Chapter 260

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Protagonist:

Xu Zhangqing

It was too late, so Xu Zhangqing did not go forward to disturb him.

Withdrawing his envious gaze, he continued to drive the Big Leaf Grass, flying toward his own home at extreme speed.

Not long after, he saw the two-story stone house and one-story earthen house standing there.

And the Yang Shu that was over five meters tall.

During the day, he only felt that its branches were lush and its leaves dense, very tall.

But at night, especially when observing from a distance, he saw a faint glow seeping out from among the dark-colored branches and leaves; when the wind blew over the leaves, the rubbing sound was no longer the rustling of daytime, and he did not know if it was an illusion, but the trailing sound seemed to carry a faint humming.

It inexplicably exuded a cold and sinister aura.

Getting closer, he saw a fortress standing motionless below.

Its whole body was covered with emerald green tender shoots.

Inside and out, it gave off a feeling of "new life."

Compared with its previous appearance, it was completely different.

Sensing someone approaching, the fortress's eyes lit up with a dark green glow.

After discovering it was Xu Zhangqing, it then made no further movements or actions.

If it were a stranger, it would question the other party according to the previously issued orders, and even expel them.

And the time the orders were issued was after Pei Mo took the wine water and left.

Although Xu Zhangqing was very tolerant toward the people around him.

He just did not like returning home to find someone already inside.

He felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart.

Of course, except for Elder Sister Yu!

Xu Zhangqing controlled the Big Leaf Grass to land, then sized up the fortress before him.

This time, in the room at the Core Management Office, he saw many things he had never been exposed to before.

Especially... the Lingzhi Puppet Technique.

Actually, before this, he had already felt that the fortress was not right.

But he did not know much about puppetry, so he was in a stage of doubt.

Now, judging from the knowledge he had come into contact with and the information he had gathered, there was no evidence indicating that a Yanshi Puppet would undergo such a huge change because of a Yang Shu, so this was an abnormal situation.

Xu Zhangqing seriously suspected that the Yanshi Puppet given to him by Chu Shixiong was most likely actually a Spirit Plant Puppet in its true form.

Given their relationship, the other party would definitely not do anything bad.

That left only one possibility: Chu Qiu was also unaware.

He was afraid that even Zhao Qianyun, who held the Qianfan Zhengdu Meeting in Xuanxin City, might not understand either.

If the fortress was truly a Spirit Plant Puppet, then the person who sent it out definitely had ill intentions.

Xu Zhangqing released his divine soul again to scan it more finely.

Inside the fortress's body, there was also a cluster of Wood Spirit Qi exactly the same as the Yang Shu.

It looked like there was no problem at all.

Xu Zhangqing stepped forward and called out, "Fortress!"

"Here, Master!" It responded quickly.

Xu Zhangqing then asked, "You listen to all my commands, right?"

The fortress gave an affirmative answer: "Yes, Master!"

Xu Zhangqing immediately said, "Very good, commit suicide!"

If it were a Yanshi Puppet, it would definitely not hesitate or pause, but would do it immediately.

It had no thoughts and only acted according to orders.

In contrast, a Spirit Plant Puppet, because it stored the divine soul of a human or a demon beast at its core, would instinctively resist, or even rebel, upon hearing such a command.

As expected, after hearing this command, the fortress indeed hesitated for an instant, and the green light in its pupils turned cold and gloomy.

The next second, it waved its hands.

But it was not rebellion; rather... it was self-mutilation.

This made Xu Zhangqing somewhat surprised.

The sound of bang bang bang rang out continuously.

It woke up Wangwang, the Pearl Chicken, and the Fire Crow who were sleeping on the other side.

After a series of attacks, more than half of the emerald green tender shoots on the fortress's body were lost.

Especially at the chest area, very obvious cracks appeared.

Xu Zhangqing's gaze penetrated through, and he could see what was hidden behind the green qi.

"It can be confirmed, the fortress is indeed a Spirit Plant Puppet!"

"Just that, it's different from what I imagined."

"It actually didn't rebel?"

Strange as it was, Xu Zhangqing had no intention of stopping it.

According to the content recorded in the Spirit Plant Forbidden Record, all Spirit Plant Puppets would have Puppet Technique Runes engraved at their core.

This kind of spiritual rune is very high-level; if used, perhaps I could refine puppets myself.

Thud!

One of the fortress's hands fell to the ground; it could only continue "self-mutilation" with the other hand.

Crack!

The cracks on its body grew larger and larger, gradually scattering onto the ground.

A piece here, a piece there.

It looked a complete mess.

Until a large hole appeared in its chest, revealing what lay behind the green qi, only then did Xu Zhangqing speak again: "Stop."

The fortress's voice had grown much weaker: "Yes, Master!"

Xu Zhangqing released his divine sense, following the hole in its chest, probing inch by inch deep inside, carefully examining the internal structure.

The internal grain was intricately complex, like a tangled mess.

Suddenly, a sense of crisis arose in him.

As if continuing would cause something very dangerous to occur.

Xu Zhangqing smiled confidently: "Others might be afraid, but I..."

Companion Green Lotus, summon!

Blood Gourd, absorb and fly out!

Wood Spirit Return Nest Ring, activate!

Xuanmu Golden Body Technique, full level!

Left hand even more so pinching the full-level Blazing Yang Finger!

Then without any hesitation, once more sent his divine sense deep to probe.

Soon discovered a slightly raised "tree burl".

This tree burl was dark brown, its surface covered in fine cracks, faint red light seeping from within.

Unsurprisingly, it was the spirit plant puppet's core.

Judging by the look of it, the person who refined this spirit plant puppet chose a tree.

Because whatever it was like before refining, after refining it would retain part of its original appearance.

From this one can determine what it was like before.

And the so-called core is more like the human race's brain.

All its behavior including thoughts must first pass through here, then react.

Vaguely, Xu Zhangqing perceived from this tree burl a faint, barely-there negative energy fluctuation.

Obviously, a person's or monster's divine soul is imprisoned inside.

But he did not intend to release it now.

Doing so would destroy the tree burl, causing the puppetry runes on it to disappear along with it.

Xu Zhangqing himself was very interested in this rune, so naturally did not want to miss it.

However, the puppetry rune truly lives up to being a high-level rune.

Its complexity is such that even divine sense cannot easily inscribe it.

It took a good while to manage it.

The puppetry rune, overall, is profoundly abstruse, obscure, complex, and hard to understand.

Even if swapped for Senior Talisman Master Bai Xiaotian, the success rate would probably be less than one tenth.

After confirming he had memorized it, Xu Zhangqing withdrew his divine sense, then circulated the Green Lotus Creation Art, mobilizing the wood spirit power in his qi sea, enveloping the fully damaged fortress.

Soon, the damaged places were repaired one by one.

When it had reformed, he sucked from a distance.

Refining all the green qi inside the fortress.

And having lost energy, it shrank bit by bit, ultimately becoming the small, delicate form from when first seen.

Xu Zhangqing picked the fortress up from the ground, examining it while saying: "After I finish researching the puppetry rune, I'll consider how to deal with you."

Whether to destroy the tree burl, releasing the divine soul imprisoned inside.

Or erase the danger, making it an honest, simple-minded fortress again.

Everything depends on the final research results.