Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 303 The Mastermind (Part 1)

The main issue is that the term "manipulating corpses" is too unusual. It is clearly related to the puppetry techniques in the immortal path, and it is the "corpse puppetry" technique that is not very respectable.

The reason why "corpse puppet technique" is considered unseemly is because this method is against the natural order.

This "offending the harmony of Heaven" does not refer to the moral aspect, but rather to the fact that if one acts in this way, it will offend the harmony of Heaven and be intolerable to the Heavenly Dao. When one breaks through in the path of immortality, the Heavenly Tribulation will be hundreds or thousands of times more difficult than that of ordinary cultivators. Not only will one fail to break through the Heavenly Tribulation, but one will also face a near-death experience, which is really not worth it.

Moreover, the cultivation of immortality is about cultivating the mind, the great path within the mind. Few people truly regard this insidious method as their own "great path." If the "great path" is unstable, how can one possibly achieve anything?

Over time, this method became "unacceptable".

and……

If I remember correctly, the widely circulated story of the fall of the Zhou Kingdom was caused by a monk with the Buddhist name "Mingjing" who used the Corpse Puppet Technique to wipe out almost the entire Zhou royal family, thus causing the fall of the Zhou Kingdom and forcing my master to take over the mess of the Zhou Kingdom.

Could it be that the monk named "Mingjing" is not actually dead, but has gone to Yunnan and Yunnan to cause trouble?

“This is a big deal, I need to write another letter to my master…”

Tang Xiaoyu muttered to herself, her expression not very pleasant.

Regardless, she was born and raised in Da Changhe Kingdom. Even though Jiannan Road was a tributary state and she didn't feel a sense of belonging to Da Changhe Kingdom, she didn't want Da Changhe Kingdom to end up like Zhou Kingdom.

"Grandpa, don't rush. I know what you're thinking," Tang Zhongfu blurted out in his haste, his words carrying a hint of Sichuan dialect: "The situation in Da Changhe Kingdom is quite different from that in Zhou Kingdom. There's no 'body snatching' or anything like that mentioned in the 'White Stone Immortal Dao Book.' It's just ordinary manipulation of wild beasts and corpses, so it's unlikely to be the 'Mirror-like National Master'!"

As the military governor of Jiannan Circuit, and essentially the local emperor of Jiannan Circuit, Tang Zhongfu had always been concerned about the general situation of the world. He had also long ago found out the whole story of the fall of the Zhou Kingdom. He probably knew more than Tang Xiaoyu, so his tone was very confident.

Tang Xiaoyu was skeptical: "You've never even seen Mingjing, how can you be so sure?"

"Although I have never met the Mingjing National Preceptor, I have worshipped the Three Altar Gods!" Tang Zhongfu explained, "As the Jiedushi, I also worshipped the Three Altar Gods and the Cave Master Goddess during the Dragon King Festival a few days ago. Among the Three Altar Gods, the 'White God' of the Bai tribe did respond and sent down a stone slab with inscriptions. I looked at it and it seems to be a kind of cultivation technique, which is very likely the legendary 'Divine Sorcery'!"

Tang Chi asked in surprise, "Even you can obtain 'Divine Sorcery'. If it's such a powerful technique, why doesn't the Second Prince cultivate it?"

Tang Xiaoyu then asked, "Did you bring that stone slab with you?"

"It's right here, Ancestor, please take a look."

Tang Zhongfu handed over the stone slab and then explained to Tang Chi, "To be honest, this 'divine sorcery' is not something that can be easily cultivated. It requires sacrificing one's own finger and then offering sacrifices to slaves... that is, living people, in order to cultivate it. I only feel that there is something strange about it, so how could I dare to cultivate it!"

“You’re right not to cultivate,” Tang Xiaoyu glanced at the words and patterns on the stone slab, feeling somewhat more confident, and said, “This is a contract. Once signed, you…”

She glanced at Tang Zhongfu briefly before adding, "You'll become a 'human puppet' that can be controlled at any time!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Zhongfu felt a wave of fear wash over him, and his face turned pale with fright.

When he first got his hands on that stone slab, he was truly tempted—who wouldn't be?

The Bai tribe alone, because of a "divine witchcraft", wiped out the Grand Prince and the royal family, leaving only a handful of people. This forced the Second Prince, who took over the last military force, to flee hundreds of miles to the north!

If I were to cultivate this skill as well, perhaps the Great Changhe Kingdom could also be named after the Tang Dynasty.

Fortunately, Tang Zhongfu was a man of the world, and being from the Tang Clan, he already knew about the Blood Demon and the Blood Demon Pearl. He noticed something was amiss when he saw that the sacrifice of his own flesh and blood was suspicious. Reason prevailed over desire, and he did not act rashly.

Looking back now, I'm terrified.

Tang Chi sighed, “Alas, this is an open scheme. If you want to become a king and dominate, you have to practice this kind of technique. But to practice this kind of technique, you have to sign a contract and turn yourself into a puppet. Not to mention that ordinary people don’t understand that this is a contract, even if they do understand, they may not be willing to give it up for the sake of immediate benefits.”

Tang Xiaoyu said, "This matter must be related to what happened in Zhou Kingdom before! If this puppet technique hadn't been passed down from the White Stone Immortal Sect, I would have only heard of it from the Zhou Kingdom incident!"

Tang Zhongfu was still somewhat skeptical: "But if it is the Mingjing National Preceptor, why doesn't he follow the example of what happened before and directly target the royal family of Da Changhe Kingdom, 'possessing' the Dong family? Wouldn't that allow him to control the entire Da Changhe Kingdom even more?"

"How would I know!"

Tang Xiaoyu spread his hands and said helplessly, "No matter what, this is a big deal. I need to talk to my master. As for you guys, just hold your positions for now. As long as Bai Bu and the others don't confront us, just pretend to be deaf and dumb for a while and see what my master says before we take action!"

Having reached an agreement, Tang Xiaoyu didn't waste any more time. She immediately flew to the nearest teleportation array in Liangzhou, used two arrays, and returned directly to the White Stone Immortal Sect to report the matter to Zhang Chengdao. Zhang Chengdao had been idle these past few days, cultivating every day. Upon hearing the news from Tang Xiaoyu, his scalp tingled with fear.

The Zhou Kingdom incident was already enough to give him a headache, and now the Great Changhe Kingdom is on his way. When will this ever end?
But leaving it unattended is also not an option. Firstly, if he doesn't take responsibility for this kind of thing, then probably no one in the world will be able to handle it.

and……

Although I killed the Mirror Master with my own hands last time, who knows if such a thing has a backup plan to be resurrected?

He had also talked about this with He Yu, and the two even made the worst-case scenario plan. For example, the Blood Demon and the Mirror Master were friends who were trapped in this world with He Yu back then. However, things have changed drastically over time, and no one knows what happened to them that made them so extreme and so sinful.

If it was that person, his initial cultivation level was quite high, at least at the Nascent Soul stage. It would be quite difficult to truly kill a cultivator of that level. It's hard to say whether the "Mirror Master" back then was an avatar of that Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

In short, whether for public or private reasons, Zhang Chengdao had to deal with this matter, so he could only kindly comfort the worried Tang Xiaoyu before heading to the underworld to conscript men, still smelling of his class uniform.

"You mean, you've heard news about my friend!?"

Upon hearing this, He Yu's expression was a mixture of surprise and pain.

The surprise is that there may be other cultivators in this world who share the same origin as him; the pain is that, for some unknown reason, this fellow cultivator may have gone astray and become strange and ruthless.

Zhang Chengdao didn't give a definitive answer, frankly saying, "I'm not sure, but it sounds like this kind of movement isn't something that people in this world could figure out on their own."

He Yu remained silent for a long time before sighing, "No matter what, I still have to go and see. At least I want to know why he turned out this way..."

After making the decision, He Yu summoned the weasel demon and instructed him, "I have important business to attend to this time. You are already familiar with the uses of the Soul-Binding Rope, Soul-Guiding Hook, and Soul-Fixing Shackle. If you are unable to handle it, seek help from Manager Xu of the White Stone Immortal Sect. If even the disciples of the White Stone Immortal Sect are helpless, have Chang Ping'an send a message to Fellow Daoist Zhang and me. Do you understand?"

The weasel demon is now completely different from other demons. It wears a hideous ghost mask, a black armor with gold and red patterns, and thick-soled leather boots. It is now as tall as an ordinary person and looks quite imposing.

It respectfully clasped its hands in a salute to He Yu, saying, "As you command!"

After settling their only subordinate, He Yu and Zhang Chengdao immediately set off for Da Changhe Kingdom with Tang Xiaoyu.

At this point, Zhang Chengdao couldn't care less about issues like "illegal entry." He definitely needed to settle things with the Great Changhe Kingdom before he could talk about anything else.

“What’s recorded here isn’t all ‘corpse puppet technique’,” He Yu said, examining the stone slab as they walked. “At least this part is a somewhat insidious method of controlling beasts. It’s a forbidden technique in my sect. This method is very harmful to exotic beasts, and anyone caught using it will be punished by the Immortal Alliance’s Enforcement Division.”

Tang Xiaoyu said, "I don't recognize this piece. I only recognize the back part where there is a contract signed voluntarily to be a puppet. Moreover, the wording has been changed to be very obscure, only using sacrificial talismans for blessing. It's really insidious!"

She knew absolutely nothing about the art of beast taming. If it weren't for the fact that she was in charge of the teleportation array and had to study many books in the library explaining arrays and runes, she probably wouldn't have been able to understand the later part of the text.

"You're right, that method is truly insidious."

He Yu shook his head and sighed, putting the stone slab back into his sleeve without saying anything more.

He really didn't know what to say. After seeing the contents of this stone tablet, he was almost 80% certain that the person behind it was the Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had mistakenly entered this world with him.

Although the cultivation civilizations in many worlds follow the same path, relying on spiritual energy to transcend, they are still largely similar. At least some of the sayings and unique terms in the Beast Taming Technique come from his original world.

The contents of this stone tablet were definitely not his own creation; the only remaining possibility is that the Nascent Soul cultivator was behind it all.

Why would he do such a thing...?

He Yu was very puzzled.

In order to give the two a chance to return, he was willing to sacrifice his physical body. As long as the other party followed their original plan and helped the world's spiritual energy to recover step by step, and loosened the world's barrier, then leaving the world would be just around the corner.

But all his actions seemed to only allow him to cultivate and break through, without giving him any chance to break through the world barrier!

In other words, the meager spiritual energy generated by He Yubing's self-disintegration was simply insufficient to support his cultivation to a high level. At most, he could break through one more major realm, but what good would that do?
Even though he was only a Nascent Soul cultivator, he was helpless and could only seek a chance to leave through the method of self-destruction. His friend's cultivation was a whole realm lower than his own, so it was even more impossible for him!

Surely the other party isn't an idiot who doesn't even understand this basic principle?
They didn't seem like fools when they were discussing it together!
He Yu was completely baffled, and his solemn expression made Zhang Chengdao and Tang Xiaoyu afraid to speak.

(End of this chapter)