Chapter 1261: The Three Transformations of the Cat Treasure
Sun Luyuan spoke at length, while Li Fan seemed still reeling from the shock and sorrow of learning that his beloved wife had perished.
"It is destiny, it is fate. No wonder I've felt such a sense of unease lately."
"Trapped here, unable to even see her one last time," Li Fan lamented, his face etched with grief.
"My son... does he have a name?"
Sun Luyuan's expression remained composed. "Sun Tianci. Ninglu herself chose it for him before she passed."
After a brief silence, Li Fan spoke again, his voice a mixture of anguish and a sliver of solace. "Tianci... A fine name."
Once the topic of Sun Tianci was concluded, Sun Luyuan's demeanor slowly grew solemn as he turned to official matters.
"Your uncle, Sun Luchang, is leaving."
Sun Luyuan briefly recounted the tale of the sword light that had appeared in the sky, bringing news of the Xuanshang Immortal Boat from beyond the Star Sea.
Sun Luyuan shook his head. "As things stand, the upper-echelon families of the Immortal Alliance who know the truth are shunning it like the plague, while the garrisoned Dao Integration cultivators in the lower ranks, who are ignorant of the details, are clamoring for the chance to go. To ensure there are enough sacrificial lambs, the truth will naturally be kept from them. It's all rather ironic."
"Uncle may be at the Dao Integration stage, but he has grown accustomed to a comfortable life over the years. I fear..." Li Fan said, a note of concern in his voice.
"If I weren't stationed here, unable to leave my post, I would take Uncle's place and venture beyond the stars myself."
Li Fan's words were delivered with a resolute tone that perfectly matched the persona Sun Ang had previously displayed.
Sun Luyuan showed no suspicion, merely a flicker of displeasure in his eyes. "Our Sun family has become too prominent. Being tasked with guarding the Deduction Jade, being sent far into the cosmos... It's hard not to see the Immortal Alliance's deliberate intent to suppress us in these arrangements."
"Don't dwell on it too much. Just live peacefully here for now."
Without revealing that the Sun family had already pledged allegiance to the Great Qi Dynasty, Sun Luyuan simply instructed Li Fan to prioritize stability in all things.
"I've already spoken with Elder Xu."
"Perhaps you won't have to wait the full three hundred years before your service is complete and you can leave," Sun Luyuan added just before departing.
"I am grateful for your efforts, Family Head," Li Fan said, his face a mask of gratitude.
"Oh, by the way, after several years of quiet contemplation here, I've managed to summarize my life's learning and have gained some new insights."
"Family Head, perhaps you could pass this text, 'Righteous Law High-Spirited,' to Tianci for me."
As he spoke, a seemingly unremarkable passage of text appeared in Sun Luyuan's mind.
A quick scan revealed nothing particularly special about it.
It was just an ordinary method for refining the mind and clarifying one's will.
Sun Luyuan nodded and readily agreed.
Then he took his leave.
Only after Sun Luyuan's figure had vanished did Li Fan sneer inwardly. "A hundred years? It's questionable whether the Xuanhuang Realm will even exist that long."
However, he knew this place was under the covert surveillance of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, so he didn't dwell on it. The thought was but a fleeting flicker in his mind.
As for the "Righteous Law High-Spirited," it was merely a seed planted for Sun Tianci's future rise.
Li Fan glanced at the Deduction Jade, which had grown somewhat lazy again and was feigning diligence. He couldn't help but begin to painstakingly urge and admonish it once more.
...
The Great Qi Dynasty.
In the dynasty's secret martial testing grounds.
Li Ping and Qiaogong stood together, watching Sun Erlang strive to control a third Sacred Punishment Divine Puppet.
Sacred Punishment Divine Puppet was the name Li Ping had given the golden puppets to distinguish them from the ordinary Sacred Army Puppets.
"The Sun boy is truly gifted. His adaptability is terrifyingly strong. He's already getting the hang of the third divine puppet. He might just end up mastering our entire reserve," Qiaogong praised effusively.
"Compared to him, my Lingyuan Sect is full of nothing but trash."
"Speaking of which, you've been in the Saint Dynasty this whole time. Is everything alright with the Lingyuan Sect back in Nine Mountains Prefecture?" Li Ping asked casually, his gaze fixed on Sun Erlang, who had beads of sweat dripping from his forehead in the testing grounds.
Qiaogong waved a hand dismissively. "I have a puppet stationed in Nine Mountains Prefecture. Those fools are so timid they don't dare to look up whenever they see me. How could they possibly tell the difference?"
At this, Qiaogong paused for a moment. "But now that I think about it, the tax collector from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance should be arriving soon. I might have to go back for that."
Li Ping knew that Qiaogong's collection of vast amounts of Source Power in Nine Mountains Prefecture using the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art was sanctioned by the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. The price was surrendering a portion of it.
A very large portion.
"The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance shouldn't be short on consumables, so why are they so concerned with your small amount?" Li Ping asked.
Qiaogong said nonchalantly, "Who knows? Perhaps it's because these are the kind of unscrupulous deeds they can't be seen doing openly themselves."
"However..."
Qiaogong seemed to recall something. "Now that you mention it, I remember something. The last time the Alliance envoy came, he mentioned offhandedly that there was a massive deficit within the Alliance, so they had to bolster their income while cutting back on spending."
"I even teased him at the time, saying the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance looked prosperous but was actually broke."
Hearing this, Li Ping fell into deep thought.
"Source Power is nothing more than pure, unowned cultivation base. Normal cultivators have no need for it..."
"Interesting."
"When the Alliance envoy arrives this time, I'll go meet him in your place," Li Ping decided.
"Excellent, excellent." Qiaogong, unable to get away, couldn't have been more pleased.
He immediately transmitted the details of all his previous meetings to Li Ping without omission.
"By the way, how is that puppet body I asked you to prepare coming along?"
A look of pride spread across Qiaogong's face. He clapped his hands.
A faceless body instantly appeared before Li Ping.
Unlike the Saint Emperor's massive, thirty-three-foot frame, this faceless body was of normal human size.
However, it could be considered a perfectly scaled-down replica, its appearance nearly identical to Li Ping's own.
If the Saint Emperor had been overly suspicious, he might have charged Qiaogong with the crime of lèse-majesté.
But at this moment, he merely stared at the puppet body with keen interest, a hint of surprise in his voice. "It's actually made of real flesh and blood?"
Qiaogong nodded. "Yes. Didn't you say you wanted to use it to travel to the stars? The Star Sea is fraught with peril. There are certain strange phenomena that only a true body of flesh can sense. I suffered a great loss before I came to the Xuanhuang Realm because of that."
A flash of pain crossed Qiaogong's eyes before he continued his introduction to the Saint Emperor. "I drew inspiration from Tianyang's Body Transformation Dao and the flesh cultivation techniques of that precious disciple of yours."
"We can't expect much from this flesh puppet in terms of cultivation aptitude, but perfect sensory feedback is no problem. Moreover, just like the Sacred Army's divine puppets, it can integrate the World's Souls and Source Power Essence. Although its strength will be diminished by the limitations of its naturally frail body, it should still possess Dao Integration power. As long as one is cautious, self-preservation in the Star Sea shouldn't be an issue."
"That is, as long as you don't encounter one of the void's bizarre calamities," Qiaogong added very carefully.
The Saint Emperor nodded.
A speck of gold flew from his fingertip, pouring into the flesh puppet before him.
A sensation of perfect, intuitive control, as if it were his own limb, rose from within his heart.
The Saint Emperor carefully experienced the myriad sensations, both familiar and foreign, and a sliver of understanding dawned on him.
"I'll be taking this body."
With a flash of golden light, the Saint Emperor and the flesh puppet vanished together.
Qiaogong, meanwhile, refocused his attention on Sun Erlang in the testing grounds.
Within the treasury of the Saint Dynasty.
The Saint Emperor, having evaded Qiaogong, was now modifying the puppet body.
He was undertaking this journey into the cosmos for the sake of enlightenment.
Therefore, he had certain requirements for the aptitude of the vessel he would inhabit.
What Qiaogong couldn't achieve...
...did not mean the Saint Emperor couldn't.
Placing a large hand on the head of the flesh puppet, he slowly infused it with the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Grace.
Suddenly...
A feeling of deja vu welled up in the Saint Emperor's heart, causing his hand to pause for a fraction of a second.
After a moment of contemplation, he suppressed this unusual sensation.
The body, which had appeared somewhat stiff, slowly began to animate.
As one heavenly treasure after another from the dynasty's treasury was calcined into liquid by Source Power Essence and integrated into the puppet body...
...the body itself grew increasingly crystalline and translucent, exuding a fragrant aroma.
Even the perpetually slumbering Cat Treasure was drawn in, waking with a start and surveying its surroundings.
Upon discovering that the source of the fragrance was the body Li Ping was refining, a trace of disappointment flashed in its eyes.
Just as it was about to go back to sleep, it received a command from the Saint Emperor.
The Cat Treasure shook its head somewhat reluctantly, but ultimately, it could not resist the promised temptation of Source Power Essence. It let out a lazy cry.
Then, with a single leap, it transformed into a blue, transparent, bell-jar-like object.
It enveloped the body Li Ping was refining within it.
Strands of blue light were released from the vessel. After drifting for a moment, they all burrowed into the puppet body's interior.
At this moment, a sliver of Li Ping's consciousness was attached to the puppet body, allowing him to personally experience the specific changes that occurred as it was bathed in the blue light.
"A reorganization of flesh and blood, a sublimation of its life form."
"Even without cultivation, the strength of this body would surpass that of what is generally considered a Nascent Soul cultivator in the Xuanhuang Realm."
"And..."
The Saint Emperor carefully sensed the differences between this body and his original one.
He could not yet understand what consequences these differences would bring, but he was almost certain they were created to deal with some kind of special situation.
As the blue bell jar continued its transformation, a flicker of understanding also crossed Li Ping's mind.
He could even use this function of the Cat Treasure to infuse this body with the unique abilities of the creatures the Cat Treasure had previously absorbed and mimicked, turning them into the body's innate divine abilities.
However, this was an artificially created body, and doing so might lead to unforeseeable changes.
For Li Ping, the abilities currently held by the Cat Treasure were all dispensable. With the journey to the Star Sea imminent, he decided not to take any unnecessary risks.
There would be time to experiment later.
The blue bell jar grew dimmer and dimmer until its light completely faded.
The Cat Treasure looked as if it had just fought a battle for three days and three nights straight. It was utterly drained, and even its once-glossy fur now appeared somewhat yellowed.
Li Ping fed it a large mouthful of golden Source Power Essence, and only then did the Cat Treasure fall into a deep, satisfied sleep.
"Item replication, creature mimicry, and this is the Cat Treasure's third function."
"A fundamental reconstitution of the body."
"Truly remarkable!" Li Ping marveled.
The puppet body had awakened from its sublimation. Li Ping sensed that this new body was an even better fit for his soul than his original one.
"Perhaps I should just switch bodies?"
The thought emerged irrepressibly from the depths of his mind, but the Saint Emperor forcibly suppressed it in the next instant.
The Cat Treasure's reconstitution function was not a one-time use.
If the effect was this good on a puppet body, it would surely be no worse on his true form.
There was still plenty of time, plenty of opportunity.
Li Ping focused his consciousness on the puppet body, beginning to adapt and test its control.
...
Half a month later.
Before the puppet body could even fly out of the Xuanhuang Realm, a message arrived from Qiaogong.
At the Lingyuan Sect in Nine Mountains Prefecture, the envoy from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance was about to arrive.
A golden light flashed around Li Ping, and in an instant, he had assumed the appearance of Qiaogong.
Without a sound, he appeared within the headquarters of the Lingyuan Sect.
He awaited the arrival of the Alliance envoy.
The puppet body Qiaogong had left behind had already prepared the large amount of collected Source Power.
Li Ping naturally had no regard for such low-quality energy.
It couldn't even compare to the Source Power Essence, and it was far inferior even to the Source Power produced by the citizens of the Great Qi Dynasty cultivating the Spirit Essence Art.
The envoy from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, however, was overjoyed after a brief inspection.
"The quality of this submission seems to have improved quite a bit, hasn't it?"
"Sect Master, you have been most diligent," the Alliance envoy praised, carefully putting away the sphere of light containing the Source Power.
Li Ping, mimicking Qiaogong's manner of speaking, replied with a smile, "I recently learned a profound technique that can imperceptibly eliminate the distracting thoughts of my followers, allowing them to dedicate more of their time to cultivation."
The Alliance envoy's eyes lit up. "There's such a divine art?"
"What? Is the envoy also interested?" Li Ping inquired.
The Alliance envoy looked a little embarrassed. "The Alliance's deficit has widened again recently. If it's convenient for the Sect Master..."
Li Ping waved his hand. "It's nothing, just a minor art. If the envoy is interested, I can share it with you."
"With a mind free of distractions, the spirit resides in its proper place. Ten thousand dharmas cannot invade, and to touch it is to know the profound..."
As Li Ping spoke, he began to chant, directly revealing the profound technique.
The Alliance envoy was overjoyed and listened with rapt attention.
He failed to notice that his own mind was slowly sinking, falling under the sway of the other's gentle chanting.
When the Alliance envoy's eyes became vacant, falling into a state of complete stupor, Li Ping smiled faintly. With a flick of his finger, he sent a speck of gold flying into the other's sea of consciousness.
As expected, there were protective restrictions from the Immortal Alliance.
But under the silent infiltration of the Source Power Essence, the defenses were as flimsy as paper, pierced through without a sound.
Soon, Li Fan found the information he sought within the envoy's mind.
"The power of ten thousand cultivators, condensed into a piercing spear."
"To strike deep within the Xuanhuang Realm, into the endless Gloomy Sea of Darkness..."
"So that's how it is."
Li Ping had long been curious about how the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance had found and maintained its entrance to the Gloomy Sea of Darkness.
According to the testimony of the You Clan members, the passage excavated by the Alliance in the Gloomy Sea of Darkness was distinctly different from the passages opened through the You Clan's traditional methods.
Perhaps it was due to a lack of complete trust in the You Clan, or perhaps it was the Alliance's desire to keep the passage to the Gloomy Sea of Darkness firmly in their own hands.
In any case, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance had devised a method of using highly condensed Source Power to directly breach the barrier between the Xuanhuang Realm and the Gloomy Sea of Darkness.
"It is precisely because the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has its covetous eyes on the Gloomy Realm that the power of the Gloomy Sea of Darkness has been continuously shrinking."
"It seems the time has come to sever some of their tentacles first."
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