Chapter 302 - Forging Twin Serpents, First Foray into the Lotus Cult’s Beast Valley - Part 1

Li Yuan had been stuck at the fifth rank bottleneck for quite some time. With his eyes half-closed, he sensed the change immediately. His senses, which had once been limited to two kilometers, now spanned more than five kilometers.

He willed the power inside him to move. Five strands of source blood circled around the spherical ancestral seal beside his heart. The sphere began to rotate, generating a force that cancelled the pull of the earth.

Li Yuan’s feet left the snow and he drifted skyward. Suspended in the whiteness, he drew a long breath. “I’m flying... This feels incredible.”

First, let’s test my agility.

A single thought and the rune released bursts of power in precise vectors. He shot up, down, left, and right like a man fitted with hidden thrusters.

No wonder fourth rank martial artists can create a domain

, Li Yuan mused.

The domain must be the same force from the spherical ancestral seal, simply projected outward. Right now, it only affects my own body; after fourth rank, it probably blankets a wider area.

First-time flyers were allowed a bit of play.

Li Yuan chased after birds in the snow-choked sky, hoping to pat one on the head just to see its reaction. Of course, in weather like this, there were no birds—barely even people—but the notion made him grin all the same.

Now, let’s see how fast I can go!

With another push, the five strands of source blood spun faster and faster.

Whoosh!

A streak of light ripped across the sky, crossing more than a thousand feet in the blink of an eye.

Li Yuan dove, reversed, climbed again, leaving after-images in the swirling snow. When he finally stopped, he was exhilarated. “Definitely quicker than running. A breakthrough really is a breakthrough, though flying burns more energy too.”

FInally, it was time to test his power.

Each technique leans in its own direction. After breaking through into fifth rank, those differences become even more pronounced,

Li Yuan reminded himself.

The Holy Tree Temple’s Evergreen Art was famed for healing; the Return-Willow Technique for speed and finesse; and the Cycle of Withering And Growth for sheer offense.

My Ruling, Phantom, and Final Blade have their own emphases as well. Time to see how they’ve evolved.

Li Yuan thought, pressing the spherical ancestral seal toward his heart.

Immediately, chaos flooded his mind—jagged, alien, and beyond naming...as if every madman in the world had taken up residence in his skull.

In that state, Li Yuan’s sleeve slipped, and he caught one of his own self-forged, top quality sixth rank short blades.

Source blood poured into the weapon; the steel turned a strange, dull gray.

“What in the world...?” Li Yuan landed and gave a casual slash—no flashy light, no booming shockwave, just an ordinary swing. Yet when the blade touched the ground, the frozen earth parted like tofu.

A nearby boulder split just as easily.

Though not spectacular to watch, the message was clear. The strike ignored a target’s nature, armor, or resistance and simply cut. In game jargon, it was

true damage

—plain, practical, lethal.

A shame there’s nothing better out here to test it on

, Li Yuan thought, withdrawing the ancestral seal retreat from his heart as he set off toward Tang Nian’s lodge.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The small stone hut soon came into view.

Before Li Yuan could knock, the door creaked open.

A broad-shouldered, bear-like teenage girl stepped out and bowed. “Greetings, sir.”

“So formal?” Li Yuan chuckled.

“My master said I must show you the same respect I show her,” the bear-girl rumbled.

Li Yuan recognized her. She was the same girl who’d greeted him when he first arrived in Cloudpeak Province—Tang Ling, disciple of his goddaughter.

“I’d like to see your master.”

“Please wait here; I’ll announce your arrival.”

Snowflakes danced while Li Yuan waited quietly.

Wang Heran had already returned to the Holy Tree Temple; the Black Cloaks would continue passing information along.

Soon, the door opened again.

Three puppets filed out into the snow. One supported a drunken woman in red, one carried a tray of food, and the last held an oil-paper umbrella.

The red-robed woman’s manner positively dripped with panache. Casting Li Yuan a languid, sultry glance, she called, “Mister, the snow’s fierce. Come warm yourself inside!”

Li Yuan could smell the potent mix of alcohol and medicinal herbs.

“Let’s walk instead, Sect Mistress Tang,” he suggested.

“Sure, sure~ We’ll do as you like. Hehe.”

The three puppets filed after Li Yuan into the swirling snow.

Tang Ling, watching from the doorway, could only gape. As a woman herself she could tell how completely her master deferred to this mysterious

gentlemen

. Yet her master had forbidden any digging, only hinting that Li Yuan was a senior figure of the Nimbus Group. So, all she could do was nurse her curiosity.

Once the two were well away, Li Yuan said, “Nian Nian, find a time to bring over the blood crystal marrow I shipped in earlier. I’ve broken through to fifth rank.”

“Roger that, Pops! You’re amazing, shooting straight up to fifth rank!”

“And your puppetry, what exactly is going on?” Li Yuan asked, genuine concern in his voice.

Tang Nian’s bright eyes flashed. “You know the Four Extraordinary Arts—puppetry, weaponsmithing, alchemy, and beast taming. After absorbing the Tang Family’s legacy I learned our puppetry lineage’s secret art is called the

Daemonheart

.”

Li Yuan frowned. “Old Tang already made a Daemonheart, didn’t he?”

“He only scratched the surface. The

true

Daemonheart is a heart of illusion. False becomes true, phantasmal becomes reality.”

Tang Nian grew both excited and weary at once. She sat up straight on the crossed elbows of the giant puppet behind her, dangling her legs.

“Pops, did you know a puppet with a Daemonheart can actually

learn?

But the puppeteer must pour in years of labor, carve its blood circuit with a flame-engraving blade again and again.

“Think of it as teaching an extremely slow child; only the puppeteer can do it. If it succeeds, the puppet could become a genuine monster that lives for thousands of years!”

“How do you teach it?”

“Endless trial and error. Keep carving, keep adjusting, year after year, so long as you never slip.”

Li Yuan sighed. “But you’re pouring everything into one puppet. Even if it lives millennia, what does that do for

you?

”

“It’s

my

puppet!”

“Yes, but

it

is the one that lives, not you.”

“What’s the difference? If it lives thousands of years, that’s enough.” Tang Nian leaned back against the puppet’s chest, rubbing her cheek against the wooden plate, listening for a heartbeat that wasn’t there, a feverish joy on her face.

Suddenly she looked up, cheeks flushed. “Pops, when your time is nearly up, tell me. I’ll polish a fresh Daemonheart for you. You’ll nurture it in your chest. When you die, I’ll take it out, make

you

into a puppet, and teach you. Then you can live for thousands of years too. How about it?”

“Is...this your idea of filial piety?” Li Yuan stared.

“Of course! I’m a very dutiful daughter. Hehehe.”

“That thing isn’t Old Tang. Old Tang’s gone.” Li Yuan sighed, a deep aching in his heart. “You need to live for

yourself

.”

“You just don’t understand.”

“Must you be so headstrong?” Li Yuan frowned.

“I’m not a child, and this isn’t a game,” Tang Nian said, a flicker of seriousness in her eyes.

“Alright, do as you wish. You’re an adult now.” Li Yuan let out an exasperated sigh. He reached up, ruffled the young woman’s hair, then let his hand drift down to the big gourd at her waist. He popped the stopper, about to drink.

“Hold it! My saliva’s in there. You planning to kiss your own goddaughter?” Tang Nian teased.

“Hey, watch your mouth.” Li Yuan rolled his eyes.

Tang Nian snatched the gourd back. “Alcoholic! A father should be more tolerant. Besides, the herbs in here are precious. No wine for you!”

Li Yuan decided to shift tack. “Weaponsmiths have their own secret arts too. Heavensense, Earth Appraisal, and Life Devour to name a few. Put simply, we infuse weapons with Heaven’s Yang, Earth’s Yin, or mortal lifespan. If weaponsmiths have so many paths, surely puppet masters do too. Don’t seal yourself in a box. Go look for other lineages, other secrets. I’ll help you search.”

“Thank you,” Tang Nian said. She went quiet for a long while before adding, “But there’s no need.”

“Why not?”

“Those things are probably wonderful, but I don’t like them. I’m...already fine as I am.”

“All right, all right, I’ll drop it,” Li Yuan sighed. “Do me a favor, then. Find out which puppet clans in the Great Zhou are truly formidable. I’ll jot the names down first.”

Tang Nian watched his restless pacing and broke into a smile, like a pure white lotus blooming in a pool that should be full of fox-fire. She caught his hand. “Thank you, Pops.”

“How about a little trip with me outside? You might bump into some brilliant young hero and fall head-over-heels.”

“Ptui.”

“If it’s freedom you want, I can arrange for someone else to take over your post. You can go chase true love to your heart’s content.”

“Ptui again! And when you find such a person, what would you do with them? Shackle them into obedience? Loyalty born of those things is warped. One reckless order and the whole thing blows up.”

Li Yuan and Tang Nian argued back and forth a while longer.

Tang Nian wouldn’t budge, so Li Yuan let the matter drop and turned to tweak his weaponsmith plans.