Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World

Chapter 618: Chapter 319: Puppet Corpse Control

Cheng Zongyang stared at the Universal Storage Pouch on the table, a thoughtful glint in his eye. He narrowed his eyes slightly. The marketplace cottage’s renovation wasn’t finished yet, so he couldn’t perform the sacrifice.

But he wanted to try something else. It was an idea he had come across in his study of unorthodox methods.

He took a deep breath. The next moment, without hesitation, he took the Storage Pouch and entered the Wilderness World.

The renovation of the marketplace cottage was still ongoing. Although it didn’t look much different, the remodeling was already in progress. He estimated it would transform in an instant once the three days were up.

Cheng Zongyang left the cottage and went to the Preservation Warehouse next door.

He slowly opened the Storage Pouch, releasing the ten corpses from within one by one.

Ten ice-cold corpses lay silently on the ground, looking as if they had only recently died, their faces still lifelike. Cheng Zongyang scanned them with a blank expression, feeling no particular unease. After all, he had witnessed a far bloodier scene just yesterday. ’What are a few corpses in comparison?’

His gaze swept quickly over the corpses, finally settling on the body of an old man with an average-looking face. The corpse’s features were plain and unremarkable, the kind that would be easily overlooked.

Cheng Zongyang nodded slightly. "This one will do."

He grabbed the old man’s corpse, feeling its chill and weight. He then carried the body out of the Wilderness World and returned to his study.

After laying the corpse flat on the ground, Cheng Zongyang took two Talismans from within his robes. He stared at the two yellow Talismans in his hand, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

One was a Tier Two Puppet Talisman, and the other was a Tier Two Corpse Control Talisman.

He Shujun had previously asked Luo Dingran to procure these Talismans. This method was precisely what He Shujun had wanted Cheng Zongyang to try.

The Puppet Talisman would allow the corpse to move like a Puppet, while the Corpse Control Talisman would enable him to issue commands and take control of it.

Cheng Zongyang’s objective was clear. He wanted to see if he could control the corpse and have it go to the Sect office in his stead to place a bounty on the leaders of the three Cultivation Immortality Gangs in the North District. If this was feasible, it meant many more options would become available to him.

Even if the effect only lasted for seven days.

The seven-day duration was because the Talisman was Tier Two. Had it been Tier One, it would have only lasted for three days.

He took a deep breath, steadying his emotions.

First, he gently placed the Puppet Talisman on the forehead of the old man’s corpse. The moment the Talisman made contact, it emitted a faint glow and slowly melted into the body as if it were solid oil being heated, eventually disappearing from sight. However, fine lines of light could now be seen flowing across the corpse.

Cheng Zongyang watched the changes in the corpse nervously, his heart filled with anticipation. ’If this succeeds, it means the records from the unorthodox methods He Shujun has been researching are accurate.’

A moment later, Cheng Zongyang’s gaze sharpened. He noticed the corpse twitch slightly, as if a surge of Power had been injected into it. The faint glow transformed into runes that accelerated their flow across the entire body.

Delighted by this, he quickly picked up the Corpse Control Talisman and dripped a drop of blood from his fingertip onto it.

Next, he rolled up the Corpse Control Talisman and stuffed it into the corpse’s mouth, attempting to establish an initial connection to prepare for issuing commands.

He then pressed his finger to the spot between the corpse’s eyebrows, leaving a Blood Fingerprint.

After completing these three simple steps, he watched as the Corpse Control Talisman slowly vanished into the corpse’s mouth, melting away just like the first one.

At this, Cheng Zongyang slowly rose to his feet and backed away.

’Rise,’ he commanded silently in his mind.

As if it had heard his command, the corpse’s rigid body began to tremble again, as though it were exercising its stiff Tendons and Bones.

When the trembling subsided, Cheng Zongyang watched the corpse slowly rise from the floor. His eyes widened, his heart filled with joyful surprise. Once the corpse stood steady, he continued to try issuing other commands.

’Walk forward.’

With vacant eyes, the corpse, like a member of the walking dead, began to walk forward with stiff, deliberate steps.

’It actually worked!’

Cheng Zongyang was ecstatic. He continuously adjusted his commands, making the corpse perform various actions. After some experimentation, he gradually mastered the technique of controlling it.

He also discovered that the corpse’s heart was actually beating, though it possessed no Cultivation. However, its heart rate was very slow, far slower than a normal person’s. This was a camouflage effect produced by the Puppet Talisman.

The other issues were that it could neither speak nor see. These two aspects were unchangeable. Furthermore, its body remained somewhat stiff.

He considered using hot water to warm the corpse and soften its joints, but figured it was pointless. After all, it would just get cold again.

’In that case, I’ll disguise it as a lame and blind man. That would explain the stiff way it walks, and people wouldn’t be able to see the strangeness in its eyes.’

Cheng Zongyang watched the obedient corpse, secretly pleased. He knew his experiment was a success. Now, he would continue issuing more complex commands to see how the corpse Puppet would react.

But a problem soon appeared!

He was not a Cultivator and had no Divine Sense. So, while he could control the corpse, he couldn’t be too far away from it.

After several tests, Cheng Zongyang discovered the maximum range was about two hundred meters. Beyond that distance, the corpse Puppet would stop moving. The control was most effective within one hundred and fifty meters.

’Looks like I’ll have to follow along,’ Cheng Zongyang thought with resignation. He wasn’t a Cultivator and had no Divine Sense to control it; otherwise, he could have manipulated it directly from a much greater distance.