Soul-Lodging Bamboo Slip

Soul-Lodging Ancient Wood is a top-tier material for crafting puppets. Its greatest utility lies in its ability to house a consciousness, imbuing a puppet with spirituality and allowing it to become a life-bound puppet that grows in strength alongside its master.

However, Ning Ye is not a member of the Wood Puppet Sect and does not follow the path of puppetry. To him, refining a life-bound puppet is meaningless and would only create an additional fatal weakness; more importantly, his current strength is insufficient to do so.

Beyond crafting puppets, Soul-Lodging Ancient Wood has another special use: creating divination tallies.

This is a secret technique of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect. Divination tallies made from Soul-Lodging Ancient Wood can significantly enhance one's ability to perform calculations and divination.

Ning Ye is well aware that the deductive and divinatory powers of the Kunlun Mirror are his greatest reliance. It is precisely by leveraging the Kunlun Mirror that he can obtain a great deal of important information without having to personally venture into danger.

However, the Kunlun Mirror cannot deduce the future, is poor at measuring heavenly secrets, and struggles to peer into personal secrets. This makes it difficult for Ning Ye to obtain more critical classified information—events like the one in Muliu Town were truly a matter of luck.

Having the Soul-Lodging Ancient Wood makes things much more convenient. If he is lucky, he might even be able to directly calculate the whereabouts of the Thousand Mechanism Hall Fragment.

However, crafting the Soul-Lodging Ancient Wood into divination tallies requires significant preparation. First, one needs the primordial spirit of a spiritual creature to be lodged within the ancient wood; only then can a complete Soul-Lodging Ancient Wood be formed.

The characteristics of different creatures will also influence the divination.

The best, of course, are space-time creatures, which can deduce the past and future without fail.

Slightly inferior are the primordial spirits of powerful creatures, which can break through the limitations of personal secrets and deduce information about strong individuals.

Anything below that can only be used to deduce information about ordinary, mid-tier figures.

In truth, the primordial spirits of cultivators can also be used, but Ning Ye has his own bottom line and does not intend to use them.

The primordial spirits of powerful creatures are not easy to obtain, but Ning Ye has his own methods.

"What? You want the primordial spirit of a creature at the peak of the Wanfa Realm?" Wang Sen was shocked.

This was the fourth time Wang Sen and Ning Ye had interacted, and he had not expected Ning Ye to throw such a request at him.

Ning Ye said indifferently, "For the Wood Puppet Sect, this shouldn't be a difficult task, right?"

That was true. While the primordial spirit of a creature at the peak of the Wanfa Realm was not easy to obtain, it was not a problem for the Wood Puppet Sect, and at the very least, the cost was far lower than that of the Soul-Lodging Ancient Wood.

Actually, if possible, Ning Ye would prefer the primordial spirit of a space-time creature; even one at the Hualun Realm would be more valuable than an ordinary creature at the peak of the Wanfa Realm. However, he could not make this request, as it would alert the Wood Puppet Sect to his identity.

Wang Sen sneered, "The question is, why should we help you?"

He had already provided payment for the previous matter, so he felt justified in refusing now.

"How about the list of spies from the Black and White Divine Palace within the Wood Puppet Sect?" Ning Ye threw out a massive bombshell.

Wang Sen was stunned on the spot. "You can get that? All of them?"

Ning Ye looked at him with disdain. "What are you thinking? I can only give you those within the Cang Xiang Realm."

"That's too weak; it's useless," Wang Sen shook his head.

Useless?

Ning Ye had managed to kill two Human Demons while only at the Cang Xiang Realm.

However, he would not say such things to Wang Sen. "It's not impossible to get those at the Hualun Realm, but that will have to come through slow cooperation in the future."

Wang Sen was shocked by what he heard.

Who exactly is this guy? How does he possess such means?

It wasn't that he hadn't thought of heavenly mechanism deduction, but the Heavenly Mechanism Sect had been destroyed. While other immortal sects had experts in the field, they were nowhere near the level of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect. Even the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, without the Kunlun Mirror, could not achieve this. Therefore, no matter how he looked at it, Wang Sen could not fathom this layer of the truth, vaguely feeling that this person possessed immense influence.

It was just that having such great influence, yet asking the Wood Puppet Sect for the primordial spirit of a creature at the peak of the Wanfa Realm, seemed a bit contradictory.

But Ning Ye was right; with a good start to their cooperation, they could naturally continue to work together in the future.

As it stood, the primordial spirit of a spiritual creature at the peak of the Wanfa Realm was absolutely worth trading for a list of Black and White Divine Palace moles within the Cang Xiang Realm.

"Are you sure there are no omissions?" he asked.

"As long as there is a record, there will be no omissions. If there isn't, or if they are new recruits, I can't help it. But what does it matter? There are spies every year, and I can sell them every year," Ning Ye laughed.

You really know how to do business.

Wang Sen nodded. "Fine, I agree to this matter."

For the Wood Puppet Sect, the primordial spirit of a creature at the peak of the Wanfa Realm was indeed not a difficult task. In just a few days, Wang Sen had delivered it, though the creature's characteristics were quite ordinary—it simply possessed powerful cultivation.

Ning Ye hadn't expected them to send anything rare. He immediately used this creature's primordial spirit in combination with the Soul-Lodging Ancient Wood to craft twelve antique-looking divination tallies filled with mysterious runic auras.

The divination tallies could be used for daily deductions to enhance their effectiveness, or they could be burned directly to temporarily boost his deductive capabilities.

After crafting the tallies, Ning Ye immediately activated one—the spy list was an important item and must be protected by spells; otherwise, it could not be deduced.

The tally ignited like incense, and the Kunlun Mirror within the Thousand Mechanism Hall rotated, reflecting the list.

Unfortunately, it only contained those below the Hualun Realm.

It wasn't that he couldn't deduce them, but rather that there was no list at all—it was impossible for high-level spies of the Black and White Divine Palace to leave any paper evidence.

Even so, this was still a huge gain.

After obtaining the list, Ning Ye ignited another divination tally, this time to deduce the location of the Thousand Mechanism Hall Fragment.

As the image appeared, Ning Ye was slightly stunned: "What place is this?"

The scene displayed was clearly a bedroom, not a storehouse at all.

In other words, the Thousand Mechanism Hall Fragment of the Black and White Divine Palace was held in private hands?

Who could it be?

Unfortunately, the bedroom alone was not enough to identify the owner, and the Kunlun Mirror could not deduce individuals, but Ning Ye still realized that anyone capable of turning a fragment into a private collection had to be at least a powerful expert in the Immaculate Realm.

Ning Ye carefully examined the bedroom and discovered some peculiar runes on the antique bed, which appeared to be some form of ancient script.

In other words, this bed was an ancient relic?

Very well, ancient relics were rare; using this as a lead, he might be able to uncover clues.

However, it would not be easy to investigate on his own; perhaps he would still need to make use of Wang Sen.

The following night.

Wang Sen received the list—Ning Ye had split the list, providing only the names of spies within the Cang Xiang Realm.

Looking at the list in his hand, he asked suspiciously: "You aren't just giving me a fake one, are you?"

"Don't say silly things; whether it's real or not, you have your own ways of knowing." Ning Ye replied.

That was true; it was indeed much more convenient to shoot the arrow first and draw the target later.

"However," Ning Ye added, "you wouldn't be foolish enough to arrest all the spies at once, would you?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Some people are more useful if left alone."

Wang Sen chuckled: "It seems you are different from me; you truly hate the Black and White Divine Palace to the bone. Did they kill someone very close to you?"

Ning Ye said indifferently: "Yes. But they have killed many people; using that method won't help you find me."

"There must be some direction, at least." Wang Sen smiled.

Having interacted more frequently, they had gradually come to understand each other, and their conversation took on a more relaxed tone.

"Alright then, farewell." Wang Sen turned to leave.

"Don't be in such a hurry." Ning Ye said.

"Is there something else?"

Ning Ye flicked his hand, and a golden page flew to Wang Sen's side.

Wang Sen's heart stirred, not for any other reason, but because this action meant the other party had come in person.

Wang Sen had always known that while the other party met him openly, he actually used some kind of shadow-based concealment method, but this time, the other party had actually appeared in the flesh.

What did this mean?

It meant he had the confidence to face him directly? Wang Sen immediately realized.

In other words, this person's cultivation was actually average, but he had recently made a breakthrough?

But if that were the case, how did he obtain such secret information?

Could it be that there was someone behind him?

Ning Ye saw through his thoughts and said: "Don't overthink it. We are both under the eaves of danger; less scheming and more sincerity will be good for both of us."

Wang Sen snorted, took the golden page, and frowned: "What is this?"

"As you can see, there is an ancient script carved on it. I need you to help me find out what kind of ancient rune this is, and which person in the Black and White Divine Palace possesses such techniques or treasures."

Wang Sen laughed: "So even you have things you can't figure out?"

"I also can't obtain the primordial spirit of a peak-level creature of all laws," Ning Ye replied meaningfully. "Only by having our own strengths can we work together to move forward."

Wang Sen asked: "What can you give me?"

"What do you want?"

Wang Sen smiled: "I want the techniques of the First Valley of Heavenly Treasury Peak. Can you give them to me?"

"Are you sure?" Ning Ye countered.

Wang Sen was startled. He had just said it casually and didn't expect Ning Ye to actually have them. He asked: "All of them?"

"I have everything within the Cang Xiang Realm."

"In other words, you can only go to the First Valley of Heavenly Treasury Peak right now?"

"Speculation is meaningless."

"Techniques within the Cang Xiang Realm are also meaningless to the Wood Puppet Sect."

"Then make some meaningful requests."

Wang Sen thought for a moment and replied: "I don't have any needs for now. Just consider that you owe me a favor, and you can repay it next time."

"Then it's best to make it clear first: this favor won't allow you to make exorbitant demands."

Wang Sen then said: "How about killing someone? For those below the Cang Xiang Realm, I will try not to drag it out too long."

Ning Ye grinned: "As long as they are from the Black and White Divine Palace, then there is no problem."

Wang Sen also smiled.

He had begun to understand this opponent; at the very least, one thing was certain, which was that he truly wanted the Black and White Divine Palace to be finished.

Thanks to Fu Baibai for becoming a grandmaster.

I recommend a hit book by Qi Peijia, The Legendary Mechanic. I am currently following it, and it is truly brilliant!