Chapter 156: Chapter 150: Corpse Puppet Refined, 1-Year Mandatory Mission, Return

Only at the very heart of the lake, due to the interaction between a hidden subterranean Earth Vein and the forceful influence of the outer array, had the ice bizarrely split open. A massive, bottomless fissure, tens of yards wide, gaped like a deep wound upon the earth, emitting the subtle, teeth-grinding sound of splintering ice. Cold Qi billowed from it like a living creature, distorting the surrounding landscape.

The Cyan Feather Crane Puppet fanned a powerful gale, kicking up shards of ice as it finally landed at the so-called "outpost."

This "outpost" was pitiably crude: just a few rows of stone caves hastily carved into a steep ice cliff, barely sustaining a thin, pale blue Array Light Curtain that defended against the ceaseless, bitter cold and wind of the ice field.

After Lu Zhao completed the handover with the outpost’s Steward, his expression impassive, he finally understood the cruel truth behind this "bountiful" mission.

At the start of each month, he had to enter the massive ice fissure that radiated a deathly Cold Qi, dive into the abyssal waters of Profound Ice Lake, and, under extreme cold, darkness, and immense pressure, search for and capture ten Cold Moon Spirit Fish. The real test, just as Wang Ping had warned, lay in surviving the frozen underwater world—either by evading or slaughtering his way through the swarms of Cold Sparrowfish that would attack by the dozens.

The other expressionless Stewards at the outpost looked at Lu Zhao with a mixture of deep sympathy and cold detachment. In their eyes, he was just another short-lived fool, blinded by a rich reward, whose name would soon be added to the list of the dead.

When Lu Zhao returned to the frigid stone cave assigned to him, he sat cross-legged on the single, simple meditation cushion. The cave walls were coated in a thick layer of frost. He began to formulate a plan for the coming year. Cultivation and refining puppets would be his unwavering priorities. Since catching the Cold Moon Spirit Fish only required one trip per month, Lu Zhao calculated that he would have plenty of time to spare.

He planned to focus his energy over the next year on practicing the Breath Concealment and Shapeshifting Skill. He would, at a minimum, cultivate the first layer to the Perfection Realm and strive to reach the threshold of the 2nd Layer.

The first layer of this skill was already becoming insufficient for his needs. He had noticed the considerable trouble caused by its side effects back when he was purchasing Corpse Refining Materials.

’When I go after the Zheng Family, I’ll inevitably have to face a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. The first layer of the Breath Concealment and Shapeshifting Skill probably wouldn’t withstand a scan from their Divine Sense; they’d see right through me in an instant.’

Over the next year, Lu Zhao acted with the methodical precision he had planned. He delved into the Ice Lake like clockwork, just once a month, never growing greedy. Each time he entered the water, he was as swift and silent as a phantom. Relying on a Divine Sense far stronger than that of his peers, he could always predict the movements of the fish and precisely avoid the main force of the large Cold Sparrowfish swarms.

His objective was clear: make a beeline for the lairs of the Cold Moon Spirit Fish! On the rare occasion he encountered a small school of Cold Sparrowfish he couldn’t avoid, Lu Zhao didn’t retreat. Instead, he transformed into a cold-blooded God of Slaughter! His Thousand Overlapping Waves Skill, amplified by the Hundred Waters Spirit Enhancement Skill and channeled through the Hundred Waters Magic Disc, condensed the bone-chilling water into deadly arcs of light that could tear through anything!

A single, condensed Water Blade parted the frigid, viscous water like a giant plow, striking precisely at the fish swarm’s vital point! Simultaneously, seven or eight figures—his Water Spirit Turtle Puppets—shot out silently from the shadowy undercurrents, coordinating with the dense barrage of Water Blades in a deadly pincer attack! The battle was typically over in a swift, bloody conclusion. Before the shredded fish carcasses could even fully sink, Lu Zhao would already be gone, taking the captured Cold Moon Spirit Fish with him as he slipped away from the lake.

But Lu Zhao was not infallible. During one of his deeper explorations, he finally failed to avoid a ferocious charge from a vicious school of over a dozen Cold Sparrowfish.

When cornered, the only option was a fight to the death! The frigid lakebed instantly became a battlefield. Dark blue Water Blades crisscrossed through the churning undercurrents. His Water Spirit Turtle Puppets acted as mobile fortresses, using their hard Back Armor to block one fatal charge after another. Lu Zhao dodged and weaved through the torrent, relying on the cover from his puppets and the intricate coordination of his Water Magic to withstand the school’s frenzied assault!

Through a sheer war of attrition, Lu Zhao managed to kill or drive back seven or eight of the Cold Sparrowfish. When their leader—a fish clearly larger and more ferocious than the rest—finally fell under Lu Zhao’s relentless barrage, the rest of the school lost their will to fight and scattered in a panic.

On that trip, Lu Zhao not only retrieved the required Cold Moon Spirit Fish but also the bodies of seven or eight Tier One Late Stage Cold Sparrowfish. He estimated that selling these Demon Beast Materials would net him an additional income of nearly a thousand Spirit Stones.

Surprisingly, however, in the months following that battle, Lu Zhao never again encountered a large school of Cold Sparrowfish. It seemed the fish in the lake had developed an indelible terror of his very presence!

Whenever a school sensed his presence, the fish—whether they were patrolling or gathered together—would scatter in a frenzy. They would whip their tails and turn, fleeing the area as fast as they could, as if escaping the plague itself.

It was as if Lu Zhao’s presence had become the deepest nightmare in these frigid waters. This made his fishing missions over the subsequent months exceptionally "smooth," but it also cut off his source of unexpected "bounties."

Meditating in the quiet of his stone cave, Lu Zhao could only offer a faint, wry smile at the situation. He guessed it was most likely the increasingly dense Evil Qi clinging to him that the fish were sensing so keenly.

This lingering Evil Qi was half-forged from countless life-or-death battles and half a natural byproduct of his deepening cultivation of the Blood Evil Body Protection Technique. ’I never expected,’ he thought, ’that even cold-blooded Demon Beasts would be so sensitive to it.’

And so, in Lu Zhao’s eyes, this godforsaken, bitterly cold outpost at Profound Ice Lake had unexpectedly transformed into a perfect training ground. The howling blizzards and primordial cold were the best kinds of barriers. Far from the clamor and personal entanglements of the Sect, this place offered only the silence of the Ice Lake and an endless, biting chill—a perfect match for his desire to cultivate in peace.

For a year, his mind was as still as a deep abyss as he pursued three distinct paths:

First was his Cultivation. He honed it day and night, making steady progress toward the Qi Cultivation Peak. Lu Zhao secretly estimated that, barring any setbacks, he would reach the Ninth-Layer Perfection of Qi Cultivation after another three years of secluded practice.

Second was refining puppets. He poured vast amounts of time and materials into crafting Ice Wind Wolf Puppets and Water Spirit Turtle Puppets with astonishing speed and precision, accumulating all the finished products. After a year, his Storage Bag was piled high with various puppets worth several thousand Spirit Stones. He was just waiting to return to the Bixia Sect to sell them. The large sum of Spirit Stones he would receive was crucial for his future Corpse Puppet refinement plans.

Finally, there was his bitter training in the Breath Concealment and Shapeshifting Skill. For the entire year, he spent day and night poring over the mysteries of its Heart Method. He made countless minute adjustments to the pathways of his Inner Breath and practiced controlling the subtle shifts of his facial bones and muscles time and again. Sweat would drench his robes only to be instantly frozen into frost by the Cold Qi in the cave. His efforts finally paid off. He cultivated the first layer of the Breath Concealment and Shapeshifting Skill to the Perfection Realm, and the profound mysteries of the 2nd Layer were already beginning to reveal themselves to his Perception.

Lu Zhao’s heart stirred as he made a silent assessment. ’If I can keep practicing for another year or two, I should be able to master the 2nd Layer. This is crucial for me, both for concealing my identity when I go to the Zheng Family, and for... not being tracked down by interested cultivators after I’ve done what must be done.’

A year flowed by, marked only by the ceaseless, deep murmur of the Ice Lake’s tides and the silence of focused cultivation within the frigid stone cave. When the official notice signifying the end of his posting landed silently at his cave entrance, Lu Zhao felt no reluctance to leave.

After completing the departure procedures, he cast one final glance over the frozen, deathly silent surface of the lake. In a flash, he was seated on the back of the Cyan Feather Crane Puppet just as it spread its wings to soar. With a powerful beat of its wings, it carried him off, becoming a determined gray streak that shot toward Bixia County like a bolt of lightning.

Lu Zhao’s goal was now crystal clear: wait for the corpse to finish its transformation, then refine a Tier Two Corpse Puppet!

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