The instructor had already made everything perfectly clear. Each of the three secret arts had its own strengths and weaknesses; otherwise, they would not have been presented together for Li Chen to choose from.
What Li Chen needed to do now was choose one based on his own circumstances and the direction he wished to pursue.
Life was difficult for rogue cultivators. A wrong choice at this point could truly cost him a precious opportunity to advance, or even leave him squandering his entire life.
Conversely, if he chose a legacy suited to him, he would be like a great roc rising with the wind, soaring ninety thousand miles into the heavens-his ascent would be unstoppable.
Having finished speaking, the instructor fell silent, intending to offer no further interference.
Seeing this, Artisan Lei suggested, "Nephew, why not consider Netherworld Illusory Sound? It's a powerful secret art for warfare and slaughter. Put it to good use, and it can do far more than simply secure your livelihood."
Li Chen nodded. "This secret art does appeal to me more than Rotting Spring Poison, but..."
"But what? Surely you don't mean to choose Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting?" Artisan Lei broke into an incredulous laugh.
Zhao Bin also looked at Li Chen. "Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting is easy to learn but difficult to master, because it's a creation-promotion secret art that touches upon the realm of creation and the Dao of life. You must think this through: what sort of person do you want to become, and what trade will sustain you?"
Hearing this, Li Chen could not help recalling everything he had seen and heard over the past few days.
Old Hong, the Hong Family's butcher, was probably a typical example. In his youth, a chance opportunity had given him an incomplete warrior legacy from the Other Continent. Only then had he been able to open a slaughterhouse, butcher demonic beasts for others, and trade in beast meat.
The reason he had to give his storage ring to someone else to modify, rather than do it himself, was likewise that others possessed the skills of spatial storage and the corresponding secret arts, while he did not.
The Lei Family, meanwhile, possessed Thunder Gang Arts handed down by its ancestor, enough to establish dominion over a region and become an aristocratic clan.
These three secret arts represented more than a personal choice made in the moment. They also represented the direction of his future development, and even the livelihoods of his children and descendants.
First, he eliminated Rotting Spring Poison, which might turn him into something neither human nor ghost. So many people in the wilds specialized in poison arts, and poisons could be bought everywhere. Why refine them himself?
Those poisons might not be as powerful as the secret art of Rotting Spring Poison, but this was not a world where enemies became impossible to defeat without lethal toxins. It was hardly irreplaceable.
That left Netherworld Illusory Sound and Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting as his actual choices.
"As you elders have said, Netherworld Illusory Sound is indeed a formidable weapon for warfare and slaughter. Whether I'm building a livelihood or roaming the world, with such a secret art and its associated skills, the puppets I create would be enough to defeat my enemies and secure victory. Through it, I could even open up an entire path of Sound Dao cultivation and develop other Sound Dao Arts."
"But..."
"That isn't where my interests lie!"
As Li Chen spoke, a touch of wistfulness entered his voice.
"In many things in this world, we cannot look at profit alone. We must also consider our aspirations and interests. If I obtained Netherworld Illusory Sound but had no desire to study it, wouldn't that be a waste?"
"So I'll choose Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting after all!"
He made no attempt to hide his admiration for the ancestral master Yan Shi, nor his ambition to catch up to him. "If the opportunity arises, I also hope to obtain other creation-promotion secret arts in the future and become a Divine Artisan Creator like our ancestral master!"
The others exchanged glances at his words. A faint look of concern even appeared on Zhao Bin's face, as though he did not think much of Li Chen's choice.
Had Li Chen chosen Netherworld Illusory Sound, he might have become someone like the Lei Family's ancestor, establishing an aristocratic clan through the Dao of music.
Still, faced with a decision of such importance, he very wisely kept his mouth shut.
He knew where to draw the line. If Li Chen stood before an abyss where one step would doom him beyond redemption, he would speak up and warn him. Since that was not the case, there was little room for him to interfere.
"Hahahaha! Fine aspirations indeed, and a Divine Artisan Creator at that! It seems you have quite the ambition, young man!"
The instructor presiding over the verification laughed instead and waved a hand. "In that case, sign and confirm your choice."
He was neither kin nor friend to Li Chen and did not care what Li Chen ultimately chose, so long as it did not violate the sect's rules.
Still, this made him feel that although the young man's origins were humble, his aspirations were anything but.
Li Chen signed and left an imprint of his magical power. Then the three instructors overseeing the verification rose, along with the Master Artisans, academy heads, and stewards serving as witnesses. They watched as the presiding instructor brought out a legacy sealed inside a Sealed Box.
It was a Jade Slip made from spirit-stone crystal. Held up for inspection, it had a warm, lustrous sheen and measured roughly an inch and a half wide, two inches long, and two-tenths of an inch thick. Restrictions seemed to have been inscribed upon it, faintly appearing and disappearing like decorative patterns.
The instructor told Li Chen to hold the Jade Slip securely, then warned him solemnly, "Secret arts must not be shown to outsiders. In ancient times, they were passed down directly from master to disciple. After our ancestral master’s Tale of Yan Shi spread his teachings throughout the world and our Creation Sect flourished, inventions such as the Divine Sense Jade Slip were developed to encourage rogue cultivators everywhere to cultivate the Great Dao together."
"Although you are not disciples of our sect, now that you have received a legacy, you must observe the corresponding rules and swear an oath upon your primordial spirit."
Li Chen was not surprised. Zhao Bin, Artisan Lei, and the others had already told him about this procedure. He raised three fingers and solemnly repeated the oath after the instructor. "I, Li Chen, have been fortunate enough to receive this lineage. I now solemnly swear upon my primordial spirit to obey the High Sect's rules governing secret arts, uphold proper conduct, and further our Puppet Master Order. Should I violate this oath, may heaven and humanity alike condemn me, leaving me no place in this world."
This was a cultivation world possessed of supernatural power. An oath upon one's primordial spirit was not something that could be laughed off with a few casual words.
He had heard that the Creation Sect's true disciples could choose more secret arts to study, but their oaths often involved being struck by five heavenly thunderbolts or dying violently on the spot. By comparison, the oath required of him as a rogue cultivator was fairly mild.
Once the oath was complete, Li Chen felt his heart sink slightly, as though some restraint had been added to his divine soul.
Seeing that Li Chen had completed his oath, the instructors looked at him with considerably greater warmth. He was now a genuine Puppet Master and could be considered a collateral inheritor closely affiliated with the Creation Sect.
Next, before everyone present, Li Chen held the Jade Slip in his hand, immersed his divine sense within it, and began to perceive its contents.
The legacy inscribed by a master of the Creation Sect had already been stored inside. Vast quantities of information flowed into his mind like a murmuring stream.
As the legacy faded away, the entire Jade Slip gradually lost its luster and became as hard as metal.
A secret art's legacy generally consisted of two main parts: true intent and written text. The true intent transmitted the cultivation of the relevant divine abilities and spells, while the text consisted of formulas, annotations, and the like, which anyone could write and compile according to their own understanding. These did not necessarily accord with what Yan Shi had passed down.
Thus, this world regarded a complete legacy as a true transmission. Incomplete ones containing only text without true intent were false legacies, forged legacies, or fragmentary texts.