Chapter 262: Puppet

On Shengshan, it was as quiet as before.

Jiang Jian landed, and besides the howling wind, not a single soul was in sight.

“The world gate shows no signs of damage.”

“The academy teachers and past students should not have left.”

He lifted his head, gazing above the lunar stone carving.

There it was.

A vast vortex obscured sky and earth, rotating slowly.

At every moment.

It churned the unimaginable, boundless spiritual energy at the very edge of the heavens.

Previously, the Moon Realm had been in turmoil.

The planetary barrier had been compressed.

As a result, all world gates within the Nine Layers of Chang’an Prefecture had closed.

They have not reopened since.

“The pavilion Shen Xi mentioned should be here.”

Jiang Jian took a step forward, and his form dissolved.

The next instant.

Amid interwoven black light, he appeared before the pavilion door, clad in a snow-white robe.

What surprised Jiang Jian was.

The pavilion’s door was wide open.

Looking inside.

The pavilion was spacious, filled with numerous cabinets, each numbered, and showing no protection at all.

Clearly.

What was stored inside was not just his own identity device, but also other students’ belongings.

Jiang Jian fell silent for a moment, then walked toward the pavilion.

Suddenly.

A shrill, grating screech echoed.

A puppet stepped out the door, its eyes glowing with eerie light, blocking Jiang Jian’s path.

“The gatekeeper’s order.”

“Academy students must reach the Divine Palace realm to retrieve their identity devices.”

Its voice was hoarse, laced with harsh, grating friction.

Jiang Jian frowned, halted his steps, and did not argue with it.

He realized.

This puppet was a Divine Palace realm spirit.

It was ordered to guard here, and would only carry out its command—no negotiation possible.

“Where is the gatekeeper?”

Jiang Jian paused, then asked.

The puppet swayed its body and shook its head. “I don’t know.”

Jiang Jian fell silent again, then rephrased his question: “When did the people on Shengshan leave?”

This time.

The puppet did not answer immediately; instead, it stepped forward on creaking limbs, stopping before Jiang Jian.

It stared intently at him, its eerie light flickering, and asked: “All students of the Lunar-Moon Academy have gone to the Great Zhou Dynasty. How are you still here?”

Around the puppet, spiritual aura surged, its tone turning cold.

Clearly.

It had grown suspicious of Jiang Jian.

Jiang Jian remained calm, dispersing the spiritual aura around him, and said: “As guardian of this pavilion, your records should include my bone pattern.”

His spiritual essence, now fully restored, shimmered into a faint glow encircling his body.

Concealing his true bone structure, rendering it indistinct to the eye.

Ordinary Divine Palace cultivators, without special techniques, could not pierce his spiritual veil.

As Jiang Jian revealed his true appearance.

The puppet froze, its tone clearly startled: “It’s you!”

Its expression shifted, and it pulled out a brocade scroll, handing it to Jiang Jian.

“The gatekeeper specifically instructed: if Jiang Jian comes, give him this.”

As it spoke,

the puppet’s eyes narrowed in confusion: “Yet in my perception, your spiritual essence is only at the Gushing Spring realm.”

“Your cultivation shouldn’t be below the Divine Palace realm.”

The next instant.

Jiang Jian took the scroll without explanation and said: “Please hand me my identity device as well.”

The puppet frowned tightly. “But the gatekeeper said students must reach the Divine Palace realm to claim their identity devices.”

Jiang Jian smiled. “According to your own words, the gatekeeper also said: if I come, give me both the scroll and the identity device.”

Hearing this,

the puppet stood still, its expression bewildered. “The gatekeeper did say that.”

It racked its mind, yet could not comprehend how the omniscient gatekeeper could issue completely contradictory orders.

After all,

if an academy student emerged from the Breaking Realm Hall,

it meant they had shattered the Divine Illumination barrier and become a Divine Palace cultivator.

If they failed to break through, the Starry Cosmos’ backlash would kill them instantly.

Yet Jiang Jian here had utterly shattered established norms.

Though he had not broken through,

he had forcibly resisted the backlash through various means and survived.

For hundreds of years,

Jiang Jian was the first student of the Lunar-Moon Academy to leave the Breaking Realm Hall without reaching the Divine Palace realm.

“I’m taking the identity device to carry out the gatekeeper’s assignment.”

Jiang Jian said gravely, “If I cannot retrieve it and the mission is delayed, can you bear the blame?”

The puppet hesitated, weighed its options, and fell silent.

It turned and entered the pavilion, rummaging briefly.

A few seconds later.

The puppet emerged holding a transparent wristwatch.

“Linjiang Prefecture, Jiang Jian.”

It extended its hand, offering the watch. “Your identity device.”

In the puppet’s mind,

the rule that one must reach the Divine Palace realm to claim an identity device

was something the gatekeeper had said long ago.

But giving both the scroll and the identity device to “Jiang Jian” was a specific, urgent instruction from the gatekeeper.

Though as a tool spirit, the puppet’s intelligence had been heavily suppressed by the array, making it somewhat mechanical.

Still, its basic judgment could tell it:

the gatekeeper’s special, direct instructions carried greater weight.

“Thank you.”

Jiang Jian took the watch and fastened it to his wrist.

Click!

As Earth’s top-tier technology, the identity device glowed faintly.

Instantly, it confirmed Jiang Jian’s identity.

A clicking sound echoed.

In an instant, the device fused seamlessly with his wrist!

Jiang Jian lowered his gaze, staring at the device, his expression grave.

He walked beneath the lunar stone carving, extending his pale, slender fingers to tap the device repeatedly.

A holographic screen materialized.

A rapid succession of alerts blared!

Thousands of messages lined up in sequence.

And at the very top, the most recent message:

Sent just minutes ago!

The signatory was none other than his sister Jiang Zhao!

(End of chapter)