Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 170 Nighttime Trampoline on the Forging Platform, Secretly Refining the Divine Puppet

Cangxuan Sect, Tingquan Pavilion.

As darkness fell and the night deepened, the cold moon hung like a hook.

A cold wind blew through the purple bamboo grove outside the courtyard, and withered yellow bamboo leaves swirled and fell into the pond.

The sound of the flowing water at the spring mouth was gurgling, accompanied by the chirping of insects.

Gu Yan pushed open the courtyard gate and strode into the house.

Li Qingge followed closely behind, and promptly closed the courtyard gate tightly, shutting out the noise and gloom from the outside world.

There were no lights on inside, but Gu Yan casually waved his hand, and a flame rose up, igniting the lantern on the roof beam.

He walked to the table, poured himself a glass of tea that had long since gone cold, and drank it all in one gulp.

Li Qingge stood by the door, looking at Gu Yan's tall and straight back, a complex light flashing in her eyes.

The scenes from the square kept replaying in her mind.

Lu Ping's tragic death, Zhou Tianqi's forbearance, the Grand Elder's helplessness, and the madness of thousands of disciples.

The entire Cangxuan Sect was like a giant ship that had lost its way in a raging storm, and it could capsize at any moment.

Amidst all this chaos, only Senior Brother Gu, whom everyone believed survived only because of his master's trump card, maintained the clarity and composure of an observer throughout.

"Senior Brother Gu."

Li Qingge parted her lips slightly, breaking the silence in the room.

Gu Yan put down his teacup, turned around, and wore that gentle smile on his face.

"Fairy, there is no need to worry. Elder Zhou handled today's matter extremely well. Although Guixu Sect suffered some injustice, at least a bloody battle was avoided on the spot. As long as the sect leaders of both sides intervene, the truth will eventually come to light."

Li Qingge shook her head and walked to the table to sit down.

"Senior brother, there's no need to comfort me. We both know this is just a delaying tactic. Those sword cultivators from the Guixu Sect are unyielding and will not back down. Once the news gets back, it's only a matter of time before their army is pressing in. The Cangxuan Sect has no way out."

Li Qingge's tone revealed deep exhaustion.

She cultivated the Supreme Forgetfulness Technique, which should have given her a heart as still as water, unmoved by external things.

But after all, she was the senior disciple of the Cangxuan Sect. Having grown up in the sect since childhood, witnessing the tragic deaths of her once-familiar elders and seeing the sect plunge into an abyss of no return, her Dao heart was thrown into turmoil.

Gu Yan looked at Li Qingge's slightly pale yet stunningly beautiful face, said nothing, and simply listened quietly.

Li Qingge raised her head and looked directly into Gu Yan's eyes.

"Senior Brother Gu. You and I once faced death side by side in the desolate wasteland. In this Cangxuan Sect, the only person Qingge can trust now is you, Senior Brother."

She paused, her pale fingers gently clenching her sleeves, as if she had made a decision.

"From now on, could you please stop calling me Fairy Li?"

Gu Yan was slightly taken aback, a perfectly timed look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"What does the fairy mean by this?"

Li Qingge took a deep breath, and a rare tenderness appeared in her usually cool voice.

"The word 'fairy' is too unfamiliar and too formal. The cultivation world is full of deceit and treachery, and everyone wears a mask. Although Qingge cultivates the path of detachment, she is still grateful and repays kindness. Senior brother has done great favors for Qingge and for the Cangxuan Sect. If senior brother doesn't mind, just call me Qingge."

Gu Yan looked at the icy beauty in front of him who had taken the initiative to lower her guard and sighed inwardly.

The Record of Supreme Forgetfulness.

You must first experience the emotion before you can forget it.

Li Qingge's current state clearly indicates that her Dao heart has developed cracks, and she urgently needs an emotional anchor to stabilize her faltering beliefs.

And Gu Yan, with his flawless acting skills, successfully became this anchor point.

This is an excellent sign, meaning that the number one prodigy of Dongzhou has completely let down his guard against him.

The surprise on Gu Yan's face gradually turned into a warm smile.

"In that case, I shall presume to do so, Junior Sister Qingge."

Upon hearing the address "Junior Sister Qingge," Li Qingge's eyelashes trembled slightly, and the inexplicable loneliness in her heart dissipated considerably.

She stood up and bowed deeply to Gu Yan.

"Qingge will not disturb Senior Brother's healing any longer. Now that there has been a change in the sect, as the eldest senior sister, Qingge still needs to go and appease the inner disciples. After tonight, Cangxuan Sect may not have a peaceful day. Senior Brother, please be careful in everything you do."

"Junior sister, don't let your inner demons take advantage of your weakness."

Gu Yan replied gently.

Li Qingge nodded, turned around, pushed open the door, and left. Her white figure quickly disappeared into the night.

As the footsteps faded into silence, the gentleness on Gu Yan's face slowly vanished, replaced by a cold and ruthless expression.

He walked to the window and looked at the crescent moon in the sky, which was obscured by dark clouds.

The night breeze rustled through the purple bamboo grove.

The entire main peak of the Cangxuan Sect was brightly lit, and squads of disciples from the Law Enforcement Hall patrolled back and forth in mid-air as if facing a formidable enemy.

All attention was focused on preventing a surprise attack from the Guixu Sect and searching for internal spies.

This leads to an absolute blind spot.

The sword-forging platform, deemed abandoned and with its heavenly fire stolen, now has the lowest level of defense since the founding of the Cangxuan Sect.

"It's time."

Gu Yan took out an ordinary yellow talisman from his storage ring, bit his fingertip, and quickly drew a substitute talisman on the talisman.

Driven by spiritual power, the talisman, with its deceptive properties, transformed into a mannequin in a puff of green smoke, perfectly replicating Gu Yan's appearance, figure, and even aura.

The dummy walked to the jade bed, sat cross-legged, closed its eyes and began to breathe, pretending to be healing itself.

Gu Yan then formed a hand seal, and the Tai Xu fragments in his Qi Hai Dan Tian suddenly began to circulate.

A faint wisp of silvery-white spatial law completely enveloped his body.

His figure gradually faded away until it merged into the void, leaving no trace of spiritual energy.

……

Behind the main peak of Cangxuan Mountain, there is the Sword Forging Platform.

The solitary peak was deathly silent under the cover of night.

On the massive basalt platform, eight bronze pillars stood dimly lit. The flames and heat that once rose from the ground had vanished without a trace, leaving only ashes and a biting cold wind.

Two ordinary law enforcement disciples, who had been sent to symbolically guard the area, were leaning against a stone pillar in the distance, yawning and complaining about the tense atmosphere within the sect.

Above the Bagua Fire Pool in the very center of the platform, space suddenly underwent a barely perceptible distortion.

Gu Yan's figure appeared silently at the edge of the fire pit, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.

He lowered his head and looked into the unfathomable fiery eye.

Just as Zhou Chongyue said, the Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire seeds here have been completely extracted by the mastermind with great supernatural powers, leaving not even a spark.

For an average weapon refiner, this fire pool is already useless.

But Gu Yan said otherwise.

He is proficient in the art of evergreen growth and decay, possessing the master-level characteristic of being able to generate all things.

Plants wither and flourish, life goes on endlessly, just as a single spark can start a prairie fire.

Gu Yan sat cross-legged on the edge of the fire pool, his hands pressed on the cold Bagua array patterns.

The Divine Demon Golden Core circulated wildly within his body, its pure white divinity intertwined with its pitch-black demonic power, transforming into an extremely powerful primordial force that surged into the depths of the fire pool through his arms.

"Seek the source of Qi, and all things will be born. Arise!"

Gu Yan gave a low shout in his heart.

The primordial power is like a large net, flowing down through the channels of the Fire Eye, all the way to the deepest earth vein fire source beneath the Cangxuan Sect.

That is where the Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire was born.

Although the fire was removed, the earth's veins must still retain the residual fiery essence left by the scorching of heavenly fire over tens of thousands of years.

This lingering effect is extremely weak; ordinary cultivators simply cannot detect it, let alone ignite it.

However, in the face of Gu Yan's divine and demonic spiritual power, which was mixed with the laws of space and the power of creation, these scattered remnants of fire began to be forcibly gathered together.

Half an incense stick later.

Suddenly, a flame ignited deep within the dark pool of fire.

The flame was only the size of a soybean, half of it a deep, cold blue, and the other half a deep, hot red.

This was the sub-fire of a Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire that Gu Yan had forcibly generated using the power of creation.

Even though it's only a single strand, it's enough.

Gu Yan flicked his finger.

Two paper talismans, as thin as cicada wings, flew out of the storage ring.

The talisman grew taller in mid-air, transforming into two slender figures, one black and one white.

The white-robed paper sword attendant was surrounded by holy light, while the black-robed paper sword attendant had demonic energy churning beneath his feet.

Two killing machines stood silently beside Gu Yan, like two emotionless grim reapers.

Gu Yan took a deep breath and pulled out the piece of companion space meteorite iron covered with verdigris from his sleeve.

With a flick of his wrist, he threw the meteorite iron directly into the depths of the fire pool, precisely landing it on the wisp of Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire the size of a soybean.

"Tsk."

A soft sound.

The verdigris that even a top-grade flying sword couldn't leave a mark on was instantly burned to nothingness the moment it came into contact with the heavenly fire.

Gradually, under the alternating extreme cold and heat of the Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire, which ignored physical defenses, the meteorite began to tremble violently, and signs of melting appeared on its surface, revealing its silvery-white body.

Gu Yan dared not be careless in the slightest.

He had to immerse himself completely in it and control the heat.

If the power of the heavenly fire is too great, the meteorite iron will be completely vaporized; if the power is too small, it cannot be refined into a liquid state.

Time flowed slowly on the empty sword-forging platform.

A full hour passed.

The palm-sized piece of meteorite iron finally melted completely, turning into a clump of silvery-white liquid suspended in the eye of the fire.

The liquid constantly changed shape, and with each movement, it cut tiny black cracks in the surrounding space, emitting terrifying spatial fluctuations.

"Now."

Gu Yan's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and his hands suddenly changed hand seals, his ten fingers leaving afterimages like butterflies flitting among flowers.

The silvery-white liquid suspended in the eye of the fire was split in two, turning into two silver streams of light that shot into the sky from the fire pool and directly towards the foreheads of the two paper sword servants, one black and one white.

Paper sword servants are formed from talismans and are most afraid of being burned.

This silvery-white liquid contains the terrifyingly high temperature of Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire.

The moment the paper sword servant touched the center of the brow, the paper bodies of the two puppets began to emit black smoke, as if they would spontaneously combust and turn to ashes in the next instant.

The moment the paper sword servant touched the center of the brow, the paper bodies of the two puppets began to emit black smoke, as if they would spontaneously combust and turn to ashes in the next instant.

"The Great Void guards the field, sealing away gods and demons."

Gu Yan let out a low roar, and the fragments of the Great Void within his body erupted with a powerful spatial confinement force, directly enveloping the two paper sword servants and forcibly suppressing the destructive high temperature.

At the same time, Gu Yan bit his tongue and spat out two mouthfuls of blood essence containing the origin of gods and demons, which landed on the rune cores of the two paper sword servants respectively.

Blood seeped into the paper, transforming into intricate traction patterns.

Guided by that primordial power, the silvery-white spatial liquid began to seep into the body of the paper sword servant, following the array patterns.

Because the laws of space are extremely domineering, Gu Yan must perfectly weave the spatial liquid into their original spiritual energy circuits before the rune cores of the paper sword servants collapse.

After a long while, the wind on the high platform stopped.

The two dozing enforcement disciples were completely unaware that less than a hundred feet away from them, a forging process that drove countless blacksmiths mad was taking place.

Gu Yan's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.

His divine sense was divided into countless parts, precisely controlling the direction of every drop of liquid in the space.

The white paper sword servant's body gradually became transparent, and an extremely sharp sword intent, as if capable of cutting through heaven and earth, was gestating within its body.

The black paper sword servant's body became increasingly profound, like a black hole that devours light, making one feel as if their soul had left their body with just a glance.

When the last trace of silvery-white liquid merged into the heart of the paper sword servant.

Gu Yan abruptly withdrew the suppression from the Taixu fragments.

"Buzz".

An invisible ripple spread across the surface of the two paper sword servants' bodies.

Immediately afterward, under Gu Yan's gaze, the two figures, one in black and one in white, vanished from the spot.

Gu Yan's lips curled into a satisfied smile. He closed his eyes and, through the bonds deep within his soul, clearly sensed the presence of the two paper sword servants.

They did not disappear, but instead vanished into a void interlayer parallel to the real world.

With a mere thought from Gu Yan, they could instantly traverse a distance of hundreds of feet and launch a deadly assassination attack on the enemy from any unbelievable angle.

The paper sword servants of today can no longer be called puppets.

They are true Void Killers.

After being infused with the meteorite iron from the accompanying space, the Paper Sword Servant's original weakness of fearing water and fire was completely eliminated.

That tough spatial barrier was strong enough to withstand a full-force attack from a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and there were dozens of such spatial barriers.

Moreover, their attacks now also carry the power of the law of spatial cutting.

Once they are at the same level, no protective aura can withstand their sword strike.

Gu Yan opened his eyes, a thought stirring in his mind.

A crack appeared in the space beside the fire pit, and two paper sword servants silently appeared behind him, like two loyal ghost guards.

"Well done."

Gu Yan let out a long sigh of relief.

With these two Void Paper Sword Servants that have undergone a qualitative change, even if the Eastern Continent is in chaos and Nascent Soul stage monsters are everywhere, he finally has an absolute trump card to protect himself and even fight back.

I looked up at the sky.

The darkness is deepest before dawn.

Gu Yan put away the two paper sword servants and casually waved his hand. The power of the Taixu fragments completely erased all the residual spiritual energy and traces of aura above the fire pool.

Having done all this, Gu Yan once again used the laws of space, his figure merging into the void, and silently left the sword-forging platform.

When the first rays of dawn pierced through the clouds and shone on the eaves of the main peak of the Cangxuan Sect.

Gu Yan had already returned to his room in Tingquan Pavilion. He waved his hand to scatter the substitute talisman paper on the bed, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

It was as if he had never left the room last night.

However, on this peaceful morning...

At the gate of the Guixu Sect, tens of thousands of miles away from the Cangxuan Sect.

A Guixu Sect steward, covered in blood and with all his meridians severed, breathed his last and landed on the great formation outside the mountain gate.

With his last ounce of strength, he shouted a shocking statement to the Guixu Sect disciples who had rushed to the scene.

"The Cangxuan Sect has betrayed its promise, imprisoning our young sect leader and defaming our sect's reputation. Sect leader, please send troops to avenge us!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the deacon fell straight down and never woke up again.