The Lü Family's Puppets

As Li Mo asked about the questions he had regarding the twelve sacred mountain sects of the Gan Kingdom, Lü Cuicui smiled faintly and immediately answered him.

"It's no secret."

She gave him a detailed explanation.

"Our Da Gan Kingdom follows the Way of All Things' Spiritual Supremacy. It evolved from the Six Arts Sect, but aside from the Lingmu Sect and the Sacred Cauldron Sect, which insist on developing and refining all six arts, the other sects were carefully divided from the foundation of the Six Arts Sect. They focus on researching a single art, with the rest merely supplementary."

Lü Cuicui raised a finger and counted them off one by one.

"Some sects specialize in Yin- and Yang-attribute spells: the Wind and Fire Sect and the Mysterious Ice Sect. The Gold and Wood Sect specializes in alchemy, the Heavenly Talisman Sect in talisman-making, and the Hundred Treasures Sect, Thousand Transformations Sect, and Myriad Swords Sect in artifact refining. The Shenji Sect and Puppet Sect specialize in puppet arts, while the Dao Pattern Sect specializes in runic formations. Some people say the imperial military also counts as a sect. The Gan Kingdom still has thirteen major sects, but the thirteenth isn't widely recognized."

Li Mo now had a rough understanding of the cultivation world of the Da Gan Kingdom.

Muzhou as a whole fell under the Lingmu Sect's jurisdiction.

The Lingmu Sect's disciples came mostly from Muzhou. There were twelve sects like it in the Gan Kingdom, as well as a secretive military branch. That was how the kingdom became one of the six great nations of the Central Plains.

Lü Cuicui sighed.

"After a thousand years of development, our Lingmu Sect was once one of the stronger sects in the Gan Kingdom. Unfortunately, during the century-long war with Lu Country, two of our Nascent Soul Cultivators fell one after another. One of them was Quanzhi Zhenren, a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator who had shaken the four directions with his fame. Otherwise, our sect wouldn't be in such a sorry state."

"Alas."

Li Mo couldn't help feeling regretful, either. Since coming to the Lingmu Sect, he had heard many people say much the same thing.

The Lingmu Sect's fall from prosperity had all begun with the battle thirty years ago. It hadn't just claimed a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator through Liberation by Violence; it had also cost the sect a great many outstanding elite disciples.

From then on, the Lingmu Sect had been left without successors. The ones responsible for it all were the cultivators of Lu Country's Zai Zao Sect.

"They say that when his Spirit Eye opened, he could see the great currents of the world and the veins of spiritual power in all things. No demon, monster, ghost, or spirit could hide from him. He was one of the Gan Kingdom's cultivators with the greatest hope of reaching Spirit Transmutation, but he was ambushed and killed by Huitian Zhenren of Lu Country's Zai Zao Sect. Now only our sect leader, Qingling Zhenren, is left to struggle on alone."

The two fell silent, sighing with regret.

"You can't put all your eggs in one basket."

The Lingmu Sect had suffered a devastating loss in that battle. Afterward, Qingling Zhenren had no choice but to select two direct disciples and do everything possible to cultivate a Nascent Soul Cultivator who could take charge as soon as possible.

Chen Shouyi and Sima Fu had risen to prominence as a result, and the two began fighting on every front.

A long while later.

Lü Cuicui shook her head, sweeping away the gloom in her heart as though the rain had passed and the sky had cleared. These things weren't for Qi Refining disciples like them to bear.

"Forget it. There's no point thinking about all that. What matters most right now is that we work hard ourselves. If we're always counting on our ancestors' protection, we'll never accomplish anything. By the way, Li Mo, are you interested in puppet arts?"

"Uh..."

Li Mo glanced at the crude little dog tumbling over and over in front of him, then asked tentatively, "Would you be willing to teach me?"

At that, Lü Cuicui smiled and nodded.

"Of course. As long as you're interested."

Li Mo still could hardly believe he had run into such good fortune, and couldn't help confirming once more.

"For free?"

"Of course!"

After Lü Cuicui confirmed it, Li Mo's face lit up with delight. He naturally wouldn't refuse. It was free, after all, and learning a little more could only do him good.

At the same time, he found himself seeing Lü Cuicui in a new light.

"That's wonderful. Of course I'd like to learn."

Lü Cuicui giggled. After looking around, she pointed to a pavilion several dozen zhang away.

"Let's go to that pavilion. I'll explain everything slowly. I've always been the one learning from others. Today, I finally get to be a teacher!"

Generally speaking.

A puppet, no matter what form it took, could be divided into five components.

They were the control unit, energy unit, combat unit, mobility unit, and survival unit.

A puppet's strength depended not only on the Essence Soul's ability to control it, its Spirit Stone energy source, the combat unit's destructive devices, and the survival unit's basic materials, but also on the mechanical techniques the puppet master used to craft it and the combat techniques used to control it.

Lü Cuicui talked at length for nearly an hour before Li Mo finally understood the basic principles of puppet arts.

The Lü family's Puppet Technique specialized in making what were known as Beast-shaped Puppets.

Such puppets tended to be powerful in one specific function, but their capabilities were often easy for enemies to figure out.

Thinking of the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse he had seen in Anle City, he couldn't help asking, "So the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse are powered by Spirit Stones, too?"

"Of course."

After Lü Cuicui confirmed it, Li Mo continued, "Then are their controlling Essence Souls the souls of oxen and horses?"

Lü Cuicui put on a thoughtful expression.

"Well, not necessarily. They might use the Essence Soul of some other animal, but the animal would have to be docile in life. Otherwise, they'd need to refine it to strip away its wild nature, or have a cultivator control it personally with spells."

Li Mo nodded.

Then he asked how long it would take him, starting from scratch, to reach Lü Cuicui's current level of skill with puppets.

Lü Cuicui let out a rueful sigh.

"I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if I really have no talent for puppet arts. I started studying when I was ten, and I've been at it for five years, but I've only reached this level. My cousin says I lack a broad perspective and always get bogged down in little details."

At that, she sighed in frustration and helplessness.

"But I have a cousin who, I hear, started learning puppet arts at twelve. In three years, he could make Beast-shaped Puppets on his own, strong enough to take on Third-Rate Experts in the martial world. The family considered him a genius puppet master. During his three years of study at the Advanced Study Hall, one of the family's Golden Core ancestors took him as a disciple, and he came first in that year's graduation assessment."

Lü Cuicui's voice brimmed with admiration and envy.

Hearing this, Li Mo cautiously asked, "Could the cousin you're talking about be Lü Song?"

"Huh?"

Lü Cuicui exclaimed in surprise, "How did you know?"

Li Mo briefly mentioned that he had served as a gatekeeping Daoist attendant at the Gathering Treasure Hall the previous month, leaving out the part about Lü Song making things difficult for Wang Zhu.

Lü Cuicui nodded with a smile.

"Yes, that's him. He's only just turned twenty-four this year. When we were little, he used to take me out to play all the time!"

At only twenty-four, he was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Even if the Lü family's strong support had played a part, Lü Song clearly wasn't someone to be trifled with if he had managed to reach Foundation Establishment at that age.

Wang Zhu had a long road ahead if he wanted to seize the chance to get revenge.

Looking at the sweet smile on Lü Cuicui's face, Li Mo found it impossible to connect her with Lü Song.

Before long, it was You Time in the afternoon.

Li Mo and Lü Cuicui arrived at the Advanced Study Hall's kitchen on time, ready to prepare the afternoon meal. It was the same plain fare as ever, though the boiled greens had a different flavor this time.

Fortunately, no one on Qingming Mountain complained about it.

Anyone who voiced a grievance had already been scolded by their martial uncles back at the Enlightenment Hall for being too greedy for good food.

The days passed one after another.

Li Mo felt that every day at the Advanced Study Hall was fulfilling.

Whenever Martial Aunt Chen Rong came to the Advanced Study Hall to give a lecture, he would listen attentively, using all his sect contributions to study the basics of alchemy.

During his assigned rest periods, he practiced martial arts with Ma Ling, Niu Li, and Yang Guang to cultivate his mind and character, or listened to Lü Cuicui explain puppet arts.

A long while later.

Li Mo realized that he hadn't seen Lu Tianyou for quite some time.

He still occasionally saw Wang Feng, Zhu Yidan, Zhao Xiaonan, and the others, all busy with their own affairs. He didn't know what had happened to Lu Tianyou; the man couldn't even make it to meals on time.

After keeping an eye out several times without seeing his friend, Li Mo began to worry.

So when he had some free time that day, he followed his memory to Lu Tianyou's dormitory.

"Tianyou, you've been busy for so long. What have you been up to?"

Hearing him, Lu Tianyou sat up in bed. But when he saw Li Mo, his face crumpled, and he flopped back down, looking utterly despondent.

"I've been dumped. Boohoo."

Li Mo couldn't help laughing.

"What? You, the heartbreaker who sets women's hearts ablaze, finally took a fall? Was it that young lady from the Ye Family?"

After entering the room, Li Mo spoke as he started tidying up Lu Tianyou's quarters. He couldn't stand seeing the place in such a mess. There had to be some limits.

Seeing this, Lu Tianyou seemed a little embarrassed. He sighed, then got up and helped tidy.

"Her name is Ye Yimeng."

"Yeah, I know."

After Li Mo said that, Lu Tianyou clutched his head.

He looked lovesick and hopelessly trapped, as though he were ready to die for love. He was completely unlike his former self.

"Do you know what I've been through? I, Young Master Lu, have always wandered through fields of flowers without a single leaf clinging to me. When have I ever been so serious about a woman? I'm willing to give her everything I have, even my life!"

After that brief burst of passion, Lu Tianyou sank back into dejection.

"But what happened? She won't even spare me a second glance, and that bastard Ye Xunhuan even dared to threaten me. When have I, Young Master Lu, ever had to swallow such an insult..."

Li Mo rolled his eyes.

"I'd say you should try to let it go. Wang Feng told me that woman has a powerful background. You'd better not provoke her, or you might bring trouble down on yourself."

Then he joked, "This is what you get for keeping two women on the hook. I saw Guo Hongjuan with a second-year Advanced Study Hall disciple a while back."

Lu Tianyou no longer cared about Guo Hongjuan at all.

His heart belonged to Ye Yimeng now. Gloomy, greasy despair had engulfed him, and he was nothing like the freewheeling playboy he had once been.

Li Mo felt a little helpless.

History really did repeat itself. Lu Tianyou had become just like Shi Yazhou had been, except he was too deep in the mire to see it.

He could only hope this experience wouldn't leave too many scars on the young man's heart.

After saying goodbye to Lu Tianyou, Li Mo wrote out a sign by hand, offering to spend Spirit Stones to learn Lightning Techniques, and waited for a chance in the Advanced Study Hall's main hall.

There were a few others waiting quietly like him, all first-year disciples.

Li Mo was fairly lucky.

At noon, a female cultivator stopped in front of him.

She wore her hair in a Money-Bao Bun, with a string of jewels dangling across her forehead. Her skin was a warm wheat-brown as she looked over the sign in front of Li Mo.

"Palm Lightning is a low-grade, first-tier spell. With the spiritual power of a second-layer Qi Refining cultivator, you could barely cast it once. Its strength lies in its great destructive power, but it requires close-range attacks. The fee is five Spirit Stones. It'll take about seven days at the shortest, half a month at the longest, to get the basics down. I guarantee I'll teach you everything you need to know."

Hearing this, Li Mo was tempted.

He had martial movement techniques to rely on, so casting Palm Lightning at close range shouldn't be too much of a problem.

However, five Spirit Stones was indeed a bit steep. He had offered three. It was only a low-grade, first-tier spell, after all.

"Four Spirit Stones."

The female cultivator hesitated briefly, then agreed and signed the contract.

"Shen Yun."

Li Mo silently repeated her name to himself, then paid four Spirit Stones and arranged a time for the lessons.

It was like spending forty taels of silver all at once, and Li Mo couldn't help wincing. But the thought that he would soon be able to use a real spell gradually overcame his reluctance.

Just a few days later.

With his Spirit Eye and natural comprehension, Li Mo had mastered Palm Lightning, a low-grade, first-tier spell.

In the open practice ground below Qingming Mountain.

Amidst rumbling thunder, Li Mo gathered all his spiritual power in his palm, forming an egg-sized, blue-green ball of lightning that crackled and sent rolling arcs of electricity in every direction.

With his current level of spiritual power, Li Mo could barely cast Palm Lightning once, and he could sustain it for only a short time—about ten breaths.

So he leaped up and charged at the boulder before him as fast as he could.

A boom rang out!

A half-foot-deep crater appeared in the boulder, with countless cracks spreading like a spiderweb from the blast, extending about two feet outward from its center.

Shen Yun walked over. Seeing this, she nodded in satisfaction.

"You've got excellent comprehension. Your spiritual power is a little lacking, though, and you still need more practice to get the spell down. Palm Lightning's power is enough to pose a serious threat to low-grade defensive magical artifacts. It might come in handy for your first-year final assessment. Our agreement ends here. How does that sound?"

"Good."

Li Mo looked at his handiwork, excitement plain on his face.

From this moment on, he could consider himself an actual cultivator, with the so-called methods of the immortals at his command.

Shen Yun nodded and left, but halfway there, she stopped.

"If you want to learn other lightning-attribute spells before the final assessment, you can come find me anytime. Here's my address."

"Okay!"

Li Mo watched her walk away.

Palm Lightning truly was one of the most destructive low-grade, first-tier spells. It had the drawback of needing to be cast at close range, but for a cultivator like Li Mo, who was only at the second layer of Qi Refining, to cause such destruction already far exceeded his expectations.

The blade aura Tai Shou, the Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon, had unleashed back then had made him envious for a long time.

But with the perspective Li Mo had now, that was nothing special. He would soon grow even stronger!

"Once I've had more time to practice and raise my mastery, and I reach the third layer of Qi Refining with a deeper reserve of spiritual power, casting Palm Lightning shouldn't feel so strenuous."

Since he had completely exhausted his spiritual power, he could only walk back up the mountain first to recover.