Second Floor: The Serpent Guard Puppet

1,377 words

After encountering the first Wolf-Headed Puppet, the group ran into these constructs repeatedly. But under Man Brutal Beard’s abnormally defensive Heavenly Devil Arts, the puppets were smashed to pieces like clay, not even requiring help from Extreme Yin or the Confucian-robed elder.

Han Li unceremoniously collected the wreckage of every destroyed puppet.

This attracted prolonged sidelong glances from Wu Chou and the Profound Bone Saint.

Man Brutal Beard and the others pretended not to notice Han Li’s actions.

It seemed that Wan Tianming’s group had taken a different route from theirs. Seeing Extreme Yin and the others remain calm, Han Li guessed the old devils could track their counterparts’ general position, hence their unhurried pace.

But after encountering the puppet guards, Extreme Yin’s group stopped moving in a straight line and began to turn at corners.

One thing puzzled Han Li.

He had no idea what guided the three Nascent Soul old monsters. To him, all the intersections looked identical. Yet they chose without hesitation: left at one crossing, right at the next, never a moment’s doubt, looking utterly confident.

If it had only been Extreme Yin and the Confucian-robed elder, Han Li would not have been surprised. Both had been to the inner hall before, and they might have remembered the route from their previous visit.

But Man Brutal Beard was here for the first time. Still, he strode ahead, and the other two followed without complaint. Han Li found this suspicious.

He began secretly looking for differences between intersections and checking for hidden marks.

But after several crossroads, he had expended his mental energy to no avail.

He gave up, frustrated.

Along the way, Man Brutal Beard destroyed seven or eight Wolf-Headed Puppets with his bare hands, leading the group to a small teleportation formation.

The formation sat at the center of a cross-intersection, emitting a faint, glowing light.

“This will take us to the second floor. I wonder what trick those righteous bastards used to get ahead of us.” The Confucian-robed elder complained when he saw the formation, though a smile crept onto his face.

“Hmph. Let’s go. Even if they are ahead, so what? The Void Heaven Cauldron is not easy to take.” Man Brutal Beard snorted, unconcerned.

Then he swaggered into the formation.

Azure Yi Hermit smirked.

After Man Brutal Beard teleported, he and Extreme Yin Patriarch did not follow immediately. Instead, they exchanged a glance, then gave Han Li a meaningful look.

Han Li’s heart chilled.

Under their gaze, he forced himself to step into the formation. In a flash of white light, he was teleported away.

When he steadied himself and looked around, he froze.

The same cross-intersection. The same blue-stone passage. If not for Man Brutal Beard standing ahead with his hands clasped behind his back, Han Li would have thought the teleportation had failed.

While he was still bewildered, white light flashed behind him, and Extreme Yin and the others arrived one after another.

“What method did those righteous bastards use? They’re too fast. I can’t sense them at all now.” Extreme Yin Patriarch scanned the area the moment he materialized, his expression darkening.

“Forget it. Those righteous fellows proposed a truce on the outside. I found it suspicious from the start. Now it’s obvious they planned to trick us. But let them take the treasure first. Wan Tianming’s Golden Silk Silkworms won’t retrieve the Void Heaven Cauldron that easily. If they somehow get lucky and pull it out, we can ambush them and snatch it.” The Confucian-robed elder spoke with a cold glint in his eyes.

“Brother Qing is right. But we can’t delay too long. We need to speed up.” Extreme Yin Patriarch nodded, his mood improving.

“Brother Man, be careful. The Serpent Guard Puppets on this floor are troublesome. Brother Wu and I will help, to save mana and time. We can’t let those righteous bastards exploit our weakness on the fifth floor.” The elder spoke solemnly.

“Serpent Guard Puppets? Sounds interesting. Suit yourselves.” Man Brutal Beard was indifferent.

The demonic group continued without delay.

Soon, Han Li noticed the difference between the second floor and the first.

Cross-intersections appeared far less frequently, and the intervals between them were longer. More powerful restrictions and traps littered the path.

Though these hazards posed no real danger to Man Brutal Beard or Extreme Yin, some of them were absolutely fatal to Core Formation cultivators. Following behind the others, Han Li broke out in cold sweat.

Without a doubt, if he had entered the inner hall’s second floor alone, he would have lost his life to these restrictions and traps.

After passing the fifth intersection on the second floor, he finally saw the “Serpent Guard Puppet” the elder had mentioned.

The puppet was nauseating to look at.

It had two slender, green-red serpent heads and four arms arranged on its front and back torso. Its body was covered in pitch-black scale armor.

Its front hands held two azure short halberds. The rear hands grasped black, gleaming whips covered in sharp barbs that exuded a gray-white aura.

When the puppet saw Man Brutal Beard and his group, it shot forward without a sound, turning into a black streak. Its movements were incredibly fast and agile.

Man Brutal Beard laughed wildly, activating his Heavenly Devil Arts as he charged to meet it.

Then something happened that stunned Han Li. The Serpent Guard Puppet moved like a ghost, its azure halberds and whips alternating between rigid and flexible attacks. Though Man Brutal Beard, ignoring defense, pressed it relentlessly, the puppet barely managed to protect its vital points. Without using his magic treasures, Man Brutal Beard could not finish it quickly.

The azure halberds, made of some unknown material, only deformed slightly under his golden hands. They were not snapped in two.

Man Brutal Beard’s face flickered with surprise.

At that moment, Extreme Yin Patriarch and Azure Yi Hermit finally acted.

Extreme Yin used the Heaven Capital Corpse Fire that Han Li had so feared before.

A small black fireball appeared in his palm, then transformed into a thin black line that shot forth.

The Serpent Guard Puppet, busy withstanding Man Brutal Beard’s Heavenly Devil Arts, could not dodge. One of its arms, holding a halberd, was instantly enveloped in black flames and vanished.

On the other side, the Confucian-robed elder opened his mouth. A flood of azure light threads surged out, disappearing in a flash as they flew toward the puppet.

The light threads circled the puppet strangely, then a dense crackling sound erupted.

The Serpent Guard Puppet staggered, losing its balance.

A cruel glint flashed across Man Brutal Beard’s face. Seizing the moment, he rubbed his hands together violently. Dazzling golden light burst forth, and with a low roar, he punched straight through the puppet’s chest, tearing out a green, glowing gem.

The Serpent Guard Puppet immediately lost all power, wobbling as it collapsed to the ground.

Man Brutal Beard glanced at the now-dead puppet, then at the green stone in his hand. A harsh look crossed his face as he squeezed, trying to crush the gem.

But when his golden fist opened again, the gem was still glowing green, completely unharmed.

Even Man Brutal Beard, usually so arrogant, changed expression.

His golden hands, infused with Heavenly Devil Arts, could distort even spirit-infused treasures with a single squeeze—or, if they were low-grade, crush them entirely. A mere stone resisting his grip was unnerving.

While Man Brutal Beard stared in shock, the Confucian-robed elder walked over with a smile.

“Brother Man, don’t be surprised. People have already studied these strange stones. They are indestructible and cannot be refined or melted. They cannot be integrated into magic treasures or tools. Unless those ancient cultivators were reborn, these stones are just for show. Even the sects that specialize in puppet crafting don’t know their purpose.”

“Ancient cultivators’ junk is truly strange. Kid, since you like collecting this trash, take it.” Man Brutal Beard, as if to cover up his earlier embarrassment, tossed the stone to Han Li.

Han Li caught it reflexively, stunned.

Realizing what had happened, he silently stored the gem in his pouch.

Then he swept his gaze, stepped forward without hesitation, and, as usual, collected the Serpent Guard Puppet’s remains.

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Reading Guide Decoding

Dungeon Crawl Economics and Silent Power Plays

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

Let’s talk about the Loot Goblin Economy of the Mortal Stream. Han Li’s obsessive collection of puppet wreckage and tossed-away gems is not a random eccentricity—it is a core survival tactic. In a world where every scrap of ancient material could be a clue, a bargaining chip, or a hidden resource, the protagonist who treats even “trash” as capital is the one who survives. Western fantasy readers might see this as hoarding behavior; in RMJI, it is cold, rational resource acquisition. Han Li has no idea what these indestructible stones are, but he files them away because information + material = future leverage. That’s the entire xianxia economic philosophy in one action.

Another interesting point: the Serpent Guard Puppet’s azure halberds resist Man Brutal Beard’s Heaven Devil Arts but only deform. This reinforces a recurring rule in the cultivation world: ancient treasures often outclass modern ones in raw durability, even if their power systems are lost. It is not just about being stronger; it is about material science from a lost age. The indestructible stones that nobody can refine or melt are a perfect example of “chicken rib” resources—frustratingly impossible to use, but impossible to forget.

Loot Audit

A distinctive RMJI trope where the protagonist systematically collects all wreckage, discarded items, and seemingly worthless materials from combat scenes, treating every scrap as a potential future resource.

Chapter Overview

Welcome back, fellow cultivators! Chapter 484 is a pure Dungeon-Crawl Deluxe—our favorite loot goblin Han Li follows three Nascent Soul monsters deeper into the Void Heaven Palace’s second floor, picking up broken puppets and being treated like a glorified janitor. Don’t expect any dramatic one-liners or heroic speeches; what you get instead is a masterclass in how the Mortal Stream uses silent observation, economic scavenging, and layered power dynamics to build tension even in a “transition” chapter. Plus, we finally meet the Serpent Guard Puppet, a two-headed, four-armed monstrosity that makes even Man Brutal Beard pause. Let’s dig in.

Key Plot Points

The group encounters more Wolf-Headed Puppets, which are effortlessly dismantled by Man Brutal Beard’s Heavenly Devil Arts; Han Li collects all the wreckage, earning exasperated looks from Wu Chou and the Profound Bone Saint.
They arrive at a small teleportation formation to reach the second floor; the Confucian-robed elder is annoyed that Wan Tianming’s righteous faction is ahead of them.
Man Brutal Beard dismisses their lead, claiming the Void Heaven Cauldron is not easy to take.
Extreme Yin and Azure Yi Hermit exchange a meaningful glance before sending Han Li into the formation first—a silent power play.
On the second floor, Extreme Yin finds that Wan Tianming’s group has completely vanished from their tracking, confirming the righteous faction is actively outmaneuvering them.
The Confucian-robed elder suggests letting the righteous group take the risk of retrieving the cauldron before ambushing them.
The second floor features fewer intersections, more restrictions and traps, and the introduction of the Serpent Guard Puppet—a dual-headed, four-armed snake-based construct.
Man Brutal Beard struggles to kill the puppet alone; Extreme Yin and Azure Yi Hermit assist, demonstrating coordinated combat.
Man Brutal Beard fails to crush a green gem from the puppet’s core, revealing the existence of “indestructible stones” left by ancient cultivators, which are useless for refining but resistant to any modern force.
He tosses the gem to Han Li out of embarrassment, who collects it without comment.

Reading Guide

Hold onto your storage pouches—this chapter is a setup piece, but it is doing crucial work under the hood. The tracking game between the righteous and demonic factions is heating up, and Han Li is being treated as a silent asset by three Nascent Soul monsters who keep exchanging “meaningful glances” at him. If you are a new reader: pay attention to every time a high-level cultivator looks at Han Li without explanation. In the Mortal Stream, those glances are never friendly—they are assessments of utility, threat, or potential hostage value. Also, note how Man Brutal Beard’s casual arrogance is tested by a single resistant gem; his split-second embarrassment shows that even the most boastful cultivator can be humbled by ancient junk. The chapter may not have a big fight, but it is building a quiet tension that will snap later.

The Art of the Post-Battle Loot Audit

One of RMJI’s most distinctive features is the post-combat loot audit. Han Li does not celebrate the destruction of the Serpent Guard Puppet—he immediately sweeps the scene for salvage. This is not just greed; it is the cultivation world’s version of an after-action report. Every broken puppet, every discarded stone, every deactivated formation part is a data point. In a system where resources are finite and every scrap can be repurposed, the protagonist who treats a dead puppet like a potential blueprint is the one who never runs out of options. Western readers used to seeing heroes walk past “worthless” treasure should watch Han Li: he never scoffs at junk—he picks it up, stores it, and waits for the moment it becomes relevant.