Chapter 218 - 176: The Puppet Master’s Entrustment, Three Great Bequests
Chapter 218: Chapter 176: The Puppet Master’s Entrustment, Three Great Bequests
——It was a metallic Puppet, entirely jet-black and standing nine feet tall!
Dark purple markings glowed faintly from its joints like blood vessels, and it was clad in Heavy Armor, casting a large shadow.
The strangest part was its iron face. It had no features, only a single horizontal crack that looked like an open mouth.
A Tier Two Puppet!
To be precise, a Tier Two Puppet that was more than ninety percent complete!
The core processes had just been finished, leaving only some final, non-critical touches.
This was all information Yan Mingyi had given to Lin Changheng.
It also meant that Puppet Master Yan had essentially stepped into the Tier Two Puppet Dao, becoming a Tier Two Puppet Master.
Lin Changheng’s eyes flashed as he looked at this astonishing, fearless-of-death, human-shaped weapon of a Puppet, and he basically pieced together what had happened.
Most likely, Puppet Master Yan had successfully broken through to a Tier Two Skill and, in his immense excitement, ignored his body’s condition, causing his heart to give out.
In short, his extreme joy had turned to sorrow.
Just like that old lady at the mahjong table in his past life who dropped dead after winning a huge hand.
The Realm Puppet Master Yan had pursued for a lifetime had become his death knell at the very moment he was about to step through the door.
It was truly lamentable.
After comforting Yan Mingyi with a few more words, Lin Changheng prepared to leave and give the young woman some time for a final farewell.
But a sudden "Huh?" from her made him stop.
Tucked into the hand of the nine-foot-tall Human-shaped Puppet was a Jade Scroll. Because the hand was enormous and his attention had been drawn elsewhere, Lin Changheng hadn’t noticed it at first.
’His last words, perhaps?’
Lin Changheng guessed.
It was obvious the incident had been sudden. Puppet Master Yan must have known something was terribly wrong. He had first swallowed an Elixir to try and save himself, but when he realized it was useless, he struggled back to his bed to pass away with dignity, leaving his last words at the same time.
A Cultivator’s movements were fast; all of this could have been accomplished in a matter of breaths.
Unlike a mortal, who would have lost consciousness immediately in a sudden crisis with no time to react, or even if they had time, would be unable to act.
Just now, Lin Changheng had indeed found the dissolved but unabsorbed Elixir solution in his stomach, which corroborated this guess.
Yan Mingyi took the Jade Scroll and pressed it to her forehead to read its contents.
A short while later, a strange expression crept onto her incredibly pale face.
Lin Changheng raised an eyebrow, a thoughtful look on his face.
Soon, Yan Mingyi walked over, pressed the Jade Scroll into Lin Changheng’s hand, and then hurried off to handle the post-mortem affairs.
"Brother Lin, these are Grandpa’s last words for you."
"For me?"
Lin Changheng was stunned for a moment, then a classic trope came to mind. ’Is Puppet Master Yan entrusting his granddaughter to me?’
He extended his Divine Sense into the Jade Scroll and scanned it quickly. Moments later, he withdrew his Divine Sense with a strange expression.
No wonder such a strange look had appeared on Yan Mingyi’s face. Her grandfather had truly entrusted her to Lin Changheng.
"Even taking her in as a Maid would be fine."
Those were the original words from the Jade Scroll.
If Alchemist Lin found that unacceptable, he implored him to look after Yan Mingyi for thirty years, or until his granddaughter broke through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, after which he could send her away.
He also emphasized Yan Mingyi’s excellent practical skills—saying she was a whiz at cooking, Brewing, and managing a Medicinal Field. She could take very good care of Alchemist Lin and keep his cave residence neat and tidy, allowing him to focus on Alchemy without being disturbed by mundane matters.
Furthermore, she possessed considerable Talent for Puppets and could be self-sufficient, ensuring she would not be a burden to Alchemist Lin.
Reading this, Lin Changheng couldn’t help but nod in approval.
But it didn’t end there.
Puppet Master Yan had also promised benefits.
The Tier Two Puppet, more than ninety percent complete, was to be given to Alchemist Lin as a Guardian Dao. Mingyi knew how to finish the remaining parts and was capable of doing so.
Furthermore, once Alchemist Lin fulfilled his promise, the Tier Two Upper Grade Puppet Inheritance, locked within Yan Mingyi’s memory by a powerful Secret Technique, could also be gifted to him.
The message also hinted that this powerful Secret Technique was of extraordinary origin and that no one less than a Core Formation Cultivator could hope to bypass it.
He had to admit, the conditions combined with these benefits were very tempting to Lin Changheng.
It seemed Puppet Master Yan hadn’t just made these arrangements last night on his deathbed; he had likely been planning for his granddaughter’s future for a long time.
Lin Changheng’s Elixir had given him hope of living a little longer, only for that hope to be snatched away by the sudden breakthrough in the Tier Two Puppet Dao.
’Thirty years or a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment...’
Lin Changheng’s eyes flickered. The former was clearly easier to achieve.
Thirty years was not a long time for him.
According to the slow Cultivation progress of the Jade Void Brilliance Scripture, in thirty years, he should ideally be in the Middle Stage Foundation Establishment...
For someone with a Lifespan of over three hundred years, it was no great issue—just a small phase.
In exchange, he would get a capable "Maid," a Tier Two Puppet, and a Tier Two Upper Grade Puppet Dao Inheritance.
Setting aside sentiment and looking at it purely from a cost-benefit perspective, it was definitely not a losing deal.
Having made his decision, Lin Changheng gave Yan Mingyi some time for her farewell before helping her with the funeral arrangements.
Funerals in the Cultivation Realm were not complicated. Lin Changheng had helped arrange send-offs for several promising young friends before and was quite efficient.
The most important point was that cremation was mandatory.
In the Cultivation Realm, a corpse was also a resource, so they were generally not buried directly in the earth.
Otherwise, it was highly likely the body would be used for Corpse Refinement or its Materials harvested for other Evil Dao purposes.
One couldn’t even rest in peace after death.
...
Two evenings later, Yan Mingyi finished packing her things in the courtyard and followed Lin Changheng back to his cave residence at the Outer Lake.
Of course, Lin Changheng had spoken with her beforehand to get her thoughts on the matter.
If she had been unwilling, he wouldn’t have forced her.
The answer was obvious. Yan Mingyi had agreed without a second thought and even showed a certain dependence on Lin Changheng.
The Yan Family grandfather and granddaughter had lived in seclusion and truly didn’t have many close friends.
Lin Changheng was one of them, having earned the approval of both grandfather and granddaughter.
Otherwise, Puppet Master Yan would not have entrusted her to him on his deathbed.
"Mingyi, you can choose any room you like in the cave residence to stay in. You can also pick an unused one and convert it into a Puppet Refining workshop."
"Don’t feel too constrained."
Lin Changheng said with a smile, not truly thinking of her as a Maid or servant.
"Thank you for taking me in, Brother Lin."
Yan Mingyi looked much better, but a trace of sorrow remained. Accepting the loss of a loved one was a slow process.
"Except for the Spirit Medicine Field behind the cave residence—there are some precious Spirit Medicines there, and I’ve placed an Array so it’s inaccessible. I’ll tend to that myself. You can go pretty much anywhere else."
Lin Changheng added after a moment of thought.
News of these Spirit Medicines could not be leaked, especially since it involved the external application of the True Intent of his Rongsheng Divine Abilities. He had to be even more careful to keep it under wraps.
Never mind that she was only at the Sixth Layer of Qi Cultivation; even someone at the Ninth Layer wouldn’t be able to break through the Concealing Array Lin Changheng had set up.
"I understand."
Yan Mingyi nodded obediently, committing his words to memory.
"Right, for now, just focus on familiarizing yourself with the place. You can start completing the Tier Two Puppet after a while. When the time comes, just make a list of the Materials you need and give it to me. This isn’t like the Inner City of the Immortal City; it’s quite remote, so it wouldn’t be safe for you to go shopping for them alone."
After saying this, Lin Changheng turned and went into seclusion for his Cultivation.
When he emerged at noon the next day, the cave residence had been swept and tidied until it was spotless—a much better result than his previous Silver-White Puppet had ever managed.
At the same time, a spread of Spiritual Food had been laid out on the table.
The pervasive aroma was enough to make one’s mouth water.
"Brother Lin, come and eat!"
"You’ve worked hard."
Seeing Yan Mingyi watching him with a gentle smile from beside the table, Lin Changheng finally felt that this large cave residence had a spark of life to it.
’This isn’t bad at all.’
Before, he would just quietly consume Fasting Pills and almost never touched Spiritual Food—a true "ascetic Cultivation" in every sense of the word.
"CHIRP CHIRP..."
The Black Armored Earth Turtle suddenly cried out.
It turned out the turtle also had its own portion of Spiritual Food, which it was ravenously devouring in a corner, letting out satisfied cries.
The turtle was quite familiar with Yan Mingyi. When they were still neighbors, she would often come over to play with it and bring it Spiritual Food to eat.
Lin Changheng shook his head with a helpless smile, sat down, and began to eat heartily.
...
Time continued to pass, and in the blink of an eye, the appointed day for Refining the Foundation Establishment Pill had arrived.