"What happened?"
Li Chen flipped through the air and landed firmly on the ground. He looked at Miss Bai, who had abruptly appeared some ten feet away, his expression darkening.
"Her position is wrong! What a spell-she actually misled my judgment of distance and position!"
Clack!
With a soft sound, the Human Puppet landed after him and stopped in front of Miss Bai.
"You could still react in such a short time!" Miss Bai seemed knowledgeable herself. Realization dawned on her. "You've already undergone puppetization modifications, and specifically 'Draw Silk, Rejoin Meridians' from the Creation-Promotion Secret Art!"
At that, her expression grew grave as well.
The Draw Silk, Rejoin Meridians modification was certainly not something an ordinary rogue cultivator could accomplish. Unlike Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting, it did not merely involve modifying the skin or making limited alterations to facial features. Nor was it like Fill with Mercury as Blood, for which the Medicine-Craft Art could counter clotting, and the materials could even be purchased and replaced on one's own.
Draw Silk, Rejoin Meridians required an extraordinarily deep and meticulous understanding of human nerves. Whether reconnecting one's own meridians or modifying someone else, one needed a cultivation level of Foundation Establishment or above.
That meant this man had the assistance of a master artisan-level expert, or even an inheritor of the Secret Art at a still higher level.
She herself was a master artisan's disciple. She understood the limits of the human body and the extraordinary powers that surpassed them far better than rough-and-ready rogue cultivators, and thus discerned quite a few clues.
"Little girl, you really do know a thing or two!"
Li Chen gave a dry chuckle, his gaze moving between her and the Human Puppet.
"Your illusion is quite good too. A useful means of protecting yourself!"
He finally