Chapter 38

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Chapter 38: Puppet That Dies in Place

"Oh?" Fang Lie’s interest was immediately piqued. "Who’s the mastermind? Tell me now and I’ll spare your lives! You’ll keep your cultivation and only face decades of imprisonment!"

For high-level Cultivators with Lifespans spanning centuries, decades behind bars meant little – akin to closed-door training.

The Yuan family Elders grew excited at this promise. "That senior only contacts our clan leaders! We know of his existence but not his identity!"

"When he travels, thunder follows his movements! He’s clearly mastered profound Thunder Law and survived Thunder Tribulation!"

"You’ve told me nothing useful!" Fang Lie snapped. "These vague claims could implicate half the Mo Sect! How can I present such shadowy testimony as evidence?"

"Only our Family Head has seen him!"

"Leader, speak now! Will you watch our family perish?"

"We’ve stood by you for Hundreds of Years! Your children and in-laws are here! Let them live!"

The Yuan Family Leader’s face softened momentarily before hardening. "Fools! Revealing him would doom us all! No mere testimony can topple someone of his position! Our silence preserves hope – through his future support, the Yuan family may rise again!" Tears streamed down his face. "For our clan’s survival, we must die!"

The Elders fell silent, but chaos soon engulfed execution grounds:

"I refuse to die!"

"Why must I sacrifice more?"

"Speak, you old fool!"

"This is your fault! You courted the Eight-Hundred-Generation Families! Now you drag us to death while we still have youth!"

Amidst the uproar, the Yuan Family Leader fixed Fang Lie with venomous glare. "Fang Lie! Our clan’s near-destruction rests on your head! Even as ghosts, we’ll haunt you!"

"Pathetic!" Fang Lie scoffed. "Bullies who target orphans? Your ghostly forms would be lowly footsoldiers! Come at me and I’ll erase your souls permanently!"

The Family Leader’s rage compounded injuries from flaming and watery great rods. With choked gasp, he collapsed unconscious – escaping final agonies through swift death.

"Convenient exit," Fang Lie sneered.

Bystanders exchanged nervous glances. To verbally overwhelm a Wind Tribulation Immortal into unconsciousness? Fang Lie’s vicious tongue proved newly terrifying.

The Yuan family’s status plummeted from mid-tier Eight-Hundred-Generation clan to rock-bottom, rivaling the fading Fang Family. Only a Talented Cultivator in closed-door training and Qi Sea level Juniors remained.

Fang Lie departed without watching final executions. His wings carried him toward Gentle Breeze Tower to retrieve stored items.

In the Secret Realm, four Token Lord Shadows reconvened. A purple-bearded, one-eyed Elder – Immortal Zi Xu – now occupied Brave Token Lord position vacated by Lei Zhengfeng.

Mo Sect’s Token Lord inheritance proved straightforward: unclaimed Tokens awaited qualified Cultivators in Ancestral Hall. Approval often came overnight, the protective Treasures demanding little beyond basic qualifications.

As apparitions solidified, three sets of mocking eyes turned toward Faith Token Lord Zhou Zhengqing, Ancestral Hall Leader. No words were needed – the Ancestral Hall Leader’s crimson face betrayed desperate wish to vanish.

This matter could be hidden from others but not from the all-powerful Token Lords. Becoming a Token Lord granted special privileges over the protective array, meaning all unusual activities would be reported.

When the Yuan family activated the Great Heaven Fierce Fire Formation, the Token Lords were informed and even traced the mastermind – Zhou Zhengqing.

Previously at Gentle Breeze Tower, Zhou Zhengqing had lost face to Fang Lie. Too angry to act personally but unwilling to let it go, he approached the Yuan Family Leader and suggested deploying the Great Heaven Fierce Fire Formation.

Zhou Zhengqing promised to suppress the protective array’s detection capabilities to create an opportunity. Eager to gain Zhou’s favor and seek revenge against Fang Lie, the Yuan Family Leader immediately agreed – ultimately leading to his family’s near-total destruction.

This disaster stemmed entirely from Zhou Zhengqing’s miscalculation. Had he not sworn the Great Heaven Fierce Fire Formation could kill Fang Lie, the Yuan Family Leader would never have taken such fatal action.

Thus, Zhou Zhengqing became the prime culprit behind the Yuan family’s ruin. The three Token Lords now regarded him with mocking gazes, silently ridiculing his catastrophic error.

Zhou Zhengqing wished he could vanish into the earth. While he never intended to destroy the Yuan family, the blame lay squarely on his shoulders.

Fortunately, the Yuan Family Leader kept Zhou Zhengqing’s involvement secret before dying. Otherwise, even with his Token Lord status shielding him from punishment, Zhou would’ve become Mo Sect’s laughingstock.

Though formidable elsewhere, Zhou Zhengqing showed no defiance before the three Token Lords. He sighed bitterly, "Fine, I admit this humiliation is complete. That bastard Fang Lie ruins everything! How does he keep surviving? That was the Great Heaven Fierce Fire Formation!"

At this serious tone, the Token Lords stopped smiling and fell into thoughtful silence.

After lengthy contemplation produced no answers, the newly appointed Brave Token Lord – Immortal Zi Xu – finally broke the silence: "Could the founder have left Puppets That Die in Place within the Ancestral Hall’s Cycle of Fire?"

Gasps filled the chamber as Token Lords exchanged glances before nodding. "Possible!"

"Nothing else explains complete recovery and post-death reincarnation!" Huo Wufang exclaimed.

Mo Sect Leader added ruefully, "Explains why Fang Lie always reappears at the Ancestral Hall two hours after death – matching the puppet’s activation time."

Zhou Zhengqing slapped his thigh in frustration. "Had I known earlier, the Yuan family wouldn’t have died! My failure!"

Mo Qianxun, Mo Sect’s Clan Leader, shook his head. "Don’t blame yourself. Who imagined Cycle of Fire contained such heaven-defying treasures? None of us guessed."

The Puppet That Dies in Place represented Mo Sect’s pinnacle puppet secret technique. Requiring impossibly rare materials and fifty years of crafting by Thunder Tribulation Immortals, each puppet functioned as a single-use treasure allowing perfect reincarnation through heart blood refining.

Though Mo Sect retained the crafting method and possessed a dozen Thunder Tribulation Immortals, material scarcity limited production to one puppet every three-to-five centuries. Many components involved the law of cause and effect, making collection extraordinarily difficult even for Mo Sect.

With fewer than three existing puppets, every Thunder Tribulation Immortal coveted them – including Clan Leader Mo Qianxun himself. This scarcity explained why nobody imagined Fang Lie, who lacked even basic magical tools, possessed such a treasure.