"Are you Li Chen, the apprentice serving as a retainer to the Lei Family in the Commandery Seat, who submitted the Flying Disc schematics and the Swarm of Bees Technique?"
In the rear hall of the Commandery Seat Academy, three instructors sat side by side in the seats of honor. Acting on their sect's orders, they had traveled thousands of miles, crossing countless mountains, marshes, and the Underworld to reach this place. Seated on either side were the academy's headmaster, its steward, Artisan Lei, Zhao Bin, and the others.
Li Chen stood before the three of them and answered with neither servility nor arrogance, "That is indeed me. Li Chen pays his respects to the three instructors."
The instructor seated in the middle smiled faintly and said amiably, "There is no need for ceremony. Please sit. Let us begin the verification."
Just as Li Chen had expected, the Creation Sect's method of verifying authenticity was to trace the process by which he had developed his secret art through questions and answers.
Only someone who had participated from beginning to end and knew every detail could explain such things clearly and coherently. Knowledge and craftsmanship were like one's cultivation: discerning eyes had their own ways of distinguishing the genuine from the false.
Li Chen naturally answered fluently. With his ties to the Lei Family and his Underworld identity, none of the three instructors had any intention of making things difficult for him, and the process soon ended.
"Congratulations, Apprentice Li Chen. Today, on behalf of the Creation Sect's Observatory Court, I formally confer upon you the status of Puppet Master, with a craftsman's stipend and standing equal to that of our sect's disciples."
"Furthermore, according to sect custom, you will receive a Puppet Master's Robe and a two-star Combat Puppet, the 'Armored Warrior.'"
"You may come forward to sign and confirm your acceptance."
The Creation Sect undoubtedly welcomed, and even encouraged, rogue cultivators from the wilds to pledge themselves to it. Everything went as Zhao Bin had predicted. Once the value of Li Chen's offerings had been confirmed, he truly was granted Puppet Master status and a craftsman's stipend.
Li Chen stepped forward to sign as instructed, only to hear the instructor say, "There is another important matter to discuss with you, concerning the secret art the sect will grant you."
Li Chen said, "Please explain, Instructor."
The instructor said, "Do you know that whenever someone from the Underworld or a disciple of the sect makes a substantial contribution by offering a secret art or improving a craft, our sect returns peaches for plums, granting them a corresponding secret art and allowing them to profit from it, or even pass it down as a gentleman's legacy to their descendants?"
"In this way, besides what you already possess, which you may develop and use jointly with our sect, you gain another secret art authorized by the sect, something on which to build your life and livelihood!"
Li Chen restrained the delight in his heart and nodded. "I am aware."
The instructor said, "Then you now have three secret arts from which to choose one."
He went on to explain to Li Chen, Artisan Lei, Zhao Bin, and the others beside them, "This is because everyone's knowledge and interests differ, and they will inevitably develop in different fields. The art of Yan Shi is vast and profound. Ordinary people have no need to bite off more than they can chew."
Li Chen had already heard about this from Artisan Lei, so he was not surprised. He merely asked, "May I ask which three secret arts they are, Instructor?"
The instructor smiled. "The first is Netherworld Illusory Sound!"
"Netherworld Illusory Sound?" As a rogue cultivator from the countryside, Li Chen had naturally never heard of it, but Artisan Lei and Zhao Bin both looked slightly stirred.
The instructor explained, "This is a secret art of the Sound Dao originating from the ancient Netherworld Sect. By combining spell formations with your own spell incantations, you can produce strange illusory sounds that injure living enemies and even destroy enemy Mechanism Puppets!"
"Secret arts of this kind bear the terrifying reputation of being sounds of death. They also contain the foundational knowledge essential to learning other secret arts of the Sound Dao, enough for you to spend a lifetime studying this path."
"Of course, it has certain flaws. For instance, before you grasp the essence of the netherworld in the early stages, it is ineffective against nonliving entities. Only after cultivating it to great mastery in the later stages can that change."
"But among all the creations in the world, how many can act entirely on their own, apart from the legendary performer puppet 'Dancing Maiden' made by the founding master? This secret art can injure the operator, giving it truly terrifying destructive power even in battles between Puppet Masters."
"Moreover, by continuing your research along this path, you can remedy this flaw yourself."
Li Chen felt somewhat tempted. This truly deserved to be called powerful.
The instructor continued, "The second is Rotting Spring Poison!"
"This is an exclusive secret formula for concocting Rotting Spring venom. It can help you temper poisoned needles and blades, letting you roam unchallenged through the Underworld. In the future, once your cultivation reaches a high level and you glimpse the mysteries of life, you can even develop toward refining poisoned human puppets. It is also an extremely formidable secret art."
"As for the drawbacks of choosing it..."
At this point, he could not help pausing.
"What drawbacks?" Li Chen sighed inwardly and immediately understood. The Creation Sect would never place these secret arts on equal footing without reason. If one possessed an obvious advantage, it must also have a corresponding flaw.
Sure enough, the instructor soon continued, "The drawback is that cultivating this art is extremely dangerous!"
He warned solemnly, "After all, you would be handling deadly poisons, dealing with all manner of rotting corpses and fluids year after year. Even if you remain careful at all times, an occasional mistake is unavoidable..."
"Furthermore, prolonged exposure to the deadly poisons produced by this secret art will corrode your skin, leaving you aged and ugly, and will also weaken your physique and shorten your lifespan."
"Of course, this art also shares principles with medicine. Given the opportunity, you can certainly overcome these problems through your own efforts and fortunate encounters, and instead prolong your life."
Li Chen was speechless. After a long while, he asked quietly, "Then what about the third?"
The instructor said, "The third... If the secret art associated with Rotting Spring Poison that I mentioned earlier can easily ruin your appearance, then this secret art is precisely the opposite."
"If you master it, you can alter the faces and appearances of the puppets you make, giving them a thousand ever-changing forms. Once you learn the craft of refining human puppets, you can even apply it to yourself."
At this, surprise appeared on Li Chen's face, and he hurriedly asked, "Instructor, could you be referring to 'Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting,' one of the Creation-Promotion Secret Arts said to have been created by our ancestral master, Yan Shi?"
"Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting? It certainly sounds like that secret art!" Artisan Lei and Zhao Bin exchanged a glance.
The instructor said with a smile, "It seems you often read the founding master's biography. Indeed, it is one of the arts he created, known as the 'Creation-Promotion Secret Arts'!"
"It really is!" Li Chen said in delighted surprise.
Legends of Yan Shi creating performers circulated throughout the Eastern Victory Continent. What exactly it meant for Yan Shi to create performers had long been clearly stated in the opening section of the Tale of Yan Shi.
"Yan Shi was a Divine Artisan Creator of antiquity, a maker of things. He once fashioned a Mechanism Automaton to serve as a performer; its strides and steps, its bows and turns, were so ingenious that it seemed real..."
The instructor said, "The founding master once criticized this secret art as possessing only outward form. In the great Dao of creation, it is no more than an introductory foundation."
"Even so, it is still a mighty divine ability whose workings touch the mysteries of creation. Cultivating it to great mastery, let alone perfection, is more difficult than you can imagine!"
"Moreover, in its early stages, its usefulness in increasing your strength and defeating enemies is far inferior to the other two. It can only serve a supporting role."