Chapter 643

Chapter 643: Hidden Spirit Sect’s Outer Sect

"One-tenth!!" The two exclaimed.

Not because it was too little, but because it was too much.

They had both seen the scale of the Puppet Giant City, comparable to a human city with a population of over a million.

After estimating, they figured there were at least 500,000 puppets inside the giant city.

More than half of those puppets worked daily to mine an unknown spirit ore.

Although they did not know what the spirit ore was, they were certain it was not an ordinary item.

"If you want more, go ask the Grand Elder for it," the Great Ascension stage puppet said, observing their expressions.

"That’s quite a lot, it’s just too much!" Qian Bing exclaimed excitedly.

Even though he claimed to have an army of over ten thousand puppets, most of them lacked equally matched magical treasures.

Despite the sect taking good care of him, he had to buy equipment one piece at a time for those puppets.

"I wonder how many puppets I can equip this time," Qian Bing said, drooling.

"Probably enough to equip all your puppets," Xiong Li said with a smile, then addressed the Great Ascension stage puppet, "Can we choose after we return to the sect?"

He felt uneasy carrying too much on him.

"That’s fine. If you don’t choose in time, one-tenth of your share will be converted into points," the Great Ascension stage puppet replied considerately.

"Let’s look first," Qian Bing chuckled.

Before long, the Great Ascension stage puppet brought the two to the Puppet Giant City.

At this time, the entire Puppet Giant City seemed to be oblivious to their presence, busy with its own activities.

"Grape, how’s the quality of these puppets?" Qian Bing asked curiously.

"The quality is decent, better than the mass-produced puppets from the sect," the Great Ascension stage puppet explained.

"Because they possess self-awareness, they can refine the spirit ore and upgrade themselves, so they are generally stronger than the sect’s puppets."

A wave of energy radiated from the Great Ascension stage puppet, sweeping across the entire Puppet Giant City.

In an instant, all the busy puppets seemed to be brainwashed, gathering in front of the Puppet Giant City.

Arranged by type, 10,000 puppets formed a square formation, totaling 63 formations—more than Xiong Li and Qian Bing had estimated.

"Grape, you controlled all of them with just that!" Qian Bing said in shock.

"I control millions of puppets in the sect. Do you think forcing control over these puppets is difficult?" Grape retorted.

As Grape’s clone inside the Great Ascension stage puppet extracted all the information from the group of puppets, it began to modify their core programming.

"These puppets will need a day to assimilate. You can accompany the sect’s puppets and see if there’s anything you need in this giant city," the Great Ascension stage puppet said.

"That would be quite awkward~"

Qian Bing politely responded before rushing toward the giant city with Xiong Li.

After one day, the Puppet Giant City returned to its original state, but its treasury had already been emptied.

At the Hidden Spirit Sect, Xu Fan listened to Grape’s report, and his expression grew increasingly animated.

"This National Master is quite cunning. Who knows how many of these Puppet Giant Cities are lurking around the sect?"

"Scatter some seeds and let them grow unchecked. Once they’ve grown enough, they’ll band together to weaken the Hidden Spirit Sect."

"If nothing goes wrong, some cultivators in Lin Sen Fairy City have probably been bribed. Grape, keep an eye on things," Xu Fan ordered.

"Understood, Master."

A giant cannon appeared before Xu Fan.

"This is the real deal in the cultivation world—a proper rune cannon. Load it with spirit stones and talismans, and it can unleash devastating spells," Xu Fan said, running his hand over the cannon.

"Still, these cannons are way more advanced than the ones I’ve made, and they pack just as much punch."

"Fitting for a National Master who sees me as a rival. I wonder which world he came from before reincarnating?" Xu Fan mused with a grin.

"Master, Grape analyzed the rune formations on this. It’s a simplified version of the cannon. If we complete the rune formations, it could seriously injure a Core Formation stage beast," Grape explained.

"I noticed that too. This National Master dumbed down the original Celestial Script Formations. It might’ve been something from the Immortal Realm," Xu Fan speculated.

"Show me what you grabbed from the Puppet Giant City. Maybe I’ll get some inspiration and design an even more powerful cannon," Xu Fan said.

"Understood, Master."

…………

Two months later, a massive Star Ship from the Heavenly Refining Sect landed on the Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake.

This time, the Heavenly Refining Sect didn’t just bring the spirit ore Xu Fan needed—they also came bearing lavish gifts to celebrate his promotion to artifact great master.

After spending a few days discussing artifact crafting with Xu Fan, the three elders of the Heavenly Refining Sect made a quick exit.

They could tell Xu Fan had his hands full.

Down in the underground space, Xu Fan and his two clones were hard at work.

"Master, more and more beast race infiltrators are sneaking into Lin Sen Fairy City. Should we wipe them out now?" Grape asked.

Xu Fan, busy refining a celestial tool Spiritual Sword, paused to think.

"Let’s wait a bit longer. The rumors floating around Lin Sen Fairy City aren’t a big deal anyway."

"Once their numbers grow, the Outer Sect will start recruiting in bulk. Those beast race cultivators in disguise will show up, and we’ll catch them all at once," Xu Fan said.

"Understood, Master," Grape replied.

"Great idea, Master. We can train them and turn them against the beast race—how perfect!" the Second Clone chimed in.

"Then let Xingci take charge of these disguised beast race cultivators," Xu Fan decided.

"Sounds good," the two clones agreed with a smile.

Meanwhile, the First Clone was busy refining Great Ascension stage puppets, while Xu Fan and the Second Clone worked on the Immortal Sword.

…………

A year later, shocking news spread through Lin Sen Fairy City.

The Hidden Spirits were recruiting cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above, causing a huge stir in the city.

Everyone in Lin Sen Fairy City knew it was the Hidden Spirit Sect that had protected the city and its people.

Not only that, they sold top-tier precious artifacts at bargain prices, boosting the fighting strength of the city’s cultivators.

Over the years under the Hidden Spirit Sect’s protection, they’d come to fully appreciate its power.

While the inner sect disciples of the Hidden Spirit Sect were rarely seen, the outer disciples on missions were a common sight—many of them locals.

So they knew exactly how good the outer disciples had it, and it made them envious.

Whether it was magical treasures, techniques, spirit stones, or spirit pills for advancement, everything about being an outer disciple was tempting.

So when the Hidden Spirit Sect announced the expansion of its Outer Sect, it instantly sparked excitement among the wandering cultivators.

Being an outer disciple of the Hidden Spirit Sect wasn’t just about the perks—it was a status symbol.

The wandering cultivators in Lin Sen Fairy City were thrilled, and so were the beast race members disguised as human cultivators.