Chapter 46: The Shock of the Zheng Family Disciple

「The next day, in the early morning.」

Li Chang’an had finished disassembling the Shadow-Chasing Puppet.

He studied the Spirit Patterns on the materials for a while and found them far too complex.

’I can understand the Spirit Patterns on the outermost parts, but the deeper ones are too difficult. The patterns in the core region are especially intricate. Could this be why I can’t control it?’

Li Chang’an mused.

Ultimately, to be on the safe side, he placed the puppet’s core components into a separate Storage Pouch.

He wiped the Spirit Patterns from some of the external materials, returning them to a state where they could be inscribed upon again.

’If I want to craft a high-quality Defense Puppet, I still don’t have enough materials. I’ll have to make a trip to the Black Market.’

Li Chang’an thought to himself.

He didn’t leave right away.

Instead, he waited until night. Only after his Divination refreshed and showed a "Neutral" result did he use Earth Escape to leave.

Before long, he had bought enough Puppet Materials and returned to the Marketplace.

’For the next few days, I’ll focus on building this Defense Puppet.’

...

「More than ten days later.」

Before Li Chang’an stood a pitch-black puppet, roughly the same size as him.

This was the Tier One Top Grade Defense Puppet he had personally crafted after countless failures.

’This puppet’s quality is excellent, much better than the turtle puppet. It can consistently withstand Dahuang’s attacks.’

Dahuang’s strength was equivalent to a Late Stage of Qi Refining Human Race Cultivator.

Li Chang’an was very satisfied with this.

Although this puppet couldn’t be called high-quality, it was considered exceptionally good among ordinary Tier One Top Grade Puppets.

In addition, Li Chang’an had also created a Top Grade Puppet that specialized in Speed.

This puppet was mainly for tracking enemies.

After all, he couldn’t always rely on Dahuang. There was only one of it, and it couldn’t be in two places at once.

’I have a Defense Puppet and a Speed Puppet now. All that’s missing is an attack puppet. No rush for now, I should save some Spirit Stones.’

Li Chang’an mused.

For offense, he could temporarily make do with Top Grade Talismans.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Inside the Secret Realm, Xu Fugui was facing the greatest danger of his life.

The danger came not from the Secret Realm itself, but from other Human Race Cultivators.

A group of Tribulation Cultivators had blocked the path for him and his companions.

"Heh heh heh, a few plump lambs from the Early Stage of Qi Refining."

The regular members of this group of Tribulation Cultivators weren’t strong, but their leader had a Cultivation at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

His strength alone was enough to crush Xu Fugui and the others.

"Fugui, what should we do?"

His companions looked panicked.

"I don’t know either..."

Xu Fugui looked just as flustered and terrified.

However, deep down, he remained calm, secretly tightening his grip on a Talisman.

’Brother Li said this Talisman was for killing enemies.’

Xu Fugui’s heart pounded with nervousness.

’Can this Talisman really kill an expert at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer?’

Up ahead, seeing how panicked Xu Fugui and his group were, the Tribulation Cultivator leader relaxed and sneered, "Hand over all your valuables, and I might consider letting you..."

He hadn’t even finished his sentence when a golden light suddenly flashed before him.

A Middle Grade Talisman, the Golden Saber Talisman!

"This is bad!"

The Tribulation Cultivator leader’s face changed drastically.

The terrifying golden gleam arrived in an instant, surging with Spiritual Power, and slashed into him.

SLASH!

His body shuddered.

He was sliced in two, and his body collapsed to the ground in two halves.

It all happened too fast.

Only then did the other Tribulation Cultivators react.

"Watch out, fall back!"

Their faces were filled with terror as they tried to retreat.

But in the next instant, several more flashes of golden light erupted.

Like dazzling golden blades, they tore through the air with unparalleled ferocity, instantly enveloping the entire group of Tribulation Cultivators.

"AHHH—"

A few blood-curdling screams echoed from within the golden light, and then there was silence.

A moment later, the golden light dissipated.

There were no living people left, only a pile of mangled flesh and blood.

’These Talismans... their power is immense!’

Xu Fugui was shaken to the core, his hands trembling slightly.

Beside him, his companions were already too stunned to speak.

They stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the corpses of the Tribulation Cultivators.

After a long moment, one of them finally spoke.

His mouth hung open as he looked at Xu Fugui in disbelief.

"Fugui, where did you get the Spirit Stones to afford so many Middle Grade Talismans?"

Just now, Xu Fugui had been throwing Middle Grade Talismans around as if they were free, which had truly shocked him.

"What Middle Grade Talismans? Weren’t those Low Grade Talismans I used?"

Hearing this, Xu Fugui began to play dumb.

He knew Li Chang’an didn’t want to be exposed, so he had already prepared an excuse to handle his companions.

"You don’t know?"

The man was flabbergasted.

He pointed at the gory remains, his finger trembling slightly.

"The Golden Saber Talismans you just used are one of the most destructive types of Middle Grade Talismans!"

"What?"

Xu Fugui deliberately put on a shocked expression.

His mouth fell open as he stared blankly at the bloody scene.

"You’re telling me those Talismans I found in a cave dwelling were actually Middle Grade Talismans?"

"You found all these Talismans?"

His companions were all dumbfounded, finding it hard to believe.

At that moment, Xu Fugui urged them, "Enough talk, let’s get out of here!"

"Right, right! Let’s leave the Secret Realm first!"

...

「That evening.」

Xu Fugui and his group finally returned to the Marketplace.

"Fugui, thank you for what you did back there."

Recalling their earlier encounter, everyone was still terrified.

They thanked him, said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways.

Although they felt there was something suspicious about the origin of Xu Fugui’s Talismans, they didn’t press the issue.

After all, everyone had their own secrets.

’I think I’ve kept it under wraps.’

Xu Fugui thought to himself as he watched the others leave.

...

What Xu Fugui didn’t know was that one of his companions was now rushing toward the center of the Marketplace.

The man’s surname was Zheng, and his name was Zheng Ming.

He was a disciple of the Zheng Family!

Because his talent was too poor, his Spiritual Root was merely an "Inferior Spirit Root."

The Zheng Family had no intention of cultivating him. They only required him to take several concubines and have many children to spread the family’s bloodline.

To put it bluntly, they were using him as a tool for propagating their lineage.

But he was not resigned to this fate.

Was a life of debauchery, surrounded by wives and concubines, what he truly wanted?

His heart was set on the Immortal Dao, so he joined Xu Fugui’s group of Loose Cultivators, venturing into Secret Realms with them in search of opportunities.

At this moment, the reason Zheng Ming was rushing toward the center of the Marketplace was to inform Zheng Qingqing of something.

’Those Middle Grade Talismans Xu Fugui had were most likely given to him by his Brother Li, Li Chang’an! Li Chang’an probably became a Middle Grade Talisman Master long ago and has just been hiding it...’

The thought alone shocked Zheng Ming.

To become a Middle Grade Talisman Master so quickly meant he had a powerful talent for the dao of talismans.

He was worth recruiting into the Zheng Family!

’I have to tell the Young Miss this news right away. Maybe she’ll reward me with some Treasure.’

He hurried to the outside of Zheng Qingqing’s residence and knocked on the courtyard gate.

Then, he called out urgently.

"Young Miss, I have something important to report!"