Raise a sword!

"Heh, Brother Jiang, do you think I'm too easy to talk to?" Seeing Jiang Peng in a daze, Qian Laosi asked with a hum.

Jiang Peng nodded subconsciously.

Immediately afterwards, he saw Qian Laosi's bitter smile.

"Brother Jiang, what do you think I can do? What can I do even if I'm unwilling to accept it?"

Jiang Peng looked at Qian Laosi for a long time and finally understood why this man was so easy to talk to.

Yes.

Qian Laosi, a rogue cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, is a nobody who has taken refuge with the Song family.

Facing Jiang Peng, a disciple backed by a sect and an elder of the Pill Hall.

At the same time, his cultivation level was not as high as Jiang Peng's.

In this situation, what could he do?

Qian Laosi, standing before Jiang Peng, made no attempt to conceal the helplessness of a nobody.

Whether it's to gain sympathy or something else.

At least at this moment, Jiang Peng did feel a bit of pity for Qian Laosi.

"Alright, stop looking so gloomy." Jiang Peng patted Qian Laosi on the shoulder. "It's true that you couldn't seize this opportunity. All you have to do from now on is keep your mouth shut and wait for the benefits to come to you."

"I'll handle all the trouble. What more could you possibly want? If you don't trust me that much, why did you drag me along in the first place?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Laosi's aggrieved expression vanished completely, and he chuckled, "There's no harm in pretending to be a little aggrieved, and keeping your mouth shut is only natural."

This isn't some kind of leverage; Qian Laosi must have been bored to leak it.

The only consequence of this news getting out was that the sect and the Song family sought out Jiang Peng to search for the treasure together.

As far as Qian Laosi is concerned, with Elder Qin as Jiang Peng's backer, it's highly unlikely he'll be eliminated.

As a guest of the Song family, what he might get in return for spreading the news is perhaps just a few words of praise from the Song family, or maybe a few spirit stones.

Instead, entrusting the matter solely to Jiang Peng might bring some pleasant surprises later.

...

After another long day of trekking, Jiang Peng returned to the Cangshan Sect.

Then, in the library of the Cangshan Sect, Jiang Peng found records about the Heavenly Crippled Daoist.

Regarding this person, Tian Can, the sect's records refer to him as True Lord Tian Can.

Nascent Soul cultivators are called True Lords. Even though Tian Can is an evil cultivator, the sect records still refer to him as a True Lord because of his cultivation level.

The records of the deeds of the Heavenly Crippled True Lord left Jiang Peng speechless.

"Playing dumb to fool others, pretending to be a lowly Qi cultivator being bullied, then revealing their true power and slaughtering the entire family?"

"Others bullied me first," Tiancan Daoren explained.

Jiang Peng remained noncommittal and continued flipping through the pages.

"They spread rumors about the treasure, set up numerous restrictions, just to watch countless low-level cultivators die and end up with nothing?"

"Cricket fighting is a way to relieve boredom."

"Adultery with other men's wives and daughters".

"She's so good-looking, I couldn't resist."

"To create a plague."

"I've come across a rare poison; let's test its effects."

Jiang Peng glanced through it briefly and then completely lost interest.

The title of Tiancan Daoren (Heavenly Crippled Taoist) as an evil cultivator is well-deserved.

Moreover, after reading about those rather absurd stories of evil cultivators, Jiang Peng realized that it was no exaggeration to call Tiancan Daoren a born scoundrel.

They truly deserved to be suppressed by Daoist Luochen for hundreds of years.

However, the experience of Tiancan Daoren was secondary. Jiang Peng inquired about many things and found that they were all largely consistent with the records. Even if there were some discrepancies, Tiancan Daoren could provide corresponding explanations, proving that the sect's records were actually wrong.

Thus, the identity of the remnant soul can finally be confirmed.

This was indeed a Nascent Soul demon who stirred up trouble in the Southern Mountain Region hundreds of years ago.

He did indeed have a stronghold in the Nanshan region.

...

Upon returning to Biwu Peak, he immediately explained all the things that had happened to him.

First, he refined a batch of Purple Jade Nourishing Pills and Dragon Tiger Pills in advance, and entrusted the disciples of the Pill Hall to deliver them to the sect and Rainbow Peak respectively.

He also left a message for Hao Xue, specifically assigning another disciple of the Pill Hall to be in charge of trading spiritual materials with Hao Xue and the subsequent pill refining.

Finally, he sent a message to Lan Yingying, saying that he was going into seclusion for a while.

After confirming that all the trivial matters had been arranged, Jiang Peng immediately went into seclusion.

......

Two months later, in the cultivation room.

Jiang Peng fiddled with the humanoid puppet in front of her.

The puppet was about the height of an eight or nine-year-old child, similar to the humanoid robots seen on the Spring Festival Gala in his previous life. Under Jiang Peng's control, it moved quite nimbly and looked no different from a real person.

But that's all.

The puppets created by true puppeteers can even rival those of cultivators of the same level.

The puppet that Jiang Peng spent two months crafting is probably no match for a farmer wielding a pitchfork in a fight.

But that's enough.

The purpose of this puppet is to empty the cave of the Heavenly Crippled Daoist. Jiang Peng only needs a scout and a laborer to carry the load.

These two issues are more than enough to be handled by this lowest-level, simplified version of the puppet.

"Your talent in weapon crafting is far inferior to your talent in alchemy," Tiancan Daoren truthfully commented.

Jiang Peng shrugged indifferently. After all, when he came into contact with the magical artifact, the Purple Gold Cauldron didn't provide the refining process like a pill.

Without endless details or repeated viewings for reference, the fact that he was able to tinker with the puppet in front of him for two months is already considered a good progress.

"My maximum control distance for this puppet is a hundred zhang. Surely your cave dwelling isn't even a hundred zhang deep?"

"Of course not, it's just a secluded place to live," Tiancan Daoren replied.

Then, he impatiently urged, "Well, you've finished crafting the puppet. When are we setting off?"

"Why are you in such a hurry, senior?"

"How can I not be anxious when you roast me with that purple fire every few days!" Tiancan Daoren said angrily. "You are truly vicious, junior. I thought that after I handed over all my inheritance, the matter of possessing your body was wiped clean, but I didn't expect you to hold such a grudge."

"It's not entirely because I hold a grudge, but also because I'm worried about you living with me, so I keep checking to see if you're still there."

"Even with the utmost caution, this is excessive! If I could escape, I would have run away long ago! But I am surrounded by that purple fire and cannot move within your fingers. How could I possibly escape?"

Jiang Peng put away the puppet in front of her and walked out of the training room.

At the same time, he casually responded in his mind.

"Just killing some time to pass the time. Anyway, no one was burned to death, so please be magnanimous."

"Your mother is a maid!"

Jiang Peng pretended not to hear Tian Can cursing.

Tiancan previously stated that most of the recorded evil deeds he committed during his lifetime were not actually intended to be evil.

His cultivation was so high that no one could control him, so he got used to doing whatever he wanted, and it was just something that came easily to him.

As for how many deaths he caused while doing so, Tiancan Daoren obviously didn't care.

Just then, Tiancan Daoren mentioned it, and Jiang Peng casually used his purple fire to roast it again.

Hearing the screams around her, Jiang Peng looked up at the sky, where the sun was shining brightly.

"It's a good day to set off."