Chapter 51: Perfect Symmetry

"Have you arrived at the location?"

The spar emitted a burst of white light as Ye Feifan spoke to it.

"Kid, what is it this time?" Judging by the voice, it was Old Hei, who was most likely up to some mischief again.

"You guys can move tonight. You and Little Huang go to the Liu family residence and fetch that Buddha statue, while Big Huang goes to the Breeze Pavilion to retrieve the other one."

"Are you trying to trick me again, kid?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Yes or no? This time I've prepared five kilograms of Vitality Liquid as payment. If you don't want it, I can let Little Huang go alone."

"I... I'll go!"

It was evident that Old Hei was furious enough to cough up blood, but he didn't voice his objections explicitly. The Vitality Liquid was too important to him; he couldn't afford to pass up this opportunity.

"Start your operation at midnight, just bring the things back. Once you're done, sneak into the Zhang family estate and hand them over to me directly, then you can hide away. There's going to be a good show tonight."

"Got it. Working with you means there's never a single day of peace..."

Old Hei cut the connection, and Ye Feifan slowly put away the spar.

At around eight o'clock, a servant brought everything Ye Feifan requested into the secret chamber.

After the servant left, Ye Feifan began crafting talismans. He was still familiar with the burning talismans, ice talismans, and similar items from the Boundless Sect.

He mixed cinnabar with a bit of heavenly moon dew and black hound blood, then dipped a writing brush to trace complex incantations onto yellow paper talismans... After crafting a few dozen successful ones, the rest were duds, but he didn't throw them away either—he could use them later to fool others.

With the talisman paper issue resolved, the next step was to use the sacrificial method to imbue the Strongest Novice Sword with greater power.

Ye Feifan mixed the remaining cinnabar with a small amount of infant spring water to carve a ritual array. Finally, he placed the millennium-old peach wood sword, the heavenly moon dew, and the black hound blood into a prepared bronze cauldron, standing the Strongest Novice Sword right in the middle.

"Yin winds wail, myriad mysteries guide; filth entangles, all evil flees. Vital breath stabilizes, blood malice endures..."

Without needing to kneel, Ye Feifan directly chanted the sacrificial incantation from the elementary-tier *Blood Malice Sword-Sacrificing Art*.

Sensing the summons from the nether realms, the cinnabar-red array flashed with crimson light, and the peach wood sword, heavenly moon dew, and black hound blood inside the cauldron ignited with a dark red flame...

The only thing remaining motionless in the cauldron was the Strongest Novice Sword, wrapped in faint wisps of black qi emanating from the array, looking utterly malevolent.

As Ye Feifan executed the sacrificial incantation, Zhang's father in the Zhang family's guest hall also sensed the heavy stench of blood, and his expression darkened considerably.

Zhang Da only felt dizzy and could not help asking, "Father, what is happening?"

Glancing at his son's pathetic and decadent posture, Zhang's father couldn't help sighing, explaining patiently, "The Yin energy in the house is heavy; even your father feels his blood qi surging. That Xiao Martin is performing some sort of ritual with those materials. He is no ordinary person..."

Zhang Da felt somewhat unconvinced, but he kept his mouth shut. Xiao Martin had saved his life... If he were to say anything, his father would surely get angry. It was safer to remain silent.

...

At midnight, Ye Feifan opened his tired eyes. The sacrificial ritual was finally over.

The array beneath the bronze cauldron had been worn away by mysterious forces, and at the bottom of the cauldron lay only a thin layer of bloody residue... The Strongest Novice Sword had grown somewhat dull, entirely devoid of luster.

"Blood Malice Novice Sword: Granted new power through a sacrifice of defiled blood. Deals double damage to non-human targets, deals an additional double damage to vengeful spirits, and possesses a chance to paralyze the target for three seconds.
Features guaranteed critical hits on every strike.
Possesses armor-piercing properties when attacking class-A armor. This item cannot be upgraded or damaged, and cannot be used by anyone other than the host."

Seeing the system prompt statistics, Ye Feifan let out a sigh of relief. At least this meant he still had a chance to turn the tables.

Vengeful spirits were definitely not human, so dealing double damage to non-humans, doubling that again with the guaranteed critical hit feature, and adding yet another double against vengeful spirits... A single strike, combined with his own attack, could deal quadruple damage. Furthermore, it inherited the properties of the thunder-struck wood, so his safety should be guaranteed.

"My chances are much better now." Wrapping the sword in oiled paper and strapping it to his back, Ye Feifan finally felt a sense of relief.