“`
The ancestral temple, shadowy and bizarre, seemed even more eerie once Granny Gu had closed the doors.
This ancestral temple resembled a huge skull; its surface covered in pale paint, with two dark window sockets on the second floor, mimicking the empty eye sockets of a skull.
Li Muyang stood outside the ancestral temple and waited for a long time, when suddenly a chilly wind blew from the distance, sweeping directly into the temple.
Subsequently, a strange and mournful scream echoed from inside.
The sound was definitely not made by any living creature, sending an inexplicable chill through Li Muyang’s body.
After a while, the temple’s door opened.
Granny Gu led out Little Wild Grass, whose face was pale and eyes were filled with terror.
The old woman wore a benevolent smile, as if nothing had happened.
“All set, you rascal. Take your Little Wild Grass home,” she said.
As she spoke, she tossed a dirty object into Li Muyang’s hands.
“Go ahead and dispose of this nasty thing, throw it away, or burn it if you like.”
“If it doesn’t disgust you, you might as well keep it at home to play with.”
“This thing disappeared many years ago, keeping it can be a kind of memento.”
The old woman’s smile was full of kindness.
However, when Li Muyang took the dirty thing, he was immediately startled.
What he held was a dirty white cloth doll, designed to look like a heavily made-up female role in traditional Chinese opera.
But the lower part of her dress was very long, with two thin and long strips of cloth dangling down, representing her legs.
Her upper body was sown with seven or eight crisscrossed cloth strips, representing arms.
On her pale head, there were two overlapping mouths, both unsettling and bizarre.
The moment Li Muyang received this eerie female figure, a system prompt popped up in his vision.
[You have acquired a special item—Remnants of the Meat Puppet Character]
[Can be condensed into a special item]
[Would you like to condense it?]
[Yes/No]
The options that appeared in his vision surprised Li Muyang.
This thing can be condensed into an item?
After leaving the ancestral temple with Little Wild Grass, he chose [Yes].
A mass of pitch-black mist materialized in his vision, and the next second, the mist exploded, revealing a Character with an ugly and ferocious smile.
Its form matched exactly with the doll Li Muyang held in his hand from the game.
[Special Item: Meat Puppet Character (Acquired)]
[Introduction: A malicious object born before the ancient times, possessing eerie power that is difficult for ordinary people to defend against]
[Usage: Bury the Meat Puppet Character underground, with the name, hometown, and gender written on its chest (the more complete the information, the more accurate the target capture). Once the target is confirmed, the Meat Puppet Character will appear in the dream and reap the target’s life]
…
The usage provided by the system left Li Muyang gaping.
Isn’t this the legendary dream assassination?
That’s pretty fierce. From now on, if anyone offends him, he won’t even need to act personally; he would just need to bring out this Meat Puppet Character… But it’s uncertain whether this thing could work against cultivators.
Although he had doubts about the lethal power of the item, considering it was given by the system, Li Muyang still cautiously believed in it.
Not all cultivators know how to counteract curses.
Compared to other curses, the strongest aspect of this Meat Puppet Character is that it doesn’t need the individual’s time of birth nor mediums like hair or clothing—it can kill just with a name.
Powerful indeed!
“`
On the ridges of the Refinement Demon Sect, Li Muyang opened his eyes and gently exhaled a murky breath.
In his arms, there was now a small cloth doll, precisely the meaty green-clothed one from the game.
However, holding this eerie little toy, Li Muyang had no intention of using it.
After all, he had no enemies within the Refinement Demon Sect.
Carefully hiding the meaty green-clothed doll, Li Muyang planned to use it when an opportunity arose in the future.
After stowing away the doll, Li Muyang returned to the side of the ridges and picked up the huge water scoop to start irrigating.
The air, filled with spiritual energy, hovered above the spiritual fields, perpetually dropping spiritual rain and nourishing the spirit grain.
Although Li Muyang, the spirit plant caretaker, tended to slack off, the seeds in the spiritual fields had gradually sprouted new shoots after several days of cloud seeding and rainmaking.
The growth surge of these spirit grains in the future was expected to be lackluster.
But Li Muyang didn’t mind.
Living alone on this secluded hillside, he found much tranquillity after distancing himself from others.
At the very least, he didn’t have to worry about someone stealing the top-grade Spirit Rice from his cabinet while he was out.
——Because he was concerned about thieves, Li Muyang didn’t even dare to sell the trash Spirit Rice in his rice jar for money.
He still kept the trash Spirit Rice in the rice jar, using it as a decoy in plain sight.
The Spirit Rice jar that consistently produced top-grade Spirit Rice was pressed down daily by a jar of pickles, appearing utterly unremarkable.
With the supply of top-grade Spirit Rice, Li Muyang’s cultivation steadily improved.
The experience bar in the upper right corner of his vision nearly increased by ten percent or more every day.
Finally, on the third day after obtaining the meaty green-clothed doll, Li Muyang achieved another breakthrough in his realm.
As the vortex of spiritual energy in his Qi Sea Dantian suddenly dispersed, flowing into his limbs and bones, it completely merged with his body, signalling that this stage of Li Muyang’s cultivation had been successfully accomplished.
In his Dantian, a tiny vortex of spiritual energy re-emerged. When this vortex was cultivated and grew strong enough to disperse into his body once again, it would signify that Li Muyang had stepped into the next realm.
The cultivation in the Qi Refinement Realm involved constantly nurturing the vortex of spiritual energy within the body, allowing the spiritual energy to integrate with the physical form.
After the physical body was strengthened and refined nine times, stepping into the ninth level of the Qi Refinement Realm, he would be able to establish his Foundation.
Now, Li Muyang had reached the fourth level of the Qi Refinement Realm.
The endless supply from the Spirit Rice jar allowed him, an outer sect servant disciple, to cultivate at a speed that only those high above, the direct disciples, normally possessed.
Sitting on the hard wooden bed, feeling the enhanced strength in his body, Li Muyang clenched his fists tightly.
He was one step closer to Foundation Establishment!
He turned over and got out of bed, ready to wash his feet and then go to sleep.
But under the pitch-black night sky, on this secluded hillside far from the crowd, the light of a lantern appeared.
Someone was carrying a lantern, walking along the mountain path at this hour when most people were preparing to sleep, and came into Li Muyang’s view.
Li Muyang was somewhat astonished.
“Guan Xiaoshun?”
What was this kid doing here so late at night?
Although he had a decent relationship with him, it wasn’t to the extent of a close friendship.
Yet now, Guan Xiaoshun was holding a lantern, visiting in the middle of the night.
Looking at the young man who had come from afar, Li Muyang was baffled, “Xiaoshun, what’s the matter?”
The young man, Guan Xiaoshun, scratched his head and said, “Brother Li, the sect is going to open the mountain gate tomorrow.”
“I was worried you wouldn’t know since you live far away and no one would tell you, so I ran over to give you a heads-up.”
“The mountain gate only opens once a year. Then, new disciples will be admitted into the sect, and us older disciples can also go down the mountain into the city to set up stalls to sell things; it’s a way to make money.”
“Brother Li, are you going to come along tomorrow?”