Human Puppets

In the western part of Central Plains, amidst a gloomy and eerie Mountain Range, a grand hall shrouded in black mist stands out prominently.

Several blurry figures sat in various parts of the hall. The hall remained silent for a while before someone finally spoke:

"Mu Gu is dead, and the Black and White Heavenly Venerables are gone too."

"Based on a short message sent back by the Black Heavenly Venerate before his death, two things can be confirmed."

Which two items?

The man paused, then continued:

"First, Qin Yu indeed possesses more than one type of Heavenly Flames; second, it was Xuan Kongzi who killed them."

"Xuan Kongzi?"

The other figure on the right leaned forward slightly, his tone carrying a hint of surprise.

"Yes, the battle took place on the outskirts of the Pill Region. Xuan Kongzi was able to arrive in such a short time, so Qin Yu must have a way to contact him directly."

Silence fell once again in the hall.

If they can directly call Xuan Kongzi for help, it might be difficult for them to continue trying to seize the Heavenly Flames from Qin Yu.

A moment later, the person spoke again:

"However, I think we can put Qin Yu's matter aside for now. Wasn't Yao Chen arrested and brought back a few days ago? Let's deal with him first."

"Since Qin Yu has connections with the Demon Puppet Sect, as long as we find the Demon Puppet Sect's location, we won't have to worry about not finding him."

"That makes sense, but..."

The person on the right nodded in agreement, then sighed:

"It's a bit of a pity that Mu Gu died like this. He was an Eighth-Rank Alchemist after all; it's not easy to train someone like that."

"Hehehe..."

The figure on the stone throne in the main hall chuckled a few times and spoke:

"We lost Mu Gu, but we also captured Yao Chen, didn't we?"

"And..."

The man continued:

"According to the report from the protectors below, Yao Chen's disciple, Xiao Yan, also possesses Heavenly Flames."

"He also possesses Heavenly Flames?"

The person who spoke first started off with a strange tone:

"How come so many rare treasures like Heavenly Flames have suddenly appeared?"

"Qin Yu has one, and Xiao Yan has one too. Are Heavenly Flames really that worthless now?"

Who knows?

The figure on the black stone shrugged:

"However, compared to Qin Yu, Xiao Yan is obviously easier to deal with, isn't he? You have to pick the weakest one first."

"Hehehe... that's true."

"That's settled then. Let's deal with Yao Chen's matter first, and have someone keep an eye on Xiao Yan's side. We'll put Qin Yu and the Demon Puppet Sect's matter on hold for now."

After saying this, several figures in the hall rose one after another and merged into the black mist.

Demon Puppet Sect.

Qin Yu had no idea that, for "various reasons," he had unwittingly added another obstacle to Xiao Yan's path to growth.

Even if he knew, Qin Yu wouldn't care too much.

After all, Xiao Yan is someone who naturally brings trouble wherever he goes.

One more or one less won't make a difference; Heaven probably won't let him die...

Bar?

At this moment, he was sitting in a quiet room, holding a scroll in his hands, his brows furrowed, engrossed in reading it.

"The Human Puppet Refining Method is quite interesting."

The Human Puppet Refining Method, a secret technique of the Demon Puppet Sect, was the reason Qin Yu was interested in it, and the reason was quite simple.

This thing is perfect for getting revenge.

However, based on the research conducted over the past few days, the creation of Human Puppet and Heavenly Demon Puppet follows completely different paths.

The Heavenly Demon Puppet requires a high-level Magic Core, a corpse, and a soul. The Human Puppet does not require a high-level Magic Core, but the corpse and soul used to create the Human Puppet must be a perfect match.

In addition, a rather special medicinal material called the Soul-Obstructing Branch is also needed.

This medicinal herb is not difficult to find, but due to the special nature of its effects, very few elixirs choose to use it as an ingredient, so no one hoards it in large quantities.

Compared to the Heavenly Demon Puppet, the crafting of Human Puppet is relatively simple in terms of material requirements.

However, there is one strict condition for creating Human Puppet.

That is, the creator must be able to completely suppress the soul of the person being created into Human Puppet.

If the puppet cannot be suppressed, it will go into a frenzy, and the soul of the person used to create the Human Puppet will quickly dissipate, rendering it ineffective for revenge.

Yes.

This is the creator's original statement regarding the method of creating Human Puppet.

Even though the soul quickly dissipated, the creator did not feel sorry for the failure of the puppet's creation, but simply believed that it would not serve the purpose of retaliating against the other party.

"No wonder Qian Xunji has never been able to promote this thing."

Qin Yu muttered to himself.

Within the Demon Puppet Sect, only a handful of people possess Soul Power capable of reaching the Spirit Realm, making widespread adoption impossible.

After all, the Spirit-Realm Soul is only relative.

If one wants to transform a person whose soul power has reached the Spirit Realm into Human Puppet, the creator's Soul Power must be even stronger.

But for Qin Yu, this hurdle was relatively easy to overcome.

If the Human Puppet is successfully created, the soul and flesh of the person being created will be compressed into a humanoid "puppet core" to serve as the puppet's driving force.

They are fully conscious and can clearly perceive everything in the outside world.

But they could only endure the pain while being driven by their puppet instincts to fight recklessly and madly.

Unable to resist, unable to stop, unable to escape.

Unless someone directly destroys the puppet's core.

Otherwise, even if the puppet's body is shattered, the puppet's core can still be retrieved and reinserted into another puppet's body for continued use.

"That's exactly the feeling I wanted."

Qin Yu put away the method for creating the Human Puppet and began to ponder how to create another one.

Mu Gu hasn't recovered yet because Qin Yu searched her soul.

If we use it for experiments first, and something goes wrong, we'll probably waste a whole supply of consumables.

Let's try using the Black and White Heavenly Venerables first.

"Brother, what do you think? Is this method any good?"

Just then, Qian Xunji arrived.

He wasn't unwilling to learn how to create Human Puppet; he simply lacked the skills and abilities.

The average level of the disciples meant that this thing would never be widely adopted.

And his own words...

There aren't that many people, or rather, there aren't any enemies, that he feels he needs to Human Puppet for revenge.

"That's quite good. But what about that thing I told you before? What have you thought about?"

Qin Yu was referring to the relocation to the vicinity of the Pill Region.

After all, they had genuinely helped him a great deal, and they were truly willing to step up when needed. Qin Yu certainly couldn't stand by and watch them be hunted down by the Hall of Souls.

"Oh, this matter..."

Qin Yu had always believed that the people of the Demon Puppet Sect stayed in this Mountain Range because they were reluctant to leave their ancestral land.

But Qian Xunji's next words completely overturned his idea:

"Making puppets? Where can't we do that? We've been stuck in this mountain valley for almost a hundred years now; maybe moving around will bring some new discoveries."

"But, once we get there, can we really focus on crafting puppets? Won't Alchemist keep showing up every few days, complaining that we're causing trouble?"