Le Qingping felt annoyed and unwilling. They had slain the demon beasts and resolved the trouble—shouldn’t there be rewards?
The items were right there, yet unobtainable. How could that be?
Xie Linlang shook his head. “These are Nine Spirits Sect’s most hidden and important inheritances, inaccessible without the proper lineage successor. Let’s go. Neither you nor I qualify.”
Major sects’ inheritances all had restrictive requirements. As far as Xie Linlang knew, Nine Spirits Sect’s successor had to meet one criterion: being an Orthodox Cultivator who used spiritual power.
Both he and Le Qingping were Demonic Cultivators and fundamentally could not pass the secret chambers’ assessments.
Le Qingping reluctantly agreed.
She pondered whether she should raise a pure spirit beast with spirit stones in the future to handle similar situations.
However, the search was not entirely fruitless. Xie Linlang found some items the Black Snake had hidden away, such as Talisman Paper, Talisman Pens, Array Disks, and everyday objects used by cultivators.
Even casually refined items by powerful cultivators were at least heaven-grade or above—prime materials that could fetch a good price when sold.
The two divided them up, left the Underground Palace, and returned to the Nine Spirits Sect Ruins.
Xie Linlang gazed at the vast expanse of ruins and felt somewhat depressed.
Although encountering the Nine Spirits Sect Master, whom he had thought dead, and learning of Pei Ji’s news was a pleasant surprise, the doubts that followed only multiplied.
Le Qingping did not notice Xie Linlang’s low mood. She stared at the massive Stone Monument ahead and the large “zhen” character on it, feeling a headache.
“How do we leave? Jump onto the passage like when we came?”
Xie Linlang’s attention was drawn back by her words. He refuted, “No, the path we took was pitch black with suppressed Demonic Qi. The return path is a dead end.”
“What about the Underground Palace?”
“If the underground palace had an exit, Nine Spirits Sect Master or that Black Snake would have fled long ago. Why would they remain until now?”
Le Qingping grew anxious at first, but then her eyes darted around, and she suddenly smiled.
“It seems Senior Xie already has a way?”
“When exploring secret realms, the worst is entering a completely sealed space—a dead end ahead with no way back.”
Xie Linlang indeed had his own method. He smiled. “What about Senior Ying’s Puppet?”
Le Qingping sucked in a breath. “Ah? Use his puppet?”
Xie Linlang cleared his throat and gave Le Qingping a meaningful look. “I have a special method to activate the connection between the puppet and its master. However, in the instant the connection forms, he might sense it…”
Le Qingping gritted her teeth. “No problem. This disciple will bear the responsibility!”
Xie Linlang nodded in satisfaction. Le Qingping’s possession of a powerful Protective Artifact indicated a strong backing. Xie Linlang did not want to invite trouble or be targeted by some Senior Ying.
“Tell me about this Senior Ying.”
Since they were about to become fellow sect disciples, shouldn’t they share specific crisis information?
“Senior Ying is a Soul Transformation Cultivator from White Bone Sect. Those who get along with him find him generous; those who don’t think him eccentric—a somewhat strange person.”
Le Qingping explained slowly, “He has a good relationship with the Palace Interior Senior and has exchanged pointers with Shizun a few times, so he recognizes me. This time, he controlled the puppet to come here, reportedly to obtain a special bone-type artifact. Upon seeing me, he decided to toy with this junior.”
Xie Linlang silently noted White Bone Sect in his mind. “…White Bone Sect and Silent Night Palace have a good relationship?”
Le Qingping quickly glanced at Xie Linlang. “Relations between sects are complicated. I’m not too clear on it. If Senior is interested, you can inquire after joining the inner palace.”
Xie Linlang fell thoughtful. True enough. Although he had agreed to join Silent Night Palace, he had not gone through the process yet. Le Qingping naturally would not gossip about Silent Night Palace and White Bone Sect to an outsider.
Le Qingping soon retrieved Senior Ying’s Puppet, which had somehow ended up in some forgotten corner.
The puppet looked dusty and gray. Scratches marred its originally fair-skinned, red-lipped face. Xie Linlang examined Senior Ying’s Puppet closely, then placed his hand on its forehead.
Depending on the quality of materials and core grade used in refining a puppet, its level matched that of artifacts. Senior Ying’s Puppet was only at Foundation Establishment Stage, with an internal puppet core merely a Foundation Establishment rune nucleus and materials.
Xie Linlang excelled in pill refining and knew little of puppet crafting. However, back then, to refine a pill furnace suited to his spiritual power and pill refining habits, he had studied artifact refining and restrictions.
Soon, Xie Linlang grasped the overall structure of Senior Ying’s Puppet.
He stepped aside and looked at Le Qingping. “My cultivation is insufficient. You release Demonic Qi and follow my instructions.”
Le Qingping readily agreed.
The two cooperated. Xie Linlang guided from the side while Le Qingping channeled at the puppet’s forehead. As Xie Linlang continuously formed magic formulas, a profound and mysterious sensation arose.
Le Qingping felt the entire world suddenly recede. Everything around became shallow and dim, losing its sense of reality, while only Senior Ying’s Puppet before her grew vividly clear, like the sole truth in an illusory realm.
The Treasure Tree Scripture could summon heavenly demons. Legend held that heavenly demons dwelled in the Heavenly Demon Domain. Having them cross the Heavenly Demon Domain to the mortal world outside heavenly tribulations was, in truth, a wondrous secret art of spatiotemporal traversal.
Thus, the final section of the Treasure Tree Scripture recorded other special techniques derived from summoning heavenly demons—the very Heaven-Sent Wild Goose Technique Xie Linlang now employed.
Turbulent Demonic Qi overflowed from Le Qingping at the center. The spiritual power and divine soul belonging to Senior Ying himself, latent within Senior Ying’s Puppet, instantly became the medium. Like a wild goose in flight, it miraculously linked to the real Senior Ying outside the secret realm.
In White Bone Sect, within a luxurious cave abode, a massive white Bone Dog in canine form lay snoring in its dog bed.
It slept soundly when a strange bolt of lightning appeared from nowhere, jolting its entire skeletal frame.
Clatter. The towering form assembled from over a hundred bones scattered apart.
“Arf! Who is it? Which junior dares strike your Dog Grandpa from afar?!”
