A gentleman is cautious even in solitude.
Therefore, even when he was alone, Song Yan would maintain necessary vigilance, never allowing anyone to find a single flaw. He carried the great secret of the "Remaining Life Dao Fruit," and if anyone noticed anything unusual, he would at best be "searched in soul," at worst, "dissected and studied."
On this day, as usual, he greeted his "partner" Wang Susu and then returned to the cave mansion.
As the stone door closed, he suddenly heard two "pattering" sounds, as if someone had fallen to the ground.
Song Yan frowned, without a moment of hesitation, nor any curiosity to explore what had happened.
He quickly raised his hand to press the mechanism.
Rumble...
As soon as the stone door opened a crack, Song Yan had already tensed his whole body, assuming the posture of a "hundred-meter sprint."
Anyone could sense that this young man would dash out as soon as the stone door lifted to a certain height.
At this moment, a hoarse, strange voice emerged from the darkness of the cave mansion.
"Don't go out."
"Yes, senior."
Song Yan didn't ask who it was, politely responded, and then, as the stone door lifted, dashed out in a flash, not forgetting to press the mechanism to close the door behind him.
A shadow puppet raven followed closely behind him with a swift movement, its lifelike bird eyes looking at him weirdly and silently, its beak opening and closing with an elder's unmasked voice: "Are you that timid?"
This time, Song Yan recognized it was the voice of the Stone Seat Elder.
He awkwardly scratched his head and respectfully said, "Junior..."
"Enter the cave and speak."
The raven said, "The noise you heard was merely me putting your two furnaces to sleep.
The feathers of the bodyless illusionary raven are mixed with innate sleep-inducing toxins, which may only cause slight dizziness to cultivators but can instantly put mortals to sleep.
I only entered the cave mansion when you opened it, just to ask you some questions.
You need not worry."
"Yes, senior."
Song Yan obediently followed the Stone Seat Elder into the cave mansion.
In his heart, however, he felt a heavy weight: high-realm cultivators can indeed manipulate lower-realm cultivators at will.
...
...
In the cave mansion, at dusk, the sky light was like blood, hanging down.
The raven and the young man sat facing each other at a stone table.
The raven asked, "The question I want to ask you remains unchanged."
"What question?"
Song Yan has always been adept at playing dumb.
The raven looked at him sternly, its pupils seemingly transforming into the elder's eyes, then asked word by word: "Did the divine semblance of the nine-eyed harp python move?"
Song Yan's eyes showed a look of contemplation, giving one the impression of careful consideration, as if not wanting to miss an opportunity.
The raven watched him expectantly.
Song Yan finally spoke, earnestly, "It should have moved, Stone Master, that's what I think..."
He integrated what Gu Rufeng and Lv Hong had said and crafted a story from it.
At this moment, high above the main peak of Shadow Puppet Peak, the elder's face was already iron blue.
Listening for a long time, he heavily sighed.
Certainly, he could pass down his legacy, and both Gu Rufeng and Lv Hong could successfully receive it.
But... in the end, he was unwilling.
If he dies, if his body perishes and his Dao dissipates, what does it matter about young elders or the second generation of demons? What does it matter about human relationships and worldly matters?
What Stone Seat Elder wanted was a genius who could use his legacy as a stepping stone to climb higher; not someone ordinary who would cherish his legacy and progress no further.
He merely thought that one day, someone would be able to see the unseen sights for him, and that comforted him immensely, making him feel he could die with a smile even in death.
He sensed some special quality in Song Yan, so he nurtured a faint expectation.
But this expectation was slowly collapsing.
Bang!!
Stone Seat Elder fiercely smashed the glazed cup on the table to the ground and stood up angrily.
He didn't even know why he was so angry over a junior.
Perhaps because this junior had given him baseless hope, only to take it away again.
Outside the cave mansion, the beautiful mistress was sitting opposite Gu Rufeng, listening to the articulate young man's words, occasionally being amused to laughter, her laughter trembling.
Upon hearing the commotion inside the cave mansion, the beautiful mistress suddenly became quiet, looked at Gu Rufeng, and said, "Rufeng, I'll go in and have a look."
Gu Rufeng looked at her and said, "I'll trouble you, mistress."
Saying "mistress," yet his eyes hid a kind of aggressive fervor.
The beautiful mistress boldly responded to this fervor.
That lingering gaze only broke in mid-air with difficulty.
The beautiful wife entered the cave mansion, her expression suddenly changed, she hurriedly stepped forward and asked with concern, "Elder, what's wrong? What happened?"
Stone Seat Elder coughed heavily, "It's just some inexplicable restlessness."
The beautiful wife sat in his lap, her long legs tightly together, hugging his neck, softly saying, "Take it slow."
Stone Seat Elder suddenly said, "Xiao Xi, all these years, it's actually me who has wronged you... If you have a beloved Dao companion outside, you may go, I will do my utmost to compensate you."
The beautiful wife, called Xiao Xi, softly said, "For men, talent is most important, especially for someone as talented as you, Elder."
Stone Seat Elder nodded, then put down the Dao companion and turned, seeming to contemplate something else.
The beautiful wife disdainfully brushed off her long legs and turned to exit the cave mansion.
...
...
A month later...
Stone Seat Elder came to the main peak's shadow studio, seemingly casually flipping through the shadow puppets sent from outside.
These shadow puppets were offered by South Bamboo Peak, meant for the disciples to practice casually, not valuable.
As he flipped through them, his hand brushed past a double-headed wolf shadow puppet.
His old eyes squinted slightly, focusing on that shadow puppet, suddenly lost in thought.
...
...
Half a year later...
As if growing old and wanting to guide the younger generation, Stone Seat Elder often visited the shadow studio.
And the shadow studio was also packed with people from Gu Rufeng and Lv Hong.
But nobody knew this elder, in fact, had "a different purpose than wine," he was quietly watching the double-headed wolf shadow puppet sent from South Bamboo Peak.
That day, upon seeing the double-headed wolf shadow puppet again, he suddenly sensed something, curved his mouth in a smile, but restrained it, only to burst into laughter once back in the cave mansion.
He laughed so joyfully that even the beautiful wife came to ask what happened.
But Stone Seat Elder casually mentioned something else, not revealing the true reason for his happiness.
Which novice skin master would start with the perfect penmanship of sheer genius, then seemingly sense wrongness, blotting it elsewhere with "entry-level" skill shadow puppet technique?
Stone Seat Elder observed for a full half year, during which he caught such an occurrence twice.
The first time could still be coincidence.
The second time... that was absolutely not.
The chance for the Celestial Pen to appear on a novice was infinitesimal, appearing twice was definitely not coincidence.
The young man named Song Yan is a true genius, a talent surpassing even him.
'The big river pushes the waves forward, an astounding dazzling talent, truly a choice of the moment.'
'I understand your heart, yet you do not comprehend the old man's intention.'
That night, Stone Seat Elder opened a jar of Profound Brew, drinking under the moon.
However, he deeply understood Song Yan's concerns, directly passing him the mantle would be akin to sending him toward death, no matter how secretly the mantle was handed over wouldn't help, for Lv Hong and Gu Rufeng would inevitably quickly grasp it.
He... needed to wait for an opportunity.
And he felt that opportunity might not be far off.
...
...
Shadow Puppet Peak main peak.
In the mysterious dark hall.
That strange massive silhouette exudes eeriness.
Cheng Danqing respectfully stepped forward, handing over a scroll with several names written on it, said, "These few should all be spies from Nanwu Sword Sect."
The silhouette glanced at it, said, "The Multi-tailed Fox Race finally has a Great Demon.
The old folk do not want the flames of war to spread to their home grounds, I slightly guided and provoked, and they decided to secretly go to the border to intercept that Great Demon, whereas I... will stay here to guard."
Cheng Danqing said, "What do I need to do?"
The silhouette said, "Unintentionally leak the news that Puppet Sect is sparsely guarded to the spies you can, and I... will also give this news to Miss Seven of the Su Family. Her words should still carry some weight.
At that time, Nanwu Sword Sect will surely strike, and I will lead the young experts of Puppet Sect into battle."
The silhouette said while rising, the side profile faintly visible as an eerie smiling face, the tone imbued with hints of a mocking sneer.
"Then, kill them, kill them, you kill one of mine, I kill two of yours, you kill three of mine.
With rivers of blood, and cultivators' corpses everywhere...
We will become more formidable, with more companions.
Hehehehehehehe..."
Cheng Danqing also followed with a sinister laugh.
...
...
Appendix: As long as a ghost creature seizes a dying or deceased cultivator, it might regain a new life, and then combine with the cultivator's original Profound Root, forming a special Profound Root called Ghost Profound Root. With this root, one re-enters the realm of cultivation, thus becoming a Ghost Cultivator (Chapter 6).