Chapter 178: The Puppet Transforms into a Heavenly Eye

“This strange qi that stands in direct opposition to the Xuanhuang Qi of Heaven and Earth has actually evolved into a doorway as well?”

“The doorway formed from the Xuanhuang Qi of Heaven and Earth leads to the other fragmented worlds left behind after the severance of Heaven and Earth in the ancient primordial era. But this corridor...”

Li Shun personally sensed an indescribably strange aura, so eerie that it made his soul tremble with instinctive unease.

It was not merely the unknown world beyond the doorway that violently rejected and hostilely opposed him. Even Li Shun himself instinctively felt incompatible with that world, as though he simply did not belong there.

Li Shun pondered for a long while. In the end, he ignored the deep and sinister invitation emanating from the doorway and forcibly suppressed the urge to investigate it.

With a thought, he used the Xuanhuang Qi to heavily suppress the deep and mysterious doorway.

‘I have a feeling that even with the immortal, deathless body of a puppet, rashly stepping through this strange doorway would inevitably bring disaster upon me.’

‘Until I understand the situation, it is better not to act recklessly. At the very least, I must first uncover the true origins of this deep qi.’

A rare solemnity appeared on Li Shun's face.

The Xuanhuang Qi of Heaven and Earth, although rare within the Great Qian world, was not completely undocumented.

At the very least, the Directorate of Celestial Observation possessed detailed records concerning it.

Yet this deep and mysterious aura peeled from the broken tortoise shell was something Li Shun had never seen or even heard of before.

The ancient visions he had glimpsed when subduing the tortoise shell once again surfaced hazily before his eyes.

‘The existence of this tortoise shell can be traced all the way back to the ancient era, before the severance of Heaven and Earth.’

‘Where exactly did that strange power originate?’

‘The Wu? The Yao? Or perhaps the Gods?’

‘Or could it come from some other unknown faction hidden within that vast primordial wilderness?’

Li Shun's thoughts churned for a long time before he finally shook his head and temporarily pushed them aside.

The strange changes occurring within this deep qi inexplicably filled Li Shun with a sense of urgency.

Originally, he had planned to use the Xuanhuang Qi he currently possessed to raise the cultivation realm of his main body in Great Qian, directly advancing all the way to the upper tier of Spirit Resonance. That way, he would possess greater competitiveness during the so-called Hundred Schools Banquet that was about to take place.

‘After all, Fang Xun only possessed a middle-tier Spirit Resonance cultivation when he was alive. His guidance and experience can only take me this far. From this point onward, I have to figure out the rest of the cultivation path on my own. Naturally, my cultivation speed has slowed down considerably.’

‘There is less than a year remaining until the appointed time. Relying solely on conventional cultivation, I simply do not have what it takes to bridge the gap from middle tier to upper tier.’

‘However... this Fangcun space is the foundation upon which I truly stand.’

‘Outside the central core region, the first ring should contain twelve vacant plots in total. I have currently opened up eight of them, leaving four still concealed within the mist, waiting to be developed.’

‘Li Shun, Fang Xun, the phantom of Shentu Xin, the remains of the Three Elders, Fang Han, and the tortoise shell. I now possess six puppets.’

‘Facing the upheavals that are about to come, Spirit Resonance realm combat strength is gradually proving insufficient. It is time to start planning for the subjugation of puppets from higher realms.’

‘However, the right candidates must be considered carefully. If the target is too powerful, suppressing them and turning them into puppets will itself be a difficult problem. Cultivators of the Grotto Mystic realm are already high-ranking officials who guard entire regions of Great Qian. Their own strength is formidable, and they also possess the fortune of their official positions within Great Qian. Trying to move against them... will certainly not be easy.’

‘Forget it. A meal must be eaten one bite at a time. I should first completely open up the vacant plots in the first ring.’

The instant this thought arose, the Xuanhuang Qi above the dome of Fangcun suddenly stirred.

In the past, whenever Li Shun wanted to open a new vacant plot within the boundless white mist, he had to rely entirely on his mental energy to slowly force the mist apart.

Not only was the process as slow as a crawling snail, but once he pushed forward to a certain point, the barrier of white mist would become as heavy as a thousand mountains, making it impossible to move even an inch further.

Even if Li Shun wanted to continue opening up the space, he simply lacked the strength to do so.

But now...

With the Xuanhuang Qi of Heaven and Earth, what the heart desired could be accomplished.

As wisps of Xuanhuang Qi silently dissipated and burned away, the rolling barrier of white mist at the edge of Fangcun was likewise erased as effortlessly as if an invisible hand had casually wiped it away.

An entire circular ring of land was revealed.

At the instant the outer edge of the first ring became completely connected from beginning to end, an abrupt transformation occurred within Fangcun.

In the central core region, the vacant plot representing ‘Li Shun's main body’ suddenly erupted with an immense force of attraction.

Li Shun's consciousness was pulled into it without the slightest ability to resist.

A hazy figure radiating seven-colored brilliance quietly manifested within the core.

It stood alongside the [Heavenly Being Codex Statue] and the [Threefold Self-Reflection Statue], forming a tripod-like arrangement.

“This is...”

“Me?”

Li Shun lowered his head and quietly examined his current, incredibly strange state.

He had previously gained an insight.

He could use the Fangcun space to continuously plunder and collect the special physiques and unique characteristics of others, using them as ingredients within a furnace to forge a truly perfect body of his own, a body that would be unique beneath Heaven and Earth.

However, this was destined to be an incomparably long undertaking.

And now, with the first ring of vacant land within Fangcun finally completely connected, this grand undertaking of forging a divine body had finally taken its first substantial step.

‘Although the divine body has yet to be finalized, its embryonic form has already taken shape.’

‘The foundation and accumulated essence of this embryonic form originate from the six puppets I have collected along the way. What has been fused into it includes not only the fate and experiences of the puppets during their lifetimes, but also everything that occurred when my karma became intertwined with theirs.’

‘Once something enters Fangcun, it can no longer be changed. Looking at it now, more than half of these six puppets have already lost much of their practical value.’

‘For example, the remains of the Three Elders and Fang Xun. The amount of Xuanhuang Qi they can condense is nothing compared to Fang Han. And it can already be foreseen that this gap will only grow wider with time.’

‘Still, there is no need for regret. Cultivation itself is a gradual process. They represent the road I have traveled.’

‘Without the original remains of the Three Elders, I would never have uncovered the secret of using puppet bodies to attract and condense Xuanhuang Qi.’

‘Without Fang Xun sacrificing his life to accomplish what he did, I would never have discovered the miraculous uses of the Xuanhuang Qi so quickly, much less opened this gateway between worlds and greatly accelerated my collection of the Xuanhuang Qi of Heaven and Earth.’

Li Shun's thoughts were completely unburdened. His gaze swept across the six puppets below one by one.

In a trance, he felt as though his perspective was slowly rising higher and higher.

Originally, the central core region of Fangcun and the first outer ring had existed on the same level.

But now, the central core region where the seven-colored figure stood seemed to have been forcibly lifted upward by an invisible supreme force.

It stood towering between Heaven and Earth like an ancient divine mountain.

From a position high above, it overlooked everything around it.

After a moment of bewilderment, realization suddenly dawned upon Li Shun.

This was absolutely not some illusory sensation.

Rather, after completely opening the first ring of Fangcun, his authority and control over the puppets within it had undergone a qualitative leap.

The seven-colored figure shimmered with radiant light. Across its surface, images of the lives of the puppets he had subdued constantly flickered past like scenes in a revolving lantern.

‘In the past, whenever a puppet wanted to descend into the mortal world and act, I had to forcibly divide a portion of my consciousness and control it in real time.’

‘But from today onward, the puppets within this first ring can completely enter an entrusted mode.’

‘They can act autonomously according to their personalities and behavioral patterns from life. Their words and actions will be as natural as those of living people. They will never reveal the slightest flaw before outsiders.’

‘They can even follow the plans I establish beforehand and act according to them without the slightest deviation.’

‘Wonderful!’

After repeatedly investigating this new ability, intense delight appeared in Li Shun's eyes.

‘But that is only secondary. The truly important point is...’

The seven-colored figure looked down from above and gently pointed toward the remains of the Three Elders in the corner.

In an instant, the three lifeless corpses of the Three Elders seemed to come alive.

Scene after scene of vivid mortal life suddenly appeared across their bodies.

The images showed the streets and alleys of Shangyu County in the Great Qian world, along with all manner of scenes from ordinary human life.

‘The remains of the Three Elders are not only puppets within Fangcun. They are also the source of the faith of the Three Elders throughout Shangyu County.’

‘Therefore, I can use the remains of the Three Elders as a medium and use them as eyes to secretly observe everything happening throughout Shangyu County.’

‘Although the observation range is limited by the reach of their faith, this is nonetheless a genuine Heavenly Eye silently implanted within the Great Qian world.’

‘As long as the faith in the Three Elders does not disappear, no matter where I am, even if I am in another world, I can see everything they observe.’

‘Moreover, the puppets themselves can store all this information. I do not need to divert my attention to observe everything in real time. I can trace it back and review it whenever I wish.’

‘In this way, even the Three Elders' remains and Fang Xun, whose strength is no longer sufficient, can still make use of their remaining value.’

Li Shun's heart stirred.

Immediately, he borrowed Fang Xun's eyes and took in everything happening throughout Dongshan Town.

After more than a year of Li Qing tirelessly spreading the word, the incense offered at Fang Xun's shrine was now flourishing beyond measure.

Every day, large numbers of devout believers came to offer sacrifices.

The story of Fang Xun sacrificing his life to save the common people was even gradually spreading to the surrounding prefectures and counties.

Aside from Dongshan Town, scattered shrines had begun appearing in other places as well.

However, compared with Dongshan Town, the faith in these outside regions was clearly far weaker.

Without someone deliberately maintaining it from the shadows, it would probably take no more than a few years before these shrines fell into disrepair and were abandoned.

Li Shun did not take this to heart.

‘There has never been anything that can remain prosperous for all eternity. If I can maintain it for even ten years, I will already be completely satisfied.’

‘Unfortunately, Great Qian has the Qian Emperor suppressing the world from above, while the Left and Right Chancellors govern alongside the Hundred Schools. There is no room for anyone to engage in acts of pretending to be divine or playing tricks with spirits.’

‘Otherwise, if I occasionally had Fang Xun manifest a miracle, his faith would certainly become even stronger.’

Li Shun withdrew his gaze from Fang Xun and looked toward the remaining six vacant positions.

‘With the Xuanhuang Qi as the link, puppets can become my eyes throughout the myriad worlds.’

‘It seems that from now on, whenever I subdue a new puppet, I should preferably ensure that it can condense Xuanhuang Qi. Only then can the puppets of Fangcun display their greatest utility.’

‘Although this is destined to cause me considerably more trouble, it will absolutely be worth it.’

Li Shun's gaze swept across the other vacant positions within Fangcun.