Soul Petrifying Glare proved invaluable during the early stages of formation. It allowed him to freeze emerging spiritual disturbances, preventing the chaotic growth of cursed entities within the Jiangshi cores. This gave him time to stabilize the structure before it could spiral out of control.

Through these methods, his success rate improved.

Gradually.

Steadily.

His Jiangshi became more reliable.

More obedient.

More effective.

At the same time, his Soul Cultivation continued to advance, though not at the explosive pace he had once experienced. The initial surge had been fueled by major events. The mine collapse. His rise as a Legacy Disciple. The intense emotional reactions of thousands.

That period had passed.

The sect had adjusted.

His presence, while still impactful, no longer generated the same overwhelming waves of emotional energy. People had grown accustomed to him. Familiarity dulled intensity.

Han Yu had tried to counter this.

With mixed results.

On one occasion, he had orchestrated a minor incident within the Puppet Peak. A series of controlled malfunctions caused several high value puppets to behave unpredictably. The goal had been to create panic and stimulate emotional responses.

The result had been effective.

Too effective.

An entire section of the peak had gone into lockdown, several elders had intervened, and a full investigation had been launched. Han Yu had spent days subtly redirecting suspicion away from himself while restoring order.

On another attempt, he had leaked a rumor about a hidden inheritance appearing within a restricted zone. The rumor spread rapidly, drawing large numbers of disciples into the area. Tension rose, competition escalated, and emotional energy surged.

Unfortunately, the situation nearly turned into an internal conflict before senior elders stepped in to suppress it. Han Yu had quietly erased his involvement and decided that such methods required more refinement.

There was also the incident involving a "haunted puppet."

He had experimented with embedding fluctuating emotional patterns into a test unit. The puppet exhibited erratic behavior, appearing to react to unseen stimuli. Word spread quickly, and for a brief period, a section of the sect genuinely believed a cursed entity had manifested.

The emotional output had been impressive.

The aftermath had been… inconvenient.

Despite these efforts, his Soul Qi continued to grow at a steady pace. Over the decade, it had increased to nearly three times its previous volume. The foundation was strong, but the path to the next breakthrough remained unclear.

His Qi cultivation followed a more predictable trajectory.

He reached the Child Soul Stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

To him, the progress felt slow.

Measured.

Almost frustrating.

But to others, it was astonishing.

The Second Kidney Peak Head had once stared at him in silence after confirming his progress.

"Do you even understand what you are doing?" he had asked.

Han Yu had smiled slightly.

"Cultivating."

The peak head had shaken his head.

"Lightning speed would be an understatement."

The Freezing Abyss Glacial Art was not an easy technique. Its complexity, its demands, and its depth made it a challenge even for seasoned cultivators. Advancing within it required not just talent, but endurance and understanding.

Han Yu had both.

And more.

Now, ten years later, he stood at a point where his foundation was solid, his influence vast, and his plans slowly taking shape.

Yet he knew…

This was still not enough.

Not for what he intended.

Not for what lay ahead.

The path forward remained long.

But he had already come too far to turn back. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

A few days later, Han Yu stood within the depths of his private workshop, a place few in the sect had ever seen and even fewer would be allowed to enter.

The structure itself occupied a large portion of his assigned peak, its foundations reinforced with layered formations, its walls etched with stabilizing arrays, and its interior filled with a faint metallic scent that mixed with the heavier aroma of blood.

At the center of the workshop lay the current subject of his attention.

A corpse floated within a circular pool carved into the ground, the liquid within it thick and dark. It was not ordinary blood, but a refined mixture infused with essence, Qi stabilizers, and traces of curse energy that Han Yu had spent years perfecting.

Thin lines of light pulsed along the edges of the pool, maintaining the equilibrium of the process while feeding energy into the forming structure.

Han Yu stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze fixed on the corpse.

His expression was calm, but his thoughts were anything but.

For ten years he had walked this path, exploring the creation of Jiangshi with a persistence that bordered on obsession. What began as a necessity had evolved into a complex discipline of its own, one that demanded precision, understanding, and a willingness to fail repeatedly.

And he had failed.

Many times.

The early attempts had been crude, unstable, and dangerous. Corpses that dissolved into dust before completion. Bodies that convulsed violently and ruptured under the strain of conflicting energies. Constructs that rose only to collapse moments later, unable to sustain their own existence.

Then came the successes.

If they could be called that.

The first stable Jiangshi had been weak, barely able to stand without assistance. It had required constant reinforcement just to maintain its structure. Still, it had marked progress.

From there, he advanced steadily.

Iron Skin Jiangshi became his current peak. Durable, reliable, capable of withstanding moderate damage. They were functional, but far from the level he desired.

Han Yu exhaled slowly as he continued to observe the corpse before him.

"What am I missing…" he murmured.

Strength was one aspect.

Loyalty was another.

Control was the most critical of all.

He had experimented with various approaches. Different blood compositions. Altered formation arrays. Adjusted curse materials. Integration of Soul Skills.

Each method brought improvements.

None brought perfection.

His mind drifted briefly to past experiments.

The Red Hair Jiangshi had been one of his more unusual creations. Long strands of crimson hair had grown across its body, each one infused with a thin layer of Blood Qi. The result was a construct that could attack from multiple angles, the hair acting as flexible extensions capable of binding or piercing targets.