Cultivating as a Puppet Master

Chapter 154: Chapter 149: Return with Materials, New Mission, Initial Corpse Puppet Refinement

Hearing such an astonishingly generous offer, Lu Zhao felt no joy. Instead, his guard went up instantly, his expression turning solemn. ’Nothing good ever falls from the sky. And even if it did, the filling would probably be poison!’

Wang Ping saw Lu Zhao’s expression change and his tone shifted, his face also growing serious. "But, Junior Brother Lu! I have to be upfront about the ugly truth! This position has been vacant for years, and for a very good reason! The Profound Ice Lake... is lethally dangerous!"

He lowered his voice to a whisper. "The mission is simple: dive deep into the Profound Ice Lake and capture a type of Tier One Middle-Grade Spirit Fish called the Cold Moon Spirit Fish. You only need to turn in ten per month."

"Fishing? The fish themselves aren’t hard to find. The trouble is the bottom of the lake! It’s home to Cold Sparrowfish, which travel in packs of ten to several dozen. These are swarming Tier One Late-Stage beasts! They’re incredibly aggressive and fight to the death! And as it happens, the Cold Moon Spirit Fish is their favorite Blood Food!"

A muscle in Wang Ping’s cheek twitched, and a genuinely bitter smile appeared on his face. "Junior Brother Lu, think about it. You’d be snatching food from the mouths of a pack of Late-stage Tier One Demon Beasts, and you’d have to do it in the deepest part of their lair... The slightest mistake..." He shook his head emphatically. "Year after year, the list of Steward Disciples stationed there who get killed or injured never shrinks. In the best-case scenario, you’d be severely wounded. In the worst... not even your bones would be left! If the Merit points and four years of peace weren’t so tempting, absolutely no one would take this job! I wouldn’t even have mentioned it if I didn’t know your methods are extraordinary and your tenacity far surpasses that of an ordinary person."

His gaze was sharp as a hawk’s, locked tightly onto Lu Zhao. "Now... do you still want to go?"

Lu Zhao was silent for a moment as an icy tension filled the small room. He then asked the most crucial question: "Are there... any Tier Two Demon Beasts in the lake?"

"Absolutely not!" Wang Ping shook his head adamantly, speaking quickly. "If there was a Tier Two Demon Beast there, this mission wouldn’t just be dangerous—it would be the Sect openly sending disciples to die! Why would the Sect do something so foolish?"

’No Tier Two Demon Beasts...’ Lu Zhao’s mind raced. A charging swarm of a dozen or more Late-stage Tier One Demon Beasts would be a death sentence for any ordinary Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Cultivator.

But Lu Zhao was no "ordinary" Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Cultivator! He possessed a powerful Divine Sense comparable to that of an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, a killing blow created by combining the Thousand Overlapping Waves Skill and the Hundred Waters Spirit Enhancement Skill, and a large number of Puppets—especially his Water Spirit Turtle Puppet, which could move through water as easily as on land! As long as he wasn’t completely surrounded and trapped at the bottom of the lake, he would have room to maneuver and perhaps even... the power to fight back and kill them!

’One year of uninterrupted cultivation, two hundred and forty precious Merit points, and four years of freedom...’ It was worth the gamble!

"Senior Brother, put my name down for it." Lu Zhao looked up, the calm in his eyes replaced by sheer determination. "I, Lu Zhao, accept this assignment."

Wang Ping stared at him, a complex, unreadable expression on his face—a mixture of admiration and resignation. It finally dissolved into a heavy sigh. "Sigh... Very well. Since you’ve made up your mind, Junior Brother Lu, then as your senior brother, I can only do my best to help you. I’ll report this immediately and change your assignment. I hope that on this journey... fortune will favor the bold and that you will turn peril into peace, and one day... return safely. As for my ’reward,’ if you do make it back, just bring me a Cold Sparrowfish corpse." He cupped his fist toward Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao returned the salute, thinking to himself, ’Wang Ping really is a decent person. That so-called ’reward’ was just for show.’

After leaving Wang Ping, Lu Zhao noted that he had a month before the mission began. He decided to use the time to make preliminary preparations for refining his Corpse Puppet.

「After leaving the Bixia Sect」

With a flicker of thought, a grayish-blue crane’s shadow flew from his Storage Bag, transforming into a giant crane with a wingspan of over ten feet. Lu Zhao leaped nimbly and landed steadily on its back.

With a single beat of its wings, the Crane Puppet kicked up a gust of wind and soared into the clouds, speeding toward Yinmu Mountain.

Lu Zhao sat cross-legged on the Crane Puppet’s back, his Heart Spirit serene. He mentally reviewed every detail of the Tri-Unity Array Formation from the Corpse Nurturing Chapter of the Blood Shadow Corpse Refining Skill.

This was the very Technique he had chosen for the Zombie he planned to create. It used three ape corpses of the same species as a base to form an Array Formation, which would then jointly nourish the corpse of the Tier Two Strong Demon Ape that held the most potential. This would not only accelerate its transformation into a Zombie but would also allow the four Corpse Puppets to establish a mystical connection from the moment of their creation, laying the groundwork for a future Puppet Battle Formation.

「Several hours later」

The iconic, ever-present silhouette of Yinmu Mountain, shrouded in grayish-black mist, appeared on the horizon. The Feathered Crane Puppet spiraled downward, precisely passing through the invisible barrier of the Illusion Array.

Upon arriving at the Corpse Nurturing Land, the familiar stench hit him—a potent mix of rotting corpses and the chill of deathly Yin Qi. Lu Zhao took a deep breath. Far from feeling uncomfortable, the corner of his mouth curved into a barely perceptible smile.

The scene before him was exactly as he had left it: a land carpeted in layers of old and new bones. The giant skeletons of Demon Beasts were mixed with the remains of Cultivators, all gleaming with a ghastly white or jet-black sheen in the dim light. It was a domain of death, and the damp, yin-cold air felt as if it could seep into one’s very marrow.

"A fine place," Lu Zhao muttered, a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes. The Yin Qi here was so rich and pure; it was the perfect breeding ground for a Corpse Puppet.

Wasting no more time, he sprang into action, first taking out the Yin Locust Wood he had prepared earlier.

This wood was innately yin-cold and incredibly tenacious, making it a superior material for a Corpse Nourishing Coffin. Lu Zhao gathered Magical Power at his fingertip, forming an invisible Carving Knife. His movements were swift and precise. Before long, three ten-foot-long coffins—crude, but with sufficiently thick walls—had taken shape.

Next, he took out the corpses of three Ape Demon Beasts. These were three Tier One High-Grade Strong Iron Apes he had acquired from a Zhuu Family caravan in Fufeng County, Yani Country. The apes were powerfully built with strong frames, and their bodies were perfectly preserved, making them prime material for creating Zombies.

Lu Zhao had already carved complex Control Spirit Patterns onto key points of their bodies—between their brows, over their hearts, and on their Dantians. These Runes were like dormant seeds, waiting for the corpses’ transformation to be complete so they could be instantly activated, becoming the core of his control over the Corpse Puppets.

Lu Zhao carefully placed each of the three ape corpses into a coffin. Then, he took out a large quantity of Bone Decay Grass and several other Auxiliary Materials and began to concoct the Corpse Nourishing Liquid.

The Bone Decay Grass had an acrid, foul stench, and its juice was as thick as ink, containing a potent corrosive and Yin Cold Power. Under Lu Zhao’s deft control, the various materials were added one by one and blended with his Magical Power. The final result was several barrels of a viscous, dark red-black liquid that gave off a pungent, sickly sweet odor.

GLUG... GLUG... ree

The dark red Corpse Nourishing Liquid was slowly poured into the three coffins, quickly submerging the ape corpses. As the liquid made contact with the flesh, it let out a faint SIZZLE, as if greedily leaching the last vestiges of Vitality from the bodies.

Seeing this, Lu Zhao took out several pigeon-egg-sized Earth Yin Stones and placed them evenly around the corpses to facilitate their transformation.

After closing the coffin lids, Lu Zhao didn’t stop. Using his finger as a brush, he dipped it into specially prepared Yin Evil Spirit Ink and began to inscribe a simple Corpse Nourishing Talisman Array on the outer wall of each coffin.

The lines of the Runes were winding and twisting, archaic and strange. As the final stroke was completed, the surfaces of all three coffins simultaneously pulsed with a faint black glow that quickly faded. The Yin Evil Qi in the air seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, gathering in wisps and flowing toward the coffins.

"Rise!"

Lu Zhao grunted, his hands forming a seal. The three heavy coffins lifted as if held by an invisible force. Following a specific alignment, they landed steadily on three key nodes in the Corpse Nurturing Land, forming a stable triangular formation that protected the area at its center.