Chapter 2226: Heavenly Palace's Research on Demonic Puppets

He Lingchuan rubbed his temples: "Why did you think of catching a croaker fish?"

The "croaker fish" wasn't a common species, but it had appeared repeatedly in the intelligence he had recently received.

"We were originally catching a giant grouper and had just succeeded when this croaker fish suddenly appeared from somewhere and tore a large hole in the grouper's back," Dong Rui said, rubbing his hands. "When it fled, it knocked off a large piece of coral reef. We immediately thought, 'Well, this must be it!'"

He Lingchuan looked amused and exasperated: "While you were away, a Beijia fleet was attacked in the southern waters of Mou State, with only a few survivors. Witnesses said the fleet was attacked by a large number of sea creatures, including sea demons, sharks, and croaker fish."

"Hey, hey, that certainly has nothing to do with us! We caught that croaker fish on a whim to clear a hole," Dong Rui quickly waved his hand. "We headed back right after investigating the Thousand Eyes Cavern; we didn't cause any trouble in southern Mou State on the way."

"I know." Without He Lingchuan's instruction, why would Dong Rui and Granny Zhu go around sinking fleets for fun? "What did you find at the Thousand Eyes Cavern?"

"There were a total of thirty-six fiend puppets: thirteen land-dwelling and twenty-three aquatic."

"So few?" He Lingchuan frowned. "The Thousand Eyes Cavern covers a large area; it only houses this many fiend puppets?"

"They said they were planning to relocate within one or two years, so after disposing of the old experimental subjects, they haven't expanded yet," Dong Rui continued. "Oh, by the way, two fiend puppets escaped during the hurricane; one of them was Ashmona."

He Lingchuan was slightly surprised: "That fiend puppet of Cao Wendao's was actually sent to the Thousand Eyes Cavern?"

It turned out to be an old acquaintance.

"Yes. They sealed it in a lightning prison cage, but the hurricane unexpectedly destroyed the formation, allowing it to break free. The other fiend puppet killed anyone it saw after escaping, so it was quickly captured and subdued. But Ashmona was more cunning; after breaking free, it focused on escaping, and since its true form is an earth spirit, the Thousand Eyes Cavern couldn't stop it in time."

Indeed, Ashmona appeared to have a human shell, but it had no relation to humans whatsoever. Its true form was an earth spirit, mutated by the remnants of a Sky Demon. Since the Thousand Eyes Cavern is underground, once it escaped, it would be very difficult for anyone to catch it again.

"Thanks to Ashmona, the Thousand Eyes Cavern was in chaos when we entered," Dong Rui paused, then added, "As we expected, these experimental sites established by the Heavenly Palace primarily focus on humanizing fiend puppets. I saw a large number of unstable subjects, but three of them, if you only looked at their backs and not their faces, were already very similar to humans."

"Were these three stable?"

"Although they had ferocious faces, their forms were stable. Two were alive, and one had died from internal organ deformities. When I entered the Thousand Eyes Cavern, they had already dissected this dead fiend puppet. I saw that its brain structure was somewhat similar to a human's, but it was too small," Dong Rui said, examining He Lingchuan. "Probably only about... thirty percent the size of yours."

"That's still not small. After all, it's meant to accommodate a Sky Demon's divine descent later," He Lingchuan said, standing with his arms crossed. "Did they have the eight extraordinary meridians?"

"No," Dong Rui frowned. "Overall, the fiend puppet progress at the Thousand Eyes Cavern is faster than at the Red Manor, and there are some similarities. However, neither the Thousand Eyes Cavern nor the Red Manor's research seems to pay much attention to meridians."

"Perhaps because the Sky Demons' cultivation methods and magic don't rely on meridians."

Dong Rui scratched his head: "Or perhaps the divine descent vessel doesn't actually need to be a complete replica of a human body?"

He Lingchuan heard this and felt a sense of unease: "Are you sure?"

"Originally, a divine descent vessel could only be a human body. For Sky Demons to try to transform monsters for this purpose, they first needed to figure out how similar these fiend puppets had to be to a human body," Dong Rui said gravely. "I didn't find any meridians in the humanoid fiend puppets from either the Red Manor or the Thousand Eyes Cavern. Either the experimental subjects couldn't yet develop human meridians, or the divine descent vessel doesn't require them."

"You're leaning towards the former?"

"There was an experimental subject in the Thousand Eyes Cavern, a remains from seven years ago, yet it was still meticulously preserved. It wasn't a fiend puppet; it was a ghostling!"

He Lingchuan was stunned: "What?"

"It was an offspring of the Jindu Ghost Mother!" Dong Rui enunciated each word. "You've seen Jindu ghostlings; most are grotesquely shaped. But that one had facial features, four limbs, hands shorter than its feet, and could stand upright. Apart from being somewhat ugly and having a long tail, it was already very human-like. Most importantly, I asked two captives, and both said this remains had hosted a divine descent seven years ago!"

He Lingchuan drew a sharp breath.

"The barrier between the two realms is strong, but the Jindu Ghost Mother can impregnate human women, giving birth to ghostlings. These creatures possess both human and divine blood, and are inherently more stable and coordinated than the fiend puppets created in the experimental sites," he said, captivated by the mysteries of life. "I also thought that if any ghostlings were humanoid, they might serve as ready-made vessels for divine descent. It seems the Heavenly Palace also came to the same conclusion and put it into practice."

"How did that ghostling die?"

"It was too weak; the divine descent only lasted less than two quarter-hours, causing the ghostling's body to collapse, and the Sky Demon's avatar had to return," Dong Rui said, pointing upwards. "Fortunately, the Jindu Ghost Mother's birthing rate is very low, and the quality of offspring is uncontrollable, preventing them from being a stable source of vessels for divine descent."

If the Jindu Ghost Mother were a ruthless production machine, and her offspring were consistently stable in quality, why would the Heavenly Palace bother researching methods to humanize fiend puppets? This world would have been invaded by Sky Demons long ago.

"However, I specifically examined the ghostling's remains. While its external appearance was human-like, its internal bodily structure wasn't entirely identical to a human's; its acupoints and meridians were all different from human ones."

He Lingchuan sighed: "That's not good news at all."

"I also found some experimental medicines, one of which was labeled 'Mixed Divine Blood' and seemed very fresh. I asked a captive, and he actually said it was Jindu ghostling blood. The Heavenly Palace sends it over every year, but in very small quantities," Dong Rui said, opening his palm to reveal a small crystal vial containing a dark red liquid, about one-fifth full. "I've already done two experiments on the way here. The fiend puppets stimulated by it are remarkably stable and highly effective! And—"

He shook the vial: "The owner of this blood is extremely powerful! Far beyond the small ghostling in the Thousand Eyes Cavern. I had Number Sixty-Six smell the blood, and it immediately became agitated and entered a state of alarm; the Ghost Ape even showed fear."

"The Heavenly Palace has such a powerful Jindu ghostling in its possession?" He Lingchuan's heart stirred. "Could it be the Abuser?"

"Wait, the Heavenly Palace has an Abuser?" Dong Rui urgently asked, "Are you sure?"

"Have you forgotten that giant nest we saw in the Demon's Lair Swamp?" He Lingchuan reminded him. "At that time, an extremely rare Abuser appeared in the Demon's Lair Swamp. Who sent troops to encircle and suppress it?"