Refining a Puppet

"Xiao Yi Xian, I only wanted to save you! I never had any intention of harming you!"

Hearing Lu Bu's question, Lifi roared herself hoarse, her eyes filled with terror. Xiao Yi Xian was the only one who could save her now. If Xiao Yi Xian wanted to kill her, she was truly doomed!

"Xiao Yi Xian, this woman has admired Li'er for a long time and has a close relationship with him..." Mu She said in a hoarse voice, viciously driving a knife into Lifi. The Li'er he referred to was his son, Mu Li.

"I don't!" Lifi screamed. "Xiao Yi Xian, I've always been utterly loyal to you!"

"Enough. Shut up!" Xiao Yi Xian snapped softly. She casually grabbed a wooden branch and walked over. "I can tell whether it's true or false. I don't need your explanation."

As she spoke, Xiao Yi Xian raised the stick in her hand. Pale-yellow Dou Qi covered it, while faint flames flickered in and out of sight along its surface.

"X-Xiao Yi Xian!" Lifi shrieked.

With a sharp whoosh through the air, followed by a crisp crack, Lifi's anguished wail rang out. Xiao Yi Xian had directly broken her leg.

"For the sake of our past relationship, I won't kill you..." Xiao Yi Xian lowered the stick and grabbed her. "But you can fend for yourself in the Magical Beast Mountain Range."

As she spoke, she stuffed a packet of medicine into Lifi's mouth. Lifi, who had been wailing moments ago, instantly fell silent. She could only open her mouth helplessly, unable to make the slightest sound. Xiao Yi Xian suddenly seized Lifi and flung her into the vast, pitch-black forest.

Mu She, Gan Mu, and the others broke out in cold sweats. They had never expected Xiao Yi Xian, who looked so delicate and weak, to be so ruthless.

Having finished everything, Xiao Yi Xian let out a long breath. She swept her gaze over the kneeling and prostrating members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, then said to Lu Bu,

"The rest isn't my concern. I'll leave it all to you."

"Hehe, no rush." Lu Bu rubbed his chin. "Xiao Yi Xian, what are you planning to do next?"

"Why do you ask?" Xiao Yi Xian glanced at Lu Bu.

"Do you want to cultivate with me?" Lu Bu said. "Qingshan Town is too small. It doesn't suit you."

"This..." Xiao Yi Xian looked at Lu Bu, then at the completely subdued Wolf Head Mercenary Group. After hesitating for a moment, she shook her head.

"I... I plan to go back first. I don't want to think about that for now..."

She had known Lu Bu for only a few hours. Compared with an unknown life of cultivation, she instinctively chose the familiar life she had always known.

Hearing her answer, Lu Bu frowned slightly, but he did not force her. With a flick of his finger, he removed Mu She's Ring.

"This is for you. And this as well..."

Lu Bu produced a jade slip gleaming with a faint radiance.

"My soul power is sealed inside it. If you crush it, I'll sense it. You can use it whenever you need to contact me."

"This... all right. Thank you." Xiao Yi Xian accepted the two items. With a tap of her foot, she fluttered into the forest like a dancing butterfly, speeding toward Qingshan Town.

The remaining members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group turned deathly pale. Xiao Yi Xian's return to Qingshan Town meant they would never be able to go back.

"My lord, don't kill me! I'm willing to become your servant and serve at your side..." Mu She cried in terror.

Before he could finish, Lu Bu swept his sleeve. Vast soul power howled forth, instantly forming more than twenty long needles that pierced the souls of every member of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

A series of soft pops, like bursting bubbles, sounded. The eyes of everyone in the Wolf Head Mercenary Group bulged, and they died instantly.

"You're not even a young lady. Who wants you as a servant?" Lu Bu said disdainfully.

With another sweep of his sleeve, his powerful soul force gathered up all the corpses and tossed them off the cliff. However, Lu Bu kept Mu She's corpse.

He intended to use the body to refine a talisman puppet. It had been a long time since he had crafted anything, so this was a good chance to get some practice. Besides, this thing was not precious. Even if he ruined it, he would not feel bad.

With a tap of his foot, Lu Bu shot into the forest like lightning, racing deeper into the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Qingshan Town, Myriad Medicine Hall.

As usual, Xiao Yi Xian opened the doors and treated the passing mercenaries' injuries, earning some consultation fees. The only difference was that her assistant, Lifi, had vanished without a trace and was never seen again.

Not only Lifi, but also the leader and second leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group had disappeared.

As time passed, the other residents of the town discovered the changes within the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

It was as if some of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's stronger members had all vanished overnight. No matter how hard anyone searched, they could not find a trace of them.

With this situation, undercurrents began to stir in Qingshan Town. Eventually, some mercenaries even began openly provoking the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

But... they were disappointed. Hemon, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's third leader, was an eight-star Dou Zhe and a renowned expert in Qingshan Town. The Wolf Head Young Leader, Mu Li, was no slouch either. Under the pressure, he had actually broken through to become a seven-star Dou Zhe.

Working together, the two repeatedly suppressed those within the mercenary group with ulterior motives, then joined forces to face the provocations of several mercenary groups in Qingshan Town.

Though their territory had shrunk considerably, their fundamental strength remained intact.

Facing this crisis both within and without, Mu Li showed no hatred whatsoever toward Xiao Yi Xian, the prime suspect. Instead, he treated her just as he always had, as if his father's disappearance had nothing to do with her.

Xiao Yi Xian gave no response to this. She continued seeing patients every day and studying the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture. Those peaceful days somehow continued in this strangely uneasy manner.

Deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range, amid a dense thicket.

Successive battle cries echoed from within. Fierce gusts battered the surrounding trees until they swayed violently. Lu Bu stood bare-chested, yellow fire-attributed Dou Qi covering his body. His muscular physique was exposed to the air as fists infused with Dou Qi repeatedly struck a giant, entirely white ape-like magical beast before him.

It was an Ice Snow Demonic Ape. Three strands of icy-blue fur on its chest indicated its strength: third tier!

Bang!

The Ice Snow Demonic Ape threw out its enormous fist, smashing it into Lu Bu's chest. With a boom, Lu Bu was hurled into the thicket, his body carving a deep furrow through the dense undergrowth.

"Awooo—!"

Having landed a blow, the Ice Snow Demonic Ape raised its head and roared. Just as it was about to press its advantage, it felt a chill run through its body, followed by an intensely scorching sensation, as though its soul itself were being burned. The Ice Snow Demonic Ape instinctively turned and ran, fleeing far from the place where that two-legged beast stood.

"Cough, cough..." Lu Bu struggled out of the dirt, panting raggedly.

He was tempering his body. Cultivating the Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Art was not so simple. His physical body had to be strong enough, or he would always be the one to suffer.

Thus, Lu Bu began the most primitive form of training. Aside from fighting magical beasts, he lifted iron by himself. Combined with the abundant meat resources in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, the results after several months had been quite good.

If he had once been a pretty boy, a young nobleman, then now he was Bruce Lee.

Clothed, he looked refined and scholarly, like a learned gentleman. But the moment he took off his clothes, he could instantly become a powerful, ferocious beast.

In short, he looked slim in clothes but was muscular underneath.

"The results are decent, but it's still not enough..." Lu Bu brushed the dirt from his body and took out clothes from his Ring, pulling them on. "Looks like I need to find some heavenly treasures to temper my body. This pace is too slow..."

He had to lay a solid foundation for cultivating the Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Art before heading to Jia Nan Academy. As for how he would get into Jia Nan Academy... that was not much of a problem. He was only sixteen or seventeen, still a fresh-faced youth, more than qualified to join Jia Nan Academy. Besides, he was a transmigrator. He had plenty of ways.

Still muttering, Lu Bu tapped his feet repeatedly and returned to his residence, a cave beside a waterfall.

However, Lu Bu did not immediately enter the cave. Instead, he landed on the lake beneath the waterfall. A faint glow lit up, and an array appeared, floating atop the water.

Lu Bu walked to the center of the array, sat cross-legged, and formed hand seals.

At once, a humming sound rose through the air. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed to be stirred by something, forming a vortex of spiritual energy above Lu Bu.

Lu Bu took a deep breath and circulated his cultivation art, refining the spiritual energy and converting it into his own Dou Qi.

This was a Spirit Gathering Array Lu Bu had set up. With its help, he had cultivated from a one-star Dou Zhe to a nine-star Dou Zhe in only nine months.

That speed was already quite good, but compared with Xiao Yan, who had soared from a one-star Dou Zhe to a nine-star Dou Zhe in eight months, Lu Bu's pace was still not impressive enough.

Like an old Daoist in meditation, Lu Bu entered a state of cultivation and no longer allowed himself to be distracted. His entire body seemed to turn to stone.

No one counted the years in the mountains; cultivation knew no passage of time.

When Lu Bu opened his eyes again, it was already dusk. Looking at the slowly forming droplets of Dou Qi inside his vortex, Lu Bu let out a long breath and expelled the stale air from his chest.

"My cultivation speed really is a little slow... Forget it, no point dwelling on it..." Lu Bu shook his head. Haste made waste. One could not rush along the path of cultivation, or suffering cultivation deviation would be no joke.

Rubbing his chin, Lu Bu waved his hand. A corpse floated above the array—it was Mu She's body.

After cultivating Dou Qi for so long, it was time to refine a talisman puppet. He could not forget a talisman master's craft; this was the foundation of his livelihood.

As his brow stirred, the Devouring Ancestral Talisman slowly floated out. To refine a talisman puppet, the Destiny Heavenly Talisman was indispensable.

"I wonder how powerful a talisman puppet refined with the Devouring Ancestral Talisman will be..." Lu Bu murmured, rubbing his chin.