Dark Immortal Cultivation

into the night.

Inside the stone house, a single lamp flickered dimly.

The wooden puppet lay quietly on the table, its surface gleaming with a faint oily sheen, its crisscrossing scars even more pronounced.

These are the marks left by the relentless passage of time on this wondrous object.

Zhang Qing raised his right hand, joined his index and middle fingers together to form a sword-like gesture, and thrust it at the wooden puppet from a distance of several feet.

"rise!"

With a soft shout, the wooden puppet on the table suddenly stood upright.

It was as if it had suddenly come to life.

It shook its square head from side to side, bent its knees, and suddenly leaped more than a foot into the air.

The next moment, the wooden puppet jumped to the ground.

Using the momentum of its fall, it rolled forward a few times, then jumped up again and ran quickly around the table.

The movements were quite agile.

Zhang Qing's gaze remained fixed on the wooden puppet, his eyes flashing with a strange light.

After completing the initial ritual, he established a connection of consciousness with this strange object, becoming the new master of the wooden puppet.

The strong residual magical imprints were also completely removed.

As the level of refinement deepened, Zhang Qing's control over the wooden puppet gradually increased.

He is now able to use his spiritual sense to control this strange object within a certain range.

Under Zhang Qing's remote control, the wooden puppet acted like a mischievous child, running, jumping, and rolling...

It even climbs up rough rock walls with agility comparable to a gecko.

Then he leaped down and landed on the table with a "thud"!

Zhang Qing let out a long sigh of relief.

His current control over the wooden puppet has reached its limit.

If you want to reach a higher level, you must learn the twelve spells in "The Art of Puppet Control"!

First is "attachment to the gods".

The term "寄神" (jishen) literally means to entrust one's spirit or consciousness to a puppet, thus endowing the object with true spirituality.

In this way, Zhang Qing can give simple commands to the wooden puppet, which can carry out tasks even if it is outside the range of his own spiritual control, and return on its own.

It's like an intelligent robot!

The wooden puppets we see now are merely remote-controlled robots—the control distance is still very limited.

The problem is that mastering the method of "spirit possession" is not easy.

It belongs to the basic method among the twelve techniques of "Puppet Mastery". The subsequent techniques can only be learned after mastering "spirit possession".

Zhang Qing studied the "spirit transfer" method and felt it was extremely profound and complex, with no possibility of learning it in a short period of time.

unless……

Increase the [Spellcasting] attribute!

But where can he now look for relics?

Zhang Qing shook his head and reached out to touch the wooden puppet standing on the table.

For some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity, as if the wooden puppet in front of him was a pet he had raised.

Even if it doesn't yet possess intelligence!

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Qing put the wooden puppet into his storage bag.

He yawned, preparing to go to bed.

It was already very late at night.

Bang! Bang!

Just then, a deep clapper sound came through the door and into the room.

Zhang Qing was startled.

He moved here from Xiaoshiji more than half a month ago.

It was all very safe during that time. I didn't encounter any evil attacks at night, and I was able to cultivate and rest peacefully every day.

Zhang Qing's tense nerves gradually relaxed.

They believe that moving to Qing'anji was the right choice.

But at this moment, he felt the temperature in the room dropping, and an invisible chill quietly seeped into the room, as if some terrifying being was approaching.

Zhang Qing's entire body hair stood on end!

The two talismans affixed to the door were emitting a bright light.

Warn him of the impending danger!

The next moment, Zhang Qing heard a series of high-pitched "ee-ee-woo-woo" sounds that pierced his eardrums and penetrated his soul, strongly interfering with his consciousness.

My head felt a little dizzy.

The two talismans on the door burned simultaneously and turned to ashes in an instant.

Zhang Qing instantly regained his senses and without hesitation grabbed a mid-grade talisman to ward off evil.

He formed hand seals, preparing for battle.

boom!

Just then, the door shook violently, as if it had been struck by something.

Immediately, a fierce wind howled outside, carrying a large amount of sand and gravel that struck the door panel, creating a dense, pattering sound like raindrops hitting banana leaves.

To Zhang Qing's surprise, the chilly atmosphere in the room quickly dissipated.

The temperature then returned to normal.

Danger seemed to be fading away.

After a while, the wind outside stopped, and there were no more strange noises.

Zhang Qing stood guard at the door for a long time before he was sure everything was alright.

He re-attached the talisman to the door panel.

But Zhang Qing was no longer sleepy. He simply took out a futon, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to practice the "Mysterious Origin Technique".

Refining and manipulating wooden puppets requires a lot of magic power, and practicing the "Blazing Fire Technique" and "Weapon Manipulation Technique" also requires magic power support.

But he only had the cultivation level of the second stage of Qi Refining.

Even though the efficiency of cultivation has been greatly improved due to the enhancement of the [Spellcasting] attribute.

Even with more monks than porridge!

Without any "powerful energy" available, we can only desperately tap into our own potential.

Fortunately, he had some savings; otherwise, if he had to spend money to refine talismans, it would have been a real life-threatening situation!

The rooster crowed three times, and dawn broke.

Zhang Qing finished his cultivation practice, got up and went to the bathroom to wash and clean himself, then quickly ate something to fill his stomach.

He had just finished breakfast when there was a knock on his door.

"Young friend, are you home?"

Zhang Qing hurriedly went over and opened the door, where he saw Ye Fengchun, dressed in a green robe, standing at the door.

In the past two weeks, Zhang Qing has gotten to know some of his neighbors.

But the only people they knew were Ye Fengchun and Xu Niangzi, who lived across the street.

In a chaotic and filthy community, this couple was a breath of fresh air.

The virtuous Mrs. Xu would send him some snacks every few days.

Ye Fengchun would occasionally tell Zhang Qing about what was happening in Qing'an Village, so that he wouldn't be completely out of the loop.

In addition, the talisman master sold him talismans at a discounted price.

Therefore, the relationship between the two sides is quite good now.

The refined-looking middle-aged monk asked with concern, "Young friend, are you alright?"

"Brother Ye, I'm fine."

Zhang Qing said with a wry smile, "It's because some evil spirits appeared last night, ruining two of my talismans."

"It's good that everyone is alright."

Ye Fengchun's expression turned serious: "My house was also attacked by evil spirits. The tide was very high last night, and I don't know whose house was affected."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh.

The appearance of a black tide every night does not necessarily mean that something evil will appear.

Most of the time, the evil spirits that invade a community are very weak. As long as you put up a talisman to ward off evil spirits in your home, you can basically ensure safety.

However, on nights when the black tide is strong, there is a possibility of very strong evil appearing.

Then we'll see who's unlucky!

Zhang Qing's predecessor was one of these unlucky souls.

In fact, the monks living in the camp lived a precarious existence, never knowing if they would be next.

Some people live in constant fear, some choose to give up and do nothing, and some become completely unscrupulous...

Zhang Qing now strives only to survive!