Heavenly Demon Puppet

A massive peak fifth-tier magical beast had a young dragon, far smaller than itself, pinned firmly beneath its claws.

Several patches of the young dragon's scales had been torn away, exposing bloody flesh beneath. Its deepest claw wound stretched from its forelimb to the base of its wing, nearly ripping off half the wing.

Yet despite such severe injuries, the young dragon still clamped its jaws tightly around the beast's foreclaw. A low, threatening growl rumbled from its throat, with no hint of surrender.

Seeing this, Lin Yu flashed forward and appeared silently behind the beast like a ghost.

He could not even be bothered to use the Bone Prison Fallen Heart Flame. He merely struck out with his palm, wrapping it in sharp spatial power and stamping it precisely onto the beast's skull.

The beast did not even have time to let out a scream before its head was shattered by the spatial power. Its enormous body crashed to the ground, sending dust and dead leaves flying.

The young dragon was stunned by the sudden turn of events for a moment, then abruptly broke free from beneath the beast's claws and staggered several steps back.

It stared warily at Lin Yu, its vertical pupils filled with vigilance.

Lin Yu bent down and lifted the wounded young dragon. It was much lighter than he had expected, and its icy scales brushed against the back of his hand with a faint weakness.

Dangling in midair, the young dragon unwillingly flailed its four claws a few times. Its tail swished about, while low whimpers came from its mouth.

Lin Yu curled his lips into a smile. Found it.

Though Lin Yu had saved it, the young dragon's vertical pupils were still full of wariness.

Its body remained taut, poised to flee at any moment.

Lin Yu was not annoyed. He took a sugar pill from his Storage Ring and held it before the young dragon.

The pill was only the size of a thumb, but it contained the essence of many spiritual herbs he had condensed together. The energy within was comparable to that of a sixth-grade medicinal pill.

The young dragon's nose twitched twice. Vigilance and desire fiercely battled within its silver vertical pupils, but in the end, it could not resist. Opening its mouth, it swallowed the sugar pill in one bite.

The pill melted as soon as it entered its mouth. A gentle yet vast energy flowed down its throat and spread through its limbs and body. The deep wounds on its body, which had exposed bone, stopped bleeding and scabbed over at a visible rate, while tender new scales began growing along the edges of the torn ones.

The young dragon snorted contentedly. When it looked at Lin Yu again, most of the wariness in its vertical pupils had been replaced by friendliness.

It tilted its little head and studied Lin Yu for a moment, then affectionately rubbed the blunt horn on its head against Lin Yu's ear.

Lin Yu smiled and shook his head, placing the young dragon onto his shoulder.

The young dragon found a comfortable position on his shoulder and curled up there, its tail swaying behind his back. Before long, it settled down quietly.

Spatial power flickered beneath Lin Yu's feet, and he transformed into a streak of silver light that shot into the sky toward Jia Nan Academy.

When he returned to the small courtyard, Han Shanshan and Du Ning were chatting in the yard.

Hearing the courtyard gate open, Han Shanshan looked up. The moment her gaze landed on the small silver-white figure on Lin Yu's shoulder, she sprang up from the stone bench. Her phoenix eyes widened round, and her voice rose several pitches. "That's an Ancient Void Dragon! Junior Brother, where did you pick it up?"

Du Ning was also startled by Han Shanshan's reaction. Although she could sense that the little beast's aura was extraordinary, she had never expected it to be a legendary Ancient Void Dragon.

"In the nearby mountains. I saved it while testing some moves." Lin Yu raised a hand and stroked the young dragon's head.

He paused, as though recalling something, then added, "Senior Sister, I feel there are quite a few good things in those mountains. Why don't you and Du Ning go look around? I'll take a trip through the Black-Corner Region. We'll meet back at Jia Nan Academy afterward, then leave the Black-Corner Region."

Han Shanshan did not question him. She simply nodded decisively. "All right. Be careful."

She then turned and beckoned to Du Ning. The two left the courtyard side by side and flew toward the mountains.

Lin Yu watched them leave, then moved his feet and turned into a streak of light, flying toward the depths of the Black-Corner Region.

His target was clear: Devil Flame Valley, a force infamous throughout the Black-Corner Region.

Upon arriving above Devil Flame Valley, Lin Yu did not force his way in with great fanfare. Instead, he spread his Spirit-Realm Soul power like an invisible tide, silently covering the entire valley.

Wherever his soul power swept, the valley's hidden passages and secret chambers were reflected one by one within his mind.

Before long, he discovered a spatial barrier in an extremely concealed corner.

Lin Yu's lips lifted slightly. The Spatial Ancestral Talisman beneath his feet flashed, and he crossed through space directly past the barrier, entering the secret chamber without a sound.

Inside the chamber, a black-robed old man sat cross-legged in meditation, utterly unaware that someone was already standing behind him.

Lin Yu did not even give him time to react. A Spatial Blade as thin as a cicada's wing flew from his fingertip and pierced straight through the old man's body.

Earth Demon Old Ghost did not even have time to scream before dying on the spot.

Lin Yu casually stored away his soul and body separately.

Only after finishing this did Lin Yu begin examining the secret chamber carefully.

Many items were displayed on the shelves lining its walls. His gaze swept over them one by one before quickly settling on the Flame Manipulation Art, the Thunderclap Mirror, and a detailed scroll on puppet refinement.

He put all of them into his Storage Ring. After searching the chamber again to ensure nothing had been overlooked, spatial power flashed beneath his feet, and he quietly left Devil Flame Valley without alerting anyone from beginning to end.

After returning to the secluded courtyard at Jia Nan Academy, Lin Yu plunged into the quiet room and began refining the Heavenly Demon Puppet.

Seven days later, Han Shanshan and Du Ning finally returned from the mountains.

When the two pushed open the courtyard gate, they were covered in dust and travel-worn, yet both wore irrepressible delight on their faces.

"Junior Brother, I found two good things!" Han Shanshan called out impatiently the moment she entered, her voice filled with proud excitement.

Lin Yu emerged from the quiet room and asked with a smile, "What did Senior Sister find?"

"A dried corpse of a Heavenly Demon Phoenix, and the Bodhi Body-Transforming Saliva that Sister Du Ning needs!" As Han Shanshan spoke, she took out a palm-sized jade box from her Storage Ring.

"Hehe, Senior Sister really made a fine haul. I found a method for refining puppets, so that Heavenly Demon Phoenix corpse is perfect for refining a Heavenly Demon Puppet."

Lin Yu smiled and took out the newly completed Heavenly Demon Puppet from his Storage Ring.

"Looks like Junior Brother won't have to worry about pill lightning in the future." Han Shanshan circled the Heavenly Demon Puppet once and nodded in satisfaction.

"This trip has yielded quite a lot." Lin Yu put away the Heavenly Demon Puppet and looked toward the distant horizon. "Next, I plan to go to the Tagore Desert."