Chapter 689: Puppet

"Refining the Otherworldly Demons into puppets, then programming them to act like normal people—it would indeed be hard to detect them in a short time! Senior Wu Yangzi probably felt great pleasure deceiving these guys every day, and naturally, he became so happy that he forgot all his worries!"

Zhang Xuan chuckled.

As a grandmaster artifact forger, he knew the enmity between humans and Otherworldly Demons was irreconcilable.

When he was first captured, he must have been furious. But later, killing one or two every day, anyone in his place would have been thrilled and forgotten all about home.

An Otherworldly Demon who had survived from ancient times, each no weaker than himself... yet he refined them all into puppets, essentially wiping out their race. The thought alone was exhilarating...

Longing for home? What rubbish!

This place was much more enjoyable!

Only a fool would be consumed by homesickness and misery!

By the end of the book, the handwriting was spirited, and the sentences joyful, clearly indicating that the author was practically overjoyed.

As for how he managed to trick so many Otherworldly Demons into willingly accepting the tempering, believing they would achieve immortality... that wasn't written, so it remained unknown.

However, Zhang Xuan surmised that it must have been a gradual process.

For instance, he might have first helped them temper an arm. Since an arm has little impact on the mind, and the first attempt was successful and harmless, it would naturally entice a second volunteer. After successfully tempering everyone's arms...

...he would then move on to their legs, spine, and body.

Once everyone trusted him and let down their guard, he would then temper their skulls, instantly turning them into puppets.

Of course, these were just his conjectures; no one knew the specifics without having witnessed it themselves.

All that was known was that, through the zealous efforts of the righteous and incorruptible Senior Wu Yangzi, the Otherworldly Demons who had sought to prolong their lives were completely annihilated.

"According to Teacher Wu Yangzi's accounts, there were at least twenty Otherworldly Demons in this underground palace, and nearly all of them fell victim to his methods, becoming puppets. Eliminating so many Otherworldly Demons at once—reporting this to the Master Teacher Pavilion would bring immense merit, enough to ensure a family's prosperity for a hundred generations..."

Luo Qiqi suddenly remembered something and said.

Slaying Otherworldly Demons was a meritorious act for humanity, for which one could claim rewards from the Master Teacher Pavilion.

The higher the cultivation of the slain individuals and the greater their number, the larger the reward. This Grandmaster Wu, who single-handedly eliminated over twenty Otherworldly Demons of comparable strength, could certainly leave his name in history and ensure the Master Teacher Pavilion would bless his descendants for a hundred generations!

It would even be simple for his descendants to become the Emperor of Hongyuan Empire, just by a mere mention.

"Yes, we just need to report this to the Master Teacher Pavilion accurately when we get back. How they choose to reward him is none of our concern!"

Zhang Xuan chuckled, "For now, let's focus on leaving this place!"

Luo Qiqi nodded.

"According to his description, we need to return the way we came. Although the Dragon Lock cannot be opened, there are mechanisms nearby we can use... This means, if we want to get back, we first need to deal with that big creature outside!"

Zhang Xuan explained.

The book described how to leave.

This was a prison cell, where Wu Yangzi was held, so there naturally couldn't be an exit. To leave, they had to pass through the Dragon Lock.

This mechanism was clearly impenetrable. However, as a master artifact forger, Wu Yangzi had secretly left a contingency plan for his own escape.

Unfortunately, in the end, he never managed to succeed.

"Deal with it?"

Thinking of that huge creature, Luo Qiqi was filled with worry.

It was truly terrifying!

Impervious to blades and spears, fast, and powerful—it seemed almost flawless.

"Don't worry. If it had no weaknesses before, now... it does!"

As if seeing through her thoughts, Zhang Xuan smiled faintly.

Previously, even if he had identified the creature's weakness, his strength and methods would have been insufficient to deal with it.

It was like an ant trying to kill a divine dragon: knowing its weakness was useless if you couldn't even break its skin. How could you kill it then?

Even knowing that severing its head would kill it, its strong defense and high speed meant that using his maximum strength and strongest weapon only left a white mark. Naturally, it was not an opponent he could defeat then.

Therefore, against truly powerful beings, such knowledge had little effect, because... the opponent's "weakness" might be more formidable than your own strength.

His previous battle against it, even using all his abilities, was futile. But now, with the Ice Rain Sword having advanced to the Half-Saint level, it would be easy!

"Teacher, do you mean... we attack directly?"

Seeing him pick up the Ice Rain Sword, Luo Qiqi was stunned.

She only knew that the Ice Rain Sword had surpassed high-tier Spirit-grade, but she didn't know its exact level.

Although her artifact forging skills had improved significantly, her appraisal abilities were still far inferior to Zhang Xuan's.

"Yes. In a moment, I'll remove the formation. You distract it from the front, and I'll launch a sneak attack from behind, aiming for a single decisive blow!"

Zhang Xuan instructed, detailing the strategy: "You need to do this..."

"Alright!" Hearing her teacher's instructions, Luo Qiqi agreed without the slightest hesitation.

If he could even enable her to simultaneously forge artifacts and concoct pills, and succeed, what else was he incapable of?

She walked to the Crimson Flame Cauldron, stored it away, and at the same time, with a flick of her wrist, a longbow reappeared in her palm, an arrow nocked on its string.

The previous one had been destroyed by the puppet. Although this one looked similar, its grade was lower, and its effectiveness was far inferior.

However, there was no choice. She only had one Spirit-grade ranged weapon, so she had to make do with this one.

Seeing she was ready, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, leaped, and flew straight upwards.

After searching for a moment, he stopped in one spot, spiritual energy surging in his palm, and suddenly reached downwards.

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*

One by one, he pulled the formation flags from the ground. The hall, which had been too dark to see far into, gradually lost its gloom under the illumination of the Night-Luminous Pearl, revealing the huge creature once more.

Upon seeing it, the creature also spotted Luo Qiqi. With an enraged roar, it charged straight towards her.

"Die!"

Luo Qiqi's eyebrows furrowed. Without pausing, she fired arrows from her longbow like a relentless downpour.

*Clang, clang, clang!*

Due to insufficient power, the arrows struck the creature but couldn't halt its advance, not even piercing its skin.

Realizing the immense difference in power, Luo Qiqi gritted her teeth, picked up the longbow, and hurled it at the creature's head.

*Crack!*

The puppet swiped its palm, cleaving the longbow in two. It was already in front of her, its iron fist whistling through the air as it lunged forward.

The force of the punch was immense; there was no doubt that a single hit would be instantly fatal.

Just as the fist was about to strike, Luo Qiqi's eyebrows shot up, and she swiftly flipped her wrist.

With a clang, the Crimson Flame Cauldron, which she had just stored in her storage ring, instantly appeared before her.

The cauldron had openings for coal combustion and ventilation, and the puppet's fist perfectly fit into one, getting stuck and unable to move.

The Crimson Flame Cauldron was a treasure left behind by Wu Yangzi during his artifact forging. Even he couldn't destroy it, so the puppet naturally couldn't either. Stuck and furious, it was helpless.

"Teacher's method really works!"

Seeing that it worked, Luo Qiqi's eyes lit up.

Her teacher had just explained the situation to her, and she had thought it would be difficult to execute, but unexpectedly, by strictly following his instructions, she completed it with ease.

She truly wondered how he had figured it out.

His combat intuition and experience, as applied in actual battle, were simply astonishing.

*Swish!*

As she was musing, a cold glint flashed before her eyes. The puppet's body swayed, and its head fell off.

Her teacher had appeared behind the creature at some point and severed its head with a single sword stroke.

"So sharp..."

Seeing the Ice Rain Sword effortlessly cleave off the creature's head, Luo Qiqi's eyes widened.

Even without Zhang Xuan's discerning eye, she knew then that a longsword upgraded with a piece of Cold Azure Stone was far from a simple high-tier Spirit-grade weapon!

Even a peerless-grade weapon wouldn't be able to do it so easily!

"Teacher, what level has the Ice Rain Sword reached?"

She couldn't help but ask.

"Half-Saint!" Zhang Xuan had nothing to hide.

"Half-Saint level?" Luo Qiqi's delicate body trembled.

Weapons of this caliber, even a 6-star grandmaster artifact forger couldn't simply forge them at will. And she... had actually succeeded while unconscious?

"Alright, put everything away, and let's leave quickly!"

Seeing her eyes wide with disbelief, Zhang Xuan waved his hand. At the same time, he wondered to himself... The Master Teacher Academy was so boastful, yet why did the few genius students he'd met seem so naive and inexperienced?

An artifact forging process, combined with alchemical tempering—for the Ice Rain Sword to advance to Half-Saint after such refinement was both unexpected and reasonable. What was there to be so surprised about?

"Understood!"

Unaware of Teacher Zhang's confusion, Luo Qiqi suppressed her inner shock, put all the items into her storage ring, and then turned to hand him a book.

"Teacher, this is Teacher Wu Yangzi's body cultivation technique, the Five Glories Golden Body, a peak Spirit-grade secret manual..."

The reason she had managed to persuade Zhang Xuan to come along was precisely because Teacher Wu Yangzi possessed a body cultivation technique. Now that she had obtained it, she immediately brought it to him.

"Hmm." Zhang Xuan touched it briefly, then withdrew his hand. "You've received Senior Wu Yangzi's legacy. This is his unique cultivation method, so I won't take it. After all, it wouldn't be proper. Study it well and strive not to let down his hopes!"

Without a master-disciple relationship, exclusive secret manuals were rarely passed on to others.

Otherwise, it would break the rules of the Master Teacher Pavilion, and no one would be able to keep any secrets.

"This..."

Luo Qiqi's face flushed. She hadn't expected him to refuse due to the rules and didn't know what to say.

Others would surely try to claim such a valuable body cultivation technique for themselves, yet her teacher had outright refused...

His character and professional ethics were truly admirable and touching!

"Teacher Zhang, from now on, you are my role model. I will learn from everything you do!"

Luo Qiqi made a vow.

She admired him wholeheartedly and swore to learn from Teacher Zhang. Meanwhile, Zhang Xuan was looking at the newly added Five Glories Golden Body manual in the Library of Heaven's Path with a bitter expression.

"Seventy-eight flaws? Seriously?! Is this truly a peak Spirit-grade body cultivation technique? You must be joking! How am I supposed to cultivate with such a flawed book, one that's even considered a treasured legacy?"