CHAPTER 120: CHAPTER 103: STEALING ACHIEVEMENTS_2

"If there really are puppet mechanisms from the Heavenly Craftsman’s Mansion below, then we are in trouble."

Sui You, following half a step behind Shangguan Yun, neither ahead nor behind, with even steps and an erect posture, said, "The Heavenly Craftsman’s Mansion was once a top force in a province. Although it was not on the level of the Holy Land, the exquisiteness of its puppets amazed the world. It is said that back then, the Heavenly Craftsman’s Mansion was even capable of creating a puppet that could match a Tenth Realm Martial Practitioner for battlefield slaughter. Below that, they could create dozens of puppets equivalent to Eighth or Ninth Realm Martial Practitioners, and even mass-produce puppets with the strength of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Realms... In my estimation, at the very least, there are puppets of the Fifth or Sixth Realm guarding beneath the Two Realms Mountain’s Underground Palace; it’s just that the quantity is unknown."

"There won’t be too many," Shangguan Yun asserted. "Assuming the Hero King really had such a large puppet army back then, it should have been mostly annihilated when our Grand Ancestor conquered Hongjing City. Otherwise, Pei Dongliu wouldn’t have met his demise so completely."

A Five Realms army is a force capable of determining the outcome of a dynastic war.

His City Defense Forces of Baojiao County merely consisted of three hundred Strength Training experts, all at Perfection, each possessing the Thousand Jin Force, and not even having entered any Realm. Relying on these three hundred Divine Power soldiers, along with the Divine Power Crossbow, he could suppress all forces within the entire Baojiao County to the point of breathlessness.

In Qiu Dragon Mansion, the number of such Divine Power soldiers was even greater, totaling five thousand.

That was an army comprised of five thousand Strength Training experts.

Beyond this, Qiu Dragon Mansion also housed a thousand Divine Qi Army soldiers, five hundred Mysterious Armored Army soldiers, and an Undying Hundred-People Squad, the members of which corresponded to the individual prowess of Martial Practitioners of the First, Second, and Third Realms respectively.

This army of less than seven thousand was enough to give the Magistrate of Qiu Dragon Mansion a very strong sense of security, enabling the enforcement of the Imperial Court’s policies throughout the entire prefecture.

And yet, Qiu Dragon Mansion, at most, only had one hundred-man squad composed of Third Realm Martial Practitioners.

An army of Fifth Realm cultivators, even if only a thousand strong, could almost sweep through an entire province, establish a separate rule, and declare themselves a Rebel King.

"I also think so. But even if there aren’t many Fifth Realm Puppets, it still presents a perilous situation for us, where every step is fraught with difficulty," Sui You speculated. "Unless we can obtain a map of safe routes through the Underground Palace, allowing us to avoid puppets of the Fifth Realm and above."

"That matter is still in progress," Shangguan Yun said, frowning slightly. Xu Minjun’s bloodline had already reached its limit for glimpsing the secrets of the Underground Palace. Unless more Xu Family blood could be integrated to purify her lineage further, causing Xu Minjun to awaken a second time...

"Half of the Xu Family members should still be hidden in the Yuan Country," Shangguan Yun continued. "Besides this, there is another method: to borrow momentum, though the risks are somewhat large."

"I still recommend, Sir, that unless you are sufficiently certain, you do not hastily attract other experts," Sui You said. "Unless, Sir, you can obtain something from Miss Minjun that others cannot control, as a game-changing move."

Just as he finished speaking, he saw Shangguan Yun pause and offer him a faint smile.

Sui You asked in surprise, "Could it be? Sir, do you already have a method?"

"No need to ask further," Shangguan Yun said, hands clasped behind his back. "Since Brother Sui has followed me for ten years, then trust me. Once this matter is complete, this little Baojiao County will not be a place for us to linger. You need to arrange that other matter beforehand."

"Sir, my daughter’s arrangements have been made," Sui You said softly, a note of concern in his voice. "But what about your son and daughter, especially your younger daughter? She is still so young, should she..."

"I have already made arrangements for Qian’er. As for Li’er, she might as well leave with us," Shangguan Yun said to Sui You. "I am going to check on Li’er’s training. You may leave. Find some more expendable individuals to test the path and see how far their lives can clear it."

"Yes, Sir."

After the city’s fifth-ranked expert had departed, Shangguan Yun’s expression remained calm. He turned and walked to another corner of the mansion, entering a courtyard where a two-story building stood. In the yard below, a little girl, about ten years old, with twin pigtails and dressed in a red cloth coat trimmed with white mink, was methodically practicing her stances and boxing.

Shangguan Li, only eleven years old, was practicing with bent knees, her eyes sparkling brilliantly. Although her punches generated no wind, they possessed an ancient and profound aura.

"You’re doing it wrong."

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice. She quickly concentrated, listening as her father, Shangguan Yun, instructed from the side: "The ’stance framework’ I am teaching you and your brother is not just the most basic boxing frame. It is a top-ranking Fist Stance, difficult to find even across the thirteen provinces of the Daji Dynasty. This boxing technique uses stances to circulate Qi and Qi to nurture the stances. It is a skill that can be continuously cultivated, not only before entering the Realms but even after advancing beyond the Tenth Realm of Martial Practitioners. You must not only focus on the form of the punches; more importantly, you must pay attention to..."

The little girl with pigtails nodded vigorously. "Li’er understands. Father said that this Stance Skill is the cleverest Martial Art in the early stages and the most straightforward in the later stages. It’s like earning one Tael of Silver every day; later on, it’s still just one Tael per day. But... as long as one persists, day after day, year after year... one or two years might not show much, but after ten or a hundred years, looking back, one will find their foundation to be the most robust in the world."

"Correct. That is the strongest aspect of this Stance Skill. Unfortunately, it needs to be practiced from the very beginning of entering the Realms. Although I acquired this technique, I have already missed the optimal time. You must work hard and persevere," Shangguan Yun said.

"This Fist Stance is the greatest wealth I can give you and your brother. Even if I am no longer here one day, by relying on this Fist Stance, you will inevitably grow into towering trees."

"Father, what are you saying? How could you not be here?" the pigtail-braided girl asked curiously.

Shangguan Yun chuckled lightly. "Alright, practice boxing with Daddy now."

And so, father and daughter practiced a set of Fist Stances of unknown origin yet immense potential beneath the two-story building in the winter.

However, Shangguan Yun, who reigned like a local emperor, had no idea that the greatest wealth he would ever impart to his children was being entirely observed by a pair of eyes, seven thousand meters high in the sky.

Every movement was committed to memory by these eyes.

This included the entire process of Shangguan Yun personally correcting his daughter Shangguan Li’s Fist Stance movements—the key points, critical junctures, and secret techniques—all of which were deeply imprinted in Chen Ku’s Heart Sea.

What kind of Fist Technique is this?

Chen Ku’s eyes reflected Shangguan Yun’s Fist Stance below. Although he lacked broad experience, just as when he first observed Shangguan Yun, he could innately sense a strong spiritual aura emanating from the man.

Now, watching him teach his daughter the stances and boxing, Chen Ku could purely and instinctively sense that this particular Fist Technique was anything but simple.

The simple practice of stances and punching subtly conveyed an intangible aura, not like mere boxing, but rather like some more profound form of Cultivation and accumulation disguised as ’boxing.’

Chen Ku watched Shangguan Yun teach his daughter for a full hour, and he too stealthily learned for that same hour.

Finally, he flew back to the outer city, transformed into his human form, and began to meticulously mimic the Nameless Stance Skill that Shangguan Yun had taught his daughter.

After performing the stance and punches once, he felt nothing unusual.

But Chen Ku, observing how earnestly Shangguan Yun had taught his daughter, found it hard to believe it was merely an ordinary Fist Technique.

Thus, with a spirit of exploration, Chen Ku began to repeatedly practice this Nameless Stance in the courtyard.

Four hours later, on his thirty-sixth repetition, his Inner Qi was unexpectedly stirred and began to circulate within his body.

Indeed, there’s a catch, a profound mystery...

Having tasted success, Chen Ku understood even more clearly that there was something extraordinary about this Nameless Stance.

Another four hours passed.

After completing seventy-two repetitions of the Nameless Stance, Chen Ku was astonished to find that his Inner Qi, without any conscious effort on his part, had begun to circulate autonomously. It followed a special route, eventually forming a vertical, figure-eight ’∞’-shaped Qi Pathway within his body.

Then, when he stopped performing the Nameless Stance, his Inner Qi continued to flow along this pathway. It was as if he no longer needed to manage it, suggesting that in the future, whether he was walking, sitting, or lying down, his Inner Qi could continue its Cultivation autonomously.