Chapter 46

An Wuxue’s eyes flickered.

He forced out a reluctant laugh.

"Fellow Daoist Xie, Kunkun is a miasma beast naturally blessed in the Dao of the Soul. They are extremely rare, and upon reaching adulthood, a miasma beast's spiritual consciousness is comparable to that of someone at the peak of the Tribulation Crossing stage."

The more panicked he felt inside, the more composed he tried to appear on the outside. "Just because Kunkun likes me doesn't mean I am capable of raising such a spiritual beast. I merely have self-awareness; how can this possibly be considered cutting ties?"

He raised a hand and patted Kunkun on the head.

Following his movement, Kunkun lifted its head and obediently closed its eyes.

"I happen to like it quite a lot, too."

Not wanting to give Xie Zhefeng any further opportunity to dwell on the matter, he hurriedly asked Qiao Yin, "Young City Lord, you mentioned earlier that you are at a stalemate with a demonic cultivator at the Tribulation Crossing stage. Where is that demonic cultivator now? Are the turbid Qi in the firmament and the puppets outside the city all related to this demonic cultivator?"

"They are related, but not entirely. This matter is complex, and I still need to assist the sword array, so to make a long story short—"

Qiao Yin raised her hand, channeling her spiritual power to gather a few droplets of water at her fingertips, and traced the pattern of a mark upon the table.

It was precisely the mark found on those puppets.

"Several months ago, there was a pair of cultivators in the Mahayana stage within the city. The woman perished after mistakenly entering a perilous realm, and the other cultivators who entered with her brought her corpse back. However, her Dao companion refused to accept it, sitting before the corpse for several days and forcibly detaining the soul that should have scattered, condensing a few lingering fragments. He was utterly determined to resurrect her."

Pei Qian twirled his compass and said leisurely, "Such things are not uncommon. Most people in this world harbor delusional thoughts, and few can see through the matters of life and death. Cultivators live far longer than mortals, making them all the more prone to falling into this trap. Once their obsession finds nowhere to go, it will eventually dissipate."

Will it eventually dissipate?

An Wuxue clenched his fists a bit tighter.

This time, without even looking, he could feel the gaze from beside him. Even though Kunkun was resting among them, that person was watching him in utter silence.

If obsessions eventually dissipate when they find nowhere to go, why on earth had Xie Zhefeng developed a demonic obsession?

"......Yes," Qiao Yin said. "At first, we thought so too. But on the fifth day after the cultivator's wife passed away, he suddenly obtained a mark—"

She pointed at the water droplets on the table, which were gradually drying up.

"It is precisely this mark. The mark originated from a manual. The manual recorded a method for creating puppets and retaining souls. Using natural spiritual treasures as a foundation, one can mold a puppet identical to the deceased during their lifetime, guide the lingering soul into the puppet's body, and then imprint this mark to trap the lingering soul within.

"The more powerful the spiritual treasure used to create the puppet, the more lifelike the resulting puppet will be."

Xie Zhefeng suddenly spoke, "There is no need to explain this method at length; Xuxue and I have seen it before."

Qiao Yin was slightly startled. "There are actually other places where this method has spread? I thought it was only circulating within the Northern Netherrealm..."

"After obtaining this method, that cultivator kept it to himself, secretly using natural spiritual treasures to mold a puppet and store his Dao companion's lingering soul inside. It wasn't until he brought his 'Dao companion' out and others caught sight of her that the matter came to light.

"When the City Lord's Mansion received the news, we did not interfere. After all, this was a secret method he had acquired himself, and the spiritual treasure belonged to the cultivator as well. Even if he merely kept a lingering soul and a puppet for solace, it could still be considered human nature. However, after that, some people who had similar needs learned of the matter and also sought out this method."

An Wuxue said in a low voice, "Then it must have spread like wildfire."

Just how many people could resist the temptation of "resurrection"?

Even though it was an illusion visible to the naked eye.

He finally understood where those wandering puppets outside the city came from.

To create numerous puppets tainted with turbid Qi out of thin air in a place brimming with immortal cultivators was exceedingly difficult.

However, if these puppets originated from people's scattered obsessions, and the cultivators of the City Lord's Mansion had let down their guard, then by the time the situation spiraled out of control, it would obviously be too late.

Qiao Yin nodded. "More and more puppets were created. Even mortals, to satisfy their own obsessions, spent exorbitant fortunes or paid heavy prices to seek out cultivators to help them manufacture puppets.

"At the time, I vaguely sensed something was amiss and sent sound transmissions to the surrounding cities, discovering indeed that this method had begun spreading throughout the Northern Netherrealm. Yet, back then, I truly couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.

"It wasn't until a dozen days ago that the cultivator who first began making puppets to preserve his Dao companion's lingering soul finally discovered the problem—the mark was flawed. Once the puppet was completed, it could not endure for long; instead, it required periodic injections of spiritual power to maintain."

An Wuxue opened his mouth, almost blurting out—isn't this situation nearly identical to the furnace mark on his own body?

Only, Xuxue's body showed no trace of being a puppet at all; his soul was complete, far from being a mere lingering fragment, and the mark on his hand was even more intricate, linked directly to Xie Zhefeng's aura.

At their core, however, they emerged from the exact same origin.

Then he heard Xie Zhefeng say, "Even so, this is merely a failed resurrection method. Why has it escalated to the point where puppets tainted with turbid Qi are wandering everywhere?"

"Because most people who did this simply could not sustain the required supply of spiritual power, yet they were unwilling to destroy the puppets, plunging everything into chaos. It was precisely at that moment that something went wrong with the Northern Nether Sword."

Pei Qian realized in sudden enlightenment, "So a sudden burst of turbid Qi erupted from the Northern Nether Sword Array, scattering everywhere. Coincidentally, there were many puppets in the city on the verge of decaying due to a lack of spiritual power. These puppets were contaminated by the turbid Qi, which became the source of their vitality, turning them into what they are now?"

Qiao Yin said with grief and indignation, "Precisely. It was our oversight for not taking this puppet-making method seriously... A few days ago, an accident occurred in the sword array, and turbid Qi filled the skies. Coupled with the fact that a Tribulation-stage arch-demon seized the opportunity to strike, some people fell into demonic deviation themselves in their attempt to protect their puppets, while others inadvertently lost their lives. Left unattended, the puppets chased after anything with vitality, wandering everywhere and plaguing mortals. Even the cultivator who first used this 'resurrection' method, unable to bear seeing the puppet of his Dao companion's lingering soul become contaminated by turbid Qi, personally destroyed the puppet he had poured everything into making. Tormented by his inner demons, he too became tainted by the turbid Qi and ultimately took his own life.

"The city has been in chaos for days, leading to the current state of affairs."

Xie Zhefeng asked, "Do you know the origins of the Tribulation-stage demonic cultivator?"

When he had ascended to immortality and left seclusion back then, he had clearly purged the world of all demons and monsters.

If there was a Tribulation-stage demonic cultivator, they had most likely fallen into demonic paths within this past millennium.

"I know. That arch-demon has ties to my Qiao family. He was originally an orthodox immortal cultivator before going astray. Alas... he practiced the Dao of turbid Qi, making his cultivation even more formidable than before, and he actually killed my father!"

Clenching one hand into a fist, she slammed it heavily onto the table, her expression filled with bitter hatred.

"He almost seized this entire place for himself, but fortunately, we managed to beat him back in the end. Afterward, we could only set up a barrier, distributing spiritual talismans to mortals and cultivators of lower cultivation, while the rest of the experts guarded the sword array. Hanging on until today, I sensed someone breaking the barrier to enter the city and almost mistook you for reinforcements of that scoundrel, which is why I attacked."

"To think that both Fellow Daoist Pei and Fellow Daoist Xie are Tribulation-stage immortal cultivators—this is truly wonderful—"

"Young City Lord," Xie Zhefeng interrupted her, "Judging by your words, that manual feels more as though someone intentional knew the Northern Nether Sword Array would suffer an accident, and thus calculated the timing to spread it, launching their attack precisely when the turbid Qi scattered."

Aside from the Twenty-Seventh City, the remaining forty-nine cities of the Northern Netherrealm likely faced a similar plight.

An Wuxue's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

At this point, the destruction of the Cloud Sword Sect leading to the crisis of the Zhaoshui Sword Array could no longer be a mere coincidence. The cloud boat was merely a chess piece; the person behind the scenes shaking the Zhaoshui in the east and throwing the Nether Sea into chaos in the north could not possibly be an ordinary Tribulation-stage cultivator.

That person also knew about the inner workings of the sword array, and even events from a millennium ago. Could they be some prominent arch-demon left over from those years?

While he was deep in thought, Xie Zhefeng had already stood up.

"That being the case, the sword array is of paramount importance. The situation in the forty-nine cities remains unclear and time is pressing. Young City Lord, please accompany me to take a look at the sword array first."

Qiao Yin was taken aback.

As a Tribulation-stage cultivator herself, having held the fort through wind and rain until today after the old city lord was slain by the arch-demon, she never considered herself incompetent.

Yet, this newly arrived Fellow Daoist Xie Chunhua had used only a few brief words to instill a sense of obedience in her.

It felt as though she were no longer the one calling the shots here, but rather the person before her.

If anyone else had adopted such a commanding attitude to ask her to lead the way, she would undoubtedly have felt rebellious. But because Xie Zhefeng said it, she feared delaying things instead, and hastily stood up to say, "Very well. I am naturally endlessly grateful that Fellow Daoist Xie is willing to help. Are the rest of you coming along?"

"I am naturally proficient in the Dao of arrays," Pei Qian said. "So I must go. However, the sword array will emit turbid Qi, and anyone whose cultivation and mental fortitude are insufficient will likely succumb to cultivating with turbid Qi entering their body, making it extremely dangerous. Xuxue is only in the Mahayana stage; wouldn't it be better for him to wait inside the city lord's mansion while we scout the situation first?"

Xie Zhefeng remained silent.

An Wuxue had originally wanted to go and take a look—after all, the sword array had been established by him in his previous life.

On second thought, since Xie Zhefeng was going in person, whatever he could spot would most likely be noticed by his junior brother with the assistance of Pei Qian, an expert in the Dao of arrays.

If he went, he would only reveal more hard-to-explain flaws during their interactions. It would be better to stay behind, where he could seize the opportunity to closely examine what the puppet-making technique was truly about.

Thus, he smoothly went along with the suggestion: "Fellow Daoist Pei is right. Even if I went, I would only hold you back. You all should go ahead."

Pei Qian nodded with a beaming smile.

"Fellow Daoist Xie, what are you still standing there for? Weren't you the one who said you wanted to take a look? Hurry up, hurry up," he urged. "I'm quite eager to see what has happened to the sword array myself."

Xie Zhefeng turned around, facing An Wuxue directly.

Kunkun fluttered its wings and landed on Xie Zhefeng's shoulder, its pitch-black eyes darting around.

That person crossed his arms, cradling Chunhua in his embrace.

Abruptly, Xie Zhefeng cast a profound look at him, walked closer, and stopped right in front of him.

An Wuxue instinctively took a step back.

He heard Xie Zhefeng say in a low voice, "Pei Qian and I must go check on the sword array, and Kunkun needs to follow me because of my... injury. The Northern Netherrealm is dangerous, and your cultivation is only at the Mahayana stage, leaving you all alone here..."

The man's voice grew lower and slower as he spoke.

He paused for a beat before continuing, "...You might as well take this sword to protect yourself."

As his words fell, Xie Zhefeng reached out and extended Chunhua before his eyes.