Chapter 922: Di Nufeng’s Worry (II)

Chu Liang set the puppet down and turned to examine the second imprint.

A massive apparition of a nine-tailed fox demon emerged before him.

If one set aside the divide between humans and demons, Caiyi was truly an admirable figure. Had she been born human, she would likely have been just as extraordinary. Unfortunately, she belonged to the demon race and carried a deep hatred toward humanity. Yet, throughout all these years, she had never let it show.

Instead, she had promoted human education, architecture, and culture among the demons.

She had truly mastered the ways of her enemies and turned their strengths against them.

Had the demon race given her more support, she might have led them to new heights. But her vision had been far too advanced for those savage beasts who still clung to bloodshed and instinct.

Boom!

She was a soul worth mourning, yet in the end, she still had to be refined into a reward.

The second beam of light appeared as a thin, flat wisp. Chu Liang reached out and caught it in his palm. As the white glow faded, he found a white mask with three red markings on each cheek on his palm.

[Mask of Myriad Forms: Forged from the essence of the Great Dao of the Myriad Forms. This mask allows the wearer to assume any face in existence, complete with a corresponding change in physique. The disguise is flawless and impervious to all detection. Usable once per day, with each transformation lasting fifteen minutes. Note: Do not use the mask for shameless purposes. Fifteen minutes is not enough to get much done anyway.]

The mask’s function was simple enough. Once worn, it transformed the user into someone else entirely, with not the slightest risk of being exposed.

Its art of transformation far exceeded any known immortal technique.

Even so, the repeated warnings against shameless behavior inevitably stirred some wild imaginings in Chu Liang’s mind.

Compared to the Precious Phantom Spirit Embryo, these two enchanted artifacts might not have reached the same upper limits. However, since they could be used once a day, their practical value, if applied cleverly, might rival that of a legendary treasure.

All in all, Chu Liang was thoroughly satisfied with this journey to the Divine Ruins.

In addition to those two treasures, he had obtained an ancient cleaver and a bone fragment of terrifying power.

According to what the devil embryo muttered before its death, the item was called the Deity Pan’s Bone.

Among the many theories about the origins of worlds, one of the more widely accepted ones claimed that each world was born from the hidden realm of a great being. This was similar to how Eminent Ones could form a small world of their own. If their cultivation reached a high enough level, that hidden realm could eventually evolve into a fully independent world.

No one knew how high a cultivator's level needed to be to achieve such a feat. At the very least, it had to be above the ninth realm.

According to legend, this mortal world had once been the hidden realm of a being named Deity Pan.

In the beginning, all things existed in a formless chaos. It was Deity Pan who split heaven from earth, shaping the four corners of the world. After his death, his body became the Four Seas and the Nine Provinces, while the spiritual qi from his remains spread across creation and gave rise to all living beings.

If this truly was a bone belonging to Deity Pan, then its quality would be extraordinarily high, perhaps even comparable to a legendary artifact.

So far, aside from its ability to repel demons and monsters, Chu Liang still hadn’t figured out what the bone fragment was capable of. Nor did he know why it had burst forth from Yan Renjie’s body.

All in all, this journey had been a windfall. He was filled to the brim, both inside and out.

As he admired and played with his new treasures, a loud laugh rang out from outside.

"Heheheh! Chu Liang, I heard that you..."

...

"Lin Bei?" Chu Liang recognized the voice and extended his spirit sense to confirm.

Sure enough, Lin Bei stood outside, grinning from ear to ear. Chu Liang blinked and thought to himself,

Why does this guy always show up at the perfect time?

As expected of my best bro.

Without hesitation, Chu Liang took out the Soul-Seizing Puppet and tapped it lightly on the forehead.

Whoooooooooosh!

A flicker of divine light flashed, and in the next instant, the puppet formed a link with Lin Bei.

Lin Bei, who was standing outside, suddenly felt a jolt in his head. It was as if his mind had been filled with sticky paste, and his thoughts turned into a swirling, chaotic mess.

At the same time, a clear stream of spirit sense rose up within Chu Liang’s soul. The puppet had become a direct extension of himself, able to move and act under his will. And the body he now controlled... was Lin Bei’s.

With just a thought, Chu Liang made Lin Bei’s body run, hop, and leap about. It moved with remarkable agility. Perhaps because of the vast difference in their cultivation levels, even after playing around for quite some time, there were no signs of the spirit link weakening.

Chu Liang decided to test whether conversation could be managed under his control as well. He guided Lin Bei’s body to his esteemed teacher’s door, knocked three times.

Knock, knock, knock.

He said, "Senior Aunt Feng..."

"Hm?" A chilling voice echoed from within the pavilion.

The entire building was strangely shrouded in cold air. Di Nufeng sat gloomily in a corner, lost in thought, not even turning her head.

Sensing that something was off with his teacher, Chu Liang quickly made Lin Bei say, "I just came to say he—"

He had intended to make Lin Bei say "hello," but just as the words were about to come out, Chu Liang’s spirit sense flickered. The time limit on his control had run out.

However, the connection didn’t break right away. And so, it became Lin Bei, appearing to be in a daze, while mumbling, "Say...say..."

Di Nufeng suddenly turned. "Say what? Fight? So Jade Sword Peak sent someone to challenge me when I’m in a bad mood, is that it? Fine, I’ll fight!"

Poor Lin Bei had only just regained his senses. Before he could even see what was in front of him, a burst of firelight sent him flying straight back to Jade Sword Peak.

"

Hiss...

"

Chu Liang drew in a sharp breath.

His esteemed teacher was clearly in a terrible mood today, but he had no idea why.

Judging by the atmosphere, approaching her directly wouldn’t end well. But if he didn’t ask, he would only keep worrying.

His gaze shifted slightly as an idea came to him.

He placed the Mask of Myriad Forms over his face. A swirl of radiant light surrounded him, and in the next moment, he had taken on the appearance of Daoist Yan.

Only then did he stroll leisurely up to the loft and call out, "Este—Ah Feng, what’s wrong?"

"Yan Zi?" Di Nufeng turned. The moment she saw Daoist Yan’s face, her expression darkened. "I’m not happy."

"What’s got you so gloomy? Go on, I’m listening," Chu Liang said.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Don’t you think I’m kind of useless?" Di Nufeng sighed. "Jiang Tiankuo reached the eighth realm... you reached the eighth realm... I was okay with that, since you two were always better fighters than me. But now even my own disciple can defeat eighth-realm cultivators—and suddenly, I can’t beat him anymore. It’s got me really worried."

"Isn’t that a good thing?" Chu Liang asked. "What’s there to be worried about?"

"I..." Di Nufeng said with a pout, "I’m worried he’ll bully me the same way I used to bully him."