A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

Those present looked towards Tongxin Daoist upon hearing the voice, none of them knowing how this person had appeared there.

Jin Haiming also looked suspicious, wondering who this Taoist priest who had suddenly appeared was.

Only Mo Liancheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a forced smile appearing on his lips. As for the other party's lie about arriving late, he didn't believe a single word of it.

"Thank goodness the Daoist Master arrived just in time. If he had been any later, Mo and my Sword Sect disciples would have been in trouble."

Mo Liancheng feigned a wry smile and sighed, pointing to the dark green figure in the stillness field. His real intention was to extract information about this strange creature from its mouth.

"I don't know what this thing is or why it's so powerful. If I didn't have the Ancestral Sword with me, I would probably be dead on the spot by now."

After listening, Tongxin Daoist chuckled but did not reply. He then greedily began to observe the first-grade high-quality puppet that Tongxin Daoist had mentioned.

Unexpectedly, such a precious high-grade puppet could be found in this small Jin clan.

How exactly did the Golden Clan Ancestor come to be? According to the information he had gathered, the Fourth Ancestor of the Golden Clan was just like him, a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining, at most two levels higher than him, with a cultivation level reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Even so, they certainly do not have the ability to possess a high-grade puppet of this rank.

Tongxin Daoist is now absolutely certain that the puppet in front of him is not an ordinary first-tier high-grade puppet, but rather the most precious combat-type puppet.

Such puppets have an unimaginable attraction for Qi Refining cultivators, and their rarity means that even some Foundation Establishment stage cultivators may not be able to possess them.

A first-grade high-quality combat puppet, if used properly, can withstand a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage without being at a disadvantage.

If faced with a life-or-death threat, a cultivator can control their self-destruction to perish together with the enemy; the power of the self-destruction can even threaten a Grand Cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment stage.

This puppet is now controlled by an ordinary person using a puppet disc. It can only execute some simple commands that have been set in advance, and its combat power is less than one-tenth of what it used to be. It is not enough to threaten his life and property.

If it were controlled by another cultivator at the Qi Refining stage, Tongxin Daoist would have no desire for it at all and would have run away without even thinking about it. Otherwise, if he were entangled by the puppet, he would surely die.

Besides their immense value in combat, these puppets also possess many irreplaceable auxiliary functions.

For example, when exploring dangerous places, its fearless nature allows it to replace cultivators in exploring poisonous miasma, traps, treacherous mountains and rivers, greatly improving cultivators' ability to survive in unknown and dangerous places.

Therefore, these puppets are often extremely expensive, sometimes even comparable to a top-tier magical artifact.

In some of the markets under Guiyuan Pavilion, Tongxin Daoist had heard of one or two transactions involving such puppets. It was said that some were sold for hundreds or even thousands of low-grade spirit stones, a price that ordinary rogue cultivators like them would never dare to dream of.

Tongxin Daoist couldn't understand how the four ancestors of the Jin Clan obtained such a precious combat puppet, no matter how hard he racked his brains.

This time he really struck gold. If he could take this puppet under his control, even without obtaining the Azure Lotus Transformation Technique and the Five Profound Tokens, the harvest from this trip would be absolutely abundant. How could this not make his heart burn with excitement?

Tongxin Daoist suppressed his excitement and turned to Mo Liancheng, whose face was gloomy, and said...

"Patriarch Mo, that old man and the puppets he controls can be dealt with by this old Taoist priest. As for the remaining remnants of the Jin Clan, you should be able to handle them, right?"

Upon hearing that the other party had taken on the important task of dealing with Jin Haiming, Mo Liancheng agreed without hesitation.

"Rest assured, Daoist Tongxin, the rest of the Jin Clan are no longer a threat. Our Sword Sect disciples will surely defeat them!"

After the brief exchange, he was already filled with apprehension towards the dark green figure and no longer had the slightest courage to confront it.

From the moment Tongxin Daoist appeared until the two of them assigned their respective targets, only a dozen or so breaths had passed.

After a brief moment of surprise and doubt, Jin Haiming issued another command to the puppet disc.

He raised his hand and pointed, this time targeting the newly arrived Tongxin Daoist.

Without the slightest hesitation, the dark green puppet in the center of the arena shot towards the wary old Taoist priest.

"Good timing!"

Even if it was just a mortal driving it, the Copper Heart Daoist dared not be careless in the slightest.

After all, it was a first-tier high-grade combat puppet, and the toughness of its body alone was beyond his imagination.

These puppets are extremely difficult to make, and the materials required are extremely rare.

Moreover, its refining method is extremely complex, often requiring cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage or above to complete the entire refining process alone.

Therefore, the instant the dark green puppet moved, a small, golden tortoise-shell shield appeared in front of the Copper Heart Taoist, protecting him tightly.

"Bang!"

A tremendous crash resounded as the Copper Heart Taoist, with one hand forming a hand seal and the other holding a shield, managed to withstand the puppet's violent impact.

Then, taking advantage of the gap, a lightness technique was applied to him, and with a push of his legs, he glided rapidly backward with the support of the Wind Control Technique.

As he retreated, a fireball the size of a watermelon shot out from his hand and struck the dark green puppet that was still standing in place with a "bang".

The puppet's body was quickly engulfed by flames, leaving it motionless like a human-shaped fireball.

Jin Haiming and everyone else present stared blankly at what was happening before their eyes, gripped by boundless fear.

"A cultivator...a cultivator of immortality!?"

Jin Haiming exclaimed, as the eldest elder of the Jin clan, he naturally knew all the secrets about cultivators, and his great-uncle Jin Wanxuan was a person in this path.

Therefore, upon seeing the Taoist Master Tongxin wielding flames and attacking, he immediately recognized his mysterious identity.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Jin Haiming's temple. He could hardly believe that the invasion launched by the Longquan Sword Sect against the Jin Clan would actually have cultivators hiding among them. This would be a devastating disaster for the entire Jin Clan.

Under the meticulous arrangements of the Fourth Ancestor Jin Wanxuan, the Jin Clan had been living in seclusion in the Songzhu Mountains for over a hundred years, gradually fading from everyone's sight. How could they be targeted by cultivators now?

"Jin Jingtian!?"

Jin Haiming's mind raced, and considering his strange behavior over the past few days, he immediately suspected him.

Thinking of Jin Jingtian who had just left, Jin Haiming felt a chill in his heart and had an ominous premonition.

There was no time for him to think further. Looking at the guardian puppet in the flames, Jin Haiming was afraid it would be burned, so he hurriedly started manipulating the puppet disc.

Then everyone saw the figure standing still in the flames disappear in a blur, and the surrounding flames were blown away by the strong airflow.

Another dark green figure appeared beside Jin Haiming, standing quietly without the slightest injury.

Jin Haiming secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After confirming that the puppet was unharmed, he turned his solemn gaze to the gray-robed Taoist in the distance.

"This is troublesome... The driving core is actually made of mid-grade spirit stones. The four ancestors of the Golden Clan are really generous!"