At that time, Han E would tear open the letter, which only contained one sentence: Qinghuan Upper Kingdom, blue skies and white clouds, far from strife, why don't you start a new life here? This token serves as a residency proof... Wishing you all the best.

Signature: Jian Huang.

...

...

Strictly speaking, Han E's shadow puppetry wasn't particularly advanced, but it was quite revolutionary.

Normal shadow puppetry involves first drawing the divine image, then carving out the shadow puppet, and finally summoning the soul.

The soul, in simpler terms, is actually fragments of cause and effect.

These fragments adhere to the shadow puppet and operate with the power it had in life.

However, Han E's shadow puppetry was completely the opposite: it first utilized fragments of cause and effect, then applied them to the shadow puppet, and finally drew the divine image on them.

Simply put, if Song Yan carved a "two-headed wolf shadow puppet," what he'd end up with would at most only have the power of a two-headed wolf.

But with Han E's shadow puppetry, there was no predetermined target. It first gathered cause and effect, then applied it to the shadow, and painted the divine image on it.

The former entirely depended on the quality of the skin.

The latter depended on the strength of cause and effect. As long as your cause and effect can support it, you can paint whatever you want. However, there is an upper limit, which is ——— the Crimson Palace level.

The maximum that Han E could control were Crimson Palace Demon Beasts.

According to Han E, this marvelous technique was passed down from her ancestors, but its power was limited to this level, rendering it a mere trifle for higher-level cultivators. But to Song Yan, its mysteriousness and potential far exceeded "Hundred Forms Divine Control." Because of this, Song Yan thoughtfully arranged an escape route for this female cultivator, as a gesture of reciprocation.

At this moment, Song Yan glanced at the [Magic] section on his panel.

A new line of information appeared: "[Divine Image Red Soul Technique] (not completed)."

Song Yan performed some deduction and mutation, transforming it into "[Divine Image Soul Calming Technique] (Perfection)."

Only one word changed between the two techniques, but the effect was beyond revolutionary.

The former's limit was the Crimson Palace level, while the latter... as long as the "cause and effect is strong enough" and one can "draw the divine image," you could even create a Celestial Emperor if you wanted to.

Of course, such a powerful forbidden technique came with several limitations.

First, one image per drawing, meaning each divine image can only be drawn once;

Second, the stronger the target, the weaker the divine image becomes if the target is alive; if the target is dead, the divine image strengthens, and you gain the target's remaining lifespan;

Third, image rebound, meaning you cannot draw a divine image of a power higher than your own; any forceful attempt would only result in backlash.

Song Yan closed his eyes to perceive this bizarre forbidden technique of "reverse shadow puppetry," his expression shifting into a faint smile.

In truth, he found it quite challenging to grasp the divine images of higher-level beings, but there was one being's divine image he understood exceptionally well.

That being was... himself.

...

...

In the blink of an eye, another five years passed.

During those five years, Song Yan hunted numerous Earth Beasts.

Po Xu's "stature" became more robust, while the previously energy-consuming task of opening the "lecherous demon monk's eye" became less of a burden.

At the same time, he observed the Earth Beasts and recalled the Divine Infant Wood Beasts. The former's divine image was easy to paint but limited to below the Divine Infant, the latter... remained elusive.

One day, as moonlight sprinkled down, Song Yan rolled over and got up, planning to go hunting. After all, over the years, he'd always left in the evening and returned early, typically staying out for five to six hours at a time, then quickly returning to refine the Corpse Demons.

But today, he didn't venture out, because when he stood at the cave entrance, he felt something and quickly turned back to the inner cave where he saw a humanoid monster surrounded by Netherworld's Qi had already risen.

The body at the ancient Purple Mansion level had been refined over a long period into a form of deathly, hard substance.

'The Netherworld Corpse Demon is complete!'

Song Yan felt elated, and with a single thought, the Netherworld Corpse Demon rose to its feet.

Song Yan closed his eyes. He found he could even see, hear, and feel through the Netherworld Corpse Demon, all of which were even more fluid than the shadow puppets controlled by "Hundred Forms Divine Control."

In the next instant!

Whoosh!

The Netherworld Corpse Demon broke through the mountain cave, transforming into a black light that flew out, circling low in the sky for half an hour. Its internally contained Netherworld's Qi neither attracted celestial anomalies nor summoned Soul Threshold, allowing it to smoothly float in mid-air.

With a brief thought, Song Yan understood the principle: by suppressing the Netherworld's Qi, it didn't attract the Celestial Calamity Beasts; it successfully entered the world without coming from the Sea of Suffering, thus avoiding the world's rules.

Song Yan continued his tests, discovering that although the Netherworld Corpse Demon couldn't use magic, just a regular punch unleashed the attack strength equivalent to the lifebound secret treasure of a late-stage Divine Infant cultivator.

Test complete, he summoned the Netherworld Corpse Demon back and then began the next "process."

He took out an Array Pen, drawing the "Little Heavenly Dao Texts – Introduction" onto the left palm of the Netherworld Corpse Demon, then put on the spare "Eight White Cave Crystal Jade" gloves on it and drew the "Absolute Profound Array" pattern on its right palm.

The Array Flag defines the range of the array, but when drawn on the palm, it can be controlled through oneself.

A few days later, Song Yan finished his busy work and took a brief rest. He then extracted numerous divine souls from the Changwang Evil Pearl, using the soul stripping technique from "Purple Mansion Origin Burst" to swiftly remove the cause and effect from these divine souls, among which was also the "Yang Mutan possessed by the Killing Demon Monk"...

These many causes and effects densely attached to the Netherworld Corpse Demon.

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