A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm
Chapter 990: It All Goes Back to the Golden Crab

"This is not a good place to talk. Let's go back underground first," Daoist Xie said, then swept a sleeve through the air, and Han Li instantly felt his own body enveloped within a burst of gentle force, immediately following which he found himself in the underground palace.

The other golden Daoist Xie in the crystal palace had already awakened, and there were two other humanoid puppets standing beside it.

The other two puppets were also identical to Daoist Xie in appearance, but one was pitch black, while the other was a pristine white.

The black puppet was glowering at Daoist Xie with intense murderous intent in tis eyes, while the white puppet had a warm and pleasant smile on its face, looking much more benevolent and approachable.

Han Li turned to Daoist Xie with a perplexed expression, while the three puppets were also all looking at him.

The golden puppet didn't say anything, and it only took a brief glance at Daoist Xie before looking away.

Meanwhile, a cold look appeared on the black puppet's face as it sneered, "You may have been fortunate enough to transcend your Heavenly Dao Tribulation, but I'm still going to kill you and take your place eventually!"

As for the white puppet, it maintained its warm and friendly smile as it said, "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist. May I ask why you've summoned us to meet you here?"

"I have some tasks for the three of you. Fellow Daoist Black Spirit, please travel to Puppet City to inform Sha Xin that I've come out of seclusion," Daoist Xie instructed as he turned to the black puppet.

The black puppet seemed very reluctant to do his bidding, but it still obliged and departed, nonetheless.

"Fellow Daoist White Spirit, please undo the spatial restrictions around the Great Ruins and guide all of the citizens of Puppet City here," Daoist Xie continued as he turned to the white puppet, which also promptly departed.

"Fellow Daoist Golden Spirit, I need you to go and make some preparations. I'm going to draw upon the essential power of the Scalptia Spatial Domain to open a spatial passageway that'll allow Fellow Daoist Han here to return to the Holy Realm," Daoist Xie said to the golden puppet, and it nodded response before departing as well.

An intrigued look appeared on Han Li's face as he watched the three puppets depart one after the other.

"You seem to be very curious about those three puppets, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie remarked as he sat down onto a chair, then invited Han Li to take a seat as well.

"I am. These three puppets all seem to possess sentience. What types of puppets are they?" Han Li asked.

"Given your knowledge and experience, I'm sure you already have a guess, right?" Daoist Xie asked with a faint smile.

"You've seen right through me, Fellow Daoist Xie," Han Li chuckled. "Could it be that these three puppets are related to the three corpses that you've severed?"

"You're correct, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie confirmed with a nod. "I severed my three corpse souls and sealed them into these three puppets."

"I've heard that the three corpse souls are always a major problem for Great Encompassment cultivators. They can't be killed as doing so would pose some risk to the cultivator, but keeping the three corpse souls around is also very dangerous as they could turn on you at any moment.

“That's why the cultivators of the Heavenly Court have gone out of their way to seal their corpse souls into the Gray Realm. In light of that, it's brilliant that you were able to seal your three corpses into these puppets and make them do your bidding," Han Li praised with an impressed expression.

"Indeed, the three corpse souls are very difficult to manage, and the majority of Great Encompassment cultivators and Dao Ancestors will choose to seal them away. I'm only able to keep them by my side without any qualms thanks to my mastery in the laws of puppetry," Daoist Xie explained.

Han Li nodded in response, then said, "Let's get back on track, Fellow Daoist Xie. What do you need me to do for you?"

"There's no hurry, Fellow Daoist Han. Listen to my story first. Just as you guessed, I have some ties with the Night Sun Empire. I am the younger brother of the current Devilish Monarch, Shi Kongyu, which makes me Shi Chuankong's uncle," Daoist Xie declared, and Han Li was quite astonished to hear this.

"In that case, why are you in the Scalptia Spatial Domain? And judging from the conversation that I overheard between E Kuai and City Lord Sha, it sounds like you're currently enemies with the Devilish Monarch," Han Li said.

"That's a long story that goes all the way back to when we were competing against each other for the throne. Long story short, I was defeated, and he stripped me of the spatial laws that I had arduously cultivated. Thankfully, I was able to escape with the help of some others, and I fled into the Scalptia Spatial Domain," Daoist Xie explained.

Han Li didn't display any outward reaction to this, but internally, he was stunned to hear this.

He had many questions that he wanted to ask, but this matter clearly concerned certain secrets of the Night Sun Empire, so he didn't raise any questions.

"I'm assuming Shi Kongyu wouldn't have let you off the hook so easily, right?" he asked.

"Of course. Shi Kongyu appears to be quite noble and generous, but in reality, he's a very petty and spiteful man. However, the Scalptia Spatial Domain has been a special space within the Holy Realm ever since ancient times, and anyone who sets foot in here will have their cultivation bases completely suppressed.

“On top of that, cultivators at or above the Great Encompassment Stage can't even enter this place at all, and that's how I was able to survive in here," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.

"Why is it that Great Encompassment cultivators aren't able to enter this place? Is Shi Kongyu not a Dao Lord himself? How is this restriction able to take effect on him?" Han Li asked with an incredulous expression.

"The Scalptia Spatial Domain was created by an ancient Dao Ancestor, and it's precisely because of the excessively forceful nature of this restriction that the balance of the Great Dao in this place was damaged, thereby resulting in this place being reduced to the barren wasteland that you see today," Daoist Xie explained.

"I see," Han Li mused as he looked around with an awestruck expression.

At his current cultivation base, he was only able to use his own law powers to affect a certain area around him, and once he withdrew his law powers, everything would return to normal.

However, this ancient Dao Ancestor's law powers were able to have a permanent effect on the entirety of the Scalptia Spatial Domain, and that was a level of law power mastery that Han Li couldn't even begin to fathom.

"You haven't reached this level yet, so all of this must sound very far-fetched for you, but given your aptitude, I'm sure you'll reach this level soon," Daoist Xie said with a smile.

"That's very kind of you, Fellow Daoist Xie. By the way, if such laws exist in this place, then how were you able to come in here and ascend to become a Dao Ancestor?" Han Li asked.

"After my law powers were stripped away by Shi Kongyu, my cultivation base plummeted all the way down to the High Zenith Stage, and that's why I was able to flee into this place. Furthermore, I was fortunate enough to have received that ancient Dao Ancestor's inheritance, making me half an owner of the Scalptia Spatial Domain, so the rules here do not apply to me," Daoist Xie explained.

"I see," Han Li replied with a nod. "So how did you end up becoming a puppet and traveling to the Spirit Realm?"

"In this place, I wasn't able to make any further progress in my laws of space, so I switched to cultivating the laws of puppetry instead, which was the law power mastered by that ancient Dao Ancestor. I had exceptional aptitude in the laws of puppetry, and with the assistance of the inheritance left behind by that Dao Ancestor senior, I was able to reach the Great Encompassment Stage and severe two of my corpse souls.

“However, as I was severing my final corpse soul, I was betrayed by E Kuai, who allowed Shi Kongyu to intervene. As a result, my physical body met its demise, so I could only seal my soul and memories into that golden crab puppet and cast it into a lower realm in the hope of resurrecting myself someday, and you know everything that happened after that," Daoist Xie explained.

"So what is it that you need my help with, Fellow Daoist Xie?" Han Li asked.

"Even though I've become a Dao Ancestor, my chances of coming out on top in a battle against Shi Kongyu are still quite slim. Hence, I require allies if I want to avenge myself," Daoist Xie said.

"Could it be that you want me to join forces with you against Shi Kongyu?" Han Li asked with a surprised expression.

"Precisely," Daoist Xie replied with a smile.

"You think far too highly of me, Fellow Daoist Xie. I'm only a mere High Zenith cultivator, how could I possibly provide you with any meaningful assistance?" Han Li asked with a bewildered expression.

"You're too modest, Fellow Daoist Han. While it's true that you won't be able to pose any threat to Shi Kongyu in the near future, I'm certain that you'll reach our level someday, given your tremendous aptitude.

“Now that you've opened so many profound acupoints, you'll be sure to make rapid progress in your cultivation base once you leave this place, so I'm confident that I won't have to wait too long before you become a worthy ally of mine," Daoist Xie replied with a smile.

A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

Even though he and Daoist Xie were close friends, he had already fulfilled his promise to the latter, and if he were to recklessly become involved in a conflict between a pair of Dao Ancestors, then that could easily lead to his demise.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han, I'm not asking you to stay here right now. Instead, all I ask is that you come back to help me once you've attained sufficient power. On top of that, I'm not asking you to get involved in this matter for no compensation. You can have this as a gesture of my sincerity," Daoist Xie said as he offered a jade vial to Han Li.