Chapter 1518: Puppet Body (4k)

After leaving Nine Precepts Island, Qin Sang made a detour to Ghost Mother's Cave.

Tan Hao was in seclusion.

Qin Sang walked to the spot where the Myriad Spirit Fruit tree root was being cultivated. His spiritual consciousness carefully investigated, and he could clearly sense its vitality. There was a high probability the Myriad Spirit Fruit tree could be saved, but it was unknown how long it would take for it to grow and bear fruit. Qin Sang cautiously dug up the root, using a restriction to prevent its spiritual energy from dissipating, intending to bring it back to the Northern Star Realm. The sect gate of the Northern Star Realm could not be abandoned under any circumstances. If Green Goat Temple ever found itself unable to establish a foothold in the North Sea, at least there would be a fallback.

Just as Qin Sang finished digging up the root, the door creaked open, and Tan Hao emerged. Qin Sang scrutinized him from head to toe, then clasped his hands and smiled, "Congratulations, Brother Tan!" Tan Hao's internal energy was remarkably stable, like the undisturbed water of a deep pool. Yet, Qin Sang could perceive that undercurrents were actually surging within him, and a certain aura was building up. Once full, it would overflow, marking the moment he would attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul stage! It likely wouldn't be much longer.

Tan Hao smiled faintly. "I didn't expect it to go so smoothly. The effect of the Morning Bell and Evening Drum was even better than expected; otherwise, I probably would have needed at least another ten years of quiet cultivation!"

"This is a secret of the Pure Sea Sect, Brother Tan's good fortune..." Qin Sang then recounted the origins and secrets of the Pure Sea Sect.

Tan Hao exclaimed, surprised, "Brother Qin, it seems I've missed many major events these past few days?" He had been single-mindedly in seclusion, oblivious to worldly affairs. He hadn't even known that the Boundless Sea had undergone a drastic change and was completely unaware of Qin Sang's actions.

Qin Sang gently shook his head, smiling. "No major event is as important as your breakthrough, Brother Tan. I will personally guard you during your breakthrough. During this time, I need to find a new base for Green Goat Temple. Then, you and your son will be able to reunite."

"Hong'er, Yi'en..." Remembering his closest relatives, Tan Hao fell into a daze. Reviving Tan Jie had been his former obsession, for which he had neglected much, painfully separating from his own flesh and blood. Now, Tan Jie was dead, Shi Hong had aged prematurely, but fortunately, Tan Yi'en had met Qin Sang. One of his closest relatives was still alive.

"Brother Qin intends to move Green Goat Temple here?" Tan Hao pondered for a while before realizing the crux of the matter.

"Brother Tan still doesn't know that the Boundless Sea is no longer the Boundless Sea of old..." Qin Sang briefly explained.

Tan Hao's mouth fell open in disbelief. He had only been in seclusion for little over a decade, and he no longer recognized the outside world; it was as if a lifetime had passed! Although Qin Sang always downplayed things in his words, Tan Hao could discern that Qin Sang seemed to have played a significant role in this change. Having been shocked by this junior fellow disciple time and again, Tan Hao had become numb and actually accepted this fact with ease.

Taking a deep breath, Tan Hao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Brother Qin, if I am fortunate enough to break through successfully, could I possibly find a place to settle down in Green Goat Temple?"

Qin Sang was inwardly delighted to hear this, but feigned a reproachful tone. "Brother Tan, why are you being so polite? You and I were fellow disciples before. The Demonic Flame lineage of Green Goat Temple were disciples deceived by Daoist Dove-Robed. Strictly speaking, you are still their elder. Moreover, Yi'en now oversees all matters of Green Goat Temple. This connection, Brother Tan, is something you cannot sever even if you tried!"

Tan Hao nodded. "The fact that I was able to establish my foundation was thanks to the pills Brother Qin and Senior Cloud Wanderer gifted me; otherwise, I wouldn't be where I am today. After returning, I will definitely go to Green Goat Temple to pay respects to the senior." Qin Sang fell silent for a moment, then spoke of his preparations to search for an ancient path and journey to Middle State.

Tan Hao sighed deeply. "Brother Qin has ambitions that span the four directions. It's a pity I cannot follow in your footsteps. I have received your kindness many times, yet we always part before I can repay it. Our paths are long and winding; I can only wish you great success in your future cultivation! Rest assured, after you leave, I will diligently help you look after Green Goat Temple."

"With your words, Brother Tan, I am at ease!" Qin Sang smiled and nodded.

After bidding farewell to Tan Hao, Qin Sang began to search everywhere according to his original plan. He traveled, stopping frequently, but the islands he passed through were not very satisfactory. It wasn't because the islands were already occupied. Qin Sang did not deliberately conceal his whereabouts, and on his journey, he visited fellow cultivators, all of whom welcomed him with courtesy. Different factions had risen and fallen, and among them were even reclusive sects, which greatly broadened Qin Sang's horizons. Most of these islands were newly occupied by them, and ceding them would incur little loss, so they were very willing to forge good relations with Qin Sang and Xuan Tian Palace. A single strong individual was not frightening; what was frightening was that the North Sea's foremost sect stood behind him! To some extent, Qin Sang and Xuan Tian Palace had mutually benefited each other. Unfortunately, Qin Sang's requirements were too high; these islands either lacked sufficient spiritual energy, were too remote, or had too few nearby islands, lacking sufficient depth for expansion.

Ultimately, Qin Sang chose one of the four islands he had initially selected: Yellow Sky Island. Located in the southeastern part of the Boundless Sea, yet maintaining a certain distance from Xuan Tian Palace, Yellow Sky Island was originally the sect gate of the Yellow Sky Sect, a demonic sect with three Nascent Soul cultivators, holding a crucial position in the Boundless Sea. It was simply that the Yellow Sky Sect's luck was too poor; two of their Nascent Soul cultivators were suppressed by the Exquisite Pagoda. At the time of the incident, the third person, who had been guarding the sect, happened to be out. Upon receiving the news, he was greatly alarmed and hurried back, but disappeared midway. The Yellow Sky Sect's actions were eccentric and ruthless, earning them countless enemies, and no one knew which force had dealt the fatal blow, nor did anyone care.

By the time Qin Sang arrived at Yellow Sky Island, the Yellow Sky Sect was leaderless and dispersed. Outsiders took advantage of the power vacuum, and the sect was tragically divided. The chaos on Yellow Sky Island had not yet subsided. Qin Sang appeared, stabilized the situation, and after friendly consultations, all parties left with substantial gains, and Qin Sang acquired Yellow Sky Island. There were thousands of islands of varying sizes surrounding Yellow Sky Island, enough for Green Goat Temple to develop. Qin Sang renamed it the Verdant Bright Archipelago, and Yellow Sky Island itself was renamed Green Goat Island. He planned to control only a portion of the core islands and would not prohibit other cultivators from practicing nearby.

"Senior, this will be a new beginning!" Qin Sang erected a jade stele inscribed with the character 'Qin' on Green Goat Island, gently patted it, and summoned the Cloud Wanderer Sword, speaking softly. Then, he set up a set of formations obtained from Mount Tian, becoming busy refining array tools and setting up a grand island-protecting formation! Once the spiritual array was complete, the appointed day for Tan Hao's breakthrough was also drawing near. Qin Sang sealed off Green Goat Island, returned to Ghost Mother's Cave, and waited for another two months. Finally, Tan Hao began to attempt to break through his bottleneck!

To undergo the Heavenly Tribulation, Qin Sang brought Tan Hao back to Green Goat Island. Tan Hao stayed on the island alone and activated the grand formation, while Qin Sang guarded him from outside. Initially, it was a restless waiting period. Before long, Qin Sang sensed the aura of the Heavenly Tribulation, signifying that Tan Hao had successfully condensed his Nascent Soul! The Heavenly Tribulation followed, and the sky above Green Goat Island suddenly changed; dark clouds gathered, and lightning began to brew. Qin Sang gazed up at the tribulation clouds, and Tan Hao's tribulation process seemed to be proceeding quite smoothly, causing Qin Sang to nod in approval.

Just then, Qin Sang's eyes suddenly narrowed. He took out an item: the Yang Puppet Crystal that Lord Dongyang had given him before his death. The puppet crystal flickered faintly, with weak amplitude, but this sensation was real! Seeing this, Qin Sang looked up at Green Goat Island, and with a wave of his hand, he released the python banner and the captured Snow Python, ordering the Snow Python to guard Tan Hao. His figure flickered continuously, moving like lightning, and in a blink, he arrived above an island on the outskirts of the Verdant Bright Archipelago. This island was one of the top three largest in the Verdant Bright Archipelago, filled with countless mortals who were previously used as blood-food by the Yellow Sky Sect.

With a clear target, Qin Sang headed straight for one of the cities, his gaze fixed firmly on a young man in front of the city gate. At the same time, the young man looked up, meeting Qin Sang's gaze. The next moment, his body suddenly exploded, flesh and blood splattering everywhere, his mangled remains instantly covering the ground. The surrounding people were unfortunately caught in the crossfire, suffering countless casualties. A mass of foul-smelling blood and gore surged towards Qin Sang, nauseatingly. From within the blood and flesh, a black light shot out, darting in another direction. Within the black light was a palm-sized midget, yet clearly not a Nascent Soul. Its facial features were quite similar to General Gui. Little did they know, this was the puppet that General Gui had possessed.

Back under the Exquisite Pagoda, General Gui, seeing no hope of escape, was forced to use a life-saving divine ability, burning himself and merging his spirit with the puppet. He had obtained the puppet crystal from Lord Dongyang, partly forced and partly exchanged. After refining it, the puppet's divine abilities greatly increased. Utilizing its inanimate nature, he managed to deceive the heavens and escape. However, this divine ability was a double-edged sword: once fused, he could not separate from the puppet, and his temperament would be influenced by the puppet, becoming increasingly difficult to control his emotions over time, making further cultivation progress unlikely.

General Gui utterly loathed Qin Sang, the instigator. He secretly allied with the demons who had escaped from the Holy Land, hoping to gradually form a revenge alliance. However, these demons hadn't suffered as great losses as he had. While verbally agreeing, they secretly didn't want to provoke Qin Sang again. Of course, if General Gui truly found an opportunity, they wouldn't refuse. Sensing the perfunctoriness of the other demons, General Gui was secretly enraged. Not long ago, he learned that Qin Sang had appeared in the Boundless Sea, and the flames of revenge drove him to follow the trail. He still remembered that in front of the Exquisite Pagoda, Qin Sang had detected the puppet's presence, so he carefully maintained a distance, consistently controlling low-level cultivators to spy, intending to see what Qin Sang was up to. Just now, as Tan Hao underwent his tribulation, General Gui sensed the tribulation lightning. Unable to hold back, he self-sealed, and his puppet body hid within a low-level cultivator, attempting to get closer. As long as he didn't attack, the puppet would be an inanimate object, and presumably wouldn't be exposed. However, he didn't expect to be locked onto by Qin Sang before even approaching Green Goat Island. At this moment, General Gui finally understood that what Qin Sang relied on to detect his presence wasn't sharp spiritual sense, but something else entirely. But it was too late, and he was filled with shock and fury.

Qin Sang snorted. He hadn't deliberately concealed his whereabouts, also having the idea of luring the snake out of its hole. He didn't expect to reel in such a big fish. Xuan Tian Palace had specifically targeted the demon race, and not only had Old Man Hunmo managed to escape with his spirit, but General Gui had also escaped. Seeing his state, something seemed amiss; he was clearly possessing a puppet. As the puppet sped through the air, its body swelled dramatically, transforming into an adult size in a blink. Its facial features were agile, and its expressions were vivid; its physical body was no different from a normal person's. It was hard to imagine this was actually a puppet. Upon encountering his enemy, rage flared in General Gui's eyes, unable to suppress the fury in his heart, yet also mixed with alarm and regret.

*Whoosh!* The puppet's escape art was truly extraordinary, tearing through space like a meteor. He was influenced by hatred but hadn't completely lost his rationality. He had prepared a contingency at his hiding place; as long as he reached it, he would have hope of shaking off Qin Sang. Seeing his destination within reach, General Gui's eyes revealed intense joy. At this moment, a cold snort suddenly echoed in his ears.

"Hum! Ha!" General Gui felt his primordial spirit as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer. Intense pain assailed him, his body trembled, and his face was contorted in agony. This was Qin Sang's Soul-Seizing Incantation. After obtaining this secret art, he had constantly pondered it. Thanks to the Soul-Nourishing Wood, his cultivation speed for spiritual secret arts was faster than others, and it didn't take him long to master this one. As his cultivation time was still short, Qin Sang was not yet able to modify the secret art like Yin Changsheng, so he honestly chanted the 'Hum Ha' incantation, finding it a bit strange each time he used it. Qin Sang had calculated that General Gui was possessing a puppet and thus lacked the support of a physical body, so he used the Soul-Seizing Incantation. Indeed, it worked with one strike. General Gui was indeed formidable. His body trembled, and he forcefully suppressed the pain, focused solely on escaping. But for Qin Sang, this brief moment was enough.

A bolt of lightning streaked past General Gui, blocking his path. Qin Sang showed no mercy; a crimson light flickered before him, and he directly summoned the Sun God Tree. General Gui was so startled his soul nearly left his body. He turned to flee again, only to find his retreat blocked by Qin Sang's avatar behind him. The Sun God Tree was, of course, just a diversion. Qin Sang, intending to capture General Gui alive, sent the Golden Sinking Sword shooting out, and a sword formation enveloped him from above!

*Bang!* General Gui exchanged a fierce blow with the avatar. All his treasures and physical body were buried together in the stele space. After escaping, he hadn't dared to act ostentatiously, and he still lacked a suitable magic weapon, so he could only use the puppet's inherent divine abilities. The puppet's physical body was tougher than gold and iron. As it unleashed a heavy punch, runes flickered, transforming into a bloodthirsty ghostly face, radiating monstrous killing intent. The avatar refused to be outdone; its hand seals changed continuously, and divine abilities were unleashed one after another, firmly blocking General Gui's retreat. With one strike, General Gui failed to break through the blockade. When he tried to attack again, he felt his vision dim, falling into the sword formation. Drawing him into the sword formation made dealing with him much easier. Qin Sang flicked his sleeve, summoned the demonic flame, and subtly incorporated it into the sword formation. The sword formation trapped and killed, while the avatar attacked from all sides.

Before long, Qin Sang had left sword wounds and ice marks all over the puppet's body. While none of them were critical, General Gui's aura clearly began to wane. General Gui roared repeatedly, but seemed powerless, strong on the outside but weak within. Qin Sang had initially intended to exhaust General Gui, similar to how he dealt with Palace Master Yin, and then, once the time was right, go all out to capture him alive. Unexpectedly, General Gui showed a cold smile, his eyes suddenly dimmed, but his internal aura was rapidly escalating, becoming exceptionally violent. Qin Sang's expression changed slightly. He unleashed the Soul-Seizing Incantation and demonic flame simultaneously, forcibly interrupting the puppet's self-destruction, but he could not prevent General Gui's resolve to die. In his last moments, General Gui stared fixedly at Qin Sang, his hatred soaring to the heavens, as if to say that Qin Sang should not even dream of extracting the whereabouts of other demons from him.

Qin Sang frowned slightly and summoned the puppet into his hand. He found this puppet to be very special, following a completely different path from his senior sister's puppet; it was somewhat similar to a Natal Magic Weapon. After General Gui's death, even if it fell into someone else's hands, it could not be controlled. Qin Sang searched the surroundings for a while but found no other demons. Under countless astonished gazes, he returned to Green Goat Island and repeatedly examined the puppet. He had initially wanted to settle for the next best thing and separate the Yin Puppet Crystal from within the puppet, but found that the Yin Puppet Crystal had already fused with the puppet. After examining it for a long time, he found no clues, so he had no choice but to temporarily place it with the Yang Puppet Crystal.

Just then, a figure flew out of Green Goat Island—it was Tan Hao, who had successfully overcome his tribulation!