Aksai stood in the dimly lit chamber, his gaze fixed on the four Sentient Scarecrow Puppets he had painstakingly created.
These were the latest editions in his long line of puppet variants.
These puppets were marvels of his intricate work, blending various fields of cultivation arts, alchemy, and botany. Each puppet stood silently, their eyes glowing faintly with a mix of plant and spirit energies, awaiting Aksai’s commands.
The first puppet, integrated with the Corpse Flower bloodline, stood ominously in the shadows. Its appearance was grotesque, with dark, petal-like appendages sprouting from its body. These appendages exuded a faint, sickly sweet aroma, a remnant of the Corpse Flower’s natural properties.
The puppet could release a noxious gas that could paralyze its enemies, making it perfect for crowd control. Moreover, it could feed off the life force of its paralyzed victims to rejuvenate itself, an ability derived from the bloodline’s natural predatory tendencies.
The second puppet, imbued with the Wood Woad bloodline, appeared more robust and solid compared to the others. Its bark-like skin was tough and resilient, providing natural armor that was nearly impervious to most physical attacks.
The puppet’s eyes glowed with a greenish hue, indicating its deep connection with nature and its ability to cast bloodline-related Spirit spells. It could manipulate nearby trees and plants, using them as extensions of its own body to trap or crush its enemies. Additionally, this puppet had the unique ability to rapidly heal itself by drawing energy from the earth, making it a formidable opponent in prolonged battles.
The third puppet, integrated with the Assassin Vine bloodline, was sleek and agile. Its humanoid form was laced with sinewy vines that could extend and retract at will.
This puppet possessed the extraordinary ability to manifest assassin vines around itself, which it used to turn invisible or to launch swift, deadly strikes at its targets. The vines could also be used as weapons, capable of slicing through flesh and bone with ease.
The fourth puppet merged with the Myconid bloodline. It had an eerie, fungal appearance. Its body was covered in various types of mushrooms and spores, giving it a grotesque yet strangely captivating look.
This puppet had the power to release hallucinogenic spores that could disorient and confuse its enemies, making them easy prey. Additionally, it could communicate with other fungal entities, forming a network of information that could be incredibly useful for gathering intelligence.
The puppet’s Myconid bloodline also granted it the ability to regenerate from even the most grievous wounds by absorbing nutrients from the decaying matter around it.
Thanks to the Anahat Soul Splitting Technique, these puppets retained the intelligence and cunning of their original owner, making them ideal servants for Aksai. If Aksai tells them to commit suicidal attacks, there would be no hesitation in the puppets’ minds even though they nurtured their own consciousness.
And since the Soul Fragments used in the puppets were obtained from the souls of the original owners, they were perfectly compatible with their respective puppet shells.
Aksai had basically sliced the souls of the intruders before branding them with his Soul Mark as per the teachings of the Anahat Soul Splitting Technique. Aksai spent a bit of his Soul essence to mark the Soul Fragments of these puppets. But it was all worth it.
After all, thanks to the Soul Mark, Aksai now had absolute control over these sentient puppets. The Soul Mark was treated as an external subroutine, which allowed Aksai to connect his consciousness with any Sentient Scarecrow he wanted with just a thought.
Aksai had refined the process of creating the Sentient Scarecrows over the past few months. The integration of plant bloodlines into the puppets was made possible by the demon tree seeds, which he fed to the intruders before turning them into puppets.
The demon tree seeds acted as carriers for the plant bloodlines. These altered seeds then sprouted inside the bodies of the puppets, granting them the bloodline powers.
Aksai’s research on plant bloodlines had never ceased, even after he successfully turned himself into a druid. He had utilized the base information provided by Everwood Farm’s mysterious book to explore the bloodline powers granted by other Spirit bloodlines as well.
However, the demon tree seeds produced by the demon tree had a downside. With the demon tree’s current capabilities, the seeds couldn’t create a puppet more powerful than a Spirit Refining Perfectionist. This meant the power level of the puppet was already determined before it was transformed.
Still, Aksai liked using the demon tree seeds with his refined puppet creation process because of the bloodline powers they granted. This was the first time he could see his puppets casting Spirit spells on their own without external help.
These puppets were basically alive. Although their intelligence and cognitive abilities were a bit compromised compared to regular people, they could hold conversations and were capable of logical thinking.
The external subroutine granted to these puppets had other advantages as well. Aksai was just starting to dig deeper into his bloodline experiments. With the processing power of the neural link fabric and his creativity, he was confident he would unlock more uses for the Sentient Scarecrows in the future.
***
“Well, another four Sentient Scarecrows have been added to my army. Hehe. They turned out a bit better this time. With each iteration, I’m getting better at creating these darned things.”
Aksai admired his creations, noting how the integration of plant bloodlines had not only made these puppets more powerful but also endowed them with unique abilities that complemented their roles.
“Four Sentient Scarecrows with four distinct plant bloodlines. I guess I can use them according to their specialties.”
The Corpse Flower puppet would serve as a fearsome crowd controller, the Wood Woad as an indomitable frontline warrior, the Assassin Vine puppet as a deadly stealth operative, and the Myconid puppet as a master of psychological warfare and intelligence gathering.
He walked among them, feeling a sense of pride in his work. “Well, my friends,” he said with a casual tone, “it’s time to put you to good use. Let’s see how well you perform in the field.”
“My liege!”
The puppets responded to his voice, their glowing eyes turning to him in unison.
“Not bad. Am I not a genius puppeteer for creating you? Hahaha!”
Aksai patted his own back metaphorically like usual. With a satisfied nod, he turned and left the chamber.
At this time, the wood vines emerged from the ground and started wrapping themselves up around the four Sentient Scarecrow Puppets.
The puppets didn’t resist and allowed themselves to sink into the ground as if they were disappearing into a quicksand.
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AN: The four plant bloodlines mentioned in this chapter were first introduced in chapter 07.