Who knew how long those fellows would lock themselves away once they started researching the art of mechanical puppetry? Fortunately, Lei Dong roamed nearby scouting and managed to pick up a valuable piece of intelligence. The Myriad Puppet Sect, like other major sects, boasted a long history of inheritance, with countless disciples having ventured out into the world, established families and factions, and then pledged allegiance to the sect.

These families had risen and fallen, some fading into oblivion while others were newly established. At the current juncture, there were likely still several hundred such clans. These families were primarily founded upon the basis of mechanical puppetry, and their members and disciples grew up immersed in the cultivation of this art from childhood. To replenish fresh blood, the Myriad Puppet Sect often selected talented disciples from these affiliated families—those excelling in cultivation or puppetry—to supplement the main sect, ensuring its legacy and continuity. After all, the overall quality of disciples selected from these families was far superior to that of merely rounding up untutored youths from the outside world.

Naturally, those families were also extremely eager for their disciples to join the Myriad Puppet Sect, especially if they could become core disciples. Particularly for small families struggling to survive, if one disciple managed to achieve the status of a core disciple within the Myriad Puppet Sect, the family could instantly escape hardship and see a massive increase in their power.

The method for selecting disciples from these families was the Puppet Grand Competition, held once every ten years. This event was a grand gathering for the Myriad Puppet Sect, highly valued by both the sect and all the affiliated families. The young disciple who ultimately won the competition could even receive guidance from a Grand Elder, while the remaining top nine would, at a minimum, earn the privilege of an audience. Coincidentally, the Puppet Grand Competition was only three years away. Perhaps three years seemed an eternity to an ordinary person, but for a Nascent Soul cultivator like Lei Dong, whose lifespan stretched over a thousand years, it was merely a fleeting pause.

It could be said that without leveraging such a unique opportunity, Lei Dong would have found it difficult to approach their Grand Elder. The subsequent steps were straightforward enough…

This was a remote valley tens of thousands of miles from the Myriad Puppet Sect. Although the valley was obscure and its spiritual energy scarce, it was lush with a thousand grasses and ten thousand flowers, presenting a scene of fragrant breezes and cheerful birds—a picture of peace and harmony.

To the mortals living within a hundred-mile radius, this place, named Myriad Flower Valley, was where Immortals resided. This belief stemmed from generations of folklore recounting how, on a certain day and month, an Immortal was seen soaring through the sky, vanishing into the clouds and mist, swift as the wind. Over time, the mortals regarded the location with both reverence and awe.

A few years prior, a nearby village was plagued by a demonic beast that devoured ten head of cattle and sheep, along with three or four people, in just half a month. In desperation, the mortals turned their thoughts to the Immortals of Myriad Flower Valley. The village chief personally led the clan elders, who shuffled forward to kneel outside the valley, pleading with the Immortals residing within to help slay the beast and restore peace to the common folk.

It is often said that Immortals are heartless, and after several days passed with no sign of any immortal being, the mortals were almost in despair. Who would have thought that, at the final moment, a young girl of only thirteen or fourteen years old would step onto the swirling clouds and mist and fly out? She returned barely half an hour later, carrying the head of the demonic beast.

The grateful mortal elders returned and began to worship Myriad Flower Valley. They later heard from the villagers who remained behind that the beast had brazenly approached the village to prey on livestock and snatch people. Just as a child was about to be dragged away, the adorable, intricately carved little fairy, stepping on the clouds, employed an immortal technique, summoning a Heavenly General to battle the beast. In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, that Heavenly General struck the beast down with his sword, saving the lives of an entire village of mortals.

It was this place, Myriad Flower Valley, where Lei Dong stood with his hands clasped behind his back, observing the churning, colorful mist and clouds above the valley with keen interest. Clearly, it was a mountain-guarding formation, and not a low-level one at that. However, perhaps due to its age, a cursory examination by Lei Dong, combined with his rudimentary knowledge of formations, revealed several weaknesses.

His gaze sharpened, like two keen swords, piercing deep into the thick mist. The layout and structure of the buildings within the valley were instantly and vividly imprinted upon his mind. He could even clearly discern what appeared to be an exercise ground where a young man and a young woman were sparring.

Their method of combat was also quite peculiar; both stood behind their respective puppets, directing them in battle. The young man’s puppet was bronze in color, tall and imposing, wielding a long halberd. The young woman’s puppet, however, was much more delicate and refined; she had creatively added many decorative elements to her mechanical puppet, even painting it pink—a clear sign she had put considerable effort into its appearance. While this made the puppet beautiful, it suggested a lack of focus, as the essence of a mechanical puppet lay in its formidable combat power, its fierce appearance designed to inspire dread.

With a mere sweep of his eyes, Lei Dong assessed their cultivation levels: both seemed to be at the fifth or sixth layer of the Qi Refining stage. For their age, this cultivation was merely passable, falling short of the elites among their peers. Especially in the vast and talent-rich Great Qian Continent, such a level was truly unremarkable.

Yet, their puppets appeared quite potent. The two sparred fiercely, maneuvering and evading, trading blows. Whether engaging in close combat or casting ranged spells, they performed with skill, demonstrating at least the combat standard of high-level Qi Refining cultivators. Even more striking was how agile the puppets were, employing varied and adaptable tactics.

They were, after all, a family under the Myriad Puppet Sect, though clearly a declining one. Rumor had it that the most powerful clan leader’s father only managed the mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm, and the clan’s younger elder brother was merely at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment. Indeed, a younger brother. Lei Dong was not young by mortal standards; considering the years spent in seclusion within his grotto-heaven, he had long passed his 'centennial birthday.' Were it not for his supreme cultivation, he would likely have withered away if he were still in the Qi Refining stage. If he were in Foundation Establishment, he would at least resemble a white-bearded senior, rather than maintaining the appearance of a dashing youth as he did now.

Still, for Lei Dong to reach the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm at his apparent age was truly an astonishing feat, likely matched by very few even in the entirety of the Great Qian Continent.

“Hee hee, Cousin, watch my Blazing Cannon,” the young woman suddenly chirped, a flash of divine sense moving, and the arm of the pink puppet suddenly split open, revealing a sinister cannon barrel. With a deafening roar, as flames erupted, an iron ball the size of a fist shot out.

The young man’s bronze puppet hastily raised its halberd to intercept, but the iron ball moved too swiftly, slamming squarely into its chest. Worse yet, the iron ball proved to be a fragmentation shell, exploding into a cloud of fire and mist. The violent shockwave blasted the bronze puppet backward several yards before it crashed heavily to the ground, struggling weakly a few times before collapsing, unable to rise.

The young man panicked, swiftly flying down to the puppet to inspect it, his face growing darker: “Gongsun Qing, you’ve gone too far! You secretly fitted your puppet with a Blazing Cannon and damaged my War God Vajra.”

“Cousin, didn’t you say your War God Vajra was invincible in both attack and defense? How could it break from one small Blazing Cannon shell?” the girl named Gongsun Qing laughed charmingly, “It seems my Pink Maiden is superior.”

“Gongsun Qing, you—you cheated! This doesn’t count,” the young man seemed rather narrow-minded, his face pale with agitation, “You illegally installed a Blazing Cannon. Let’s fight again.”

“Luo Hongqing, don’t you even understand the principle that all’s fair in war? If you’re not satisfied, we can fight again,” Gongsun Qing pouted, clearly displeased, “You just don’t want to forfeit the one hundred spirit stones, do you? Come on, make your War God Vajra stand up, and we’ll continue. I promise not to use the Blazing Cannon.”

The argument between the young man and woman reminded Lei Dong of his earliest days upon entering the sect, when he was very young—though his cultivation was low, his days were filled with fighting spirit and ambition. However, the Yin Sha Sect was far from the 'harmonious' environment here; it was a place where death could strike at any moment.

Even now, Lei Dong felt a distinct nostalgia for his younger years. While the competition mechanism within the sect was brutal and pragmatic, it forged the crisis awareness that became the foundation for his survival while struggling in the outside world. For the world outside was far more cruel and realistic than the sect.

While they were arguing incessantly, Lei Dong had already transformed into a plume of black mist, settling intangibly into the largest courtyard. The feedback from his divine sense confirmed the target he sought was within this compound. He saw an old man, his hair and beard entirely white but his complexion ruddy, lounging leisurely on a reclining chair, his eyes half-closed in repose.

Standing on either side were two young maids in green skirts, slowly fanning him. These maids had skin so fair and tender it seemed breakable, and their bearing was soft as if they possessed no bones. The only regrettable detail was that their eyes seemed somewhat vacant.

Lei Dong started in surprise—he hadn't sensed the auras of these two people just now? He scanned them with his divine sense and realized the truth: these two young maids were not living beings, but two lifeless puppets. This brought a gleam to Lei Dong’s eyes; he hadn’t expected this fallen puppetry family to have refined their art to such a degree of verisimilitude.

“Sigh~”

Lei Dong strolled casually into the courtyard, arriving beside a small lake, his hands behind his back, admiring the delicate, clear lotus blossoms floating within. The sight reminded him of his and Wanyan’s home, the Fragrant Nook, which was also filled with various blossoming flowers and lotus pads covering the lake. Yet, a century had flashed by in a blink, and the time he spent reunited with Wanyan in the Fragrant Nook was painfully few.

“Who goes there?” The leisurely old man instantly sprang up from his reclining chair, staring with intense nervousness at Lei Dong’s tall, yet mysterious and powerful, silhouette. His feet instinctively trembled on the stone tiles.