Only then did Song Miaozhu finally let out a breath. Fortunately, Xiaozhu Mountain was still some distance from Xiao Li River. The creature needed time to establish a connection with the water veins.
But now, she faced a new problem.
The stone river ox was no match for her paper soldiers. Subduing it and interrupting its spellcasting posed no difficulty. The challenge was what to do with it next.
Letting it go was not an option. It had already attempted to contact the Xiao Li River, and if it succeeded in gaining control of the water there, the consequences would be dire.
Countless people lived along those banks. An unclaimed spirit artifact, left without a cultivator's supervision, was far too dangerous to release. If it managed to reach open water, it would be nearly impossible to stop.
Its transformation into a spirit artifact had been fueled by spiritual energy she cultivated and fed to it. If it caused harm, some of the blame would surely fall on her.
So she couldn't let it go. But she also couldn't leave it unattended. At any moment, it might try to manipulate the water veins again and stir up trouble.
Yet keeping paper soldiers stationed here just to watch it was a massive drain. Every punch or strike they threw consumed spiritual power. It was a waste of resources.
"If I'd known this would happen, I never would've brought it back here," Miaozhu muttered, caught in a dilemma.
After thinking it over, she came to a grim conclusion. If it could not be tamed, nor safely released, the only remaining option was to destroy it.
She tried everything she could. She poured spiritual energy into it, attempted binding rituals, lectured it with logic and threats, even tried sweet talk. Every strategy she could think of, she used.
For a full week, her paper soldiers chased the stone ox all over the mountain, trapping it and trying to force some discipline into it. But nothing worked. The creature was utterly unresponsive.
Worse, it made a mess of Xiaozhu Mountain. Even her paper flower fields were damaged by the water it sprayed in defiance.
In the end, with her own breakthrough approaching—she was just a step away from completing the ninth stage of the Yellow Spirit Realm—Miaozhu knew she couldn't afford to be distracted any longer.
A water-controlling stone ox was rare, yes. But it was not worth this level of trouble. If it could not be used and only dragged her down, it was better to end it now.
At last, she hardened her heart and gave the order.
The stone ox refused to obey, so the paper soldiers would simply tear it apart.
A skilled artisan's craft could allow an object to hold spiritual energy, eventually transforming it into a spirit artifact. But once destroyed, that energy would vanish.
Now her paper soldiers struck with full force. They no longer held back.
Before, they had only worked to keep the ox from escaping the mountain or disturbing the nearby water veins. Now, each strike landed with lethal intent.
Though crafted from paper, these soldiers had been cultivated under Miaozhu's care for years. Their strength easily outclassed a freshly awakened spirit artifact that hadn't had time to replenish its power.
Soon, cracks appeared across the stone ox's body.
Yet it remained stubborn, refusing to yield even as it fractured. It still tried to run. This time, however, it didn't get far. Before it could reach the edge of the mountain, the soldiers closed in and shattered it under a storm of blows.
Stone fragments scattered. Spiritual energy dispersed. The creature's spirit was gone. Normally, when a spirit artifact was destroyed, all that remained was a pile of inert debris. But to Miaozhu's surprise, a pale blue orb of spiritual energy floated above the shattered remains.
"What is this?" she murmured.
She had never seen spiritual energy in this color before.
She raised her Spirit-Seeing Bronze Mirror for a closer look.
The mirror displayed a line of text: Spirit soul produced from the destruction of an unclaimed spirit artifact. Ability: Water Manipulation.
"This is a spirit soul?" Miaozhu frowned, even more confused.
She had seen many broken spirit artifacts before, but none had ever produced a spirit soul like this.
"Is it something only unclaimed spirit artifacts can generate?"
That would make sense. The stone ox was the first unclaimed one she had ever destroyed.
She circled the orb, inspecting it from every angle.
It was energy-based, like ambient spiritual energy. Her hands passed straight through it. It couldn't be stored using ordinary tools.
Then she tried channeling her spiritual power. This time, it responded. She began wrapping it with energy, intending to bring it back to her spirit residence for study.
But before she could finish, the spirit soul surged along the thread of her spiritual energy and flew directly into her forehead.
Miaozhu gasped.
For a moment, it felt like she had become someone else.
She stood beside a rushing river, dressed in ancient robes, running her hands across a massive stone. "This is the one," she said aloud.
"The legs of the ox must be thick and strong, so it can anchor itself against the current. The back must be wide and solid, so it can bear the weight of the flood."
She heard herself say the words.
Rain slid down the rim of her straw hat, mingling with sweat and dripping into the stone's crevices. Each hammer strike carried a blend of fear and hope—fear of the flood, and hope for peace.
Under her skilled hands, the familiar shape of the river ox slowly took form.
As she emerged from the vision, Miaozhu realized what she had just seen. Through the spirit soul's memories, she had witnessed a craftsman from centuries ago sculpting the original stone ox.
She had never learned stone carving. Her knowledge lay in the Secret Art of Paper Crafting. Yet now, she felt as though she could pick up a chisel and sculpt one herself.
Incredible.
All she had done was touch the spirit soul with her spiritual power.
"Wait. The spirit soul!"
She looked back down. The shattered stone was still there, but the spirit soul had vanished.
Recalling how it had flown into her forehead, she quickly turned her awareness inward and examined her spiritual platform.
Inside her spiritual platform, there had only ever been the rainbow-colored portal above and the four ascending spirit crystal tiers in red, green, blue, and yellow.
Now, a new blue orb hovered in the empty space.
If that wasn't the spirit soul of the stone ox, what else could it be?
Had it really chosen to take root here?
Miaozhu stared at the orb floating within her spiritual platform. A question slowly formed in her mind.
"This thing really knows how to pick a spot..."
Her spiritual platform was the foundation of her cultivation. Now, with an unknown object drifting inside it, she couldn't quite feel at ease.
She tried to eject it by channeling her energy.
To her surprise, the orb obediently followed her command. It flowed out along her spiritual energy like it had always belonged there.
She moved it in and out several times. The spirit soul remained calm and cooperative. She had planned to store it in her residence for research, but once it left her spiritual platform, it began to dissipate.
She had no choice but to place it back inside.
There was only one of these spirit souls. She hadn't yet figured out what it could really do, and she wasn't about to let it vanish before she did.
Fortunately, it didn't interfere with her cultivation. It stayed quiet most of the time.
The only odd behavior was that, whenever she sent her spiritual power into it, the spirit soul would replay the scene of the stone artisan carving the river ox, like a miniature film. And it drained her spiritual energy each time it did.