Song Miaozhu listened quietly as the newly appointed director solemnly read out the disciplinary actions against Feng Ru, Feng Jinwen, and the others.
Even those who had already died were not omitted. The announcement clearly listed the deaths of Qi Tai, Fan Guolong, and several other SEIU committee members, detailing their roles and wrongdoings in the Underworld Plan.
At the end of the announcement, the director issued a formal apology on behalf of the SEIU and unveiled a set of compensation measures for all victims affected by the plan.
—A dedicated cemetery would be established for deceased spirit members, with daily offerings conducted by appointed personnel.
—Living members, upon death, could also be buried there, receiving permanent worship.
—The cemetery would be maintained as long as the Spirit Bureau existed.
—Surviving human victims would receive lifetime free medical care and substantial financial compensation.
In Song Miaozhu's eyes, this far surpassed Feng Ru's hollow "apology."
While the damage done could never truly be undone, this at least showed some degree of genuine accountability. Still, Song Miaozhu couldn't help wondering: why were there two very different responses, released so close together?
Viewer numbers on the livestream were skyrocketing. The new SEIU director began answering questions submitted by the audience.
One comment in particular caught her eye:
[Feng Ru's video is GONE! Hahaha! He 'voluntarily resigned,' but the new director says he was 'dismissed.' How's that for face-slapping?]
Song Miaozhu checked and, sure enough, the video had been taken down.
The power shift was clear.
With the Underworld's punishment list in play, everyone involved in the Underworld Plan had been purged. The SEIU had pulled in many military personnel for upper management, undergoing a full internal shakeup. Judging by this, they probably had no further ambitions of probing into the Underworld. But what would their stance be toward the strange phenomena surrounding her?
Song Miaozhu stared at Director Zhao on screen, sitting upright with an air of gravity. He looked vaguely familiar. But she didn't know anyone that high-ranking. The name Zhao Quanshu also didn't ring a bell.
Zhao...
She quickly called Zhao Mumu. "Hey, Sister Mumu, is the new director of the SEIU related to your family?!"
Zhao Mumu had just found out herself. Still slightly stunned, she replied, "That's my dad! No wonder my brother has been missing lately. He must've dragged the old man out of retirement.
You can relax now, Miaozhu.
My dad's the type to go strictly by the book. He never plays favorites, not even with us kids, and he's even harsher on himself. He's definitely not the kind of person who'd turn out like Feng Ru and his gang."
Song Miaozhu was silent for a moment.
She had known the Zhaos had some backing... but not this level of backing!
Still, this was good news. It seemed trustworthy this time.
She was genuinely glad for the SEIU. If they channeled their energy in the right direction, she might finally enjoy some peace. To celebrate, she pulled out a few curse paper dolls and stuck them with needles, then went right back to cultivation.
Even though Feng Ru and the others had been dismissed, their previous meddling still affected her. She never wanted to live under someone else's thumb again. The quieter things got, the harder she cultivated.
Spending a full billion hell coins on a top-grade spirit stone, she now needed to sell more Grade Four paper clothes to rebuild her funds and hopefully break the billion-coin mark again. That way, she could afford more spirit stones.
After experiencing the cultivation speed brought by top-grade spiritual energy, she could no longer go back to using high-grade stones.
Unless it was an emergency, she would save those for spiritual recovery only.
Day by day, her paper soldiers grew stronger, the glow around them intensifying.
Under the new leadership, the SEIU had begun focusing on spiritual power and aura research, and they finally produced some promising results.
They published a report titled:
"Spiritual Power Research: Effects of Prolonged Infusion on Handcrafted Objects"
The SEIU had recruited master artisans to channel their spiritual energy into their finest works daily for a month, observing the changes.
Results:
All infused objects underwent positive transformations, though the effects varied.
Quality Enhancement: A painter's ink-wash birds grew detailed, lifelike feathers.
Sentient Connection: A ceramic sculptor's statue demanded (via dream) to be moved from his bedroom to a more lively studio. Photos later showed its expression shifted from stern to smiling.
New Abilities: A jade pi xiu carving began spitting out lost items (like a missing gold ring).
Exceptions:
Intangible creations (e.g., music, poetry) couldn't retain infused energy.
Chefs couldn't infuse finished dishes—only during cooking.
The SEIU called this phenomenon "nurturing objects with spiritual power" [靈力養物].
As the exact rules of this transformation were not yet known, the SEIU encouraged all cultivators to try it for themselves and report the results. Those who submitted valuable findings could receive appropriate rewards.
The examples in the report opened Song Miaozhu's eyes.
She looked at her little paper servants riding the giant cat around the courtyard.
Maybe she should try it too?
Come to think of it, she had already been infusing spiritual power into them. After all, the paper servants needed spiritual power to function. Once depleted, they always came back to her for replenishment.
That was essentially the same concept.
But what if she began deliberately channeling spiritual energy into them every day? What changes might occur?
She wasn't short on spiritual power right now, and any depletion could be restored using spirit stones. So she decided to test it. After all, with so many SEIU experiments done already and none resulting in anything negative, it was worth a shot.
She called over one little paper servant and gave it a steady infusion of spiritual power.
Then, she selected:
A Yang Paper Clothes
A fourth-tier paper garment
A paper armor
A Life-Replacement Paper Figure
A Wound-Transfer Paper Figure
A gold ingot
A golden lotus
Daily infusions, she resolved. Let's see what changes time would bring.