Hearing Chen Yun's words, the old Taoist's unconscious excitement instantly disappeared, and he regained his composure:
"It seems that Brother Chen Dao intends to use this matter to coerce me."

"Coercion? Your words are quite biased. So far, I have not asked you for any actual items. Instead, I gave you several rare and precious soul stones. If you think the transaction is not fair, then as for the second question, just pretend that I have never mentioned it. I will not take back these soul stones." Chen Yun replied in a flat tone.

Upon hearing this, Tianjing Zhenren's expression froze for a moment, and then became uncertain.

Chen Yun did not show any urgency, but just stood quietly opposite without any intention of urging him.

"As for the puppetry technique I taught you, you should be able to distinguish its authenticity. However, as for the matter of the Yinming Beast, how can I know its authenticity?" After a period of silence, the old Taoist spoke coldly.

"To be honest, even if the real person knew where the Yinming Beast was, it would be difficult to enter it. Not only is it full of dangers, but even if you are lucky enough to enter, you will not be able to escape in the end. I was very lucky that year, so I was able to escape death."

"However, although you have doubts about what I said, the soul stone is a real thing. In exchanging part of it for the puppet refining technique in your hand, you will not suffer any loss. Otherwise, even if you have the puppet refining method, but without the help of the soul stone, wouldn't it be meaningless?"

Chen Yun explained slowly and steadily.

Upon hearing this, Master Tianjing frowned, with an indecisive look on his face.

"Okay! I won't delve into the authenticity of the soul stone's origin for now. I just want to ask you, fellow Daoist, how many soul stones do you intend to exchange for the puppet refining technique. If the number is too small, I would rather choose to keep it all for myself."

After careful consideration, the old Taoist finally spoke with a slightly relaxed expression.

"It depends on the value of the ancient puppetry provided by the real person. If it is limited to refining the puppets that I saw during the day, even if it is given to me to watch, I will not be too interested."

Chen Yun was extremely happy inside, but he remained calm on the surface.

"The puppets that were exchanged during the day were actually just defective products found in the ruins. According to the real person, it seems that more powerful puppets can be refined. If you are willing to pay more soul stones, then

The old Taoist said with a strange look on his face.

"That's right! If you can create a puppet technique with the strength of the Nascent Soul Stage or above, what's wrong with giving the real person twenty soul stones?"

Chen Yun pursed his lips slightly and responded in a calm tone.

"Are they all soul stones of the same quality that was originally given to you?" Zhenren Tianjing asked seriously.

"Could it be that the ancient puppetry technique can really create a puppet comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator?"

Chen Yun was surprised at first, then ecstatic, and said without hesitation:

"Since I have already made the promise, I will not lie."

"Okay, these are the jade slips that record the ancient puppet refining methods. No need to borrow them, I will give them to you directly."

The old Taoist quickly took out a white jade slip from his storage bag and threw it directly to Chen Yun, with a sly smile like a fox on his face.

Chen Yun's expression remained calm. He took the jade slip without hesitation and used his spiritual sense to investigate.

After a moment, Chen Yun pretended to be angry, staring at Tianjing Zhenren without saying a word.

"Why? This puppetry provides several kinds of puppets, and the top-level ones can even compete with cultivators in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul. Doesn't this meet the needs of fellow Taoists?"

The old Taoist said this with a slightly joking tone.

"Humph! More than satisfied? However, the main material needed for these puppets is actually the thousand-year-old iron wood, which is simply a heaven-defying existence. In addition, other auxiliary materials are not only scarce, but some of them are unheard of. How can I find them?" Chen Yun responded angrily.

"Haha! I really can't do anything about this matter. However, aren't there images of various materials displayed in the attic? Perhaps you are blessed with great fortune and have the good fortune to collect all the materials needed for the puppet?"

Master Tianjing answered leisurely.

"Fellow Daoist Tianjing, have you already collected all the materials mentioned in the attic? Otherwise, why are you searching for soul stones everywhere?"

What the old Taoist didn't expect was that the anger on Chen Yun's face quickly subsided, and he immediately asked back.

"When did I ever say that I wanted to make puppets myself? I just found two semi-finished high-level puppets from the ruins. I can use them by injecting soul stones into them. Why do I have to do it myself?"

Master Tianjing explained calmly.

"You..." Chen Yun was speechless for a moment.

"In this case, I have already taught the art of puppet making to Fellow Daoist Chen, so I..."

"for you!"

Without waiting for the old Taoist to finish his words with a fake smile, Chen Yun angrily waved his sleeves and put all the soul stones on the table into his pocket.

The light is sparkling and eye-catching.

Tianjing Zhenren was overjoyed, but also a little embarrassed. Just as he was about to speak again, Chen Yun waved his hand and said:

"This time Chen was careless and suffered a loss. But I have no complaints. Now that the transaction is completed, I will take my leave."

Chen Yun clasped his fists and bowed, then left the attic with a frustrated look on his face, without even looking back.

The old Taoist stared at Chen Yun's receding back, first shook his head slightly, then nodded and smiled, and finally calmly put all the soul stones into the storage bag.

This time, he only exchanged a useless puppet refining technique for so many soul stones, so he was naturally satisfied.

With this batch of soul stones, it is enough to completely repair those half-finished puppets.

However, the fact that Chen Yun took out such a huge soul stone at one time amazed him, and his evaluation of Chen Yun also improved.

The old Taoist didn't know that at this moment, Chen Yun, who was walking several streets away, had already lost the frustration on his face. Instead, he was playing with the white jade slip in his hand, revealing a mysterious smile.

The ten thousand year old ironwood might be difficult for others to obtain, but it was not a difficult task for him.

The only problem is that it takes a long time.

As for those unheard-of materials, he vaguely remembered that they seemed to be found from the remains of the puppets in the Xutian Palace.

If luck strikes, perhaps I can gather the materials needed for a few puppets.

Of course, in addition to this, it will take some time to collect other valuable auxiliary materials.

These puppets, whose full-strength attacks are comparable to those of Nascent Soul cultivators, will be extremely powerful once they are successfully refined.

This made the puppetry that had been abandoned once again become one of his killer weapons.

...Half a month passed quickly.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Yun turned directly to a corner of Tiantian City.

Today is the fourth day of this grand trade fair.

He vaguely remembered what Nanlong Hou had once mentioned to him. According to the records in the jade slip, after some searching, he finally found this place on a remote street.

Chen Yun used his spiritual sense to carefully scan the surrounding environment, and then stood in front of a seemingly ordinary stone house.

From the outside, this stone house seems to be simply two separate houses connected together, which makes it look extremely low-key.

He walked forward slowly, thought for a moment, and before he raised his arm to knock on the door, the door suddenly made a slight sound and opened automatically in his surprised eyes.

A man wearing a jade crown, a purple robe and a long beard walked out of the house with a smile on his face.

"Friend Chen Dao, you are finally here. I would like to introduce you to a few like-minded friends so that you can get to know each other."

Nanlong Hou seemed to have already expected that the person standing at the door was Chen Yun. When he walked up to Chen Yun, he greeted him with enthusiasm with a smile on his face.

"Thank you for your patience!"

Chen Yun responded politely and was then invited by Nanlong Hou to enter the stone house.

The scene inside the house shocked Chen Yun. There was no one in the empty space.

However, when he swept his spiritual sense around, he immediately discovered the hidden restrictions in the house.

At the same time, Nanlong Hou also noticed Chen Yun's actions. He smiled slightly and said:

"My little tricks are naturally not able to hide from Daoist friends' eyes. Daoist friend Chen, please follow me!"

After Nanlong Hou finished speaking, he casually made a hand gesture and a golden light shot out from his sleeves.

After the golden glow dissipated, a white light suddenly flashed on the ground in a corner of the room. The illusory image disappeared, and a dark stone staircase appeared before the eyes.

Nanlong Hou walked straight to the bottom of the stone steps without saying a word. Chen Yun frowned, but did not hesitate too much and followed Nanlong Hou's steps down.

The stone steps were not too long. As soon as I stepped on them, I found myself in a small underground hall.

The few moonstones emit a soft white light, making the light here flickering and difficult to see the whole picture.

At this time, seven or eight monks had already taken their seats here.

When these people saw Nanlong Hou and Chen Yun walk into the hall, they all turned their eyes to them.

A middle-aged man in a black gown with an elegant face had a hint of surprise in his eyes, but soon frowned and interrupted the conversation without hesitation.

Then, the man smiled kindly at Chen Yun and asked in a friendly tone:
"I am Wang Tiangu from the Ghost Spirit Sect. I heard that you were once a disciple of the Seven Sects of the Yue Kingdom?"

Chen Yun raised his eyebrows slightly. It seemed that his whereabouts had not escaped the attention of others, and there was nothing to hide, so he cupped his hands and smiled, "That was a hundred years ago."

“Haha, Fellow Daoist Chen originally came from the Yellow Maple Valley. With your current Nascent Soul cultivation, you must have stopped caring about those trivial matters. After all, I invited you all to this place, and I don’t want to see any unpleasant things happen.”

Nanlong Hou then interrupted the topic at the right time.

Wang Tiangu smiled slightly when he heard this. With his deep thoughts, he naturally would not easily believe what Chen Yun said.

As for the other six people present, they were all Nascent Soul cultivators. There was even an old man in white shirt and without a beard, whose cultivation had reached the same Nascent Soul middle stage as Nanlong Hou.

Chen Yun took a closer look at this person and couldn't help but wonder whether this person was still plotting against Nanlong Hou together with Wang Tiangu of the Ghost Spirit Sect as described in the original book.

Nanlong Hou sat in the center, looking solemn and serious, and announced:

"Everyone here may be a cultivator of the righteous path, a member of a demonic sect, or an independent cultivator. However, you all have one thing in common - your spiritual consciousness is extremely powerful. This is why I invited you to gather here."

"Some of you may know something, but others need to learn more. Next, I will explain in detail, and then ask you to make a decision. If you don't want to participate, I will not force you."

Chen Yun understood what he meant and knew that the key point had arrived.

Nanlong Hou then announced: "The main purpose of inviting you all here this time is to go to Mulan Grassland."

As soon as these words were spoken, most of the monks immediately looked solemn.

The cold-faced monk frowned and questioned: "Are we really going to Mulan Grassland?"

The other monks also looked unhappy.

However, the Yuanying monsters present had all experienced a lot, so although they were shocked, they were still able to remain calm and wait for Nanlong Hou to answer their questions.

Nanlong Hou responded calmly: "You have misunderstood. I don't want to go deep into the grassland, I just need to stay in the edge area a hundred miles away."

The cold-faced monk surnamed You shook his head to express his concern: "Even so, it is still full of risks. It is said that after years of recuperation, the Mulan tribe seems to be ready to move again. The edge of the grassland is now full of dangers. There may be a large number of mages of the same level as us gathered there."

"Although their magic weapons are relatively simple, their cultivation and skills are not inferior to ours. Moreover, their spiritual skills are incredibly powerful, and they are good at coordinated combat. Once our whereabouts are exposed, it may be difficult for us to escape unscathed."

Nan Longhou recalled the past with a gloomy face: "How could I not know how difficult it is for a magician? Once, I fought with a magician in the Nascent Soul stage for three days and three nights. He was slightly weaker than me, and his magic weapon was not as powerful as mine. However, in the end, neither of us could win."

Wang Tiangu asked with a smile: "If that's the case, why do you still want to go to the Mulan Grassland? There must be something precious hidden there, otherwise Brother Nanlong would not be willing to take the risk."

Nan Longhou suddenly mentioned another name: "Have you ever heard of the name of 'Master Cang Kun'?"

An old lady's eyes sparkled when she heard this: "Is it the crazy cultivator from Tiannan who once terrorized both the righteous and the evil?"

Nan Longhou nodded in confirmation: "Yes, it is the legendary figure who caused great trouble in both the righteous and evil ways. Although no one has publicly admitted it, there is no doubt that he was the leader among the independent cultivators in Tiannan at that time. His magical powers were unfathomable and almost no one could defeat him."

“Even the great elder of the Hehuan Sect of the Demonic Path and the leader of the Righteous Path did not dare to assert that they could defeat this half-crazy cultivator.”

"The person who mentioned this, could he be related to that cultivator?" Wang Tiangu asked doubtfully.

Nan Longhou nodded and replied: "That's right. The place we are exploring this time is the secret cave where Master Cang Kun lived before he passed away."

"Absolutely impossible! Didn't that lunatic provoke the public's anger and besieged by many practitioners and died tragically?" The old man shook his head and firmly denied it. (End of this chapter)