"Rushing your Cultivation will only end up doing more harm than good." Yang Kai offered a faint smile. He could already tell how eager Hua Qingsi was.
"Do you think I don't know that? But if you were in my position, you'd understand how I feel," Hua Qingsi sighed, waving her hand dismissively. "Never mind, let's not talk about that. Where exactly are we, and why did you summon me out?"
"This is the Thousand Leaf Sect."
"The Thousand Leaf Sect?" Hua Qingsi raised a slender eyebrow, pondering for a moment before speaking. "You mean the Thousand Leaf Sect famous for their puppet techniques?"
"Sister Hua knows about this sect?" Yang Kai asked, surprised.
Hua Qingsi said, "The Thousand Leaf Sect may not be a first-rate sect, but they're fairly well-known in the Southern Domain. How could I not have heard of them? I used to be quite interested in their puppet techniques and studied them for a while. But unfortunately, I heard their lineage had already been severed. They declined for untold years, and now they can't even command the puppets that remain within the sect."
"That's indeed the case." Yang Kai immediately realized upon hearing this that Hua Qingsi truly knew a fair amount about the Thousand Leaf Sect.
"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're after their puppet techniques too?" Hua Qingsi asked curiously.
"Someone asked me to come and lend a hand." Yang Kai smiled and gave a brief explanation of the situation.
Hua Qingsi listened with astonishment. "There's a separate Secret Realm inside the Thousand Leaf Sect? That's a first for me. No wonder they declined. If the entrance to the Secret Realm was sealed, that would make sense. With your abilities, repairing that entrance shouldn't be difficult."
"I'll do my best," Yang Kai said with a shrug.
Hua Qingsi suddenly flashed a mischievous grin. "Young Master Yang, if you happen to find the Thousand Leaf Sect's inheritance inside that Secret Realm, could you make a copy and let me take a look?"
"That doesn't seem right..." Yang Kai gave her a sidelong glance. "It's their inheritance, after all. What kind of person would secretly study and comprehend someone else's legacy?"
Hua Qingsi pouted. "As if you're not interested. Whether you copy it or not is up to you. In any case, I'll be advancing to the Emperor Realm before long. I don't have time to study that kind of thing right now."
Yang Kai chuckled. "I'll see what I can do."
Hua Qingsi said, "Now that's more like it. I've heard that the Thousand Leaf Sect's puppets are divided into four grades: heaven, earth, mysterious, and spirit. Right now, the people of the Thousand Leaf Sect can only command puppets below the mysterious grade. The methods for commanding earth-grade and above puppets have long been lost."
"That's right. On this main peak alone, there are over thirty earth-grade puppets, but Ye Hen and the others have no way of activating them. There also seem to be quite a few heaven-grade puppets." Yang Kai's expression turned wistful as he recalled the strange little peaks he had seen earlier. A wave of shock still reverberated deep within him.
Hua Qingsi smiled coyly behind her hand. "Then did you know that above the heaven-grade puppets, there is another tier—the spirit-grade puppet?"
Yang Kai's eyes went wide. "A spirit-grade puppet?"
Hua Qingsi nodded. "Whether this kind of puppet truly exists, I'm not sure. I only read about it in some records at the Star God Palace. The accounts weren't complete, either. You know how the Star God Palace is—they research the secret arts of major sects across the Southern Domain and even the entire Star Boundary."
"Tell me more." Yang Kai's interest was immediately piqued.
Hua Qingsi adopted a serious tone. "A heaven-grade puppet of the Thousand Leaf Sect, every single one can match the combat power of an Emperor Realm powerhouse. The very top-tier heaven-grade puppets are in no way inferior to a Third-Stage Emperor Realm cultivator. That is why they were able to become one of the Southern Domain's top sects back in the day. And those spirit-grade puppets... they apparently already possessed spiritual awareness—they could think independently, had their own consciousness, and could even Cultivate various techniques and secret arts to continuously improve their strength. Just like... just like your big stone!"
What she was referring to, of course, was the Dharma Avatar.
Yang Kai was genuinely shocked, staring at Hua Qingsi with his jaw hanging open.
Puppets were called puppets precisely because they possessed no consciousness and only moved under someone's command. If they could think independently and possess awareness—even going so far as to Cultivate and improve their strength—then what else could you call them? That was nothing short of the rights belonging to a living being.
Hua Qingsi laughed softly. "I don't know if it's true or false. All I know is that's what the records say. Though the Thousand Leaf Sect was famous throughout the world for their puppet techniques, they apparently didn't have many spirit-grade puppets, and where those spirit-grade puppets ended up is a mystery to everyone."
Yang Kai fell silent for a long while.
The idea of puppets developing spiritual awareness sounded, at first, utterly far-fetched. But upon careful consideration, it wasn't entirely impossible. The world was vast and filled with countless wonders—even Liu Yan had been an artifact spirit that had taken form. Why couldn't a puppet develop awareness?
The problem was that the opportunities required were simply too many.
"Oh right, you still haven't told me why you summoned me. If there's nothing else, I want to go back and continue my Cultivation." Seeing that Yang Kai had been spacing out for quite some time, Hua Qingsi couldn't help but ask.
Yang Kai snapped back to reality. "Sister Hua, don't go back just yet. I need you to do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"On my way here to the Thousand Leaf Sect, I ran into a few old acquaintances. But the Sect Master of the Thousand Leaf Sect doesn't exactly have a favorable impression of us. I'm worried that while I'm not around, that old man might make a move against them."
He needed to repair the spatial formation for the Thousand Leaf Sect, and if the opportunity arose, he also wanted to enter that Secret Realm and take a look—see if he could find some fortune. There was no way he could stay by Chi Yue and the others' side at all times.
Chi Yue and the rest were only at the First-Stage Dao Source Realm, while Shi Cangying was at the Third-Stage Dao Source Realm. The gap in cultivation was significant. If Yang Kai wasn't present and Shi Cangying decided to strike underhandedly, Chi Yue and the others would have absolutely no way of resisting.
The reason he had summoned Hua Qingsi out was to have her secretly protect Chi Yue and the others.