Chapter 537: Water Immortal

That night, after sending Qing Nv back, Chen Mobai returned to the Gedda Yard.

With his Void-Piercing Spiritual Eye activated, he quickly perceived something amiss.

There was a faint trace of void power lingering there.

A Golden Core Domain? Or some other void technique?

Upon realizing this, Chen Mobai raised his right hand, and a faint silver glow appeared in his palm. This was his Golden Core Domain.

For a cultivator who had just formed their Golden Core, this was merely used as a storage space.

But after reaching the third layer of Golden Core, one could control the void power within it, forming blade-like attacks. As more Golden Core Perfected Lords emerged in the Immortal Sect, a detailed cultivation manual for "Void Blade" was even published.

At the seventh layer of the Golden Core realm, the void power would have fully matured, capable of both offense and defense, and could even spread out, transforming into an orb-like domain.

This domain was the void space one cultivated daily, the most suitable place for one to unleash their power. Within it, cultivators could exert several times their usual strength, and it was also the ultimate trump card for all Golden Core Perfected Lords in the Immortal Sect.

However, what Chen Mobai most desired was the "Teleportation" ability after achieving mastery over the void.

The Immortal Sect officially named it "Void Walk."

Once this was mastered, even in the most dangerous situations, he would be able to escape in the simplest way.

In the past, Perfected Lord Cheng Xuan used teleportation to directly bring Chen Mobai from Building No. 1 to the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Treasure Caverns, which left a deep impression on him.

This Void Walk was generally a mark of Nascent Soul Perfected Lords, but in the history of the Immortal Sect, a very few extraordinary Golden Core Perfected Lords had also achieved it.

Chen Mobai felt his conditions were so excellent that he could definitely try to challenge it.

After he finished handling the current matters at hand, in addition to cultivating the Pure Yang Scroll, he could try to comprehend the Netherworld Grand Array and the Vacuum Dharma Body. With an entire Void-Nether Stone mine as support, he believed that at the Golden Core realm, he could achieve Void Walk.

The Immortal Sect's stratification of Golden Core Domains flashed through his mind. Chen Mobai, using his own spiritual sense, pushed his domain towards the residual void power in the Gedda Yard.

Because he had successfully opened his domain during the Foundation Establishment stage, his current void power already far surpassed that of ordinary Golden Core cultivators. But due to his weaker spiritual sense, he could not yet fully control it to form a Void Blade.

But using it for exploration was not a problem.

Before long, two streams of silver light flickered in the night.

Chen Mobai's void power, supported by his continuous input, quickly broke open a hidden small space.

A palm-sized puppet with closed eyes appeared before him.

The puppet was lifelike, its face identical to the middle-aged man he had seen there during the day.

A glowing green light lit up the puppet's entire body. It opened its eyes, and in those empty eyes, the moment they saw Chen Mobai, a hint of surprised light shone through.

"In the Immortal Sect, those with such puppet mastery are few and far between. Who are you?"

As Chen Mobai spoke, he reached out to grab the puppet.

A faint laugh resounded. The puppet suddenly expanded, becoming life-sized, then its right hand transformed into a drill, spinning into a spiral, and surged towards Chen Mobai's palm.

The Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror appeared, colliding with the spiral.

The golden light shield subtly warped, but supported by Pure Yang spiritual energy, it still blocked the attack.

"My patience is limited. I'll give you one last chance to confess."

Frowning, Chen Mobai retrieved the Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror. He raised his right hand and clenched it in the air.

Just as a mocking expression appeared on the puppet's lips, the void suddenly opened, and a long-handled sword gleaming with purple light was grasped and pulled out by Chen Mobai. The surging thunderous currents caused the puppet to tremble violently, as if malfunctioning.

"The Purple Lightning Sword!"

The puppet emitted a synthesized electronic voice, looking in surprise at the elegant and extraordinary young man standing before it, holding the sword.

"If I use this sword, it will quickly attract other Golden Core Perfected Lords nearby, and once they arrive, you will have even less of a chance."

If possible, Chen Mobai did not want to alert Lan Haitan and Gongsun Jielu; after all, he had already faintly guessed the origin of this puppet.

If this matter were to be investigated, it would likely cause a huge storm within the upper echelons of the Immortal Sect.

"The Purple Lightning Sword is indeed powerful, but you have only just formed your Golden Core. It's impossible for you to be in perfect harmony with the treasure sword, for man and sword to become one; you still won't be my opponent..."

Before the puppet could finish speaking, it saw the Purple Lightning Sword light up with a brilliant purple glow, spreading from Chen Mobai's sword-holding right hand, covering his entire body.

This was precisely the realm of "Union of Man and Sword," where the sword-heart was perfectly clear.

"Young friend, what is your esteemed name?"

The puppet's attitude suddenly changed, and it asked Chen Mobai in a gentle tone.

"You don't know me?"

This was quite strange. As a cultivator who had just recently formed his Golden Core, although Chen Mobai had tried to keep a low profile, his reputation was still the most prominent in the past decade.

"This puppet of mine has been here for several decades and was only activated yesterday, so I'm not very familiar with the recent situation in the Immortal Sect."

The puppet's words solidified Chen Mobai's judgment.

"Is it because of Qing Nv? You are Xin Ji."

As Chen Mobai finished speaking, the puppet opposite him paused, then asked with great surprise, "How did you know?"

"In the Immortal Sect, I'm also quite an expert in puppetry. For someone of your caliber, besides my teacher Che Yucheng, I could only think of Xin Ji. Moreover, I heard from people in the Jumang Dao Academy that Qing Nv looks exactly like your daughter."

After hearing this, the puppet paused in surprise for several seconds.

"So you're Yucheng's disciple. What is your relationship with Qing Nv?"

"Friends, I suppose."

"There are many kinds of friends. You can elaborate; I won't mind."

Chen Mobai heard the puppet's words and was a little annoyed.

"What's my relationship with Qing Nv? What does it matter if you mind!"

As he spoke, the Purple Lightning Sword in Chen Mobai's palm released faint currents. The spiritual energy within the Gedda Yard began to be controlled by him, transforming into tiny sparks of electricity, gradually spreading and forming an electromagnetic field.

"You..."

The puppet was about to say something more when it suddenly found that its electronic voice could no longer be synthesized.

"This current actually specifically counters puppets!?"

Chen Mobai himself was a third-tier puppeteer of the Immortal Sect, and after using Enlightenment Tea to comprehend all technical aspects of the Formless Puppet, his understanding was no longer inferior to Che Yucheng's.

He had once envisioned how to most quickly counter a puppet if he encountered one.

The critical components of high-end puppets in the Immortal Sect primarily used biomimetic materials, utilizing neural currents to transmit information and commands.

And after the Purple Lightning Sword and wielder became one, the most subtle current manipulation that could be achieved could accomplish this.

After the puppet found its movements becoming rigid, a glowing green light flickered all over its body, and to Chen Mobai's surprised gaze, it suddenly disintegrated, breaking into pieces.

"It... self-destructed?"

Frowning, Chen Mobai took out a yellow-skinned gourd and, controlling his Primordial Yang Sword Qi, began to examine the puppet fragments.

Soon, he discovered a core object similar to a Heaven's Calculation Orb.

However, this core was bluish-black and emitted a chilling aura.

"You must protect Qing Nv. Be careful not to go to Danxia City; there's an evil cultivator there who disintegrated and reincarnated from the Ascension Sect."

When Chen Mobai picked up this core, a message, intentionally left behind, was transmitted to him.

And after learning this news, Chen Mobai's eyes sharply narrowed.

Those from the Ascension Sect capable of disintegration and reincarnation were generally regarded by the Immortal Sect as equivalent to Nascent Soul Perfected Lords.

If there truly was such an existence hiding in Danxia City, then was their current lineup perhaps insufficient?

Did he need to report this to higher-ups in the Immortal Sect?

The only Nascent Soul Perfected Lord Chen Mobai could contact was Perfected Lord Cheng Xuan of the Wuqi Dao Academy.

But if he reported it, it would inevitably involve Qing Nv and Xin Ji.

Moreover, this could also be a feint by Xin Ji.

Chen Mobai was not certain his words were true.

Should he tell the Kaiyuan Hall or Lan Haitan and the others?

Chen Mobai thought deeply and felt that to be safe, he still needed to report this matter, but he could not appear there himself.

He thought and thought, and finally came up with a method.

In his capacity as the top official of Yumu City, if he wished, it would be easy to find where Gu Changfeng was imprisoned.

He divided his consciousness and manipulated the Formless Puppet to the outside of the prison.

After waiting for a long time, he finally saw a familiar person.

Lin Yin walked out of the prison holding documents, and by her side was Qing Nv.

The two had clearly just finished talking with Gu Changfeng, and it was unknown what new information the latter had revealed, but an excited expression was visible in Lin Yin's eyes.

"Who would have thought, this Soul Devouring Art actually..."

As Lin Yin sighed, she suddenly noticed something amiss. She sharply turned her head to look at a large tree by the roadside.

A strange spiritual energy, no weaker than her own, caught her attention, but the other party seemed to have also realized they had been detected, and suddenly began to move away, retreating.

"Go back to the prison. If I don't return in ten minutes, inform the Deputy Head of the Group."

Lin Yin said this to Qing Nv with a solemn expression, then executed her movement technique, disappeared from the spot, and charged towards where she had sensed the strange spiritual energy fluctuation.

As expected, the people of the Heaven Mending Group were fearless.

Chen Mobai's Formless Puppet sensed Lin Yin's following bio-magnetic field, nodded slightly, then stopped, waved its hand to sever a spiritual tree, and after leaving a note made of newspaper clippings, it vanished from the spot.

When upper-grade spirit stones were placed inside the Formless Puppet, it could unleash power equivalent to the Golden Core realm.

Lin Yin immediately felt the strange spiritual energy's speed surge, and then abruptly disappear from her spiritual sense's perception range.

Frowning, she pursued for two more steps and soon arrived at the last location where she had sensed the spiritual energy suddenly surge and vanish.

She immediately saw the severed spiritual tree and the crookedly pieced-together note on it.

Upon seeing it, Lin Yin's expression instantly changed drastically.

After Lan Haitan and Gongsun Jielu finished reading the note Lin Yin brought, they exchanged surprised glances.

Lan Haitan: "Besides you, who else saw this note?"

Lin Yin: "No one else. I didn't let Qing Nv accompany me."

Lan Haitan: "Understood. I will report this matter to the Group Head. Remember not to reveal it to anyone else."

After hearing this, Lin Yin nodded solemnly, then retreated and closed the door.

"Guess who's trying to warn us?"

Gongsun Jielu looked at the note again and asked with some surprise.

Lan Haitan: "Anyone who can toy with Lin Yin must at least be a cultivator of our rank."

Gongsun Jielu: "Then it's obvious. Besides us, there's only one Golden Core Perfected Lord in Yumu City."

After hearing this, Lan Haitan picked up his phone and called some informants from the Heaven Mending Group.

Soon, he put down his phone and shook his head.

Lan Haitan: "Chen Mobai is giving a lecture today at Qing Sang Academy. The academy's vice principal and many teachers and students are in his class, and they haven't left yet, so he has a perfect alibi."

Gongsun Jielu: "If I'm not mistaken, he's Che Yucheng's disciple, and his graduation masterpiece was the Formless Puppet."

Lan Haitan: "But you should know, for a Formless Puppet to reach the Golden Core level, it must use upper-grade spirit stones. The whereabouts of every upper-grade spirit stone in the entire Immortal Sect are clearly accounted for, and he doesn't have any."

Hearing this, Gongsun Jielu said nothing more. She pointed to the note, raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked Lan Haitan how to proceed.

"Let's report it to the Perfected Lord."

Soon after, the void opened in the office where the two were, and a young woman with long white hair, white eyebrows, and skin as white as jade stepped out.

"Greetings, Perfected Lord Shuixian!"

"Yes, rise."

This operation, although ostensibly led by Lan Haitan and Gongsun Jielu, was actually overseen by the Head of the Enforcement Department herself.

Actually, Perfected Lord Cheng Xuan originally wanted to come and 'clean house,' but the Immortal Sect, to avoid any perception of impropriety for him, still dispatched Perfected Lord Shuixian, whose position was more appropriate.

"That's how things are."

After listening to Lan Haitan's report, Perfected Lord Shuixian also finished reading the note and suddenly laughed.

"I thought this would just be a relaxing journey, but now it seems to be getting interesting."

The Heaven Mending Group and the Enforcement Department had made extensive preparations for this operation.

So on the third day after arriving in Yumu City, Chen Mobai was already notified to depart for Danxia City.

Because they were arresting a Golden Core Perfected Lord, they traveled light. After leaving Yumu City by car, they immediately activated a special flying talisman. Everyone's presence was concealed, and they moved through the sky like an invisible current towards Danxia City.

And after entering the vicinity of Danxia City, they all landed.

After Chen Mobai landed, he stood at the very edge.

Qing Nv immediately walked over and handed him a bottle of water.

"Thank you."

Chen Mobai smiled at her and looked up at the enormous Jade Phoenix Tree that was already within sight.