Chapter 321: Too Careless

Yuan Yao hesitated briefly.

In an instant, a figure appeared beside her.

She looked up and saw her own Youngest Senior Brother standing beside her, his gaze also fixed on the puppet in her hand.

"Youngest Senior Brother." Yuan Yao stood up.

"Do you want this puppet?" Ying Wuji stared at her; he could sense that the puppet seemed to regard Yuan Yao as its master.

Yuan Yao gave no answer, but retorted, "Youngest Senior Brother, do you really think it is an evil object?"

Ying Wuji replied, "It is not an evil object; it should be a spirit object, but it has been possessed by that Witch Evil Emperor for too long, absorbing evil qi, and the Witch Evil Emperor uses the puppet technique to command it."

He paused briefly, then said, "If you want this puppet, first have Third Senior Brother help purge its evil qi, and then proceed with the contract."

Yuan Yao heard this, lowered her eyes and glanced at the puppet in her hand.

"Fine."

She was just about to practice the puppet technique.

After the puppet transformed, it actually had six pairs of arms and a very tall body, making it an excellent fighter.

Cang Li performed a transference for everyone at the Water Mirror Immortal Academy, continuing until the next morning.

During this time, many faction teams also rushed over to inquire.

The heads of the other Three Great Immortal Academies also rushed over.

Because Qianshan Liuzi captured the mastermind, the heads of the Three Great Immortal Academies cleared their suspicion, yet they still received disdain from other faction teams.

The heads of the Three Great Immortal Academies wanted the director of the Water Mirror Immortal Academy to hand over that half of the Treasure Map, but because the Water Mirror director refused their request, they united to marginalize and confront the Water Mirror Academy.

Such conduct is shameful.

The faces of the Three Great Immortal Academy heads were not pleasant.

"Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan has arrived!"

Someone in the crowd shouted.

Everyone turned toward the voice and saw an elderly man with crane‑like hair and a childlike face walking slowly, his aura so powerful that everyone present involuntarily gave way.

Behind Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan, the protectors of the Heaven and Earth Domain followed.

The crowd looked reverent, about to bow and salute Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan, when they heard him speak calmly, "No need for clamor."

Everyone fell silent at once.

Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan looked toward the boy sitting on the ground, striking a wooden fish, eyes closed, muttering under his breath.

The green evil spirits had long dissipated, but resentment still lingered in the Water Mirror Academy.

At this moment, Song Yan, Xiao Lingwei, Xue Jin, Ying Wuji, and Yuan Yao each bowed toward Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan.

Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan nodded in response.

About a quarter of an hour later.

Cang Li opened his eyes, put away the wooden fish, stood up, and then clasped his hands in a bow toward Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan.

"Cang Li has seen Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan."

"Well done," Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan said approvingly.

"Thank you for the Immortal Sovereign's praise," Cang Li smiled instantly.

Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan nodded slightly, then asked, "Where is the Witch Evil Emperor?"

Ying Wuji raised his hand, and a very exquisite silver cauldron materialized in his hand, saying, "It is within this Rong Ling Ding."

He presented the Rong Ling Ding before Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan.

Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan stared at the Rong Ling Ding and said gravely, "I originally thought you died over four hundred years ago, but you still managed to slip away through a void."

"It's you! Fan Quan!" the Witch Evil Emperor inside the Rong Ling Ding, upon hearing the familiar voice, instantly recognized him.

"It is I," Immortal Sovereign Fan Quan replied softly.

Over four hundred years ago, Fan Quan was a junior domain lord of the Heaven and Earth Domain and one of the most outstanding celestial champions of the Ninth Province; he once led a Heaven and Earth Domain team to hunt the Witch Evil Emperor.

And it was on that occasion that he, together with other faction teams, forced the Witch Evil Emperor into a corner and beheaded him.

What they did not expect was that the Witch Evil Emperor was still alive.

Fan Quan asked, "How did you actually survive?"

"Hahaha… Fan Quan, even though you have become an Immortal Sovereign, you are still so incompetent! You don't even know how I survived!" the Witch Evil Emperor immediately sneered and laughed loudly.

Fan Quan calmly said, "It is the reincarnation evil art. The soul detached from the body and attached to an object; because the reincarnation evil art consumed your lifelong cultivation, your consciousness remained dormant until just recently you awakened."

The Witch Evil Emperor's laughter gradually faded.

Clearly he was hit by the words.

For over four hundred years, the Witch Evil Emperor had clung to the puppet, and after he awoke, he discovered that the puppet he inhabited had been picked up by a child of the Water Mirror Academy named Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng was very fond of the puppet.

He then began to enact his grand plan of body snatching.

He chose the right moment to invade Zhang Cheng's consciousness, then forced his own soul into Zhang Cheng's body.

With a body, everything became easier.

He set his sights on the laborer Wang San.

He wanted Wang San to become a shield.

Thus, he used the puppet technique on Wang San, manipulating him like a marionette to purchase poisonous cicada medicine from the major pharmacies of Yunshui Street, and personally poured the poison into the Water Mirror Academy's water supply.

As for why Wang San possessed so many spirit stones, it was because he used Zhang Cheng's body to enter the Two‑Continents region, commanded a puppet to slay a great evil cultivator, and seized his spirit stones.

And before he annihilated the entire Water Mirror Academy, he exploited his under‑eight‑year‑old child identity, leaving everyone without any guard, and scattered the puppets he had forged like sowing beans across the academy's corners.

On the night the Water Mirror Academy was wiped out—

In fact, some people were not poisoned, but they could not react in time; the threads spat out by the puppets sliced their bodies, ending their lives.

Although the headmaster of the Water Mirror Immortal Academy had been poisoned, his consciousness remained clear; seeing the disciples one by one lose vital signs, his expression drastically changed, he realized something was wrong, and he promptly sent a distress message to the headmasters of the other three great immortal academies.

But those three headmasters initially did not believe it, later they did, yet they arrived very late.

In the end, only two survivors remained in the Water Mirror Immortal Academy.

Zhang Cheng and Wang San, who had gone out.

The Witch-Evil Emperor collected the souls of all the deceased, then refined them into evil spirits for his own use.

Evil spirits need to absorb resentment to become strong.

Only when the evil spirits become strong will his soul power follow and grow stronger.

Therefore, he resides all day in that corridor of the Water Mirror Immortal Academy, because it is the place where resentment and yin energy are strongest throughout the academy.

Originally, he only needed to stay a few more days to completely possess Zhang Cheng and gain a body truly his own; unexpectedly, the appearance of Yuan Yao and her companions utterly shattered his hope.

It was because he was too careless!

He did not take them seriously, so he never made any preparations.

Fan Quan, the Immortal Venerable, announced to everyone: "I will take the Witch-Evil Emperor back to the Heaven and Earth Domain for judgment."

He paused, and his gaze fell upon Zhang Cheng, who was held in Song Yan's embrace.

"As for Zhang Cheng, bring him back to the Heaven and Earth Domain for treatment."