novelraw Chapter 372 - 183: Puppetry Technique, Uninvited Guest
Chapter 372 - 183: Puppetry Technique, Uninvited Guest
Returning to his own cave chamber, Chu Ning casually took out two storage bags.
One belonged to Zou Huiqing, and the other to Song Li.
The storage bags of Chen Xinming and others were later found in the Stone Forest, but they were all gathered in one place.
Naturally, they were returned to the Chen family.
At this moment, Chu Ning merely glanced over Zou Huiqing’s storage bag, finding nothing particularly noteworthy.
He took out some Spirit Stones and Spirit Medicines and put them away properly.
Then, he opened up Song Li’s storage bag.
"It seems the Song family has quite an interest in researching ancient artifacts.
Previously, I found many items from the ancient sect in the storage bags of Song Ye and Song Cheng.
Though many of them were not of much use, there were some curious and exotic items."
With this thought, Chu Ning began paying attention to the relatively ancient items within Song Li’s storage bag.
Soon he was drawn to a Jade Scroll.
Although the quality of this Jade Scroll wasn’t top-notch, its shape was antiquated.
Chu Ning noticed its shape was quite similar to a Jade Scroll he had seen at the ancient sect ruins where he obtained the Essentials of Spirit Pill.
He immediately took it out and began to read.
"Puppetry Mechanism Art!"
Upon seeing the contents recorded in this Jade Scroll, Chu Ning’s eyes lit up slightly.
Earlier, when Song Li released two puppets in the Iron Meteorite Forest, Chu Ning was quite surprised.
After all, he had never heard of the Song family excelling in puppetry techniques among the Thousand Lakes and Thousand Islands.
But now, seeing this Jade Scroll, Chu Ning understood more or less.
This Puppetry Mechanism Art must have been learned by Song Li from here.
"I just wonder if those two puppets were made by Song Li himself, or if he got them from somewhere."
With this thought in mind, Chu Ning recalled the puppet beasts in the ancient sect ruins.
In terms of strength, those puppet beasts were much stronger than the humanoid puppets Song Li used in the Iron Meteorite Forest.
Thinking that this Jade Scroll might contain more content about puppets, Chu Ning quickly browsed through it.
Then he was surprised to find that the Jade Scroll contained puppet-making methods from the early stage of Foundation Establishment to the early stage of Core Formation.
And soon, he found the two types of puppet-making techniques he had encountered in the Stone Forest before.
After carefully browsing through them.
Chu Ning immediately reached into the storage bag, took out two humanoid puppet remnants.
Looking at the puppet, which had been riddled with holes by his spell, Chu Ning couldn’t help feeling regretful.
"Even a Foundation Establishment stage puppet is truly not easy to make.
This puppet has completely lost its value for repair."
Chu Ning sighed and simultaneously started to carefully remove the usable materials from the puppet.
He took this opportunity to understand the puppet’s structure.
From this severely damaged puppet, he found six or seven kinds of materials that could still be barely used.
Chu Ning laid them out one by one for identification.
Then his attention fell on the other intact puppet.
This puppet appeared undamaged on the surface, but its internal restrictions had been completely wrecked by his Condensed Void Slash attack.
Chu Ning removed several components from the puppet’s back and took out a black crystalline stone-like metal material from within the puppet.
His brows furrowed slightly.
The most crucial part of the puppet is controlled through this Soul Stone.
Complex runes need to be inscribed on it to manipulate the puppet.
However, due to his attack, the Soul Stones in both puppets were damaged.
"With the other materials, combining parts from both puppets along with materials from Song Li’s storage bag,
perhaps I can make a puppet with stronger defense and capable of long-range spell attacks.
But this Soul Stone..."
Chu Ning mused for a moment, feeling as if he had seen this thing before.
With this in mind, Chu Ning began rummaging through his own storage bags.
Over the years, Chu Ning had slain many kinds of cultivators, acquiring an assortment of items.
He could still recall some of the more useful things he acquired recently.
But as for those gained earlier, Chu Ning himself was a bit unsure of them.
After searching through several storage bags for quite a while, he finally found a black-looking object in the corner of one bag.
"So there really was a Soul Stone here, apparently obtained when I was unintentionally brought into the Spirit Realm by Ling Xiaobai during the first time, after killing Duan Yuewu."
Chu Ning finally recalled the origin of this item.
At that time, I also obtained a Cyan Light Bead which I often use, but this item was forgotten in a corner as I never thought it could be useful.
Holding the Soul Stone, Chu Ning did not rush to take action.
He picked up the Jade Scroll again and carefully reviewed the puppetry skills recorded within.
This research took up the better part of the day, until nightfall.
"Young Master, I’ve brought Xinxin over."
Old Man Cheng’s voice resonated from outside the cave chamber.
Chu Ning slowly walked out of the chamber, casually used a Jade Token to unlock the restrictions on the inner layer, allowing Cheng Zuyuan and Cheng Xinxin to enter.
The two had always lived in the thatched cottage in the Spirit Field area outside the chamber; it was their first time entering the cave.
Old Man Cheng was fine, whereas Cheng Xinxin, being of childlike curiosity, couldn’t help but look around with interest.
Seeing this, Cheng Zuyuan quickly reached out to tug on Cheng Xinxin.
At this moment, Chu Ning turned his head and asked Cheng Xinxin, who looked curiously like a little explorer:
"Little girl, what do you feel coming into this stone chamber?"
"Young Master, the Spiritual Qi here is so rich!"
Cheng Xinxin replied with an expression full of envy and longing.
"Is it because you train here that you’ve reached Foundation Establishment?"
Chu Ning chuckled and said:
"If reaching Foundation Establishment were that simple, I wonder how many people in Thousand Lakes and Thousand Islands would achieve it.
No descendant from the families within the Thousand Islands Alliance has a training environment much worse than mine."
As Chu Ning spoke, he led the two to the outside of an empty stone chamber.
"You both will live in this stone chamber from now on."
Saying this, Chu Ning explained to Cheng Zuyuan and Cheng Xinxin how to enter and exit both the cave mansion and this stone chamber.
"Not only at night, but you can come here to cultivate after finishing work in the Spirit Field during the day.
Little girl, you’re always thinking about becoming Foundation Establishment; let’s see if you have what it takes."
"Thank you, Young Master!"
Cheng Xinxin, quick-witted, immediately bowed deeply to Chu Ning.
Cheng Zuyuan also gave a deep bow.
He was older and had seen much more.
He naturally knew that, in a sense, Chu Ning had truly acknowledged and accepted the two of them.
Indeed, Chu Ning had some of this intention in mind.
Over this period of observation, Cheng Zuyuan was not only hardworking and uncomplaining but also very respectful of rules.
Though Cheng Xinxin was playful at heart, more lively,
She followed Cheng Zuyuan well in important matters and was also diligent in cultivation.
Therefore, allowing them to live in the stone chamber was partly due to the increasingly chaotic state of Thousand Lakes and Thousand Islands and the weaker defense of the perimeter array.
On the other hand, it was also a gesture of acceptance, offering them a better cultivation environment.
Chu Ning then briefly explained the layout within his cave mansion.
Although he knew that the two generally wouldn’t wander around, he had to inform them.
He didn’t wish to be suddenly disturbed during cultivation or alchemy.
After settling the two in the stone chamber, Chu Ning returned to his cultivation room to study the Puppetry Skill again.
In the afternoon, he continued cultivation.
Over the past month, because he was often searching outside, his cultivation had been delayed quite a bit.
[Flame Divine Wood Technique (Profound Tier Upper Grade), Second Layer (2057/10000)]
[Nine Derivations Body Refining Technique, Volume One, Immortal Soul (98/3000)]
[Refining Spirit Technique, Third Layer (73/8000)]
Glancing at his cultivation proficiency, Chu Ning immediately took out the Iron Essence Fruit and the Cyan Wood Primordial Yang Pill, refined after spirit refining, from his Storage Bag.
First refining the body and then refining qi, he gained 2 points and 4 points in proficiency, respectively.
Once again, Chu Ning arrived at the Medicinal Garden of the Iron Soul Flower to absorb Wood Essence Qi and strengthen his Divine Sense.
After completing all this, the sky had already darkened.
Chu Ning was preparing to return to the cave mansion to start alchemy.
Previously, he had obtained many Nourishing Spirit Pills from different people.
Yet this time, during his stay on Pinghu Island, they were essentially used up.
Such a spirit pill to restore Divine Sense was naturally something he needed to store some of.
In the Essentials of Spirit Pill from before, the Refining Method for the Nourishing Spirit Pill was documented.
He had all the materials required here; although limited, it was enough to refine a small batch.
Just as he was about to move, his gaze suddenly lifted, looking towards the perimeter of the array.
With a flicker, Chu Ning disappeared from where he stood, reappearing outside the stone chamber where Cheng Zuyuan and Cheng Xinxin resided.
"Young Master."
Seeing Chu Ning arrive, Cheng Zuyuan thought Chu Ning had something to explain and immediately stepped forward.
"Stay inside the stone chamber, no matter what happens, do not come out."
After saying this, Chu Ning disappeared from the cave room with another flicker.
Upon hearing these words, Cheng Zuyuan’s expression slightly changed.
"Grandpa, what’s up with Young Master?" Cheng Xinxin curiously asked Cheng Zuyuan.
Cheng Zuyuan shook his head, his expression quickly returning to normal as he closed the stone chamber’s door.
According to the method Chu Ning taught earlier, he then activated the chamber’s restriction.
Thus, regardless of the sounds outside, none could enter.
Meanwhile, Chu Ning had already arrived at the perimeter of the array.
Looking at the figure that had broken into the array, he slowly spoke:
"Which Fellow Daoist has graced Yanfeng with your presence? Why not acknowledge Mr. Chu?"
Upon hearing Chu Ning’s words, the person’s form slightly paused and then appeared beside Chu Ning with a flash.
"Just in time, Fellow Daoist Chu, did you obtain this array from the Cen Family? It’s quite interesting.
If Fellow Daoist Chu hadn’t spoken up, I wouldn’t have been able to discern your position."
Looking at the blue-robed old man before him, Chu Ning’s eyes showed a touch of complexity.
The visitor was none other than the Liu Family’s ancestor, Liu Yishan.