Having studied for a hundred years, why do you call me the Martial Saint?

night.

[You read "The Missing One" today, learning about the anecdotes of ancient craftsmen whose skills were unparalleled, almost reaching the level of the Dao. However, even such creative arts were ultimately envied by the heavens. Reward: The wondrous art of "Wooden Puppet Technique"!]

Gu Shuxian suddenly opened his eyes.

"Thumbology?"

It wasn't even repaired in a day!

Is this tattered book that curses people also a strange book?

Gu Shuxian was surprised, but couldn't help but complain inwardly.

Wood Puppet Technique? Why didn't they give me the Wood Release: Three Rooms and Two Halls Technique? I clearly remember there was a little story about building a bridge in a day in it!

If we had similar technology, we could build the library ourselves!

After secretly regretting it, Gu Shuxian calmed down and carefully sensed more information in his mind.

Wooden Puppet Technique: It can endow wooden creations with spirituality, making them lifelike in form and spirit, but the spirituality endowed by internal energy is shallow and has almost no intelligence. The skills endowed are all inferior products of the practitioner.

Gu Shuxian slowly processed this information.

This wooden puppet technique has two aspects.

Firstly, he possesses exquisite wood carving skills. From tonight onward, give him a piece of wood, and he can carve almost anything he wants.

Secondly, there is the imbuing with spirit. According to the inheritance, if he consumes his inner energy, he can endow a wooden creation with a temporary spirituality, allowing it to act according to certain instructions, or even imitate the martial arts skills of the caster.

The drawback is also obvious: when a martial artist imbues their internal energy with spirit, the resulting intelligence is almost nonexistent.

Gu Shuxian frowned.

Using internal energy to imbue something feels like just a fancy trick...

Could it be that this technique also implies that if there were some kind of more spiritual energy, this piece of wood could directly transform into a living person?

But where would I get that kind of thing?

Gu Shuxian shook his head.

But having more skills is never a bad thing; you never know when a special skill might come in handy.

He began to ponder this newly acquired magical technique.

……

A few days later, on a bleak afternoon.

In a secluded pavilion on Suishan Mountain.

Shen Jianyi was holding a jar of wine.

When I came to my senses, I was already drinking heavily.

Wine dripped from the corner of his mouth onto his clothes.

His hair was somewhat disheveled, his eyes were cloudy, and he exuded an air of dejection, a stark contrast to the spirited swordsman he had been that day.

"Yo yo yo, isn't that Shen Jianyi?"

A mocking voice came from behind.

A young man in brocade robes stood outside the courtyard, arms crossed, a mocking expression on his face.

"Haven't seen you for a while, why do you look so down? I thought I'd mistaken you for someone else!"

Shen Jian raised his eyelids, saw who it was, then lowered his head again and took a swig of wine.

"He Ziling, what are you doing here?"

He Ziling smiled arrogantly, walked into the pavilion, and looked down at him from above:

"I heard that a Shaoyang Swordsman has emerged from the Suishan Sword Sect. I came here specifically to meet this master and see how amazing his swordsmanship is. Is it really as legendary as people say, capable of making your master cry?"

Shen Jianyi remained silent for a moment, then suddenly put down the wine jar.

Clang!

Longsword drawn!

Sword flashes rained down, heading straight for He Ziling!

He Ziling's expression changed, and he hastily drew his sword to parry.

Dangdang Dangdang!

Swords clashed, sparks flew!

In just a few exchanges, the short knife in He Ziling's hand was knocked away, and he fell to the ground with the sword tip pressed against his throat.

"Are you... are you crazy?!"

He Ziling's eyes widened, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

Shen Jian sheathed his sword and said coldly, "You can't even beat me, yet you want to fight the Shaoyang Sword?"

He Ziling scrambled to his feet and retreated until he reached what he considered a safe distance before taking another look at Shen Jianyi.

"I heard you were defeated by that Shaoyang Sword technique. I thought it was fake, but it turns out it's true!"

He clicked his tongue twice, the fear on his face fading, replaced by a gloating smile.

"Shen Jianyi, I never thought you'd end up like this. The once invincible genius, who was undefeated in every battle, is now reduced to this wretched state?"

Shen Jianyi sat back down on the stone bench, picked up the wine jar again, and said indifferently, "What's it to you?"

He paused, then said somewhat dejectedly, "Maybe this is just how I am. What genius, what once-in-a-century talent, it's just that I've never seen a real genius."

He Ziling's face turned cold, and he said disdainfully:

"I used to consider you my role model, thinking I would surpass you one day."

"I never expected you to be such a useless piece of trash who couldn't get back up after being defeated just once, Shen Jianyi. You've really disappointed me."

After saying that, he turned and left, his footsteps fading into the distance.

Shen Jianyi just sneered, raised the wine jar, and took another big gulp.

waste?

maybe.

The image of that sword energy resurfaced in his mind.

Will he ever be able to wield a sword like that in his lifetime?

"Shaoyang...Shaoyang..."

He murmured to himself, his eyes growing increasingly unfocused.

After an unknown amount of time, Shen Jianyi leaned against a pavilion pillar, his eyes blurry with drunkenness.

Puff puff puff!

A sound of wings flapping came from behind.

A wooden kite flew past him across the sky.

Wooden kite?

It can fly?

Shen Jian was stunned for a moment, wondering if he was drunk.

The wooden kite circled once in the air, as if waiting for him.

Shen Jianyi stood up as if possessed and staggered after him.

The wooden kite flew and stopped intermittently, leading him through mountain paths and over bushes until they finally arrived at a secluded forest.

Shen Jianyi stopped and looked around blankly.

There is no one here.

Why did you bring him here?

Just as I was wondering, my gaze suddenly fell on a spot not far ahead.

A wooden mannequin stands silently atop fallen leaves.

The mannequin was very crude; it didn't even have facial features, it just roughly resembled a human shape.

Shen Jian was stunned for a moment, not yet able to react.

The dummy suddenly moved!

It swung its wooden arm and delivered a straight punch straight at his face!

Shen Jianyi's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively dodged to the side.

The dummy missed its target and was swept away.

Shen Jianyi was still drunk and reacted a step too slowly, taking a punch and staggering back a few steps.

What incredible strength!

He was secretly surprised.

He immediately drew his longsword.

A flash of sword light.

Click!

The dummy's arm was severed instantly, but it showed no sign of stopping, and another fist followed.

Shen Jian ducked to avoid it, then slashed his longsword diagonally, swiftly severing the other wooden arm as well.

The dummy didn't stop; it used its head as a hammer to smash into his chest.

Shen Jian thrust his sword tip straight into the dummy's chest, and with a surge of internal force, shattered it.

Whoosh!

Wooden parts were scattered all over the ground.

Shen Jianyi was panting heavily; he had sobered up considerably.

Only then did a belated sense of fear well up inside me.

Why is this mannequin moving?

What exactly is this thing?

He stared at the pile of wood on the ground, repeatedly confirming that it really was just a pile of wood, and for some reason, he trembled slightly.

Shen Jianyi even began to doubt whether what had just happened was his hallucination.

He looked around; all was quiet.

A strange chill ran through me.

Shen Jian gritted his teeth, not daring to linger, and stumbled around, fleeing the eerie forest as if his life depended on it.

After a while.

Gu Shuxian walked slowly to the crime scene and glanced at the dummy's corpse.

shook his head.

"The degraded version is indeed a degraded version."

He muttered something to himself, stretched out his arm, and a wooden kite landed on it from the air.