Using the invisible and intangible properties of a soul, Zhang Xuan was able to carry the storage ring out through the cracks of the door discreetly by lying close to the ground.
As soon as he floated out, he immediately saw many Otherworldly Demons guarding the area, maintaining an airtight defense in the surroundings. No matter which direction he left in, there was a good chance that he would be discovered.
Zhang Xuan assessed his surroundings, vexed. It seems like these Otherworldly Demons are veterans of the battlefield.
Only those who had frequented the battlefield and collaborated with one another on multiple occasions could form such a tight defense.
On top of that, there were also defensive formations. It was no joke to say that not even a fly could hope to get in. It was no wonder the two Kings had allowed him to have some private time with the master teachers so easily. In the very first place, they had absolute trust that both him and the master teachers couldn’t possibly get away.
Eye of Insight! Driving his Soul Depth, green lines began surfacing in Zhang Xuan’s composed eyes.
Taking a look, Zhang Xuan smiled in relief. While the defense is so tight that no cultivator could hope to get in or out without alerting the Otherworldly Demons, it seems like the defenses were aimed toward corporeal beings. In my soul form, I should still be able to get out with relative ease as long as I am careful.
Special means had to be utilized to guard against souls, but it was apparent that such measures hadn’t been set up in the area. After all, considering how long it had been since the soul oracles had gone missing, it would have been a waste of time and resources to do so.
But if I just leave like that, will they think that I am too soft and weak?
The fact that the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe had constructed a base in the Subterranean Gallery only went to show that they had malicious intentions in mind. Wouldn’t it be unseemly for him, the principal of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy, to leave just like that after discovering the enemy’s base?
I took a careful look when I arrived, and it seems like this base is constructed in alignment to the Seven Profound Spiritual Light Formation. As long as I destroy the center of the formation, I can undo the formation. Even if they manage to avert the backlash from the formation running amok, it will still make their hard work over all this time meaningless! Zhang Xuan thought as his lips crept up.
While he wasn’t skilled in building things, he was definitely the master of demolition!
Even the Ten Great Master Teachers hadn’t been able to stop him back when he was still in the Master Teacher Academy! Collapsing these buildings was truly just a walk in the park for him.
I should head over to take a look!
Zhang Xuan scanned his surroundings and confirmed the direction in which the center of the formation lay before heading over.
…
Shortly after Zhang Xuan left, the Goldenleaf King suddenly frowned.
Noticing his companion’s expression, the Greenleaf King asked, “Brother Yin, what is wrong?”
The Goldenleaf King pondered for a moment before responding uncertainly, “I am not too sure, but for a moment, I thought I felt like something passed by me.”
He had an innate sensitivity toward his surroundings, allowing him to perceive the happenings around him vividly. For just a brief moment, he felt like something had passed right before his eyes, but when he attempted to take a closer look, he was unable to see anything at all.
Of course, if he had swept the area with his Spiritual Perception, Zhang Xuan’s soul would have been in plain view to him.
However, maintaining one’s Spiritual Perception around one’s surrounding was extremely taxing on one’s spirit. Even as a Saint realm 4-dan expert, it was impossible for him to maintain it for an extended period of time.
It was precisely due to this opening that Zhang Xuan had been able to escape from the notice of the two Kings.
It didn’t take long before Zhang Xuan slipped out of the encirclement. Heaving a sigh of relief, he picked up the pace and continued to proceed ahead with his storage ring beside him.
Soon, a majestic palace came into sight.
There were considerable differences in the formations used by Otherworldly Demons and humans. Nevertheless, through his Eye of Insight and the Library of Heaven’s Path, these differences did little to impede Zhang Xuan. From the moment he arrived at the base, he had known that this palace was where the center of the formation was located.
He carefully descended to the ground.
In order to set up an airtight defense against him, nearly all of the Otherworldly Demons had been mobilized to guard the hall where he was supposed to be. As such, there was only a handful of Otherworldly Demons left to guard this important facility, thus allowing him to break in easily.
These Otherworldly Demons hadn’t reached Spiritual Perception realm yet, and they didn’t specialize in the study of souls either. Furthermore, through the Eye of Insight, the flaws in their defenses were as clear as day to Zhang Xuan, so he was able to sneak in without alerting anyone.
The palace was vast, taking up an area of more than ten thousand square meters. The walls and the pillars within were inscribed with kinds of bizarre inscriptions, reminiscent of ancient runes. At the very center was a huge altar, which was roughly eight meters long.
Realizing that he was unable to recognize the inscriptions after taking a closer look, Zhang Xuan asked Vicious telepathically, “What kind of inscriptions are these?”
Vicious took a glance at it and replied, “These are runic inscriptions unique to the Otherworldly Demons. If inscribed in a specific manner, it has the effect of gathering spiritual energy, similar to the Spirit Gathering Formation of the humans.”
“Spirit Gathering Formation?”
“Un. They are similar to some extent, but there are some differences between the two as well. A normal Spirit Gathering Formation only has the effect of gathering spiritual energy in a set area, but this runic formation has the effect of transforming the property of the spiritual energy to enhance the physical strength of Otherworldly Demons as well. It is somewhat similar to the formation that was inscribed in my underground chamber!” Vicious replied.
“Enhance the physical strength of Otherworldly Demons? Does that mean that it can be used to recharge the Otherworldly Demon puppets?” Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up.
Back in the underground chamber, he had seen how Vicious recharged the energy of the puppets. After taking control of those puppets, he had used them several times, and the energy within them was already almost completely depleted. This was the reason he hadn’t used them for such a long time.
If he could recharge the energy of those Otherworldly Demon puppets, he would have another card to use against the Otherworldly Demons gathered in the area.
“Under normal circumstances, it would be hard for outsiders to tap into the energy accumulated within the formation due to the restrictions inscribed into it. However, that isn’t a problem for me. I can help recharge the puppets for you now if you’d like,” said Vicious.
“That’s good.” With a relieved smile, Zhang Xuan drew out the twenty Otherworldly Demon puppets along with his body from the storage ring and returned to his body. After which, raising his arm ahead of him, a finger flew out from his palm and flew into the air, emanating a dense killing intent abruptly.
Feeling this immense energy, the puppets immediately kneeled down in deference.
“Un.” Harrumphing in satisfaction, Vicious began speaking in a bizarre language, and in response to that, the puppets formed a neat queue and began marching up to the altar in the center of the room.
As the puppets reached the altar, the floating finger began drawing a series of bizarre runes in the air
Weng!
The air trembled slightly for a brief moment before spiritual energy began gushing into the palace like a rapid torrent, nourishing the puppet standing right before the altar.
Geji! Geji!
A sharp glint returned to the torpid eyes of the puppet as its strength was swiftly restored back to its peak.
Incredible! Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up in awe.
To his surprise, this method of infusing energy was even more effective and efficient than Cultivation Impartation1.
From the looks of it, however, this method of infusing energy would likely only work on puppets. Had it been an ordinary cultivator instead, the cultivator would experience all of their meridians and acupoints rupturing apart within seconds under the vigorous infusion of violent energy and die on the spot.
As fast as it was, it was beyond the limits of the body of a human cultivator.
Perhaps due to prior experience, Vicious was extremely efficient. It didn’t take too long for him to restore the energy within the twenty puppets.
With their energy restored, the puppets emanated a powerful fighting aura, seemingly ready to face any opponent.
It is a pity that they are too weak, possessing only the strength of a Saint realm 1-dan. They are a formidable force against normal opponents, but in the face of so many Otherworldly Demons, the aid they can provide is limited. Zhang Xuan sighed deeply as he shook his head.
These fellows were only at Saint realm 1-dan advanced stage or pinnacle. Against an army of two hundred Saint realm 1-dan and even a few Saint realm 2-dan Otherworldly Demons, they would be defeated in an instant.
Suddenly, a thought surfaced in Zhang Xuan’s mind. Wait a moment… All along, I have been thinking of them as the moving corpses of Otherworldly Demons, and naturally, it is impossible for a corpse to cultivate and raise its strength. But if I think of them as just plain puppets and modify their structure to make them more efficient… it should be possible for me to raise their fighting prowess swiftly!
Due to the fact that the Otherworldly Demon puppets were forged from the bodies of real Otherworldly Demons, he had always regarded them as corpses whose cultivation had stagnated with their deaths. But if he were to view them as just puppets, if he could alter some of their mechanisms to make them more efficient, he would be able to raise their strength significantly.
Back in the Mountain of Records, he had altered the puppet made of Principal Mo Liuzhen’s rib bone and raised its cultivation to Saint realm.
If he could do the same to the Otherworldly Demon puppets as well, they could become a strong card to utilize against the Otherworldly Demon army!
“Flaws!” Zhang Xuan muttered beneath his breath after having the Otherworldly Demons utilize their battle techniques.
Immersing his consciousness into the Library of Heaven’s Path, he began to browse through the flaws in the Otherworldly Demon puppets.
“The greatest flaws in the Otherworldly Demon puppets are their crafting method and the materials used in their crafting. Wu Yangzi was renowned as the number one blacksmith of Hongyuan Empire, but he was ultimately only a 6-star pinnacle blacksmith. Otherwise, the Otherworldly Demon puppets could potentially achieve might comparable to a Saint realm 3-dan cultivator,” Zhang Xuan muttered contemplatively after reading the books.
More often than not, one’s smithing skills and the materials used were the main limiting factors to the prowess of an artifact, preventing it from reaching its maximum potential. This limitation could be fully seen in the Otherworldly Demon puppets.
Honestly speaking, Zhang Xuan was a little disappointed to learn that the limit of the Otherworldly Demon puppets was Saint realm 3-dan. He had thought that as long as he could perfect all aspects of the Otherworldly Demon puppets, he would be able to raise their strength to an unbelievable level. However, it seemed like he was thinking too much.
Forget it, raising their cultivation to Saint realm 3-dan isn’t too bad either, Zhang Xuan thought in consolation.
Even though the reality didn’t meet his expectations, twenty Saint realm 3-dan puppets were still a formidable force to reckon with.
Of course, it still wouldn’t be sufficient to deal with the army of two hundred outside.
Putting everything aside, the Greenleaf King and Goldenleaf King were Saint realm 4-dan experts. Even with the numerical advantage, it would be difficult for the twenty Saint realm 3-dan puppets to subdue them.
At Saint realm, the advancement of each cultivation realm signified a vast difference in one’s fighting prowess.
This was particularly so for Saint realm 3-dan and Saint realm 4-dan.
Forget it, I should raise their strength first before deciding on my next move.
Having decided the source of the problem, Zhang Xuan walked up to the puppets and began striking them with his palm.
Pilipala!
A series of crisp echoes sounded, and the aura shrouding the twenty Otherworldly Demon puppets suddenly became sharper and more fearsome.
After he was done, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief before saying with in exhausted tone, “Alright, you can infuse spiritual energy into them now.”
Had it not been for the many books he had gone through at the Celestial Designer School back then, which had given him a deep understanding of a puppet’s internal structure, he never would have been able to succeed.
Even so, by the time he was done modifying the puppets, he felt as if his soul had been sapped dry, and he could pass out at any moment.
However, this was to be expected. After all, to perfect the many parts of the puppets, he couldn’t afford to make any mistake in any of the steps. Furthermore, there were various differences in the form and smithing technique used for the twenty Otherworldly Demon puppets, so he had to make some alterations between them as well, thus further complicating the matter. As such, his mind had to operate at maximum capacity throughout the entire duration.
Sitting with his legs crossed on the ground, Zhang Xuan took out the soul of the Bluehorn Dragon Beast and began absorbing its energy to recuperate.
Meanwhile, Vicious continued adjusting the runic inscriptions to fill up the strength of the newly-upgraded puppets.
Even with their parts perfected, if the puppets didn’t have sufficient energy in store, they would still be unable to exert the strength equivalent to a Saint realm 3-dan cultivator.
This was just like a car; no matter how much horsepower it possessed, if it didn’t have the required fuel to sustain it, it would be unable to drive it to the limit of its ability.
It was fortunate that there was plenty of spiritual energy in the surroundings for them to tap into, so that didn’t pose a problem.
Hong long long!
As spiritual energy was swiftly pumped into the Otherworldly Demon puppets, the palace began to shake violently as the inscriptions on the walls and pillars started to dim and peel off.
At this point, Vicious suddenly said, “Master, it seems like there isn’t sufficient energy here to use.”
