Han Yu remained silent for a long moment.

His thoughts moved, but they did not spiral.

Instead, they aligned.

Focused.

'Why…?'

The question arose naturally.

And just as naturally, the answer began to form.

The Stelae did not give without reason.

It responded.

To stimuli.

To conditions.

To triggers.

The Violet Spirit Quartz.

Han Yu's gaze deepened.

He had touched it.

Held it.

For the first time.

And immediately afterward, the Stelae had reacted.

This was not coincidence.

It was cause and effect.

Then, another thought surfaced.

One that carried deeper implications.

The origin of the technique.

Han Yu had always believed that the Mind Modifying Doll Seal was created by the Supreme Elder of the Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect. That belief was not baseless. It was widely accepted, reinforced by the sect's teachings and history.

But now…

That certainty wavered.

If the Stelae contained this technique…

Then the Supreme Elder might not have created it.

He might have received it.

Just as Han Yu had received his own opportunities.

Just as the Peak Head had instructed him to conceal his own advantages.

A faint understanding settled in.

'So… it was the same for him.'

Perhaps not identical.

But similar.

The Supreme Elder had likely obtained more than one inheritance. Not just a cultivation method, but multiple legacies. Techniques. Knowledge. Power.

And he had hidden them well.

Integrated them into the sect.

Made them appear as his own.

Han Yu exhaled softly.

That realization did not shake him.

If anything, it clarified things.

The world of cultivation had never been fair.

Inheritance, fortune, and secrecy were as much a part of it as talent and effort.

With that thought settled, Han Yu did not hesitate further.

He began reading.

Every line.

Every symbol.

Every detail.

He committed it all to memory.

The process was not rushed.

Nor was it slow.

It was precise.

Methodical.

As the information flowed into his understanding, the structure of the technique revealed itself.

And what he found surprised him.

The Mind Modifying Doll Seal was not a singular technique.

It was layered.

Constructed.

Built upon a foundation.

The first layer…

Was something familiar.

A High Grade Slave Seal.

Han Yu recognized its structure almost immediately. It was a refined version of the seals already used within the sect. Powerful. Complex. Capable of suppressing both body and mind to a significant degree.

But even at its peak, it had limitations.

It could restrict.

Control.

Suppress.

But it could not erase.

It could not completely overwrite a person's identity.

Memories would remain.

Personality would persist.

Beneath the suppression, the individual still existed.

That was the limit of a standard slave seal.

But the second layer changed everything.

This was the true essence of the technique.

The transformation.

The addition that turned a slave seal into a Doll Seal.

Han Yu's eyes narrowed slightly as he studied it.

The method was intricate.

Far more complex than the first layer.

It required precise integration.

Flawless execution.

And most importantly…

A core.

A foundation upon which the entire modification was built.

Han Yu read that section again.

Carefully.

Then again.

Ensuring there was no mistake.

And when the meaning fully settled in…

He stilled.

Completely.

The required material.

The core component.

The very base of the Mind Modifying Doll Seal.

Was something he had already seen.

Already touched.

Already held in his hand.

'The Violet Spirit Quartz?'

Han Yu's thoughts sharpened instantly.

Everything connected.

The mine.

The scale of the operation.

The involvement of the clans.

The importance placed on the extraction.

It was not just about resources.

Not just about wealth.

It was about control.

The Violet Spirit Quartz was not merely valuable.

It was essential.

Without it, the Mind Modifying Doll Seal could not exist in its complete form.

Han Yu continued reading, his understanding deepening with each line. As he read, he realized that perhaps it wasn't just the Mind Modifying Doll Seal that needed the quartz, but several other higher ranked slave seals as well as Jiangshi needed it.

Beyond a certain level of cultivation base, the Slave Seals needed more than just Formations to restrict a person. Even a High Grade Slave Seal only worked until the Nascent Soul realm. And even then it would fail if a person's will was too strong.

For such situations, a stronger seal needing the Violet Spirit Quartz was absolutely needed.

The role of the quartz was not passive.

It acted as a core.

A vessel.

A medium that housed the curse itself.

When integrated into the seal, it became the anchor point for the modification process. It was through the quartz that the subject's consciousness was overwritten, their personality suppressed, their memories buried beneath layers of imposed control.

It did not simply suppress.

It replaced.

Reshaped.

Reduced a person into a tool.

A doll.

Without it…

The seal remained incomplete.

Functional, but limited.

A High Grade Slave Seal alone could restrain and control behavior. It could weaken resistance, enforce obedience, and suppress active rebellion.

But it could not erase who a person was.

Not entirely.

That required the quartz.

Han Yu stood silently before the Stelae.

The implications were clear.

Painfully clear.

The slaves within the mine…

The ones he had seen.

Senior Brother Duan was under a different seal than the Doll Seal, perhaps a lower tier but it was similar. Xuan Qing though was certainly under it and Han yu might just have the chance to test it.

The others too were bound.

They had been altered.

Fundamentally.

And the key to that alteration…

Was the very resource they were being forced to mine.

Han Yu's hand tightened slightly within the soul space.

His thoughts did not spiral.

They aligned.

Focused.

Sharpened.

If the Violet Spirit Quartz was the core…

Then understanding it…

Controlling it…

Or perhaps…

Removing it…

Would be the key.

The path forward had just become clearer.

But also far more dangerous.

Han Yu exhaled slowly.

Then lifted his gaze once more to the Stelae.

The runes remained still.

As if waiting.

As if they had already given him what he needed.

And now…

The next step was his.