Jiang Tang was once celebrated as a genius, but his remarkable abilities eventually turned him into a resource that powerful organizations wanted to control. After escaping that role, he enters a world filled with cultivators, factions, and larger-than-life figures who all seem determined to define him before he can define himself. Some see a future ruler, others a dangerous rival, and still others simply a useful worker. Jiang, however, insists that he wants an ordinary life. The problem is that every new encounter makes that ordinary future harder to reach—and reveals more about why his abilities matter.
Chapter 4: The Puppet
Water splashed onto a delicate, dark-skinned face. The cool, soothing sensation brought a faint smile to the face’s owner, making the shallow dimples on either cheek stand out even more. “You look like such a harmless little thing, but you’re quite the little rascal!” The woman speaking wore a sheer veil that did nothing to conceal her wheat-colored, sultry figure. She sashayed over to the banks of the Green River and looked down at the teenager crouching there, washing his face. Jiang Tang stood up, ran a hand through his messy, wavy long hair, pulled out a hair tie, and tied the strands hanging down at the nape of his neck into a small ponytail, saying at the same time, “I always do whatever you say.” “Hehe!” The sultry woman’s veil fluttered as she leaned close to Jiang Tang, her breath fragrant as orchids. “Do you do everything this lady tells you to?” Inhaling a peculiar scent of sweat and hearing that teasing, soft voice by his ear, Jiang Tang shuddered all over. He hurriedly took a step back, turned his head away, not daring to look the sultry woman in the eye, and waved his hand, saying, “Let me just swallow my saliva.” The sultry woman found this amusing and was just about to tease him some more when, out of the blue, a cold voice came from behind her: “Time is of the essence. I only want the fangs.” Jiang Tang glanced at Li Yishang, who was leaning against a wooden post with his sword in his arms, then turned to the sultry woman and asked, “You have no objections?” “Of course not. I want even less—just a seven-cun piece of scales.” “Deal.” Without delay, Jiang Tang pulled the entire carcass out of his storage pouch and tossed the pouch to the sultry woman. The sultry woman furrowed her brow slightly. After giving Jiang Tang a quick once-over, she let out a soft chuckle and began cutting out the seven-inch scale she wanted. Li Yishang was the quickest. As he walked over, a flash of light appeared in his hand, and the two fangs on the massive carcass’s head vanished without a trace. Without a single unnecessary word, Li Yishang turned and walked away. “What a boring guy,” the sultry woman pouted, then turned to Jiang Tang and said, “Don’t follow his example in the future, or you’ll end up a bachelor for the rest of your life.” After stowing the seven-cun-long scales in her storage pouch, the sultry woman looked at the massive, battered carcass and laughed, “All right, the rest is all yours. There’s more than you could ever spend—you’d better thank this lady.” Jiang Tang was speechless. You’ve taken the most offensive and defensive parts of this carcass, leaving behind only lifeless materials of very low value. In fact, the entire remaining carcass isn’t even worth as much as those two precious items—especially the seven-inch scale. But on a Earth Dragon, that’s a seven-inch plate of armor—and there’s only one, the very finest piece! Still, for a penniless guy like Jiang Tang, this was undoubtedly striking gold. “Um, are you really from the Yinpo Sect?” Jiang Tang suddenly asked. “What? Don’t you believe me?” the fiery woman asked with a faint smile. “No, I mean… you can take all these husks. Just give me a cultivation method that allows wandering spirits to practice.” Upon hearing Jiang Tang’s words, the sultry woman’s gaze involuntarily fell on the pendant around his neck. “A loved one?” The sultry woman’s tone softened, yet all traces of her coquettishness vanished. “Mm-hmm,” Jiang Tang nodded. “Oh my, you’re such a sweetheart, young man. I just love guys like you.” The sultry woman said, handing Jiang Tang a talisman. Then, gazing at the corpses, she shook her head and said, “These things are useless to me, but not to you. There are so few people in this world with love and loyalty—it’s rare to meet someone like you. How could I not forge a good connection with you?” Jiang Tang was somewhat incredulous and didn’t know how to respond at first. “I was actually after a demon core, but never mind. I’m off,” the sultry woman said. She turned and took just two steps before her body seemed to stiffen; without looking back, she asked, “Is your last name Ao?” “No, my surname is Jiang—Jiang Tang.” “Is that so… Yuan Shangpiao, an outer-sect disciple of the Yinpo Sect.” Yuan Shangpiao spoke and walked away; her steps seemed slow, yet she moved faster than an ordinary person running at full speed. “So I’ve been discovered after all.” Jiang Tang took out the storage pouch inscribed with dragon-head runes, gave a wry smile, and stored the corpse inside. Back in the earthen city, Jiang Tang didn’t go to the general store but headed straight for his mud-brick hut. Even his utter exhaustion couldn’t hide the smile on his face. It worked! “Explain what happened earlier,” Dongfang’s voice finally drifted out. “How should I put it…” Jiang Tang pulled out the carcass, which instantly filled the entire room. As he carefully cut it up with his dagger, he said, ““Beast demons are different from humans. Every time they break through a rank, there’s a chance they’ll awaken a innate divine ability—though the odds are extremely low. The probability of attaining one when advancing from Tier 1 to Tier 2 is nearly one in ten million. The odds are much higher when advancing from Tier 2 to Tier 3, but it’s still one in ten thousand. Although divine abilities vary depending on a beast demon’s bloodline, there’s one common thread:their spiritual perception is so acute that they can communicate with and control anything that matches their attributes—though, of course, that’s a different matter entirely if they possess sentience.” “Then how do you determine sentience? Oh, right—is it possible for a Tier 1 demon beast to awaken a divine ability?” Dongfang asked again. “As for sentience… any cultivator can judge that. There are indeed first-tier demon beasts with divine abilities. If the demon beast’s parents are very powerful, the divine ability might be inherited from the womb. But that’s just a legend—I’ve never seen it myself.” “So, these so-called divine abilities are hidden in their genes. If we could figure that out, do you think it might help demon beasts awaken their divine abilities?” “Holy crap, your imagination is running a bit wild here!” Jiang Tang said with a wry smile. Dongfang, however, wasn’t joking at all. He said earnestly, “I’m very interested. Give me a test subject.” Jiang Tang was speechless. This guy wasn’t even a ghost—just a wandering spirit. He couldn’t touch most things; what kind of experiment was he even talking about? Still, Jiang Tang really had no words for this fellow countryman—he was even willing to give away the Earth Dragon’s corpse for his sake. Luckily, Yuan Shangpiao had no interest in it. Taking out the talisman Yuan Shangpiao had given him and looking at the dense, tiny characters on it, Jiang Tang fell deep in thought. After a moment, he channeled the sliver of Yuan Power he’d just regained. Instantly, a swarm of tiny characters drifted out from the talisman and floated one by one into the center of his brow. “Hmm, this soul-training method isn’t bad at all. Once you learn it, you won’t have to spend money on food and drink. Although it doesn’t involve any spells, it’s truly the best choice as a foundation. I’ll teach you now. Once your soul is stable enough, I’ll give you a doll to serve as your physical body—only then will you be able to truly conduct your experiments.” “A doll! Excellent. But could you modify the doll’s hands a bit? I think I can turn them into the tools I need.” “You’re dreaming!” Jiang Tang snorted coldly. Shape-shifting materials are extremely expensive, but it’s still possible to create some simple tools that can be switched out at any time. For two full days, Jiang Tang spent his time dissecting the husk. Once he’d finally finished, he still had to help Dongfang craft the doll’s body. Meanwhile, after obtaining the cultivation method, Dongfang spent every night devouring the radiance of the stars, moon, and dawn. However, the guy just couldn’t sit still—he should’ve just focused on cultivating, but instead he had to analyze the nature of the stellar and lunar radiance and the primordial energy of heaven and earth. Not only that, but the guy turned around and told Jiang Tang that not only this planet, but even the surrounding planets were emitting a brand-new type of particle containing terrifying energy—one that contained no molecules, no atoms, and not even photons, but was an entirely new, entirely new type that humanity had never discovered before… “Damn it, who doesn’t know about this place? ‘New’? Humans have lived here for a million years—there are even records of it. Plus, energy sources are getting more and more depleted, and cultivators’ abilities are getting weaker with each generation. What the hell is ‘new’ about it?” “Jiang Tang, you’re so stupid. Do you know why starlight and moonlight nourish wandering spirits, while sunlight is harmful? The particles emitted by this star system are actually all the same. However, Sun particles are too intense—if you compare them to strong liquor, I’d be like a baby; it’s deadly. But the stars and moon are different—their particles are gentle. Moreover, the particles on the planet we’re on now are very mixed, containing too many unknowns. When particles from the stars and moon arrive here, they undergo chemical reactions with many of this planet’s particles, thereby forming all kinds of primordial energy.” “You…” Jiang Tang rolled his eyes and nodded. “Just do your thing. Don’t bother explaining it to me, got it?” Speechless—what else could Dongfang say? There was absolutely no way to communicate with him! Five days later, Jiang Tang looked at the one-chi-tall humanoid puppet in his hand and smiled with satisfaction. In his previous life, he’d been a shut-in, but unlike the typical useless one, he was a tech geek—though not some mad scientist, but rather a craftsman. He’d loved puppet theater since childhood and had neglected his studies to make puppets; he hadn’t attended school since junior high. At first, he’d been a fan of Su Huan-zhen, but ever since Bai Fa-shu appeared, his affections had shifted—which is why this puppet’s design had a strong knockoff vibe! Still, it must be said that the craftsmanship he honed since childhood was quite impressive—even if it was a knockoff, it was a high-quality one. That said, the character looks exactly like a young monk—his shaved head even glistens in the light—yet he’s still so handsome that every teenage girl drools over him. “Nice craftsmanship! Though, I keep feeling like I’ve seen this somewhere before!” Dongfang offered a rare compliment, causing Jiang Tangzhen to blush! “Why is it only one chi tall?” Dongfang asked suddenly. “The materials aren’t free!” Jiang Tang immediately protested, complaining, ““I used the finest Earth Dragon Armor for your body. To help you fuse better with the puppet, I even used the essence blood of a Stormwind Horse as the main material for the control runes, and the array’s focal point is a demon core—not a disposable crystal. As long as the demon core isn’t shattered, you can absorb primordial energy and store it yourself. The total cost came to at least thirty crystals. My goodness! What have I done?” Jiang Tang’s affection for the puppet had led him, almost unconsciously, to use only the very best materials—and the result was this puppet worth thirty crystal stones! However, he never expected that even after going to such lengths, that idiot Dongfang would actually ask, “Aren’t the seven-inch scales the best part of the Earth Dragon Armor?” “Wote……” Jiang Tang didn’t want to talk to this guy, but to complete the final step, he forced himself to be patient and said, “Now I’m going to cast a spell to fuse you into the puppet. It’ll be a bit painful, so don’t resist.” With that, Jiang Tang snapped his fingers in a magical gesture, pointed at Dongfang, and instantly drew him into his five claws. He then slammed them down hard on the doll’s bare crown. The puppet then flashed with a brilliant light, and streaks of blood suddenly appeared on its smooth body, though they vanished in an instant. “Why can’t I open my mouth or blink my eyes?” Dongfang’s voice came from within the puppet. “Get lost.” Jiang Tang turned away and began crafting his own wolf-shaped puppet. “Aren’t you going to practice?” Dongfang asked suddenly, puzzled. Jiang Tang’s hands froze for a moment, but he quickly resumed his work, saying calmly, “I can no longer cultivate Yuan Power.”
