Cultivation Starts with Rejuvenation

Witnessing this series of changes, Li Ji’an subconsciously stepped back two steps.

At the moment the mask was lifted, an aura unlike the magical power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator emanated from the figure.

Moreover, this aura was the strongest Li Ji’an had ever encountered.

At least equivalent to the pressure of a Core Formation middle stage cultivator.

"Fellow Daoist, this is..." Facing the gratitude, Li Ji’an tentatively spoke.

"Fellow Daoist, fear not, Xiaoying is not human."

"..."

"Xiaoying is a puppet crafted by the master!"

"A puppet!" Li Ji’an slightly narrowed his eyes, surprisingly matching his initial guess. However, he had consulted many puppet masters years ago, ultimately dismissing this possibility.

"Long ago, the master crafted Xiaoying, bestowing not only flesh and blood but also spiritual sense. Unfortunately, during turmoil, Xiaoying failed to protect the master, leading to being sealed by a powerful being and separated from the master.

After an unknown amount of time, when Xiaoying awakened, it sensed that the master’s life had ceased.

Xiaoying’s spiritual sense originated from the master. Once the master’s life ceased, it should have vanished.

Yet, a sliver of obsession arose, driving Xiaoying to find the master and sleep alongside the master.

Throughout the long years, it was this sliver of obsession at play.

Upon encountering the master’s remains and sensing that familiar aura, the original memories were finally awakened, allowing Xiaoying to finally join the master..." As he spoke, Xiaoying’s body began to slowly collapse.

Locks of hair fell, flesh and skin parted, and in an instant, nothing remained but a humanoid form built of various materials.

After the flesh and hair peeled away, they instantly turned to flying ash.

"Fellow Daoist, wait. Do you remember the cultivation technique from before?" As the puppet’s frame began to dissolve, Li Ji’an hurriedly inquired about the primary purpose of this trip.

"Xiaoying can’t recall, but fellow Daoist can put on the faceless mask, a Dao artifact the master sought for Xiaoying, which may contain some memories from these years..." With those words, the last fragment of the body turned to flying ash, scattering over the humanoid bones.

Li Ji’an’s divine sense focused to the extreme, sensing a faint divine soul completely dissipating, leaving only his own presence in the room.

"A sliver of obsession sustained it through thousands of years, solely to find the master..." This scene slightly moved Li Ji’an.

"In this way, it’s more reliable than a spirit beast!"

"I just don’t know how this puppet spirit attachment technique works?"

After settling in the Immortal City in this world, he had considered crafting puppets for guarding the path.

A self-crafted puppet, given commands by oneself, is more reliable than anything else.

However, after understanding the puppet path in this world, he eventually abandoned the idea.

Because the puppetry in this realm involves lifeless entities without self-awareness, needing the master’s divine soul to control and spirit stones for energy supply. Once he undergoes rejuvenation, his early spiritual sense would be insufficient to control a tier one late-period puppet, which is somewhat difficult for guarding the path.

Furthermore, in the many ranked cultivation arts, the puppetry skill is considered among the most challenging.

One not only needs the basic skills of artifact refining but also requires engraving runes, arranging array frames, ultimately guided by a divine soul.

A seasoned puppet master must have a foundation in artifact refining, talisman crafting, and arrays, and their divine sense must be strong enough.

Moreover, puppets consume a large amount of materials, requiring a vast financial underpinning.

Yet after witnessing this ancient puppet with spiritual sense, Li Ji’an’s interest in studying the puppet path rekindled.

After waiting for a while and seeing no anomalies inside, Li Ji’an waved his hand to retrieve the faceless mask that Xiaoying had shed in the stone chamber.

The mask was as thin as a cicada’s wings, with no aura emanating from it, and without the essence blood flowing on it, it would be easily overlooked.

When placed on his face, there was almost no sensation.

Yet at this moment, his divine sense could already enter it.

Inside there were three grooves, the first containing a drop of essence blood and a thread of soul power, while the latter two were vacant.

"This aura... Red Stone Wanderer?" With a slight sensing, Li Ji’an found the aura of that essence blood very familiar.

Immediately, with a move of divine sense, the thread of essence blood was activated.

"Buzz~"

In the next moment, Li Ji’an felt a slight tremor passing through his entire body along with the sea of consciousness, fleeting like a flash.

"Hmm?" Initially, he hadn’t noticed anything odd, yet in the corner of his eye, he was suddenly drawn to the tattered Daoist robe he was wearing.

He immediately looked at himself.

"This..." Upon seeing it, his eyebrows shot up instantly.

Reaching out, he gently caressed the face that had turned into Red Stone Wanderer’s, taking a deep breath.

At this moment, not only was the appearance identical, but even the aura of magical power was entirely the same.

Moreover, with his divine sense surpassing that of ordinary Fake Pill cultivators, there was no flaw to be found.

The most crucial part was that an independent cluster of memory suddenly appeared within his sea of consciousness.

Li Ji’an immediately calmed his mind, letting his divine sense invade that cluster of memories.

"Are these fragments of Red Stone Wanderer’s memories?" A quick glance left Li Ji’an internally shocked.

These memory fragments belonged entirely to Red Stone Wanderer, containing not only crucial turning points before entering the Desert but also the memories after his demise when his essence blood and divine soul were absorbed by the faceless mask.

It turned out Red Stone Wanderer’s real name was Zhao Xin, a member of a Fake Pill Clan from Dao Source State. Three thousand years ago during the righteous and demonic war in Celestial Origin Province, he fled to the Desert to avoid being conscripted by the Ten Thousand Laws Palace.

At the time, the Desert had not been extensively developed, filled with lurking dangers and many desperados.

Red Stone Wanderer accidentally discovered Xiaoying, a puppet sealed by an ancient cultivator, mistakenly believing it to be a human cultivator, attempted foul play, and inadvertently damaged the seal, corroded by time. Once Xiaoying awoke, it instinctively slew him, and the faceless mask devoured his essence blood and divine soul.