Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Chapter 220 Shi Yutong's Reminder

Li Ping nodded solemnly.

A fourth-tier great demon, having survived the tribulation of lightning, has shed its demonic form and can transform into human form.

Before undergoing the tribulation of lightning and taking human form, even top-tier third-order demonic beasts are far less intelligent than intelligent races like humans.

Therefore, generally speaking, monsters of the same level are not as strong as humans.

However, once they successfully transform into human form, the monster's intelligence will rise to a level similar to that of a human.

Some ancient demons, having lived for countless years, are even more cunning than human cultivators.

They learned the methods of crafting magical artifacts from humans, and coupled with their naturally powerful physiques, their combat strength was so great that they could even suppress humans of the same level.

However, he was also curious as to why the ice dragon would attack the Tianqiao Sect.

The Heavenly Skill Sect only crafted a few third-tier puppets; they shouldn't pose a threat to it.

Before Li Ping could ask any questions, Shi Yutong took the initiative to introduce the situation to him: "The nine major cities in the far north are closely connected and support each other. They will help each other in case of trouble. However, when the fourth-level demon made its move, the Tianqiao Sect was destroyed before it could receive any support. When the other eight major cities arrived, they only found ruins."

"Later, after investigation, it was discovered that the reason why the Tianqiao Sect attracted a fourth-order great demon was because of the third-order puppet it had created."

At this point, Shi Yutong smiled and said, "Brother Li, you yourself are a puppeteer. You should know that once a puppet is made, if you want to control it freely, you must refine a soul of the corresponding rank into the puppet."

Li Ping nodded.

Unlike magical artifacts, puppets cannot be activated by the divine sense injected into them. What truly gives puppets life and allows them to fight like normal cultivators is the life soul integrated during the refining process.

and.

The more powerful the puppet, the higher the requirements for the living soul it needs to be integrated into.

A second-tier superior-grade puppet must be infused with at least a second-tier superior-grade living soul.

A third-tier puppet must also be integrated with a third-tier soul.

Since demonic beasts have no intelligence before they take human form, they are the easiest to deal with. In addition, the souls used to create puppets only require spiritual strength and do not need to consider intelligence or anything like that.

Therefore, the puppets that Li Ping previously created all used the souls of demonic beasts.

Thinking about this, Li Ping couldn't help but ponder, and he roughly guessed the reason why the Tianqiao Sect was wiped out.

Sure enough, Shi Yutong then slowly spoke again: "In order to refine third-order puppets, the cultivators of the Tianqiao Sect chose to go to the Ice Sea to hunt third-order demonic beasts and extract their life souls. However, the third-order demonic beasts in the Ice Sea are all food for that fourth-order ice dragon, which regards them as its own possessions."

The Heavenly Skill Sect could tolerate hunting once or twice occasionally, but repeated hunts thoroughly enraged the Ice Dragon, leading to its attack and the sect's downfall.

Li Ping sighed inwardly; what Shi Yutong said was almost exactly what he had guessed.

Shi Yutong smiled and reminded him, "Brother Li, if you want to refine third-tier puppets in the future, don't hunt third-tier demonic beasts in the Ice Sea. Otherwise, if you provoke an Ice Dragon, it might be difficult to escape."

Hearing Shi Yutong's reminder, Li Ping nodded slightly.

He will definitely make third-tier puppets, and he will make more than one, so he will definitely hunt third-tier demonic beasts, and the number of beasts hunted will not be limited to one.

But not now; this matter will be considered at least after he has formed his core.

Although third-tier demonic beasts are not very intelligent, their strength is on par with that of Core Formation cultivators, so he wouldn't risk provoking them.

After he forms his core, he can use the Bloodwing Escape Technique. Although he can't defeat a fourth-tier ice dragon, as long as he's careful, escaping won't be too much of a problem.

However, he had a better option than the icy sea monster.

There are no fourth-order transformed demons in the Cloud Mist Mountains. He could simply return to the Western Wilderness after forming his core and go to the Cloud Mist Mountains to hunt demons and collect their souls.

"Wait a minute... The Cloud Mist Mountains are so vast, who knows if there are any fourth-tier demons deep within them..."

Thinking of this, Li Ping suddenly chuckled to himself. He hadn't even achieved the Core Formation stage yet, and he was already thinking about dealing with a third-tier demon beast.

Besides, the other crafting materials for a third-tier puppet are not so easy to gather.

Thinking about this now is really just worrying unnecessarily; it's overthinking things.

……

Coming to his senses, Li Ping asked curiously, "By the way, Sect Leader Shi, that ice dragon devoured many cultivators and millions of mortals under the rule of the Tianqiao Sect. Didn't you ask the Great Zhou for help? As far as I know, the eight main cities in the far north are all viscounts enfeoffed by the Great Zhou. The Tianqiao Sect should be no exception. The Great Zhou shouldn't be able to turn a blind eye to the annihilation of the Tianqiao Sect."

Li Ping learned about the enfeoffment of the Great Zhou from Xiao Yunzhi.

He also knew that the Great Zhou Dynasty had once enfeoffed a "Marquis of Xiping" to go to the Western Wilderness to govern the local cultivators and mortals.

However, the mysterious disappearance of the Marquis of Xiping has left the cultivation world of the Western Wilderness in a state of limbo.

Shi Yutong nodded: "Brother Li also knows about this. In fact, after the destruction of the Tianqiao Sect, the eight city lords of the far north were worried that the ice dragon would attack humans again. In their anxiety, they did indeed jointly ask the Great Zhou for help."

Li listened quietly.

He had long heard that the Great Zhou cultivation world was a true holy land for cultivation, and that there were quite a few Nascent Soul cultivators in the Great Zhou, whom one could not find in the Western Wilderness at all.

If the cultivators of the Great Zhou Dynasty had truly responded to the plea for help from the humans of the far north, then the Ice Dragon should have been skinned alive and had its tendons pulled out long ago.

It's impossible that they've survived until now and still keep Shi Yutong in a state of fear.

It's highly likely that the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Great Zhou Dynasty were too lazy to deal with the cultivators from the far north and didn't come to handle the matter of the ice dragon eating people.

However, what Shi Yutong said next greatly surprised Li Ping.

Shi Yutong began, "The Holy Emperor of the Great Zhou was furious when he learned that millions of mortals had perished in the jaws of the Ice Dragon. The current headmaster of the Confucian School even personally went to the far north to try to kill the fourth-tier Ice Dragon and avenge this grudge."

"However, that ice dragon is an ancient species and has the advantage of the icy sea, making it far more difficult to deal with than humans of the same level."

According to the information passed down from the elders of the sect, the Confucian sect's headmaster patiently waited in the icy sea for ten years before the ice dragon finally appeared. After several moves, the ice dragon was defeated and severely injured.

Shi Yutong said helplessly, "But taking advantage of the terrain, the ice dragon took advantage of the mountain master's inattention and directly used the tail-severing escape technique to hide in the ten-thousand-foot ice sea and never came out again. Under such circumstances, even the mountain master, who is a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, has no way to deal with it."

"Fortunately, since being severely injured by Senior Mountain Master, Ice Dragon has been afraid of danger and has basically stopped leaving the Ice Sea."

……

"Headmaster, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator." Li Ping quickly grasped the key point in Shi Yutong's words.

This shocked him immensely. The Great Zhou cultivation world actually had such a powerful cultivator standing at the pinnacle of this world. It truly lived up to its reputation as a sacred place for cultivation.

"What a vast and boundless place that is!" Li Ping couldn't help but yearn for it.

However, with his current cultivation level, whether he traverses the far north and then heads south across the desert grasslands, or returns to the western wilderness first and then crosses the boundless sea, he can choose to proceed.

Both are extremely dangerous things.

Now is not the time for him to go to the Great Zhou.

Li Ping would only consider setting off for the Great Zhou Dynasty after he had at least reached the Core Formation stage and crafted a few third-tier puppets.

"Although the Ice Dragon basically doesn't dare to leave the Ice Sea, Brother Li, you should still try not to provoke it," Shi Yutong reminded him again. "After all, Senior Headmaster is far away in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and even if he receives the news, he won't be able to get here in a short time."

Li Ping smiled and nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, Sect Leader Shi. However, Sect Leader Shi is overthinking it. My puppetry skills are so poor that even the success rate of crafting second-tier puppets is terrifyingly low. How could I dare to hope for third-tier puppets?"

"Then I'm relieved. I just don't want Brother Li to provoke a powerful enemy without knowing why," Shi Yutong said with a smile.

She knew, of course, that Li Ping couldn't possibly create a third-tier puppet.

After all, crafting a third-tier puppet requires at least the spiritual materials needed to craft more than ten magical treasures, a sum that even the entire Flying Snow Sect could not gather.

How could Li Ping, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, possibly do that?

She revealed the reason for the destruction of the Tianqiao Sect simply to try and improve her relationship with Li Ping by discussing it.

Since the topic of puppets had come up, Li Ping didn't mince words and asked, "By the way, Sect Leader Shi, I've heard that the Tianqiao Sect has a technique for cultivating spiritual sense. Does your sect have any leads on this?"

He wanted to complete the incomplete "Myriad Spirits Divine Techniques", but after more than ten years, he still had no clue.

After the destruction of the Tianqiao Sect, the cultivators from the eight major cities who came to support them arrived at the scene immediately, and Li Ping guessed that they might have gained something.

Since he was having a pleasant conversation with Shi Yutong, Li Ping brought up the matter directly.

If he could obtain the subsequent techniques of the "Myriad Spirits Divine Technique", after mastering them, he would not only enhance his divine sense, but also greatly increase the number of puppets he could control at the same time.

This will undoubtedly lead to a dramatic increase in his combat power.

When Li Ping asked her, Shi Yutong thought for a moment and then shook her head: "Our sect has no clues about this technique."

Just as Li Ping was feeling disappointed, she smiled again: "However, there might be relevant clues in other major cities. I will ask other fellow Daoists to help inquire. If there is any discovery, I will notify Brother Li as soon as possible."

"Then thank you very much, Sect Leader Shi." Li Ping stood up and bowed solemnly.

Shi Yutong stood up and scolded, "Brother Li, what are you doing? You're being too formal over such a small matter. If you keep this up, I'll be sad."

Li Ping shook his head speechlessly, ignoring her cryptic remarks: "In short, I'll leave this matter to Sect Leader Shi."

……

After seeing Shi Yutong off, Li Ping happened to see Xiao Yunzhi standing in the courtyard, looking at him with a complicated expression.

She said with a hint of resentment, "Brother Li, do you really treat me like a younger sister?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ping asked curiously, "What, are you planning to dress up as a man and become my brother?"

"Hmph!" Xiao Yunzhi snorted, "Brother Li, if you keep doing this, I'm really going to get angry!"

Upon hearing this, Li Ping was speechless: "Speak properly, where did you learn that from?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ping was speechless: "Speak properly, where did you learn that from?"

"Isn't that how Sect Leader Shi talks?" Xiao Yunzhi said angrily. "Yunzhi saw that Brother Li seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation with her."

Li Ping waved his hand: "Don't imitate her, it's tiring to listen to."