Jiao Xiuyuan transformed himself into thousands of puppets, single-handedly supporting the vast commercial organization known as Qianli Hall, which spanned across various locations of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.
In various ruins and desolate wildernesses with few people, one might catch a glimpse of his presence.
He even had the power to stir up great disturbances in the Xuanhuang Realm.
There was a certain flavor of “entering the Dao through business” about him.
However, his luck seemed to be somewhat unfortunate.
Though he claimed he never made a losing deal, from Li Fan’s experience with him, it appeared Jiao Xiuyuan often lost money in business.
For instance, when Li Fan first met him, he had stockpiled a large number of Concealment Talismans, but due to the incident with Five Elements Grand Cave Heaven, the price of the talismans plummeted.
Later, he painstakingly unearthed a few Minor Medicine King Cauldrons, and if he had waited for the return of the “True Medicine King Cauldron”, he would have surely made a fortune.
But it was as if he was destined not to be that lucky. He sold all of those minor cauldrons early on at a low price.
“Even in the previous life, when he partnered with me in the business of Spirit Mist Grass, a moment of greed caused him to hesitate too long, and the vast wealth he had in hand vanished in an instant.”
“Only in this life has he truly profited. I wonder if something is going to change for him.”
As Li Fan pondered, he carefully examined the items on Jiao Xiuyuan’s shelves, hoping to find something valuable, like the Minor Medicine King Cauldron, to make a small gain.
The items on the shelves were diverse: talismans, formation diagrams, pills, and more, all available.
Li Fan paid special attention to the older-looking items.
Most of them were badly damaged, filled with the marks of history.
Scrolls, various ornaments, and artifacts that had long lost their spiritual energy filled the shelves.
Li Fan’s gaze swept across them one by one.
Suddenly, he stopped at an ancient painting.
His expression became slightly serious as he carefully removed the scroll and slowly unrolled it.
It wasn’t that the painting itself was special, but rather its content that caught Li Fan’s attention.
The painting depicted a grand and magnificent sect entrance.
The sky and earth seemed boundless, with dozens of cultivators standing in the clouds, pointing into the distance.
Among the sea of clouds, the towering buildings at the mountain’s peak were faintly visible.
“Luan Birds” and “Jiaolong Dragons”, along with other exotic beasts, wandered among the mountains.
In the square at the foot of the mountain, hundreds of young disciples, still innocent in appearance, stood.
They looked up at the cultivators in the sky, their faces full of excitement and admiration.
It truly depicted a thriving scene of a flourishing sect!
But…
Li Fan had seen this sect before, and it was the complete opposite of the prosperity in the painting.
The ground was littered with corpses, rivers of blood flowed.
The sect’s entrance was in ruins, reduced to rubble.
It was the very scene he saw at the bottom of the Void Abyss after the dense fog had cleared during his time in the Great Xuan.
The words “Immortal Dao is dead” carved on the cliff had deeply shaken Li Fan at the time.
Now, Li Fan knew that this was undoubtedly the aftermath of the great calamity that occurred when the disciples of the sect slaughtered each other after the arrival of the Disaster of incompatibility Of cultivating same technique.
“Which sect was this? Why did I see this place back then?”
It was known that the scene each person saw at the bottom of the Void Abyss was different.
The fact that Li Fan saw this ruined sect might have been a coincidence.
But Li Fan believed there might be some kind of guidance in it.
After carefully storing away the painting, Li Fan continued to browse the shelves but found nothing else of value.
He then approached Jiao Xiuyuan.
“Daoist Jiao? Daoist Jiao!”
Li Fan called out symbolically a few times. When Jiao still did not respond, Li Fan reached out and began to feel around him.
It wasn’t due to any strange habit, but rather to take this rare opportunity to study Jiao Xiuyuan’s Thousand Puppet Dao.
Although Profound True Spirit Transformation was already an astonishing divine art, it still had some small flaws.
Derived from the Stealing Sky and changing the Sun Technique, it could only maintain one clone at a time, which was a bit disappointing.
If he could combine it with the Thousand Puppet Dao and take it a step further…
“Thousands of avatars, indistinguishable from the real.”
As Li Fan’s imagination ran wild, his hands moved without hesitation.
“Completely identical to the real body, even using divine sense to penetrate and perceive would find no difference.”
“The control core seems to be in the head, glowing with a blue light similar to the Dao Derivation Stone.”
“I’ve seen the remains of puppets before—dry and yellow like decaying wood. Could it be that Jiao Xiuyuan’s puppet avatars are made from some special type of wood?”
…
As Li Fan continued to examine the puppet in front of him, combining it with what he had learned, he felt he was beginning to grasp something.
Just as he was secretly pleased with himself, he suddenly noticed that Jiao Xiuyuan’s eyelids were twitching slightly.
His heart skipped a beat, and Li Fan instantly moved away.
Moments later, he noticed that Jiao Xiuyuan’s previously lifeless eyes were becoming lively again.
“Daoist Jiao, you’re awake?” Li Fan asked, feigning concern.
“Hmm? Daoist Li? Why are you here?” Jiao Xiuyuan suspiciously eyed Li Fan.
Li Fan originally wanted to explain the events that had taken place after he was questioned, but he had signed a non-disclosure agreement, leaving him unable to speak.
He had no choice but to tell Jiao Xiuyuan that he was simply avoiding the crowd and came here to hide.
“I lost contact with this puppet shortly after Lu Xichan arrived. I knew then that something big had happened, and sure enough…”
“That non-disclosure agreement, huh…”
Jiao Xiuyuan glanced at Li Fan and guessed the reason for his silence.
“No wonder things seem unsettled over in Tianquan and Tianyuzhou Prefecture…” Jiao Xiuyuan squinted, about to delve into his thoughts, but his gaze swept over his shop, and his expression immediately changed.
In a flash, he was at the shelves, checking things over, and exclaimed, “Why does it look like a painting is missing?”
“That was something I painstakingly dug out from a pile of junk!”
Li Fan was about to tell him that the painting was with him.
But before he could, the puppet in front of him suddenly exploded with a “bang,” shattering into pieces.
Fortunately, it wasn’t flesh and blood flying everywhere, but just scattered wood shavings.
“Daoist Jiao!” Li Fan was momentarily stunned by the sudden event.
“I’m fine!” In an instant, another puppet emerged from under the counter.
His face full of gloom, Jiao Xiuyuan grabbed a broom and began cleaning up the scene.
“What just happened?” Li Fan couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.
“I made a losing deal, so the puppet couldn’t be sustained.” Jiao Xiuyuan didn’t offer much explanation, merely shaking his head and sighing.
“How strange. How could that painting have disappeared? Who would have the nerve to steal from me?” After cleaning up, Jiao Xiuyuan stroked his chin, angrily muttering.
“Uh, Daoist Jiao, I forgot to mention earlier. When you lost consciousness, I noticed that the painting was quite nice, so I put it away.” At this moment, Li Fan finally spoke.
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