Chapter 125

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Chapter 125: Puppet

Outside Medicine City

200 miles away from Medicine City, there is a town called Ba Shan. It is surrounded by eight mountains, hence the name Ba Shan Town. Ba Shan Town is the largest populated town under the Five Elements Sect, it’s almost like a small city.

When Lin Jiang arrived at Ba Shan Town, it was already completely dark. He was wearing a long cloak, unable to see any physical features, and his spiritual sense couldn’t penetrate it either. This cloak is an extremely high-quality magical artifact.

There is a black market outside Yunzhong City, and of course there is one in Medicine City, too. It is set up in Ba Shan Town. Lin Jiang had already come here when he settled in Medicine City before, so he already knew the situation very well.

He arrived at a residence in the black market with ease. A middle-aged man appeared and said to Lin Jiang, "I don’t know what I can do to help the esteemed guest."

"Get someone else, it’s a big deal."

"Dear guest, please wait for a moment."

The middle-aged man wasn’t angry and quickly left. It wasn’t long before a person wearing a mask appeared.

"What important business brings a distinguished guest?"

"I want to use the Split Spirit Technique."

"Split Spirit Technique, my, my, what skillful guest we have here! You actually know about this secret technique."

"In one word, do you have it or not?"

"Yes, but what do you have to exchange? This technique is of high grade, and only extraordinary items can be traded."

"News about Pill King Li Ruoxu."

"Please go ahead, distinguished guest."

"News is unique. I spoke it out, you said it didn’t meet your requirements, and my news leaked again. I suffered a loss."

"What does the esteemed guest want?"

"I engraved the news on the jade scroll. We will exchange them at the same time. I am here, so you shouldn’t be afraid of me deceiving you, right?"

"Okay."

The masked person nodded. Pill King Li Ruoxu is a very special and important person in Yun State. Information about him has always been extremely valuable in the black market. Some information can help certain people accomplish important tasks, such as asking Li Ruoxu to refine powerful and crucial medicinal pills.

The masked person brought the jade scroll of the Split Spirit Technique, while Lin Jiang also had a floating jade scroll in front of him. They exchanged the scrolls, and as soon as Lin Jiang received it, he immediately opened it and used his spiritual awareness to quickly understand its contents.

"Pill King Li Ruoxu’s disciple, Wen Xing, is a very bad man who has many women."

"Thief, how dare you deceive me!"

After the masked person received Lin Jiang’s jade scroll, there was only one sentence. Suddenly, he became extremely angry and slapped Lin Jiang with a palm, causing his body to instantly burst.

After the explosion, instead of blood and flesh flying around, there were flying pieces of metal and wood, along with a storage bag.

"Puppet"

The masked person was extremely angry. He didn’t expect to be tricked by a puppet. He put away the storage bag, and the markings on it almost disappeared easily, inside it was a pile of spirit stones and a jade scroll.

"Forgive me, Taoist friend. I don’t have anything valuable to trade for the Split Spirit Technique, so I can only offer these. There are fifty thousand spirit stones and a high-quality cloak, with a total value of eighty-five thousand. I hope you understand."

When the masked man saw the words on the jade scroll, he became so angry that he burst into laughter.

"Is my face worth so little?"

The masked man sneered and then soared into the sky. He controlled the puppet with his divine sense, knowing that his real body must be nearby.

However, when the masked man reached the sky above Baishan Town and released his divine sense, he didn’t see anyone. This greatly surprised him, and he murmured. It’s impossible, they ran away so fast in just an instant?

"Could they still be in the black market?"

Soon, the Masked Man thought about whether it was a plan, and quickly arrived at the town of Eight Mountains, patrolling everywhere.

······

"That was close! Luckily I went to the black market before, I have a token, otherwise I would have been exposed."

Lin Jiang sat on the back of Big Shadiao, already high up in the sky. This was Lin Jiang’s adventurous journey. He had already found out what he needed to exchange for the Split Spirit Technique.

But he couldn’t afford it, and there was a greater probability that the black market would raise the price, because the Split Spirit Technique was the best way to infiltrate the sect and avoid leaving behind a Soul Lamp mark. As soon as Lin Jiang made this request, they would know his intentions, and raising the price was inevitable.

So Lin Jiang had planned ahead and bought a puppet in Medicine City. He attached his spiritual consciousness to the puppet and covered his body with a top-grade cloak to conceal himself and block his spiritual consciousness. In this way, he obtained the Split Spirit Technique through deception.

"This can only be done around noon, because something bad will happen in the morning or evening."

Lin Jiang sighed and controlled Big Shadiao to land in an uninhabited area outside of Medicine City. He was ready to go back to Medicine City. This trick could only be used once, as no one would fall for it a second time.

Returning to Medicine City, there were still a lot of people. Today was the last day of the Medicine City Medicine Conference, which would end at daybreak. But there were still many activities tonight.

Lin Jiang didn’t bother with anything else and went into the yard he rented. He took out the Split Spirit Technique and engraved it on a jade slip. Cultivators have exceptional memory, but as time passes, they may forget some things, so it’s better to write them down.

The Split Spirit Technique is an extremely advanced secret technique. It is said to have been created by a powerful individual who extracted inspiration from the externalized incarnation during the Soul Changing Period. The Split Spirit Technique can split the cultivator’s soul, forming a complete individual soul that is closely related to the original soul, almost identical.

As long as the soul power is continuously provided, the split soul can exist indefinitely. The effect of the split soul is also extremely useful, for example, it can be refined into special spiritual talismans to resist soul-related attacks and can also replace the original body to carry out dangerous tasks.

However, this secret technique was quickly misused when someone discovered that it could be combined with puppetry to feign death and escape.

The specific method is to split the soul in advance, then cultivate and strengthen it. Then, perform a second split from the split soul and give it to the other person to create a Soul Lamp or other secret techniques. Then, place the first split soul into the puppet. When feigning death and escaping, all that is needed is to shatter the puppet, and it will appear to the other side that the soul master is dead, achieving the goal of feigning death.

Currently, the major sects are unable to defend against this method. They can only try to monopolize the Split Spirit Technique and prevent it from spreading freely.

Of course, not just anyone can feign death using the above method. It requires many conditions. First and foremost, the caster’s soul must be extremely strong and resilient. Otherwise, even if it’s just a first split, the caster could end up becoming a fool.

As for Lin Jiang, he discovered multiple methods to avoid the Soul Lamp, but he chose the Split Spirit Technique because he meets the necessary conditions. Very few people are able to cultivate the Soul Refining Technique, and it takes the consumption of Soul Nourishing Pills to sustain it for over a hundred years. Lin Jiang accomplished this. Before re-cultivating, his cultivation was at the middle stage of Building foundation, but his soul power was not inferior to the later stage of Building foundation. Through re-cultivation, his cultivation was impacted, but his soul power was preserved.

········

"Junior Brother Xiao, what’s wrong with you? Your face is so pale."

Two days later, Yue Qing was surprised to see Lin Jiang at the entrance of the Five Elements Sect. What is Junior Brother Xiao up to?

"If Senior Brother Yue were to spend two days at the Sweet Red Building, he would be the same."

Lin Jiang said casually. Sweet Red Building my foot. He practiced the Split Spirit Technique and almost killed himself.

"Junior Brother, you’re being reckless. Listen to Senior Brother’s advice, the women at the Sweet Red Building are like tigers, you should stay away from them."

"Is that so? Then why did I hear Senior Brother Jiang say that Senior Brother Yue has several admirers at the Sweet Red Building?"

"That’s just slander from Jiang Shu. Don’t listen to him."

"Haha, Senior Brother, just kidding. I’ll go first."

"Junior Brother, are you really this busy?"

Yue Qing quickly said that he wanted to communicate more with Lin Jiang to see if they could make more money.

Lin Jiang ignored him, saying that speculation is only accidental fortune and should not be a regular way to earn a living, otherwise you never know how things will end up.

Lin Jiang arrived at the inner gate and finally reached Zhang Wanjing’s residence. In the inner gate area, one can establish a residence during the Building Foundation Period, but the size of the residence cannot exceed ten acres. During the Golden Core Period, the size can be up to fifty acres.

Fifty acres in the inner gate is already very impressive. The spiritual energy here is tens of times higher than the outer gate. Besides, it is a sign of status and position.

"Martial Uncle Zhang"

At Zhang Wanjing’s residence, Lin Jiang saw Zhang Shuhua and quickly greeted him.

"What’s wrong? Why do you look so pale and unstable?"

"I had a little trouble with my cultivation practice, but it’s nothing serious. It’s all fine now."

"Cultivation practice requires steady progress. If you don’t understand something, you can come and ask me."

"I can’t just enter this inner door freely."

"After today, you will also be an inner disciple."

"I haven’t agreed yet."

"Haha."

Zhang Shuhua laughed coldly. The esteemed ancestor with a perfected golden core has accepted you as a disciple, and you still refuse?

"Greetings, Martial Uncle."

"No need for formalities, find a place to sit on your own, I have no rules here."

"Thank you, Martial Uncle."

Lin Jiang obediently sat down, and Zhang Shuhua also found a place to sit.

"Xiao Yi, I’ve managed to get credit for your achievements. Instead of giving you a Building Foundation Pill, I made an exception and promoted you to the inner sect. I also gave you ten bottles of high-quality Spirit Gathering Pills and allowed you to choose a lower-grade mysterious technique or secret art from the Library Pavilion."

"Thank you, Martial Uncle. Thank you, Sect."

"Indeed, it’s a profitable venture. Not a single flicker of emotion when the Building Foundation Pill was gone."

"I am grateful for the favors bestowed upon me by the sect, as they are like thunder and rain nurturing the land. Xiao Yi only knows gratitude."

Lin Jiang quickly flattered. Come on, it’s just a Building Foundation Pill. I can afford it.

"That statement sounds somewhat untrue."

"He made a lot of money this time and can buy a Building Foundation Pill on his own."

Zhang Shuhua chimed in, having secretly investigated as his father intended to take Lin Jiang as his disciple. Although he didn’t know the exact amount of money earned, it was definitely a significant sum, considering the few speculation projects involved.

"Xiao Yi, can you tell us how much money you made?"

"Where can I find a lot of money? All the money I have is earned through hard work, a drop of sweat for a spirit stone, you know?"

"Well, I don’t mind sweating every day."

"So, Martial Uncle must be exchanging a drop of sweat for a Premium Spirit Stone."

"Haha, no need to flatter me. Let me ask you, would you like to become my disciple?"

"Are you interested in being an official disciple or a special disciple?"

"I never take official disciples."

Zhang Wanjing said, expressing his strong distaste for taking official disciples. Those who do take official disciples just make them do all the chores, like servants or slaves.

"Disciple greets the Master."

Lin Jiang quickly exclaimed, wanting to cling onto someone with a complete golden core. He would get angry if anyone tries to stop him.