The so-called "Demon Refinement Method," just as its name suggested, was not a humane technique.
After all, what sort of decent person would turn themselves into a puppet? Wouldn't you agree, a certain Northern Garrison Prince who wishes to remain unnamed?
Of course, refining puppets in itself was not inherently evil. What truly mattered was the material used to make them.
For instance, the Northern Garrison Prince's "War Puppets" had been created using the terracotta soldiers from the Martial Saints' Tomb of Soldiers, which had suppressed murderous aura for a thousand years.
Those terracotta soldiers were originally the masterpieces of top-tier mechanical artistry. Refining them into puppets was perfectly fitting and carried no moral burden.
Even so, very few people knew that Gu Yuye had ever refined "War Puppets."
The "Demon Refinement Method," however, used living people as its material.
Not corpses, but living, breathing people.
To refine a living person into a puppet while keeping them alive... the agony was unimaginable.
Moreover, this method required the person to remain in a perpetual "half-dead" state, balanced precisely between life and death. It was, in every sense, a demonic art.
And if one were to name its origin, that would chill the blood of anyone who heard it.
It came from the "Path of Death" of the Tenfold Dao, its master being none other than Yubai Gong.
Players, in their usual irreverent way, affectionately called him "Lord Melon."
Gu Yuye's original plan had been to expose Gu Fangchen's connection with the Demonic Sect, accuse him of impersonating the heir of the Northern Garrison Prince's mansion, and have him killed with full justification.
But since Gu Fangchen had managed to legitimize his identity and, in doing so, dumped a bucket of filth back on Gu Yuye, the latter was forced to deal with the more immediate crisis first.
Whether or not the lines of causality bore traces of repair no longer mattered.
In fact, quite the opposite, before disproving Gu Fangchen's identity, Gu Yuye had to avoid at all costs any appearance of connection between this matter and the Demonic Sect.
If the underlying truth turned out to be false, it could be blamed on the Demonic Sect's conspiracy.
But if it was real, what motive would the Demonic Sect have?
The only one who stood to gain was Gu Yuye himself.
After much thought, it became obvious, only he would have a reason to legitimize a bastard son, and only he would layer a false karmic seal over it to deceive Ning Caiyong.
If the Demonic Sect were brought into this, Gu Yuye would essentially be smearing mud on his own backside.
That was why, the moment Gu Youren declared the results genuine, Gu Yuye immediately denied them and forcibly set the tone of the narrative, yet refrained from demanding another test.
He knew that if the tests continued, the one exposed next would likely be himself.
What he never could have imagined, even if he'd shoved his head into a latrine, was that Gu Fangchen would seize upon that very weakness and actually use a Demonic Sect technique for real.
If there was ever an example of the blind spot under the lamp, this was it.
"Before Gu Yuye realizes it, I have enough time to complete the first stage of the Demon Refinement Method, and ensure I don't die before I even start."
Gu Fangchen's eyes flickered as he handed the stack of papers in his hand to Qing Jian, saying calmly,
"Tell Prajna Lianyue that I want everything written here delivered to me before tomorrow."
Qing Jian was startled.
Prajna Lianyue, that was Princess Prajna's true name, a secret known only to her most trusted attendants.
And yet Gu Fangchen had said it so casually... and as an order!
In the past, had anyone dared to address the Holy Maiden so disrespectfully in Qing Jian's presence, she would have made them personally experience the suffering of all living beings.
But now, she extended both hands to accept the papers and lowered her eyes.
This man was growing more and more unfathomable.
She glanced over the pages and saw listed a number of rare medicinal herbs, alongside strange materials she had only ever heard of by name.
It looked somewhat like a recipe for alchemy, but also somewhat like a formation blueprint.
Qing Jian wasn't versed in such matters, so she simply folded the papers neatly and put them away.
For Princess Prajna, acquiring these things would not be difficult.
With the Holy Relic missing, no matter how strange or unreasonable his demands, the princess had no choice but to oblige him.
Gu Fangchen was unconcerned that others might find his list suspicious. First, because the Demon Refinement Method's true essence lay in the formation itself. And second, because at this point in time, the fact that "Yubai Gong" was actually a puppet master had not yet been exposed.
In everyone's eyes, "Yubai Gong" was still that mysterious figure wearing a straw raincoat from the Rust-Sword Mound, an iron-hatted wanderer whose rusted blade sprouted deadly blossoms, anyone touched by them perished without exception.
Wherever "Yubai Gong" passed, crimson rain and stench followed. The land turned blood-red for miles, no birds, no beasts. Those who came into contact with it rotted from within until they were neither human nor ghost.
In truth, that poisonous swordsman persona was itself a puppet Yubai Gong had refined through the Demon Refinement Method.
From that alone, it was clear that the method was inseparable from the art of poison.
The Demon Refinement Method comprised five stages. Each stage required completing a Great Heart-Demon Refinement, pushing the puppet to the edge of death and back again to sublimate its flesh.
There were many ways to reach this state, but poison was the simplest.
To find a life-and-death battle that perfectly balanced on the edge of mortality was too difficult, and too risky. Using poison, on the other hand, was far more controllable.
If the refinement succeeded, the puppet would merge with the toxin completely, controlling it as effortlessly as one's own hand.
That was precisely Gu Fangchen's plan, to turn the three poisons in his body into powerful artifacts under his command.
His body was far too damaged; normal healing would be far too slow.
He had to take the most extreme path, to die, in order to live again.
"However, to refine oneself into a puppet, one's spiritual cultivation must first reach at least the eighth rank of the Divine Path, the 'Shell-Leaving' Realm. Only then can one achieve separation of spirit and flesh, allowing self-control after refinement."
"My current ninth-rank cultivation is still too low. If my spirit leaves my body, I'll die instantly."
Gu Fangchen rubbed his chin.
"To be safe, the best would be the seventh-rank 'Wandering Spirit' Realm. At that level, the soul can leave the body and even move objects with thought, a good safety net."
"But reaching two whole ranks in such a short time... that's not realistic."
However, there was a way to rise by one rank.
In Mirror in the Dust, aside from leveling up through quests, there were shortcuts.
One of them was through Experience Books.
In the game, Experience Books appeared as ink writings or personal manuscripts left by high-level NPCs, particularly Divine Path masters.
Using one was a gamble, with a success rate determined by both the player's level and the NPC's.
The higher the level of the NPC, the higher the success rate.
Among all of them, the most beloved by players was a certain Head of the Celestial Fate Dao, the only permanent resident of Chanliao Pillar, the Imperial Grand Preceptor of Great Wei, and the paragon of virtue himself, Master Xu Fu.
After Qing Jian left, Gu Fangchen first confirmed that Ning Caiyong was unharmed. Then he bathed, ordered food, ate his fill, and collapsed onto the bed, fast asleep.
The past two days had drained him more than a week of pulling all-nighters writing game guides. He slept like a system shut down.
The bait had already been set.
Now, he just had to wait for the Grand Preceptor to come to him.
...
Ning Caiyong sat up, rubbing her temples with slender fingers, and subconsciously asked the maid beside her,
"How is Chen'er?"
The maid replied softly,
"The Heir brought you back, then bathed and changed clothes in the east wing, had something to eat, and has since gone to bed."
"That child must be exhausted."
Ning Caiyong frowned in concern, took a sip of hot tea, and sighed heavily at the thought of Gu Yuye.
Her mind was a tangle of confusion, she couldn't even tell whether she wanted the whole affair to be true or false.
She set down her teacup and suddenly looked up at the graceful yet nervous maid before her.
"Weren't you... the one who was in the hall earlier?"
The maid bowed, her cheeks tinged pink.
"This servant is Xuexiang. Madam Cui assigned me to serve here in your courtyard."
Madam Cui...
Ning Caiyong immediately understood. Naturally, it wasn't for her sake, it was because of Chen'er.
This maid had been flirted with and had her hand seized by Chen'er in front of everyone. Now there was no polite way to send her off.
Since Chen'er had been accepted as the Martial Saint's disciple and was favored by Princess Prajna, and with his poison soon to be cured, there was no need to keep him under such tight watch anymore.
It was time to add some attendants to his quarters.
Ning Caiyong smiled, took Xuexiang's hand gently, and said softly,
"I have enough people here. Go to the east wing and attend to the Heir."
Xuexiang blushed, murmuring assent.
Just as she was about to leave, Ning Caiyong called her back, studying her face before dabbing a touch of rouge between her brows with a smile of satisfaction.
"Chen'er has a good eye. You'd look quite divine in a Taoist robe."
"Go change your clothes, then head over."