In the game, Li Muyang was in Jie Zijiu’s perspective, receiving Second Uncle’s assistance to activate the Spirit Vein.
He was unaware of Shen Yan and Nie Yubing’s concerns for the Tianyuan Continent.
But even if he knew, his plans wouldn’t change at all.
Within the underground cavern, the Spirit Vein activation ritual finally concluded.
When Li Muyang opened his eyes again, he noticed the system interface had added a new character slot.
Following the Princess of the Defunct Country, there were four blank character cards lined up side by side.
Counting the Pingyao Princess, Li Muyang could now simultaneously control four puppets.
Second Uncle remarked, “A total of five Spirit Veins… that’s fairly decent.”
Second Uncle seemed slightly regretful.
Li Muyang soon understood the reason behind Second Uncle’s regret.
After activating Jie Zijiu’s Spirit Vein, Second Uncle walked directly to the depths of the underground cavern and began feeling around the stone wall.
Soon, the stone wall cracked open, and one coffin after another emerged from the walls of the mountainside.
A total of eight coffins appeared, and Second Uncle stood beside them, addressing Li Muyang.
“These are puppets I refined back in the day. They’ve been resting here for years.”
“Their power has waned considerably and is no longer as strong as before. Only one among them can compare to the Pingyao Princess.”
“But they can save you the time of searching for puppets—these are unowned puppets. You can make do with them for now.”
Second Uncle had been capable of operating eight puppets simultaneously in the past.
Li Muyang was astonished.
Deng Bo had said that Jie Zijiu’s father had only managed to control seven puppets back then, which already made him an exceptional talent among the Nightwalker clan.
But Second Uncle’s talent surpassed even Jie Zijiu’s father.
Li Muyang stood up to select and search for the puppets with the highest potential and best attributes.
Second Uncle provided guidance nearby, and with the system’s appraisal, Li Muyang soon acquired eight new cards.
With a single thought, the eight puppets inside the coffins rose into the air one by one and blended into Li Muyang’s shadow, stored securely in the system’s warehouse.
Second Uncle froze upon seeing this scene. “What kind of ability is this? Where did you put the puppets?”
The system warehouse evidently exceeded Second Uncle’s understanding.
Li Muyang found it difficult to explain and casually gave a few perfunctory answers, claiming he had picked up a treasure for storing puppets while wandering outside.
Second Uncle hadn’t ventured out in years, so he was half-convinced by Li Muyang’s story.
And thus, Li Muyang acquired eight brand-new puppets.
According to the system’s appraisals, there were three SSR cards and five SR cards.
Although Li Muyang could only control up to five puppets at once, it didn’t stop him from raising a few warehouse managers in the meantime.
However, the power of the eight puppets provided by Second Uncle had indeed deteriorated significantly.
The strongest puppet card currently had a level of only LV33, while the weakest was only LV12.
All of them required re-refinement and leveling up by Li Muyang.
Luckily, with the LV99 Pingyao Princess in his ranks, leveling up at this point had become second nature for Li Muyang.
He left the Nightwalker clan’s sacred grounds, returning to Qingshan Village alongside Second Uncle. After expressing his gratitude to and bidding farewell to ten puppet masters from the Jiang Family, Li Muyang set off again on his journey with Deng Bo and the driver Ding Liang.
He resolved to level up all the puppets in his warehouse to the maximum level. Although he no longer had Wraiths to help him level up quickly, slaying the Evil Spirits wandering at night was just as effective for leveling up his puppets.
With the LV99 Pingyao Princess in his lineup, even if he accidentally stumbled upon an Evil God in the dark, Li Muyang was confident he could at least escape.
Most ordinary Evil Spirits were helpless against the Pingyao Princess. Li Muyang would freeze and petrify the target spirits using the Pingyao Princess, then swap her out of the lineup and replace her with a character card from the warehouse.
After that, all five puppets would gang up to kill the petrified spirit.
The five puppets shared the experience points and steadily leveled up.
Though this leveling process was tedious and monotonous, Li Muyang displayed immense patience.
In his previous life, he’d endured more mind-numbing leveling grinds in games.
With Grandpa Wu’s guidance, Li Muyang traveled down the road in Ding Liang’s horse-drawn carriage, taking down all Evil Spirits encountered along the way, thereby steadily raising the levels of the puppets in his warehouse.
Along the way, Li Muyang also crossed paths with several puppet masters from the Black Feather Pavilion.
These puppet masters were cold and unfriendly toward Li Muyang, but seemingly constrained by an agreement with the Jiang Family, they refrained from attacking him.
After parting ways, however, Li Muyang ended up being subjected to two assassination attempts.
The assassins weren’t puppet masters from the Black Feather Pavilion—they were clearly professional killers.
After defeating and killing the two assassins, Li Muyang seized their puppets and acquired two new SR cards.
However, these puppets acquired through looting had their levels reset to zero and would need to be leveled up from LV1.
Following two failed assassination attempts, the Black Feather Pavilion seemed to vanish from Li Muyang’s radar.
As his journey continued, Li Muyang no longer encountered any puppet masters from the Black Feather Pavilion.
They appeared to be actively avoiding him.
For the moment, Li Muyang’s life in the Ancient Resentment Well became calm and tranquil. As long as he refrained from actively heading toward the Great Zhou capital, he wouldn’t fall into danger.
The stray spirits encountered in the wild were mostly dealt with by the Pingyao Princess.
With a max-level character leading the way, Li Muyang’s warehouse of “managers” leveled up rapidly.
But amidst this endless cycle of leveling up, Li Muyang’s physical body in the Peaceful Realms began experiencing trouble.
Within the mist, Li Muyang opened his eyes atop the massive Green Saber Mantis.
He frowned as he glanced behind him, where a shadow shrouded in mist seemed almost indistinguishable, tailing him for days.
It was Chou Yuyan—the corrupted, insane woman who had vanished after her schemes in Jiuyuan City collapsed. Now, she appeared in the Peaceful Realms.
Moreover, she was stalking Li Muyang.
She maintained a precarious distance, making it difficult for Li Muyang to pinpoint her location or engage her, haunting him like a persistent ghost.
This relentless pursuit irritated Li Muyang.
But what piqued Li Muyang’s curiosity was why this madwoman, instead of healing her injuries, insisted on following him.
The mist-shrouded Chou Yuyan seemed incredibly frail.
Since her retreat from Jiuyuan City, her wounds had yet to heal.
Li Muyang scowled and called out, “Why the hell are you trailing me like some ghost that won’t go away?”
The mist-enveloped Chou Yuyan responded to Li Muyang’s words with nothing but a sinister chuckle, providing no answer.
This madwoman’s baffling behavior irritated Li Muyang greatly.
He attempted to retaliate, pulling out the Red Evil Bell.
But every time he prepared to strike, Chou Yuyan’s shadow would vanish into the mist, increasing the distance and leaving Li Muyang unable to locate her.
After several such attempts, Li Muyang snorted coldly and lowered the Red Evil Bell in his hand.
“You want to follow? Then keep following!”
This madwoman, constantly stalking him with an increasingly weakened aura—Li Muyang doubted she could keep up forever.
The mist of the Peaceful Realms interfered with his senses, making it tough to deal with her.
But should she dare follow him back to the Mortal World, he would let her taste the full power of the Red Evil Bell!