47 Remodeling the Left Hand

Several days after the trip to Four Peaks Mountain concluded, He Ping had already sequestered himself in his secret chamber for seclusion. He had much to do, but the most important task was the preservation and refinement of the Mountain Demon's heart.

"There is no need to rush the 'heart transplant.' Once the heart is replaced, the qi and blood throughout my entire body will undergo an unprecedented transformation. During this process, my constitution will be extremely fragile. I have too many miscellaneous matters to attend to right now; there is no need to be hasty."

He Ping knew that after the transplant, the depletion of his qi and blood would likely leave his body weakened for a time, which would in turn cause his strength to drop by a level.

Consider that the heart was essentially a blood pump, the organ responsible for blood circulation and the central hub upon which all one's qi and blood depended. The act of replacing it was a major physiological shift that would require a period of slow adaptation before his constitution could be thoroughly improved.

"However, I cannot delay with the Mountain Demon's heart. If too much time passes and the spiritual essence within this demon heart dissipates, it will gradually lose its vitality and become unusable."

The Mountain Demon had lived for three hundred years, barely qualifying as a Great Demon. Even though the heart had been gouged out while the creature was still alive, it could still beat days later, which showed just how vigorous the vitality of the demon race was. Yet, this "vigorous vitality" had a time limit; if left too long, the demon heart would rot and turn into a mass of putrid flesh.

At present, the heart was pierced with dense clusters of golden needles, giving it a rather bizarre appearance. The surface of the demon heart was also wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages inscribed with runes.

However, unlike when it was first extracted, the Mountain Demon's heart had clearly shrunk significantly. The original heart had been the size of a mature coconut; even with a transplant, it could never have fit into a human chest cavity. Before the transplant, it had to be refined using the secret arts of the Immortal Puppet Sect to shrink it several times over, turning it into a "heart" suitable for his own body.

"After spending several days, it is finally half-finished."

Holding the Mountain Demon's heart in his palm and feeling the powerful vitality contained within, He Ping nodded with satisfaction. The process of "conditioning" this demon heart had taken two full days and nights.

He checked it once more to ensure there were no oversights, then placed the heart into a glass jar filled with a pale green, transparent liquid. The liquid in the jar could better maintain the heart's vitality, and when the right moment arrived, he could proceed with the transplant.

"The Mountain Demon's heart cannot be transplanted yet, but I can modify my own hands into the 'Severed Ghost Hand'..."

Previously, He Ping had struck a series of deals with Chixinzi. The two had reached a preliminary agreement to exchange the arts of the Immortal Puppet Sect, as well as the methods for crafting the puppets found in the Formless Secret Treasury.

Wu Yousheng of the Immortal Puppet Sect had sought out five successors, passing down a portion of the Formless Secret Treasury to each. However, the inheritance held by each of the five was incomplete, a design intended to force the disciples to slaughter one another in order to seize the remaining parts.

"Rather than killing each other, Junior Brother and I might as well exchange our Daoist arts and take what we need. Furthermore, even if we struggle to make progress with the Immortal Puppet Sect's inheritance, there is still the 'Seed Demon Technique' of the Sanyuan Devil Palace to fall back on. This allows us to advance or retreat without cutting off our own path or losing the chance to turn back."

What Chixinzi said made sense, but He Ping did not trust him in the slightest. Setting aside the issues with the Sanyuan Devil Palace's inheritance, he did not believe that when Wu Yousheng passed down his arts, he hadn't made other arrangements. The Immortal Puppet Sect's "insect-rearing" strategy surely had other troublesome contingencies; it would never be as simple as it appeared on the surface.

After all, the disciples of the Immortal Puppet Sect were not idiots. Exchanging the Formless Secret Treasury scrolls in their hands was far easier than killing each other to seize them. If he and Chixinzi could think of this method, surely others could as well.

However, the proposal to exchange Daoist arts was very much to his liking. Chixinzi definitely possessed some formidable techniques. The "Severed Ghost Hand" and the "Red-Scaled Earth-Armored Centipede Dragon" were not recorded in his own volume of the Formless Secret Treasury, and he was quite interested in these two puppet arts.

"I am quite interested in Senior Brother's 'Severed Ghost Hand' and 'Red-Scaled Earth-Armored Centipede Dragon.' Why don't you name your price?"

He Ping asked Chixinzi for a quote.

"How about the 'Nine-Death Substitute Witch Puppet'?"

Chixinzi probed.

He Ping laughed aloud.

"Senior Brother, that is my trump card. Do you really think I would hand it over so easily?"

He was not stupid; he would naturally never trade the Nine-Death Substitute Witch Puppet, as it was his ultimate life-saving measure.

The Nine-Death Substitute Witch Puppet could block nine fatal calamities for him. Beyond substituting for death, it also possessed the utility of shifting shadows and faking death to escape.

He Ping suspected that the reason Chixinzi was unwilling to completely burn bridges with him was precisely because he feared this Nine-Death Substitute Witch Puppet.

One had to understand that with this puppet in his possession, no ambush or sneak attack could easily succeed. As long as the Nine-Death Substitute Witch Puppet was triggered by damage, it would automatically block the fatal blow for He Ping, and once he encountered a crisis, he could shift his shadow and escape miles away.

As the saying goes, "If you fail to kill the tiger, you will suffer its wrath." If Chixinzi were to suddenly strike a lethal blow but fail to succeed, and He Ping were to escape, the two would be locked in a life-or-death struggle. At that point, He Ping's retaliation would be a major headache.

The old man knew very well that unless he had a foolproof plan and had secretly laid a fatal trap, he could not completely corner him. Without that prerequisite, the old ghost would not easily provoke him.

Hearing He Ping reject his proposal, Chixinzi merely smiled slightly, unperturbed.

"In that case, does Junior Brother have any other good items you could exchange for this 'Severed Ghost Hand'?"

He Ping lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and said, "My volume of the Formless Secret Treasury does record the 'Three Corpses Secret Demon Puppet.' It specializes in gathering the baleful intent of the world to refine the Green, White, and Red Corpse Demon Puppets. Once successful, it can seize a person's true essence, destroying their form and bones and annihilating their soul in the blink of an eye. Its power is unimaginably great."

"So it is the Three Corpses Demon Puppet..."

Chixinzi's expression turned solemn upon hearing this.

"I am aware of the Three Corpses Secret Demon Puppet. Once the Green, White, and Red Corpse Demon Puppets are completed, even an expert who has entered the Dao would struggle to escape their power. This item is truly formidable."

He frowned slightly in thought, then suddenly laughed.

"However, Junior Brother, refining these Three Corpses Demon Puppets is extremely tedious and complex. The various materials required alone would take a lifetime to collect. Without ten or twenty years of effort, you might not even be able to refine one of the three. You have quite the clever scheme..."

"This kind of exchange is about taking what one needs; it is a matter of mutual consent. I suspect that Senior Brother does not have the detailed diagrams or the refining methods for the Three Corpses Secret Demon Puppet. Of course, if Senior Brother Chixinzi is not interested in this, we can discuss another deal."

He Ping had deliberately chosen the most difficult of the many puppet-refining methods in his possession to offer for trade.

This puppet was immensely powerful; once refined, one could run rampant even among those who had entered the Dao. However, the refining method was not easy, and merely collecting the materials would consume countless years.

Chixinzi saw through He Ping's intentions. If he chose the "Three Corpses Secret Demon Puppet," it would take decades of effort to refine it. Even if he obtained the technique, it would be of no use in the short term.

—Yet, he had to admit that the power of the Three Corpses Secret Demon Puppet was truly immense, and he found it difficult to let go.

Seeing Chixinzi hesitate, He Ping chuckled inwardly and proceeded to name several other puppet arts.

He had been prepared in secret; the puppet arts he offered were, without exception, either extremely time-consuming to refine or required materials that were nearly impossible to find, leaving Chixinzi feeling helpless.

"Fine, I will trade for this Three Corpses Secret Demon Puppet. By the way, in addition to the refining diagrams for the Severed Ghost Hand and the Red-Scaled Earth-Armored Centipede Dragon, I am also willing to trade the 'Heart-Piercing Lock' technique for your 'Milo Blade'."

The two discussed further, exchanging several arts and puppet-refining methods, each obtaining what they needed.

After obtaining the diagrams for the "Severed Ghost Hand," He Ping quickly crafted one.

He had already made up his mind. There was no need to rush the "heart transplant," but using this puppet prosthetic, the "Severed Ghost Hand," to test the waters was a good idea.

"The 'Severed Ghost Hand' puppet art has two benefits. First, once the puppet prosthetic is installed, I can activate the 'Armor-Clad Spirit Light' technique. Second, through the Severed Ghost Hand, I can strengthen my ability to control puppets..."

Most puppets of the Immortal Puppet Sect required control via a specially refined thread created through the secret technique known as the "Formless String."

The "Formless String" was a thread propelled by the power of one's spirit and intent, crafted from the hair of the dead. In the initial stages of refinement, the human hair would transition from coarse to fine, eventually becoming as thin as spider silk, and later, capable of manifesting as a thread devoid of form or shadow.

Whether it was a Paper Doll Spirit Puppet or a Wood Demon Puppet, as long as one end was connected by the Formless String, it could be commanded at will through the power of the mind.

However, a person only possessed two hands, and those hands only had ten fingers. Having cultivated the secret arts of the Immortal Puppet Sect, manipulating ten puppets simultaneously while dividing one's focus was merely a trivial feat.

By the time one's cultivation reached the level of He Ping, a single finger could control five or six puppets at once; commanding twenty-five or thirty puppets with ten fingers was effortless, and not a single error would occur during the process.

If the number of puppets exceeded seventy or eighty, or even reached a hundred, He Ping could still manage, though his mental focus would be spread thin. Dividing one's mind into several parts was one thing, but dividing it into a hundred parts naturally increased the computational burden.

Furthermore, no matter how formidable one's abilities were, a person only had two palms and ten fingers. It might be fine on ordinary days, but as the number of puppets being controlled grew, the problems became increasingly significant.

Perhaps at the start, minor issues would arise during the "connection" phase, such as movements becoming gradually sluggish or gestures appearing overly stiff. Over time, as mental focus scattered, errors in the manipulation of the ten fingers would inevitably lead to flaws.

If one truly encountered such a situation, it might not matter when dealing with ordinary enemies, as common folk would certainly fail to perceive such subtle changes. However, if one faced a true expert, these flaws would likely prove fatal.

"The true brilliance of the Severed Ghost Hand lies right here. Once this prosthetic puppet limb is attached to the body, it can be moved and utilized at will. Moreover, one can use the Severed Ghost Hand to control other Severed Ghost Hands. Once practiced to the point of total mastery, where movement follows the heart, it is equivalent to gaining several extra hands, and the ability to control puppets will increase several times over."

He Ping rolled up one sleeve, raised his palm—the skin revealing a sickly pallor—and clenched his ten fingers into a fist.

"Let us begin the modification with this left hand..."