Chapter 584 - 583: ’Beast’ Puppet

The so-called "nature-blessed sanctuary".

In fact, it is essentially a small secret realm.

However, a sanctuary often contains gifts left by the ancients with many artificial arrangements to bless the future generations.

Ancient inheritances, top-level spiritual treasures, exotic creatures, ancient formations, even elixirs that can directly enhance cultivation, can all be found within sanctuaries.

In regular small secret realms,

One needs good luck to find their own opportunities.

But to stumble upon any of the above, it truly depends on your fate.

Yet in a sanctuary, these things are designed for the "fortunate ones" to encounter and enjoy.

Of course,

The various designs in the sanctuary are not entirely given away for free.

If rewards were easily picked up, how long can a sanctuary withstand years of endless explorations?

To truly gain something, in the end, it depends on whether you are destined for it.

Li Jing has always been lucky.

However, he didn’t have high expectations this time.

There was no way around it.

The World Tree he was interested in was an ancient monster.

No one knew how strong it was, and it was uncertain if and where it could be encountered.

This excursion, Li Jing treats it as a chance to witness the first Beiming Emperor’s legacy to the later generations.

...

Following the main force into the sanctuary,

After a brief phase of spatial displacement, Li Jing quickly arrived in a bright world full of birdsong and floral fragrance.

Coming in and seeing this, he was somewhat surprised.

The first Beiming Emperor was, without a doubt, practicing corpse cultivation.

The sanctuary he left behind, shouldn’t it be somewhat gloomy or something?

It thriving with vitality somewhat contradicts his nature as a corpse cultivator.

Just like Bai Chuchu a moment ago.

As a corpse cultivator, her independent world is very typical.

With bones scattered all over the place, there isn’t much vitality.

Doesn’t that more accurately reflect her identity as the Sovereign of the Undead?

The cultivators, monsters, and corpse cultivators, who had entered before Li Jing, were surprised at the vitality brimming within the sanctuary, but most of them did not linger long at the entrance.

After a brief pause at the entrance, they quickly summoned friends to explore in groups.

The opportunities in the sanctuary are good,

But they have to be found.

Whoever finds it first, gets it.

At the same time,

There are dangers in the sanctuary.

Ignoring the artificial arrangements the ancients made to bless their descendants, the sanctuary is essentially a natural secret realm in development.

After millions of years of accumulation.

Only heaven knows what is now within the sanctuary.

Group exploration is the most sensible approach for ordinary people.

Li Jing didn’t need to consider forming a team.

If he really wanted team members, he could bring out Jin Ling and Jin Yue.

However, having them along would draw too much attention.

Furthermore, the two of them didn’t know much about the sanctuary.

Having them out would not be much help and could even prove to be a drag.

Exiting his shadow state, Li Jing, using the Silent Shadow to disrupt the sensing of those around him, looked left and right to confirm that there were no Sovereigns present who could detect him, then turned into a puppet cat demon after some consideration.

He definitely needed to walk around.

His fox demon form had been used before and was not suitable for solo travel.

So, why not take the form of a cat demon!

Cats have a keen sense of smell and are naturally alert with superior sensory abilities than normal.

Li Jing had been craving such capabilities for a long time.

Dog demons could have a similar effect.

But the only dog demon he knew was Su Qiong.

He didn’t even know what breed of dog he was.

The Formless Divine Skill is versatile, but there’s a major prerequisite:

Li Jing needed to have personally seen the subject and have a certain understanding of its talents and abilities.

If he had to transform, he could only choose to turn into a Spiritual Husky, just like Stinky Tofu.

Let’s forget about that.

Compared to a Husky, isn’t the Spiritual Cat more enticing?

After completing his transformation, Li Jing examined himself and put one hand on his waist to feel it.

Tsk, tsk!

That touch!

Having taken on the likeness of Ji Qing, his puppet cat demon form was naturally female.

His figure and demeanor resembled Ji Qing’s to a tee.

Just as he was about to hit the road, Li Jing’s ears pricked and picked up hushed whispers from a man and a woman.

"Senior Brother, are you sure the map you have is correct?"

It was a female voice inquiring.

"Tsk!"

The male voice clicked his tongue, replying.

You didn’t believe me before, Junior Sister, and now even when the sanctuary has been opened and we’re already in it, you still doubt the map I have?"

"Aiya, it’s not that I do not trust you, I just find the Old Clan that gave you the map suspicious."

The female voice responded,

"They gave you the map out of the blue just before the opening of the sanctuary, and also disclosed that this sanctuary is a legacy left by the first Beiming Emperor. All this happened just because your clan has ties with the Old Clan, isn’t this too weird?"

"Sigh, don’t complicate things Junior Sister,"

A man sighed, saying,

"Indeed, our lineage is deeply connected to the Old Clan. For many years, they have occasionally bestowed gifts upon us, aiding our clan’s development. Don’t you already know this, apprentice sister?"

In response, the woman remained silent.

It seemed that the man’s statement was indeed true.

Li Jing listened, feeling a sense of strangeness in his heart.

In this casual conversation, it seemed he had overheard some incredible information.

Was there a map for this blessed land?

And it was originated from Old Clan?

This was quite intriguing!

The Old Clan.

That had a reputation in the Immortal Realm.

The Old Clan did not refer to a specific race.

Instead, it referred to the descendants of the first batch of "immigrants" from the ancient Fairyland who have survived till now.

Because of their unique family background, they tend to keep a low profile. Otherwise, they might attract unwanted attention.

Ordinary people have merely heard about them and can’t confirm their actual existence.

The most common rumour in the Immortal Realm about the Old Clan is that they control the "legacy" their ancestors brought with them during their migration to the Immortal Realm. As a result, their descendants are far more powerful than typical cultivators.

Whether the Old Clan actually existed, Li Jing couldn’t say.

Ancient Fairyland "immigrants"... wasn’t that an event from a long time ago?

It was a period so far back in time that was almost unreachable.

If there were still some of them alive today or their descendants still existed, their appearance could undoubtedly create a stir in the Immortal Realm.

One thing was clear here.

The man who had been given the map was not ordinary.

He knew in advance that this blessed land was a legacy of the First Beiming Emperor and had some foreknowledge about its opening.

Since this blessed land opened only once in a million years, only some old-timers in the Beiming Divine Palace knew about this information.

A human cultivator in possession of this knowledge and a map at hand? You couldn’t tell me there was no more to it!

And as for the man who was speaking, he must have been lying without a doubt.

Maybe the person who gave him the map was indeed a member of the Old Clan.

But the giver delivering the map and the information on the eve of the blessed land’s opening must have had a purpose - they wouldn’t have given these away without expecting something in return.

Even if the Old Clan would occasionally bestow gifts upon his family as he claimed.

For this map and information to be delivered just as the blessed land was about to open, this was simply too suspicious.

At this moment.

The oppressed male voice rang out again.

"Apprentice sister, don’t hesitate now. Trust me this time, I’ll take you to find the Heaven and Earth Tree that can help us create an independent world. At that time, each of us can make an independent world using a branch from the tree, and our status within the sect will certainly soar."

Saying this, he added,

"With a branch of the Heaven and Earth Tree, I can finally propose to your family. Without it, how can a downtrodden venerable like me, backed by only a small family, be worthy of you and your lineage?""

Upon hearing this, Li Jing was surprised. He relied on his powerful insight to locate the male and female Venerables, who were whispering in a small grove not far away.

Good heavens!

Did he even know the Heaven and Earth Tree resided in this blessed land?

It seemed that the person who gave him the map was deeply informed.

But the direction the map pointed to was unclear.

According to what Bai Chuchu had told him,

The Heaven and Earth Tree was already sentient and could appear anywhere.

Thus, it wasn’t hard to conclude.

The map was not pointed towards the Heaven and Earth Tree, but somewhere else.

As he pondered, the female Venerable revealed a hint of longing.

"If we successfully find the Heaven and Earth Tree, mount brother, you will marry me when we return?"

"I do," was the male Venerable’s resolute response. He then leeringly came closer, patted her waist, and chuckled, "Let’s have ten children then."

At his words, the female Venerable’s cheeks flushed. She swatted his hand away, bit her lip, and nodded her head.

The male Venerable chuckled lasciviously, having grown accustomed to such rejection.

Watching this pair burying their own future with oaths, Li Jing couldn’t help but admire their audacity.

Proposing.

Marrying.

Having ten children!

With such rash declarations, just how strong did this duo think their luck was to guarantee their safe exit from this blessed land?

Sighing-aside, Li Jing started contemplating his choices.

Just as he was worried about which direction to go after entering the blessed land, fate had brought him a pair of lovebirds marked for misfortune.

He felt as though he was delivered a pillow just as he was about to sleep. There was no way he would betray himself.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Li Jing activated his Formless Divine Skill. He maintained his Spiritual Cat form, while transforming his body properties into pure Spiritual Qi.

After changing his properties within, he immediately transformed into his cat puppet form.

A Spiritual Beast, right?

It had to maintain its beast shape, correct?

Shape-shifting magical beasts, like Ya’er, were extremely uncommon and practically soulless.

After altering his appearance and nature of his power, Li Jing lifted his fluffy little paw, peeked at the tender pad at its base, and couldn’t resist licking it.

The Formless Divine Skill was convenient. But every time he utilized it, he was compelled to display some of the characteristics of whatever species he turned into.

There was nothing wrong with this in itself.

But when you act in a way indicative of a different creature, you might feel a little awkward.

It was a good thing Li Jing had transformed into a cat demon this time.

If it had been a Dog Demon.

Who knows what he might end up doing if he lost control...

Cough!

After letting go of his paw, Li Jing noticed the pair making their way towards the east from the grove. He immediately transformed into a shadow and darted out. He lay lazily on a prominent tree branch along the pair’s path, before revealing himself.

Just in time.

The two figures started heading this way.

Truth be told,

The pair were very cautious.

They opted to use Sky Control just above the ground, instead of flying high in the sky.

This kind of behaviour,

Would have been completely normal amongst a Blue Star Secret Realm expedition team.

After all, everyone’s cultivation level was not very high.

In the Secret Realm filled with unknown elements, the higher you fly, the faster you die.

No one would risk their own life.

Yet, it didn’t make sense for these two to be so cautious.

These two were, in the worst-case scenario, a pair of mid-term Venerables.

Even in the most dangerous heaven and earth, it was not to the point of them dropping dead in mid-flight.

On the contrary, traveling high in the sky would be more suitable for them to observe the environment and respond at any time.

The two of them obviously took this path to avoid unnecessary attention.

This made it easy for Li Jing.

Following the terrain closely, the two naturally noticed a pink and white puppet curled up on a tree branch.

At first sight, the female Venerable was immediately attracted, and the male Venerable could not help but take a closer look.

The two of them stopped in mid-air at the same time.

The charm of a peculiar cat wasn’t just for show.

Li Jing had transformed into his Spiritual Beast form at this moment, the ethereal aura around him was particularly attractive.

Meeting their gaze, he opened his big eyes and pretended to be on alert.

This move instantly tugged at the female Venerable’s heartstrings.

"Bro... Brother, this Spiritual Cat is so cute..."

Upon hearing her words, the male Venerable was speechless.

Adorable.

Indeed.

There was something charming about the cat, more than just a casual remark.

But the aura it radiated...

Indicated an apex latter-stage Venerable from the Thirteen Realms!

This was not something that they could casually catch.

Moreover, it was from the cat family, a kind of beast.

Even if the Spiritual Beasts were friendly to humans, they must have frequent contact with humans and recognize that humans provide food.

The cat obviously wasn’t of Immortal Realm variety, probably a native Spiritual Beast of heaven and earth.

It probably didn’t have much understanding of humans.

If it got hungry, perhaps the two of them together wouldn’t be enough for one of its meals...

The male Venerable’s thoughts were unambiguous, and Li Jing saw through them in a glance.

Intentionally maintaining the aura of a peak Venerable stage Spiritual Beast was in essence to make himself appear more attractive.

A Spiritual Beast at the apex of the Venerable stage that you can casually take home, wouldn’t that be enticing?

Li Jing thought it was time for him to take some initiative. He got up, stretched on the tree with his four paws, then suddenly jumped towards the female Venerable.

The male Venerable was startled and reached for his weapon.

However, the female Venerable quickly spoke out.

"Brother, stop!"

While speaking, she gladly reached out her hands to embrace the "Fairy Cat" that jumped into her arms.

The male Venerable, hearing her shout, obviously did not continue to "draw the sword".

Seeing the female Venerable holding the Spiritual Cat, and the cat comfortably squinting its eyes on the lap that even he himself hadn’t touched, the male Venerable was both envious and surprised that a native Spiritual Beast of this heaven and earth was actually friendly to humans.

What a great opportunity!

Since it jumped into her arms at first sight, was it possible to take it home?

This cat was even stronger than them by a small realm...

On this side.

The female Venerable was overjoyed holding the cat in her arms.

The key point, the cat in her arms was really fragrant.

She cautiously lowered her head to take a sniff. Seeing that the Fairy Cat didn’t resist, she boldly buried her face and took a deep breath.

"..."

Li Jing.

Although he definitely won’t suffer, the stately female Venerable isn’t acting like this, right?

It seems...

She’s really a pet lover?

Just as he was speechless, the satisfied female Venerable looked up at the male Venerable and stated authoritatively,

"Brother, we are taking this Spiritual Cat with us!"

"..."

The male Venerable.

He wondered why he hadn’t asked her to let go of the cat, was there a need for her to be so harsh?

What about the little kitten they usually had?

"Since this Spiritual Cat is friendly, we might as well take it as company."

The male Venerable said so.

"But after all this is a native Spiritual Cat of heaven and earth, tough to tame, you must be cautious, Sister."

Although he said so, the male Venerable couldn’t control his hands from wanting to touch the cat.

Would Li Jing let him touch it?

In the cat’s interest, only one with decision-making power was enough.

The other one, especially as this one was a man, was not necessary.

Without any hesitation, Li Jing quickly raised his small paw and clawed at him.

The male Venerable didn’t expect this turn of events.

Instinctively pulling back his hand, he narrowly avoided the swiping claw.

And then, under his hair-raising gaze,

A distorted "claw energy" grazed his elbow and shot out, "bang bang bang bang" instantly destroyed a swath of trees and disappeared into the distance.....

This moment left the male venerable in a state of shock.

The power of the claw energy unleashed by this damn cat’s swipe could rival the might of the top-notch sword energy.

If you got hit solidly by that, you’d probably lose your arm!

Fierce beast!

This was undoubtedly a fierce beast!

But turning to look at Li Jing, he was behaving perfectly well in his junior sister’s arms.

The female venerable also got a bit frightened by the movement just now.

However, seeing Li Jing being so well-behaved in her arms, she disregarded everything else.

"Senior brother, don’t pet the spiritual cat if it doesn’t like you."

"..."

The male venerable.

...

These two venerables, to be precise, are quite careless.

But venerables, after all,

Are also quite daring.

They accepted Li Jing’s powerful spiritual cat as a gift.

Of course.

The two were not without reservations.

At the beginning of the trip, the two clearly showed signs of communicating about related matters by voice transmission.

While transmitting voices, they occasionally glanced at Li Jing, who was feigning sleep in the arms of the female venerable, clearly somewhat suspicious.

But Li Jing didn’t care about these.

What he wanted was not the trust of these two.

But to infiltrate their team and see where they would finally go following the map.

Time flies.

Two days passed.

Li Jing learned through his interactions with the two,

The male venerable was named Nalan Longao, the female venerable was named Xiang Yunxian.

Neither were offspring of the prestigious Four Realm of Immortals, but are descendants of local families born and raised in Zhong Shen Zhou.

Now, both of them are worshippers of a human portal in a neutral area.

Speaking of worshipping, it’s still quite low-level.

After all, venerables are not valuable in Zhong Shen Zhou.

A mid-term venerable can barely scrape together a position.

The name Nalan Longao is quite domineering.

However, the Nalan family behind him is just an unremarkable small clan.

The background of Xiang Yunxian is rather impressive.

She comes from one of the top medicine families in Zhong Shen Zhou.

That family.

Their power isn’t necessarily strong, but they’re all famous top-tier pharmacists.

As is Xiang Yunxian.

A mid-term venerable pharmacist.

If this were in the Four Realm of Immortals, who knows how many top-notch immortals would come running to curry favor.

In the cultivation system, "production industry" is always a bit of a contradiction.

For instance, the group of artifact refiners.

Focusing too much on one’s own cultivation level doesn’t result in high proficiency.

And those without high proficiency have limited mastery even with enough personal energy.

Only a few uniquely talented individuals have the capability to ensure their own realm while also possessing profound skills.

This girl, Li Jing quite likes her.

Until now, Chen Tang City is short of all kinds of talent.

Getting a top-tier pharmacist like Xiang Yunxian would be even better than getting a few top-tier Elixir Masters.

A qualified pharmacist should also have pill refining skills.

After all, not all medicines can become consumable or absorbable to humans just by mixing ingredients, further refining is required.

Especially high-quality spirit medicines, a lot of them will burst your body just from a touch.

Of course.

The advantages and disadvantages of professional pharmacists compared to professional Elixir Masters are quite distinct.

Pill refining does require tricks and experience. The "highest point" of a pharmacist’s pill refining skill can hardly surpass that of a professional top-tier Elixir Master.

Setting these aside.

After two peaceful days of getting along, Xiang Yunxian has grown close with Li Jing as a spiritual cat. Occasionally, she would introduce herself and boast about how big her house is and how many delicious foods there are.

In short, she wants to take him home.

As a spiritual cat, Li Jing obviously cannot respond in human language.

But he has indeed eaten a lot of good things from Xiang Yunxian.

One after another, the spirit medicines concocted by her tasted better than ordinary delicacies. Besides their deliciousness, they greatly enhanced his physical cultivation.

This.

Could be considered an unexpected delight.

It was also the main reason he was fond of this girl.

The upper limit of Li Jing’s body cultivation is far from his current level.

He has always wanted to bathe inside Zhenyuan Tower.

But the time required to bathe until reaching the upper limit is lengthy. Therefore, he can only soak whenever he’s free.

At noon.

Xiang Yunxian was planning to feed Li Jing a piece of spirit medicine while riding in the air. On the side, Nalan Longao suddenly spoke.

"Junior sister, we’re about to arrive at the Emperor’s Tomb."