Chapter 390 A Twist of Fate
Jia Yu revealed a cunning, fox-like smile:
"It's nothing. I go to Crimson Flame Peak every few months."
I'm just visiting your territory, so your disciples should at least treat me to a meal, right?
"Haha, go ahead. I've already told my disciple that as long as you go to Crimson Flame Peak, you'll definitely be given some spirit wine as a gift."
Ji An smiled and said that in a few years Li Haoran would come to Chiyan Peak to absorb Qi, and with the help of his fellow disciples, his Daoist temple should be very stable.
"That makes me a little embarrassed."
Jia Yu smiled with relief, "Junior brother, the ancestor should have told you about the situation in the Southern Continent. Let me add a word."
The cultivators of the Shadowless Sect are extremely ruthless. If they become enemies, you must eliminate them completely and relocate quickly.
I suspect that they target outsider cultivators, torturing them until they die with resentment, thus creating evil spirits.
The Shadowless Sect's territory is in the Black Mist Mountains; you must not go near there.
He recounted his travels through the Southern Continent and gave a stern warning.
Ji An frowned. "How is this behavior any different from that of demonic cultivators? Why can the cultivators of the Southern Continent tolerate them?"
Using living people as materials is exactly the same as the actions of demonic cultivators. How could such a force not have enemies?
"The Shadowless Sect is a Nascent Soul sect. Unless caught red-handed by a force of equal strength, who would dare to provoke it?"
Jia Yu snorted coldly, then sighed helplessly, "Even if we are discovered, as long as we don't incur public wrath, at most we'll just punish the lower-level henchmen."
Those who actually committed the crimes are still at large.
The world is neither black nor white, but merely a gray indistinguishable from black and white.
Junior brother, when you go traveling, don't let your sense of justice get the better of you.
Ji An's eyes were deep and he nodded slightly. He was just a minor cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage. What use was a soaring sense of justice if he was only a minor cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage?
The room suddenly fell silent. Jia Yu then burst into a hearty laugh and said:
"Did I say too many dark things and affect my junior brother's mentality?"
No matter what happens, the sun will rise every day, and even the most turbid river will one day clear up, its silt washed away.
He suddenly became a little worried about his junior brother, who had always stayed in the sect and lived a peaceful life, unaware of the dangers outside.
"Senior brother, no way."
Ji An smiled and shook his head. In his previous life, he didn't have any personal power, and with the advanced information available, although he hadn't seen any of the strange things, he had heard a lot about them.
Where there is light, there is darkness; where there is yin, there is yang. Does this affect one's mindset? Not at all.
There is a simple and basic truth: all helplessness stems from insufficient firepower.
The two chatted for a while longer before Jia Yu took his leave:
"There's nothing more to do here. I'll head back to the sect now."
I must say, having a teleportation array is really convenient.
"Junior brother, until we meet again."
After seeing his senior brother off, Ji An sat down cross-legged, picked up the jade slip containing the Silk-Pulling Spell, placed it on his forehead, and read the information within.
The puppet only has basic 'programs' and can fight instinctively, but to maximize its effectiveness, it must be controlled with divine sense.
Without secret techniques, it would be quite good if a cultivator could multitask, that is, to cast spells and fight while simultaneously controlling a puppet for assistance, but only one puppet could be controlled at a time.
Now, with the Silk-Pulling Spell, multi-threaded synchronous operations can be performed, which is also the reason why the Golden Puppet Sect is so powerful.
It is said that some cultivators of the Golden Puppet Sect can control dozens of puppets at the same time and coordinate them in an orderly manner to carry out a full-scale attack without any blind spots.
In Ji An's eyes, this kind of cultivator is the "pay-to-win" gameplay of the cultivation world.
Creating puppets also requires materials, and the higher the level of the puppet, the higher the requirements for the materials.
He studied the incantation of the silk thread incantation seven or eight times, and after confirming that he had fully understood its meaning, he began to concentrate and calm his mind, feeling the power of his divine consciousness.
His divine consciousness could be large or small at this moment; it could condense into a bundle or disperse into a whole, but no matter how it changed, it was always a unified whole.
It is said that there is a secret technique that allows one to condense their thoughts into a blade and sever their own consciousness, thus enabling them to separate a strand of their consciousness for multi-faceted operations.
Putting aside whether this secret technique can succeed, the excruciating pain caused by severing one's own consciousness is something that ordinary cultivators cannot endure.
If the consciousness is constantly damaged, it will harm the soul. Once the soul is injured, it cannot be healed with spiritual tea or soul incense.
It requires long-term nourishment with third-tier soul-nourishing wood to repair the damage to the soul.
If the injury is too severe, there is a risk of becoming an idiot.
The Silk-Pulling Spell is much gentler; it uses a secret method to directly separate the threads.
Ji An was unaware that this secret technique could only be mastered by those at the Qi Refining stage of the Golden Puppet Sect; he simply thought it was incredibly simple.
It only took a moment to successfully release the consciousness, which briefly separated into a wisp.
[Spell: Threading Spell (Beginner 1%)]
This is much simpler than practicing the mental roar, Ji An thought to himself with a touch of smugness.
He began to practice the secret technique constantly, and the frequency of his successes increased, while the duration of his practice also increased.
When midnight arrived, he felt his soul beginning to tire, so he ended his cultivation and connected his mind with the stone tortoise.
[Spell: Thread-Binding Spell (Beginner 36%)]
"good!"
Ji An boasted that in less than three hours, he could improve by more than 9% per hour, and he would master the secret technique in just a few days.
He can now easily separate a wisp of his divine consciousness and maintain it for a breath, which is equivalent to four or five seconds, and can basically meet the needs of combat.
"Refine the spiritual energy and enhance the Thread-Connecting Spell!"
Ji An tentatively issued the order and received the response that it could not be improved, which was expected.
He took out the stove and spirit charcoal, boiled a pot of hot water, and brewed a cup of Yunding Silver Needle Tea.
This time, he wasn't as generous as usual; he only took four tea leaves, knowing that once he left the sect, the tea would not be replenished.
Golden Puppet Pavilion, fourth floor.
The leaders gathered together to take stock of the day's gains and put the spirit stones and various spiritual materials into storage.
Fang Shiping glanced around at everyone and said with a smile:
"In the area I was in charge of today, I sold one second-tier top-grade puppet Storm Thunder Eagle and one second-tier high-grade puppet Black Ape, for a total of eighty-two high-grade spirit stones and some top-grade Azure Dragon Wood."
These Azure Dragon Woods were exchanged for thirty high-grade spirit stones, but their true value is at least thirty-six spirit stones.
As he spoke, he took the spirit wood out of the cave stone, beaming with pride:
"These two pieces of spirit wood retain the lingering charm of an azure dragon!"
"Old Fang got incredibly lucky, damn it!"
Immediately, a colleague exclaimed sourly, "The Azure Dragon's Residual Aura is extremely rare. Even in the Central Continent, only the Divine Wood Sect can stably cultivate such spiritual wood."
Yun Feihe is a late-stage Golden Core cultivator and is in charge of this Golden Puppet Pavilion's trade trip.
He smiled and said, "Not bad."
When trading in the Western Continent, acquiring high-quality Tier 2 materials is considered a good outcome.
He explored the way his divine sense entered the spirit wood, and then stimulated it with a secret method.
A vast dragon's roar echoed in his mind. His expression showed slight surprise, but he said solemnly:
“Shiping, your estimate is too conservative. These two pieces of spiritual material are worth at least forty high-grade spirit stones.”
Even for cultivators of the Divine Wood Sect, cultivating a Azure Dragon Wood with such abundant spiritual energy still requires a stroke of luck.
"Old Fang, you have to treat us!"
Fang Shiping's face lit up with joy; he was about to receive even more pay.
Yun Feihe carefully examined the two pieces of spiritual material and said in a deep voice:
"Who are the cultivators who traded the Azure Dragon? Is it still possible to contact them?"
He wanted to find out where the other party obtained the spirit wood. The Azure Dragon Wood was planted in various continents, and to produce such strong spirituality, the area where the spirit wood grew must have some kind of supernatural power.
The cultivators from the Western Continent probably wouldn't have such insight. If they could find the location where the other party obtained the spirit wood, they might even be able to make an extra fortune.
This is the benefit of being knowledgeable and experienced; even if a cultivator with limited knowledge obtains a treasure, he will only discard it as an ordinary object.
Upon hearing his senior uncle's question, Fang Shiping immediately understood the implied meaning and hurriedly replied:
"The cultivator who took out the Azure Dragon Wood is named Ji An. He is a cultivator from the Golden Spirit Sect. We should be able to contact him."
"Master Uncle, should I send someone to the Golden Spirit Sect's headquarters in the market tomorrow to gather information?"
Qingyun Immortal City is the largest immortal city in the Western Continent, but its scale is not comparable to many large markets in the Central Continent, so it is not qualified to be called an immortal city.
Yun Feihe nodded slightly and said calmly:
"Don't go too early, or it will seem like we're in too much of a hurry. After inviting them to visit again, subtly ask where they obtained the spirit wood."
He could never have imagined that there were cultivators in Xizhou who could cultivate the Azure Dragon Wood to such an extent.
"Yes, sir. Your disciple will certainly complete the mission perfectly."
Fang Shiping laughed, saying that indirect questioning was one of his specialties.
"Yes, if there are any other gains, you will be credited."
The next day, at the end of Chen hour (7-9 AM).
Deacon Liu arrived at Qingyun Immortal City and found the Jinling Sect's headquarters.
He found the cultivator in charge of this place, revealed the Golden Puppet Pavilion's token, and smiled kindly:
"My name is Liu Anqing. I am a steward of the Golden Puppet Pavilion in Zhongzhou. I have come here on the behalf of my master, Fang, to invite your esteemed sect's senior, Ji An, to the Golden Puppet Pavilion for a chat."
"My name is Zhang Ping. Deacon Liu, your timing is unfortunate. Uncle Ji left an hour ago."
"Senior Ji has actually returned to his sect? Fellow Daoist, could you please inform us of this?"
To be honest, Senior Ji purchased a puppet from our shop yesterday, and a misunderstanding occurred. Our manager would like to apologize to Senior Ji in person.
As he spoke, he took out a mid-grade spirit stone and handed it to Zhang Ping.
Zhang Ping pinched the spirit stone and said with difficulty:
"Helping to pass on a message is a small matter, but Uncle Ji has not returned to the sect. He has left the sect to travel, and we don't know when he will return."
The other party was so warm and generous that he felt embarrassed to refuse.
However, he had heard from his Uncle Jia yesterday that his two Uncles, Ji An and Han Yan, were going on a trip together.
"Oh? What a coincidence!"
Liu Anqing was somewhat suspicious, but the other party had no reason to lie. Besides, they had accepted his spirit stones, so he felt obligated to help them.
He was dumbfounded and didn't know what to do for a moment.
"It's no coincidence."
Zhang Ping handed over the spirit stones and said:
"I haven't been of any help to Fellow Daoist Liu, so I feel unworthy to receive this spirit stone."
His tactic is called "retreating to advance," and the other party is always too embarrassed to back down.
Liu Anqing forced a smile and pushed the other person's hand away:
"Fellow Daoist, please take this for tea. The person in charge is waiting for my news. Farewell."
What's going on here?!
(End of this chapter)
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