Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 234 [The Leading Sect of the Righteous Path? ?] (7000)

Chapter 228 [The Leading Sect of the Righteous Path? ?] (7000)

Chen Yan bent down and squatted down next to the broken substitute puppet—this thing was a high-end item; he had only heard of it before, but this was the first time he had seen the real thing.

Chen Yan had seen this item on the inventory list of the shops in Xueya Pass. The list showed it priced at 80,000 coins!

It should be noted that Chen Yan only spent 10,000 coins to order a Spirit Communicating Pill.

Eighty thousand coins, if exchanged for the heads of those ferocious beastmen, at the realm's official price of two hundred and fifty coins per ferocious beastman's head, would be enough to exchange for the heads of three hundred and twenty ferocious beastman warriors.

But Chen Yan didn't think the price was expensive—on the contrary, when he first saw the price of this product, he thought he had misread it.

The price of this item was cheaper than he had imagined!
This thing can be used as an extra life!
Only 80,000?!

Eighty thousand coins is an enormous sum that is difficult for a low-level, independent cultivator to afford.

But for high-level cultivators, or nobles or the chosen ones from powerful families, this amount of money can buy a life.

Chen Yan had thought that if he were the eldest son of a wealthy family like Gu Jinjia, he would want to buy a thousand or eight hundred of these substitute puppets that could serve as his life and carry them with him!
Taking this thing and charging into Badlands wouldn't be any kind of covert operation—it would be a direct frontal invasion!
That's like having an immortal body, can you withstand it?
With such a treasure on him, charging into the army of the ferocious beast tribe, he could easily kill his way in and out seven times without even blinking an eye.

Come on! Let's trade lives! Anyone who chickens out is a coward!
Such a powerful weapon, only 80,000 coins? That's dirt cheap for a wealthy family!

That was what Chen Yan thought at the time.

But then he realized he had been oversimplifying things.

Fate is not something that can be so easily manipulated.
Do you really think the laws of nature are something you can just manipulate at will, letting you exploit these kinds of bugs to play around?

The use of these puppet dolls that can take someone's place is restricted!

The first limitation is that substitute puppets are useless above the Celestial Realm! This thing can only be used by cultivators below the Celestial Realm to take someone's place in death.

Because in cultivation, the first major breakthrough and tribulation in one's cultivation realm is the tribulation of the Celestial Realm.

After experiencing the Heavenly Tribulation, one breaks through to the Celestial Realm, which is equivalent to having initially grasped the Dao of Heaven regarding one's own destiny.

Although not yet at the Venerable level, he directly merged his destiny and fate with the Heavenly Dao.

However, starting from the Celestial Realm, to put it simply, your destiny and fate have already been registered with the Heavenly Dao.

After the first great calamity, the Heavenly Dao remembered you.

Below the Celestial Realm, you are all considered "unregistered" individuals by the Heavenly Dao. You are simply subject to your own destiny, and if you occasionally encounter a bug, the Heavenly Dao cannot manage it and will not pay attention to you.

At this point, even if you use a substitute puppet to steal a life back, Heaven won't pay attention to such a small ant as you.

But above the Celestial Realm, sorry, you've already entered the Heavenly Dao's list.

Whether there are more or less, the will of Heaven is predetermined. At this point, you can no longer try to take shortcuts—therefore, above the Celestial Realm, substitute puppets are useless.

This restriction directly cuts the value of the substitute puppet by more than half.

Moreover, demand has been drastically reduced.

Imagine, those with higher cultivation levels would naturally value and need such a treasure that can take someone's life in their place.

The higher one's cultivation level, the more difficult the journey becomes, and the more one cherishes life.

Most importantly, advanced cultivators have higher cultivation levels and therefore higher wealth, making them more able to afford such consumption.

The problem is that it's useless above the Celestial Realm, which means that the most powerful consumer group in the realm, high-level cultivators, are directly excluded from the target audience of the substitute puppet.

However, those below the Celestial Realm have limited cultivation and financial resources. To afford a substitute puppet worth 80,000 coins, their financial resources must first be tested.

Of course, even so, below the Celestial Realm, there are always some from powerful families, such as scions of wealthy clans. There are always a number of wealthy families like the Gu family in the entire realm.

For scions of wealthy families, 80,000 coins is not a huge sum of money. Buying a bunch of them to pay for their lives is naturally a very satisfying thing.

However... it wasn't enjoyable.

Because the second limitation of using a substitute puppet is that it can affect a person's lifespan.

Heaven!

Because of the existence of the Heavenly Dao, all living things have their own destiny and fortune, and their life, death, rise and fall are all governed by the principles of destiny and fate.

Although those below the Celestial Realm will not suffer a direct backlash from the Heavenly Dao and be immediately purged, using a substitute puppet will naturally affect their original destiny.

You were dead, and then you came back to life!

Wouldn't that mess up fate?

Heaven doesn't punish a tiny ant at any time, but if you use it once, it will naturally have serious side effects on your own destiny.

You were supposed to die, but you stole your life by this means. You stole back the life that was meant for you to die—so even if you live, it means you've overdrawn too much good luck that didn't belong to you.

The accounts won't balance!

What to do if the accounts don't balance?

You stole good fortune that didn't belong to you and survived, so you'll have to pay for it later.

You are about to suffer many misfortunes that were never meant for you. (When Chen Yan saw this part, he fell into deep thought...)
Back in the shop at Xueya Pass, Chen Yan had consulted the shopkeeper.

They told Chen Yan that once such a substitute puppet is used, even if the person survives, it will worsen their luck and fate, causing them to suffer from misfortune or even constant illness.

If used too many times, it might directly trigger a backlash from the Heavenly Dao!

Stealing one life is already outrageous, but you're stealing several?
Even if you are an ant, you will inevitably attract the attention of Heaven.

Heaven looked at it and thought, "Oh dear, the accounts on this ant are not balanced. What should we do?"
Well, I'm sorry, but that's the will of Heaven!
In the eyes of Heaven, since the score is not balanced, then we have no choice but to settle it.

According to official legends in the realm, there is a saying among weapon refiners that the record for the most times a substitute puppet has been used throughout the entire realm is that of a cultivator more than six hundred years ago.

That guy used the substitute puppet a total of six times.

After the sixth time, the man had just escaped with his life and before he could even rejoice, Heaven sent down a lightning tribulation on the spot, turning him into ashes!

So, this thing...

High-level cultivators cannot use it, and low-level cultivators will die if they use it too much.

Unless absolutely necessary, I might use it once or twice occasionally to save my life, but I wouldn't dare use it too often, as using it too much would be tantamount to suicide.

Therefore, although this thing has amazing effects, it doesn't actually have a very large audience.

It's really difficult for a low-level cultivator to save up 80,000 coins.

Unless it's someone from a wealthy or powerful family who has very poor talent, is rich but weak in cultivation, they might occasionally buy a spare one—one is enough, and they wouldn't dare use more than that.

Therefore, this kind of substitute puppet has a special name in the realm:

This is for the landlord's foolish son only.

·
Chen Yan picked up the puppet, his eyes shining as he looked at it from left to right, seemingly reluctant to put it down.

These two flaws, however, are... not a big deal to me!

As for cultivation level, it applies to those below the Celestial Realm!

As for the backlash from the Heavenly Dao's fortune...

What a joke.

I can just use it in one world and then escape to another!

If I use a substitute puppet in the realm, then Zhao Shanhe, a rogue cultivator in the realm, owes the Heavenly Dao of the realm a life!

What does the debt that Zhao Shanhe of the Realm owes to the Heavenly Dao of the Realm have to do with Chen Yan of the Dragon Kingdom in the real world?!

The Heavenly Dao of the Realm can't possibly go to the real world to settle accounts with itself!
·
"The main materials are ebony, petrified wood, and... well, this is the smell of wood roasted in a fire. And these runes should be related to destiny and fate..."

Chen Yan held the object and examined it carefully for a while, only to find that it was very complex, with more than half of the magic array patterns being incomprehensible to him.

After thinking about it, he simply put the item into his storage jade pendant, so he could study it more carefully when he got back.

This thing is just damaged; if you figure it out yourself, most of the main materials can still be used.

Even if he couldn't figure it out himself, he could remember asking the shopkeeper at Xueya Pass.

Used and damaged substitute puppets can be recycled, and depending on the extent of the damage, they can be sold for anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of coins.

·
"However... this Donghai is quite wealthy! He can afford a substitute puppet worth 80,000 coins!"
Um? wrong!

This guy has already used up two substitute puppets since last night!
Once on the ship, and once just now!

Two of them would be 160,000—good heavens, what a fat sheep!

Chen Yan squinted and looked around.

After escaping using a substitute puppet, the original body will be teleported to another location—because the substitute puppet often comes with a talisman similar to "divine speed," which teleports the original body a certain distance away at the moment of death.

This Chen Yan is now untraceable.

Chen Yan thought about it and decided not to pursue Dong Hai relentlessly—that guy was too dangerous.

Who knows what secrets he's hiding that would attract such a powerful figure who dared to intercept and kill the Gu family's cargo ship? This kind of trouble is something that Chen Yan, who only has the cultivation of the second realm, can't afford to provoke right now.

The priority should be stability; let's focus on the purpose of this trip first.

Chen Yan then stood up, flicked his sleeve, and a gust of wind swept up, instantly erasing the traces of their earlier fight on the ground.

He looked around with satisfaction to see that all traces of the crime scene had been erased, then turned and continued walking north.

We crossed the stream and entered the woods north of it, walking for about an hour.

Suddenly, a large area of ​​scorched marks appeared in the woods ahead.

Many trees clearly bear the marks of being burned by flames, and some have broken and collapsed, as if swept away by some force.

Broken tree trunks and branches were scattered on the ground in the forest, and many places were charred black.

Even the air in the forest still carried a faint smell of burning.

Chen Yan's heart stirred, and he quickened his pace. After walking a few hundred steps, he saw that a large clearing had been cleared out in the woods ahead!

Within an area of ​​several hundred meters, trees were broken and leaning, and a huge shadow fell in the forest in the distance!
The ship has a shuttle-shaped hull, with a huge hole in the middle of the hull near the bottom, almost breaking the hull in two.

The ship's hull also suffered severe twisting and misalignment!
At this moment, it was stuck among the remains of several broken trees, bow down and stern up.

More than half of the hull and deck remained charred from the flames, while most of the deck was shattered. Inside the exposed hull, numerous boxes and chests lay scattered on the floor, some broken—these boxes, used for storage, had spilled their contents, leaving a large amount of unidentified medicinal herbs strewn across the ground!
This fills the surrounding air with a rich medicinal fragrance.

The aroma of the medicine mixed with the smell of burning caused Chen Yan to sneeze violently.

What made him even more curious was that several mangled corpses were still hanging on the deck and the edge of the ship's gunwale!
This ship was the very same Gu family merchant ship he had been on!

·
Upon seeing the wreckage of the flying boat, Chen Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he took a few steps forward—could this be his chance to loot the loot?!

The Gu family's cargo ship must have been loaded with a lot of good stuff!

But he had only taken a few steps forward when he suddenly heard a shout coming from the flying boat.

"Who are you? Stop immediately!"

With a whoosh, two figures leaped off the flying boat and landed ten steps away from Chen Yan, blocking his path.

Chen Yan reacted decisively, stopping in his tracks and quickly spreading his hands: "Fellow Daoists, I mean no harm!"

There's only one reason why Chen Yan reacted so quickly...

He couldn't clearly see the figures of the two people who jumped down, nor did he have time to use his Qi Observation Technique to check their Qi cultivation level.

But he remembered the voice!
Just last night, the voice that shouted and scared away the bandits was none other than this one!
Chen Yan stood there, took a deep breath, put on an honest and simple expression, and looked up.

The two people standing in front of him, the man in the lead, was tall and slender, wearing an apricot-yellow long robe, with a handsome face and deep features—if he were in the real world, he would definitely be a top-tier red card, regardless of any races.

This person had an extraordinary bearing, with eyes as bright as stars. Although he stood in front of Chen Yan, his feet did not touch the ground, but floated more than three inches above the ground.

What made Chen Yan even more wary was that this person stood calmly in front of him, looking at him with eyes that were neither pleased nor angry, seemingly without any human warmth. But right above his head, on the left and right, there were two flying swords, one black and one white, hovering on his body, their blades pointing at him!

These two flying swords were clearly extraordinary—one black and one white, hovering there motionless, yet emanating a precious light, also black and white, which subtly formed a yin-yang symbol in mid-air!
Without even lifting a finger, just this one move was enough for Chen Yan to know that the other person was far more capable than him!
Well, as for the person standing behind this man, it should just be a follower, who was looking at the man's back with a respectful expression. Chen Yan glanced at him and then looked away.

After a quick thought, he cupped his hands in a salute and asked, "May I ask if you are a fellow Daoist from the sage's abode?"

The stranger's expression was indifferent, and his voice carried a hint of coldness: "Who are you?"

Chen Yan spoke frankly: "I am a cultivator from Xitai City, surnamed Zhao, named Shanhe, and I am a passenger on this ship..."

As he spoke, Chen Yan quickly took out the token that he had used to register in Xitai City.

The man didn't take Chen Yan's token. He just glanced at the token in Chen Yan's hand and nodded, "Hmm, the token is correct."

His tone seemed less cold, and his gaze at Chen Yan became more serious: "You said you're a passenger on this ship?"

Chen Yan nodded immediately, let out a breath, and slowly said, "It is good that you know, fellow Daoist, that I asked someone in Xitai City for help to board this cargo ship of the Gu family. I originally intended to travel to the City of No Return in the Southern Frontier..."

He was completely at peace with himself and recounted the events of the previous night's attack in detail.

When it was mentioned that he took advantage of the chaos to jump off the ship's side—of course, the part about him capturing Donghai and throwing him to the enemy as a scapegoat was omitted.

He then said that after he reached the ground, he used a paper puppet to lure away the pursuers, while he himself used a concealment talisman to hide in a tree hollow...

The powerful man used a primordial spirit search technique, almost causing him to lose his mind and emerge from his hiding place. Just then, the man arrived and scared the powerful man away with his words...

"Although I was out of my mind at the time, I still remember the voice that scared away the powerful man. May I ask if that's what you said, fellow Daoist? If so, I must thank you for saving me!"

At this point, Chen Yan respectfully bowed to the other party.

The man's eyes were no longer so cold. He stood still and accepted Chen Yan's bow, nodding and saying, "Very well, it was indeed I who scared that person away last night. In that case, it is only right that I accept your bow."

As for what you said, I will naturally send someone to Xitai City to verify it. If the verification confirms everything is correct, then this matter naturally has nothing to do with you. It seems you have suffered an undeserved calamity.”

Chen Yan nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "In Xitai City, I got on the Gu family's ship by asking someone through a manager named Niu in Kuji. If you want to verify this, you can ask him."

After hearing this, the man's tone became even more gentle, and he nodded: "That's very good."

Chen Yan, of course, wanted to make his point clear.

In this matter, he definitely needs to clear himself of suspicion first...

He was an outsider who boarded the Gu family's cargo ship, which was then hijacked—everyone on board died, and he was the only one who survived.

Anyone in this situation would inevitably wonder – could it be a coordinated attack from within and without…

Since it had nothing to do with him, Chen Yan naturally wanted to clear himself of suspicion to avoid getting into trouble.

The man nodded to Chen Yan, saying, "Judging from your words, fellow Daoist, your eyes are clear and your spirit upright; I believe what you say is true."

He paused, then slowly said, "Moreover, you should be a second-realm cultivator... that powerful figure last night was already a Celestial Being who had broken through to the next realm. With someone like that making a move, you shouldn't be his accomplice."

Chen Yan: ...

Could your emotional intelligence be any lower than that?

You mean to say that my cultivation level is too weak, and that such a big case is definitely not something a weakling like me can participate in?

However, Chen Yan is a pragmatist, and his goal is to avoid getting involved.

It doesn't matter if you can clear your name and are looked down upon by the disciples of this sacred place.

Their cultivation level is much higher than mine anyway.

If you don't care, then don't.

Chen Yan didn't care much about such superficial matters.

Chen Yan then explained that he deliberately headed north in order to seek help in the direction of the sage's temple.

Upon hearing this, the man smiled and nodded, saying, "You're quick-witted. You've come up with such a clever idea. Within a thousand miles, perhaps only the Venerable One's Daoist temple is safe."

He paused, his expression solemn, and said in a deep voice, "The villain's cultivation level last night was quite extraordinary. Many disciples in the dojo have been searching the surrounding area, but after a whole night, they still cannot find his whereabouts. It seems that the person must have the supernatural ability to conceal his whereabouts."

If you rashly go elsewhere, the chances of running into him are not small.

Chen Yan nodded, deliberately adopting a low-key demeanor: "I am a low-level rogue cultivator, merely a second-realm cultivator. Encountering such a thing is truly an undeserved calamity, and the only thing I can think of is seeking protection at a sage's dojo..."

As he spoke, he took a deep breath, recalling the sacred temple he had passed by yesterday, and how he had even heard the ship's steward recite the name of the revered master associated with that temple...

Chen Yan deliberately spoke in a respectful tone, "Venerable Shanxiang is benevolent and compassionate, and his good deeds have spread throughout the realm. I believe he will surely show mercy, promote justice, and protect cultivators like me from the bottom."

Although Chen Yan did not know which of the more than forty big shots in the realm this "Venerable Shanxiang" was.

But judging from the honorific title "Shanxiang", he must be a great master of the righteous path!
As expected, after Chen Yan's flattering words, the man's eyes lit up with a smile. He nodded, cupped his hands to the sky, and slowly said, "My Venerable One is naturally a righteous god of the realm, with a broad mind, willing to protect all those who are devoted to our path! My sect, in accordance with the Venerable One's decree, promotes the Venerable One's way and ranks among the top righteous sects in the realm!"

Leader of the Righteous Path?

Chen Yan felt much more at ease – since this was the righteous path, then he should be able to ask for help now.

The man smiled at Chen Yan and said slowly, "You are quite eloquent. Since this matter happened near my sect, my sect is willing to show kindness and protect a sensible and reasonable person like you. Please wait here for a while. My junior brother and I need to inspect the cargo ship site, leave a magic array, and then take you back to the mountain gate to rest."

Chen Yan felt even more at ease: "Then thank you very much, fellow Daoist!" As he spoke, he glanced at the man: "May I ask your honorific title, fellow Daoist?"

The man smiled, glanced at Chen Yan, and the disciple behind him announced loudly, "This is my senior brother Jiang Mo, a true inner disciple of our sect!"

Being an inner disciple of a Venerable Sect means one's status is certainly not low.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan politely cupped his hands in greeting once more.

After returning half a bow, Jiang Mo calmly turned around, jumped back onto the flying boat behind him, and went into the damaged cabin to inspect it.

The disciple was left standing beside Chen Yan, looking at him with a curious expression.

"Zhao... Zhao Shanhe, right? You're lucky to have survived last night's ordeal. You're only at the second realm, yet you actually survived the ordeal. My senior brother and I checked the flying boat, and the Gu family steward on board has been killed—he was a top-tier second-realm cultivator, almost at the third realm, but he was simply killed, and even his natal flying sword was shattered."

You've captured the whole picture perfectly; it seems your luck is quite good.

Chen Yan smiled, looked the disciple over and then had a thought: "I just heard you say that Brother Jiang Mo is an inner disciple of your sect... To become a true disciple of the leading sect of the righteous path, one must have an extraordinary background, right?"

"Ha! Haven't you ever heard of the Jiang family? My senior brother's Jiang is that Jiang!"

Chen Yan nodded in agreement… He did know of the Jiang family; he'd heard the old fox Su Yi mention it before. Among the powerful families of the realm, there was indeed one surnamed Jiang, but it was significantly weaker than the Gu family, a whole level below them—because the Jiang family didn't have a Venerable.

The disciple misunderstood Chen Yan's meaning. He glanced at Chen Yan again, frowned, and said, "What, do you still want to curry favor with Senior Brother Jiang? Well, although you speak very pleasingly, you probably just want to curry favor with the Venerable Sect and hope to get an opportunity."

But let me tell you the truth, no matter how eagerly you try to curry favor, it's useless...

My sect is a true lineage sect under the Venerable One. If you want to enter my sect, in addition to having the best talent and mind, there are some special requirements.

You... aren't quite up to the task, so you should probably give up on that idea now.

He looked Chen Yan up and down with a strange gaze, his tone disdainful, and shook his head, saying, "You have a nice way of speaking, but your appearance is too bad, you won't do."

Hmm? Too ugly?

Chen Yan was taken aback.

He had no intention of currying favor, much less of infiltrating someone else's sect.

However, in the minds of the people of the realm, having the opportunity to come into contact with the Venerable Saints and the true disciples of the inner sect is a great opportunity for rogue cultivators. They would like to curry favor with them and have the chance to be accepted into the sect, even if they are just outer disciples or nominal disciples, it would be better than being a rogue cultivator!
It's not surprising that people have such doubts about Chen Yan.

But the claim that he was "too ugly" seems rather strange.

"Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand. I have no such delusional thoughts."

"Whether you have it or not, it doesn't matter." The disciple said indifferently, his tone carrying a hint of indifference and arrogance: "In my Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Joyful Union Sect, even when accepting outer disciples, the first requirement is that they must be handsome. With your appearance, no matter how much you try to curry favor, it will be in vain."

No!

and many more!

Chen Yan's eyes widened suddenly upon hearing this!

"Uh, fellow Daoist, what...did you say?"

"I said, handsome..."

"No...the previous sentence."

"Huh?" The disciple was taken aback.

Chen Yan's expression turned strange.

What the hell... Heavenly Demon Yin Yang Harmony Sect?

No!

Is this the kind of name a "leading sect of the righteous path" should have?!
·
(End of this chapter)