Chapter 327 Obtaining the Fourth Level and Officially Returning
"Found it!"
A cold and muffled voice came from the Nine Gangs Sky.
Shuahu!
A six-zhang-tall, black-faced, fang-toothed male puppet in green armor was surrounded by dark clouds and ghost energy. Its speed completely surpassed the level of the Jindan period, and it turned into a ball of ghost fog and wind, flashing the sand pit below.
"Quasi-fourth-level puppet? Xuanji Tower, you are not keeping your word--"
The Taoist merchant who was regulating his breath in the sand pit said in a panic and angrily.
Bang!
A bead was thrown out on the spot, and the gray-white thick fog exploded, spreading over a radius of ten miles, and also had a certain isolation from the spiritual consciousness.
"A trifling trick! You will not be able to escape today if I target you!"
The six-zhang-tall green-armored puppet suddenly waved his arm, and the green iron wind surrounded by ghost energy swept hundreds of feet, accurately covering a certain area in the thick fog.
"Bang" sound.
The Taoist merchant in the thick fog barely avoided the center of the green iron gale, but was still blown away by the outside. The spiritual light around him was shattered and his body flew backwards.
The outer shell of the Taoist merchant's body peeled off the magic weapon-level leather armor material, revealing the delicate components inside.
"Hehe! It's really a puppet! The soul puppetry contained in it exceeds that of the Thousand Machine Sect!"
The green-armored man's eyes were beating with dark green ghost flames, and his expression was even more excited.
Suddenly!
The Taoist merchant flew backwards, and a beam of arrow-shaped cold light suddenly flew out from his sleeves, piercing in front of the green-armored man at an incredibly fast speed, catching him off guard.
"Ding!"
The green-armored man simply didn't dodge, allowing the sleeve arrow magic weapon to hit his chest.
The ghost fog exploded.
A blow comparable to that of a late-stage Jindan cultivator left a small mark on the chest of the green-armored man.
The sleeve arrow coated with poison was shaken off and returned quickly with a tremor.
"The so-called Qinglong Society is just such a low-level method?"
The green-armored man's eyes were full of mockery. He opened his huge iron-green palm and grasped the magic weapon of the sleeve arrow in his hand.
Grabbing the magic weapon with bare hands!
Withstanding the attack of the late stage of Jindan!
The Taoist Youshang was terrified and used his body skills to turn into a shadow and escape quickly.
The Taoist Youshang was originally a puppet assassin, good at speed and body skills.
However, the green-armored man was faster, like a teleporting ghost fog, closing the distance in a few breaths.
Bang! Puff!
The sand layer on the ground exploded continuously, and crystal yellow stone pillars rose into the sky, each of which was more than ten feet long, blocking the pursuit of the green-armored puppet.
"Huh? There is another rat demon!"
The green-armored man used his feet to exert his strength, and the blue iron light pattern floated, stepping on the protruding giant pillars one by one.
The continuous explosions formed flying sand and yellow dust all over the sky.
Suddenly, in the yellow sand, a strong wind hit his back.
A giant leopard-like orange-yellow rat demon appeared strangely behind the green-armored man.
Snap!
The sharp claws as big as a palm leaf hit the black-faced and fanged green-armored man, causing his huge body to stagger.
A crack several feet long was left on his back, almost tearing the puppet case.
"No! This is not an ordinary rat demon!"
The green-armored man was surprised, and his blue iron arm slashed back, but missed.
Swish!
The orange-yellow rat demon, covered by the yellow sand, escaped into the desert.
The speed, power, close-range burst, and combat awareness it displayed exceeded most third-stage late-stage monsters.
"Your Excellency wants to be an enemy of the Azure Dragon Society, so you will stay here forever today."
A cold and ethereal female voice came.
In the distance covered by the yellow sand, a female cultivator in a pink skirt appeared.
The flying sand desert in the field of vision was inexplicably distorted, shrouded by pink air, and the ground under his feet turned into a hot spring pool...
"Hmph! Illusion path!"
In the eyes of the green-armored puppet, ghostly light flickered, destroying the illusion of the third-level peak.
The ghostly soul power it displayed exceeded the peak of the Jindan stage.
Taking advantage of this gap.
The ground rock rat cast a huge dust storm spell, entangled the six-zhang puppet body of the green-armored man.
The assassin puppet swung a shuriken, slashed a ten-zhang-long sharp blade in the air, and hit the green-armored man.
The green-armored puppet responded in time, and a green iron wind surrounded by ghost energy burst out around his body, blocking and bouncing away the dust storm spell and shuriken blade.
The ground rock rat and the two puppets, comparable to the three late Jindan masters, could not do anything to the quasi-fourth-level green-armored puppet.
...
"The little fight ends here!"
The green-armored man's stiff face revealed a hideous, cold and strange smile.
Its big mouth opened, and the two black and green fangs on the left and right suddenly split apart, igniting green ghost fire and emitting an extremely dangerous aura.
Squeak!
The rock rat's hair exploded, and it shuddered, subconsciously drilling deeper into the desert.
Swish, swish, swish——
The two black and green fangs burning with ghost fire flashed in the void, and slashed towards the rock rat and the assassin puppet respectively.
The assassin puppet was quite agile, but was locked by the fangs, approaching in a breath, and there was no escape.
He could only try his best to dodge, and his arms turned into a shield to block, and were swept by the ghost fire fangs.
Crack!
The entire arm of the third-level upper-grade puppet was broken with a sound, and the exploding ghost fire made it covered with wounds, and it fell and rolled into the sand pit.
The rock rat that drilled into the ground was not spared.
It quickly escaped into the ground, using the rocks and soil to buffer and resist, but was still caught up by the ghost fire fangs.
Swish!
At the critical moment, the rock rat swiftly moved and shrank, and the trace of the ghost fire fangs brushed against its abdomen.
Aozhi——
The rock rat's sea of consciousness burned, and it screamed in pain. A corrosive blood mark was left on its abdomen, corroded by the ghost flame.
Fortunately, it had already escaped deep underground, and the remaining power of the ghost fire fangs was greatly reduced, and it returned to the big mouth of the fourth-level puppet.
Another ghost fire fang also returned to the mouth of the green-armored man.
"Take you first!"
The severely damaged third-level late-stage puppet in the sand pit, which looked like a wandering merchant, was stared at by the green-armored puppet, and raised his hand to roll up the green iron ghost energy tornado.
"Huh?"
As soon as he flew over the sand pit, the green-armored man had a strange feeling.
The puppet that looked like a wandering merchant disappeared from the original place, as if it had escaped into another dimension.
At the same time, the ground where the sand pit was located erupted with extremely strong spiritual power fluctuations.
Boom!
Thirty-six talisman lights rose into the sky, colorful and dazzling, tearing off the yellow sand ghost energy on the top of the head.
Buzz!
The power of the various talismans generated by the five elements outlined dense array light patterns, forming a cylindrical closed array covering a radius of 100 feet.
"Talisman formation?!"
The green-armored man's face changed, realizing that he was ambushed.
He wanted to distance himself, but the ground of the talisman formation had a strong pulling force, so he failed.
There were thirty-six talismans, twelve of which were third-level top-grade, and the remaining twenty-four were third-level middle-grade top-grade.
The talisman formation formed, and the burst of the formation power touched the threshold of the Nascent Soul, enough to threaten the green-armored man.
"Break!"
The green-armored man was restless, waving his arms vigorously, and the ghost flame wind exploded repeatedly, stirring up five-color light waves, and it was impossible to break through in a short time.
"Haha, it's worthy of being a quasi-fourth-level puppet, with such a strong body."
Outside the talisman formation light waves, a green-shirted man appeared at the place where the Taoist merchant disappeared, and gently wiped the storage ring on his finger.
The green-armored man was awed. He had explored the vicinity before and found no trace of other cultivators.
However, the green-shirted man's late Jindan cultivation was within his expectations.
If he is a Yuanying Zhenjun, and has a luxurious puppet lineup, why would he need to trade with them sincerely?
"Youngster! Are you the one behind the Qinglong Society? The power of this talisman array can't stop me for long."
While attacking, the green-armored man secretly stored the two fangs in his mouth.
"How long can the puppet crystal in your body last?"
Lu Changan chuckled and waved his sleeves.
Swish, swish, swish...
Eight lights and shadows fell to the ground, showing eight archer puppets. The powerful spiritual pressure gathered when drawing the bow was almost in the middle stage of Jindan.
One after another, the long rainbow of arrows continuously attacked the green-armored man.
In addition, there were two third-level middle-grade puppets, in the form of black eagle and earth dragon beast, launching medium-range spell attacks.
This is not over yet.
The previous charm girl puppet, assassin puppet, and ground rock rat rejoined the battle group and launched a group attack outside the talisman array.
In an instant.
The quasi-fourth-level green-armored puppet was surrounded by heavy siege, and his face was gloomy and ugly.
Even though his strength crushed the Jindan Daxiu, under the siege of many third-level beings, the green-armored man was in a mess, and groups of spiritual light and explosions burst out all over his body, continuously.
Puff!
A dark green turtle appeared at Lu Changan's feet, opened its mouth and swallowed, and groups of deep and heavy water balls hit the green-armored puppet.
"Xuanming heavy water?"
The six-foot body of the green-armored puppet was hit by the water ball, and it trembled slightly, and the surface made a hissing sound, and was slowly eroded by the dark air.
Fortunately, this turtle was only at the peak of the early third-level cultivation. If it was in the late third-level, it would bring him a considerable threat.
"A trapped beast's fight! How long can it last?"
Lu Changan slowly spread out his palms and sacrificed a braided rope magic weapon, which emitted a spiritual fluctuation that reached the level of a top-grade magic weapon.
It was the binding magic weapon obtained from Lihuo Shangren, and it was used for the first time in a hundred years.
Zizi hum!
Under the power of the Immortal Golden Pill, the rope magic weapon thundered and flashed with great momentum, turning into a dazzling lightning snake whip, wrapping around the body of the green-armored puppet.
The green-armored man smelled the breath of danger and tried to dodge.
But trapped in the talisman array, facing a group fight and beating, the space for maneuvering was very limited.
The lightning snake flashing with arcs was extremely agile, avoiding the blocking of the puppet arm and accurately wrapping around the neck of the six-foot puppet body.
The green-armored man trembled violently, as if struck by lightning!
Circles of electric patterns surrounded his body, and bursts of scorched smoke rose from the surface of his body, accompanied by the sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling.
The power of thunder and lightning has a strong restraint on the power of ghosts.
"Immortal Golden Pill Master! Top-grade thunder magic weapon..."
The green-armored man roared in fear, and the shaking quasi-fourth-level puppet body finally couldn't bear it.
Bang!
With a loud bang, the six-foot puppet body half-knelt on the ground, and the ghost energy lingering around it mostly dissipated.
"The mana of the Immortal Jindan Great Cultivator is indeed different. It is no longer so strenuous to control the top-grade magic weapon!"
Lu Changan felt happy, and he squandered his powerful mana and consciousness.
At this moment, he seemed to be holding the whip of Thunder God, and he tightly bound the quasi-fourth-level puppet.
Normally, the top-grade magic weapon belongs to the Nascent Soul level, and is used more in the early Nascent Soul stage.
However, the late Jindan Great Cultivator can barely use it across levels and exert part of the power of the top-grade magic weapon.
The disadvantage is that the consumption of mana and consciousness is huge.
Only as a life magic weapon, the consumption is less.
Therefore, Lu Changan didn't like to use other top-grade magic weapons before, or didn't want to be in a state of mana emptiness.
After being promoted to the late Jindan stage, Lu Changan's mana, especially consciousness, far exceeded that of Fang Zhen in those days.
He controlled the top-grade magic weapon, and crushed Fang Zhen's Flame Mountain in terms of flexibility and power.
...
"The quasi-fourth-level puppet is nothing more than that!"
Lu Changan, who was in control of the situation, breathed a sigh of relief.
"What's the point of using numbers to bully the few? You are an Immortal Golden Core, do you dare to fight me head-on?"
The man in green armor was shocked and angry, half-knelt on the ground, and supported himself with the strong material of the puppet.
After being baptized by the power of thunder and lightning, the man in green armor regained some calmness.
He insisted, waiting for the power of the talisman array to be exhausted, and the support of Xuanji Building to arrive, and then they could break the situation with the help of the inside and outside.
"Your Excellency is too obsessed, fighting in a group is also a skill."
Lu Changan said slowly.
If it was a one-on-one fight.
Excluding the advent of the fourth life and the nail-headed arrow, he was definitely not the opponent of the quasi-fourth-level puppet.
Lu Changan considered using the nail-headed arrow to quickly resolve the battle.
The puppet spirit of this puppet was transformed from a fierce ghost at the peak of the Jindan stage, and its spiritual power exceeded the scope of the Jindan stage.
Or as a puppeteer in his lifetime, his spiritual consciousness was extremely powerful.
Below the level of Yuanying Zhenjun, this is the strongest person Lu Changan has ever seen in this life, better than the Peacock Saint.
However, the nail-headed arrow has been nurtured for so many years, even without the fourth life, one strike is enough to seriously injure the ghost consciousness.
But for some reason, Lu Changan did not use the nail-headed arrow.
The nurtured and enhanced nail-headed arrow can only hit three times.
On the side of the Weidao League, he will face mysterious and unknown foreign monks.
The green-armored man was affected by negative emotions and was deeply out of touch, so Lu Changan adopted a group fight tactic to take him down.
In this way, not only can a killer be saved.
There is another advantage: if he can be captured alive, it is expected to obtain more core puppet knowledge.
From the conversation between the green-armored man and the ancient city lord, it is speculated that the former's puppet skills in his lifetime are likely to be higher.
"Your Excellency does not need to scream like a ghost, those little tricks are useless. The fighting here cannot be sensed by the outside world."
Lu Changan said with a smile.
Hearing this, the green-armored man was startled, and his spiritual sense carefully explored the surrounding desert area.
Calming down, he vaguely caught a fourth-order illusion array that covered several miles.
Because the illusion array simulates the real desert environment and fits perfectly with the surroundings, if the Yuanying is not careful, it may be overlooked.
Not only the fighting here is not sensed by the outside world.
Including his use of secret techniques and asking for help from the ancient city lord, they were also isolated.
For this group fight, Lu Changan had laid a good environment in advance, without being disturbed by the outside world, and not worried about exposing his means.
"This deal... from beginning to end, you are calculating?"
The green-armored puppet was shocked and felt very aggrieved.
"Calculate?"
"You overestimate yourself. This real person is sincere in the transaction, but you insist on falling into the trap."
Hearing Lu Changan's answer, the green-armored man's consciousness went dark and he almost died of anger.
Puff!
The whole body of the green-armored puppet fell to the ground, the surface of the body was dim and pitted, and the puppet power and ghost energy were completely dissipated.
The puppet crystals in the quasi-fourth-level puppet were almost consumed, and finally lost their resistance under the group fight.
The talisman array on the spot dimmed and collapsed almost at the same time.
Lu Changan controlled the rope magic weapon to tie up the green-armored puppet, and then affixed several sealing talismans.
He carefully checked and found that the ghost consciousness of the green-armored puppet was very weak, eroded by the power of the ghost, and fell into a self-protective state of sleeping and sealing.
Lu Changan also planted a ban on the puppet spirit that merged with the ghost consciousness, and finally sealed it and put it into the storage ring.
…
In the fourth-level illusion array, Lu Changan checked the damage.
The rock rat was slightly injured and entangled by the ghost energy, but it was not a big problem.
It can be cured by using the power of thunder and lightning and the evergreen magic power.
This battle has increased the actual combat experience of the rock rat and the black water turtle.
The assassin puppet in the late third level was seriously damaged and needed to add materials to repair it afterwards.
Compared to a quasi-fourth-level puppet, this amount of damage can be ignored.
After cleaning up the battlefield.
Lu Changan confirmed that there was no abnormality except for the fourth-level illusion array.
The green-armored man pursued alone, and the distance was too far. The fight was isolated by the fourth-level illusion array, and it was difficult for Xuanji Tower to track the specific location.
Seeing this, Lu Changan put away the fourth-level illusion array he had arranged.
This movable temporary array is not as powerful as the same-level Zhenzong array, and the range difference is very large.
It mainly relies on burning spirit stones, and a battle consumes at least tens of thousands of spirit stones.
On the way to evacuate.
Lu Changan disguised himself as a traveling merchant Taoist and disappeared from the surrounding area.
Even if he was not careful, the traces were detected by the spies of other forces, and at most they would be associated with the Qinglong Society.
Except in the fourth-level illusion array, Lu Changan himself has never appeared in public.
Two days later.
Lu Changan took a detour back to Xuanyin Pavilion.
There was a figure simulated by the illusion array talisman in the cave. In the eyes of the Xuanyin Pavilion monks, Mr. Xu had not left recently.
Just then.
Lu Changan sensed the direction of Gutian Immortal City, and the power of his previous life's soul in the second-level puppet naturally dissipated.
"You run fast!"
The monitoring feedback of the second-level puppet: After Lu Changan took down the quasi-fourth-level puppet, the ancient city lord who was tracking suddenly felt it and returned to Gutian Immortal City without hesitation.
This ancient city lord may have participated in the creation of the quasi-fourth-level puppet, which is equivalent to half of the owner.
After the green-armored man fell asleep, he completely lost contact. The ancient city lord noticed it and knew that it was more dangerous than good.
"The Qinglong Society is mysterious and unpredictable. It's just the tip of the iceberg. Don't act rashly.
"Alas, the owner of the building is eroded by the power of the ghost way and can't listen to advice... Fortunately, this city lord ran fast. "
The ancient city lord returned to the bunker in the immortal city, and he was still scared.
He immediately ordered that the Immortal City Formation be fully activated, with the highest alert, and the information about the loss of the Xuanji Tower's most powerful trump card, the quasi-fourth-level puppet, be concealed from the outside world.
…
Lu Changan thought for a long time and decided to let the ancient city lord go.
Due to various considerations:
First, it is impossible for him to destroy the entire Gutian Immortal City. If he goes against the powerful forces of the Outer Sect Alliance and attracts support from behind, the old monster Yuanying will fall into the trap of the Heavenly Master.
In Feng Yuan's country, Lu Changan must keep one guard up against the Heavenly Master.
Secondly, Qinglong will take responsibility for this matter and remove Lu Changan so that Xuanyin Pavilion, Yun Ling and others will not be implicated afterwards.
The ancient city lord's fear and unfathomable impression of the Qinglong Society would be beneficial.
Even if the old monster Nascent Soul who supports him is informed later, he still has to think about it.
Thirdly, there is no conflict of interest between the strongest trump card in destroying the Xuanji Tower and the old monster Yuanying who supports him. On the contrary, it will make Xuanji Tower rely more on Nascent Soul behind the scenes.
The ancient city lord, who lost his trump card, tried his best to hide the news, and will hibernate even more low-key in the future.
Even if Lu Changan wanted to kill him by force, it would be troublesome, and he would have to worry about the Heavenly Master and the Nascent Soul Old Ghost behind the Outer Sect Alliance.
…
Half a month later.
Lu Changan conducted a comprehensive study on the captured quasi-fourth-level puppets.
The material and refining techniques of this puppet astonished Lu Changan and made him feel inferior.
Many parts of the puppet are made of Nascent Soul level materials.
In terms of material alone, it is only 20 to 30% worse than a real Nascent Soul-level puppet.
In addition, the level of the puppet spirit has not been cultivated to the fourth level.
If the fourth generation can be merged to replace the puppet spirit, its combat effectiveness will be at least comparable to that of a fourth-level beast king, and it will be more flexible.
"The main frame of the puppet is made with a fourth-level refining technique! The rest of the parts are also made with a technique that exceeds the third-order top quality."
One of the discoveries made Lu Changan somewhat interested in the ghost consciousness sleeping in the puppet.
Is it possible that the ghost consciousness was a fourth-level puppet master during his lifetime? No wonder that as a ghost spirit transformed from the peak of pill formation, its spiritual consciousness is so powerful.
Since the ghost consciousness dominates the puppet spirit, Lu Changan cannot refine or control it until it wakes up.
A puppet at this level needs to refine its core.
"If the puppet spirit is forcibly erased, the central system of the puppet will be destroyed. The two are highly integrated and difficult to separate."
Lu Changan is not sure about the core of repairing the fourth-order puppet.
In order to protect the integrity of the puppet as much as possible, Lu Changan planned to wait for the ghost to wake up, communicate with it, and even search for its soul.
The ghost consciousness is in a self-sealed deep sleep state. Lu Changan cannot forcefully search for the soul, otherwise it will collapse.
Lu Changan put the soul-nurturing bracelet and soul-nurturing ring on the puppet to help it speed up its recovery.
He speculated that the consciousness of ghosts should be awakened within a few years.
By then, he had returned to the Wei Dao League. The distance was far away, and he was not worried about Xuanji Tower's back-up plan.
…
More than half a year later.
Lu Changan was at the beginning and end of Feng Yuan Kingdom. He was almost done and ready to set off.
Before leaving, he met Fairy Niyue and explained many things.
Among them were the superior elixir-forming spiritual objects left for Yun Ling.
Fairy Niyue had already had a premonition about Lu Changan's departure and did not force him to stay.
Before departure, Fairy Niyue bid farewell to each other hand in hand, reluctant to leave.
The two spent three days and three nights in the desert wilderness.
At the moment of deep love, the unparalleled beauty of Feng Yuan Kingdom, whose beautiful body was once covered by yellow sand, looked like a fairy falling into mud, showing an unprecedented wild beauty.
Lu Changan's spiritual pursuit goes beyond simple physical desires. In the last farewell, he and Fairy Niyue reached the state of unity of spirit and body.
Lu Changan had a premonition that we would see each other again for who knows how many years, so he indulged himself as much as he could.
If the guy from Daqing Middle Territory came to kill him, Lu Changan would have to run away, very far away.
We cannot rule out the possibility that this is the last one.
"Lu Lang, when will we see you next time?"
Fairy Niyue put on a plain skirt, her cheeks were still lingering, her tone was faint, and she still felt pity for me.
From Lu Changan's reaction, she had an intuition that this separation was unusual.
This is the first man in her life, and she has devoted herself to the "Thousand Years of Dreams" once in her life.
Although, the gold content of true love is open to debate and cannot withstand scrutiny.
But having been together for such a long time, sharing hardships and seeing rainbows through storms, it is inevitable that our love will last for a long time.
"Hard to say."
Lu Changan shook his head. After the late stage of Jin Dan, he had only one goal, and that was to plot against Yuanying.
Being a casual cultivator with no background and plotting against the Nascent Soul is inherently dangerous.
What's more, there are potentially unknown powerful enemies.
"I hope Lu Lang will be promoted to True Lord Nascent Soul one day, remember my concubine, and be willing to come to Xuanyin Pavilion."
Fairy Niyue sent Lu Changan to the border of the outer sect alliance with tenderness and made her last wishes and blessings.
"By the pavilion master's auspicious words, if it is lucky enough to come true, Lu will remember Xiao Niyue for seventy years in Xuanyin Pavilion."
Lu Changan bowed his hands and agreed.
Fairy Niyue stared at him, silently, and bowed in return.
In the wind and sand, the two of them parted respectfully, just like ordinary Taoist friends when they first met.
…
Lu Changan took up the escape light and flew away from the foreign sect alliance.
In fact, the greatest gift that Fairy Niyue gave him was the kiss from the divine dream that year, which promoted his understanding of the Dao and his state of mind.
A few days later, Lu Changan arrived at the border of Feng Yuan Kingdom.
Because he was worried about the Heavenly Master, he deliberately took a peripheral route and did not pass through the hinterland of Feng Yuan Kingdom.
It looked like the last oasis on the border of Fengyuan Country was about to disappear from sight.
Lu Changan's escape light suddenly condensed.
Whoosh!
In the desert not far away, a strong wind suddenly rose.
Surrounded by ice, snow and sand, it condensed into a statue of a Taoist priest standing with his hands behind his back, wearing a snow-white robe.
The Taoist priest's face was angular and his back was majestic, as if he was integrated with the entire desert, containing the endless power of nature.
"Senior Tianshi."
Lu Changan's heart trembled and he bowed.
"Why didn't you let me know when you left Fengyuan Country, young friend Lu? So that I could come to see you off."
The robes of the Tianshi statue were snow-white, spotlessly clean, and his voice was empty and indifferent.
Whoosh!
With the two of them as the center, the dust in the sky spun into a tornado, isolating the outside world from listening.
No one knew what Lu Changan talked about with the Tianshi.
After a long time.
The statue of the Tianshi collapsed and turned into dust, and the dust storm tornado stopped.
Lu Changan had a blank expression on his face, and he stepped on the light of escape, completely leaving the sphere of influence of Fengyuan State.
Half a month later.
Crossing the distant Feisha Natural Chasm, Lu Changan entered the border of Liang State.
After nearly a hundred years, he officially returned to the Weidao League as Changqing Zhenren.