Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Ink Sect? Alliance Leader Jiang also wants to find them?”
The Medicine King Pavilion’s shopkeeper used the word “also” very cleverly.
It seemed that the information Mu Chunyang gave Jiang Li was actually known by many forces.
Furthermore, they all coveted the Ink Sect.
As for his goal, it was probably not much different from Jiang Li’s.
“Our Great Mountain Alliance naturally has the intention to join the Divine Judgment Hall, so Shopkeeper Jiang is also an understanding person, right?”
Jiang Li did not say it too clearly, but the Medicine King Pavilion’s shopkeeper already nodded in understanding.
“I understand. However, although the Ink Sect is already an arrow at the end of its flight, their personality is very unyielding.”
“To be honest, my Medicine King Pavilion once wanted to recruit them, but we were rejected by them.”
“It won’t be easy for Alliance Leader Jiang Li to succeed.”
“However, although no one has found the Ink Sect headquarters, it’s not difficult to contact them. Look, that’s the people from Ink Sect.”
The Medicine King Pavilion’s manager pointed at a corner of the exchange venue. Sure enough, Jiang Li saw a few black clothed figures standing there silently.
They were as silent as wood. Not a trace of aura leaked out from their bodies, nor did they attract any attention.
After Jiang Li approached, he realized that they were really made of wood.
It seemed that they had put in a lot of effort to guard against the harassment of the other sects. They only used puppets to participate in such a grand event.
This Ink Sect was also a medium-sized sect in the Eastern Region. With its outstanding defense methods, it was quite famous in the cultivation world.
At their peak, they naturally applied for the procedures to join the Divine Judgment Hall like most of the capable Eastern Region sects.
There was no problem.
The reason why this sect had become the goal of many sects to annex was that this Ink Sect was already on the verge of destruction.
Previously, he had also said that if he wanted to join the Divine Judgment Hall, if he did not have the recommendation of a high-grade force and was unable to contribute to the cultivation world of the Eastern Region in other aspects, he could only prove himself through the war with the Armored Trolls.
But in war, how could there be no deaths?
Due to the heavy casualties, there were definitely many sects that had been eliminated from the cultivation world.
As for Ink Sect, because they had not properly estimated their strength, they had fallen into such a terrible situation.
In the long battle, relying on the defense of the mechanisms and the secret puppet techniques, Ink Sect successfully killed more than 600,000 armored Trolls.
This result had already surpassed more than 80% of the forces in the Eastern Region.
However, in this process, they also suffered continuous losses. In the end, because of insufficient manpower, the Armored Trolls broke through the defense fortress in a large-scale attack.
In that battle, the Ink Sect lost the last batch of combatants and could no longer participate in the war against the Trolls.
However, the 600,000 battle merits they had won were not invalidated. As a result, it attracted the attention of many other forces.
This was because the Divine Judgment Hall had a rule that a faction could accumulate the battle merits of two subordinate factions. In other words, a total of three forces could reach a million battle merits, and that was considered fulfilling the conditions.
If the Great Mountain Alliance absorbed the Ink Sect to become their subordinate force, the 600,000 battle merits would be directly placed on their heads.
As long as they reached an agreement, it would save them too much trouble. It could also prevent unnecessary casualties among the cultivators of the Great Mountain Alliance.
This was the information Mu Chunyang had given Jiang Li, and it was also the reason why the Ink Sect had become the target of many sects.
However, during this period of time, the various powers had also proposed many conditions and promises. However, Ink Sect had some considerations and did not agree to any of them.
Their Ink Sect headquarters had always been hidden very well, and their defense was extremely outstanding.
Coupled with the factions that targeted them, they were all small factions that had yet to join the Divine Judgment Hall. Their abilities were relatively limited.
They had only lasted for so long and were not forced to submit by other factions.
This gave the Great Mountain Alliance a chance to compete.
Jiang Li walked around and walked towards the direction of the Ink Sect under the bargaining voices of the other cultivators.
He walked over to Ink Sect’s table and did not say why he was here. He just looked at their goods like ordinary customers.
Just as he had expected, various mechanisms and creations were placed on the table.
“What’s this?”
Jiang Li picked up a wooden puppet bird on the other party’s table and revealed an interested expression.
This wooden bird was originally standing on a slender wooden stick, looking lively. Its movements and expression were almost no different from a real bird. It would even comb its feathers and peck at the wood shavings.
With Jiang Li’s vision, he was naturally able to easily distinguish that a special method had stuffed the soul of a real bird into this wooden bird, causing its movements to become so real.
The soul of a bird was fragile and small to begin with. Typically, it would even dissipate right after death.
Now, the other party could completely take it out and stuff it into the body of a puppet.
This method of dealing with souls was exquisite and brilliant.
Jiang Li felt that perhaps this method was quite useful to him.
He did not expect to find something good after taking a casual look.
He stretched out a finger, and the bird flapped its wooden wings and actually flew up to land on Jiang Li’s finger as it sized him up curiously.
This bird probably did not know that it was already dead.
“What exquisite technology. How much does this wooden bird cost?” Jiang Li smiled and asked.
With this praise, a shorter puppet behind the wooden table immediately beamed.
“Hehehe, Elder Sister Yaoyao, Aunt Mei, I won! The first to be sold is my puppet.”
“Hey, you have good taste. If you want it, I’ll sell this Wood Sparrow to you for a hundred spirit stones.”
The little puppet’s expression was vivid and lifelike. As it smiled, it was beaming with joy. It was almost no different from a real person. It could be seen that the techniques of the Ink Sect were indeed much stronger than the Mystic Gate Hall of the Scripture Storage Valley.
However, this bird-shaped puppet was almost no different from an ordinary bird. It was indeed a little expensive to sell for a hundred spirit stones.
“Xiaomi, be polite and don’t speak nonsense.”
“Sir, I’m sorry. This is just a child’s play. This thing is useless. If you like it, I can give you three to five spirit stones.”
At this moment, a gentle female voice sounded from the side. It was another puppet.
This puppet was indeed formidable. Jiang Li saw a delicate beauty on this cold and stiff puppet wooden face.
Without any artistic talent, there was no way to survive in Ink Sect.
Jiang Li took out a medium-grade spirit stone and placed it on the table.
“No, I feel that it’s worth the price.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Li blew at the wooden bird.
Immediately, a magical thing happened. Under the power of the Demon Awakening Technique, the Ink Sect puppet quickly transformed into a bird-shaped wood demon that truly possessed its own life.
Moreover, it was a Wood Demon that was not weak and had reached the Foundation Establishment realm.
The newly born wooden sparrow flapped its wings, and its small body began to spin around the few people again. Finally, it turned around and stopped on the short puppet.
“It seems that it really likes you. Let’s return it to its owner.”
Jiang Li smiled and returned the Wood Demon to the other party.
They immediately checked it. It looked like the wooden puppet from before, but in the blink of an eye, the puppet’s joints had healed, but it could still move freely.
Two layers of leaves grew on the surface of the wooden sparrow as feathers. If not for the fact that its entire body was still wooden, it would really look no different from a real bird.
The miraculous power of the ancient Demon Awakening Technique surprised the few of them.
This ability to casually enlighten demons was indeed very powerful. If their puppets could obtain this kind of enlightenment, wouldn’t their power increase greatly in an instant?
The Demon Awakening Technique was magical, but Jiang Li’s own Demon Awakening Technique had actually not reached this level.
Before this, Jiang Li had only successfully enlightened two true Wood Demons. One was his mount, the Wood Dragon Rayquaza. The other was the guardian Wood Demon that he had arranged to guard the Jiang family’s residence.
The rest were actually temporary demons that would dissipate after expending their spiritual qi.
But after making this bird today, he knew he had succeeded again.
It was not because of his improvement in the Demon Awakening Technique, but because a bird soul had already been stuffed into this puppet.
Under the effect of the Demon Awakening Technique, the two combined and became a true bird-shaped Wood Demon.
“This is… alive!”
The puppet that was shorter was clearly controlled by a little girl. When it touched the new Wood Demon, it played with it as if it had obtained a new toy.
However, the other Ink Sect puppets suddenly became serious.
At this moment, the two elders of the Great Mountain Alliance stood behind him.
“Everyone from the Ink Sect, I’m the Alliance Leader of the Great Mountain Alliance, Jiang Li. I want to form a long term friendly relationship with your sect. May we meet?”
Only then did Jiang Li reveal his identity and intentions.
There was actually nothing to hide.
Jiang Li obtained some information from the Medicine King Pavilion. This Ink Sect had been living poorly recently.
Several sects were searching for them. They planned to use violent methods to force them to submit.
They had to be in desperate need of help now. As long as the conditions were right, they would not refuse.
However, Ink Sect’s persistence still surprised Jiang Li. When these puppets heard his words, their expressions became even more serious.
“Sorry, our Ink Sect will not lower our heads to any faction. Please leave.”
They clearly treated the Great Mountain Alliance as a lowly sect that took advantage of others.
With the current strength of the Ink Sect, no sect was willing to negotiate with them.
The other factions were unwilling to exchange for it at the equivalent price, and the Ink Sect was also unwilling to give up the battle achievements of their fellow sect members.
That was why this had persisted until now.
Jiang Li did not insist. He only placed another messaging talisman on the table.
“There’s no need to rush into rejecting our cooperation. I’m very interested in Ink Sect’s puppets. As for the reason, you’ve seen it.”
“My spell technique can greatly strengthen puppets. After transforming into a Wood Demon, not only will the puppets become stronger, they will no longer be controlled remotely by cultivators.”
“I believe this is very important to the current Ink Sect.”
“In addition, our Great Mountain Alliance is a united alliance. There is no such thing as superior or subordinate.”
“If you’re interested, this is my communication talisman. Put it on a spirit stone and you can contact me.”
The other party hesitated for a moment before putting away the talisman.
“In that case, I’ll take my leave today.”
Jiang Li nodded and left.
The current Ink Sect had already been crippled in the battle with the Armored Trolls. There were only a few cultivators left, which was not much of a threat.
Even if one person could control ten puppets, the combat strength formed would be quite limited.
But now, they were facing the pressure of other sects.
This kind of opportunity to quickly increase their combat strength was something that they could not refuse.
After they left, another fat cultivator immediately walked up and spoke to Ink Sect’s puppet.
However, their conversation was clearly not as harmonious as Jiang Li and the others.
After the transaction of the Myriad Sun Building ended, all the cultivators rode the stone platform again and left.
The island gradually rose into the sky.
When Jiang Li and the others left Phoenix Sun City, they actually discovered hundreds of deep pits that seemed to have been struck by meteors 50 kilometers away.
It seemed that those cultivators really attacked the people of the Myriad Slaughter Sect.
Jiang Li admired such boldness.
Moreover, from the situation of the battlefield, no side had the absolute advantage. It seemed that the Myriad Slaughter Sect had really encountered a tough opponent this time.
Jiang Li really hoped that the Myriad Slaughter Sect would suffer a huge loss. This way, the pressure they faced in the future would be even smaller.
…
At the camp of the Eastern Region’s Great Mountain Alliance, in Jiang Li’s personal courtyard.
After rejecting the group of female cultivators who got lost and entered the wrong room, Jiang Li was still the only person living in the huge Alliance Leader Courtyard.
He did not arrange for maids or servants, so this place seemed a little lonely.
At this moment, under the most tightly guarded quiet room in the courtyard, Jiang Li had opened up a hidden cave.
At the end of the cave was a wide underground space. There were a few secret passageways that connected to every corner of the entire base.
This place was extremely hidden, only the special department of the Great Mountain Alliance could enter and leave.
The core area that was made with solid rock was Jiang Li’s personal room.
The terrain was wide and empty, but there was not much lying around.
There were only three Black Jade Soul Locking Chests, a piece of special ore, and a Buddhist golden statue.
The Black Jade Soul Lock Chests contained the souls of the dead souls collected by the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn and transported by the second group of the Great Mountain Region.
However, unlike the cheap Soul Capturing Bag from before, this Soul Lock Chest could store as many as 100,000 ghosts. Moreover, under the nourishment of the black jade, it could maintain the existence of souls for a long time and not easily dissipate.
Jiang Li even spread a layer of spider lilies at the bottom of the box. This would calm the ghosts and ensure their safety.
Jiang Li was very satisfied when he saw these 300,000 souls. He did not become the Alliance Leader in vain.
With his status as the Alliance Leader, the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn easily opened up every corner of the Great Mountain Region. As an official channel, it became the communication link between the cultivation world and the weak demons.
Ignoring the other benefits, in just a short period of time, those weak demons had already gathered 300,000 souls for him.
The hard work of these small demons touched Jiang Li. If this continued, Jiang Li was afraid that the waste ores that were produced from spirit stone mines would be unable to keep up with the demand of the demons..