Once the Master left, everyone circled Figo, eager to grab the Malice-Breaking Orb. The Malice-Breaking Orb came from the Night Watch, but it was made in the Yearning Palace. The moment Stirling received the Malice-Breaking Orb, he felt a sense of familiarity. He noticed that the runes on the orb looked like those on the lantern he had found in Rock Village.

  "Another kind of rune ..." Stirling felt puzzled, wondering if all the Malice-Breaking Orb inscriptions were as similar.

  But now wasn't the time for research. Stirling put the Malice-Breaking Orb away, preparing to return home for further study. If he could grasp the secrets of the runes, he might mass-produce weapons that break malice. He would crush them with firepower, whether they were Pathos or Yearning. As Stirling was pondering this, he suddenly heard Figo say, "Luis, come here."

  Stirling looked at Figo in surprise. Although he didn't know why he was calling him at that moment, he trotted over right then.

  "Brother Figo, did you call me?" Stirling inquired.

  "Well, you live in the Three Rivers District, don't you?" Figo asked first.

  "Yes, Brother Luis." Stirling hid nothing.

  "Well, take one more Malice-Breaking Orb. I heard Three Rivers District is the most dangerous. Also, if you see a cultist from the Pathos Shrine, run at once," Figo said.

  "Run?" Stirling was stunned.

  "The first realm to worshiper is the Garbha realm. This realm is like breaking through the Rhino-Skin stage for us samurai. What? You're still thinking of killing them to claim the credit?" Figo found Stirling's expression amusing, then patted him on the shoulder. "Okay, if you can kill the Pathos cultist, it will bring honor to our dojo. If anyone dares to take credit or say anything, I'll be the first to kick his ass."

  "Thank you, Brother Figo!" Stirling bowed in thanks.

  Figo smiled and shook his head again. In his eyes, Stirling was a low-ranking outer apprentice. If he ever encountered someone from the Pathos shrine, he'd be lucky to survive. He'd likely listened to too many tales about counterattacks, thinking he was the son of fortune!

  In the afternoon, Figo said that things were different lately. He added that those not staying overnight could leave early. Stirling knew it was special care. After all, he was the only one in this vast outer courtyard who practiced martial arts every day. Stirling gave a hasty farewell to Figo and rashly left the dojo.

  After Stirling returned to his courtyard, he checked the hidden tricks he had set up in the house. None of them had been triggered, indicating that no one had entered since he left. He breathed a sigh of relief. Stirling returned early today. He closed the doors and windows. Then, he lifted a piece of the bedroom floorboards. He retrieved the quicksand map and the lamp from Rock Village.

  Since arriving in Farfield City, Stirling hasn't used the quicksand map for a while. From now on, he needs to check it daily to avoid any risks. Stirling spread out the quicksand map and glanced at it. He saw no unusual markings. With a slight sigh of relief, he took the lamp and went to the table in the inner room.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Stirling took the Malice-Breaking bead from the dojo. He laid it on the table and compared it to the runes on the lamp.

  Stirling looked at the two runes before him, a hypothesis forming in his mind. He then took out a piece of white paper and began experimenting.

  First, Stirling copied the rune from the lamp onto a piece of white paper. Then, he copied the rune from the Malice-Breaking Bead onto another piece. Stirling finally put the two pieces of paper in front of him. He noticed the prompts were the same.

  [The current enhancement required a lifespan of 1 day. Do you want to enhance it?]

  This result was incorrect. Not only were the runes different, but the copying was also different. Stirling thought it was unlikely that copying both papers would only cut the lifespan by one day. That lifespan was still far too short. So, the rune he'd drawn was not the enhancement object but the blank paper. Stirling seemed prepared for this and wrote the term on each piece of paper. Now, the difference between the two pieces of paper became clear.

  The paper with the Yearning Palace rune lasted 15 days, but the paper with the lamp rune lasted 27 days! What a vast difference! Stirling was amazed. Even if his copying wasn't perfect, he had done the Rock Village rune many times. So, the strengthening lifespan should have been shorter. A judgement from this, the Yearning Palace rune is stronger at dispelling malice. This means it takes less lifespan to achieve the same effect.

  Thinking of this, Stirling felt a little surprised. This was his first time copying the Yearning Palace rune. He used plain paper instead of the beads for tunes. If he had used the beads to enhance it, the lifespan would have been even shorter. Glancing at the sky outside, Stirling formed a plan. He picked up the items on the table. Then, he burned all the papers. Next, he set up some hidden surveillance devices and left again.

  Half an hour later, Stirling returned home. This time, he brought back a bag of beads and a burin. Both were for carving tunes. To stay under the radar, Stirling wrapped the items in rags as he walked. Combined with his calm demeanor, ordinary people wouldn't notice him at all. Entering the house, Stirling first performed the usual inspections. Once he found no problems, he took out the beads he had purchased and began carving the talisman.

  The runes on the Yearning Palace seemed complicated, but they were just chaotic lines. Stirling had mastered them after copying them dozens of times on white paper. When Stirling felt ready, he took out the beads and ink he had bought. He dipped his burin in ink and got ready to start his first copy. In a minute, Stirling had completed his first Malice-Breaking bead.

  Stirling believed his rune was impressive and resembled the dojo's. But he was certain it lacked a Malice-Breaking effect. The reason was clear: if a simple copy could have that impact, the world wouldn't have let this mess last for so long. Thinking of this, Stirling picked up his burin and wrote the words on the back of the bead. Then he focused his gaze on it.

  After a breath, a line of text appeared before Stirling's eyes.

  [The current enhancement needs a lifespan 12 days. Do you want to enhance it?]

  12 days? So-so. Stirling raised an eyebrow. He held his breath, took out another bead, and carved the second Malice-Breaking rune. This time, the lifespan required for enhancement dropped to eleven days. Although it was only a one-day change, progress was a good thing, and this made Stirling even more excited.

  Next, Stirling ran many experiments. He cut the enhancement time to less than ten days.

  An hour later, Stirling muttered, looking at the sorted beads on the table. After many experiments, the lifespan needed for enhancement dropped to nine days. Stirling guessed that this might be the limit.

  Stirling took the last pile of beads on the table and began enhancing them one by one. The scrapped beads from the experiments? Children will be happy to have them for slingshots.