What Li Ping did not know was this.
For over a thousand years, Daoist Gaoji had lived in the grip of his obsession with revenge.
Most of the wealth he had earned over that millennium had gone toward purchasing High-Tier Thunder Beads for his earlier plan, in an attempt to blast the Ice Flood Dragon to death.
Because of that, he had only refined one Third-Tier Top-Grade Puppet to house himself, along with several second-tier Puppets to do his bidding.
After his plan to blow up the Ice Flood Dragon failed, he had concealed his identity and returned to Silver Moon City. But before he could gather enough resources to refine a few more Puppets-
Silver Moon City had descended into the chaos of a Beast Tide and drawn the attention of a Demonic Path Nascent Soul Cultivator from Great Zhou. Everyone in the city had died.
In truth, with his Puppet body and the Interstitial Sphere's unique ability to block divine sense, Daoist Gaoji had been confident he could hide from a Nascent Soul Cultivator that day.
But he had wanted to threaten the Nascent Soul Cultivator into dealing with the Ice Flood Dragon and give himself more bargaining chips.
After hiding the Interstitial Sphere, he had chosen to reveal his Third-Tier Top-Grade Puppet and bargain with that Nascent Soul Cultivator. In the end, the Puppet had been destroyed.
Daoist Gaoji had not taken the loss of a mere Puppet to heart.
He had hidden several second-tier Puppets outside, along with plenty of materials suitable for refining third-tier Puppets. His lifespan was endless, after all; he had more than enough time to recover his strength.
But he had feared that the Nascent Soul Cultivator was still lurking nearby, waiting for him, so he had never dared make a move.