A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Wang Yu’s Rebirth as the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor - Chapter 201

Chapter 197 The Laborer and the Puppet Parts

“Han Li, where’s Yan Li?”

Ji Yin suddenly remembered something and asked with a slight change in expression.

Retrieving the treasures from the Void Heaven Cauldron wouldn’t be possible without the Blood Jade Spider.

“Don’t worry, Master, the spirit beast is with me.”

Han Li initially looked somewhat fearful, then pointed to the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Upon hearing this, Ji Yin immediately breathed a sigh of relief:

“That’s good, that’s good.”

He was afraid of losing everything.

He had invested in a string of Bodhi beads and a Xuan Yin ring. Especially the Bodhi beads, which could become a precious heirloom of Ji Yin Island, and couldn’t be lost. If his two newly accepted disciples ran off with the money, he would be incredibly frustrated.

“Master, we should be able to reunite at the teleportation point on the second floor at most.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

The three members of the Demonic Path nodded in unison.

Wan Tianming and his two companions went ahead.

“Huh? Aren’t you seniors planning to break through the restrictions on the gate of this stone hall and then go in to capture the Nascent Soul of that person from the Star Palace? That person from the Star Palace was able to enter using a fragment

of the Void Heaven Map, so you seniors can certainly use the fragment of the Void Heaven Map to chase after him, right?” The gates of the surrounding stone halls were all the same size and shape, more than ten zhang in length and width, forming a square. They faced different directions, some facing south, some facing north, and some facing east and west, without any discernible pattern. A faint white light of restriction lingered on the stone gates.

“Han Li, you are unaware of this since it’s your first time here at the Void Heaven Hall. Once someone enters a stone hall here, other cultivators cannot enter.”

Ji Yin explained.

“Does the inner hall have such a rule that helps the weak to take advantage of others? The ancient cultivators who left the Void Heaven Hall here are truly thoughtful.”

Han Li sighed softly.

“Let’s go, follow me to the fifth floor.”

Ji Yin said.

After speaking, he looked at Man Hu Zi and Qing Yi.

The two nodded to each other.

Just then, the wounded Wu Chou stumbled in, carrying two Heavenly Capital Corpses. Also present was a late-stage Core Formation cultivator whose Divine Forbidden Token had been controlled by the Barbarian Beard.

“Wu Chou, are you alright?”

“Thank you for your concern, Ancestor. I’m fine.”

Thanks to the two Heavenly Capital Corpses who had shielded him from most of the righteous Nascent Soul cultivator’s attacks, and the timely intervention of a spirit-connecting ancient treasure bestowed upon him by his ancestor, which had mitigated some of the attacks, he would have been on the verge of death or even dead after taking that direct hit.

“And you?”

the Barbarian Beard asked, looking at the late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

“Junior, junior…”

This man had a broken arm and was covered in blood; his injuries were quite severe.

Seeing this, the bearded man frowned for a moment, then grinned:

“Fine, I won’t force you. In your current state, forcing yourself to go to the fifth floor would be a burden, not only useless. Since you’ve lost your value in going to the fifth floor…”

A sinister smile appeared on his extremely sinister face.

Qing Yi sighed softly.

The late-stage Core Formation cultivator, sensing the coldness in the words, felt a sudden, overwhelming sense of impending doom.

However,

before he could beg for mercy,

the bearded man delivered his verdict:

“Alright, you can do as you’re able. Choose any stone room on the first or second floor of the inner hall, and while healing, try to take the treasures inside. These stone rooms contain excellent cultivation techniques, pills, spiritual herbs, treasures, and various spiritual materials. However, you must hand over what you obtain to me after leaving the Void Heaven Palace.”

As he spoke, the bearded man tossed him a fragment of the Void Heaven Map.

“Eh?”

That’s it?

Looking at the fragmented map of the Void Heaven that had been stolen and now returned to its rightful owner, and recalling the words of the barbarian bearded man just moments before, the man was overjoyed and deeply moved.

The feeling of surviving a calamity even made him feel a bit of goodwill towards the barbarian bearded man!

…

The group acted swiftly.

Along the way, the barbarian bearded man led the way, dealing with all sorts of puppets.

With the golden body of the Heaven-Supporting Demonic Art activated, the wolf-headed puppets on the first level were no match for him. The very first one that appeared was dismantled into pieces of unknown silver metal by the barbarian bearded man in just a few moves .

Even the golden wolf head was violently twisted off, torn off, and thrown to the ground.

The thick blade held by the ancient wolf-headed puppet was also destroyed by brute force into several dull, black pieces.

“Brother Barbarian, how do you feel?”

Han Li asked telepathically.

“Interesting. These puppets crafted by ancient cultivators are barely passable in terms of attack, only slightly stronger than ordinary mid-stage Core Formation cultivators—not even enough to tickle me. But the materials used in their crafting are extremely rare, reaching the level of magic treasures. Therefore, even I couldn’t destroy them with a single, decisive blow.”

“What a pity, what a pity.”

He had heard that these materials couldn’t be reforged and couldn’t be made into magic treasures used by cultivators like himself. Otherwise, this trip would have been quite fruitful.

Barbarian Beard shook his head.

Were the wolf-headed puppets merely at the level of Heavenly Capital Corpses?

At most, only slightly stronger than a single Heavenly Capital Corpse?

“Brother Barbarian, I’m quite interested in these ancient puppets. Could you do your best to protect these mechanical puppets along the way?”

These were Core Formation level puppets.

One or two wouldn’t be much.

But what if there were dozens?

And without exception, all of these dozens were high-level puppets that even mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators would find difficult to kill or destroy with a single blow.

It’s important to understand that the highest-level puppets in his storage bag are still just those few level 4 giant tiger puppets, nearly at the pseudo-core level, crafted by the Dong family’s weapon refiners. However, if he could leverage the resources of the Void Heaven Palace to minimize the damage, once he repairs the numerous ancient puppets, he wouldn’t be unable to fight even a top-tier Nascent Soul cultivator.

“Brother Xiao, why are you interested in puppets?”

the Barbarian Beard asked in surprise.

“I was imprisoned in a dark underground place for hundreds of years. When I was bored, I would study the puppetry techniques of ancient cultivators to relieve my boredom. Over time, I developed an interest.”

Han Li gave a simple and calm explanation.

But the barbarian bearded man sensed a strong killing intent beneath that calmness.

A powerful killing intent towards Ji Yin.

“Brother Man, helping me out is a favor I owe you.”

“Brother Xiao, what are you saying? Back then, you saved my life.”

This time, it’s a huge help in obtaining the Heaven-Mending Pill.

It must not be underestimated.

And so

, along the way, Qing Yi and Ji Yin were stunned.

This was because the Barbarian Beard was no longer so ruthless, no longer displaying violent aesthetics, but instead becoming increasingly skilled and adept at finding the puppets’ weaknesses to dismantle them.

From the second mechanical puppet onwards, most of these wolf-headed puppets were well preserved.

By the fifth wolf-headed puppet, the Barbarian Beard only needed one or two moves to unscrew the puppet’s head or remove only the green soul stone from its core, thus stopping the puppet’s movement.

This also effectively preserved these types of puppets.

It’s no exaggeration to say that when Han Li repaired them afterward, whether he did it himself or had a master craftsman do it, he only needed the remains of two wolf-headed puppets to piece together a completely new one.

And on the first level, the group harvested more than twenty wolf-headed puppets along the way.

“Go to the second floor.”

By this time, more than half of the first day of exploring the inner hall had passed.

Upon arrival, Han Li sensed a divine imprint.

It was the one he had left on Yuan Yao.

Before going upstairs, he had confirmed that Gan Rushuang’s divine imprint had vanished instantly.

In other words, Gan Rushuang had entered a stone hall on the first floor herself, using the hall’s restrictions to isolate his senses.

“No Yanli’s imprint?”

“So, that girl has already entered that stone room?”

Good.

“Seniors, Master, this way.”

Han Li pointed in a direction.

The three initially frowned.

But after receiving different telepathic messages, they all relaxed.

The obstacles and puppets on the second floor were a level stronger than those on the first.

For example, the snake guard puppets on the second floor,

also known as “snake demon puppets.”

They had two slender, bluish-red snake heads, four limbs, and were covered in black scales. They were also much more agile, ghostly, wielding a bluish-copper halberd and a soft whip that combined strength and flexibility. Despite being relentlessly attacked by the unsuspecting barbarian, and constantly pressured, he managed to barely protect a few vital points.

His overall strength was comparable to a top-tier late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

He could be considered a peak-level 7 demonic beast without special bloodlines.

“The puppets on this level are quite interesting,”

the barbarian said, getting

more and more excited as the fight progressed.

“Brother Barbarian, take it easy,”

Han Li reminded him telepathically.

He also telepathically asked Qing Yi to help restrain him.

It wasn’t enough for the barbarian to work alone; it was too inefficient. Two Nascent Soul cultivators working together would be much more efficient.

As for the Extreme Yin?

He wasn’t counting on it.

This guy wouldn’t show any mercy to the puppets.

If too many parts were damaged, repairing them would be a loss.

By the time he reached the teleportation array leading to the third level, he had collected a total of fourteen snake-headed puppets.

Looking at the gradually increasing amount of ancient puppet materials in his storage bag, he was extremely satisfied:

“Not bad, not bad.”

As for the pair of bronze halberds attached to the forelimbs of each snake demon puppet and the soft whip held by its hind limbs, it seemed the Old Demon of Extreme Yin had some ulterior motives?

“I wonder what that little fellow Han Li is collecting these strange things for?”

Extreme Yin couldn’t quite understand.

“However, the material of those bronze halberds is truly extraordinary. Even with Barbarian Beard’s full strength, he could only bend them slightly.”

He knew that ordinary magical treasures would crumble with a gentle squeeze in front of Barbarian Beard.

Yet these bronze halberds, even when thrown at Barbarian Beard’s full strength, remained undamaged.

This showed their hardness and strength.

What a pair of extraordinary treasures.

“It’s good that the kid collects them.”

“Barbarian Beard and Qing Yi, because of the Blood Jade Spider, have turned a blind eye to this, even actively preserving the puppets’ integrity to curry favor with my good disciple. Tsk tsk, truly good helpers.”

“And I, I just need to ask for them all later, hehe…”

His, his, all his.

The more Ji Yin thought about it, the smuger he became.

“Barbarian Beard, you’d better work hard for me.”

“And you, Qing Yi.”

Hehehehe…

So,

having completed his self-consolidation and self-persuasion, the old demon Ji Yin suddenly and actively joined in, helping Barbarian Beard restrain the puppets. With the addition of another Nascent Soul stage monster, the team’s harvesting efficiency increased again, and everyone was relatively more relaxed.

Han Li watched, puzzled:

“Ji Yin is so considerate of me, his disciple?”

Barbarian Beard silently sneered: “Ji Yin, Ji Yin, you’ve certainly made a good plan, but… there’s a big surprise coming.” Qing Yi

also curled his lip:

“Ji Yin, Ji Yin, you’ll understand what it means to have your efforts come to nothing.” (

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(End of Chapter)