaotic vortex.

When she uses it, it strains her spiritual veins and flesh. Enhancing it recklessly might damage her foundation or shorten the duration she could sustain it.

Meng Lin exhaled slowly.

The Six Lotus and the Brute Vortex could give her raw power, while the Elemental Convergence Method could take her foundation to the next level.

And the Formless Method can possibly increase her lethal killing methods.

Her eyes opened.

Between immediate strength and long-term stability, she understood something clearly—

Her recent battles had not been decided by raw power or a stable power.

They had been decided by decisive killing blows.

Her gaze sharpened slightly as it settled inward.

Formless Cultivation Method.

It was the closest thing to a conceptual technique.

However it was incomplete. She could feel it. The third form was already powerful and what if there was something beyond it.

If the technique deepened, her combat style would elevate entirely.

Slowly, Meng Lin reached out and grasped the Technique Enhancement Token. This time, there was no hesitation.

“Upgrade the Formless Cultivation Method.”

The token dissolved the instant she willed it, turning into a stream of obscure light that flowed into her palm. Her consciousness was dragged inward as darkness swallowed her perception.

Within the void of her mind, the structure of the Formless Cultivation Method revealed itself. Three foundations stood in quiet balance—Form Concealing, Form Eraser, and Form Nullification—stable pillars that had long since fused into her understanding.

Then something changed.

A new presence formed beside them.

In the next breath, comprehension descended.

Formless Domain.

The knowledge unfolded cleanly, layer by layer, integrating itself directly into her perception rather than overwhelming it. She did not need to study it. She understood it.

An invisible field extended outward from her body, subtle and restrained for now. It was not something that suppressed others or crushed space—it was an interaction field, a boundary where form itself became conditional.

Within that radius, solidity was no longer absolute.

If an attack entered the domain, her body could phase out of alignment with the strike, allowing the force to pass through instead of fully colliding.

However, the amount of energy used in the attack would also be the same amount consumed to allow the phasing of the attack.

If her qi matched the attack, the strike would slip through harmlessly. If the opponent’s power exceeded her reserves, the attack would land.

Subsequently, the same applies to her attack, the principle reverses.

Her strikes, once inside the domain, could phase through defenses—barriers, armor, hardened qi—so long as she supplied enough energy to override their structural resistance. Rather than clashing head-on, her power could bypass and penetrate, converting confrontation into controlled exchange.

Everything within the domain became a matter of expenditure—her qi reserve against theirs.

Meng Lin slowly opened her eyes.

There was no outward change in her aura, no surge of violent pressure. Yet she could feel it clearly—the subtle distortion surrounding her body, faint but undeniable.

This was the fourth form, Formless Domain.

“Now I have one more method of dictating the flow of battle.”

As the thought settled, another matter surfaced in her mind—the system notifications she had ignored back on the battlefield.

Because she had been too exhausted, Meng Lin had ignored the notifications from the system after defeating the Serpent Eye Hawk.

"System"

Immediately, several unopened panels appeared before her eyes.

[Congratulations for defeating a foe from a realm higher than you]

[You have received 5 Taoist Gacha Wheel Tickets]

[You have received 3 Immortal Jade]

[You have received a unique skill: Heavenly Gale Slash]

Five Taoist Gacha Wheel Tickets.

Meng Lin stared at the notification for a moment before letting out a soft breath through her nose.

As expected.

Defeating an opponent from a higher realm had never yielded nothing before. The system was transactional to its core—risk demanded compensation. She had wagered her life against a beast beyond her cultivation, and the return reflected that.

Five tickets in a single reward batch was generous.

Three Immortal Jade was… modest, but acceptable.

Her gaze shifted to the final line.

[You have received a unique skill: Heavenly Gale Slash]

That, too, she had anticipated.

The hawk’s most lethal expression of power had been its wind attacks. The vortex had been spectacle, but the true killing intent lay in the compressed wind elemental qi that had blown up her head. However it seems the system reward isn't always the most powerful technique of the opponent.

“Heavenly Gale Slash…”

Unlike the domain, this was straightforward. Gather natural wind elemental qi. Compress it into a layered rotational edge and then release.

Her lips curved faintly, It was efficient.

Her eyes drifted back to the first reward, the Five Taoist Gacha Wheel Tickets, that was the most tempting.

Five spins at once dramatically increased the odds of something worthwhile.

Her expression grew contemplative.

“I should definitely get some booze with this.”

The thought surfaced naturally, without shame.

If fortune favored her, perhaps she would draw a top-grade spiritual wine, or even the one above, ready-made jar infused with centuries of spiritual accumulation. A proper drink after crossing realms in battle is not indulgence—it was tradition.

Yes tradition.

Her fingers twitched slightly.

She resisted the urge to spin immediately.

Rewards were best opened with a stable mind. Impulse often led to disappointment, and disappointment soured results—at least, that was how she preferred to rationalize patience.

Meng Lin closed the panels for now.

The battle had strengthened her cultivation, expanded her arsenal, and filled her inventory. The risk had been immense, but the return aligned with her expectations.

Now she had upgraded the blood Seared Needle, had upgraded the Formless Cultivation Method, and have gotten the reward for defeating the Serpent Eye Hawk.

'Not bad'

She exhaled softly with excitement.