The azure sky was vast, with the sound of birds fluttering their wings gradually fading into the distance among the clouds.
Song Yan held the letter tightly.
At first, there was surprise and wonder, then followed by a complex emotion that arose from the depths of his heart.
In his mind, scenes of his interactions with Stone Seat Elder flashed like a carousel.
"South Bamboo Peak... you're from a servant background? It's not easy, really not easy. Learn as much as you can this time and become a Skin Master soon."
"Everyone is discussing, yet you are daydreaming with your head down, you deserve to be punished!! Extend your hand!!"
"My question to you remains, has the Divine Form of the Nine-eye Grand Python moved?"
...
'It hasn't moved.'
Song Yan smiled, looking towards the direction of the Puppet Sect, softly saying in his heart, 'The Divine Form hasn't moved, it's the heart that moved. If the heart moves, how can one paint an unmoving Divine Form? That's the... disciple's answer. I hope, teacher, you are satisfied.'
After quietly finishing his thought, he recalled the appearance of the raven that turned dumb as a wooden chicken and left angrily after he hastily fabricated an answer back then.
Reflecting further, he roughly understood the location of his flaw: the Double-headed Wolf Shadow Puppet.
His Skin Painting Technique was already perfectly mastered. Even if he misplaced a dot during the spirit-imbuing moment, if time extended, some tiny flaw would inevitably reveal itself in the minutest detail.
The flaw was very small, extremely small, and if not for someone with a strong will observing continuously, it would be impossible to discover.
Stone Master cared about him deeply, yet also considered his situation, so at the best timing, he sent him the Cloak and Bowl Skill.
'I know your heart, you understand my intention...'
Though not spoken face-to-face, everything was conveyed in silence.
Unspeakable gratitude arose from the bottom of Song Yan's heart.
...
...
As night fell.
The carriage stopped in a desolate forest, and a blazing campfire rose high. Two women wrapped in blankets slept in the carriage.
Song Yan stood by the campfire, gazing towards the direction of the Puppet Sect, knelt down, and respectfully performed three loud kowtows, then unwrapped the parcel.
Inside the parcel, besides the letter placed on top, there were four items:
Another letter;
Four jade bottles, one black, one green, one white, one red;
A brocade box;
A palm-sized silk pouch that seemed to contain something heavy.
He opened the silk pouch, inside were two pieces of egg-sized Crystal Jade emitting Profound Qi.
He had touched similar Crystal Jade in the embrace of a Loose Cultivator with a gourd Profound Artifact before, but those jade were only the size of soybeans, compared to these two the difference was vast.
He glanced at the brocade box and jade bottles but did not open them rashly, instead, he first took the letter from the bottom, opened it, and quietly read.
The letter stated: In the Mortal World where Profound Qi is thin, you can only cultivate using the Dual Cultivation method, these two Great Profound Jade can aid your cultivation, equivalent to providing you with the Profound Qi of four years of cultivation in the Cave Mansion of South Bamboo Peak, helping you to break into the Refining Profound Realm sooner.
The brocade box contains a Storage Ring, old man's Cloak and Bowl Skill is within.
The ring's sole restriction is your breath, which was applied using a strand of your hair from South Bamboo Peak Cave Mansion. Once you enter Refining Profound, you can break into the ring with Profound Qi to obtain the cultivation technique. In the meantime, ensure you safeguard it carefully!
Inside the Black Jade Bottle, there is the antidote. The Sect Leader may not be able to resolve the trouble within five years, and if he falls before then, awaiting you all will be only death.
However, even if you take the antidote, if the Sect Leader has not died, you must return within five years. The pill given to you by the Sect Leader not only contains toxin but also a thread of his breath, if you do not return, he will surely kill you. Our sect's style does not tolerate a slight.
However, if the Sect Leader truly dies, then you need not return, and may carefully cultivate elsewhere.
The "Qi Manipulation Technique" of my Shadow Puppet lineage requires at least the Fourth Layer of Refining Profound to be utilized.
The Green Jade Bottle contains twenty-four Great Profound Spirit Pills, consume one every two months, sufficient for four years of cultivation.
The White Jade Bottle contains the Skin-Stripping Ointment needed for the Third Layer of Refining Profound, apply it all over the body after achieving perfection in the Second Layer before continuing cultivation to assist in breakthrough;
Inside the Red Jade Bottle is the Flame Marrow Pill required for the Fourth Layer of Refining Profound, consume when encountering a bottleneck, digest the medicinal power to assist in breakthrough.
...
Having finished reading the letter.
Song Yan placed it into the campfire, then quickly retrieved the Storage Ring.
This item indeed filled him with excitement, because even Zhang Yin did not have such a ring, clearly it was incredibly precious, its function naturally being "storing and retrieving items at will."
Stone Master assumed he needed some time to cultivate before breaking into Refining Profound, yet he had actually already reached the Second Layer of Refining Profound.
He grasped the ring, a strand of Profound Qi passed through his fingertip into it, as if arriving at a "Automatic Sensing Door with Breath Recognition," sensing his breath, the restriction opened directly, revealing an interior space roughly the size of a drawer.
Though the space was small, the contents inside were quite abundant.
First, five booklets.
These were evidently compiled or transcribed by Stone Master, as lacking a Jade Scroll would be easily noticeable.
Song Yan glanced around, then took them out one by one, and carefully began to read.
The first booklet: Stone Master's experience in skin making.
The second booklet: Skin Control Technique, a secret technique from Shadow Puppet Peak in Puppet Sect, although not an exclusive secret technique, it's more "confidential" compared to the low-level market common techniques. The entry-level threshold for cultivation is: Fourth Layer of Refining Profound.
And this... perhaps explains why the Puppet Sect Leader "dismissed those below Fourth Layer of Refining Profound" because "Fourth Layer of Refining Profound" is the minimum combat disciple threshold.
The third booklet: Little Five Elements Silk Binding Hand, a technique exclusive to Skin Masters.
The fourth booklet: Skin Painting Soul Summoning Technique, a technique exclusive to Skin Masters.
The fifth booklet: Hundred Forms Divine Control, Stone Master's Cloak and Bowl Skill.
Having reviewed the Skin Control Technique, Song Yan roughly understood that skin control requires first taming the "Shadow Puppet," low-level Demon Beast grade "Shadow Puppets" are at the Refining Profound First to Third Layer, so you need at least "Fourth Layer of Refining Profound" to successfully tame them.
After taming, use Profound Qi as silk threads to manipulate the "Shadow Puppet," strengthening it, with the normal limit being "two."
Left hand one Shadow Puppet, right hand another Shadow Puppet.
This matched the several battles previously observed by Song Yan.
Those Official Disciples from Shadow Puppet Peak mostly manipulated one "mount" Shadow Puppet and one "combat" Shadow Puppet.
These Shadow Puppets cannot leave the operator's side too far.
For someone like Stone Master to send a bodiless phantom raven hundreds or even thousands of miles away is purely impossible.
And this is the essence of Hundred Forms Divine Control.
Hundred Forms Divine Control not only uses Profound Qi to control shadow puppets but also integrates them with spirit, though the recorded methods are extremely complex: different shadow puppets require different integration methods.
"Hundred Forms" is even an exaggeration because Hundred Forms Divine Control only records integration methods for low-level beasts like Double-headed Wolf, White Thorn Deer, Knife-beaked Finch, Iron Feather Finch.
For intermediate beasts, it only includes the bodiless phantom raven.
This Cloak and Bowl Skill represents Stone Master's lifetime of research, yet his lifespan was limited, so he only studied this much and passed it all to Song Yan.
But this was already excellent...
Normal Skin Control Technique can only manipulate two shadow puppets, with a use range limited to around oneself.
Hundred Forms Divine Control, however, allows the manipulation of multiple shadow puppets, with the number increasing as your spirit strengthens, and the range extending beyond, from "around oneself" to hundreds or even thousands of miles...
Such technique truly deserves to be called a secret art of Cloak and Bowl Skill.
Possibly worried about Song Yan's difficulties in skin making, the Storage Ring still contains a total of nine "low-level Demon Beast Shadow Puppet" finished products and one "no-bodied phantom raven" finished product, yet beside them written in blood: "Once you enter the Fourth Layer of Refining Profound, you can take them" and "Once you enter the Seventh Layer of Refining Profound, you can take them."
Clearly, these shadow puppets were intended by Stone Master to be heirlooms passed to Song Yan, he held onto some hope, yet also was not entirely convinced Song Yan would truly succeed in using them.
After all, everything was still uncertain, the worldly Profound Qi was scarce, for someone like Song Yan who hadn't even reached "First Layer of Refining Profound," breaking through to "Fourth Layer of Refining Profound" was akin to nightmare difficulty.
...
...
Song Yan raised his hand, touched the white bottle, and the two pieces of Great Profound Jade.
The white bottle contained the Skin-Stripping Ointment.
Although the name sounded poisonous, Song Yan felt no fear, as he would use it during life span calculation.
He slightly perceived his surroundings.
There was no Evil Qi here, and though the Profound Qi was quite thin, perhaps due to being relatively close to Puppet Palace, it wasn't so thin as to be nonexistent.
Different environments result in stark differences in cultivation speed.
In life span calculation, both "cultivation environment" and "personally held items" greatly influence the calculation progress.
Clearly, spending a year calculating here would yield far less progress compared to South Bamboo Peak.
However, it doesn't matter.
He initially planned to search the external market for an opportunity to break through to the Third Layer of Refining Profound, but he hadn't expected Stone Master to thoughtfully provide it directly.
He quickly focused his attention on Cultivation Technique.
'Invest six years, comprehend realm.'
The upper limit number for life span "17956" began to retreat.