Chapter 254: Chapter 251: The Talk of the Tier Four Puppet

In the pavilion.

Hearing Li Ping admit that he had personally crafted the Tier Two Upper Grade puppet in the courtyard.

For a moment, Gao Ji Taoist, inside the pocket dimension, fell silent.

After a long while, he finally spoke slowly, a hint of a sigh in his voice. "To think that besides this old man, other disciples from the Celestial Skill Sect actually survived that day. Fellow Daoist Li, I wonder, from whom did you inherit your Puppetry Technique?"

At this point, Gao Ji Taoist was basically certain.

The Celestial Skill Sect was destroyed, but its lineage had not been severed.

Besides him, other Celestial Skill Sect cultivators had escaped the sect’s destruction, and that person had passed down the Puppetry Technique.

This Li Ping before him was most likely a descendant of that branch.

Although the Celestial Skill Sect’s lineage was not the only one in the world that practiced the Puppetry Technique.

But Li Ping’s puppet was nearly identical to the puppets of the Celestial Skill Sect from a thousand years ago. It even had some of the Puppetry Technique flaws that he himself had discovered and resolved over the past millennium.

Could this possibly be a coincidence?

As for the Puppetry Technique being passed down, but the *Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill* being lost?

There was nothing strange about that.

After all, a thousand years had passed. It was perfectly normal for a Cultivation Technique to be lost to time.

The only thing that made Gao Ji Taoist feel a bit wistful was that the talent of that sect member and their descendants in the Puppetry Technique seemed to be rather lackluster.

’Such obvious flaws, such simple optimizations... a thousand years have passed, and they still haven’t been fixed. They’re even worse than an old man like me who’s just a remnant soul.’

Since Gao Ji Taoist was only a remnant soul, Li Ping was confident he could control his life, death, and movements, and thus wasn’t worried about him exposing his secrets.

So, after hearing Gao Ji Taoist’s question, he shook his head slightly. "Inherited from whom? I believe you’ve misunderstood, Senior. I taught myself the Puppetry Technique by studying a damaged Tier Three Puppet from your esteemed Sect, relying on my own talent. I have no other master."

"Studying a damaged Tier Three Puppet? A self-taught Puppetry Technique?" This time, Gao Ji Taoist was truly stunned.

Without a lineage or a teacher’s guidance, to be able to create a Tier Two Upper Grade puppet just by studying a finished product... what did that even mean?

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it world-shocking talent. Li Ping’s aptitude for the Puppetry Technique was simply terrifying!

"What? Is the Puppetry Technique that difficult?" With the intention of intimidating Gao Ji Taoist, Li Ping said nonchalantly, "If not for the lack of sufficient Spiritual Materials, I could even create a Tier Three Puppet."

As he spoke, he summoned all six of the puppets he had crafted, lining them up in the courtyard.

Six puppets—four Attack Type, two defense type—all at the Tier Two Upper Grade level.

"This...?" Gao Ji Taoist was suddenly speechless.

Even Xiao Yunzhi couldn’t help but be a little surprised. She knew Li Ping had more than one Tier Two Upper Grade puppet, but she never imagined he had as many as six.

That was equivalent to six Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators!

Even with her strength as a Core Formation Master, it would take her a moment to deal with so many puppets!

"Fellow Daoist Li’s talent in the Puppetry Technique is truly peerless," Gao Ji Taoist said slowly. This time, his admiration for Li Ping was sincere.

In front of Li Ping, he even began to feel a sense of inferiority.

’I’ve studied for a thousand years and have only barely grasped how to refine a Tier Four Puppet. I’ve wasted my life. If Li Ping were to use his talent for the Puppetry Technique to study the refinement method for Tier Four Puppets... forget a thousand years, he could probably create one in less than a century!’ Gao Ji Taoist thought to himself.

As a "tech geek," Gao Ji Taoist felt a bit dejected at that moment.

But as the sole surviving cultivator of the Celestial Skill Sect, he was also incredibly excited—excited that the Celestial Skill Sect’s Puppetry Technique might flourish in Li Ping’s hands.

’The name of the Celestial Skill Sect will once again resound throughout the Cultivation Realm!’

"Peerless talent is an overstatement. It’s just a little cleverness," Li Ping said, shaking his head dismissively. He then changed the subject, asking, "By the way, Senior, would you be willing to give the latter four levels of the *Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill* to this junior? This junior is willing to exchange something of value for them."

The reason Li Ping asked so politely was mainly because he had already learned from Xiao Yunzhi.

After Gao Ji Taoist used a Secret Technique to refine his remnant soul into a puppet, he was no longer technically human, but had become something akin to an Artifact Spirit.

In this state, Gao Ji Taoist certainly couldn’t use the abilities of a Core Formation Master; even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could easily handle him.

But by the same token, techniques that targeted the Divine Soul, like Soul Searching, were also useless against him.

For Gao Ji Taoist himself, this was undoubtedly a good thing.

"*Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill*? No problem. I already promised Fellow Daoist Crimson Flame. It’s a small matter," Gao Ji Taoist agreed readily.

The next moment, a black Jade Scroll flew out from the pocket dimension where he was hiding and floated in front of Li Ping.

Seeing this, a smile couldn’t help but touch Li Ping’s eyes. He grasped the Jade Scroll with one hand, then immersed his Divine Sense into it and began to read carefully.

Several moments later, after reading the Cultivation Technique in the Jade Scroll, Li Ping’s face showed a mixture of pleasant surprise and slight confusion.

The surprise was because what Gao Ji Taoist had given him was indeed the complete five-level version of the *Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill*.

Mastering the first level increased one’s Divine Sense by twenty percent and granted the ability to use Divine Split to control three puppets simultaneously.

Mastering the second level increased Divine Sense by forty percent and allowed one to control nine puppets simultaneously.

Mastering the 3rd Floor increased Divine Sense by sixty percent and allowed one to control twenty-seven puppets simultaneously.

Mastering the 4th Floor increased Divine Sense by eighty percent and allowed one to control fifty-four puppets simultaneously.

Mastering the 5th Floor doubled one’s Divine Sense and allowed one to control one hundred and eight puppets simultaneously.

...

Li Ping was pleasantly surprised because of this Cultivation Technique’s powerful effects.

His Divine Sense was already fifty percent stronger than that of cultivators at the same level. Once he mastered the 5th Floor of the *Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill*, his Divine Sense would double on top of that!

In other words, by then, his Divine Sense would be about three times stronger than that of cultivators at the same level, and even tens of percent stronger than that of an Early-stage Core Formation cultivator!

The benefits of a powerful Divine Sense were self-evident.

Not only could one control multiple Dharma Artifacts in battle with greater power, but it also made it easier to begin studying the hundred arts of cultivation—Alchemy, Artifact Refining... the success rate would be greatly enhanced.

Most importantly, a powerful Divine Sense was also of great help in breaking through bottlenecks!

For example, during his Foundation Establishment, it was precisely because of his powerful Divine Sense that Li Ping succeeded without any trouble.

And if he could possess Divine Sense stronger than an Early-stage Core Formation cultivator’s while still at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment, his success rate for breaking through the Core Formation bottleneck would naturally be greatly increased!

Li Ping cultivated the *Wetland Water Nourishing Skill*. By absorbing enough Innate Qi, his Magical Power underwent a qualitative change, adding a fifty percent chance to his Core Formation success rate out of thin air.

He had already gathered the materials for the Yuan Condensing Pill. Once he refined the Pill, he could add another fifteen percent to his success rate, bringing the total to sixty-five percent.

If he also possessed a massive Divine Sense exceeding that of an Early-stage Core Formation cultivator before his own Core Formation...

...his success rate for reaching Core Formation would probably reach ninety-five percent or more. It would still be less than someone with a Celestial Spiritual Root, but not by much.

However, the Core Formation success rate didn’t actually mean that much to Li Ping.

When one wasn’t afraid of injury and could try an unlimited number of times, there was no difference between a fifty percent and a ninety-five percent success rate.

...

As for why Li Ping felt both surprise and doubt...

It was because he felt that the *Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill* still seemed incomplete, as if there should be more to it.

Gao Ji Taoist was now a fish on the chopping block, completely at his mercy.

So, Li Ping didn’t hide his thoughts and asked directly, "Senior, what you’ve given this junior doesn’t seem to be the complete Cultivation Technique, does it?"

Hearing Li Ping’s question, Gao Ji Taoist admitted generously, "Fellow Daoist Li, you are correct. This Cultivation Technique is indeed not complete. When the Celestial Skill Sect obtained it, it was already a five-level fragment."

Then, with Gao Ji Taoist’s explanation...

...Li Ping learned that the *Ten Thousand Spirits Divine Communication Skill* was not originally created by a Celestial Skill Sect cultivator. Rather, a Core Formation Master from the Sect had obtained it from some ancient ruins.

Although generations of Celestial Skill Sect cultivators had later entered those ruins to explore, trying to find the content beyond the 5th Floor, they all returned empty-handed.

Thus, the Celestial Skill Sect only ever had this five-level fragment.

Hearing this, Li Ping was quite speechless.

He never expected this Divine Sense-type Cultivation Technique to be a fragment of a fragment.

At this rate, when would he ever be able to complete the entire Cultivation Technique?

Was this like the ’one-foot-long stick, take half each day, it will never be exhausted’ paradox?

Thinking of this, Li Ping, though frustrated, shook his head. ’Forget it. Five levels is enough for now!’

...

After explaining the matter of the Cultivation Technique, Gao Ji Taoist spoke again, "Fellow Daoist Li, would you be interested in making a deal with this old man?"

"Oh? Why don’t you tell me about it, Senior?" Li Ping showed a look of interest.

From Xiao Yunzhi, he already knew that Gao Ji Taoist had made a deal with her. He had given her a piece of Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade and the refinement method for the Magical Treasure, the Sun and Moon Ring, in exchange for her promise to slay an Ice Flood Dragon in the future!

Now, Gao Ji Taoist wanted to make a deal with him. What kind of deal would it be?

Gao Ji Taoist’s calm voice drifted out from the pocket dimension. "This old man has lived for a thousand years in this state of being neither human nor ghost. Although my Cultivation hasn’t advanced an inch, I have made considerable progress in the way of puppetry."

"Back when the Celestial Skill Sect was wiped out, the highest-grade puppet the Sect could refine was merely a Tier Three Lower Grade." A trace of pride was in Gao Ji Taoist’s voice. "But with my thousand years of research, I have already created refinement methods for Tier Three Middle Grade and Upper Grade puppets! I am even confident that, given another hundred years, I can perfect the plans for a Tier Four Puppet!"

He stated the terms of the deal. "This old man will trade these research findings in exchange for Fellow Daoist Li refining a Tier Four Puppet for me to inhabit in the future, and for you to rebuild the lineage of the Celestial Skill Sect. How about it?"

’Tier Three Middle Grade and Upper Grade puppets? A Tier Four Puppet?’ Li Ping was shocked.

Especially a Tier Four Puppet—that was a peak fighting force in this world, comparable to a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

With such a puppet in hand, wouldn’t he be able to run rampant across the world?

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