Aksai quickly found what he was looking for— the location of the mysterious opportunity that Haitin’s sect elders were planning to visit.
The memories from the two enemies revealed a hidden map leading to a secluded valley, shrouded by thick mist and protected by powerful formations.
This was the place where Haitin’s sect had intended to secure a valuable location along with the remaining two major demonic sects.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Aksai sped up the playback, zooming in on crucial details. Coordinates, terrain features, traps—everything was now laid bare before him.
“So, that’s where it is…” he muttered to himself.
Yelia, who had been silently watching from the side, nodded. “Seems like we found what we were after, my lord.”
Aksai smiled. “It seems you know something about this place, Yelia. But I’m not in a hurry. You can tell me everything you know after we get there.”
Yelia simply nodded.
Lini, who had been standing at a distance, was visibly disturbed by what she saw. The brains, the strange glowing trees, the floating screens—it was all too much.
But she also couldn’t deny the efficiency of it. Aksai wasn’t just a regular Spirit cultivator—he was an iceberg that hid more than he let on.
“You’re going there?” Lini finally asked.
Aksai shook his head. “No rush. I’ve already disrupted the initial plan by taking out Haitin’s sect elders. Let him think they betrayed him first. I’ll show up later, claiming I managed to escape.”
He paused, his tone casual but measured. “Of course, I’m not too worried about Haitin’s retaliation. I don’t think he’s that petty. But I should still be wary of the Eastern Limiya Gate. As long as I stay patient and don’t provoke a new sect, they’ll move on. They don’t even know their spies in Haitin’s sect acted on their own. And they’re completely unaware of the mysterious opportunity.”
Narrowing his eyes, he continued.
“The Sun Ocean Lord will officially visit the Wild Devil Lands in a few days. News of Haitin marrying Siya will spread like wildfire across the Dadangar Subcontinent.
The Big Five Sects and the other two major demonic sects will focus all their attention on that. They won’t have the time or resources to deal with someone like me. So, all I need to do is wait for a few days.”
With that, Aksai flicked the remote-like formation controls, dismissing the screens. The memories had served their purpose, and the formation began to wind down.
“Time to let the brains rest for a bit,” he muttered.
Aksai could easily replenish the brains of the Spirit Refining Cultivators but the brains of the Foundation Building Experts were a bit precious. He needed to keep his “organic carbon footprint” in check for the time being.
Yelia gave a small, respectful bow. “Shall I prepare for the next task, my lord?”
Yelia was, of course, referring to turning Lini into one of Aksai’s Sentient Scarecrow Puppets. She knew Aksai wouldn’t let the girl leave after she’d entered the Enchanted Everwood Farm—a place he only revealed to his puppets, who were completely under his control.
Letting Lini in was a rare exception due to special circumstances, but Aksai preferred it to remain a one-time incident.
“Hmm. That’s a good question,” Aksai replied, stretching his arms as if he had just finished a workout. “Now’s as good a time as any. I think I’ll experiment with the Scarecrow Puppet Creation Method as well.”
Previously, Aksai had experienced a valuable epiphany after tapping into intent-based power, which had given him insights into various techniques he had already mastered.
The Scarecrow Puppet Creation Method was one of the most fundamental Spirit cultivation arts he’d practiced for decades. Thanks to his knowledge and experience from the two other worlds, Aksai had found a way to modify this technique. Now, he just needed a suitable target for experimentation. Fortunately, Lini was here.
Lini, still uneasy, glanced at the eerie bonsai trees, each holding dimly glowing brains. She had come with questions, but now she wasn’t sure she wanted the answers.
One thing, however, was clear—Aksai was far more dangerous and calculating than she had ever imagined. And at this point, she immediately sensed a danger approaching her as soon as Aksai’s eyes landed on her.
***
Aksai didn’t need to spend much time convincing Lini to participate willingly in his experiment. After all, she had already seen what he was capable of.
The way he had effortlessly eliminated two Foundation Building experts and the eerie display of the Brain Bonsai formation was enough to send a clear message—resistance was pointless.
If Lini showed even a hint of hesitation, Aksai would have no qualms about silencing her forever. Her survival instincts kicked in, and she decided that it was better to play along, at least for now.
Aksai glanced at her, noting the flicker of reluctant acceptance in her eyes. “Good,” he said, his voice calm but carrying the weight of authority. “This will go smoother if you don’t resist.”
Lini nodded stiffly.
Aksai didn’t waste time. He was eager to test the third evolution of the Scarecrow Puppet Creation Method.
This technique, gifted to him by the creator of the Enchanted Everwood Farm when he first accessed the isolated dimension, had already gone through one significant evolution.
That evolution had led to his creation of the Sentient Scarecrow Puppets—puppets that still retained fragments of the souls from their original bodies. These puppets were far more sophisticated than the regular ones, capable of limited independent thought and action.
Now, Aksai was ready to take it a step further. The third evolution of the technique was designed to transform an entire human being into a puppet without allowing their soul to dissipate.
If successful, it would mean that the subject—Lini, in this case—would retain her soul, her consciousness, but her body and mind would be entirely under Aksai’s control.
Can the technique still be referred to as a puppet creation technique? It seemed more like a soul-subjugation method. But Aksai didn’t care about labels; he was focused on the results.
Even though Aksai had developed Sentient Scarecrow Puppets, there was no Foundation Building realm puppet in his army yet.
If this experiment was successful, Lini would become the first.