Chapter 367: The Art of Puppetry
The scene of Chen Tian’s tribulation was seared into his mind, replaying with vivid clarity. A storm of excitement and apprehension brewed within him.
He was only a single minor realm away from the Golden Core. Once he reached the Perfection stage of Foundation Establishment, he would have no choice but to seek his own breakthrough.
A three-Spirit-Root cultivator like Chen Tian had faced three bolts of Turbid Thunder. By that logic, his five Spirit Roots would draw at least five.
But that wasn’t the true danger.
The real threat was the exponential scaling of the tribulation’s power. Dual Spirit Roots doubled the might of the heavenly lightning. Three Spirit Roots didn’t triple it—they quadrupled it. Four Spirit Roots amplified it sixteen-fold. For his five Spirit Roots, the power would be magnified by a factor of at least two hundred and fifty-six.
The sheer difficulty and risk of his breakthrough were incalculable. He had to prepare for a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.
His only saving grace was the abundance of time. Unlike other Foundation Establishment cultivators, he didn’t have to live with the constant, gnawing fear of his Lifespan reaching its end.
Jiang Chen’s thoughts sharpened into a clear plan. *From now on, I will focus on only two things. First, I will enrich my arsenal and bolster my comprehensive strength. Second, I will get every scrap of information I can from Chen Tian about the five-Spirit-Root breakthrough.*
***
In the days that followed, Jiang Chen’s life settled into a disciplined rhythm. He would occasionally patrol the outer perimeter of the Spirit Farm, conducting inspections and reviews. Most of his time, however, was spent at home—tending his plants, cultivating, and immersing himself in the study of cultivation techniques and spells.Through relentless effort, he finally managed a preliminary grasp of the runes for the “Art of Puppetry.”
The complexity was staggering.
And that was before even considering the countless combination runes and the far more profound rune arrays. To truly master it through conventional means would take more than a decade.
Besides, the runes were only one piece of the puzzle. The true key was the complete Art of Puppetry.
A thought flickered in his mind, and Jiang Chen immediately summoned his attribute panel.
`Puppetry Art Runes: Novice`
`Consume 20 years of Lifespan to repair and complete the Art of Puppetry?`
Jiang Chen didn’t hesitate for a second, accepting the offer decisively.
Instantly, his entire being plunged into a mysterious and profound state of Epiphany. The duration was immense, nearly matching the time it took to integrate the Myriad Insects Secret Record.
The Art of Puppetry was neither a cultivation technique nor a spell. It was a craft—a deep and intricate skill that demanded years of accumulated knowledge. The sheer volume and depth of the information were hard to fathom.
Fortunately, the system’s heaven-defying power was its ability to use his existing knowledge, experience, skills, and insights as a foundation to deduce and complete the entire art form.
An unknown amount of time passed before he finally surfaced from the depths of his Epiphany.
`Art of Puppetry: Novice`
`Effect 1: Craft basic, single-unit puppets.`
`Consume 1 year of Lifespan to upgrade the Art of Puppetry to Proficient?`
Jiang Chen curled his lip. “Is this the first day you’ve known me?”
`Consume 5 years of Lifespan to upgrade the Art of Puppetry to Masterful?`
The Lifespan cost was much lower this time, and the resulting state of Epiphany was fleeting. In the span of a few breaths, everything fell perfectly into place.
`Art of Puppetry: Masterful`
`Effect 1: Craft basic, single-unit puppets.`
`Effect 2: Craft multi-functional, combined puppets.`
`Effect 3: Craft puppets from spirit materials and remnant souls.`
`Effect 4: Craft puppet legions and pseudo-sentient puppets.`
`Effect 5: All things can be puppets; craft spiritually-linked, symbiotic puppets.`
`Special Effect 1: Puppets share perception with their creator.`
`Special Effect 2: Puppets will possess rule-level abilities.`
`Special Effect 3: Puppets can cultivate and comprehend the Dao on behalf of their master.`
`Special Effect 4: Creator and puppets share energy and distribute damage.`
`Special Effect 5: Inscribing Puppetry Art runes elicits a response from the laws of Heaven and Earth.`
Jiang Chen gave a slight nod of satisfaction. “I suppose that makes me a grandmaster in the path of puppetry now.”
With this skill in his arsenal, he could craft any puppet he could imagine.
His first project, of course, would be the Fortress. With it fully functional, he could free himself from daily chores like weeding. He could also program the Fortress to handle the timed feedings for Da Huang, Gege, the pearl chickens, the turtle, and the fish, ensuring he never forgot or missed a schedule.
With a new sense of purpose, Jiang Chen rose and headed for the second level of his basement.
The first level was primarily for brewing wine. The second was far more versatile, containing dedicated rooms for alchemy, artifact forging, and cultivation. He rarely used the cultivation room, however, preferring to be surrounded by the life of his plants and trees. The alchemy and forging rooms, on the other hand, saw frequent use, especially now.
After all, the opening of the Return to Ruins Secret Realm was only two days away.
This time, however, Jiang Chen was not there for alchemy or artifact forging. Seeking absolute solitude, he entered the cultivation room and retrieved the Fortress core.
Before mastering the Art of Puppetry, the core had been an indecipherable enigma, its mechanisms impossible to even imitate. Now, its secrets lay bare before him. He could discern the truth of its construction with a single glance, making judgments with unerring accuracy.
As he suspected, the Fortress was a spirit-plant puppet.
He now understood the hierarchy of the craft. The most common types were mud puppets and paper talismans—simple vessels that could be activated and controlled with basic runes. These were entry-level creations.
A step above were the complex mechanical puppets born from Yan-technique. They demanded specific materials and more advanced runes. Their difficulty was moderate—neither exceptionally high nor trivially low.
More profound still were the bone-blood puppets. Built upon the principles of Yan-technique, they were refined from skeletal remains that still contained essence blood. The runes had to resonate perfectly with this blood, making the creation process incredibly demanding.
Beyond that were the artifact-spirit puppets, the pinnacle of conventional puppetry. The materials had to be Spirit Weapons or Magical Artifacts that already possessed a sentient spirit, and the puppeteer had to forge a contract of equals with it.
And finally, at the very apex, was the taboo-like existence of spirit-plant puppets. They required not only a rare spirit-plant core but also the perfect superposition of three great arrays: the Soul Fusion Rune Array, the Soul Control Rune Array, and the Life Rune Array. Furthermore, one had to integrate the complete, living soul of a human or a demon.
The path of puppetry, he now understood, always followed a sacred trinity: runes formed the skeleton, a drive mechanism formed the soul, and the vessel itself formed the body.
Jiang Chen extended his spiritual sense, carefully probing the Fortress core. Logically, a soul bound in such a way should be twisted with resentment, yet he found none. It felt clean, pure.
A realization dawned on him. *Perhaps it was once filled with hatred, but the influence of the poplar tree spirit purified it. Since that’s the case… it’s time you truly returned to me.*
Having made his decision, he began to re-inscribe the runes for the Fortress.
Its previous creator had been skilled, capable of carving incredibly complex runes. But in Jiang Chen’s eyes, the work was riddled with flaws. Some were clearly oversights, but others were deliberate.
He found a backdoor, a kill switch. If the original creator so wished, they could activate the Fortress and command it to unleash a frenzied, suicidal attack on everything and everyone around it.
Such a danger had to be eradicated.
As Jiang Chen’s fingers danced, carving new, perfect runes onto the core, the world itself responded. The Laws of Heaven and Earth stirred, and the Law of Wood bestowed a gift. Even before its revival, the Fortress was granted an innate affinity for nature, much like a cultivator with a Wood Spirit Root.
At that very moment, his attribute panel flickered, announcing the birth of an entirely new skill.