Mortals cultivate immortality, and their IQ is playing with their heartbeats

Li Chengfeng knew this well and explained to Zhan Wusi, "The main purpose of my trip is to purchase spiritual herbs.

At the same time, my alchemy furnace is damaged, and the sect's furnaces don't meet my requirements, so I plan to refine one myself that suits my aura.

With this furnace, I can better refine pills, earn more spirit stones, and thus enter the inner sect. This is my plan."

Zhan Wusi nodded. Inner sect disciples are usually Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, but there are also some alchemists, talisman makers, and other special talents who are exceptionally promoted.

These special talents receive even more generous treatment. The steward thought Li Chengfeng's plan made sense, so he agreed to his request and told him to return quickly.

Li Chengfeng returned to his residence but didn't rush to leave. Instead, he went to find Ruan Fei first.

Ruan Fei had already recovered his health. Seeing that Li Chengfeng hadn't come to make trouble, he breathed a sigh of relief.

This time, Li Chengfeng found Ruan Fei and asked him to closely monitor the Blood Pool, because Xue Tian hadn't returned for some time, and Li Chengfeng was worried that he might have had some fortuitous encounter.

However, as long as Xue Tian didn't know that he was involved in the deaths of Xue Wenlong, Li Chengfeng could rest easy.

Half a year passed, and Li Chengfeng earned several hundred high-grade spirit stones through alchemy. Adding what he had left over from before, it was enough for him to arm himself again.

If he could get the Hell Blood Spirit Jade, he believed he could definitely use it to break through to the twelfth level of Qi Refining.

That way, even if he couldn't defeat Lou Lan, it would be difficult for the other party to kill him easily.

Li Chengfeng decided to mail a valuable item to the Puppet Sect, hoping to divert the trouble there.

He set the mailing address to a location near the Puppet Sect. Although he had no grievances with the Puppet Sect, it was close by.

The demonic sects are all about dog-eat-dog; there's nothing good to be found.

Moreover, he discovered a valley called "Corpse Refining Valley" on the map, which was very suitable for his cultivation.

This valley was where the Puppet Sect disposed of discarded puppets and miscellaneous waste qi. It was filled with poisonous gas, marsh gas, and foul air, so ordinary people wouldn't go there.

But Li Chengfeng, because he cultivated the "Flourishing Decay Sky-Reaching Art," was very satisfied with such an environment. He could absorb the power within.

So, Li Chengfeng prepared himself. He wasn't afraid of the poison because the "Flourishing Decay Sky-Reaching Art" could absorb and utilize these poisonous and deathly energies.

He planned to disguise himself as a Puppet Sect disciple and go to Corpse Refining Valley to cultivate, while also diverting the trouble to the Puppet Sect.

The Puppet Sect's methods were superb, and its sect master was even more adept at managing the sect.

The materials required for refining puppets were numerous. Anyone who understood the art of puppetry knew the core secret of the Puppet Tree—the Art of Refining the Spirit, which was the Puppet Sect's unique and unparalleled method.

The puppets refined in the Puppet Sect were even more terrifying. They would seize the souls of cultivators or demons, but only if those souls possessed intelligence.

Then, they would use various rare materials to refine puppets of different shapes. The depth of their techniques was astonishing.

Among the five great demonic sects, the Puppet Sect's strength was considered outstanding, even surpassing the Blood Demon Sect.

Its disciples could simply wave their hands to command dozens of puppets to assist in battle, while they themselves could hide behind the scenes and control the overall situation.

Li Chengfeng greatly admired the Puppet Sect's techniques. He had subtly inquired about puppet refining methods in the Treasure Pavilion, but the Treasure Pavilion couldn't provide effective assistance.

Although there were some ancient puppet refining techniques, they had lost their practical value compared to modern methods.

Li Chengfeng was obsessed with the study of puppetry. He dreamed of one day being able to summon dozens of puppets with a wave of his hand to shield him from disasters.

After two years of unremitting effort, he had successfully refined more than thirty Substitute Death Puppets, which was already an astonishing achievement.

However, the strength of these Substitute Death Puppets, besides substituting for death, was only one-tenth of the original body's strength, seemingly better than nothing.

But Li Chengfeng was different. His own strength far exceeded cultivators of the same realm by ten times, so his Substitute Death Puppets also possessed considerable power.

When Li Chengfeng arrived at the Puppet Sect, he unhesitatingly released his Substitute Death Puppets and controlled them with divine stones.

Now, Li Chengfeng's divine sense had reached a terrifying range of ten miles, just like a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He could control these puppets from ten miles away.

To hide his identity, he suppressed his realm to the seventh level of Qi Refining and carefully disguised himself, making himself and the puppets look like rogue demonic cultivators.

His Substitute Death Puppets were lifelike, almost identical to his original body, possessing one-tenth of his original strength.

Li Chengfeng then controlled it to go directly to the Treasure Pavilion, preparing to take the Hell Blood Spirit Jade mailed by the Blood Clan. Over the years, he had collected all the treasures needed for the twelfth level of Qi Refining, and the reason for choosing the Corpse Refining Valley of the Puppet Sect was to use the deathly energy, resentment, and foul air to break through the shackles of cultivation in one fell swoop.

Although the puppet had transformed into another person, with a completely different appearance from Li Chengfeng, when he stepped into the Treasure Pavilion.

A service female cultivator, with a flowery smile, immediately came forward and respectfully saluted, "What does Senior need?"

The Substitute Death Puppet smiled and replied, "I'm here to retrieve an item."

As he spoke, he handed over the password note.

The female cultivator glanced at it, nodded, and explained, "Retrieving an item requires paying one medium-grade spirit stone. This is the rule."

Although the sender had paid the postage, the recipient still needed to pay a fee. This not only avoided accidental retrieval but also ensured the privacy of the transaction.

The Substitute Death Puppet unhesitatingly took out a spirit stone and handed it to the female cultivator. The female cultivator didn't dare to neglect and immediately led him to retrieve the item. Li Chengfeng's puppet seemed unusually nervous, fearing an accident. But even if an accident occurred, the sacrifice of this puppet wouldn't cause Li Chengfeng too much harm.

The Blood Clan princess witnessed this scene and felt indignant, coldly saying, "Li Chengfeng, you're being too cautious. No one knows about this, so why are you doing this?"

Li Chengfeng laughed and responded, "Blood Clan princess, you don't need to pretend. I know you hate me to the bone. If you have the chance, you definitely won't let me go.

But if you don't cooperate with me, I won't be able to get the Hell Blood Spirit Jade. Then, in my anger, your soul will be hard to protect."

The Blood Clan princess gritted her silver teeth but gradually calmed her emotions, knowing that she needed to bide her time and wait for the day of revenge.

Li Chengfeng remained unmoved and acted according to plan. The female cultivator quickly took out a storage bag. The Substitute Death Puppet used his divine sense to investigate and confirmed that it contained the Hell Blood Spirit Jade, genuine and authentic.

He nodded in satisfaction, rewarded the female cultivator with a low-grade spirit stone, and left. The transaction process was extremely smooth.

And on a mountain peak thousands of miles away, a beautiful woman with murderous intent was gazing into the distance.

Liang Lianmeng knew that there was Shangyun Trading Fair nearby, which was large in scale and not far from her location.

She speculated that since the other party was a Nascent Soul stage expert, choosing to trade between these five great demonic sects must have a deeper meaning.

Perhaps it was to divert attention. She wasn't a fool, but that mysterious aura was always within her investigation, making her feel uneasy.

Before the treasure was taken out, the aura couldn't be leaked, so she could only wait.

As an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, she had enough patience, but the chilling murderous intent in her eyes couldn't be ignored.