Chapter 294: The Path of Cultivation Is Severed

In the living room on the first floor of No. 66 Wutong Road, four Ailins sat neatly in a row on the coffee table, with Ailin Promax 66.6cm sitting closest to the edge of the table, staring wide-eyed at Yu Sheng and Xuan Che on the sofa opposite.

Beside them, Hu Lizheng was leisurely grooming her tail, looking like she was just enjoying the show.

"Let me confirm first," Xuan Che finally spoke after a long silence, raising a finger to point at the small dolls on the coffee table, "You just said that these Miss... are dolls from 'Alice's Cottage'?"

"Yes," Yu Sheng nodded, "There are complex reasons why she turned out this way... the bodies you see now are all 'temporary vessels' I made for her; who knows where her original body ended up."

"Oh, oh," Xuan Che immediately looked enlightened upon hearing this, nodding repeatedly, "I initially thought she had been smashed into pieces, and something went wrong while reshaping her shell, forcing her to become four parts..."

Yu Sheng and Ailin froze on the spot, and even the fox grooming nearby perked up its ears with a start; the three of them, six eyes, suddenly stared at the handsome young man on the sofa. The next second, Ailin Promax leaped into the air, cursing like a bird in a flower garden: "You f***ing smashed into four parts..."

Yu Sheng immediately pressed the small doll back down, turning to explain to Xuan Che: "Don't mind, don't mind, she's a bit violent... let go! Let go! Don't bite!"

"My apologies, my apologies," Xuan Che also realized his mistake and quickly clasped his hands to apologize, "I was just curious for a long time why these Misses' figures are so... petite. After all, I have seen Alice dolls in my early years, and they were not like this. I pondered and came up with this reason... I was too abrupt, too abrupt."

"Don't be so polite with her; she takes advantage of kindness," Yu Sheng said helplessly to the overly polite young talent beside him while still holding down the still-flailing Ailin Promax, "Let's get to the main point first—due to certain reasons, one of Ailin's bodies now requires 'spiritual energy' to move, but under normal circumstances, her 'charging' speed is problematic. I was thinking, does your Thousand Peaks Lingshan have any solutions in this regard?"

Xuan Che listened seriously but couldn't help frowning slightly: "But living dolls are a race blessed by the Ancient Saint Spirits; the techniques they use differ vastly from the 'cultivation' path of the Grand Void Spirit Pivot. Mixing them rashly might cause problems, right? In the end... how did this Miss Ailin's body come to require 'spiritual energy'?"

"This has to do with the nine-tailed fox before your eyes," Yu Sheng said somewhat awkwardly, pointing to the fox lady grooming her second tail, "Of course, it also involves a bit of my personal research spirit..."

He then briefly explained the situation of Ailin Promax to Xuan Che and mentioned the matter of "Spirit Fox Black Iron."

Throughout the process, Xuan Che basically maintained an expression of "What are you saying? What are you saying now? What did you just say?!" By the end, the look on his face truly lived up to his name—highlighting a certain clarity.

This eldest disciple of Thousand Peaks Lingshan, considered a young talent across the entire Grand Void Spirit Pivot, had cultivated for a hundred years and never heard of anyone behaving so recklessly!

Metal from another world with unknown principles, unknown properties, and untested parameters; ancient alchemy transmitted from who knows where; rocks and soil found in foreign lands; mixed with the blood of a "high person" before our eyes, who may or may not even be considered a living being; kneaded and shaped into a human form, and they dare to mold a golden body and guide a soul into it!?

Yet these few great wis... great wisdom holders actually succeeded! And looking at the row of dolls on the coffee table, they managed to succeed in their reckless antics at least four times using various methods!

Xuan Che was momentarily stunned. If one could truly refine a physical body this way, then what were the scoldings he received for misremembering the pill formulas over the past hundred years, the kneeling punishments for getting the timing wrong, and the beatings for missing the pill fire? What did those amount to?!

However, despite his inner sighs, he quickly sobered up. After Yu Sheng finished speaking, he thought carefully for a moment before cautiously opening his mouth: "May I first see the 'Spirit Fox Black Iron' you mentioned? That way I can judge whether this object conflicts with the cultivation methods of our Grand Void Spirit Pivot."

"No problem," Yu Sheng immediately patted a fox tail by his leg, "Take out a small piece for him to see."

"Sure!" Hu Lizheng nodded happily, dug into her own tail, and pulled out a small lump of iron left over after pouring the skeleton for Ailin, placing it on the coffee table. "This is it."

When Xuan Che saw Hu Lizheng pull something out of her own tail, he was clearly startled for a moment, but in an instant, his gaze was drawn to the unremarkable-looking lump of iron on the coffee table.

"This object..." He stared with wide eyes, hesitated for a moment before reaching out to pick up the "Black Iron," examined it closely before his eyes for a long time, and then gently tapped its surface with one finger.

The next second, a faint yet pleasant humming sound rose from the iron block, and translucent waves rippled through the air, layer upon layer, lasting for quite some time.

Yu Sheng didn't understand it, but he thought it looked pretty cool.

"Wonderful, truly wonderful! Unrefined, unenlightened, merely a rough piece, yet it can be so transparent!? I, a junior, have truly never seen such a thing. It looks like it should be just an ordinary object, but what is the structure in its minute details?"

Xuan Che suddenly looked up, his eyes shining as he gazed at Hu Lizheng and Yu Sheng.

"The main component is iron. As for why it has some strange properties, the people at the Special Bureau haven't analyzed it either," Yu Sheng shook his head. "Hu Lizheng herself doesn't know either."

Pausing here, seeing the expression on Xuan Che's face, he added another sentence: "If you want it, this scrap piece can be yours—if Hu Lizheng has no objections. But if you want a large piece, you'll have to queue up; the Special Bureau has already placed an order."

Xuan Che's expression immediately became somewhat embarrassed, and he quickly placed the lump of iron back on the table: "You are joking; it would make this junior seem impolite... Let's first look at Miss Ailin's situation."

While speaking, he reached into his personal storage and pulled out a small jade tablet, handing it to the small doll sitting on the edge of the coffee table, while explaining: "Based on my measurement just now, this 'Black Iron' does not conflict with the cultivation methods of the Grand Void Spirit Pivot; on the contrary, it adapts quite well. However, whether this doll Miss can use our sect's techniques... depends on the individual. This jade tablet counts as a most basic spiritual treasure; it has the function of attracting spiritual energy and nourishing the mind. Please hold it in your hand first."

The small doll took the jade tablet with some confusion; the jade tablet, which would only occupy the palm of an ordinary person's hand, she had to grab with her whole fist. "Ah, and then what?"

"Then you should be able to feel a slight warmth spreading from your palm towards your heart..."

Ailin: "I don't have a heart."

Xuan Che: "... Then let it spread towards your torso. This warmth will follow your mind. Try to guide it..."

Ailin blinked her eyes: "I don't feel any warmth either."

Xuan Che was instantly stunned. Even more dazed than when he heard how Yu Sheng had used a bunch of strange materials and messy "techniques" to refine a body.

"This sensation might be very faint," he paused for several seconds before continuing with a slightly strange look in his eyes, "Feel carefully; it must exist."

"No," Ailin said with complete confidence, "My six senses are extremely sharp! I just don't feel it!"

"Not even a tiny bit?!"

"No. Hey, why are you so dawdling?"

Yu Sheng noticed the expression on Xuan Che's face.

"Does this mean Ailin's talent in this area is relatively poor?" he asked as tactfully as possible, "Unable to use your cultivation techniques?"

Xuan Che's expression hesitated to the point of almost showing panic: "No, not relatively poor."

"Then does she have no talent at all?"

"No, no, it has nothing to do with talent anymore," Xuan Che suddenly took a light breath, took the jade tablet back from Ailin's hand, organized his thoughts, and then spoke again, "Even people without talent can feel it. The level of talent only affects the strength of the sensation and the difficulty of guiding it. The worst, the absolute worst... would not be like her."

Yu Sheng opened his mouth, hesitating: "Could it be because she is a doll, and her constitution is special?"

!

"Theoretically... it shouldn't be," Xuan Che shook his head, "Dolls are also living beings; living beings possess the blessing of spiritual nature. This object is not only effective for flesh and blood bodies."

Yu Sheng frowned.

"Let me try it."

He reached out, took the jade tablet from Xuan Che's hand, and followed what the other had said, feeling carefully.

Moments later, he tossed the jade tablet to Hu Lizheng beside him: "You try it too."

A few minutes later, Xuan Che received six confused faces.

Ailin broke the silence first: "Is your tablet broken?"

"That shouldn't be," this time even Xuan Che himself began to doubt himself. He picked up the jade tablet, held it in his hand for a long time, lifted it to examine it closely, and tapped it a few times. "It's not broken."

"It is broken; none of us felt anything," Hu Lizheng stated firmly. "I also understand immortal arts; I can tell just by touching whether this thing works..."

Yu Sheng looked at Hu Lizheng, wondering where this nine-tailed fox, who came from another world and whose cultivation system differed from the local one, got such confidence.

But he also tended to think that the tablet in Xuan Che's hand was broken.

Seeing this situation, Xuan Che had no choice but to reluctantly put away the jade tablet and pulled out a talisman paper from his chest: "Then use this. After igniting it, the smoke will not dissipate; inhaling it can stimulate the blood and qi, controlling qi with blood, and thereby communicating with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth..."

Ailin spoke before the other could finish: "I don't have blood."

"Then use this Soul-Enriching Pill to directly..."

Erin: "I do not yet have intestines or a stomach."

"There is also this golden hairpin. Although it is a shortcut and a lazy method, it can directly stimulate the brain and open..."

"I do not have a brain either."

"... You have no internal organs at all?"

"None at all. Didn't you know that Alice dolls are originally without these?"

"I... am ashamed."

(End of this chapter)