Alchemy Puppet

"Talking behind my back? Looks like Jue needs another lesson." A voice that should have sounded angry rang out behind Jue.

Yet for some reason, there was always a note of indulgence at the end.

Hearing the voice behind them, both Jue and Skadi froze and turned around.

A familiar figure stood not far away, watching them with interest.

The moment Skadi saw that figure, she immediately bowed and said with great respect, "Mother Goddess."

"Ah, Skadi, you don't need to be so restrained every time you see me." The one who had appeared behind them was Cheng Jue.

At the sound of Cheng Jue's voice, Jue shuddered. She immediately released Skadi's slender waist, which her legs had been wrapped around.

Seeing the person behind her, she blushed in embarrassment and stammered, "Elder Sister."

"Ah, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Elder Brother." Cheng Jue emphasized this again, though she had no idea how many times she had repeated it.

"But, Elder Sister, on the internet from those other worlds that you showed me, girls are clearly called elder sisters, while boys are called elder brothers." Jue looked at Cheng Jue innocently.

Fine. I should never have let you look at all that strange nonsense in the first place, Cheng Jue thought.

Unable to argue with her own creation, Cheng Jue could only lash out in embarrassment. "Don't you know that I'm an innate sacred being? Gender is irrelevant to me."

Jue innocently spread her hands, as if to say, "But weren't you the one who chose to take female form, Elder Sister?"

Cheng Jue's expression stiffened. She could only change the subject and say to Skadi, "Skadi, return to the camp first. Keep an eye on those night owls and don't let them get up to anything strange."

"Yes, Mother Goddess." After respectfully accepting the order, Skadi silently retreated into the forest and disappeared.

Once Cheng Jue saw that there was no third party nearby, she turned a "friendly" gaze toward Jue.

Seeing such a terrifying look in her elder sister's eyes, Jue instantly shrank her neck and did not dare make a sound.

Seeing how frightened she had made Jue, Cheng Jue's expression softened. She asked gently,

"Jue, how did it feel being assigned to the Traveler's side for the whole day?"

Jue, who was also the Traveler—the player Dun Qu Qi Yi—heard Cheng Jue's question and scratched at her head, furrowing her brows as she tried hard to recall how the day had felt.

Jue sighed. Since she had not felt anything in particular, she could only tell the truth. "I felt very happy and joyful being with them today."

Seeing her troubled expression, Cheng Jue sighed helplessly. She did not even know how many times she had sighed whenever she spoke with Jue.

Then an opportunity for Cheng Jue to advance to the early Taiyi Golden Immortal realm appeared. Auspicious clouds gathered above her head, and from within them, a mysterious yellow jade disc fell into Cheng Jue's hand.

It was the Human Dao Jade Disc.

With a flick of Cheng Jue's wrist, the Human Dao Jade Disc transformed into an ancient jade key.

Seeing the jade key in Cheng Jue's hand, Jue's face fell. Reluctantly, she walked over to Cheng Jue.

She turned around, facing away from Cheng Jue, and lifted her silver-white hair, which gleamed beneath the moonlight.

Under the moonlight, Jue exposed her snow-white neck and the delicate lock at the back of it.

Cheng Jue inserted the Human Dao Jade Disc, now transformed into a jade key, into the keyhole behind Jue's neck and turned it several times, as though she had done so countless times before.

If one listened closely, one could hear sounds like the clicking of mechanical gears.

As the mechanical sounds rang out, fine patterns appeared across Jue's skin. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that Jue's entire body seemed to be assembled from all manner of components.

When the sounds ceased, a platform extended from Jue's back. Resting upon it was a magnificent crystal radiating the brilliance of Humanity Dao.

This was Jue's consciousness core. In other words, this was the real Jue. Just as Cheng Jue was about to inspect her consciousness core,

Jue asked somewhat embarrassedly, "Elder Sister, could you let me fall asleep before inspecting me next time?"

"What? Are you unhappy, Jue?" Cheng Jue paused in the middle of her next action.

"No, no, not at all." Jue hurriedly waved her hands. Looking at the arm now covered in gaps between countless components, she said miserably, "Elder Sister, Jue looks so ugly like this."

Cheng Jue looked up at Jue. Although Jue had not turned around, Cheng Jue, who had watched her grow, immediately pictured Jue's little face scrunched up in distress.

Even now, the only thing she cares about is something as trivial as her appearance? Jue, you have already become an independent life, yet you still trust me so completely.

"Hehe, what are you saying, Elder Sister? Jue is your first family member. Jue trusts Elder Sister the most." Jue put her hands on her hips and proudly tried to turn around, only for Cheng Jue to press a palm against her head, leaving her unable to move.

"Fine, Jue. Today will be the last time I do this. From now on, you'll need to understand the condition of your own body yourself," Cheng Jue said after thinking for a moment.

"Is that so? Elder Sis—" Before Jue could finish, Cheng Jue removed the crystal.

At that instant, the lively Jue went limp, muttering weakly, "It feels like this again."

Her consciousness sank into darkness.

Cheng Jue, having removed the crystal, carefully observed the Dao aura unconsciously radiating from within it.

"So that's how it is. The connection between the two worlds has brought different civilizations as well. Though it is very faint, if this continues, there will be a chance to complete the laws missing from the Primordial World."

As Cheng Jue observed the crystal, the Human Dao Jade Disc that had transformed into a jade key suddenly trembled and reverted to its original jade-disc form.

It turned into a streak of mysterious yellow light and rushed toward the crystal Cheng Jue was examining, as though the crystal were also part of the jade disc.

Cheng Jue was not surprised by this development in the slightest. It was not the first time it had happened. With practiced ease, Cheng Jue opened her auspicious clouds and collected the Human Dao Jade Disc back inside them.

Without the jade disc's interference, Cheng Jue could examine Jue's changes more carefully.

"Now that she has gained the ability to obtain the laws of other civilizations and feed them back to heaven and earth, the body I originally designed is no longer quite suitable."

As she spoke, Cheng Jue beckoned with one hand. A branch snapped off from the crown of the distant World Tree.

The branch twisted in Cheng Jue's hand, transforming into an emerald-green spinal bone engraved with Cheng Jue's insights into laws and the Great Dao.

The spinal bone containing Cheng Jue's insights was installed with exceptional ease, without even a trace of rejection. Naturally, Jue's entire body had been made from branches of the World Tree.

If she could continue growing according to Cheng Jue's expectations, Jue would one day become a wondrous being like the World Tree.

Once everything had been inspected, Cheng Jue patted Jue's little head. "All right, wake up."

"Mmm, Elder Sister, are you done already?" Jue rubbed her eyes and asked groggily, as though she had just woken up.

"Yes. This is the last time. From now on, you'll have to inspect yourself. This time, I also added my insights into the Great Dao. In the future, you'll cultivate without bottlenecks, just like the Traveler."

Yet after hearing Cheng Jue's explanation, Jue became somewhat dejected.

"What's wrong?" Cheng Jue asked in confusion.

"Elder Sister, if I already have a path for the future, then what about Big Brother Albedo?" Jue remembered that before Cheng Jue had created her, there had been another alchemy puppet. "I wonder how Big Brother Albedo has been doing lately."

Cheng Jue flicked her forehead.

Jue cried out and clutched her little head, where a red bump had appeared. She looked at her elder sister with a wronged expression.

"You still have the mood to worry about Albedo? He found his own path long ago."

Jade Capital Mountain, Hongjun's cultivation grounds before he attained the Dao.

Two figures, one old and one young, sat atop a stone platform.

"What an exquisite idea. When the opportunity arises, I must properly seek guidance from your master, young friend." The elderly man laughed heartily.

Looking at the young man, he asked in puzzlement, "Young friend Albedo, you seem absent-minded since just now."

The young man across from him respectfully bowed to the elder and replied, "Senior Hongjun, earlier I felt as though someone was calling for me. I do not know whether it was my master."

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