“I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that most paths in the Sacred Gate Sect have a rather obvious flaw. They’re rather weak without their summons,” Xun explained. He pointed in the direction of the main sect mountain. “They use puppets, phantoms, clones, beasts, and skeletons. All of these things increase the overall power of the cultivator but once someone closes the distance, then the demonic cultivator is just a sitting duck.”

Zhanghao nodded as she replied. “So my poison might be effective against those with higher cultivation in the Sacred Gate Sect. But against an orthodox cultivator like the other two sects, that might not work.”

“Right, it might not. But what if you were take one of the Sacred Gate Paths and disguise yourself as just another disciple. Then when they try to destroy your puppets, they’ll be close enough for you to poison them.”

Xun watched as Zhanghao’s eyes opened slightly wider. He could tell that she was already thinking of the possibilities.

“I think that you should join the Shadow Puppet Path. Learn how they build their puppets and then figure out a way to infuse your poison skills with the puppets,” Xun said. “The Inner Breathing Method, for all of its benefits, has a major flaw outside of the damage it’ll do to your spirit channel. It’s a neutral zhen. Where the Nine Thunder Scripture added a lightning and thunder attribute to a cultivator’s zhen, the Inner Breathing Method leaves zhen that’s as blank as a white page.”

“Which means that it can do everything but never excel at any one thing,” Zhanghao said, finishing the thought.

“Exactly. So the Sacred Gate Sect pushes its disciples to go down paths where the puppets can bridge this deficiency. A cultivator doesn’t need special zhen to control or use puppets, all that matters is how much zhen they have, and the Inner Breathing Method doesn’t lose to any other scripture on that front.”

Zhanghao stood up and began pacing around the forest. “So I could control a group of puppets in the same way that Pengzi has a flock of chickens. Except, instead of going for many, I could focus on a few extremely strong puppets that each have a different way of delivering the poison to the target. Perhaps they each have a different poison as well.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Xun said. He held up a hand, curling into a fist before showing his palm again. “But there’s one more thing to consider. What type of cultivator do you want to be?”

Zhanghao paused in her steps and looked at Xun with confusion in her eyes.

“What do you mean? I thought becoming a puppet cultivator was the whole point? Unless it’s not?”

“No even close. There are dozens of different types of puppet cultivators. Some of them focus on offense, where they have almost no defense, and count on the hope that their enemy falls prey to the puppets before they do. Others train a couple of strong defensive techniques to stay safe while their puppets do the hard work of fight.”

Zhanghao had met both types of these puppet cultivators before.

“There are other types, like ones who have both offense and defense puppets. When they meet someone weaker than them, they’ll always win. But if they meet someone stronger than them, there’s almost no chance for a victory. But my question is whether you want to play it safe with defense, try for offense, or use something that’s a mix of the two.”

“What would you suggest?” Zhanghao asked, punting the question back to Xun.

“My suggestion is offense. While it’s true that defense might provide an extra layer of safety, the key to winning battles often lies in striking first and striking hard.” He turned to face her fully. “There’s a branch of offense type puppet masters that you’d be well suited for. Assassins. You attack stealthily and unexpectedly, catching your enemies off guard and eliminating them before they can even react.”

—

“Hello, respected senior. We were wondering if you could help us. My junior sister would like to take the Shadow Puppet Path,” Xun called out as he and Zhanghao approached a disciple of the Shadow Puppet Path. On their walk here, he had told Zhanghao to follow his lead.

Upon hearing their voice, the disciple turned around and was about to ignore them until he saw Zhanghao’s face.

“Hello juniors,” the disciple greeted them warily. “Could you show your sect token?”

Xun hesitated for a second before he brought out the token that Dashan had left with him a while ago.

The disciple visibly relaxed when he saw that. “Sorry about that. We’ve been having some trouble with assassins recently.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Assassins?” Xun asked.

“The damn Nine Thunder bastards. Some of them only pretended to surrender and then turned around to attack us when our guard was down. My suggestion, if anyone asks you to join their group, don’t do it. One of my seniors was caught off guard like that and barely escaped back to the sect. The bastards had their Soul Lodge Notes snapped though.” The disciple spit at the ground.

“Ah I see,” Xun said. He played into the image of being just a clueless disciple. “The damn bastards. Anyways, senior, if you don’t mind, could you tell us more about the Shadow Puppet Path? Zhanghao here saw someone from your path in action during the siege and well, she’s been talking about it ever since.”

Next to him, Zhanghao nodded and stroked the disciple's ego. “I’m not very good at direct combat. It just doesn’t appeal to me and so when I saw the Shadow Puppet Path, I thought that this was the perfect path for me. I’m currently on the Joyful Chorus Path.”

“Of course, I’d be happy to help you decide, junior sister.” The disciple glanced at Xun and when he saw no reaction, he began to sell his path. “You’ve come to the right person. The Shadow Puppet Path is one of the most popular paths in the Sacred Gate Sect. But beyond anything else, it’s flexible. And unlike some of the other paths, like the Phantom Spirit Path, you don’t have to deal with anything disgusting.”

Zhanghao patted her chest as she exhaled. “That’s good. I was afraid of that.”

Two puppets stepped out of the disciple’s shadow. One was a mechanical tiger while the other was a shield that floated in the air. “These are two of my favorite puppets. Tiger here focuses on offense, while the shield covers the defense aspect. There are some puppets that combine both offense and defense but I wouldn’t recommend that.”

Zhanghao cocked her head. “Why? I thought being able to both defend and attack would be the most advantageous option?”

“If only that were the case.” The cultivator sighed, “That's a common misconception. In reality, that just means that you will not be able to specialize in either, essentially making you less important than a paperweight whenever you fight someone above your power level. Plus, the cost of creating a puppet like that is enormous. As normal disciples, it’s better for us to be economical with our puppets.”

“That makes sense, thank you senior,” Zhanghao nodded.

The disciple glanced at Xun again. “Are the two of you… do you two follow the same path?”

“Oh no,” Xun quickly said. “I’ve already taken the Phantom Spirit Path. Zhanghao is the only one on the Joyful Chorus Path and was interested in adding the Shadow Puppet Path to her cultivation.”

“That’s a bad idea,” the disciple said with quite a bit of vigor. Then, perhaps realizing that he was a bit too caught up in the cultivation of others, he added, “You shouldn’t do that. Pick one path only. Eat too much and you’ll end up having a hard time swallowing what you’ve done. I think the Shadow Puppet Path would be a better fit for what you want. There’s a phrase from where I come from, an apprentice of many trades is a master of none.”

Xun stepped slightly in front of Zhanghao. “I agree, senior. Would you maybe introduce us to the sect elders in charge of the path so we can register for the Shadow Puppet Path? I don’t think it would be too late to leave the Joyful Chorus Path after she’s joined your honored path.”

“Uh, fine,” the disciple said. “Follow me.”

The disciple flattened the shield, stepped on it, and flew to a side mountain. Xun and Zhanghao summoned a cloud and followed close behind.

“You’re Nine Thunder,” the disciple snarled when he saw their flying instruments.

“No, we’re not.” Xun raised his hands. “We were sent into the Nine Thunder Sect as spies. We started as mortals and so we never got to practice any of the sect’s techniques. We helped break the sect protection formation.”

The disciple looked at the two of them suspiciously before finally nodding. “Ah so just like Sister Yi. What did you get? I heard Sister Yi got a Consecration Formation Pill.”

“I’m sorry senior, that’s something…”

“Bah, personal. I get it.” The disciple waved Xun off. “Say, did you know Sister Yifan? I heard that she became… she found a way to convince Pidao, the Nine Thunder elder, to betray his sect. I have to say, I don’t think I could have done that. That’s right, she’s also the Joyful Chorus Path. Do you know her, Sister Zhang?”

Zhanghao shook her head.

“Ah that’s a shame. It could have been quite the fortune if you did.”

Xun grunted in response and put an end to the conversation.

—

The group reached the hall for the Shadow Puppet Path pretty quickly. The disciple paused in front of the enterance and stared at Zhanghao.

“Sister Zhang, if you ever need help with your cultivation or want to discuss things with someone, I’d be happy to help. I’m an official inner disciple for the path.”

“Of course, senior. I’ll be sure to find you, senior —”

“Wang. Wanghong. Remember to find me.”

When the Shadow Puppet Path disciple flew off, Xun turned to Zhanghao. “Just so you know, he didn’t tell you the full version of that quote. An apprentice of many trades might be a master of none but is oftentimes better than a master of one.”

“But Xun, what if I’m not good enough?”

“Not good enough?” Xun frowned.

“What if I fail? To combine poison with the puppet path while also cultivating the Joyful Chorus Path. That’s a lot. I keep thinking about everything that could go wrong. And what if it doesn’t work in the end?”

“When I worked with Zeran, it was a single question. How desperate was she? The path of the sword cultivator is simple, to place all of your belief in your sword. With Pengzi, it’s a bit different. What he needs to learn is the balance between having spirit beasts as subordinates and being friends with them. Go too much in either direction and you’re left with beasts that either can’t be controlled or are too weak.”

“And what do I need?”

“Simple. You need to figure out a way to believe in yourself. You have all the right elements to become a great cultivator but for some reason, you keep thinking that you’re destined to play a supporting role to others. Live for yourself sometimes.”

Xun looked into Zhanghao’s eyes. He saw the hesitation slowly disappear and become replaced by determination.

She squared her shoulders. “Thanks Brother Xun. I’ve decided. I'll live for myself and become an assassin.”

“Good.” Xun smiled. Then he thought of something and quickly added, chuckling, “Live for yourself but make sure you include Pengzi. I don’t want him sending his chickens after me because of this.”