Chapter 680: The Puppet Prodigy Qian Zhuyan!

“Is this the puppet with soul consciousness you encountered in the secret realm, my dear?”

Hong Lian’s crystal-clear beautiful eyes flickered with a hint of crimson as she examined the puppet before her.

Her knowledge of puppetry was limited.

But she’d heard that certain puppet factions possessed secret techniques to infuse puppets with puppet spirits, granting them a semblance of consciousness.

Alternatively, like nurturing spiritual treasures, they could cultivate puppets to develop puppet spirits similar to artifact spirits.

However, both methods were exceedingly rare and uncommon.

“That’s right, this is the puppet.”

Lu Changsheng nodded, raising his hand to remove the restraining talismans and rope-like magical artifacts from the puppet.

“My dear, since this puppet possesses soul consciousness, you should first place restrictions on its soul to prevent any hidden tricks,” Hong Lian gently reminded, her voice soft and melodious.

“Good point.”

At the time, the situation had been urgent, and Lu Changsheng had only sealed and restrained the puppet with magical artifacts, without employing many other methods.

He immediately formed hand seals, and a small golden figure resembling the Taiyi Spirit emerged from his brow. It cast the Six Desire Heart Demon Technique, placing soul restrictions on the seemingly slumbering puppet before him.

After casting the Six Desire Heart Demon Technique, Lu Changsheng frowned slightly, feeling the effect was somewhat lacking.

He hadn’t spent time cultivating this technique, so the soul restrictions he placed were quite ordinary, only capable of affecting Core Formation cultivators.

He then cast a soul technique from the Ten Thousand Calamities Toxic Spirit Codex.

Although Lu Changsheng hadn’t cultivated this technique either, his Chaos Body had merged with the Calamity Poison Body, allowing him to cast its secret techniques with ease.

In an instant, he circulated yin and yang magical energy, brewing a top-tier deadly poison within his body, which transformed into a small, ethereal green venomous insect.

“Whoosh!”

Lu Changsheng formed hand seals, his Taiyi Spirit glowing brightly at his brow. The venomous insect suddenly rushed into the puppet’s body, coiling around its soul like a parasite.

This secret technique was called [Poison Spirit Seal]. With a mere thought from Lu Changsheng, the poison spirit could erupt, corrupting and eroding the target’s soul.

He wasn’t sure if it could kill a Nascent Soul, but corrupting the soul of a Core Formation cultivator wouldn’t be a problem.

Beside him, Hong Lian watched Lu Changsheng’s methods with amazement.

Among the many extraordinary things about Lu Changsheng, the one she was most curious about was how many divine abilities, secret techniques, and inherited skills he had mastered.

After all, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would need at least a hundred years to master alchemy, artifact refining, talisman crafting, geomancy, as well as the previously demonstrated array techniques and various cultivation methods.

“That should do it,” Lu Changsheng nodded with satisfaction after setting up the restrictive measures, then proceeded to remove all the restraints on the puppet.

“Buzz buzz buzz—”

Moments later, the dormant puppet’s body emitted a series of crisp sounds, like a precise war machine starting up.

Within its pitch-black, hollow eye sockets, two soul flames slowly ignited, emanating a faint soul fluctuation.

“A ghost path puppet? No, it’s not the aura of a ghost cultivator, just similar,” Hong Lian furrowed her brows slightly as she sensed this fluctuation, carefully examining the puppet before her.

However, just as the puppet’s aura slightly revived, it fell silent again, motionless.

“?”

Lu Changsheng looked at the puppet and said calmly, “Since you possess soul consciousness, I assume you’re aware of your situation. Why not speak with us?”

The puppet remained deathly silent, showing no reaction.

“Back in the secret realm, when you saw your master die, you managed to escape on your own and even controlled twelve puppets to self-destruct. Given your soul fluctuations, I imagine you’re similar to us cultivators, so I’m quite curious about your situation.”

“If you wish to continue living, then speak up. If you harbor thoughts of death, I can grant your wish.”

Lu Changsheng continued speaking leisurely.

“It’s you!”

The puppet’s pupils blazed with dark flames as it looked at Lu Changsheng, instantly recognizing him as the man who had killed Shi Xuan and captured it in the secret realm.

“You’ve captured me alive. How do you intend to deal with me? Do you simply want to know about my situation?”

The puppet continued, its voice like sandpaper, hoarse with a thread of eeriness. It was clearly a female voice.

“That depends on how you perform,” Lu Changsheng replied with a calm smile, though inwardly he couldn’t help but wonder if this puppet was truly a woman. If she was similar to the Thousand Faces Fox Puppet, created by a former puppet prodigy from his wife, wouldn’t that make reconciliation impossible? However, judging by her words and manner, she didn’t seem to harbor deep hatred.

Qian Zhuyan remained silent.

If given a choice, she naturally wanted to live—to live well and exact her revenge.

But now, having fallen into their hands, what choice did she have?

From their earlier methods and the parasite coiled around her soul, she knew that even self-destruction would be difficult to achieve.

“I have some knowledge of puppetry, but at most I can only cultivate puppets with simple consciousness. That’s why I’m quite curious about your situation,” Lu Changsheng said casually, as if merely expressing mild interest.

“If you can satisfy my curiosity, releasing you isn’t out of the question.”

“I transformed half of my soul into a puppet spirit, perfectly merging with this puppet body. That’s why I maintain soul consciousness,” the puppet explained, its hoarse, cold voice seeming to carry a hint of chilling frost.

“Transformed half your soul into a puppet spirit!?”

Not just Lu Changsheng, even Hong Lian was shocked to hear this.

What a fierce individual.

This was undoubtedly a fierce person.

To actually transform half of one’s soul into a puppet spirit.

It’s worth noting that a cultivator’s soul is extremely important.

Once split or damaged, it would affect the soul’s essence and even one’s lifespan and potential.

“Were you a puppet cultivator in life?” Lu Changsheng inquired.

“Yes. If you’re interested in this secret technique, I can give it to you if you release me,” Qian Zhuyan offered, noticing Lu Changsheng’s surprise.

“So, the man who attacked my spirit beast and was killed by me wasn’t your master? The person controlling and deploying the puppet battle formation wasn’t him, but you?”

Realizing that the puppet before him wasn’t a third-grade puppet refined by someone else, Lu Changsheng instantly understood that the previous twelve puppets were likely controlled by this puppet.

The person he had thought to be a world-class puppet prodigy was actually just an ordinary late Core Formation cultivator, not this puppet’s master.

“Yes,” the puppet replied, the black flames in its eye sockets burning.

“Impressive indeed,” Lu Changsheng praised, realizing this was a talented individual—a top-tier talent. He continued to inquire, “So, the previous puppets were also crafted by you?”

His greatest gain from this secret realm expedition was various heavenly and earthly spiritual materials.

Unless he fully equipped himself or provided each of his Core Formation wives and children with multiple magical artifacts, he couldn’t use them all up.

But he didn’t have the time or energy to refine artifacts and magical treasures himself.

If the puppet before him was a top-tier puppet master, subduing it would allow him to use these heavenly and earthly treasures to craft top-grade third-tier puppets, increasing his family’s foundation!

“Yes,” the puppet continued to respond.

“From your words, it seems you want to live. If that’s the case, let’s make a deal.”

“As long as you craft… hmm, one hundred puppets for me and pass on your puppet-making skills to train ten puppet masters for me, I can set you free.”

In its early years, the Lu Family of Bihu Mountain was renowned for puppetry, but as time passed, their puppet skills became somewhat inadequate beyond the Bihu Mountain region.

If the puppet before him was indeed a top-tier puppet grandmaster, it could help train puppet masters for his family and forge top-grade puppets.

“I’ve transformed half my soul into a puppet spirit and can’t stay awake or maintain clarity for long periods. At most, I can give you my puppet-making techniques,” Qian Zhuyan said, suppressing her soul’s agitation, her voice hoarse and eerie.

In her early years, facing a life-or-death crisis as her sect was destroyed, she had desperately fused her soul into a puppet.

Through a series of coincidences, she had transformed half her soul into a puppet spirit, gaining perfect control over the puppet.

But the cost was that the half of her soul that became a puppet spirit was like a ghost cultivator, its personality gradually twisting, leaving only hatred and obsession.

In this situation, her conscious soul was constantly being eroded and influenced by the puppet spirit soul, requiring her to use secret techniques to sleep and dispel this influence and negative emotions.

“Unable to stay awake or maintain clarity for long periods?” Lu Changsheng frowned slightly, suddenly feeling the puppet before him was of little value.

After all, his family possessed the puppet techniques inherited from the Tianyuan True Lord.

With his status and strength as the City Lord of Dameng, obtaining a few puppet inheritance techniques wouldn’t be difficult.

The reason he wanted to subdue it was that in many cases, having just the technique manuals wasn’t enough; one needed someone to guide and teach.

But if this puppet couldn’t help teach or craft puppets, it had no value.

“How did you craft your previous twelve puppets?” Lu Changsheng asked.

If she couldn’t stay awake for long periods, where did the twelve third-grade puppets come from?

Qian Zhuyan remained silent for a moment before replying, “Although I can’t maintain clarity for long periods, I can extend my waking time through soul path treasures and secret artifacts.”

“Moreover, the person you killed was also a third-grade puppet master. Most of these puppets were crafted through our collaboration.”

Though the puppet’s voice was calm, it grew increasingly chilling, like a whisper from the depths of hell, sending chills down one’s spine.

“My dear, this person’s soul transformed into a puppet spirit seems similar to ghost cultivation methods. I suspect her puppet spirit soul is like that of a ghost cultivator and must cultivate in extremely yin locations. Otherwise, it would be invaded by the world’s yin turbid qi and turn into a vicious spirit,” Hong Lian transmitted to Lu Changsheng.

“However, her situation is different from ghost cultivators. If she goes to extremely yin locations to cultivate, her other half of the soul might not be able to adapt and would be constantly eroded by ghost qi.”

“Mm,” Lu Changsheng had also noticed that the puppet’s emotional state was very unstable, as if forcibly suppressing soul agitation.

He continued speaking leisurely to the puppet, “If that’s the case, let’s cooperate. As long as you can craft puppets for me and train puppet masters, you can request any soul path treasures you need.”

The puppet fell silent, as if sinking back into death, emanating an eerie aura.

“There’s no real enmity between us. If you could cooperate with others, I imagine you can cooperate with me as well.”

“Besides, the earlier incident was initiated by you attacking my spirit beast first.”

Lu Changsheng spoke casually, his tone maintaining a natural ease.

“I want revenge! As long as you help me exact my bloody vengeance, I’m willing to craft puppets for you! I’ll pass on all my puppet-making techniques to you!”

The puppet, gleaming with a dark and cold light, suddenly began to shake violently, like a war machine starting up. Its voice was like that of a venomous snake or a night owl, filled with pain, grief, and hatred.

“Don’t get agitated. Let’s talk this through calmly,” Lu Changsheng, seeing that the puppet’s soul state was problematic, immediately raised his hand, circulating yin and yang magical energy, attempting to stabilize its condition.

Under the balance of yin and yang magical energy, the puppet’s state gradually calmed. It spoke again with a hint of sorrow and pleading, “Revenge… as long as you help me get revenge, I can be your puppet and do anything for you.”

Qian Zhuyan knew that having fallen into Lu Changsheng’s hands, it was almost impossible for him to let her go.

She had entered the Mirage Domain of Vast Sands to help Shi Xuan break through to the Nascent Soul realm, then upgrade herself to a fourth-grade puppet to exact her revenge.

The man before her far surpassed her in strength, so with no other choice, she seized this opportunity.

Observing the puppet’s chaotic state, Lu Changsheng asked calmly about her situation.

Moments later, Lu Changsheng learned about the puppet’s background.

She came from the Endless Desert, from a Core Formation level sect called the Thousand Bamboo Sect.

In her youth, when testing her Spirit Root, she displayed signs of a Heaven Spirit Root with powerful spiritual sense, so she was taken as a disciple by the Thousand Bamboo Sect’s leader and named Qian Zhuyan.

At twenty-one, she successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment without needing a Foundation Establishment pill, shocking the entire Thousand Bamboo Sect.

Subsequently, under the sect’s guidance, she delved into studying puppet techniques.

Compared to her Heaven Spirit Root cultivation, her talent in puppetry was even more terrifying.

In just two and a half years, she crafted a second-grade puppet, becoming a second-grade puppet master. Her master praised her as the first genius since the Thousand Bamboo Sect’s founding.

In the following years, she focused all her efforts on puppetry. In just ten years, she crafted an upper second-grade puppet.

What hindered her continued research in puppetry wasn’t talent or ability, but cultivation level.

Her master also indicated that she should prioritize cultivation; only by breaking through to Core Formation could she craft third-grade sect-guarding puppets.

Due to spending so much time on puppetry, she only reached peak Foundation Establishment at ninety-one years old.

Relying on the Thousand Bamboo Sect’s nurturing and prepared resources, she crafted a third-grade puppet at ninety-eight and broke through to Core Formation in one go.

At this point, the sect’s ability to help her was limited. She began to give back to the sect, focusing on researching the sect’s puppet inheritance.

In a hundred years, she not only crafted upper third-grade puppets but also improved the sect’s puppet classics, causing the Thousand Bamboo Sect to flourish.

However, the Thousand Bamboo Sect’s development was too rapid, and their puppet business attracted covetous eyes, especially from one of the top forces in the Endless Desert—the Ancient Puppet Sect!

The Ancient Puppet Sect, like the Thousand Bamboo Sect, was also primarily focused on puppetry.

Seeing the Thousand Bamboo Sect’s situation, they wanted to make them a vassal, demanding they hand over their puppet inheritance and ninety percent of their profits.

The Thousand Bamboo Sect was unwilling and tried to negotiate.

Who knew that the Ancient Puppet Sect’s talk of vassalage was just a ruse; they had already arranged with several other forces to divide up the Thousand Bamboo Sect.

On that day, the Thousand Bamboo Sect faced annihilation.

Although Qian Zhuyan was extraordinarily talented and a puppet grandmaster who could contend with peak Core Formation cultivators using puppet battle formations, her cultivation was only at mid Core Formation, far from being a match for the Ancient Puppet Sect.

Watching her sect being destroyed and facing imprisonment by the Ancient Puppet Sect cultivators, she chose to self-detonate her Golden Core.

However, in that instant, she recalled a hypothesis she had researched in her early years of studying puppets—using ghost cultivation methods to turn oneself into a ghost spirit and fuse into a puppet’s core, becoming a puppet spirit.

But when cultivators become ghost cultivators, it’s like being reborn, almost completely different from their former selves, and can be considered a new life form.

Moreover, not every cultivator can successfully transform into a ghost cultivator. It requires extremely yin locations, yin turbid ghost qi, and other natural and geographical advantages, as well as ghost path treasures.

But perhaps due to the hatred and obsession in her heart, she succeeded.

At the moment of self-detonation, through a soul-moving technique, she fused her soul into this puppet and escaped the Ancient Puppet Sect’s pursuit.

To maintain clarity and seek revenge, she only transformed half of her soul into a ghost path puppet spirit.

However, puppets are different from humans and can’t improve through cultivation. They can only enhance the puppet spirit and puppet quality.

With half of her soul transformed into a ghost path puppet spirit, her soul constantly endured the influence of yin turbid qi and the puppet spirit’s obsession and hatred, continuously assimilating and turning towards becoming a vicious spirit.

To counter this, she used her self-created technique, the Minor Deduction Technique, to alleviate this situation through sleep.

But this also meant her waking time was limited, and she couldn’t do many things herself, having to rely on others’ help.

The man killed by Lu Changsheng in the Mirage Domain of Vast Sands was one of her main collaborators.

They had made a heart demon oath: if she helped him obtain a Nascent Soul opportunity, he would fully assist her in advancing to fourth-grade and seeking revenge against the Ancient Puppet Sect.

“Well, well,” Lu Changsheng was at a loss for words after learning about Qian Zhuyan’s situation.

To say she was skilled would be an understatement—believing words about a Nascent Soul leading to a fourth-grade advancement.

To say she was foolish would be unfair—she had improved the Thousand Bamboo Sect’s techniques and puppet inheritance, created her own technique, and even achieved the feat of fusing her soul into a puppet while maintaining consciousness.

“It’s fortunate you encountered me,” Lu Changsheng inwardly sighed.

With Qian Zhuyan’s soul state in disarray, he could tell from her soul fluctuations that her words weren’t false.

In this situation, as long as she sincerely submitted, he didn’t mind helping her seek revenge.

If she obediently followed orders, he might even help her reconstruct a physical body in the future if he obtained treasures like a Heavenly Earth Spirit Embryo.

“Your soul state isn’t good right now. Rest well for now, and we’ll discuss further when you wake up.”

“As long as you can demonstrate your value, advancing you to fourth-grade and seeking revenge against the Ancient Puppet Sect won’t be difficult.”

Lu Changsheng spoke calmly.

Although he wasn’t clear about the specific strength of the Ancient Puppet Sect, he guessed they had at most one or two Nascent Soul cultivators.

Once he broke through to Nascent Soul, this wouldn’t be a difficult task.

“Thank you…”

The puppet seemed unable to suppress its state any longer, its body constantly trembling as if it might lash out at Lu Changsheng and Hong Lian at any moment.

Hearing Lu Changsheng’s words, it instantly relaxed, the soul flames in its pupils gradually fading as it sank into dormancy, like an ordinary puppet.

“Hum!”

Lu Changsheng watched for a moment, then flicked his finger, forming a barrier of circulating yin and yang magical energy. He turned to Hong Lian and asked, “Hong Lian, what do you think?”

“This person’s words carry a high degree of truth, but we can’t fully trust them,” Hong Lian, dressed in a simple and elegant crimson robe with her hair lightly coiled, spoke with graceful dignity.

“However, puppet talent can’t be faked. My dear can verify it later. If her words are true, subduing her for your use could add another powerful asset.”

Although she lacked a physical body and her Heaven Spirit Root talent was gone, this level of puppet talent wouldn’t be affected. As her cultivation and soul strengthened, it might even progress further.

“Mm, I’ll have Zixiao look into this Ancient Puppet Sect later. An event like this should have related intelligence; a simple investigation will reveal the truth,” Lu Changsheng smiled, holding his wife’s soft, delicate white jade hand.

He now possessed quite a few fourth-grade heavenly and earthly spiritual materials.

If Qian Zhuyan’s words were true, he wouldn’t mind helping her advance to fourth-grade now.

Once she became a fourth-grade puppet, it would be equivalent to him gaining another fourth-grade combat force!