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  "Uh-huh!" The green-robed man nodded, holding the spiritual sword and looking around cautiously. Lie Teng smiled faintly and sat down in a lotus position, thinking about the method of refining a second-level puppet. After that, Lie Teng began to press his hands together in a seal, this seal had been passed down for countless years in the Puppet Sect, as for how it came to be, no one knew, but when spiritual energy poured into the seal, it would produce unexpected effects. Lie Teng continued to press his hands together, and a black light shot into the scorpion's body.

  Gradually, the scorpion's entire body emitted a faint black glow, like a light curtain. Handprints also gradually appeared, and Lie Teng's forehead was sweating profusely as his spiritual energy was rapidly depleting. A second-level puppet required 999 hand seals, each of which consumed a huge amount of spiritual energy. After Lie Teng had completed the 999 hand seals on the scorpion's body, his dantian was completely empty. He stood up, enduring his fatigue, and pricked his middle finger to drop a drop of fresh blood onto the scorpion's forehead.

  "Hmm..." A low, muffled sound emerged, and the hand seal that Lie Teng had struck out with appeared, rapidly condensing before finally merging into a single hand print that sank into the scorpion's forehead. Lie Teng felt as though something in his mind had increased, and the scorpion's tail, which had been lying there, suddenly stood upright. Lie Teng let out a breath of relief and hastily sat down cross-legged to recover his spiritual energy.

  The second-level puppet is relatively simple, but it requires ten times more hand decisions than the first-level puppet, which needs to be supported by spiritual power. Only cultivators who have condensed their spiritual energy to the second layer or above are qualified to refine it. As for the third-level puppet, it's not that easy to cast a spell. Lie Teng recovered for a day and refilled his Danhai spiritual energy, while Qing Yi was still standing there, looking around vigilantly. The second-level puppet scorpion stood still with its tail raised.

  Open your eyes, Lie Teng's heart moved slightly, and the scorpion's tail began to move, as if it were a living thing. Lie Teng not only secretly admired the mysterious hand seals, but also realized that those seemingly simple hand seals had such wonderful uses when combined together. However, Lie Teng's spiritual sword had been reduced to just the hilt under the scorpion's venom, and he must find a new spiritual sword as soon as possible. Suddenly thinking of the crimson hilt, Lie Teng looked forward, and immediately called out to Qing Yi to rush towards the front. The crimson hilt was still stuck in the ground, and when Lie Teng arrived beside it, he slowly pulled out the hilt, discovering that it was about three feet long, with a faint glow emanating from its entire body.

  "Is this a mid-grade spiritual artifact?" Lie Teng's heart was thrilled, the spiritual energy emitted by this sword was several times more intense than the low-grade spiritual artifacts he had seen before. It should be a mid-grade spiritual artifact. As for its origin, Lie Teng didn't think much about it, it was probably left behind by a disciple of the Gui Sect who had entered this place before. The owner of this sword was likely dead, but the scorpion used it as bait to lure in disciples of the Gui Sect. Lie Teng bit his finger and dripped a drop of fresh blood onto the hilt of the sword. As soon as the blood touched the hilt, it disappeared without a trace. Lie Teng's mind stirred, and the crimson spiritual sword floated into the air.

  In general, a spiritual tool can be owned by dripping blood on it and will remain so until the owner's death, at which point it automatically becomes an unowned object.

  With his right hand grasping the hilt of his sword, Lie Teng decided to abandon using his mind to control the flying swords in mid-air and instead wield it manually. This was the only way he could unleash its true power. After all, at this stage, his cultivation level was too low, and relying on mental control would greatly reduce the effectiveness of his attacks. In the Dragon String Continent, Lie Teng's weapon of choice was the sword. Although he was not very old, his combat experience was extremely rich. While many cultivators liked to control flying swords, Lie Teng believed that having a strong attack was the true key to success.

  To save spiritual energy, Lie Teng and Qing Yi sat on the poisonous scorpion, controlling it to crawl forward. Along the way, there were not many spiritual beasts, but instead, there were many skeletal remains and damaged spiritual instruments. Taking advantage of this free time, Lie Teng's divine sense entered the storage bag he had received from his master, Long Hezi. The storage bag was not large, about ten square meters in size, but it contained a substantial amount of items, including several spiritual swords, two bottles of medicinal pellets, and the corpse of a high-grade, five-layer puppet. There were also many items collected by Long Hezi. What made Lie Teng most delighted was that there were thirty lower-grade spiritual stones inside the storage bag. Among them was a fist-sized spiritual stone emitting a more concentrated spiritual energy than the lower-grade spiritual stones. Lie Teng's heart skipped a beat as he thought, "Could this be a mid-grade spiritual stone?" It was worth noting that one mid-grade spiritual stone could be exchanged for one hundred lower-grade spiritual stones. This meant that the storage bag alone contained over 130 lower-grade spiritual stones, which was an enormous wealth for Lie Teng.

  Suppressing his excitement, Lie Teng's divine sense locked onto a palm-sized tortoise shell in the storage bag, and waves of spiritual energy emanated from it. Lie Teng's heart skipped a beat - could this be a defensive spirit artifact? He then looked at a beast skin book next to the tortoise shell and hastily took it out, beginning to flip through its pages.

  "Disciple, by the time you receive this book, I'm already in the secret realm. My life is coming to an end, and breaking through is hopeless. After nearly two hundred years of cultivation, I've seen through everything, so don't be sad. Over the years, I've collected some things that may not be top-notch but still have some use now. Make good use of them. That turtle shell was obtained by me during my training in the eastern part of the cultivation world. I call it the Heaven-Defying Shield. Although I don't know its grade, I discovered that it's extraordinary. As my cultivation level increased, so did the shield's defense. Just infuse your divine sense into it and activate it. Unfortunately, I couldn't break through to the sixth layer of Gathering Spirit, or else I would have seen if the shield's defense would also increase. In the depths of the secret realm lies the legacy of the Puppet Sect. Try your best to enter it and test your luck. I secretly drew a map of the secret realm, which might be useful. However, to enter the deeper parts of the secret realm, you must go with other disciples. The spirit beasts there are mostly second- or third-grade, not something you can handle alone. Take good care of Qingyi; perhaps... by the time you come out, I'll already be gone. Remember, the path of cultivation refines not only your abilities but also your heart. Only those with a strong heart can glimpse the true path of cultivation. The cultivation world is full of deceit and betrayal, so beware of trusting anyone!!"

  Slowly closing the book, a wave of heartache and powerlessness swept over Lie Tong's body. He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes gleaming with determination as he gazed up at the sky, muttering: "Master, I won't let you down."

  "Brother Qingyun, what are you talking about?" Qingyi asked puzzled, turning her head to look at Lie Teng.

  "It's nothing." Lie Teng came back to his senses, put the book into the storage bag, and once again probed into the storage bag with his divine sense. He found a piece of beast skin the size of two palms, on which was drawn a map of the secret realm. Lie Teng carefully examined the map, and as soon as he had an idea, the scorpion hastily stopped and turned its head to rush towards the rear at high speed.

  "What's wrong? Brother Qingyun" Qingyi looked at Lie Teng with a puzzled expression, unsure why he had suddenly changed direction.

  "We've gone the wrong way." Lie Teng said in a low voice. The map drawn by Zhang Hezi indicated that the front of the secret realm was the exit, but Lie Teng had been walking in the opposite direction, which would only take him further and further away. He silently lamented that he had checked his storage bag in time, otherwise, he would have completely lost his chance to obtain the secrets of the Ji Zu Secret Realm. As for the Ji Zu Secret Realm, Lie Teng didn't have much hope of obtaining it from Zhang Hezi. What was needed for cultivation was a firm heart, although external power was important, but more importantly, it was the heart.

  Cultivation is self-cultivation, and it is also tempering of the mind.

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