“So, you old monster, you don’t plan to let the Jiang Family’s puppet masters help out?”
Inside the Red Mountain Academic Palace, Old Clay Pot Wu looked at Li Muyang’s recent actions with confusion and curiosity.
The enemies in the Great Zhou Imperial City were immensely powerful, making it difficult for Li Muyang to contend with them based on his current strength.
Clearly, there was the Jiang Family, with its abundance of puppet masters, ready to be mobilized, but Li Muyang showed no intention of rallying them for battle. Instead, he spent his days steeped in the library, reading books, exhibiting a Buddhist-like detachment that bordered on abstract.
In response, Li Muyang shook his head coldly and spoke: “Although the Jiang Family flourishes, the path of the puppet masters has its limits. This road was nothing more than an evil deviation developed temporarily by Fairy Qinghe to extend the clan’s lineage, and its upper limit is locked.”
“The Pingyao Princess is the most obvious example. No matter how strong a puppet is, it cannot transcend that boundary and ascend to immortality.”
“But if one cannot ascend to immortality, then before a true immortal, they are but ants—utterly powerless to resist.”
“If the Jiang Family had one or two True Immortals to oversee, I would definitely request their assistance.”
“But the strongest in their clan is merely comparable to the Pingyao Princess.”
“To involve the Jiang Family in this war, facing the pseudo-Buddha and divine beings inside the Great Zhou Imperial City, would result in overwhelming casualties, with countless family members sacrificing their lives in vain.”
“I won’t engage in such a foolish act where the costs far outweigh the benefits.”
Li Muyang’s explanation drew a scoff from Old Clay Pot Wu.
He sneered coldly with a mocking tone: “You old ghost truly know how to show pity for the younger generation.”
“But without the Jiang Family’s help, how do you plan to deal with the pseudo-Buddha inside the Great Zhou Imperial City? Rely on the few stray cats from your Nightwalker clan?”
“Even you and your crippled Second Uncle combined don’t amount to much… Surely you don’t intend to face the pseudo-Buddha with such a meager force?”
Old Clay Pot Wu’s ridicule was incessant.
Li Muyang’s response, however, remained calm and steadfast: “I believe the pseudo-Buddha is not invincible. There must be a way to defeat it.”
First, the system would not issue an impossible task.
Second, Li Muyang could clearly feel that he had yet to truly tap into the full potential of the Nightwalker clan’s power.
This vein—most mystical within the Ancient Resentment Well—still held immense strength awaiting development by Li Muyang.
After all, Jie Zijiu’s parents caused a major commotion in the Great Zhou Imperial City years ago, stealing the Pingyao Princess’s corpse right under the pseudo-Buddha’s watchful eyes, all without possessing the Xuanji Talisman or assistance from great figures like Miao Fengjun.
Jie Zijiu’s parents, too, lacked True Immortal-level combat prowess, yet they accomplished such a feat.
The bloodline power of the Nightwalker clan holds remarkable potential, which is precisely why Li Muyang immediately sent for his Second Uncle.
The Jiang Family’s puppet masters moved swiftly, taking only three days to invite Jie Zijiu’s reclusive Second Uncle from Qingshan Village.
Upon arriving at the Red Mountain Academic Palace and seeing the high-status youth sitting inside the room, Jie Zijiu’s Second Uncle was visibly startled.
“…Zijiu, is that really you?”
For a moment, Jie Zijiu’s Second Uncle struggled to accept the situation.
The family child who not long ago had been clamoring to run away and search for his parents had now, after venturing out for a few months, suddenly emerged as a significant figure, residing in the Red Mountain Academic Palace—a sacred site for puppet masters—and receiving high-ranking treatment from the Jiang Family.
Furthermore, he had even refined a peerless, ultimate puppet.
The drastic transformation was simply astonishing.
However, as the old servant Deng Bo appeared, the Second Uncle’s excitement quickly subsided.
“Deng Bo? What are you doing here?”
The Second Uncle was greatly surprised, immediately recognizing the elderly man before him.
The white-haired old man sighed, pulled Jie Zijiu’s Second Uncle to sit down, and began recounting the entire journey of events.
Upon hearing of Jie Zijiu’s exploits in the Great Zhou Imperial City, the Second Uncle’s eyes went wide.
He turned once again to Li Muyang and said, “Zijiu, you even managed to obtain the legendary magic artifact.”
“But isn’t that magic artifact said to activate only when held by bloodline members of the Great Zhou royal family, enabling the defeat of any powerful enemy?”
Jie Zijiu’s Second Uncle’s gaze was puzzled.
At this point, Li Muyang had already cultivated the Pingyao Princess to the limit and acquired the ancient magic artifact.
According to the prophecy, he should have been able to defeat the pseudo-Buddha inside the Imperial Palace.
Yet instead, he was chased out of the city by the pseudo-Buddha, fleeing in a miserable state.
Speaking of this matter, Li Muyang could only sigh with helplessness.
“Still too weak. Just relying on the Pingyao Princess is not enough to defeat that abomination.”
“Second Uncle, can you teach me how to activate a second puppet?”
The most distinctive trait of the Nightwalker clan compared to other puppet masters was their ability to simultaneously control multiple puppets.
While ordinary puppet masters may refine multiple puppets, they can command only one puppet during battles.
The Nightwalker clan, however, is different—they can manipulate multiple puppets at the same time, leveraging the strength of numbers to overwhelm foes.
If Li Muyang could refine several puppets as powerful as the Pingyao Princess, he might gain the combat capability to confront the pseudo-Buddha head-on.
Deng Bo explained that this secret technique was an exclusive inheritance of the Nightwalker clan, and currently, only the Second Uncle knew it.
Thus, Li Muyang had brought over the Second Uncle from his secluded retreat in Qingshan Village.
After hearing Li Muyang’s description of the situation, the Second Uncle thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“Alright, I’ll take you back to the ancestral land to activate your second Spirit Vein and, if possible, third Spirit Vein as well.”
“For each Spirit Vein activated, you’ll be able to control an additional puppet.”
“As for how many Spirit Veins can be activated, that will depend entirely on your own fortune.”
And so, the uncle and nephew set off toward the ancestral ground of the Evil Vein Clan.
Deng Bo and Old Clay Pot Wu followed, accompanied by ten puppet masters dispatched by the Red Mountain Academic Palace as escorts.
The journey went smoothly as Li Muyang and company traversed the wilderness and forests, ultimately arriving at a secluded hollow less than two hundred miles from Qingshan Village.
This was the ancestral land of the Nightwalker clan, where, underground, lay a massive stone stele inscribed with myriad engravings.
The Second Uncle led Li Muyang below, ready to activate his Spirit Vein.
Yet just as the activation ceremony began, Li Muyang suddenly heard Liu Lian’er’s voice in reality.
“…Senior Brother Li, I’ve received a reply from Shen Yan!”
Liu Lian’er’s excited and joyful voice rang out, prompting a shift in Li Muyang’s thoughts and drawing him back to reality.
In the mist-shrouded Netherworld Secret Realm, Liu Lian’er beamed with joy as she held out a jade pendant, eagerly handing it to Li Muyang as if presenting a treasure.
Seeing the glowing jade pendant in her hand, Li Muyang raised an eyebrow: “So there’s finally a reply?”
The promised reply, supposedly due within a month, had instead taken more than two months.
But right now, there was no energy to chastise this mischievous little demoness for deceiving him.
Taking the jade pendant, Li Muyang inhaled deeply, his expression becoming stern.
This jade pendant could establish communication with Shen Yan on the Tianyuan Continent.
After so long without contact with the Tianyuan Continent, Li Muyang would now finally have the chance to reconnect!