Chapter 85: Undying Willow Puppet

Chen Lingxi intended to ask more, but he suddenly frowned, sensing something.

His gaze fell upon Xi Mu. After a brief pause, he abruptly activated the Observation Method!

Under the method's sight, energy ebbed and flowed. Chen Lingxi glanced around—

"Hm?"

He suddenly fixed his eyes on Xi Mu's finger.

Wisps of distinct spiritual qi were drifting from the very finger Xi Mu had just used to touch the Vast Void Pouch. The energy curled upward, floating out of the cave before vanishing.

The qi was incredibly faint. Had he not practiced the Six Qi True Method, giving him a keen sensitivity to such bizarre energies, he likely would never have noticed it.

It seeped silently from the tip of Xi Mu's right index finger. Like an invisible silk thread pulled by a formless hand, it drifted toward the cave's exit.

"What is this?"

Chen Lingxi's expression shifted.

He naturally knew where this faint wisp had come from.

When he was looting the treasures earlier, Xi Mu had used his last lingering trace of spiritual qi to open the Vast Void Pouch.

Chen Lingxi had paid it no mind at the time, assuming it was an ordinary circulation of spiritual qi. But looking at it now, Xi Mu had pulled a little trick while opening the pouch.

He was only just realizing it.

Spiritual qi drifting away... This is very likely a communication method.

Chen Lingxi speculated inwardly.

The spiritual qi had already drifted out of the cave, sinking into the churning clouds outside before dissipating into nothing.

Chen Lingxi abruptly turned his head, his gaze locking onto Xi Mu.

"Were you using your spiritual qi to send a message?" he asked, his voice icy.

Xi Mu lay on the ground, a faint flicker of panic flashing through his eyes.

"No... I did not." His voice came in gasps. "How... how could I have the strength left to send a message? Fellow Daoist... see clearly for yourself..."

Chen Lingxi said nothing, merely watching him in silence.

The chill in his eyes only deepened.

A chill gripped Xi Mu's heart under that stare.

He never would have imagined that this lowly native from the Qi-less Realm could catch a fluctuation of spiritual qi as fine as a single strand of hair.

Chen Lingxi pondered for a few moments, his thoughts racing. In that case, who was this transmitted message for?

The other two scions of the Xi Family? Xi Yuan, or perhaps Xi Yu?

Or maybe disciples of some other sect on good terms with the Xi Family?

Chen Lingxi narrowed his eyes.

No matter who Xi Mu sent the message to, that person has very likely received the news...

Detecting the killing intent in Chen Lingxi's eyes, Xi Mu's heart abruptly sank.

The killing intent was completely unveiled. Like a leopard lurking in the shadows, Chen Lingxi was coldly sizing him up, weighing whether to kill him.

"Fellow Daoist!" Xi Mu's voice spiked in pitch. "Fellow Daoist! I—I still have value! The many secrets of the Greater World—I know them! I will tell you everything! I—I swear to hide nothing, to speak every truth I hold!"

"That spiritual qi—"

He spoke rapidly, struggling to lift his head. His dull, ashen eyes locked onto Chen Lingxi, desperate to find a single shred of mercy on his face.

"That spiritual qi was just the Vast Void Pouch's restriction leaking on its own! It was never my intention. Daoist Brother, spare my life! I will swear upon my Dao heart to never make an enemy of you again, never—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Chen Lingxi's eyes.

In those calm eyes, the killing intent had receded.

Xi Mu felt a slight wave of relief.

But at that very moment...

The cyan sharpness of the Cyan Edge Method erupted from Chen Lingxi's fingertips!

The cyan light flared in the dim cave like a remarkably thin, frigid bolt of lightning. It sliced silently through the air and pierced straight into the center of Xi Mu's brow.

Snik.

An incredibly soft and subtle sound.

Xi Mu's body violently convulsed. His dull, ashen eyes went wide, his eyeballs bulging out—

The Cyan Edge Method was rapidly draining away every last trace of his vitality!

Horror and disbelief filled Xi Mu's eyes. He clearly had not expected Chen Lingxi to be so decisive.

"Queshi—"

In his final, blurring moments of consciousness—

His entire life suddenly flashed before his eyes.

The Xi Family's Queshi Stars. Ten grand and minor stars of the Greater World, four hundred thirty-seven grotto-heavens, and twelve secret realms.

He hailed from the main branch of the Xi Family, burdened with high expectations since his youth.

Among the many disciples of the Xi Family, his talent was exceptionally high. He could have attained the Dao Foundation, becoming a true Dao Foundation great cultivator. With the right karmic fortune, he might have even ascended to the Golden Portal.

But on the path of cultivation, one had to vie for the absolute peak to seize even greater fortunes. Only then could one become a true figure of importance and bring genuine value to their clan.

Those two words—"seeking the cauldron"—had become a demonic obsession, deepening his fixations.

Later, when this Qi-less Grotto-Heaven was discovered, he believed his great serendipity had finally arrived.

Obtain the Cauldron Vessel, seize this great serendipity, and use it to achieve a flawless Dao Foundation—perhaps even reach the Golden Portal and become a genuine True Person!

That was exactly why he had been willing to abandon his physical body in the Greater World. At the cost of damaging his foundation, he had braved immense risks to enter this Qi-less Realm.

Only upon entering the Qi-less Realm did he realize that the Cauldron Vessel within this grotto-heaven was truly extraordinary. The figures arriving from the various sects and schools were all top-tier geniuses, to say nothing of his own clanswoman, Xi Yu.

He had begun to feel out of his depth—a growing dread that this grand serendipity was simply out of his reach.

But he had never imagined that he would die at the hands of a native cultivator who had no right to even exist in this struggle.

A native of the Qi-less Realm.

A lowly creature who had never even heard of the Great or Profound Golden Palace, who knew absolutely nothing about the Greater World.

An unorthodox cultivator at a mere Fourth Circulation Floor.

A momentary lapse in judgment, and I died at the hands of someone like this...

Xi Mu's gaze unfocused. His life force slipped away inch by inch, fading like an ebbing tide.

Yet a single thought swirled madly in his mind, his hatred spiraling into pure frenzy.

Fortunately, he thought darkly, I will not die alone.

With that final thought, the faint light in Xi Mu's eyes completely extinguished.

Xi Mu was dead.

Chen Lingxi looked down at the corpse. The spiritual qi on its finger was scattering.

It finally dissolved into the cave's dim lighting, leaving not a single trace behind.

"I can only wonder... if anyone actually received Xi Mu's message."

Chen Lingxi withdrew his gaze. He shook his head to push the thought aside, and then willed his mind to stir.

An object abruptly appeared in his hand.

It was a willow branch. Withered and dry as rotten wood, its surface was scarred with dense, fine lines. It looked like a dead twig that had spent untold years being scoured by the wind and sand of a barren wasteland, holding not a single trace of life.

"Undying Willow Branch."

"Place into the mouth of a corpse to repair the fallen vessel, yielding an Undying Willow Puppet."

Chen Lingxi looked at Xi Mu.

This person had been a cultivator at the Sixth Circulation Floor, armed with a myriad of the Xi Family's secret arts...

If I can refine this man into an Undying Willow Puppet... my combat strength will see a massive leap.

He hesitated no longer. Crouching down, he pinched Xi Mu's jaw open and slipped the withered Undying Willow Branch into his mouth.

The instant the branch entered his mouth, a faint, barely perceptible green light seeped from deep within the wood. It flowed across the branch's surface for a fleeting moment before sinking into Xi Mu's corpse, vanishing without a trace.

Chen Lingxi let go and took a step back, silently watching the body.

Time passed bit by bit.

Chen Lingxi stood rooted to the spot, his gaze never once leaving Xi Mu.

After a long while, Chen Lingxi's eyes finally flickered—

The gruesome, shocking wounds on Xi Mu's corpse were actually beginning to slowly heal.

Driven by a bizarre power, the severed arm and leg lying a short distance away were hoisted into the air and drawn in.

The stumps where his limbs had been cleanly severed were as smooth as mirrors, yet countless tiny tendrils of flesh were now sprouting from the cuts.

The fleshy tendrils grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, reconstructing bone, meridians, and skin, reattaching the severed arm.

The severed leg underwent the exact same transformation.

The severed arm was reconnected and the broken leg was regenerated. Even the gaping hole where a spiritual arrow had pierced his chest—and the wounds he had sustained during the siege against Imperial Consort Chun—were gradually sealing shut.

What astonished him even more was that spiritual qi was slowly beginning to circulate within Xi Mu's body.

The longer Chen Lingxi watched, the more stunned he felt.

The ashen pallor of death across Xi Mu's skin was fading inch by inch.

After about an hour, Xi Mu's body violently jolted. His eyes snapped open!

"He's alive?"

Chen Lingxi took two quick steps back, his blood and qi surging. The Gold-Slaughtering Precious Saber slipped silently into his grip.

But he quickly noticed that this "resurrected" Xi Mu was not launching an attack. The man's eyes merely stared straight at the cave ceiling, perfectly motionless.

Sheathing his saber, Chen Lingxi stepped forward to observe the man closely, then cautiously channeled a thread of spiritual qi into Xi Mu's body.

The instant his qi entered the body, his expression shifted drastically.

Under his spiritual perception, the state of Xi Mu's vessel was worlds apart from what it had been moments ago.

Fusing into the body, the Undying Willow Branch had fully restored all of Xi Mu's cultivation! His sea of qi churned, brimming with spiritual qi, as if he were at his absolute peak!

More astoundingly, the Undying Willow Branch had taken root squarely within Xi Mu's closed sea of qi, morphing into a small, suspended tree.

"How incredibly profound."

Chen Lingxi withdrew his spiritual qi and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

At the same time, he sensed what felt like a new thread in his mind, tethering his consciousness to the Undying Willow Puppet before him.

Willing his mind into action, he tapped into that bizarre thread and issued a command to the Undying Willow Puppet.

"Spell art!"

The very moment his mind moved, Xi Mu sprang into action.

His movements were as fluid as floating clouds and flowing water—just as they had been in life. He raised his newly regenerated right arm and gave the empty air a grasping squeeze!

As if fiercely churned by a massive, invisible hand, the mist within a radius of several zhang instantly condensed into a three-chi-long ice blade directly in his palm.

No sooner had the blade formed than the churning mist outside the cave surged inward like all rivers running into the sea, layering thickly over the weapon. Within just a few breaths of time, the three-chi blade had expanded into a massive ice saber over a zhang in length.

Chilling frost radiated from the saber, freezing the air within several zhang into a faint white mist.

"Slash!"

Chen Lingxi sent another mental command. The ice saber swept out in a horizontal arc, tearing out of the cave and shattering a swath of the sea of clouds beyond. Spiritual qi overflowed with terrifying might.

Silence returned to the cave.

Chen Lingxi let out a long breath.

Staring at the Undying Willow Puppet before him, his eyes filled with elation as he murmured, "An Undying Willow Puppet—at the Sixth Circulation Floor!"

The Sixth Circulation Floor...

Lin Suri, Lu Baizhong, Ying Chi, and that cultivator surnamed Chao—all of them were existences at this exact level.

Each of them possessed sect inheritances, secret arts, precious treasures, and countless methods. They were stirring up the winds and clouds within this grotto-heaven, treating the denizens of the Qi-less Realm as nothing more than ants.

But now, he too had a combat asset at the Sixth Circulation Floor.

Though it was only a puppet—though it lacked a cultivator's intellect and adaptability in a fight—in terms of sheer killing power, this Undying Willow Puppet was in no way inferior to any Sixth Floor cultivator.

Joy welled up in Chen Lingxi's chest.

He stood up and walked to the edge of the cave. Pushing aside a thicket of old vines, he looked out over the churning sea of clouds.

Dusk was fast approaching.

The setting sun sank behind the western mountains, its lingering glow painting the horizon's clouds in hues of dark gold. It looked like a dying flame making one last, desperate struggle at the edge of the world.

The sea of clouds churned sluggishly in the twilight. Like a boundless, dreary ocean, its silent waves rose and fell, swallowing the surrounding mountains behind a heavy, gray curtain.

With this puppet, I am no longer a lamb waiting for slaughter, forced into hiding the head and exposing the tail.

He whispered inwardly.

Soon after, he cast another glance around. "Xi Mu very likely managed to send his message. I cannot stay on Cuojin Mountain any longer. I need to move."

Chen Lingxi descended Cuojin Mountain and traveled for a long while before finally discovering another cave on Mount Qiaoji.

This cave was not as well-hidden as the one on Cuojin Mountain, but it was larger.

Sitting cross-legged on the cave floor, he reached out and retrieved the trove of treasures he had stripped from Xi Mu.

He brought out the various jade boxes, stone caskets, and wooden cases one by one, lining them up neatly before him.

Three jade boxes. Two stone caskets. One wooden case.

The jade boxes were as smooth and warm as suet, the stone caskets were ancient and heavy, and the wooden case radiated a faint, lingering trace of spiritual energy.

"Let me see just how substantial the accumulation of twenty-odd winters and summers from a reincarnated Greater World cultivator truly is."