Chapter 119: Ninth Level
Within the underground cave:
Swish! Swash!
As a mature Demon Tree, upon realizing that the cave was bing narrower, it had learned to continuously excavate downwards using its roots while discardingrge amounts of soil into theke.
Fang Xi didn’t interfere with the Demon Tree’s self-taught construction skills; he only provided asional guidance for proper support and reinforcement, ensuring the Jade Cliff wouldn’t copse. Otherwise, he let it operate independently.
At this moment, Fang Xi was examining the ‘human puppet’ before him!
The human puppet resembled Mu Wen, with ashen skin disying faint wood-like textures. asionally, tree roots could be seen emerging from or retreating back into the puppet’s facial openings.
“Stand up!”
“Move forward!”
“Jump!” Fang Xi wasn’t proficient in puppet techniques but relied on the Demon Tree’s ability to control demonic servants for basic maniption. It felt somewhat sluggish and unresponsive, akin to controlling ve insects with the Insect King.
“Perform cultivation maneuver!” Fang Xi’s eyes flickered as he issued a newmand.
Mu Wen executed a cultivation technique, causing ayer of spiritual aura to shimmer around his body, emitting fluctuations equivalent to the fifthyer of Qi Refinement!
“This person originally had a cultivation base at the sixthyer of Qi Refinement, but after being transformed into a puppet, their realm dropped to the fifthyer!”
Fang Xi pondered for a moment before issuing a newmand.
<em>Whoosh!</em>
Mu Wen executed a cultivation technique, causing the ck dagger artifact to emit a loud hum and transform into a streak of dark light, deeply embedding itself into the rock wall.
“Remarkable, his cultivation base is indeed preserved, along with the ability to control magical artifacts?”
This revtion brought immense joy to Fang Xi.
With this capability, couldn’t he potentiallymand a vast army of ‘human puppets’? Even a formationposed of numerous Late Stage Qi Refinement cultivators could challenge Foundation Establishment beings!
However, momentster, Fang Xi noticed something amiss.
Mu Wen’s maniption of the artifact was remarkably stiff,cking fluidity and adaptability - a fatal w inbat situations.
‘This feels… despite being at the fifthyer of Qi Refinement, he might not even be able to defeat Hai Dagui… And constantly needing mymands makes it too cumbersome.’
‘His attack power matches the fifthyer of Qi Refinement, but his defense is severelycking. Being a human body, he has no instinct for evasive maneuvers; I’d need to monitor him continuously… Yet controlling through the Demon Tree introduces significant dy…’
At that moment, Fang Xi realized the difference between his Wooden Puppet Technique and orthodox puppetry methods.
The orthodox puppetry legacy not only included methods for creating puppets but also techniques for controlling them effectively inbat! In fact, the control aspect was even more crucial!
A cultivator’s divine or spiritual sense is inherently limited; non-puppeteers can typically manipte only one or two puppets at most. However, a skilled puppeteer can divide their consciousness,manding an entire army of puppets!
Moreover, advanced puppets can be imbued with ‘puppet souls’, granting them a degree of intelligence!
“Indeed, having powerful divine sense greatly enhances puppetry skills. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to acquire any such legacy…”
The Spirit Hollow Market might have it, but currently, Fang Xi had no means to visit!
After thorough experimentation, Fang Xi determined the detailed specifications of his human puppet Mu Wen and shook his head, feeling somewhat disappointed.
The attacks were overly rigid, andmands faced significant dys…
Compared to the precision of orthodox puppet maniption, there was a stark contrast between heaven and earth.
Additionally, once transformed into a ‘human puppet,’ further cultivation and improvement became impossible.
“After all, my control through the Demon Tree is indirect,cking the finesse achievable by a true puppeteer. It’s understandable, though… Perhaps in the future, acquiring and studying a proper puppetry technique couldpensate for these shorings…”
“However, this ‘Wood Puppet Technique’ does have its advantages. First, it allows for massive numbers; with sufficient Demon Tree seeds, one can control as many puppets as desired!”
“Secondly, the materials needed are simple - justplete corpses suffice… Creating a vast army of cultivator puppets in the future is no longer a distant dream.”
Fang Xi rubbed his chin, realizing that if he continued down this path, he would undoubtedly stray further from conventional cultivation and risk bing a pariah within the cultivation world.
“In fact, there’s another perspective to consider. While cultivator-made human puppets may not be of high quality, mythical beasts crafted into ‘beast puppets’ could prove quite effective!”
Mythical beasts typically possess tough hides and superior defenses, traits which would likely carry over when transformed into puppets!
This meansmands given to them can also be kept rtively simple!
Additionally, due to their robust nature, beast materials are less prone to damage, increasing the overall fault tolerance!
“A puppet beast army, perhaps? It’s worth exploring…” Fang Xi stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I must also address the issue of Demon Tree seed proliferation. By employing puppet techniques, I could potentially install mechanisms inside each puppet. If damaged, these mechanisms would destroy the Demon Tree seed immediately?”
“This n is quite promising; all we need now is a puppet-making legacy…”
Although the Demon Tree seeds had been downgraded, Fang Xi still preferred to prevent their widespread distribution.
After some thought, he saw great potential in this idea and decided to include it as a backup n.
Currently, venturing out to collect numerous fresh mythical beast corpses was not feasible for him.
“As for you?” Fang Xi looked at Mu Wen, prompting the roots within his body to emerge, intertwining on his face to form a vine mask.
“From today onwards, you shall be known as ‘A-1’ and will solely be responsible for guarding the underground cave.”
Immediately, A-1 positioned himself against the cave wall, resembling a statue… <hr>
News about the Mu n Patriarch swiftly faded from interest on Peach Blossom Ind.
The cultivation world is pragmatic; once a loser disappears, unless they return as a triumphant hero someday, they are gradually forgotten by all.
While some members of the Mu n left Peach Blossom Ind, others continued striving there, reverting to their previous state of being rootless like floating duckweeds…
Undoubtedly more infamous than Mu Wen was the ‘Silver Armored Demon’!
This individual’s notoriety grew exponentially with each escape from Foundation Establishment cultivators. They even formed a tribtion cult, repeatedly shing with the jointw enforcement teams of the Thirty Six Inds Alliance, resulting in brutal carnage!
By now, the mere mention of their name could silence crying children at night!
However, for a cultivator who preferred istion and never ventured to the market, such infamy held little impact.
On the other hand, Hai Dagui remained constantly worried about his friend Lu Guo, praying fervently that he wouldn’t encounter the Silver Armored Demon head-on… <hr>
Five yearster.
Inside his cultivation room, Fang Xi silently circted the Evesting Spring Art, feeling the surging magical energy within his dantian’s sea of qi. It naturally overflowed, opening new channels for cirction.
This breakthrough was effortless and remarkably smooth.
“Twenty years since nting my tree, now at age forty-three, I’ve reached the ninth level of Qi Refinement!”
Fang Xi felt quite satisfied with his progress.
Breaking through one level every five years primarily stemmed from Jade Cliff’s limited spiritual energy environment. The low-tier spirit vein, aided by the Little Cloudrain Array’s Gathering Spirit effect, barely managed to enhance the cultivation room’s spiritual energy to a low-rank first-tier level.
For Late Stage Qi Refinement cultivators, a high-rank first-tier spiritual vein is considered minimally suitable for cultivation.
Apart from that, my pill concocting skill has steadily improved to mid-high first rank, but my array formation mastery remains stuck at mid-grade, hindered by a significant barrier.”
Fang Xi felt quite helpless about this situation.
While studying formations, whenever he encountered a difficult problem, he had no choice but to painstakingly ponder over it. In contrast, with sufficient materials and his current divine sense realm, Fang Xi could effortlessly progress through pill concocting, at least for medicinal pills within the Qi Refinement stage…
As a result, in recent years, Fang Xi focused primarily on refining pills, cing formation study as secondary.
Regarding the Dao of talismans, he inadvertently advanced to mid-rank first-tier without realizing it. This may have been influenced by daily insights gained from the fragmented silver runes of the Second Wood Dharma Idol. Regardless, Fang Xi felt particrly gifted in drawing Wood element talismans, achieving higher sess ratespared to other types.
Lastly, his artificing skills remained unremarkable… having beenpletely abandoned.
Exiting the cultivation room, Fang Xi nced at the blue-and-white golden tortoise beetles. Now, the insect chamber was filled with these jade-like creatures adorned with blue markings; not a single ck-striped golden beetle remained.
Even the Insect King, due to consistently consuming ‘Beast Grain Pellets’, had ascended to mid-rank first-tier!
The wine cer was also filled with various types of spirit wines, aged from one to several years, with the oldest batch boasting a remarkable twenty-year maturation period!
These aged spirit wines had a rich amber hue and were so viscous that strands could be lifted with chopsticks, making them highly prized among cultivators who indulged in such pleasures.
Despite not being exceptionally high in grade, their exceptional taste ensured they could still fetchrge quantities of spirit stones when sold.
On Jade Cliff, Fang Xi had cultivated a total of twenty acres of diverse spirit fields, including five acres dedicated to medicine nts.
Among these, the oldest batches of Blood-Replenishing Grass and Snake Orchid Fruits were already ten years mature, ready for sale or use as auxiliary ingredients in mid- to high-grade first-rank medicinal pills.
“In truth, if a cultivator possesses spiritualnd, focusing on farming rather thanbat can quickly umte resources without much strife…”
After inspecting all areas, Fang Xi approached the pond, his eyes gleaming menacingly.
Even now, the Great Azure Fish remained stubbornly at mid-rank first tier!
“The decade has passed, and you’ve missed yourst chance - me only yourself!”
He unsheathed the Golden Flood Dragon de, preparing to send the Great Azure Fish on its final journey.
Suddenly!
The Great Azure Fish leaped, emitting abundant demonic aura that attracted surrounding spiritual energy, forming a small whirlpool.
“Is this…a breakthrough?”
Fang Xi’s eyes twitched slightly. “Really waiting till thest moment to advance? Is this fish even more cautious than me?”
As he marveled, the Great Azure Fish consumed vast amounts of spiritual energy, rapidly growing over two meters long. Its species seemed to transform as well, resembling more closely the sleek bodies of catfish or eels, with elongated azure whiskers…
“A high-rank first-tier Qingyu Carp King, nicknamed ‘little azure dragon’…”
Gazing at the nowrger, snake-like Great Azure Fish, Fang Xi grinned menacingly. “Finally advanced… I’ve been craving ‘Azure Dragon Soup’ for so long!”
With a ssh!
The triumphant Great Azure Fish froze mid-air, plummeting back into the pond and causing a significantmotion.
Didn’t they agree on sparing its life upon advancement? Why is it destined for soup instead?
Could this truly be fate?!
Compared to cunning humans, it remained far too naive!