Thinking of this, Lou Yi spent three points of energy to upgrade his Control Talent.

Control (Not Initiated 0/3) → Control (Initiated 0/20 + 1 Soul Nourishing Lotus)

Strange memories appeared in his mind.

He transformed into an ordinary wolf cub, with a coat of gray fur.

Among his siblings, he was also considered weak and skinny, unable to compete with them for milk or food.

One day, the hungry wolf cub saw a strange blood-red spider on the ground, bean-sized, crystal clear, seemingly emitting a faint glow.

Without thinking, the wolf cub extended its tongue and swallowed it down.

Then, everything went black before his eyes, and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, the wolf cub found that the world looked different.

The movements of ants on the ground ten zhang away, the snoring of his distant siblings, and the scent of fruit at the top of the big tree behind him all clearly entered his senses.

Wherever food was hidden, he could accurately find it, never having to suffer from hunger again.

As time passed, the wolf cub grew into an adult wolf, more than twice the size of other gray wolves.

And his fur changed even more, from gray to mingled gray-red, with the red areas gradually increasing.

"Awoo!"

A low growl seemed to contain unique power.

Causing the other gray wolves to obediently walk up to him, lying down to show submission.

Even some birds hopped over, their instincts suppressed by compliance.

"Awoo..."

After the growl sounded again, these gray wolves obediently went out to find food.

And those few birds that came over obediently flew into his mouth.

In reality, Lou Yi opened his eyes.

A large surge of energy entered his head, making him feel an unprecedented clarity and alertness deep in his mind.

The world before him became even clearer.

More than ten zhang away, the patterns on the copper lock hanging on a nearby box were distinctly visible.

The Xu Family members' voices of surprise and the hurried footsteps rushing over from somewhere outside the treasury echoed as if right next to his ears.

He could also smell a faint fragrance of fruit, likely from the apple trees about seventy to eighty zhang to the southeast that had ripened.

The introduction of the Control Talent surfaced:

Control (Passive): The intensity of the spirit slowly increases over time.

Control (Active): Can exert limited control over weaker creatures, with control time and difficulty related to the opponent's mental strength.

Then, Lou Yi looked at a black ant crawling on the ground ahead and activated his talent on it.

"Control."

Lou Yi then felt a connection form between himself and the ant.

On the other end, he sensed a feeling of submission and fear.

He could control this connection to issue some simple commands to it.

"Walk backward." Seeing the ant turning in circles in a panic, Lou Yi frowned.

Then he forcibly controlled the ant's nerves to change its actions.

He tried this many times.

It was only then that the ant turned around and slowly crawled toward Lou Yi.

"Stop."

The ant then stopped.

Lou Yi shook his head; the ant's intelligence was too low, making it not a good target for control.

Of course, it might also be that his Control skill was just initiated and he couldn't yet perform precise operations.

Just at this moment.

'Bang bang bang!'

Several figures dropped from the entrance of the treasury, looking at Lou Yi with ill intentions.

Among them, the weakest had the cultivation of Minor Circulation.

"Who are you, and why have you barged into our Xu Family's treasury?"

Then, they turned their gaze and saw Old Master Xu lying in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open in death, terrifying them to the core.

"Run!"

They intended to leap out of the treasury's entrance, without any thought of avenging Old Master Xu.

'Bang!'

Lou Yi shot over like a cannonball, gently delivering five punches, toppling each of them to the ground.

"Where is the Xu Family's treasure ledger?"

The treasury was too large, searching one by one would take time, finding the ledger could save a lot of effort.

Besides, the cunning rabbit hides in many burrows; the Xu Family's treasures were likely not all stored in the treasury.

"I, I don't know."

The first person looked panicked, seemingly genuinely unaware.

They all denied it repeatedly, but the middle-aged man with the highest cultivation of Great Circulation had a flicker in his eyes.

In the darkness, Lou Yi could see it clearly.

"Control."

Lou Yi activated his Control Talent on the middle-aged man.

'Boom!'

Instantly, countless fragments of memory flooded into Lou Yi's mind.

Eating, drinking, killing, having intercourse, going to the toilet, all sorts of actions, various times like childhood, last year, yesterday, and complex emotions like anger, sadness, excitement, fear...

Lou Yi felt like his brain was being hit hard, blood seeping from his nose and mouth.

The color of the Attribute Panel changed from green to a mix of green and red, indicating his current distressing condition.

After spending seven or eight points of energy to improve his state, the deep brain fatigue still existed.

As for the middle-aged man, it was even worse, with blood flowing from his orifices, eyes turning white, and he kept giggling foolishly, speaking nonsense.

"Hehehe..."

"Mom, Mom, Xiao Liu Zi stole my candy again!"

"La la la la, la la la, I am a happy little kid..."

Seeing this, Lou Yi realized that the Control Talent couldn't yet be used on similar beings.

Even if the opponent's spirit wasn't as strong as his, they were still on the same level, with no fundamental difference.

However, the nearby Xu Family servants, witnessing the pitiful state of the Great Circulation middle-aged man, assumed Lou Yi had used some witchcraft, each one scared out of their wits.

"I know, I know where the ledger is!"

Soon, with their 'help,' Lou Yi found the ledger in an unremarkable room.

Then he sent these people to meet King Yama.

He flipped through the ledger, eyes showing delight.

"White Dew Stone, Star Cold Iron, they actually have both, the Xu Family truly has deep resources."

The Petrification Talent had been stuck on Star Cold Iron.

Now that energy was sufficient, it was time for it to reach great completion!

Thinking of this, Lou Yi no longer hesitated.

Following the location mentioned in the ledger, he went to a hidden room in the Xu Family's backyard.

With one swing of an axe easily breaking the large lock on the door, he swaggered in and retrieved the Star Cold Iron and White Dew Stone.

"There are thieves!"

The Xu Family was finally fully alerted, with a large number of people flooding out from all directions.

"Oh well, I'll deal with you in a few days."

Lou Yi secured the treasures like Star Cold Iron and then vanished on the spot with a 'whoosh'.

The most pressing task now was to enhance the Petrification Talent.

For some reason, he felt a vague and elusive stinging pain in his brow.

According to the classics he had read, this was likely the Martial Artist's sixth sense wildly warning of impending great danger.

Old Master Xu wasn't a match for him; Lou Yi didn't think anything could threaten him right now.

But to be cautious, there was no harm in increasing his strength.

...

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