Chapter 44 Pei Yan also became a puppet

Pei Yan's expression faltered slightly: "Fourth floor?"

"Yeah." Shen Yubai nodded. "The first three levels were fine, and I even broke through my original bottleneck. But after entering the fourth level, I began to feel a sudden change in my body. And then... you saw it too."

A hint of hesitation flashed across Pei Yan's eyes.

He has also been practicing the "True Art of Capturing the Soul" these past few days and has already sensed that the bottleneck has loosened. If nothing unexpected happens, he will break through to the fourth level.

After hearing about Shen Yubai's experience, he should have put his training on hold, but he really didn't want to believe that what Shen Yubai said was true.

"Come on, follow me to find a place with abundant spiritual energy. I want to break through the fourth level now!"

"good……"

The two flew to a valley full of spiritual energy. Pei Yan set up a barrier to block the breath, then sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and regulated his breathing.

The spiritual energy slowly gathered like water waves. As Pei Yan practiced his skills, the spiritual power in his body flowed along the trajectory of the "True Art of Capturing the Spirit".

In just a short time, he suddenly opened his eyes, with a strange look in his eyes: "It's done!"

He stood up excitedly and looked at Shen Yubai with a beaming expression: "See? I've reached the fourth level and nothing happened! This proves... Ye Zhao tampered with you! It's definitely not a problem with your cultivation method!"

Shen Yubai looked at his complacent look, with a hint of envy and resentment in his eyes.

"It seems that it really isn't Master's fault, but that villain Ye Zhao is causing trouble!"

"Let's go." Pei Yan put away the barrier. "Let's go find the Sect Master now and expose Ye Zhao's crimes. Don't worry, the Sect Master will definitely stand up for you!"

Unexpectedly, at this moment, something strange happened!

“Hiss…Ahhhhhhh!!!”

Pei Yan suddenly fell to the ground with his head in his hands, his five fingers grabbing the roots of his hair. His pupils trembled violently, veins on his forehead bulged, and his screams almost pierced the stone walls of the cave.

"Pei Yan?!"

Shen Yubai rushed forward, but was knocked away by a terrifying spiritual power and crashed into the mountain wall.

"No...that's not right...why...why should I...also..." Pei Yan screamed miserably, but he could do nothing. He could only watch as the same strange black lines as Shen Yubai's began to appear on his skin!

He watched helplessly as his fingertips gradually withered and the bones protruded...

“Junior Brother Shen…save me…Ahhhhhh!!!”

He fell to the ground, and after a few breaths, Pei Yan's body, like Shen Yubai's, completely transformed into a puppet-like dry body.

Chen Yubai was stunned for a long time, then took a step back tremblingly.

He just felt like the sky was falling.

…

Black fog lingered in the deep valley.

Ye Wange sat cross-legged, spiritual energy surging around her body. The Ten Thousand Souls Banner behind her fluttered, and two painful and hideous faces vaguely appeared on the banner. They were Shen Yubai and Pei Yan!

The two men's facial features were distorted, and they remained in a kneeling position, crawling in front of Ye Wange, allowing her to drive them around without any power to resist.

Ye Wange opened her eyes, her eyebrows and eyes were gorgeous and extraordinary.

"Finally... I've reached the seventh level of puppetry."

She spread out her palms, and a faint light condensed in her palms. Pure spiritual power surged out from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner like a river tide, and all of it poured into her dantian along with the faint light.

"Give it to me, broken!"

boom!

With a muffled sound, the spiritual power around her exploded, and the majestic Nascent Soul Qi rushed into the sky, condensing a bright halo above her head, as if the sky was torn apart, and a phantom appeared behind her head, which was the appearance of her own Nascent Soul.

Nascent Soul Stage, accomplished!

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth suddenly changed dramatically, causing the celestial phenomena to move slightly, and spiritual birds within a radius of dozens of miles cried out in surprise.

Such unusual movements also attracted the attention of the sect's top leaders.

A moment later, several rays of light broke through the air.

Xie Youran landed first, his eyes swept over Ye Wange, and he raised his eyebrows: "Breakthrough?"

The several peak masters who followed closely behind were also amazed.

"Congratulations to Master Ye Feng for his successful breakthrough!"

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

Ye Wange took advantage of the situation to restrain her breath, bowed to everyone, and pretended to be weak: "I was lucky enough to break through, and I hope I alarmed you all. Please don't blame me."

Xie Youran's eyes were filled with admiration: "Your ability to reach the Nascent Soul stage in one fell swoop is the greatest joy that has happened to my Wenxin Sect in the past ten years..."

As Xie Youran spoke, he turned his gaze and glanced at the two puppets beside him. He couldn't help but frowned: "What are those two?"

Ye Wange's face remained expressionless as she spoke gently, "I was in seclusion in the valley a few days ago when I accidentally sensed something unusual. I followed the aura and unexpectedly ran into two evil cultivators secretly practicing a sinister technique. I immediately took action and subdued them."

Xie Youran nodded slightly, "You were able to act decisively and capture the demon cultivator, which is also a meritorious service."

Shen Yubai and Pei Yan were trembling all over, but they couldn't say a word.

Their souls were imprisoned by Ye Wange using secret techniques, and they couldn't even ask for help.

Xie Youran pondered for a while, then suddenly smiled: "...I think, since you have already broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, you are more suitable to be in charge of Qingyue Peak than Ye Zhao."

Everyone agreed.

"Exactly. Ye Zhao ignored our advice and insisted on taking his disciples up the Seventh Heavenly Ladder. I'm afraid this is very dangerous."

"Even if we get out successfully, Qingyue Peak will definitely suffer heavy losses."

"Besides, Ye Zhao is only at the Golden Core stage. It is really unsuitable for him to be the master of a peak..."

"Qingyue Peak cannot be without a leader for long. I also agree that Peak Master Ye should take over."

"Thank you for your trust, Sect Master. Wan Ge will definitely live up to the mission." Ye Wan Ge bowed with a faint smile in her eyes.

——

Deep in the secret realm, a ladder spirals upwards.

Ye Zhao stood on the stone steps, and Lin Qingxuan behind him had fallen into a state of meditation.

She quietly passed them and climbed higher alone.

The spiritual energy on the stage was so dense that it seemed to have turned into substance. With every breath, one could feel the spiritual energy seeping in from the pores.

Warm-colored pills are scattered around the stone steps.

These...are actually fifth-grade intermediate-level Spirit Gathering Pills?

After only walking for half a day, the elixirs scattered nearby were one level higher than before.

Ye Zhao picked up a magic pill casually, and smelled the fragrance of the pill. Just being close to it made her mind clear.

In the inner sect of the sect, this kind of elixir is enough to be a special reward, and it can also cause a scramble in the Zhongzhou market. But here, it can be seen everywhere like mushrooms after rain.

She continued to move forward, stepping up the stairs one by one. The higher she went, the stronger the spiritual power became.

At the beginning, she could occasionally see Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators sitting cross-legged in meditation beside the stairs, but as she went higher, the cultivators who appeared were gradually mostly in the Nascent Soul stage!

They were dressed in different Taoist robes, and at first glance they were the top disciples of their respective sects.

What surprised Ye Zhao even more was that these monks did not stop her. Instead, some of them showed a friendly look when they saw her.

"Fellow Daoist, the spiritual pressure ahead is even stronger. You are only at the Golden Core stage, and I'm afraid you can't bear it. Why don't you rest here for a while?"