Sweeper cracked a smile as he said, “Well, only time will tell. However, I think we could be that extra piece on the scale when it came to that.” The young boy thought about it for a moment before he nodded his head.
He then glanced at the other eight around him and said, “Master created over a thousand Sovereign Puppets but only the nine of us have managed to awaken our own intelligence after all these years.” Hearing this, their faces turned a bit sour. They had been in this location for countless years already but none of the other puppets had managed to awaken their intelligence in all these years. They returned their gazes towards the screen and kept observing the battle.
On the battlefield, the Sovereign Puppets were dropping down like flies as the Black Dragon Warrior Puppets kept locating one Puppet Controller after another and killing them. Besides having to personally control the Puppets, the other major weakness of these Puppets was that they could only control them in a certain area around them.
If they left this area, they would lose all control over the Puppet. When each of the Puppets fell, a Black Dragon Warrior Puppet caught and stored the now lifeless Puppet.
***
In a luxurious Hall, the Heavenly Sovereigns of the Meng Clan and the Han Clan were staring at the giant screen in front of them in rage. One of the Sovereigns pointed to the screen and asked, “Where the fucking hell did he get those Puppets? That brat is the biggest variable in this war and this entire siege was to impact his Dao Heart by killing his Clan!”
The Sovereign the continued coldly, “However, why is it that he has managed to obtain the Puppets of that tyrant? We can’t delay this anymore! If he grows any more powerful, we will lose this war!” The other Sovereigns present were quiet.
One of the Sovereigns that was dressed in red robes then said, “What Sovereign Han Luo said is right, we need to dispatch Sovereigns to kill that brat before he manages to tip the scales again.” The other people in the hall were silent. This was a difficult decision to make because if they killed Curo with Sovereigns, then they would initiate the Final War. However, it wasn’t the time to initiate it yet. This caused all of them quite a headache.
Finally, one of them said, “I think Sovereign Han Luo and Meng Xiao are right. If we let him grow any longer, we will only be digging our own graves. That brat has managed to obtain the favour of the Wanderers, managed to find the Tyrant’s legacy as well. It is far too dangerous to let that boy keep on living.” The rest of the Sovereigns exchanged a glance and all of them had some hesitation in them. What these three were saying was right.
However, they did not want to initiate the Final War just yet. As they were all caught between a rock and a hard place, they could only convene the Nine Clans and thoroughly discuss this matter.
The longer Curo lived, the more danger he would pose to them.
***
The fighting on the battlefield had ended already. Curo’s appearance with two thousand Saint Puppets had turned the battlefield upside down. The previously struggling Alliance members and Ji Clan soldiers were immediately relieved of a lot of pressure. However, it took a while to clean up the battlefield and Curo had divided the Puppets into several hundred Squads and had them patrol the areas outside of the City.
Curo overlooked the battlefield on the city wall and could do nothing but sigh heavily. If Xie Li had not contacted him, he would have never known. He would have come back to only ruins of the City. A figure appeared behind Curo and said, “I never expected you to find his Legacy. Seems like he truly did perish in the Tribulations all those years ago. I grew up on his magnificent tales of roaming the world unfettered, with no one being able to stand in his way. However, I had thought that they were only myths and legends.” Curo didn’t turn around and simply answered, “I didn’t obtain his Legacy. I was forced to quit the Trials halfway and give up on the chance to obtain his Legacy.”
He then sighed and shrugged his shoulders as he turned towards the man, “All I have are these two thousand Puppets and the method of controlling them. However, I didn’t manage to obtain the method of crafting such exquisite Puppets.” Hearing this. The man sighed as well. “Although I wanted you to stay away from here, I am glad you decided to come back son. If you hadn’t, we would all be dead by now.” The man Curo was talking to, was his father, Ji Long.
Curo let out a sigh and said, “I wanted to obtain the Legacy and make it into our Clans lifeblood but this is all down the drain now.” Ji Long gave Curo a tender glance and said, “No need to worry about it. If we research these Puppets, then through trial and error, we can create our own method of Puppet Crafting.” Curo nodded his head but could not help but sigh internally at how long it would take.
It would probably take thousands of years and countless failures to be able to do so. Even then, it would not be as perfect as Chen Cang’s method.
Curo then turned towards the horizon again and said, “However, with these Puppets, unless they send in their core forces, the Nine Clans will not be a threat anymore.” Ji Long also nodded his head and said, “Since we now have such a strong shield and spear, we can focus more on nurturing the Clan.” Although Curo was considered to be in the Junior Generation, he was still one of the three strongest, if not the strongest member of the Ji Clan. He was one of the core decision makers of the Clan.
After talking a bit more about the future plans for the Clan, Ji Long left to supervise the clean up and deal with the reports of the battle. Merits needed to be handed out and casualties needed to be recognized. Curo stood on the wall a bit longer before he moved towards his courtyard. When he entered his courtyard, he was surprised to find a familiar figure standing there. The slender figure of a young man was leaning against the tree, as if it had been expecting him for a while.
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Curo calmed his mind and asked, “Have you come to ask for the Puppets back?” The slender figure slightly opened his eyes and countered with a question of his own, “What do you think about these Puppets?” Curo thought for a moment before answering, “They are strong, they are extremely versatile. Although I am not clear on how strong they truly are, they should be stronger than average Sovereign Puppets.” The man nodded his head and asked, “Why didn’t you have them stall the Sovereign Puppets?”
Curo shrugged his shoulders and said, “I am not clear on their true strength. If any of them got damaged or destroyed because I recklessly sent them out, how would I be any different from the Nine Clans?” The slender man narrowed his eyes and he didn’t quite understand. Curo then explained, “It is obvious from the intricate crafting and the quality of these Puppets that each and every one of them was personally hand made by Senior Chen Cang. To just destroy them without any care, I am afraid that Senior would curse me from the grave and send down a curse for me.”
Towards the end, Curo gave a chuckle. However, the slender man just smiled and said, “So it would be a shame to recklessly destroy something that someone else has spent a lot of effort on creating?” Curo nodded his head. The slender man then took a step forward and said, “Come on, you are qualified to accept Master’s Legacy.”
Curo was startled and asked, “Didn’t I lose my qualifications for it?” The slender man chuckled, “The Third Trial was the Trial of the Heart. To a Puppet Master, each of the Puppets they have is a priceless treasure. If you had been noncaring towards the Puppets, then you would have been unworthy of obtaining the Legacy of the greatest Puppet Master there ever was.” Curo then asked, “So it is that easy?” The slender man tilted his head and asked, “Easy?” Curo nodded his head and continued, “To just find the flaw in the restriction to open the door, then to brand two thousand Puppets and then simply show that you care about those Puppets…. Isn’t it way too easy?”
The slender man was stumped as he said with shocked face, “That door in itself has sent countless Formation Masters away with their heads lowered. Over the years, no one has managed to get past the first Trial, the door. Over time, the door was forgotten and only a few people that managed to stumble upon it by luck have managed to try it.”
He then continued, “Since Master set up the Trial until now, only you have ever passed the First Trial. Whether it be by fluke or skill, we don’t care. As for the rest of the Trials…. The Second Trial tested your aptitude and Soul Force. The Third Trial was to fight me so as to test both your Heart towards the Puppets and also to help you get acquainted with the fighting style of a Puppet Master.” He then gave Curo a weird glance and said, “However, you left after the Second Trial and proved that, at least to you, they aren’t some random objects to be tossed around at your whim. To us, that is all that matters.” Hearing this, Curo was at a loss for words. It made sense in some regards, however, in his mind it was still too easy. Due to his heaven defying talent, he hadn’t encountered setbacks.
In these two years of cultivation, he had reached heights most people don’t reach in nearly a thousand years. To him, everything came too easily. Yes, he put in his fair share of work however, his advancements in cultivation never presented anything like a challenge. This distorted his view on things. Like the slender man had said, over the years, countless people had tried to get past those doors, however, none of them could see through the intricacies of the Formations that were blocking the door from opening. Some people even spent thousands of years researching what ever Formation they could get their hands on for the sole purpose of breaking through that door, but they didn’t succeed.
However, Curo had succeeded and obtained the right to acquire Chen Cang’s Legacy. Seeing the hesitant Curo, the slender man sighed and said, “It doesn’t matter whether you think it is easy or not. The Legacy was meant for the fated person and you happen to be it. If you pass this chance up, there may not be another that will be able to follow your footsteps.” Hearing this, Curo pondered on it a bit more. With a heavy sigh he asked, “Will it take long to acquire the Legacy?”
Seeming to understand what Curo was implying at, the man nodded and said, “I have no idea how long it will take for you to inherit the Legacy. It may take up to years or it may take a few short days. As for the rest, you can deal with sorting out all of the other things later.” Curo was unsure of what to do. Currently, the Clan needed him as this was one of the most critical times for the Clan but on the other hand, for the Clan, he needed to obtain this Legacy. He wanted to make this Legacy the Foundation of the Ji Clan. The slender man let out a chuckle and waved his hand. Suddenly, a hundred Puppets appeared in the courtyard, making the quite large courtyard cramped. Curo was surprised but when he felt the fluctuations emitted from the Puppets, his face turned to shocked as he asked, “These are….”
The man nodded his head and said, “Yes, these are all Sovereign Puppets. By right, after you obtain the Legacy, you will be able to control them. For now, I will control them to look after the City on your behalf.” He then scratched his chin as he continued, “Considering that you are already using Shell Puppets that have been personally refined by Sovereigns, it should be no problem to have them join the fighting force here. Besides these guys, you can have all of the Saint Puppets also follow your Father’s or someone else’s orders while you are inheriting the Legacy.”
He then gave a grin and said, “With a hundred Sovereign Puppets and two thousand Saint Puppets, I recon even the Nine Clans wouldn’t dare to charge this place head on.” Curo gave a helpless smile. With no other option, he fished out a transmission talisman and after speaking a few words into it, the paper burned up. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and a middle aged man wearing an azure robe walked in. Seeing the situation in the courtyard, an azure sword appeared in his hand but it lowered when Curo said, “Dad, it’s alright.”
His eyes then turned towards Curo. Before he could ask what was going on, Curo started explaining everything to him. After he had finished, Ji Long let out a deep sigh. He then turned his gaze towards Curo and said tenderly, “You seem to attract one fortuitous encounter after another. With the addition of the Puppets, I will hold down the fort here. You go and do what you need to do.” Hearing this, Curo gave a smile to him and followed the slender man back to the valley.
When only Ji Long was left in the courtyard, he looked over the one hundred Puppets and sighed heavily to himself, “What kind of an auspicious beast did you give birth to my love…. Not only does he find help and backers everywhere, he seems to be the favoured child of the Heavens.” With that, he looked up at the sky for a moment, eyes drowned in melancholy.
When he lowered his gaze, there was determination in them as he thought to himself, “Curo is doing his best for the Clan. This is no time to slack off either. Otherwise, he will leave us all far behind in dust.” He let the Sovereign Puppets stay in the courtyard and he himself moved towards the Main Hall of the Ji Clan.
On the way there, he notified all of the Core Elders of the Clan that there will be an emergency meeting to discuss the future of the Clan.