The system says there are no ghosts.

Chapter 8, First Spirit Rune

Chen opened his eyes and found Ah Qi floating by the window.

His figure was even fainter than yesterday. The gray mist at the edges seemed to have been diluted, its color becoming much lighter.

"Are you alright?" Chen asked.

Ah Qi turned his head and smiled.

"It's nothing, it's just that the transmission of the cultivation technique took a bit of energy. I'll be fine after a rest."

Chen looked at him but didn't say anything.

He knew Ah Qi was putting on a brave face, but he didn't call him out on it.

When breakfast was delivered, Chen Yi was standing by the window.

Ah Qi floated beside him.

"How's your cultivation going?" Ah Qi asked. "Have you mastered the basics of the Azure Cloud Heart Sutra?"

"Barely," Chen Yi said, "I can sense the flow of spiritual energy now."

"That's good." Ah Qi paused for a moment, "I'll teach you the next step."

"What?"

"Absorbing the souls of the dead." Ah Qi floated in front of him, her expression turning serious. "Sensing spiritual energy is only the first step. You possess another ability."

"What ability?"

"Your psychic eyes," Ah Qi said. "Psychics can not only see the dead. You can also absorb them."

He lowered his voice.

"What are the spirits of the dead? They are the remnants of a cultivator's consciousness after death. They have memories, cultivation techniques, and spiritual power. Ordinary people can't see them, but you can. Once you can see them, you can absorb them into your body."

Chen Yi frowned.

"Absorb? How do you absorb it?"

"Use your consciousness," Ah Qi said. "Imagine your body is a container, and the departed souls are water. Open the container and pour the water in. That's absorption."

What happens after it's absorbed?

"You will gain their memories, their techniques, and their spiritual power," Ah Qi said. "The Azure Cloud Heart Method cultivates oneself, while the Eye of Insight borrows external power. By combining these two paths, you will be much faster than ordinary cultivators."

Chen Yi remained silent for a few seconds.

"And the price?"

Ah Qi's expression changed slightly.

"The price is that the memories of the dead might interfere with you," he said. "Every dead soul has its own memories. If you absorb too many, you might not be able to distinguish which memories are yours and which are theirs."

Chen nodded.

"And you? Can you sense the other spirits?" he suddenly asked.

Ah Qi was stunned for a moment.

"No," he said. "Only psychics can sense and absorb the spirits of the dead. When my master told me this, I also found it unbelievable. I've lived for so many years, and countless spirits have passed by, but to me, they are nothingness. I can't see them, touch them, let alone absorb them."

He looked at Chen Yi with a complicated expression.

"Until I met you."

Chen Yi remained silent.

"You can try it," Ah Qi said. "Test your senses on me first. Don't worry, it's just a touch, it won't..."

"no."

Chen Yi interrupted him.

Ah Qi was stunned for a moment.

"The power you transferred to me has faded," Chen said, looking at him. "I can't touch you anymore."

Ah Qi opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then didn't.

Chen Yi's tone left no room for negotiation.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"...Then let's look for something else," Ah Qi said. "Keep an eye out during missions. There might be weak, remnant souls on the edges of spirit veins or in abandoned buildings."

Today's task is an F-rank cleanup mission, located in an abandoned spirit field in the east of the city. Reward: 0.5 spirit stones.

Just like usual.

Chen Yi accepted the task and left the cleanup center. A Qi floated beside him, remaining silent the whole way.

The abandoned spirit field is dilapidated.

The spiritual veins have been dried up for decades, and the area was deemed a low-value zone by the system and has been abandoned ever since. Now, only some dilapidated shacks and overgrown spiritual fields remain.

Chen Yi entered the spirit field and began to clean up the residual spiritual energy according to the procedure.

His movements were slow and meticulous. The gray spiritual runes on the inside of his left arm remained quietly under his conscious control, without revealing any aura.

"The spiritual energy concentration here is very low," Ah Qi's voice came from the shadows.

Chen nodded.

He continued walking, rounded a dilapidated shack, and arrived at the edge of the sacred field.

Then, he sensed something.

It was a very faint feeling. It was like something was floating on the edge of his consciousness, barely perceptible.

"Ah Qi, can you feel it?"

"What?"

There's something there.

Ah Qi remained silent for a while.

"I can't feel it," he said, "but what you're saying is probably true. Your senses are stronger than mine."

Chen Yi frowned.

He continued walking, rounded a shed, and stopped at the edge of the sacred field.

Among the weeds, there was a small, uncluttered area. The concentration of spiritual energy there was higher than the surrounding area. And amidst those weeds, Chen Yi saw a pale golden light.

Those are spirit runes. Very faint spirit runes, like remnants of some kind of sealing formation.

"What's that?" Ah Qi floated over.

Chen Yi squatted down and parted the weeds.

Beneath the weeds lay a stone. Its surface was covered with densely packed runes, most of which were now blurred, with only a few still glowing.

"A sealing array," Ah Qi said. "Left behind by some cultivator, used to seal something."

Chen Yi looked at the runes.

He sensed that faint presence. Something was calling to him from beneath the spirit runes.

"Can I open it?"

"You can give it a try," Ah Qi said, "but be careful."

Chen Yi focused his attention and concentrated his consciousness on the runes.

Then, he reached out his hand.

The rune lit up briefly, then went dark.

The sealing array has been lifted.

A faint fluctuation of spiritual energy emanated from beneath the stone, and the gray spiritual patterns on the inside of his left arm felt slightly warm.

Then he saw it.

A faint light rose from beneath the stone, coalescing into a blurry shape before him. It was the outline of a person, very faint, with the face almost indistinguishable.

A wandering soul. Much weaker than Ah Qi. It hasn't even fully formed its form.

"You are...?" Chen asked.

The light trembled slightly.

Then, a voice entered Chen Yi's consciousness.

The voice was muffled, as if through a layer of water. But Chen Yi still managed to make out a few words.

"...Don't trust...the system..."

The sound was intermittent, as if it were about to dissipate.

Just then, the light flickered before him, as if waiting for something. It was weak, almost disappearing. But it waited. Waiting to be absorbed.

"Ah Qi," Chen Yi said in a low voice, "it wants me to absorb it."

"I know," Ah Qi said. "It's too weak; it won't last much longer. Rather than letting it dissipate, it's better for you to absorb it."

Chen Yi remained silent for a few seconds.

He looked at the light.

"What should I do?"

"Use your consciousness," Ah Qi said. "Imagine your body is a container, open the lid, and put it inside."

Chen nodded.

He closed his eyes and focused his attention.

He imagined his dantian as a container, its lid opening to receive the drifting light.

Then, he reached out his hand.

His consciousness touched that light.

In that instant, he sensed something.

It felt as if something flowed through his hands, along his meridians, and into his dantian. The feeling was strange, as if he were being filled with something. It wasn't the warm spiritual energy cultivated from the Qingyun Heart Sutra; it was something else entirely. It was colder, more solid, as if it had been borrowed from someone else.

Then, it all ended.

The light disappeared into his body and became part of him.

Chen Yi opened his eyes.

He looked down at his left arm.

In his psychic eyes, there was a thin gray line on the inside of his left arm. It looked like a tattoo etched under his skin, faintly visible.

"This is……"

"A spirit rune," Ah Qi said, a hint of relief in his voice, "the first spirit rune."

Chen Yi stared at the spiritual rune for a long time.

"Is this the power of a psychic?"

"That's right." Ah Qi floated in front of him. "With each soul you absorb, you'll gain one more spirit rune. The more spirit runes you have, the stronger you become."

"strength?"

"Spiritual power," Ah Qi said. "You can sense spiritual power now, right? That faint power comes from the spiritual runes."

Chen nodded.

He could definitely feel it. There was a faint but real power flowing through his meridians in his dantian.

The spiritual power cultivated through the Azure Cloud Heart Sutra and the spiritual power absorbed by the Eye of Psychic Communication—both paths lead forward.

"But you have to be careful." Ah Qi's expression turned serious. "The spirit runes will emit the aura of the dead. If you don't suppress them, the system might detect them."

Chen Yi raised his head.

"How do we suppress it?"

"Cover your consciousness with the spirit runes," Ah Qi said. "Imagine your consciousness is a membrane that wraps around the spirit runes, preventing them from emitting any aura."

Chen Yizhao did it.

He focused his attention, using his consciousness to cover the spiritual pattern on the inside of his left arm.

It was difficult at first. He could feel the power within the spirit runes seeping outwards, as if trying to break free from his control.

But gradually, he found the trick. He imagined his consciousness as a thin membrane, tightly wrapping the spiritual runes, leaving no gaps and preventing any aura from leaking out.

"Very good," Ah Qi said. "That's it."

Chen Yi opened his eyes.

He looked down at his left arm. In his psychic eyes, the spiritual rune had been covered by his consciousness and no longer emitted any aura.

"Let's try testing it now," Ah Qi said.

Chen Yi opened his spiritual terminal to check the surrounding spiritual energy concentration data.

Data shows that everything is normal.

"It's done," Ah Qi said. "You've successfully suppressed it."

Chen nodded and turned off the terminal.

He crouched at the edge of the spirit field, looking at his left arm. To an ordinary person, there was nothing there. But in his psychic eyes, there was a thin gray spirit mark on the inside of his left arm.

This is the power of a psychic.

The power obtained from the spirits of the dead.

"How are you feeling?" Ah Qi asked.

Chen Yi thought about it.

"It's strange," he said, "but...it's also very good."

Ah Qi smiled.

"That's the power of the psychic eye," he said. "It doesn't depend on the system, it doesn't depend on anyone, it only depends on yourself."

Chen Yi remained silent.

He simply squatted there quietly, feeling the flow of spiritual energy within his body.

That was real power. It wasn't bestowed by the system; he earned it himself.

Just then, the spiritual terminal suddenly vibrated.

A system notification popped up.

"A faint spiritual energy fluctuation has been detected in the vicinity. The source is unknown. Please be aware of this."

Chen Yi and A Qi both froze.

"What's going on?" Ah Qi's voice became tense.

Chen Yi looked down at his left arm. In his psychic eyes, his spiritual runes were faintly glowing.

He couldn't suppress it. A trace of his aura still leaked out.

"It's alright," Ah Qi said. "The fluctuations are very weak; the system isn't locked. As long as you're careful in the future, you shouldn't be detected."

Chen nodded.

He focused his attention and once again focused his consciousness on the spirit runes.

This time, he was even more meticulous. He left no gaps, ensuring no trace of anything was leaked.

The message on the terminal disappeared.

Chen Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Be more careful next time," Ah Qi said. "The system will record any abnormal fluctuations it detects. If it happens too often, it might attract attention."

"I know."

Chen Yi stood up and patted the mud off his pants.

The task reward was 0.5 spirit stones, the first spirit rune, and a trace of aura that was almost exposed.

He looked at the hazy skyline of Lin Yuan City in the distance and put the terminal back in his pocket.

The spirit rune sat quietly on the inside of his left arm. It was his power, and also his secret.