Chapter 41: The Demon Puppet Sect

A sense of foreboding stirred in Chu Sang’s heart. She quietly moved closer, her peripheral vision catching a glimpse of the large characters displayed on Shen Rufei’s Communication jade disc:

«Professional Pig Farmer for Twenty Years.»

“…”

Wasn’t this Third Senior Sister’s ID?!

Could it really be such a coincidence?

The perverted old man she had helped Third Senior Sister curse out—was he actually Shen Rufei?!

Chu Sang quickly turned her head away, silently chanting to herself, Press 1 to forgive me. I didn’t do it on purpose. Next time, I’ll let you borrow Sixth Senior Brother’s Fire Phoenix twice as much for breeding!**

“Awoo~”

At that moment, Xiao Bai in her arms stirred awake. It blinked its round beastly eyes, tinged with a faint golden hue. As it lazily groomed itself, it casually licked her slender white fingers, then leaped to the ground, stretching its two front paws in a long, languid motion.

Suddenly, it shuddered, sniffing left and right, and then began to waddle its two fluffy black tails toward the edge of the formation.

Chu Sang stood up to follow.

“Where are you going? It’s dangerous outside. Those zombies might eat you.”

Xiao Bai scampered back to her side, lifting its two pudgy front paws to tug at her leg, speaking in a babyish, unclear voice, “Mommy~ I think I smelled something bad—over there, there’s something!”

“…Something?”

Chu Sang looked in the direction it indicated. It was another mountain peak, not too far from where they were.

Since Xiao Bai said there was something there, it probably wasn’t wrong.

Maybe…

She narrowed her eyes, her gaze falling on the vast horde of corpses at the foot of the mountain. After a brief moment of thought, she pulled out two Substitute Talismans.

One she placed on her sword and hid in a relatively safe and concealed corner of the formation. The other she stuck to herself.

Making sure no one was paying attention, she casually activated a Teleportation Talisman and disappeared from sight.

…

…

Inside the cave.

It was narrow and cramped. Though it hadn’t rained recently, the cave was unnaturally damp, with faint echoes of water dripping from rock crevices, splashing onto the stone platform below.

The air carried an indescribable scent—not particularly foul, but incredibly uncomfortable.

It smelled like… rotting meat.

At the center of the cave stood a small sacrificial altar, about ten feet high. Carved with indistinct patterns, it was adorned with a few yellowed and tattered sealing talismans, as if something ominous had once been imprisoned there.

But the talismans, worn with age, had mostly lost their effectiveness, barely functioning now.

A faint, ethereal figure hovered above the altar.

“…You can see me?”

An old, hoarse voice drifted over, and the black shadow quickly floated down towards her.

Only then did Chu Sang get a clear look. The shadow was an old man, his half-white hair tousled under an ashen-grey robe. Despite his kind-looking face, the way he scrutinised her made her feel uneasy.

Upon seeing Chu Sang, his excitement was palpable. His skin, so pale it appeared ghastly, seemed to flush with a faint reddish hue.

“After so many years, this old man has finally met a living person. You… cough cough… you must be the fated one I’ve been waiting for!” He coughed weakly, his form flickering as if he might dissipate at any moment.

“Girl, listen closely. This old man was a great cultivator from ten thousand years ago. I accidentally fell into this place and was ambushed by evil cultivators. Only a trace of my divine soul remains, trapped between this world and the next.”

“Now this old man’s soul is on the verge of dispersing, but there’s one regret I cannot let go of. I never took a disciple, and I fear that my lifelong cultivation and techniques will be lost forever…”

“Cough cough! You there, little girl, why are you standing so far away? Come closer.”

He eagerly beckoned, like a big bad wolf trying to lure a little white rabbit. “This old man sees great potential in you. You and I are fated! Let me pass on all my techniques to you in my final moments. You will be this old man’s last disciple!” His voice was urgent, as if he couldn’t wait to devour her whole.

“…” This scene felt all too familiar—wasn’t this the kind of thing scam artists say?

Xiao Bai ‘s voice echoed in her mind, “Mommy, don’t trust him. He’s covered in bad smells! Stinky!”

Chu Sang already had her suspicions. The old Taoist, seeing her hesitation, assumed his offer wasn’t tempting enough. Gritting his teeth, he added, “This old man possesses a divine tool! If you accept me as your master, not only will this old man teach you everything I know, but the divine object will be yours as well. How about that?”

The offer was enticing, and Chu Sang had to admit, she was tempted.

Her peach-blossom face flushed with excitement, her tone innocent, “What do I need to do?”

The old man’s heart surged with joy. Indeed, naive little girls like her were the easiest to deceive.

Of course, he wasn’t any ancient great cultivator. He was merely an evil cultivator who had accidentally entered this place when the secret realm opened last time.

A hundred years ago, he had assassinated numerous cultivators in the secret realm, attempting to refine puppets. But he had been discovered by those righteous cultivators and struck down.

Luckily, he had a backup plan, and a trace of his divine soul escaped. But who knew those cultivators had left behind a sealing formation, imprisoning him in this godforsaken place for a full hundred years… Now, this remaining trace of his divine soul was growing weaker. If he couldn’t find a physical body to possess soon, he would truly vanish from this world.

He wasn’t willing to accept such a fate!

Thankfully, fate had delivered him an opportunity.

Hahaha, truly heaven had not abandoned him!

Suppressing his wild laughter, the old man maintained a calm exterior and waved his hand. “Since you’re going to be this old man’s disciple, first perform the ceremony of accepting a master.”

Chu Sang said, “I pay my respects to Master! Master, please accept your disciple’s bow.”

“Good disciple, rise.”

The old man stroked his beard, thoroughly satisfied. These righteous cultivators were all so rigid and upright, extremely cautious about the master-disciple ceremony. Look at how this girl called him master without hesitation. She must deeply believe his words and won’t betray him halfway.

The cunning old man also let down a bit of wariness in his heart.

“The Demon Puppet Pearl is a rare divine object of heaven and earth. Today, I will pass it on to you. Go and take it, then I will teach you the cultivation technique.”

Chu Sang obeyed and walked up to the altar. In the center depression lay a blood-red pearl, about half the size of a palm, crystal clear and translucent.

She secretly sent out a strand of spiritual sense to examine it. There was no evil aura. She took the pearl in her palm, “Master, what should I do next?”

“Listen carefully as I teach you the incantation. I will say one sentence, and you repeat after me!” The old man said excitedly, clearly viewing the seemingly naive young woman before him as his prey.

“Alright.”

Chu Sang lowered her head, pretending not to notice the old man’s burning gaze. For every sentence he recited, she repeated after him.

Until the last character was recited, the old man’s fiery gaze almost seemed to swallow her whole. “Quick, say it out loud!”

As long as the incantation was complete, he could use the power of the Demon Puppet Pearl to possess this fresh, living body and escape from this ghostly place that had imprisoned him for a full hundred years!

“Master.”

Chu Sang paused at the last moment, almost scratching his heart out with impatience.

“I didn’t remember it just now. Can you teach me again?”

The old man took a deep breath and recited it again.

Chu Sang smiled faintly, “I remember now. Let me recite it for Master to see if it’s correct?”

The old man naturally couldn’t wait for her to recite it.

She nervously pursed her lips, took two steps back, put her hands behind her back, parted her red lips, and fluently uttered the obscure characters—backward.

The old man was shocked. The incantation this female cultivator was reciting was indeed the demon incantation he had taught, but why was she reciting it in reverse??

The Demon Puppet Pearl floated above her palm, becoming exceptionally red and violent. The old man sensed something was very wrong. “Stop–!”

He hysterically tried to rush forward and grab back the pearl. Chu Sang quickly widened the distance between them, pulled out her gun, and fired a spirit bullet.

“Boom!”

For a soul remnant on the verge of dissipating, making it vanish into thin air was effortless.

The last line of the incantation also fell from her mouth.

…

…

Meanwhile, outside the cave, the formation couldn’t hold for much longer. More and more zombies climbed up the mountain and launched attacks.

Tantai Ming and the others were battling thousands upon thousands of zombies.

Fortunately, they had hundreds of golden armour talismans that Little Junior Sister had rushed to make overnight, as well as Mu Chihuai’s pills. These zombies couldn’t cause them too much harm, but there were too many to deal with effectively.

Tantai Ming’s right hand gripped his sword hilt tightly, trembling slightly. Earlier, he had encountered a flying Zombie of higher cultivation. Its skin and flesh were like iron walls, and when he struck it with his sword, the impact left his hand numb. After tremendous effort, he finally managed to kill it.

The surrounding stench of blood grew stronger, potentially attracting even more powerful zombies and demonic beasts.

This won’t do.

They needed to end this quickly!

He looked back, only to find that Chu Sang had disappeared. His face changed dramatically—had his junior sister been captured by those zombies?

Panic clouded his mind. In his urgency, he considered summoning the Blood-Weeping Sword to break through the siege. Just then, the horde of Zombies suddenly collapsed to the ground, wailing eerily. Within moments, they seemed to evaporate, vanishing without a trace.

Everyone was stunned by this sight.

What… just happened?

It wasn’t even daylight yet—how could the zombies disappear so suddenly?

Chu Sang returned on her flying sword. Seeing the vast zombie army in the forest had vanished, she felt even more certain of her hypothesis—that old Taoist was indeed an evil cultivator. He had used the Demon Puppet Pearl to create the zombie horde, and when she deliberately recited the incantation backwards, effectively breaking the spell, the zombies naturally disappeared.

“Junior sister, where did you go? I thought you were captured by those zombies!” Tantai Ming rushed over, relieved to see her radiant and unharmed.

Chu Sang recounted everything that had happened in detail. “The situation was too urgent earlier. Going together might have aroused suspicion, so I went alone first.”

“I had placed substitute talismans in advance. If anything went wrong, I would have returned immediately. There was no need to worry.”

She took out the pearl to show everyone,

“According to that old demon, this seems to be called the Demon Puppet Pearl. But what exactly does it do?”

The original story was told from the perspective of the righteous sect’s protagonists, and the name of the pearl clearly belonged to the demon faction. Chu Sang wasn’t familiar with the Demon Puppet Pearl.

“Demon Puppet Pearl…”

Mu Chihuai examined it for a moment. His beautiful upturned phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as he said softly, “I’ve heard of this by chance. It’s a treasure of the Demon Puppet Sect, but it was stolen a hundred years ago, reportedly by a disciple of the sect. Its whereabouts have been unknown since.”

This explained everything. The old Taoist she had encountered must have been the Demon Puppet Sect disciple who stole the sect’s treasure. Although only a remnant of his soul remained, it was clear that his cultivation level hadn’t been very high in life.

The Demon Puppet Pearl could refine living puppets, but that old Taoist was just an ordinary disciple with incomplete skills. Even if he successfully stole the treasure, he could only create the lowest-level puppets without any thoughts—the zombies they referred to as the walking dead.

“Although this pearl is a demon treasure, it’s indeed a divine treasure of heaven and earth. Whether it’s righteous or evil depends on the cultivator using it,” Mu Chihuai said, tossing the Demon Puppet Pearl back to Chu Sang. “Keep it for now. It might be useful in the future.”

…

…

On the other side of the secret realm, three days ago, Qin Xixue and a group of Tianyan Sect disciples had entered the inner realm after great difficulty.

Thanks to the guidance of the powerful being in the jade tablet, they hadn’t lost any members along the way and were in much better shape than the other sects.

Qin Xixue was determined to obtain the Chaotic Green Lotus Seed.

“The Chaotic Green Lotus Seed is one of the primordial treasures from the beginning of the universe. This time, you must not miss it,” the old man said gravely.

The forbidden area of Tianyan Sect also hid a primordial treasure from the beginning of the universe, but even the old man didn’t know exactly what it was.

Half a year ago, he had actively sought out Qin Xixue, who had mistakenly entered the forbidden area, partly because he wanted to leave the forbidden area.

But another more important reason was that he wanted to use Qin Xixue to find that legendary primordial treasure said to possess the first breath of primordial chaos from the beginning of the universe.

Ten thousand years ago, it was precisely to fight for this treasure that the cultivation world and the demon race went to war, battling for hundreds or thousands of years.

Countless lives were lost, and all living things suffered.

In the end, neither side gained any benefit, and they didn’t even see the true form of the treasure.

The whereabouts of this primordial treasure became unknown.

There was a high possibility that it was still in the ruins where the war ended, which is now the forbidden area of Tianyan Sect. Unfortunately, he and Qin Xixue had returned to search the forbidden area more than once but still couldn’t find any trace of the treasure.

Perhaps the treasure had been destroyed during the human-demon war, or it might have been obtained by someone else beforehand.

They had no way of knowing.

It was truly regrettable…

The Chaotic Green Lotus Seed that had appeared this time, one of the six ancient sacred lotuses, was also one of the primordial treasures. It could greatly improve one’s aptitude, transforming spiritual roots into chaos spiritual roots.

Qin Xixue absolutely couldn’t miss this opportunity. This treasure was destined to be hers alone!

She successfully found the entrance to the lotus pool following the old man’s instructions. Just as she was overjoyed and racking her brains on how to get rid of the other disciples, a cheerful voice from behind made her heart stop: “Hi! We meet again, what a coincidence.”

Chu Sang had arrived with a large group of people in tow.

The moment Qiu Xiude heard this voice, he instinctively bristled, “How is it you people again? You really…”

Remembering their last encounter, his face contorted for a moment before he said in a deep voice, “This time, our Tianyan Sect discovered the entrance first. I advise you not to be shameless!”

(End of chapter)