Chapter 318: Refining Puppets and Erasing Divine Sense

The competition lasted for two days.

There was something special about the vortex gate. No matter how fiercely two people fought inside, they would be fully restored to their original condition upon exiting.

The victor could proceed to the next match, completely unaffected.

To Song Jiulai’s disappointment, Lian Mi lost.

She hadn’t lost to the gray-robed female cultivator, but to someone else.

However, the ultimate winner for the Early Stage of Qi Refining was that gray-robed female cultivator.

Even though this was just the competition for the Biyin Sect’s region, the fact that this female cultivator could win proved she was highly skilled.

Song Jiulai noticed her Magic Treasure was rather unusual and quite powerful compared to those of other Early Stage of Qi Refining Cultivators.

Someone like that didn’t seem to only have the cultivation of the Early Stage of Qi Refining.

’Could she be another one who suppressed her cultivation?’

’But surely the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect would be able to detect that kind of suppressed cultivation?’

Since no one raised any objections, Song Jiulai certainly wasn’t going to ask any questions.

It was just a shame that Lian Mi lost.

Lian Mi, however, wasn’t too disappointed. She knew she was never going to be the dark horse among the Early Stage of Qi Refining contestants.

After losing a match, contestants would disappear directly from the mountaintop.

Lian Mi was in the Sect City of the Biyin Sect, preparing to pack up and leave. While walking down the main street, she heard Song Jiulai’s voice from behind: "Lian Mi?"

Lian Mi turned around, and upon seeing it was Song Jiulai, her face lit up with surprise. "Jiushong, how did you get out?"

"I got bored watching their matches, so I told my master I was coming to see you and say goodbye."

Hearing this, Lian Mi was a little envious. "You really became a disciple of the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect? I never thought you’d be able to refine three colorful stones."

"I didn’t expect it either." Song Jiulai scratched her cheek. "You saved me back then, and I don’t know how to properly thank you. After we part ways now, I don’t know how long it’ll be until we meet again. This Elixir Pill is a token of my gratitude."

At such a low Level, there was no way to perform thousand-mile sound transmissions. For low-level Cultivators, a single farewell could truly last a lifetime.

Song Jiulai produced a Reviving Pill in her palm. "This is a Third-Rank Reviving Pill. It can save your life in a critical moment."

The Reviving Pill was a life-saving Elixir Pill that could even be used by those in the Foundation Establishment Stage. As long as the injuries weren’t completely irreversible, consuming it could restore more than half of one’s vitality.

It wasn’t to say the pill was completely overpowered; the Reviving Pill was more effective against damage caused to Cultivators by the venom of certain demon beasts.

This Elixir Pill could be bought on the market, it was just far more expensive than ordinary ones.

Song Jiulai had bought one, which was a perfect gift for Lian Mi.

"This... This is too valuable!" Lian Mi’s eyes widened. "I only helped you because it was convenient at the time. It was nothing."

"Now that I’ve entered the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect, I probably won’t be coming out again until I reach Foundation Establishment. This Elixir Pill is useless to me, so you should have it."

Though it sounded a bit smug, it was the truth.

Lian Mi hesitated, but ultimately accepted the Elixir Pill. "Thank you, Jiushong. I’ll remember you. If you have the chance in the future, you can come find me at the Shantang Sect. The Shantang Sect is a subsidiary sect of the Biyin Sect, only about a two-day journey away. It’s not hard to find."

Song Jiulai nodded. "Alright. If I get the chance, I’ll go."

With the competition over, disciples from small sects like Lian Mi had to leave promptly.

Song Jiulai watched Lian Mi leave, then shook her head and turned back.

’If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll have my main body go visit her.’

Meanwhile, Song Jiulai’s main body was currently dealing with the corpses inside the Prosperous Scenery Tower.

Her initial thought had been to dispose of them.

But seeing the bodies of these Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, she was reminded of a peculiar Cultivation Technique she possessed.

The Nine-Turn Puppetry Technique.

This technique was morally ambiguous, and so far, she had only experimented with it on demon beasts.

However, low-grade demon beasts made for very crude puppets.

Song Jiulai’s cultivation was still too low. The cave residence she could create wasn’t large enough to set up a separate space for the Prosperous Scenery Tower. Otherwise, she could have just summoned the tower inside her residence and performed the refining there.

She had discovered that the moment the corpses were removed from the tower, they began to show signs of decay.

A Cultivator’s body is tempered by Spiritual Energy.

Once that Spiritual Energy dissipates, the body decays even faster than a mortal’s.

Leaving behind only a pile of bones.

She also found several Jiezidai and one Qiankun Bag on their bodies.

The Qiankun Bag belonged to Lü Rufeng.

Unfortunately, she would have to reach the Golden Core Stage to completely erase the mark on it and open the bag—

’Wait!’

’Before, I couldn’t open it because my Divine Sense wasn’t strong enough.’

’But now that I’ve opened my Sea of Consciousness ahead of schedule, my Divine Sense is already extraordinary. Besides, I’m at the Late-stage of Foundation Establishment, and my Late-stage Foundation Establishment is unlike anyone else’s.’

’I can give it a try.’

’After all, that’s where the Magic Treasures are hidden.’

Before the Golden Core Stage, one cannot imprint their Divine Sense onto a Magic Treasure, so they can only be stored in a Jiezidai.

But if a Cultivator dies after reaching the Golden Core Stage, their Magic Treasures will drop directly.

’This bag doesn’t just contain all the materials they’ve collected over the years—it has Magic Treasures, too!’

’And Lü Rufeng’s Magic Treasures were nothing to scoff at!’

’Even if they can’t be shown in public, the players can use them in private.’

But the most pressing matter was to refine their corpses.

Song Jiulai began to perform the Nine-Turn Puppetry Technique on the spot. Her first step was to refine the two Qi Refinement Realm disciples who had been with Lang Yun.

Now that her cultivation was higher, the refining process was quite fast.

However, one attempt succeeded and the other failed.

Song Jiulai could split off a thread of her Divine Sense to control the successful Puppet.

But a Qi Refinement-level Puppet was still too weak.

Furthermore, it would be a waste of Spiritual Energy just to keep the Puppet’s flesh from rotting.

The Puppet retained some traces of the Cultivation Techniques it knew in life and could still execute them, but their power was greatly diminished.

"It might be useful for a sneak attack against a low-level opponent, but in a battle at my current Level, this Puppet is completely useless."

Song Jiulai withdrew her Divine Sense from the Qi Refinement Puppet, and the corpse instantly disintegrated into a skeleton.

She then tried to refine the bodies of Lü Rufeng and the Demon Cultivator, but perhaps their cultivation was too high.

The refining failed.

However, she succeeded in refining Lang Yun into a Puppet.

Her proficiency with the Nine-Turn Puppetry Technique had clearly improved.

Song Jiulai examined it for a moment, but still shook her head and gave up on the idea of using Cultivator Puppets.

Even when she controlled it with her Divine Sense, the corpse’s deathly aura was obvious at a glance. Something was clearly wrong.

At this stage, it wasn’t even as convincing as when she controlled her puppet body herself.

Creating her own avatar was far more effective.

However, the technique was still suitable for use on demon beasts.

Demon beasts possessed certain abilities that Cultivators lacked, which could have unique applications.

But at her current stage, the difficulty of refining a truly lifelike Puppet was still too high.

After withdrawing her Divine Sense, disposing of the corpses, and burying any remaining traces deep underground, Song Jiulai sighed. "It’s hard to imagine that just a few months ago, I didn’t even have the nerve to kill a chicken... and now I’m refining Puppets without batting an eye."

"Bullshit!" the system retorted. "I’ve seen some of your old data. When you used to cook for yourself, you’d kill and bleed chickens and ducks without even blinking!"

Song Jiulai: "..."

She gave a wry laugh. "It was just a figure of speech. Don’t take it so literally."

She took out the Jiezidai from the bodies. "Now let’s see if these guys can make me rich."