Chapter 096

Chapter 96: Golden Core Puppet

It was no longer an Azure Sea Soulstone, but had been refined into a Soul Nurturing Bead. Strange runes were carved on its surface, clearly for a special purpose.

Pei Xuan said: “Try it.”

Ye Wan Wan glanced at Pei Xuan. When her fingertip touched the bead, a gentle power flowed into her sea of consciousness. Her weak Primordial Spirit felt as if it were soaking in a warm, clear Spirit Spring.

She breathed out and whispered: “This…”

Pei Xuan said calmly: “A Soul Nurturing Bead. I picked some materials on the spot and casually refined a little thing. It should help you.”

[Help me? It is more than helpful. It was made just for my condition.] His words “picked” and “casually” sounded so light and easy, but Ye Wan Wan knew this bead was anything but simple. Even a top Artifact Refining master would find a Primordial Spirit treasure extremely hard to make. Yet how long had Pei Xuan spent? She had lived on Disciples’ Peak for only five days. He had made it in five days.

She lowered her eyes and said: “Master, I cannot accept this. It is too precious.”

As she spoke, she remembered how the temperature in the cave had dropped sharply. Seeing that this bead was forged from Azure Sea Soulstone, she asked at once: “Master, did you take down the Azure Sea Soulstone from the cave?”

Pei Xuan’s expression stayed mild as he said: “This cave is huge. Is it strange to remove two pieces?”

Ye Wan Wan had not replied yet when Pei Xuan had already started walking out. He said as he went: “Do not worry about outside things. Materials can be gathered again. If I give it to you, then it is yours. If you will not take it, throw it away.”

He paused, thinking that the little miss had once wondered if she imagined him, and he wondered: [Is it because I do not talk much?] He turned back and said: “This Soul Nurturing Bead will warm your Primordial Spirit. Keep it with you and use it together with the Spirit Refining Art. Within one month, your Primordial Spirit should recover. As my disciple, your training comes first. Do not let this affect your cultivation.”

Ye Wan Wan answered: “Yes.”

Pei Xuan added: “I do not forbid you to enter the Spirit Market, but do not stay too long. Its time flow depends on Primordial Spirit Power. Yours is injured, so wait. Though with this bead… forget it, with it there should be no big problem. Still, go out for walks. Do not stay shut in. Talk with your senior brothers and sisters. Do not think only about training.”

Ye Wan Wan only answered: “Yes.”

She did not notice that time flow was tied to Primordial Spirit Power, nor that he had just contradicted himself. Pei Xuan also realized he had said a lot of useless words, but he truly was not good at talking. He thought for a moment, then said: “Go cultivate.”

Ye Wan Wan bowed her head and said: “Yes.”

Pei Xuan gave his little disciple a glance, left the cave abode, and sat a long time on the stone platform on the mountain, unable to calm himself. At last he turned into a streak of light and left Snow Mountain to visit the Main Peak and find Li Ming De.

Li Ming De, who had just finished a new dish, looked up and said: “What’s wrong with little Wan Wan now?”

After a long silence, Pei Xuan finally spoke: “Senior brother, do you know how to get along with people?”

Li Ming De stared in shock, then quickly smoothed his face and said: “That… getting along with people… let me think.”

Pei Xuan said nothing and, very rare for him, waited with patience. Li Ming De thought for a long time, and then seemed to reach a truth. He said: “Raising a child is truly a subject of study.”

Pei Xuan answered: “Mm…”

But he did not know how to do it. In this life, apart from his Master, he had never been close to anyone. Those who came near him only wanted to harm him. [I am not good at this.]

Ye Wan Wan carried the Soul Nurturing Bead back to the Purple Spirit Cave Abode and sat before the herb field for a long while without moving. The bead’s warm power kept flowing into her sea of consciousness, and her Primordial Spirit soaked in it like in a Spirit Spring. Even Star Marsh came close and said: “It feels so warm.”

The bead looked icy cold, yet its force was so gentle. Illusory Dream Elder sighed with deep feeling and said: “A High Grade treasure, just under an immortal weapon. And since it warms the Primordial Spirit, its effect is even more special. You have a good Master.”

Ye Wan Wan repeated softly: “Mm, I have a good Master.”

She said it again and again, and by the end her voice was bright with joy: “I have a good Master!” [I cannot let Master down.]

She put away the Soul Nurturing Bead. After Blood Binding, it naturally sank into her divine sense. She felt its nourishment and grew much more energetic.

She looked over the thick growth of Mystic Spirit Grass in the field and began to harvest. Her hands moved very fast, and she cut the whole field in less than a stick of incense. Illusory Dream Elder stared at the grass with a strange look and asked: “Did you plant this yourself?”

She did not raise her head and said: “Yes.”

While she worked, the corner of her eye caught the mysterious turtle in the corner that had been sleeping for a long time. She paused and left the patch of Mystic Spirit Grass around it uncut.

After preparing, she planned to enter the Spirit Market. But before going in, she thought of Pei Xuan. If he had gone to Disciples’ Peak these past few days while she was inside the Spirit Market, she would not sense his visit. Her eyes fell on the Fire Golden Core floating in the training room, the Golden Core she had taken back from Ye Qian. She thought for a moment and moved it into the Spirit Market.

Once inside, the first thing she did was refine this Golden Core. The Fire Golden Core had lost much essence after its attribute shift, so even if she returned it to her dantian, the effect would be small. Ye Wan Wan refined it, removed the impurities, and then inscribed thirty six Talisman Arts upon it.

One stroke after another, all thirty six Talisman Arts struck the Golden Core. The bit of recovery in her Primordial Spirit was almost exhausted again. She drank spirit liquid while working and forced herself to finish the thirty sixth stroke.

Illusory Dream Elder and Dream Spirit watched with pounding hearts. Illusory Dream Elder asked: “You are fusing thirty six Talisman Arts onto such a small Golden Core. What do you want to do?”

After completing the last stroke, Ye Wan Wan said coolly: “Then you are looking down on the Talisman Dao. Not only a Golden Core. Even a speck of dust can hold countless Talisman Arts. The most you can merge reaches ten thousand and eight hundred strokes, equal to or greater than heavy seals. Give me time and I can punch out a small world.”

Illusory Dream Elder asked in surprise: “Can a person do this?”

She answered: “Yes, but only after stepping into the Divine Transformation Realm. That is the base.” She formed the final seal to finish shaping the Golden Core.

In her last life, because she had to kneel at Black Ice Cliff for three months at a time, her foundation was ruined. No matter what she tried, she could not cultivate. So she poured her heart into the Talisman Dao and studied it day and night, but in the end her realm bound her. This time, it was different. She could cultivate.

Ye Wan Wan took a Spirit Stone from the treasure room. She drove the Golden Core into the Spirit Stone and fused them. The three of them watched with eyes wide open as that stone, under the girl’s transformations, formed the shape of a human.

It was a Puppet Construct.

It had the aura of a Golden Core Stage cultivator.

Dream Spirit muttered: “What a monster.”

Illusory Dream Elder could not speak for a while. How could someone be so clever. How could someone be so capable.

The Puppet Construct had plain features, but all five features were present, and its limbs were complete. It looked like a real cultivator, only it lacked spirit because the materials were limited. Its eyes were dull gray, like they had no mind.

Ye Wan Wan sent a wisp of her own consciousness from her brow into it. The puppet blinked, and something changed. It bowed to Ye Wan Wan and said: “Master.”

Dream Spirit and Illusory Dream Elder both jumped far back, faces full of shock. Star Marsh was thrilled and said: “Is this Number Four?”