“Bang!”
Two golden ox spears pierced through the shield in Elder Hu’s hand, startling him into dropping it and flying backward rapidly.
Even a high-grade artisan artifact couldn't block it.
Qian Duoduo gave Yu Yixiang a thumbs-up, then threw a mid-grade Dan artifact shield to Elder Hu.
“Again!”
Elder Hu, with a troubled expression, held the shield firmly. “Wait a moment.”
He filled the shield with Spiritual Qi and shouted to Qian Duoduo, fifty feet away:
“Come on.”
It was somewhat difficult for him, a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection Cultivator, to use a mid-grade Dan artifact.
The Golden Ox started to run, its four hooves pounding the ground like drumsticks.
“Thump!” Two golden ox spears struck the shield.
Elder Hu’s face turned crimson, holding the shield, he took a step back, finally blocking the Golden Ox’s attack.
Indeed, under the violent impact, the two golden ox spears were completely deformed, bent into two snakes, making them unusable.
“Impressive, right?”
Yu Yixiang walked over with a smile. “A high-grade Mortal Weapon, yet it can challenge a mid-grade Dan artifact.”
Qian Duoduo, however, stared at the two deformed golden ox spears. “If the golden ox spears could be modified, they could be even more powerful.”
“You can even turn these golden ox spears into Golden Ox snakes? If they become snakes, they can be flexible and rigid,” Yu Yixiang joked.
Qian Duoduo’s eyes lit up, and he took out a Cold Flame Pure Snow Spear, placing it next to the golden ox spears.
The spear and the golden ox spear were about the same length.
“I’ve got an idea. That’s enough testing for today. Thank you, Elder Hu.” Qian Duoduo took out his Golden Rooster Sword, stepped onto it, and shouted to Yu Yixiang and Huang Guiren, “I’m going out for a bit.”
Yu Yixiang shook her head, muttering softly, “Big crazy one.”
Huang Guiren, on the other hand, watched Qian Duoduo fly away with an adoring gaze.
After Palace Lord Dajiu said he would give Little Dragon Valley to Qian Duoduo, Elder Hu at the Sect gate gave Qian Duoduo the map of Little Dragon Valley.
After crossing Mengyuan Mountain to the east, Little Dragon Valley was not far away.
The valley had not seen sunlight for many years and was located in a windy area. While other places were blooming with spring, this place was still covered in ice and snow, a scene of deep winter.
However, this was also good. The snakes in the valley were all in hibernation, lying haphazardly on the ground like dead branches, their terrifying red tongues and white teeth unseen.
In fact, venomous snakes of the Qi Condensation Realm no longer posed a threat to Qian Duoduo, but the fear in his heart was still uncontrollable.
Dajiu said that inside Little Dragon Valley, there was a direct passage to the bottom of the mountain, where it was extremely cold and Cold Flame Snakes resided.
If Qian Duoduo had a large number of Cold Flame Snakes, he could cover the golden ox spears with snake skin, making them flexible and rigid Sharp Weapons!
Qian Duoduo unleashed his Spiritual Awareness to explore Little Dragon Valley.
The only place that could lead directly to the bottom of the mountain was the pitch-black cave on the cliff before him.
“Go down!”
Qian Duoduo said in a tearful voice, trying to encourage himself.
Everyone has a fear of darkness.
Qian Duoduo remembered that Palace Lord Dajiu had said there was a Bee King in this cave with a Qi Condensation Great Perfection cultivation. But now, he even dared to fight with the Nascent Soul Great Perfection Liang Family Old Ancestor, so what was there to fear from a Bee King?
“I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid…” he mumbled, flying into the cave.
The cave was dark, so dark that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
His Spiritual Awareness stretched out, only able to feel that the cave went continuously downward, seemingly without end.
Qian Duoduo took out a fluorescent stone.
The light pushed back a section of the darkness in the cave, revealing colorful snake coils intertwined on the ground.
The snake coils, like the snakes outside, were in a cold slumber.
Qian Duoduo felt warm all over, slowly flying deeper into the cave.
Perhaps he had flown for an hour—if he were outside, in that amount of time, he could fly from Mengyuan Mountain to the Sect, but the cave still had no end in sight.
After about another half an hour of flying, Qian Duoduo saw the Bee King that Palace Lord Dajiu had mentioned.
The Bee King was coiled up, its head resting on its thick tail, its eyes closed in a relaxed manner.
Its sleeping position was not in the widest part of the cave.
This indicated that it was not the Master of the cave at all; at most, it was just a larger cave guardian.
After another one or two quarters of an hour of flying, Qian Duoduo felt a hint of danger. The dark cave ahead seemed like a living thing, like the open mouth of a snake.
Qian Duoduo used his Spiritual Awareness to probe inside. His Spiritual Awareness extended about ten feet, then could go no further.
“Master, come and see what kind of place this is?”
Liu Boli floated out and also used his Spiritual Awareness to investigate downwards.
He shook his head, “This place is very strange. There’s extremely thick Ice Gale below, blocking Spiritual Awareness and eroding the Soul. If I had a body, I wouldn’t be afraid. But now I’m just a Soul body.”
“My Dajiu said it’s extremely cold down here, and there are Cold Flame Snakes.”
“That might be true. But then only the Cold Flame Snakes themselves could crawl out. With your current cultivation, it would be dangerous to go down.”
“Is there any way to go down and find out?” Qian Duoduo was very unwilling to give up, having bravely made it this far only to be unable to proceed. “How about asking the Spirit Ant Bee Queen for help?”
“Her strength is a bit weak. It’s also cold down there, which would greatly affect her. For such a small matter, Zi'e, Azure Phoenix, and Luan Phoenix cannot help you. This cave is also a bit small for them.”
Liu Boli extinguished Qian Duoduo’s hopes one by one.
“Then there’s no solution, unless I wait until my cultivation reaches Golden Core, or Nascent Soul, and then come back?”
“Not necessarily. If you know how to refine Puppets, you could let your Puppet help you scout the way.”
Liu Boli left Qian Duoduo a not-so-bright lamp.
Puppets, again Puppets.
Previously, Qian Duoduo had studied the first Mystic Art, Golden Toad Shedding its Shell, several times, but always failed to grasp the key.
It said that one needed to observe a hundred types of Puppets to possibly resonate with the Golden Toad and enter comprehension.
Qian Duoduo wanted to start directly with Artifact Refining Puppets, but he searched the entire Sect and found only a few Puppet Magic Treasures.
And those he found were only for Dan artifact Puppets.
Unexpectedly, this time, while looking for Cold Flame Snakes, he encountered the problem of Puppets again.
“First, I’ll return to the manor.” Qian Duoduo sighed.
If Qian Duoduo was in a bad mood, he would take a walk in the manor. If he was still in a bad mood, he would take another walk.
Watching all living things grow happily, he would put all his worries aside.
After leaving Little Dragon Valley and circling the manor twice, Qian Duoduo’s mood improved somewhat.
When he reached the tiger enclosure, he specifically entered the tiger cave to see Sister Zi'e.
Sister Zi'e originally ignored Qian Duoduo. Qian Duoduo knew she disliked the names he had given her children.
However, Qian Duoduo told her that it was intentionally to annoy Nangong Nizi, and that Qian Duoduo’s actual names for her children were not Mengmeng, Yuanyuan, or anything like that.
Upon hearing this, Sister Zi'e quickly moved her body, which was blocking the Tiger Cub, allowing Qian Duoduo to get a good look and give the children good names.
“The eldest is called Shan Jun.”
Zi'e’s head lifted. This name was good, a monarch of the mountains, extraordinary!
“The second is called Banzi.”
Tigers now have stripes. A gentleman with natural stripes.
Elegant! Zi'e grinned.
“The third is called Big Cat.”
Zi'e nodded. The third was the most mischievous, fond of climbing trees, like a big cat.
“The fourth is called Fu Meng.”
The smallest Golden Tiger was sturdy but disliked moving, often lying on the ground, eyes wide, observing its surroundings, its muscles taut, looking as if it could pounce at any moment.
Zi'e nodded continuously. These four names perfectly suited the tigers, each one resounding!
Not to mention Sister Zi'e, even the four Tiger Cubs, upon learning their names, were so happy they rolled around.
When they were happy, Qian Duoduo was even happier.
Putting aside the unhappiness encountered in Little Dragon Valley, Qian Duoduo strolled down Mengyuan Mountain.
At this moment, the sun was setting in the west, and the golden afterglow dyed the tops of the Five Immortal Mountains golden.
Within the Immortal Mountains, Cultivators occasionally entered and exited, stepping on Flying Swords.
In the mountain forest, Spirit Birds that had caught insects were enjoying their dinner.
Outside the Sect gate, to the west of Lingwu Avenue, the Wanjinge Square was still bustling with people, having become a city that never sleeps.
According to Huang Guiren, the Disciples of Wen'an Peak were forced by Lei Hong, Nangong Qinglong, Nangong Nizi, and others to make even Outer Sect Disciples pass the first three golden pillars.
However, this pressure had quite a good effect.
The number of first-grade Artifact Refiners on Wen'an Peak increased sharply.
Suddenly, Qian Duoduo’s heart stirred.
Since there were no Puppets in the Sect, why didn’t he just go and take the Puppet scroll assessment?
Perhaps, through the rigorous training of the Puppet scroll assessment, he could learn the Magic Treasure for refining Puppets?