Chapter 48: Puppet Beasts and Spiritual Sense

“You have a keen eye, Fellow Daoist. It is indeed a low-grade, first-tier magical tool.”

*Are they giving out magical tools as meeting gifts? How generous, I love you guys!*

Seeing Luo Chen playing with the puppet incessantly, unable to let it go, he injected his spiritual power into it, yet the puppet remained motionless.

Murong Qinglian covered her mouth with a light laugh. "This is a puppet magical tool. Ordinary Attraction Techniques cannot control it; it must be used in conjunction with specific incantations."

"A puppet magical tool?"

"Mhm. Listen closely, Fellow Daoist. The Divine and the Spirit harmonize, the Spirit and the Object coexist, the upper realms twist and turn..."

Under the guidance of the beautiful woman, Luo Chen quickly mastered the puppet technique.

First, he injected spiritual energy into the puppet beast, then mobilized the spiritual sense that resided deep within his soul.

However, at the Qi Refinement stage, spiritual sense cannot yet leave the body, so it could only use spiritual energy as a medium.

Suddenly.

*Click!*

The tiny pangolin suddenly took a step.

Luo Chen was overjoyed. With a thought, the pangolin began to crawl step by step.

Starting from a slow crawl, it gradually reached a steady pace, and finally, it was even circling the courtyard at high speed.

"Fun, so much fun! Interesting, very interesting!"

"I used to hear people say that puppetry is comparable to the Four Arts of Cultivation, and I used to scoff at it. Now it seems it truly lives up to its reputation!"

"It's comparable to the means of creation!"

Luo Chen praised incessantly. With a thought, the tiny pangolin crawled onto his shoulder.

Turning around, he realized that Qin Liangchen and his wife were watching him in astonishment.

"Good lad, your spiritual sense foundation is actually this profound!"

Qin Liangchen was once again shocked by this neighbor.

First, it was his extremely agile movement techniques, and now, he possessed a spiritual sense foundation far exceeding those of the same cultivation realm.

Luo Chen was puzzled. "Spiritual sense foundation?"

Murong Qinglian nodded to him. "All things have spirit; they are born with souls. Once humans step into cultivation, they generate spiritual sense. Initially, at the Qi Refinement stage, the spiritual sense resides within the sea of consciousness and cannot leave. Once one reaches Foundation Establishment, the spiritual sense can leave the body and illuminate several miles around. If one is lucky enough to achieve the Great Dao of the Golden Core, one can even evolve it into Divine Sense, reflecting the heavens and the earth."

Soul, spiritual sense, divine sense.

Luo Chen silently pondered these terms.

He had heard fragments of these concepts before, but only now did he realize the close connection between the three.

"But how did you tell that my spiritual sense foundation is profound?" Luo Chen asked, confused.

According to them, spiritual sense could not leave the body during the Qi Refinement stage, so how did they know the strength of his spiritual sense?

This time, it was Qin Liangchen's turn to answer him.

"The strength of a low-level cultivator's spiritual sense indeed cannot be detected directly, but it can be judged through external manifestations. The simplest way is through the control of puppets."

"Speaking of which, this is also a trick we only learned during this trip," Qin Liangchen said proudly. "The Luanyun Sect my son joined is based on puppetry in the Yuding Domain. They have their own set of methods for detecting and training spiritual sense. When we joined the sect, my wife and I took the opportunity to experience it as well."

"For example, when controlling a first-tier puppet beast, how quickly one picks it up, the limit of control time, the running speed of the puppet beast, and so on—all of these can offer a glimpse into the foundation of one's spiritual sense."

Murong Qinglian nodded, echoing her partner's words. "That is indeed true. It is said that within the Luanyun Sect, they hold puppet beast racing competitions every year, and the winners receive very generous rewards."

Puppet beast racing!

Luo Chen's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

He had already felt the running speed of the pangolin just now; it was almost no different from a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator exerting their full strength with the Wind-Control Technique.

And that was while he was still unskilled.

If someone designed a puppet specifically suited for running, once it started moving, wouldn't its speed be comparable to the physique of a demon beast!

But after the excitement passed, he felt a bit dejected.

Sect life truly sounded colorful and varied. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to go.

"Given how quickly you picked it up just now, and the running speed of the pangolin puppet you controlled, your spiritual sense foundation far exceeds what my wife and I demonstrated back then."

"Rumor has it that when a Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual sense leaves the body, the range is generally about two miles."

Murong Qinglian spoke with a tone of admiration. "If you can promote to Foundation Establishment, I fear your initial spiritual sense could reach four or five miles away."

*I'm actually that awesome!*

Luo Chen chuckled, having a rough idea of the reason in his mind.

Either it was a perk of being a transmigrator, or it was because he had passed through a heart tribulation a while ago; since then, he felt his mental state had improved significantly.

Even refining two batches of pills a day didn't make him feel fatigued.

Luo Chen asked curiously, "You mentioned just now that besides detecting the spiritual sense foundation, the Luanyun Sect also has methods for training it? I wonder, how is spiritual sense trained?"

"We don't know about that," Murong Qinglian shook her head helplessly. "We've only heard that those with stronger spiritual sense can control more and more powerful puppets. Perhaps the training method is related to the number of puppets one can control!"

Qin Liangchen curled his lip. "Puppet beasts are expensive. We bought a few first-tier ones intending to give them to you as local specialties. But those few cost a huge amount of spirit stones."

"I've caused you two to overspend." Luo Chen handed the pangolin back reluctantly.

"Ha, it's not like we're lacking one of yours, why be so polite?" Qin Liangchen waved his hand dismissively. "Once my son becomes a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I'll have as many as I want."

When speaking of his son, Xiaohu, a look of pride always appeared on the man's rugged, fierce face.

Murong Qinglian was the same, radiating a divine maternal glow.

She lifted her skirt and stood up. "Let's go home and clean up first. You two keep chatting; I'll call you for dinner in a bit."

*Can I mooch a meal again?*

"That might not be quite right... I have pink pig thigh meat simmering in my pot," Luo Chen said shyly.

Qin Liangchen laughed loudly. "I didn't expect you to know how to cook, kid. I doubt the taste is anything special. Don't be polite to my wife; just bring over your braised pink pig when it's ready so we can eat together."

"Then I shall not decline, Little Luo."

As Murong Qinglian went inside to busy herself, Qin Liangchen stayed in the courtyard to chat with Luo Chen.

He was a very magnanimous and talkative man, and having cultivated for many years, he was quite well-traveled.

Now that he had traveled away from home to the Luanyun Sect, where customs and styles were entirely different, he had even more topics to discuss.

Coincidentally, Luo Chen was a person with a strong desire for knowledge, playing the role of an excellent listener perfectly.

The two of them, one talking and the other responding, truly seemed like old friends meeting late, in perfect harmony.

"If it weren't for Old Man Mi's urgent letter, we would have traveled through Mount Huyun no matter what. Honestly, why pick a fight to the death? It's like they have nothing better to do."

Qin Liangchen grumbled about the reason for their return, cursing the "Old Man Mi" in his mouth quite mercilessly.

To an outsider, it might sound like he was talking about some petty thug.

But Luo Chen knew that the "Old Man Mi" he mentioned was a genuine Foundation Establishment expert and the current leader of the Broken Mountain Gang.

He said in surprise, "Brother Qin, are you going to fight on behalf of the Broken Mountain Gang?"

Qin Liangchen snorted unhappily. "Of course I have to help! Back when I couldn't even afford food, I relied on a job guarding a warehouse that Old Man Mi gave me. I was only at the second level of Qi Refinement back then. Now that he's in trouble, I can't just stand by and watch."

Luo Chen truly hadn't expected this. It was one thing for his own big brother, Wang Yuan, to participate in a death match.

But now, even the newly dubbed Brother Qin was going to participate in a death match.

What kind of mess was this!

After thinking for a moment, he decided to give a small warning.

"Brother Qin, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Broken Mountain Gang to win against the Great River Gang this time. It is dangerous; you should think carefully."

Qin Liangchen glanced at Luo Chen and fell silent for a moment.

But soon, he waved his hand dismissively.

"It is what it is. No matter how dangerous it is, it can't compare to when I was at the fourth level of Qi Refinement entering the mountains to kill demon beasts. Regarding this death match, Old Man Mi made it very clear to me—it's nothing more than the Lianyun Merchant Alliance pulling strings behind the scenes!"

"There's nothing more to say. We'll just smash them and be done with it."

(End of Chapter)