Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

At the turn of the twelve earthly branches, the coldest night is upon us.

He Damin's figure drifted silently into the east courtyard of Nanluoguxiang, like a wisp of smoke. His dark, fitted outfit was stained with lingering dew and marked with dark brown patches—congealed blood, the blood of his enemies. His footsteps trod silently on the blue brick floor. He pushed open the half-closed door, and a dry, lingering smell, mixed with the warmth of charcoal fire, rushed out, a stark contrast to the biting cold outside.

He closed the door behind him, shutting out the biting cold and desolate atmosphere of a late December night in Beiping. No lights were on inside; only the reflection of the light snow filtering through the window blurred the outlines of the tables and chairs. He didn't rest immediately, but stood quietly on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) for a moment, slowly exhaling a long, stale breath. This breath condensed into a white ribbon in the cold air, lingering for a long time.

The months-long hunt across North China resembled a meticulously planned and brutal dance. Sometimes he would burn down enemy strongholds deep in the Western Hills, sometimes he would plunder supplies along the railway lines, and sometimes he would appear like a ghost in the Japanese army's field camps, leaving behind a trail of corpses and empty tents. Each strike was as precise as a scalpel, slicing away a piece of flesh from the Japanese invaders' bodies. The harvest was enormous—countless weapons, ammunition, medicine, and food flowed to the front lines of the war of resistance through clandestine channels, and the various supplies piled up in the Taiji Space were dazzling and abundant.

But at this moment, his heart was largely unmoved. The souls he had personally sent into the Soul Refining Banner, the consciousnesses that screamed and vanished under the Netherworld Chains, seemed like mere numbers in a long count. His thoughts were more focused on something else—self-refinement and honing his skills.

He sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed) and closed his eyes. His consciousness did not sink into a weary sleep, but rather, like a commander inspecting an army, he began to take stock of the "weapons" he possessed.

Tai Chi Space: The Foundation of Self-Esteem.

Yin and Yang, one yin and one yang, form his core reliance since his transmigration. The Yin space is the realm of the soul and the unorthodox path. The basic talismans, footwork, and hand seals provided in the beginner's gift pack, though seemingly rudimentary, are the foundation for building more complex spells. The orthodox introductory spells of the Taoist sects, such as "The Use of the Three Pure Ones Bell" and "Introduction to Peach Wood Sword Forging," possess a majestic righteousness and specific targeting that domineering soul artifacts like the Soul Refining Banner lack when dealing with evil spirits and setting up specific formations. The Yang space is the guarantee of his physical body and resources. The hundred acres of black soil, the storage space, and the three thatched huts are his most stable logistical base.

Chinese martial arts, physical combat.

The Twelve Tan Legs are fierce and powerful, their kicks like whips, capable of shattering monuments and splitting rocks; the Tai Chi Harmony Skill harmonizes Yin and Yang, serving as both a health-preserving internal energy cultivation technique and a source of sustained, powerful internal force; the Lightness Skill: Swallow Three Drops of Water grants him the lightness of a swallow, allowing him to move with incredible speed and agility; the Bajiquan is a powerful, explosive, close-quarters combat style, the most violent of all. He has mastered these four martial arts to the level of Transformation Realm, and combined with the Daoist true energy of his Foundation Establishment stage, his body has become a perfect killing machine, possessing explosive power, endurance, flexibility, and resilience. In close combat, even seasoned martial artists and ninjas would find it difficult to withstand three moves from him.

Soul-based secret techniques, unorthodox methods and ingenious tactics.

His soul-cloning technique grants him a "heavenly eye" covering the entire North China intelligence network; memory reading allows him to see into people's hearts and grasp the most secret information; and soul control, though not used much at present, might have miraculous effects in certain situations. These three abilities constitute his absolute advantage in intelligence warfare and psychological warfare.

[Soul Refining Flag], the core killing weapon.

His focus was on this natal soul weapon. From its initial state of being a flawed artifact, capable only of absorbing and refining wandering souls and ghosts, it had now undergone three advancements, possessing immense power.

First upgrade: Unlocks [Blood Soul Chains] and [Soul Banner Domain], giving him the foundation to directly attack souls and suppress areas.

Second upgrade: The Blood Soul Chains now have the "Soul Devouring" trait, expanding their domain and adding the "Soul-Stealing Maze," and also unlocking the "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons" which creates chaos.

Three advancements: a qualitative leap! The [Netherworld Chains] come with [Soul-Eating Yin Fire], greatly increasing its lethality against spirits; the [Soul Banner Domain] expands to a radius of fifty feet, and the newly added [Wailing of Vengeful Spirits] can massively damage morale; the phantoms summoned by [Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts] are stronger and more numerous, and can even briefly materialize to attack; and the strategic-level [Soul Banner Projection] and the cultivation-accelerating [Soul Devouring Feedback] are also unlocked.

Each advancement brings a leap in power. The Soul Refining Banner is no longer merely a tool for absorbing soul power, but a war artifact integrating attack, defense, control, and support. Especially when targeting large-scale ordinary armies and low-level superhumans, its area-of-effect damage and mental crushing effect are terrifying.

Spatial teleportation, a divine skill of mobility.

The soul split can anchor itself at a designated location, and the physical body can emerge from the split location after entering the Taiji Yangzi space. This grants him unimaginable mobility, and combined with the high-speed reconnaissance of his soul body, he can theoretically appear instantly in any corner of North China where a split exists. The only limitation is that "the soul split can only operate at night," which means that rapid relocation during the day will be somewhat restricted, but it is still an unparalleled strategic advantage.

One ability after another flowed through his consciousness, clear as a mirror. He Damin examined them, pondering how to combine and utilize them more effectively, and how to compensate for any potential shortcomings. Martial arts close combat, Soul Refining Banner crowd control, Soul Secret Techniques for assistance, spatial mobility, Tai Chi spatial logistics… these abilities had already begun to form a relatively complete combat and survival system.

"But that's not enough," he murmured to himself. The jade pendant on Yoshiko Kawashima's back, capable of spatial teleportation, was the work of a cultivator at least at the Golden Core stage, reminding him that the world's waters might run deeper than he imagined. Relying solely on his current strength, if he encountered someone of that level again, or if the other party set a targeted trap, things could still change.

"My strength needs to be further improved. Especially the Soul Refining Banner..." He sensed the banner floating in his spiritual sea, radiating a deep blood-red light and a ghostly aura. After months of continuous hunting and devouring, the soul power accumulated within the banner had reached a level that even surprised him.

With a thought, the soul left the body and plunged directly into the depths of the Taiji space.

Cathode space.

The sky remained the same unchanging gray, and the earth the same hard, cold black rock. But the scene in the center of the space was quite different from before.

The floating Soul Refining Banner was now radiating an unprecedentedly intense crimson light! The banner was no longer floating calmly, but rather undulating violently as if blown by a gale. The hundred ghost patterns on it twisted and howled, as if trying to break free from the banner's constraints. The dark gold dragon scale patterns on the banner pole flowed with dazzling golden light, and the deep dragon roars intertwined with the howls of countless ghosts to create a vast sound wave that sent shivers down one's spine.

Around the Soul Refining Banner, countless points of light floated!

On the left, there were countless, thousands upon thousands of crimson blood beads! Each one was the size of a grain of rice, crystal clear, with blood seemingly flowing inside, radiating an extremely rich blood energy and life essence. This was the purest life essence extracted by the Soul Refining Banner when it devoured living beings; it was a supreme elixir for tempering the body and replenishing qi and blood.

To the right lay an even more vast expanse of pure soul light, as dazzling as a galaxy! They varied in size, from as small as dust particles to as large as pigeon eggs, all radiating a soft, pure white light, devoid of any impurities or resentment, containing only the most primal soul energy. He Damin, with a cursory glance, knew their numbers far exceeded ten thousand! Among them were the souls of ordinary Japanese soldiers, as well as a small number refined from the souls of extraordinary individuals such as Onmyoji, ninjas, and martial artists, and also included all the spoils he had accumulated from hunting across North China over the past few months.

"Unbeknownst to me... I've accumulated this much." Even with He Damin's composure, his soul trembled slightly. Tens of thousands of units of pure soul power! This was a fortune enough to drive any cultivator practicing soul techniques mad!

The Soul Refining Banner itself, after devouring such a massive amount of souls, especially some of the high-quality souls contained within, had already reached the saturation state of its third advancement. The banner trembled incessantly, as if something was being conceived and expanded inside, yearning to break free from its cocoon.

"The time has come." He Damin's soul floated in front of the Soul Refining Banner, stretched out his hand, and pressed it lightly on the violently fluctuating banner surface.

He no longer suppressed his desire, no longer waited. He connected his thoughts with the Soul Refining Banner, unleashing the pent-up urge to advance!

"Buzz—!!!"

An unprecedented, enormous buzzing sound, seemingly emanating from the deepest depths of the netherworld, erupted with a deafening roar! The entire Yin-Yang Space trembled violently in response! The hazy sky seemed about to crack open, and the black earth hummed.

The Soul Refining Banner suddenly erupted with a blinding, blood-gold light! The light was so intense that it instantly engulfed everything in the space, and He Damin's soul was forced to retreat several steps to protect himself with his soul power.