Am I the only good person in this cultivation world?

Legend has it that the art of puppetry originated in the Qian Tian Nan Hua Domain—also known as the Southern Wilderness.

Puppetry was little known until it was introduced to other great domains eight thousand years ago, at which point it gained prominence.

Today, the art of puppetry can be considered one of the many professions in the cultivation of immortality. Each sect has its own unique techniques for crafting and controlling puppets, and there are quite a few sects in Dongling that have established their own schools based on puppetry.

Yao Han had used puppets before, but he only used his divine sense to make them serve tea and water and move things. He knew how to use them, but he didn't know how to refine them, and he knew nothing about the intricacies of their operation. He knew how to use them but not why they worked.

"Puppets are classified into nine ranks and four categories. Heaven, Earth, and Man are all spiritual beings, but spiritual puppets are formless..."

"Neither vessel nor human, possessing a spark of spiritual insight, acting solely on impulse..."

"Why is a spiritual strength of at least the seventh level of Qi Refining required? Why wasn't that mentioned earlier?"

Yao Han frowned; the creation of this puppet was far more complicated than he had imagined.

It seems we'll have to put it on hold for now.

With everything prepared, Yao Han sealed the entrance, placed the refined elixir and the necessary spirit stones on the ground, and sat down in the spirit-gathering array.

With his back straight, eyes closed, and hands moving in different mudras, golden light shimmered in his dantian, like the rising sun.

……

Spiritual practice knows no time.

Through the changing seasons, from winter to summer, from spring to autumn, three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Summer has arrived once again, and the former Yaojia Village has become a veritable "Yaojia Town".

Crossing a small river, along the newly built stone path, flowers bloom in abundance, willows provide shade, and the elderly and children are content and at ease.

Following the road upwards, one sees rows of courtyards with blue bricks and porcelain tiles, vendors in small groups, and a constant flow of carriages and horses. Although not as grand as a large city, it is already a well-known wealthy town in the surrounding area.

At the end of the road, at the foot of the mountain, there is a secluded courtyard with triple eaves, a nine-tiered platform, willows and flowers in the courtyard, and water flowing into the hall. This is the newly built ancestral hall in the town.

The enshrinement here is for the ancestors of the Yao family, as well as a special "benevolent immortal".

Three years ago, bandits caused chaos, and a drought struck, forcing the Yao family to leave their homeland; less than one in ten survived.

At this critical moment of survival, the ancestors appeared and quelled the disaster, rebuilt the family, and helped the villagers. From then on, the Yao family prospered and became the wealthiest in the region.

Legend has it that this immortal lived in the mountains behind the town, hence the name "Renxian Mountain".

On this peaceful day, a loud noise suddenly came from Renxian Mountain.

The stone gate to the cave, which had been sealed for three years, shattered and crumbled into scattered pebbles amidst the loud noise.

A tall and upright young Taoist priest emerged from the cave.

He looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in a pure white Taoist robe, radiant and spirited, with clear eyes and a gentle yet heroic air between his brows, possessing a handsome and refined appearance.

It was Yao Han, who had been in seclusion in the mansion for a long time.

At this moment, he has shed his former frail and thin appearance. He has grown taller, with a robust physique that is not bulky, high shoulders, a slender spine, and long, well-proportioned legs.

"This Dragon Qi Prosperity Technique is truly remarkable once you've cultivated it to the second level."

Yao Han took a deep breath of the fresh air on the mountaintop, rubbing his right wrist with his left hand.

Currently, his cultivation level is at the ninth level of Qi Refining, reaching the pinnacle of the Qi Refining realm. At the same time, the Dragon Qi Technique used for body tempering has reached the second level.

In fact, he had already reached the ninth level of Qi Refining a year ago.

Breaking through five realms in two years was a speed that surprised even Yao Han himself, and it also led to a big joke—he had refined too many pills.

In his previous life, he had a pseudo-spiritual root and had never experienced the cultivation speed of a dual-spiritual root. Therefore, he prepared both pills and spirit stones based on his previous experience.

As a result, he had used less than half of the more than two hundred wild herb pills, and his cultivation had already reached the peak of the Qi Refining Realm.

He reflected on it afterwards and realized that his rapid progress was not only due to his spiritual root aptitude, but also to the spirit gathering array he had painstakingly set up and the high-quality spirit stones produced daily in his Qiankun bag. These factors combined to allow him to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining in just two years.

For the rest of the year, he devoted himself to the research of formations and puppets.

He had thoroughly mastered the book "A Beginner's Guide to Formations," and could be said to have made some progress in the art of formations, no longer a complete novice. He could easily set up basic formations such as spirit gathering and illusion formations using only formation flags, without having to rely too much on spirit stones.

The most difficult part was the art of puppet making. Although he had memorized the "Puppet Making Manual," even after exhausting all the materials, he could only make five puppets, each equivalent to a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining. They were still ordinary wooden and stone puppets.

That's not the hardest part; the real challenge lies in overcoming the mental barrier.

He had never been limited by his divine sense when he used puppets to handle miscellaneous tasks before, so he didn't think much of it at first. But after he finished, he realized that with his current level of divine sense, he could only control three puppets at the same time. If he tried to control a fourth one, he would not be able to move freely and would only be able to stay in place.

It's finished, but I can't use it!

This discovery left Yao Han extremely embarrassed.

The only solution is to find a cultivation method that allows one to cultivate divine sense.

But such a technique is extremely difficult to find!

In the vast Dongling Mountains, apart from Daoyan Sect, one of the six sects, he really couldn't think of anywhere else he could find such a cultivation method.

It seems that the study of puppetry must be put on hold for the time being.

Yao Han stretched his muscles under the sun and practiced a set of boxing moves with great interest. His movements were fluid and powerful, with the shadow of a dragon seemingly following him.

After an incense stick had burned, he stood still, lowered his palm, and slowly finished his practice. Faint white smoke rose from his skin and drifted away with the wind.

This is a set of palm techniques that come with the Dragon Qi Prosperity Technique, called the Soaring Dragon Palm.

Without exerting force, he controls the void; the form of a dragon is hidden in nothingness, appearing and disappearing without a trace; when still, he is silent; when he moves, he is like thunder.

The cultivation method is the foundation, and the palm technique is the skill; the two complement each other to maximize the power of the Dragon Qi Technique.

In fact, he cultivated the Dragon Qi Technique much faster than the Blazing Light Technique, simply because he had been living in the mountains near Yaojia Town. While in seclusion, he would occasionally receive "human qi" to replenish his energy, so he quickly reached the second level.

He rebuilt the ancestral hall to strengthen his resolve to follow the Tao and without seeking anything in return. He never expected to receive such an unexpected reward, which was truly beyond his expectations.

Yao Han thought that popularity could only be collected face-to-face, but it turns out that it can be done from such a distance.

However, this could also be because there are too many people in the town who have "connections" with him, and it probably wouldn't work outside this area.

"Now that my cultivation has recovered to the peak of Qi Refining, I have practiced everything I needed to, and I have used up almost all the materials in my storage bag. It is time to leave."

Yao Han returned to his cave dwelling, looked around with some reluctance, and then took back everything that was useful.

With a flick of his hand, Xiao Yuan flew out from who-knows-where and disappeared into his robe.

This little guy is still a second-tier demon beast, but thanks to the Spirit Gathering Array, his strength is also moving towards the peak of the second tier.

"Yeah, I've taken everything I needed. Having stayed here so long, I'm actually a little reluctant to leave... Oh right, and you too."

With a smile, Yao Han took the Qiankun Bag out of the Spirit Gathering Array.