Ye Bufan curled his lips in mockery.
He reached out and wiped his hand across "Zhou Wangchen's" face, peeling off a layer of human skin. Beneath it was a dull, dark-skinned stranger's face—like that of a weathered old farmer.
There was no denying it—this Zhou guy was cunning beyond measure. He had hidden himself away, using a corpse puppet to impersonate him while secretly manipulating all his puppets with his spiritual sense.
"That bronze-armored corpse?"
Lü Luo felt a chill run down her spine.
It was clear that Zhou Wangchen had long harbored ill intentions toward her. His so-called "gift" of the bronze-armored corpse was nothing but a ploy to catch her off guard and subdue her.
Thankfully, she hadn't taken it.
Whoosh!
At that moment, the real Zhou Wangchen darted out from a shadowy corner of the courtyard.
He slapped several high-grade Swift Wind Talismans onto his body, transforming into a gust of wind as he fled the courtyard, vanishing into the dark night.
"Damn it! That old fox is truly sinister—playing the weak to prey on the strong!"
Zhou Wangchen's horse-like face was drenched in cold sweat, his earlier arrogance completely gone as he desperately fled.
He never would have guessed that the one who achieved Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment was an old man.
And his strength was beyond imagination—the flying sword he wielded with his magic power was terrifyingly powerful!
That bronze-armored corpse of his had been refined from a righteous path body-refining cultivator, its defenses monstrous. Even a fourth-level Foundation Establishment expert wouldn't be able to break through.
Yet it had been nailed to death with a single sword strike, severing his spiritual imprint!
"After a lifetime of hunting geese, I got pecked in the eye by one. This old bastard is so strong, yet he still set me up with a paper puppet trap!"
"Luckily, I'm brilliant and always one step ahead."
Zhou Wangchen felt a surge of relief, followed by smug satisfaction.
Thanks to his cunning, he had outwitted and killed countless cultivators of his level.
"Once I escape, I'll leak word to the righteous path and have them exterminate this bastard!"
A Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator would only make the Heavenly Demon Sect value him more—bad news for Zhou.
But if the righteous factions learned of this, they would spare no expense to eliminate such a threat.
After all, if someone with such potential grew stronger, what future would the righteous path have?
However—
Just as he escaped the courtyard, a flash of bloody light streaked toward him from the corner of his eye.
"Blood Escape Technique?! You're using a forbidden art the moment we meet?! Are you out of your mind?!"
Zhou Wangchen's scalp tingled with terror, and he couldn't help but curse aloud.
This high-level technique was something even a first-level Foundation Establishment cultivator could sustain for only a few breaths. After using it, one's condition would plummet, and it would severely damage one's cultivation foundation.
No one used it unless their life was at stake.
"Go!"
Ye Bufan closed the distance in an instant, flicking his wrist to release a demonic serpent.
The serpent seemed exhilarated, its bloody maw gaping as it lunged straight for Zhou Wangchen.
"You're burning through your essence blood like it's free?! What kind of lunatic are you?!"
Zhou Wangchen, both horrified and furious, roared and hurled a humanoid puppet in defense.
He couldn't comprehend it—this old man had opened with two major essence-blood-draining techniques, defying all logic.
Clang!
The demonic serpent swallowed the puppet whole, its demonic energy weakening slightly.
But it only grew more frenzied, surging forward and engulfing Zhou Wangchen in its maw.
"Demonic Dragon Art—minor mastery?! Impossible!"
Zhou Wangchen was stunned. This old man was a freak.
In the entire Heavenly Demon Sect, only a handful had achieved minor mastery in this technique.
Then, despair fully set in.
He saw that the old man showed no signs of essence-blood depletion. Instead, his complexion was ruddy, his energy soaring as if he'd taken some miraculous elixir.
Crunch!
Zhou Wangchen was bitten into critical condition by the serpent, his body riddled with bloody holes before he finally collapsed into unconsciousness.
"Let's go back."
Ye Bufan wasted no time. With a sweep of his sleeve, he cleaned up the scene thoroughly.
Then he took Zhou Wangchen and the three puppets with him.
[You used Blood Escape Technique once—Negative Reversed: Vitality, energy, and spirit greatly enhanced.]
[You used Demonic Dragon Art once—Negative Reversed: Cultivation progress advanced.]
Ye Bufan felt an unprecedented surge of vigor. Glancing at the system panel's notifications, he couldn't help but smile.
Others who used such techniques would be left mentally exhausted, their cultivation regressing.
But he?
He was brimming with energy.
His cultivation, which had just entered the first level of Foundation Establishment, had now progressed noticeably toward the peak of the first level.
"Master, are you unharmed?"
As soon as he returned to the courtyard, Lü Luo hurried over.
She glanced at the blood-soaked Zhou Wangchen, her heart pounding, and her gaze toward Ye Bufan carried a new layer of reverence.
Though Zhou Wangchen's cultivation was low, his puppets were formidable, earning him some renown in the Demon Sword Peak.
Most importantly, he was notoriously cunning. Several late-stage Foundation Establishment experts had tried to kill him before, yet he had always escaped unscathed.
"Just a bit of essence-blood loss. Nothing serious."
Ye Bufan feigned a pale complexion.
He was inherently cautious—even with Lü Luo as his servant, he wouldn't reveal certain secrets in front of her.
"Master's talent is extraordinary. To achieve minor mastery in both Demonic Dragon Art and Blood Escape Technique in just a day or two…"
Lü Luo spoke with genuine admiration.
She had spent years struggling to reach minor mastery in Demonic Dragon Art, yet Ye Bufan had done it in no time. It was almost unbelievable.
"Enough flattery."
Ye Bufan waved her off and set Zhou Wangchen down, then began sorting through the spoils.
Three puppets, all at the peak of the third level of Foundation Establishment.
That bronze-armored corpse?
It had reached the fourth level!
This would undoubtedly elevate his combat power significantly.
"Zhou Wangchen relied on these puppets for his reputation. Many fellow disciples coveted them."
Lü Luo congratulated him.
Ye Bufan was equally pleased. He then opened Zhou Wangchen's storage pouch, dumping out a pile of items.
Most were materials for crafting puppets.
There were also pills, poisons, and over a thousand spirit stones.
Total value: over two thousand!
"What a fortune! Even among Foundation Establishment cultivators, this counts as wealthy."
Ye Bufan clicked his tongue. Back when he was a rogue cultivator, he had scrimped and saved for decades without ever accumulating five hundred spirit stones.
Two thousand would perfectly replenish his reserves.
Earlier, he had spent nearly three hundred spirit stones on materials and demon ape essence-blood for Lü Luo to purchase, leaving him nearly broke.
"This should be enough to advance my Demon Ape Great Technique by two levels."
Ye Bufan stored the spirit stones and materials away.
There were also a few cultivation manuals.
"Spirit Tempering Art—Foundation Establishment Chapter. It refines spiritual sense. No wonder this guy could control the bronze-armored corpse so fluidly and even make it speak. His spiritual sense was already comparable to a fourth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator."
Ye Bufan picked up an ancient manual, pleasantly surprised.
Spiritual sense was crucial for controlling flying swords and puppets.
Though his spiritual sense was naturally stronger than his peers', he still couldn't simultaneously manipulate a flying sword and multiple puppets. But with the Spirit Tempering Art, that would no longer be an issue.
Such techniques were exceedingly rare—even a major sect like the Heavenly Demon Sect probably only had a handful.
The manual's pages were aged, clearly not from this era.
It was obvious.
Zhou Wangchen must have found it in some ancient ruins.
"Side effects: Progress is excruciatingly slow. During cultivation, spiritual sense suffers severe damage, risking mental instability or even idiocy."
Ye Bufan's eyelids twitched as he read.
This technique was even more dangerous than demonic arts.
He glanced at the unconscious Zhou Wangchen and mused that the man's survival until now was nothing short of a miracle.
Just then, the system's voice chimed in his ear.
[Spirit Tempering Art—Negative Reversed: Cultivation speed is astonishingly fast. During cultivation, spiritual sense is nourished, slightly enhancing comprehension.]
Ye Bufan froze, then nearly burst with joy.
Forget the rest—just the boost to comprehension alone was enough to send the cultivation world into a frenzy.
Even a slight improvement mattered.
The speed of mastering techniques had little to do with spiritual roots but relied heavily on comprehension. The higher one's comprehension, the faster they could learn.
His comprehension had always been mediocre, forcing him to rely on techniques with severe side effects.
But with this manual, even ordinary techniques could be mastered swiftly!
Breaking through bottlenecks also required comprehension!
And comprehension was something considered innate—impossible to improve.
"This is heaven-defying! A true treasure!"
Suppressing his excitement, Ye Bufan carefully stored it away.
The only regret was that this manual only covered the Foundation Establishment stage, with no follow-up chapters.
The other two manuals were Foundation Establishment techniques, unremarkable in power, so Ye Bufan paid them little mind.
But the final secret art made his pupils contract sharply.
Outside the courtyard, the moonlight was pouring down, and a petite figure in a white dress was sitting on the rocks.
Her face was fair and tender, with a little baby fat, and her pair of peach blossom eyes looked towards the small courtyard where Ye Bufan was, blinking slightly.
Like an innocent little girl.
"Is this the Tiandao Foundation Building Master? He looks quite handsome."
The loli in the white dress supported herself on the rocks with her hands, and her bare white feet swung back and forth.
"To accept a disciple, or not to accept a disciple."
The girl in the white dress pouted, looking a little confused.
"Take it. It's the Heavenly Dao Foundation Building. It hasn't appeared in the Immortal Cultivation World for ten thousand years. We have to capture it and study it."
At this moment, a girl appeared next to the loli in the white dress, with a pair of bright eyes as evil as a devil.
She was wearing a black dress and looked exactly like the lolita in the white dress.