The Soul Within the Sphere

Mu Beishan looked at Ji Ning, and finally nodded. “Alright. I’ll go with you, Senior Apprentice-Brother.”

“Hahaha, that’s more like it.” Ji Ning laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

Mu Beishan looked at Ji Ning and smiled as well, but in his heart, he had made a decision: Senior Apprentice-Brother treats me like this. I, Mu Beishan, will definitely repay him.

The hour of rest was over.

The grey-robed figures filed out from their respective dwellings. Mu Beishan walked out as well, his hair still a mess.

“Hurry up.”

“Move it, all of you.”

Black-robed figures were already urging them on, but the Puppetmasters remained calm, completely ignoring the black-robed men. They were, after all, genuine Puppetmasters. While there were penalties for failing to produce or for working sloppily, a full hour of rest was something they were entitled to.

“The black-robed men have a very low status in this mysterious organization. Those at the Wanxiang and Primal stages are merely ‘Demon Slaves’, while black-robed figures at the Earth Immortal or Loose Immortal level are ‘Demon Servants’.” Ji Ning recalled Mu Beishan’s introduction from before, which had given him some understanding of this mysterious force.

“Wooosh~~”

A hazy light enveloped the ancient castle. Grey-robed figures filed into the castle one by one, and Mu Beishan entered as well.

Ji Ning’s ‘field of vision’ shifted. At the entrance to the castle stood a man clad in bronze armor; his aura was clearly far more powerful.

“Bronze Guards? Demon Guards? I wonder how many Demon Guards are stationed in this stronghold.” Ji Ning mused silently.

Demon Slaves had Wanxiang and Primal cultivators.
Demon Servants were Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals.
Demon Guards, however, were the most powerful among the Loose Immortal ranks. From what Ji Ning could observe, each one of them was roughly on par with ‘Evil Ancestor’.

Above them… were the Demon Generals!
Demon Generals — ‘Generals’ — were Celestial Immortal-level existences.

The passages within the castle were deep and winding, with large chambers branching off to the sides. Some of those chambers also held Puppetmasters! Mu Beishan and the others continued deeper in.

“Ah, here they are.” At the end of the passage, a bronze-armored Demon Guard chuckled and said, “Open the doors.”

“Yes, sir.”

The black-robed Demon Servants immediately pushed open the doors. The doors rumbled open, and the grey-robed figures filed inside. Naturally, the strand of hair that Ji Ning had transformed into followed Mu Beishan in.

“Whew.” Mu Beishan let out a quiet sigh of relief. Senior Apprentice-Brother’s shapeshifting technique is truly formidable. The castle is filled with layer upon layer of restrictive spells, yet they haven’t discovered him.

Once through the doors, they entered an enormous, independent space.

This space was ten thousand meters in size. The grey-robed figures stepped upon clouds of mist and gathered around a single ‘giant golem’. A vast array of raw materials lay scattered around it. The Puppetmasters immediately began their work.

“So huge.” The strand of hair that was ‘Ji Ning’ observed the colossal golem. “Even though Junior Apprentice-Brother told me about it, seeing this golem in person is still shocking. When controlled by a Celestial Immortal, it can have power that is nearly unrivaled beneath the level of True God or Celestial Immortal.”

According to his junior apprentice-brother’s introduction, this most important golem within the forbidden region was called the ‘Fiendgod Puppet’, codenamed ‘Fiendgod’.

Its main body was fully a thousand meters tall, pitch black, and resembled a giant crab. It had eight slender, sharp legs and two enormous, crushing pincers. The densely packed patterns and formations covering its main body made Ji Ning dizzy just looking at them. It was incredibly complex.

“So ferocious. Just looking at its shape, it’s a natural weapon of war.”

Even the aura emanating from the incomplete formation-diagrams on this massive, black, crab-shaped Fiendgod Puppet was already far beyond that of an ordinary Celestial Immortal!

“This place gathers the top experts of the Puppet Dao from over a hundred commanderies in the surrounding area.” Ji Ning thought to himself. “According to Junior Apprentice-Brother, just one stronghold like this can produce one such golem in about ten years. How many strongholds are there across the entire Grand Xia Dynasty’s three thousand six hundred commanderies and the Four Seas? How many golems of this level can be produced every hundred years?”

Ji Ning also knew the math couldn’t be done that simply.

After all, the materials required for such golems were extremely precious. Besides needing a large number of Puppetmasters, they also required a massive supply of rare materials.

“And this is just the last thirty years.”

“What about the even longer period before they came to the Grand Xia?”

A chill ran down Ji Ning’s spine.

Unfathomable!

No wonder Patriarch Subhuti, who could “Dream of the Three Realms,” was so worried.

“Swish!”

Suddenly, Mu Beishan stopped working and flew directly toward the entrance of the space, where two black-robed men were standing.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get back to work!” one of the black-robed men barked.

“I want to see my Dao-companion,” Mu Beishan said.

“Your Dao-companion?” The black-robed man frowned.

“I haven’t seen her yet this month,” Mu Beishan said. “I’m allowed to see her once a month.”

“Fine, fine. So much trouble. Wait here. I’ll go inform the master.” The black-robed man said.

Mu Beishan nodded obediently and stood there waiting.

In another, smaller space within the castle, another group of grey-robed figures surrounded a large golem. They couldn’t bear to stop touching it; this golem had consumed a tremendous amount of their effort. Now that it was completed, it was about to be taken away. Although they too wore grey robes, their status wasn’t as high as Mu Beishan’s group.

Their numbers were far greater, but their skill in the Puppet Dao was comparatively inferior.

“Sir, the ‘Winged Immortal’ golem has been completed,” a black-robed figure respectfully said to a nearby red-robed old man.

“Mm.” The red-robed old man revealed a smile. “So slow. These little fellows from the Grand Xia world are truly terrible at the Puppet Dao. So many people working on a single ‘Winged Immortal’ golem, and they still took this long.”

The black-robed figure beside him silently sneered.

Slow?

This old fart didn’t even understand the process. He had a low status within the sect and only got this job because he knew how to flatter the General. He was put in charge of overseeing the golem production! If an actual formal disciple of the sect’s ‘Puppet Dao’ were to show up, this old bastard would probably be kneeling and licking their toes!

“All of you, move aside!” The red-robed old man strode over and shouted loudly.

The grey-robed figures immediately retreated.

The red-robed old man grinned, waving his hand. Instantly, the massive, winged ‘Winged Immortal’ golem was sucked into his storage bracelet. “Another Winged Immortal completed. Heh heh… among the strongholds I oversee, our production of Winged Immortals is in the top ten. As soon as the ‘Fiendgod’ is completed, I’m sure the higher-ups will bestow a generous reward upon me.”

“Sir! Sir!” A voice suddenly interrupted the red-robed old man’s thoughts.

The red-robed old man glanced impatiently at the lowly black-robed man who had rushed over. He said coldly, “You useless piece of trash, can’t you see I’m busy here? What’s all this shouting about?”

“It’s about that Mu Beishan; he wants to see his Dao-companion,” the black-robed man hurriedly reported, cursing the old fool in his heart.

Demon Slaves, Demon Servants, Demon Guards…

They were ranked by strength.

Strictly speaking, the red-robed old man was just one of the ‘Demon Servants’. He only wore red robes because he had found favor. He was in charge of overseeing the golem production in this castle! In terms of actual power, he was on par with the other black-robed men. Seeing this red-robed old man swagger around, they were all quite displeased, secretly hoping the day would come when he would fall from grace!

“Mu Beishan?” The red-robed old man pursed his lips. “Always so troublesome. Let’s go, let’s go see him.”

There were only so many Puppetmasters in the castle, and he remembered every single name clearly.

…

Soon, the red-robed old man saw Mu Beishan.

The strand of ‘Ji Ning’s’ hair also saw this red-robed old man. Mu Beishan had told him about this man beforehand; he was an important figure in the forbidden region, named ‘Qu Huan’. He was specifically in charge of overseeing their work on the golems. As for the souls, they were kept hidden somewhere in the castle by this same red-robed old man.

Mu Beishan spoke up: “I wish to see my Dao-companion.”

“Let’s go.” The red-robed old man said impatiently. “You get to see your family once a month, that’s fine. But you have to work hard. If you slack off… hmph, you know the penalty.”

Mu Beishan nodded. “I know, I know.”

The red-robed old man led the way, passing through the wide main passage before turning into a narrow side passage. Soon, they were led into a secret chamber.

“Wait here. I’ll be back shortly,” the red-robed old man said.

“Alright.” Mu Beishan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. The chamber was very quiet, save for a black-robed man watching from the entrance.

A moment later.

The red-robed old man reappeared and entered the chamber. He too sat down cross-legged, snorting coldly, “You have the time it takes to burn one incense stick.” As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a crystalline sphere appeared beside him. Within the sphere was a woman’s shadow. Her figure was slender and graceful, and she carried a faint air of sorrow.

“Xia.” Mu Beishan immediately said, his voice choked with emotion.

The woman within the sphere looked back at him. Overjoyed, she said hurriedly, “Zi Shuo.” The voice of the soul, transmitted through the sphere, actually echoed through the secret chamber, audible to the ear.

The strand of hair that was ‘Ji Ning’ was intrigued.

Normally, a soul couldn’t produce sound directly. It seemed that this crystalline sphere was the reason. Likewise, Yu Xia’s soul was trapped within it.

So it seems this ‘Yu Xia’ and my Junior Apprentice-Brother truly have a deep bond, the strand of Ji Ning observed.

“Zi Shuo, I know you’re very tired.” The woman within the crystal sphere floated about, her voice anxious. “Every time I see you, you seem more exhausted and worn out than the last. If it’s really too much to bear, don’t worry about me anymore.”

“Hmph.” The red-robed old man beside them snorted coldly. “How deeply affectionate.”

Mu Beishan, however, stared at the woman within the sphere and said hurriedly, “Xia, I will definitely take you away from here. I swear it.”

“That’s right. Just work hard for the General, and within a thousand years, you’ll surely be granted your freedom,” the red-robed old man said from the side.

Tears welled up in Mu Beishan’s eyes as he looked at the woman in the sphere. Suddenly, he transmitted his voice to Ji Ning using his elemental ki: “Senior Apprentice-Brother, kill Qu Huan and seize the soul!”

“Alright.”

One strand of Mu Beishan’s messy hair vanished.

Immediately after, a white-robed youth appeared out of thin air. As he appeared, his enormous hand had already activated the power of the [Starseizing Hand], smashing it down upon the startled, terrified red-robed old man.

With a thunderous BOOM, the red-robed old man was crushed into ash. With a wave of his hand, the white-robed youth swept up the crystal sphere, the storage bracelet, the magic treasures, and everything else.