"With your connections, is it really impossible for you to find a Emperor Level talisman master to help you?"
Chen Mu still felt something was wrong and continued to ask.
"Hehe, it seems that National Preceptor Chen Mu doesn't have a sufficient understanding of his own value!"
Practitioners of the Dao of Talismans have always been rare, and those who can reach the Emperor Level are invariably honored guests of major powers; none of them are easy to invite.
If Chen Mu hadn't broken through to the Emperor Level, even if he were at the Peak King Grade, Fan Jing wouldn't say much to him.
There are probably no more than ten Emperor Level Talisman Masters in the entire Pan Emperor Continent.
As one of the four ancient academies, Heaven-Questioning Pavilion only had He Xiao, a talisman master at the Early Emperor Grade, before Elder Ming's strength was restored. This shows how rare it is to reach the Emperor Level.
"National Master Chen Mu, the reason I asked you to do me this favor is actually because I value your Dao of Talismans arts."
The products of your Chen Industries are so good that even the Heavenly Puppet Sect struggles to keep up. I believe you can bring me good news.
While the realm of the Divine Soul can measure a talisman master's strength, it is not equivalent to a Dao of Talismans master's mastery of the talisman path. Breakthroughs in the Divine Soul lie in the training of the mind. One can train the Divine Soul through methods such as the Dao of Talismans, the Dao of Formations, and the Dao of Alchemy path, thereby forming different paths of soul cultivation. However, understanding each path requires the cultivator's own comprehension.
It's like college students on Earth; some have real talent, while others just pass the exams, so the results are naturally vastly different.
The remaining runic power in the Tomb of the Gods requires rune masters who truly understand runes. Those rune masters who only have the realm but a shallow understanding of runes are of no use going in.
Chen Mu's Rune Research Institute is now quite famous in the rune cultivation world, clearly indicating that he is a scholar with a deep understanding of runes, which is what Fan Jing values in him.
After hearing Fan Jing's explanation, Chen Mu remained silent for a long time before finally nodding.
"Understood! I'll head to the Tomb of the Gods then. Please lead the way, Master!"
He stood up abruptly.
"Alright! Grand Preceptor Chen Mu is a man of few words, let's set off now."
Fan Jing seemed somewhat excited; clearly, the objects from the Tomb of the Gods were very important to him.
After leaving the room, the two spoke with their subordinates separately, instructing them on arrangements during their absence.
The environment inside the Tomb of the Gods is harsh, and it is extremely dangerous even for the Core Formation Realm cultivators. Chen Mu told Gu Zi'an to return to the Chen Kingdom first, and that he would return after obtaining the information he wanted.
Fan Jing gave some instructions to the obese old man who was waiting at the door before leading Chen Mu into the courtyard outside.
With a whoosh, Fan Jing released his flying magic weapon.
This is a slender flying shuttle. When amplified by Spiritual Power, it is four or five meters long. The shuttle body emits a purple glow, giving it an extraordinary appearance.
Fan Jing leaped up and stood at the front of the shuttle, giving Chen Mu a friendly smile.
"National Preceptor Chen Mu, my Purple Cloud Shuttle is an eighth-grade magic treasure. It is estimated to rank within the top hundred among flying magic treasures in the entire Pan Emperor Continent."
If you want to reach the entrance to the Tomb of the Gods quickly, please come up!
Chen Mu glanced at Fan Jing's Purple Cloud Shuttle a few times, then shook his head and released his own Rune Puppet Flying Car.
"No need, I can just follow behind in my own flying car."
Fan Jing was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. He glanced at Chen Mu's Rune Puppet Flying Car and felt a surge of dissatisfaction. He thought to himself, "Does Chen Mu really think his mechanical puppet can catch up with my Purple Cloud Shuttle? That's underestimating me too much!"
However, Fan Jing was a skilled strategist and did not immediately show his abilities. Instead, he planned to leave Chen Mu far behind and teach him a lesson later.
It's no wonder that Fan Jing reacted this way. The cultivation world values individual strength and has never paid much attention to unorthodox methods like mechanical puppets.
Although magical artifacts are also external forces, they are ultimately only auxiliary. To unleash their full power, it still depends on the cultivator themselves.
To date, the strongest mechanical puppet in the world of talisman cultivation is the Golden Puppet. However, even if it is made with the best materials, the Golden Puppet's strength will not exceed that of the Core Formation Realm. In the eyes of true experts, it is just a toy.
Now, Chen Mu is taking out a puppet vehicle and saying he wants to catch up with the magical artifact he is driving, which is as absurd as someone on Earth saying they can keep up with a car on a bicycle.
"Very well! If Grand Preceptor Chen Mu is ready, shall we set off?"
Seeing Chen Mu enter the Rune Puppet Flying Car, Fan Jing suppressed his impatience and asked.
"Okay, let's go!"
As soon as Chen Mu finished speaking, a purple light flashed in the air, and Fan Jing, riding the Purple Cloud Shuttle, disappeared from the spot.
Inside the Rune Puppet Flying Car, Chen Mu was not in a hurry. He watched the red dot on the screen gradually fly away and issued several commands to the flying car through the Auxiliary Intelligence Brain.
The next moment, the tail of the Rune Puppet Flying Car spewed out cyan flames and roared into the sky.
Fan Jing steered the Purple Cloud Shuttle at an extremely fast speed, and left Guangling City in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
"Strange, why didn't we see Chen Mu following us?"
Although he intended to give Chen Mu a hard time, he didn't want to make things too ugly, so he stopped outside the city, but didn't see Chen Mu.
Just then, a man's voice suddenly came from within the clouds above.
"OP, why are you stopping?"
Fan Jing was immediately shocked. When he looked up, he saw Chen Mu's Rune Puppet Flying Car hovering above his head.
"What a brilliant method of concealment!"
He used the power of his dantian to enhance his senses, and only then did he discover that a spatial force was surrounding Chen Mu's Rune Puppet Flying Car. It would be difficult for him to detect its existence if he did not concentrate fully.
"The Imperial Advisor's puppetry skills are truly superb! It seems I was too naive."
He wasn't a petty person; he readily admitted that he had underestimated the other party.
On the other hand, the higher Chen Mu's rune puppetry skills were, the more confident he would be in retrieving his belongings from the Tomb of the Gods, which was a good thing for him, and he was immediately in a great mood.
"No need for you to say that, OP. Time is precious, please continue on your way!"
Chen Mu did not take Fan Jing's probing to heart; he only wanted to get to the Tomb of the Gods as soon as possible.
"Alright! Then I'll go full speed ahead."
Without holding back, Fan Jing fully activated his Purple Cloud Shuttle and rushed towards the entrance of the Tomb of the Gods.
On the way, he discovered that even when he pushed his speed to the limit, Chen Mu's Rune Puppet Flying Car could still keep up with him closely, clearly indicating that Chen Mu still had some spare capacity.
This discovery greatly surprised him. Mechanical puppets are different from magical artifacts. Magical artifacts are an extension of the host's strength and require the host to expend mental energy to refine them in order to unleash their power. They are highly dependent on the host, and once there is no host, most of them are basically useless.
However, mechanical puppets do not depend on a host; they are entirely external forces, and whoever obtains them can immediately put them to use.
The reason why mechanical puppets were not valued in the past was mainly due to the lack of high-end combat power. In the entire world of talisman cultivation, there were almost no mechanical puppets that reached the level of the Emperor Level. This led to puppetry being regarded as a heretical and unorthodox art, which was not worthy of serious consideration.
The reason why, despite the significant impact of the Chen Kingdom's Chen Industries in the market, no other force besides the Heavenly Puppet Sect felt threatened by the Chen Kingdom's rise is precisely this.
In Fan Jing's eyes now, although Chen Mu's Rune Puppet Flying Car did not demonstrate combat power, in terms of speed, it had already fully reached the Emperor Level standard.
Although Fan Jing didn't know the exact level of Chen Mu's puppetry skills, he could tell from a single leaf that autumn was coming. He already had a premonition that Chen Mu would inevitably have a huge impact on the puppetry world in the future.