Dark Devil Artificer Deceives the Righteous Path, Heavenly Heart's Mercy Cautions Killing

Thousand Strands Silk.

Heng Hua gently hooked it, and the silk thread descended towards Fu Xiangfeng.

"Third Brother, catch."

Xiang Feng reached out and grabbed the silk thread. The green spiritual energy thread, like a solid object, wrapped around his arm and yanked him violently into the air.

Seizing the opportunity, Xiang Feng counter-attacked with his sword.

"Crescent Moon."

The wind compressed and shot out rapidly in a crescent moon shape, completely blasting the Immovable Reef away.

"Hmm, this sword strike has some skill. The sword qi condenses into a tangible form; the Crescent Moon sword style has gained its initial appearance."

Heng Hua's revised Sky Wind Sword Scripture has three sword styles: "Crescent Moon," "Broken Flower," and "Blowing Snow."

He had originally thought it would take Fu Xiangfeng months to master the three sword styles, but unexpectedly, he had grasped the basics in just a few days.

Stabilizing himself and recovering his breath, Xiang Feng, after taking a pill, had enough energy to jest, "Your aerial maneuvering technique is also quite good."

"As a member of the Fu Family, if I can't even handle flying, how can I live up to all those bamboo board meals from when I was little?"

Heng Hua held Xiang Feng's shoulder with one hand while operating the "Scorching Fire Palm" with the other.

At this moment, reinforcements from Howling Fish and Eternal Longevity arrived from a distance.

As instructed by Heng Hua, Howling Fish laid down ice on the water's surface.

The Scorching Fire Palm blasted open the ice.

With a rumble, the ice surface exploded, and ice shards and frost danced in the air.

Accompanied by the fist wind from Eternal Longevity striking from afar, the frost drifted towards the black-robed elder.

"Ice Condensation Curse."

Heng Hua dispersed the Scorching Fire Palm, closed his left hand, then formed a hand seal and chanted. His Creation True Qi transformed into a Yin-cold attribute. The frost flying in the air turned into fine needles.

Fu Xiangfeng's eyes lit up, and he unleashed another sword strike.

Blowing Snow.

A cold wind blew, like a midwinter snow scene.

The sky full of needles shot towards the elder from all directions.

"Dark Sky Black Flame!" The elder raised his energy and spewed out a ball of true fire.

The flame light, like a horse, galloped around him twice, evaporating all the ice needles.

True Fire Realm?

Heng Hua's gaze became clear. Seizing this opportunity, he held Fu Xiangfeng and lightly tapped the water surface a few times, returning to the Cai Luan Spirit Boat.

"Third Brother, can you still fight?"

"I was just caught off guard and suffered a slight disadvantage. Since I know who it is, it's no problem."

"Who is this person?"

"His name is Mo Xu. Half a year ago, I rescued a spirit bird with phoenix blood and had dealings with him."

"So, he's here for revenge? Besides him, what's the deal with those puppets?"

Heng Hua watched the elder cast a spell, the black mist dispelling the Golden Bell Shield technique, and rescuing the three damaged blue-robed puppets.

"It's the method of one of his companions. He's an Artificer, but I haven't met him in person."

Originally, Xiang Feng thought the puppeteer was hidden within one of the puppets. But the heads of the three puppets had been smashed just now, and the person was nowhere to be seen.

Could it be that he was a dwarf?

"Little Sixth, do you think he might be nearby? Puppet techniques require the master to be close by, right?"

"That person must have used Puppet Insects to control them from thousands of miles away, like a Second Primordial Spirit. Were you asking me about puppet threads before because of him?"

"Yes, these puppets are troublesome. They are impervious to water and fire, and invulnerable to blades. You take Eternal Longevity and Howling Fish and hide in the boat first. I'll come help you after I deal with this old thief."

"No need, I know how to deal with these things. Impervious to water and fire just means the force of the water and fire isn't strong enough; invulnerable to blades just means the blades aren't sharp enough."

The three headless puppets surrounded him again. Heng Hua met them head-on, a feather fan appearing in his hand.

Furthermore, he instructed Xiang Feng and Eternal Longevity.

"Eternal Longevity, you and Third Brother deal with that old man. His cultivation technique uses Dark Yin Profound Sha, which should be related to the Demonic Cult. The demonic sha outside his body might also carry poisonous miasma. Take the Detoxification Barrier Pill before getting close."

"Eternal Longevity, use the Sky Fire Palm. Third Brother, use Samadhi True Fire to imbue your Flying Sword for attack."

Heng Hua waved the feather fan, and fierce flames ignited amidst the mist. The three blue-robed puppets were surrounded.

Mysterious Fire Sparrow Feather Fan, a Spirit Tool of the Fu Family, skilled in controlling the essence of Li Fire.

It is said that among the eighteen ink-gold feathers, five red long plumes are tail feathers of the divine bird Vermilion Bird.

With another wave, the Li Fire erupted, and the puppets turned to ash in an instant.

"Halt."

Heng Hua cast the Immobilization Technique, then used his Azure Silk to float in the air, wrapping around the black beetle that fled from the firelight.

"It really is a Puppet Insect. You thought I wouldn't notice you hiding a Devil Insect within a Cultivator Puppet?"

With a breath of Creation True Qi, the Thousand Strands Silk strangled the Devil Insect.

"Artificer, skilled in the Puppet Silk Arts. What do you think of my Thousand Strands Silk?"

In secret, Heng Hua cast another curse.

A thousand miles away, an old man with disheveled hair sitting on a reef coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.

"Damn it! I ran into a fellow practitioner?"

The old man's heart ached as he thought of the Puppet Insect he had refined for a hundred years turning to nothing.

And at the moment the Thousand Strands Silk destroyed the Puppet Insect, a strange Puppet Dao technique had followed the silk threads.

The old man's heart leaped: "Reverse Soul Seizing Technique? What a sinister brat, he's trying to take my life!"

Yan Qianyu coughed up three streams of vital blood. As Heng Hua's Puppet Technique reversed and attempted to free all the puppets under his control, Yan Qianyu used the curse power contained within his vital blood to eliminate it.

After doing all this, Yan Qianyu's face was ashen.

He had lost big. To help that old fellow Mo Xu, he had lost a Puppet Insect and a set of Crab Servants, not to mention severely damaging his own vital energy, requiring him to go into seclusion for three months.

"Damn it, Mo Xu, if you don't compensate me properly--"

Suddenly, Yan Qianyu's expression changed again. He took out Mo Xu's Spirit Entrusting Jade Token and saw that it had shattered. The black-robed elder, Mo Xu, was already dead.

"Hmm... An Artificer at the Foundation Establishment Realm, around the third layer? But his Qi and Blood are depleted, he shouldn't have much lifespan left."

After cultivators reached Foundation Establishment, their lifespan increased to five hundred years. Upon refining the Samadhi True Fire, they could gain another two hundred years. When they reached the stage of harmonizing Kan Li and forming the Jade Fluid into a Golden Elixir, they could gain another three hundred years. It was precisely because of these three lifespan increases that the nine layers of Foundation Establishment were divided into the Foundation Establishment, True Fire, and Mysterious Embryo realms.

Heng Hua gazed into the distance, casting the Profound Heaven Sect's Spiritual Inspiration Secret Method.

With the secret method's enhancement, Heng Hua guided his Mind Monkey to resonate with heaven and earth, sensing the subtle changes in spiritual energy.

"Four hundred and seventy, no, four hundred and eighty years old? Only a few decades left, I'm afraid there won't be time to find my brother and get revenge."

He turned to look at the black-robed elder's location again.

The elder, like Xiang Feng now, was at the True Fire Realm. But back then, the elder couldn't defeat Xiang Feng, who was at the Foundation Establishment Realm, so naturally, he couldn't defeat him now.

Not to mention Heng Shou providing support from the side, within a few moves, he was outmatched and killed by a sword from Xiang Feng.

Seeing the elder's head separated from his body, Heng Hua was stunned and secretly mused, "Come to think of it, I've never killed anyone since I grew up."

The corpse floated on the water's surface, and Xiang Feng cast the Corpse Dissolving Curse.

In the black light, the corpse turned to dust and scattered with the wind.

"Heng Hua, how was my sword strike, 'Broken Flower'?"

Broken Flower is a killing blow from the Sky Wind Sword Scripture.

Once the sword is unsheathed, blood is inevitable.

"So-so, not as good as Liu Hui's."

Artificer Yan Qianyu sensed the death of his companion and quickly took out his communication jade token to contact other fellow practitioners.

"Our attempt to intercept Fu Xiangfeng failed. If your Xuanxin Altar has any spare people, send a few more."

"No spare people, we're preparing to blockade Panlong Island. If you have time, come over first." The person on the other side of the jade token replied, "What's Fu Xiangfeng? Once Fu Danwei is gone, won't Baihuang Hall be at our mercy?"

Hearing the arrogant words of the Demonic Cult cultivator from Xuanxin Altar, Yan Qianyu's heart burned with anger.

Damn it, if the old man didn't need longevity medicine right now and was begging your Demonic Cult, I would have refined you into a puppet long ago, you brat!

"Fellow Daoist--"

Not far away, a young girl arrived at the reef on a Jade Dragonfly Boat.

"Excuse me, could you tell me the way to Xuanhu Island?"

Yan Qianyu saw Fu Liuhui, and then looked at the Jade Dragonfly Boat beneath her feet, his expression growing strange: "This boat... are you from the Fu Family? What is Fu Xiangfeng to you?"

"Does Fellow Daoist know my elder brother?"

Fu Liuhui gave a faint smile and was about to step onto the reef to talk when a black shadow suddenly appeared beside Yan Qianyu and slashed towards Fu Liuhui's neck.

Riiip--

Before it could get close, the black shadow was struck by sword energy and sent flying a hundred feet.

"Attacking directly? From this, are you my brother's enemy?"

A crane cry echoed from the sky, and Yellow Jade lunged at the black shadow, destroying the Mantis Puppet with its sharp beak.

Another puppet destroyed.

Yan Qianyu's old face contorted, his anger surging: Damn Fu Family, how many puppets have I lost today because of you all!

However, Yan Qianyu had already noticed that the young girl before him had only recently entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, a mere cultivator of the first layer. He himself was about to break through to the True Fire Realm, his inner fire already beginning to stir.

Kill her! Then I'll turn her into a puppet. I'll send her back to Fu Xiangfeng so he can witness his own sister's fate with his own eyes.

Thinking of Fu Xiangfeng's enraged and sorrowful face, Yan Qianyu felt a sliver of satisfaction.

Under his full control, invisible puppet threads shot out, completely sealing off Fu Liuhui's escape route.

"Little girl, it's your misfortune to be Fu Xiangfeng's sister--"

The puppet threads snapped one by one, and Yan Qianyu's expression faltered.

"How is this possible? This girl has a secret treasure? How could she break my spirit threads?"

An Artificer's puppet threads were incredibly tough, no less potent than a Magic Treasure.

"Puppet threads?"

The young girl raised her hand, her slender, jade-like fingers pinching a soft thread.

"I heard from Sixth Brother that Artificers are not skilled in direct combat; their strength lies entirely in their puppets. However, their puppet threads are insidious and unavoidable, a supreme art of the Artificer lineage. Some Artificers even coat them with poison."

Yan Qianyu listened to the girl's pleasant voice and was about to feign compliance before secretly dispatching his puppets to attack. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he looked down at his chest.

At some point, a sword qi had already pierced his heart.

The girl's voice carried an apology, "To prevent you from creating any strange contraptions, it's best to end this fight quickly. I apologize."

Within his chest, the sharp and imposing sword qi rapidly severed his meridians. Its purity was even greater than Fu Xiangfeng's sword qi!

Moreover, her speed was too fast; Yan Qianyu couldn't even see her draw her sword!

"Sword... Sword Cultivator?"

A Sword Cultivator, renowned for their combat prowess, hailed as "the strongest in killing, capable of breaking through realms to fight enemies"?

"You... Fu Xiangfeng... he..."

Yan Qianyu's vision darkened as he coughed up blood.

He wanted to control the remaining three Foundation Establishment puppets, but any movement of his True Essence would cause the sword qi within him to further shred his internal organs.

Sword light rose from the girl's fingertips. She maintained the same calm demeanor. "Third Brother's swordsmanship is inferior to mine. Therefore, dying by my sword is not unjust."

As the light intensified, the sky roared, and streaks of lightning struck the reef.

"Sixth Brother said that when facing an Artificer, one must never let their guard down. Therefore, I shall send you on your way with this 'Golden Thunder Sword Qi'."

The lightning sword struck down. Fu Liuhui, stepping on the Jade Dragonfly Boat, drifted away gracefully.

From a distance, watching the reef and the old man's corpse be destroyed together, the girl sighed and bowed towards Panlong Island.

"Your granddaughter has taken a life today."

Although Fu Danwei had a fiery temperament, he often admonished his children and grandchildren:

The Heavenly Heart is benevolent, showing mercy to all living beings.

We cultivators may possess the art of ascending to heaven and achieving eternal life, but we must also understand the principles of the Heavenly Dao. If things are not excessive, we should leave a sliver of hope.

Baihuang Hall respected his admonitions, rarely killing human cultivators when traveling outside.

Fu Liuhui, venturing out of the island alone, also emulated the rules of her uncles and elder brothers, setting three killing precepts for herself.

Those who are extremely wicked and evil may be killed.

Those who wish to kill me shall be killed.

Enemies who obstruct my path to enlightenment must be killed.

Aside from these three categories, minor disputes and conflicts of pride were not worth Fu Liuhui's wrath.

However, Fu Liuhui had initially thought that her three precepts could be maintained for a while as she traveled outside.

She never expected to encounter someone who wanted to kill her on the very first day she left home.

Her first killing was not accompanied by the expected panic or fear. Nor was there any joy or excitement.

It was as calm as ever, unable to stir even the slightest ripple in Fu Liuhui's Dao heart.

Only the sword box on her back vibrated, the Yuan Jun Sword seemingly displeased.

"A mere Foundation Establishment Artificer is not worthy of my Yuan Jun Sword. Rest assured, on this journey, you will have your chance to be unsheathed."

Supplementary Record:

Artificers, one of the hundred arts of cultivation, control puppets. Throughout the two thousand years of the Tianyi Calendar, the most famous Artificer was Yan Qianyu.

This person's cultivation was extremely poor, and his Artificer skills were shallow. However, he gained great renown for fighting three of the "Four Auspicious Beasts of Fu" within a single day.

During the Donglai era, people often joked, "I can defeat Yan Qianyu, so I am on the same level as the Four Auspicious Beasts of the Fu family."

-- Folk Sayings of the Three Ancient Eras of Donglai Continent