"It's just a shame…" Bosacius murmured. "Our two Yaksha sisters, and that other brother… they can't be here. With that young friend Su Han's help, we might all have been reunited."
He looked at the brother before him, eyes full of regret.
Old memories circled in his mind, refusing to leave.
He blamed the karmic debt that had twisted him back then. If not for that…
Seeing the pain on his elder brother's face, Xiao spoke softly. "We've already done everything we could. Humans have a saying: cherish the present.
"I used to think, with their short lives, mortals couldn't possibly understand anything profound.
"Now I know I was wrong.
"Big brother… live well. As long as we keep living, there's still a chance. Maybe one day, our family will return to our side."
Yaksha were born for battle.
Their natures were hard and cold.
Xiao had always believed emotions didn't exist in him at all.
But after watching Liyue change, and seeing Bosacius rise again, he realized his view had been wrong from the start.
Cherishing those in front of you—this was a truth mortals had carved into their bones over countless years.
When he was young, his elder brothers and sisters had often encouraged him, trying to help him grow a real heart.
Back then, Xiao had been too young.
He hadn't understood their kindness. He'd thought a Yaksha's only duty was to fight and kill.
It wasn't until he'd lost everything, standing alone beneath the night sky, that he understood how beautiful those days had been.
Bosacius blinked at the brother comforting him.
Then he laughed. "You've really changed a lot, little Golden‑Wing… Looks like you've learned quite a bit in these past centuries."
Time really could change everything.
The two of them talked for another ten minutes.
Then Bosacius felt the weariness creeping in. "I can't keep this up," he said. "I'm getting tired. I need to rest. When my soul is more stable, we'll talk again."
"Alright. Rest, big brother," Xiao replied, smiling.
He watched as Bosacius's spirit flowed back into the soul box.
Then he turned and left the room.
Outside, Su Han stepped forward to meet him. "You're in a good mood," he observed.
"Of course," Xiao said. "It's hard to hide how I feel when I see my brother again.
"I always thought it was enough to fulfill my duty as a Yaksha and nothing more. I ignored what I felt.
"Looking back now, I see how much I missed.
"No wonder the Lord of Geo called me green back then."
Only after losing something did its worth become obvious.
It was a lesson all living beings had to learn.
Ganyu walked over with a gentle smile. "Senior Xiao, it's almost noon. Why don't you stay and have lunch with us?"
"Very well," Xiao said. "Then I'll impose. Also… if you have questions about martial arts, you can come to me."
He was smiling now, the old chill gone from his voice.
He even offered, unprompted, to guide them.
After everything Su Han had done, he wanted to give something back.
He might not understand politics or commerce, but when it came to combat, there were few immortals who could match the Golden‑Winged Yaksha.
Su Han's eyes lit up. "Then I'll take the chance to ask you about something—space power."
"Space?" Xiao repeated, eyes narrowing slightly. That kind of force was far from ordinary. It meant Su Han had grown again.
"I recently obtained a technique," Su Han said. "But I can't seem to perfect it. I'd like you to see what it's missing."
"It's called Meidou Zangetsuha. It opens a special rift and uses that power to cut down enemies."
He drew Tenseiga.
At once, the blade darkened into a quiet star‑studded black.
Su Han slashed toward a distant wooden target.
Netherworld force spun into being.
But its flight was too slow, its impact a little thin.
As they watched the Meidou eat through the post, Xiao spoke. "The power itself is impressive. But the technique isn't perfect.
"Because that power isn't yours.
"It belongs to the sword.
"I can see it clearly—you're just channeling the blade's strength. If you swallow that power and make it yours, you'll be able to wield space freely."
"Swallow it?" Su Han echoed.
"Yes. Strip out the core of that force and fuse it into yourself. Only then can you truly control space.
"Otherwise, no matter how hard you train, it's pointless. The power sealed in the sword is incomplete to begin with."
The reminder made something click.
In the original story, Tenseiga's Meidou had been torn off from Tessusaiga.
Naturally, it had been flawed—until the two blades fought together and the technique evolved into its complete form.
But his Tessusaiga didn't carry any leftover Meidou at all.
It had been a "reset" blade when he first obtained it.
That left him only one path: Xiao's.
If he could devour Meidou's core, using Meidou Zangetsuha would become easier—and more complete.
Su Han plunged Tenseiga into the ground, then drew Tessusaiga.
"Strip the Meidou power from Tenseiga," he commanded.
"Yes, master," Tessusaiga's spirit answered, docile and clear.
When the two blades touched, Tenseiga began to tremble.
The Netherworld energy within it was quickly drawn out.
Of course, it was Su Han's weapon too.
There was no resistance.
After about ten minutes, the Meidou force had been fully extracted.
"Need my help?" Xiao asked quietly.
"No. Now that I know what to do, I can handle the rest," Su Han said.
He urged Tessusaiga.
A seed of Meidou power appeared in the air.
It was pitch‑black and bottomless, like a tiny, devouring void.
Hu Tao frowned. "That's Meidou? Why does it feel like… death?"
"Su Han said once that Meidou is linked to the world of the dead," someone reminded her. "So it's normal for that power to reek of death."
"But can he really swallow death?" Keqing asked.
Everyone turned to look at Su Han.
Meidou wasn't something you just "digested" casually.
This attempt could cost him his life.
Su Han hesitated for only a heartbeat.
Then he reached out, gripped the seed, and pressed it into his body.
If Inuyasha could master Meidou, why couldn't he?
He had Azure Dragon blood in his veins.
He refused to believe some Netherworld fragment could beat him.
As Meidou sank into him, Su Han ran his cultivation method at full tilt.
Natural power surged.
The other forces within him all rushed to suppress the intruder.
The deep, twisting space energy tried to swallow everything.
The dense death aura even threatened to turn his dantian into a black hole, devouring him from the inside out.
Just then, the Asura chakra and the Azure Dragon bloodline both stirred.
Forces like these did not bow easily.
Compared to Asura chakra, Meidou was nothing.
The dragon blood flared as well, furious.
A tiny scrap of space dared to make trouble?
It was asking to die.
The two powers fused and crashed down on Meidou like a falling mountain.
In that instant, Su Han understood what he had to do.
He poured all his will into compressing the rampaging death‑force, forging it into a core rather than letting it spread.
His own power threaded through the Meidou, slowly transforming it.
Life and death began to circulate inside him.
The once‑mangled Meidou drew in that living energy and… grew.
This time, it didn't try to devour Su Han.
Instead, it fed strength back into his body.
He had completely conquered it.
When he opened his eyes again, the world felt different.
The weak points in space stood out like stars on a map.
He had the distinct feeling that, with just a flick of his fingers, he could shatter them.
Within the Serenitea Pot, he could see that the entire domain was built by compressing a slice of space.
"So that's how it is… This is the essence of space," he murmured, smiling.
Meidou had brought him more than just a new attack.
It had opened a door.
"How is it? Did you bring it under control?" Ningguang asked, stepping closer. "And why are you here? Weren't you working at Yuehai Pavilion?"
Su Han blinked. He could have sworn she'd just left for official business.
Ningguang gave him a look. "I heard you were about to train with space. How could I focus on paperwork after that? I couldn't settle my mind at all. So I came."
"Exactly," Hu Tao chimed in, glancing at the clock. "And it's already been two hours. The next mission's about to refresh."
Su Han followed her gaze.
It was already ten fifty.
In ten minutes, the twenty‑second mission would roll over.
"I didn't realize that much time had passed," he admitted.
"It's normal," Ningguang said. "Understanding space usually takes a long time. I spent ages on it back then.
"You had a power 'seed.' That saved you a lot of time. Try using Meidou now and see what's changed."
"Alright."
Su Han turned toward the distant line of wooden posts.
He lifted Tessusaiga and gave it a light swing.
Sixteen slashes roared out together.
On each strand of sword‑qi, a fragmentary Meidou flickered.
Despite their tattered look, the blows were far stronger than before—and ten times faster.
"It still doesn't look like a complete sphere," Mona said, frowning.
"No," Xiao said quietly. "Look closer. The force itself is whole now."
Everyone focused.
Where the strikes passed, the ground didn't just crack—it collapsed.
The space itself was crumbling.
Su Han's attacks weren't merely erasing wood.
They were tearing the fabric of the domain.
It was nothing like the old, simple "erasure."
The destructive power had soared, at least tenfold.
Su Han smiled. "If I wanted to, I could form a perfect sphere easily now. But for attacking, there's no need. A big round target is easier to intercept.
"These slashes aren't."
As he spoke, the clock ticked over to eleven.
The mission list refreshed.
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