CHAPTER 53: 53. DEFORMED SOUL

Sha sha sha...

The engraving knife alternately chiseled and pushed, pulling out strands of "snowflakes" on the fox demon skin.

This skin was incredibly tough, if Song Yan hadn’t infused the engraving knife with Profound Qi, it probably wouldn’t even make a mark.

At times, the "sha sha" sound turned into the teeth-gnashing "ka ka" sound, as if the blade might snap at any moment.

Clearly, this fox demon was not something a low-level demon beast like the "Two-Headed Wolf" could compare to, yet it still fell short of a strong intermediate demon beast like the "Bodiless Phantom Crow".

However...

Song Yan paused slightly, stroking the skin of the demon.

He could feel that the skin was not yet fully developed.

This was a fox cub that hadn’t matured yet.

If it had matured, it might surpass the "Bodiless Phantom Crow".

Since Fox Grandmother arrived in the Northern Land, it’s been no more than four or five years. If every few days a litter could be born, over time this would accumulate into a "fox cub army" of one or two thousand.

And the fox demon in his hand was merely one among them, and one that hadn’t matured.

Song Yan closed his eyes slightly, recalling the results from the previous Soul Search.

The memory of this man-eating fox demon was quite simple: birth, dominated by "hunger", with a forever echoing gentle and enchanting voice in its mind, "eat, eat, eat, grow quickly, become strong, and return to mother’s side".

The owner of the voice cared not for their life or death.

It relied on some inherent knowledge within its bloodline: deceit, man-eating, growth, and quickly gained wisdom.

Then one day, with a large batch of "brothers and sisters", it broke into the Puppet Sect, swarming from dark corners of deep mountains and thick forests to remote locations to feed on humans.

They were sensitive in perception, flexible in movement, and excelled at changing their appearance with Illusion Techniques. Without specific Magic, few could detect them in the same Realm.

This caused them... in low-level Realm areas, they were completely without natural predators.

Song Yan couldn’t help but think of a description — invasive alien species, ecological disaster outbreak.

In the world before his transmigration, humans stood high, atop the ecological chain, not partaking in the competitive selection of species, treating events like "crayfish invasion" and "rabbit invasion" with a mocking attitude. But in this otherworld... it seemed not to be the case.

Without cultivators, or if the cultivators couldn’t stop them, these "high ecological niche foxes" would eat all the "indigenous humans", turning the place into a demon country solely of fox demons.

In this vast unknown world, humans were just one of many species, neither inferior nor superior, without the privilege of arrogance.

That’s all there was to it.

...

...

Swoosh~

Song Yan raised his hand, shook the crafted shadow puppet, then formed a gesture as if offering incense, bowed slowly towards the shadow puppet, then with one hand pressed it and with the other hand raised and lightly beckoned to the darkness of the void.

The shadow puppet, which should have long been cooled, suddenly gained temperature, its hard surface even having the warm soft touch of a living being.

Yet the hand that summoned the soul became incomparably cold.

Unfathomable chilling ink-like color flowed from Song Yan’s fingertips, stopping on the shadow puppet’s surface, gradually solidifying.

This was the "Summoning" in the "Skin Painting Soul Summoning Technique".

When combined with Skin Master’s "Skin Making Experience", there were three sources for the "soul" in "Summoning".

The first, which was also the most common: the remnant soul of the original owner.

Even after death, the original owner might have shattered remnant souls mingling with the skin. Besides, newly dead souls would linger in the human world for a few days, rapidly shattering and discarding all soul fragments containing this life’s cause and effect before leaving this realm.

The saying "with the body’s death, the Dao disappears, and cause and effect vanish" reflects this logic, subtly implying concepts like "Seven Days" and "Meng Po Soup", which Song Yan understood well.

These fragments are the best source for "Summoning".

To put it plainly, it’s... "must make skin while it’s hot, emphasizing originality".

The second is: solitary souls from the wild.

The Divine Soul Fragments containing cause and effect do not ascend to reincarnation, thus scattered here, combining with Profound Qi to form Evil Qi, or creating some invisible and untouchable "wandering ghosts" that can cause severe illness if bumped into.

Such wandering ghosts are scattered everywhere in this world. When they feel the flesh power from the "shadow puppet", they’ll instinctively come close and be absorbed within, then cluelessly bond with the remnant souls on the "shadow puppet", believing themselves as what the "shadow puppet" depicts.

This is the most common.

But because "it’s not original", the crafted shadow puppet would naturally be a bit inferior.

The third, as speculated by Skin Master: Great Power Remnant Soul.

Skin Master thought, if the death of a being leaves behind Divine Soul Fragments, then if a great power dies, would such fragments also remain? Summoning a great power’s remnant soul into a shadow puppet would unleash a much stronger power.

...

As the Divine Soul gradually coalesced.

Song Yan’s gentle soul-summoning hand suddenly turned violent, tightly grasping the solidifying soul and pressing it into the skin.

This step was the "Skin Painting Slave Soul Technique", evolved from a single mutation of the "Skin Painting Soul Summoning Technique".

The Soul Summoning Technique allowed the soul to enter the skin voluntarily, but it carried risks, and skin masters could very likely fail at this step, leading to the destruction of the shadow puppet and the escaping of the summoned soul.

But Slave Soul entailed no such problem, for regardless of the soul’s willingness, Song Yan would directly press it in.

With the remnant soul of the original owner entering the body, a wisp of Profound Qi shot from Song Yan’s left fingertips, connecting like the strings of a "marionette", controlling the fox demon shadow puppet. The fox demon shadow puppet inflated as if filled with air, rising sharply on the table and moving its legs in a rustling, swaying motion.

But, Song Yan’s right hand did not stop.

That hand continued summoning in the darkness.

If any skin master were to see this scene, they’d be frightened into shouting, "Stop, stop, stop, hurry up and stop, don’t you want to live".

Because this is the forbidden "Soul Summoning".

"One skin, one soul" is already quite dangerous, let alone "one skin, many souls", which is just asking for the shadow puppet to riot, devour its owner, and kill.

Sure enough, another solid ghost appeared above the shadow puppet.

But this ghost seemed to sense that there was already a soul within the shadow puppet, and so it began to become restless.

However, before it could fully act out, that pitch-black hand grabbed it with an even more intense ferocity, forcing it into the Fox Demon Shadow Puppet.

Two divine souls, one shadow puppet.

Instantaneously, a sound similar to "boiling water, water entering hot oil" emerged from the shadow puppet, and the originally delicate and magnificent Fox Demon Shadow Puppet began to deform.

Although deformed, one could still discern it was a fox.

Yet...

The summoning hand did not cease, continuing to lure lonely wandering ghosts in the air, then stuffing the condensed ghosts into the shadow puppet.

This was the first time Song Yan truly tried using the Secondary Perfect Mutation "Skin Painting Strange Soul Technique". It was a magic second only to the "Hundred Forms Demon Body", one he had spent over 3000 years comprehending.

As the ghosts within the shadow puppet mutated and deformed, Song Yan felt the shadow puppet also growing stronger, surpassing its former self, climbing step by step toward a higher realm.

If one said that the previous fox demon was merely no match for an "Intermediate Level Bodiless Illusion Crow", now... it had surpassed the "Bodiless Illusion Crow", even... rapidly approaching the level of an advanced demon beast.

A Great Power Remnant Soul entering the shadow puppet, perhaps it was nothing more than this.

"Heh..."

"Mwahaha..."

In the darkness, Song Yan let out a deep laugh.

Outside the crystal skylight on the ceiling of the cave, a night of spring rain had ceased, and golden light descended from the sky, illuminating the man’s ink-black hair, yet casting his face into complete darkness.

He put away the recently crafted "Deformed Soul One-tailed Fox Demon Shadow Puppet" infinitely close to the level of an advanced demon beast, then exhaled a long breath.

A sense of exhaustion washed over him, he shed his clothes, burrowed into the side stone cave, embraced the two women of the Fu Family, and fell asleep.

...

...

Several hours later.

Song Yan opened his eyes, he slept soundly, and his spirit recovered quite well, yet the moment he opened his eyes, he met the Empress’s eyes burning with anger.

"Can you not be like this?!"

Song Yan smiled and said, "Like what?"

If he didn’t have a peculiar hobby, it would be difficult to explain why he gave the two women such a high dose of hypnotic powder.

The previous few stakeouts, he returned at midnight without increasing the dose, so it could be explained as the Profound Qi Cave Mansion being a "sleep-aiding" place allowing a full night’s rest till daylight.

But last night, to craft the shadow puppet, he added considerably more.

Fu Shirong, unlike Qiu Lianyue, was extremely smart and perceptive, she would certainly suspect she was drugged, and thereafter guess Song Yan was secretly up to something.

Thus, Song Yan might as well let her speculate he was merely orchestrating a clandestine romantic tryst.

After all, what else could he be doing?

On the other hand, due to Ji Yuan, Fu Hongmian lay weakly.

Song Yan got up, placed the Strengthening Ginseng Pill on the table, then turned and left. After taking a few steps, he recalled the Empress’s fiery temper, so he pulled out a Martial Arts Manual, put it on the stone table, and said, "If you’re really bored, practice a bit."

The cover of this Martial Arts Manual used some old book covers, but the content was compiled by himself.

His martial arts skills, which allowed him to defeat the Jiangnan Capital with one stroke, considered godly, had long since been unrivaled, and the teachings in this manual were the essence surpassing the "Four Sparrows".

Fu Shirong turned up her nose, initially unwilling to touch the manual, but out of curiosity, Fu Hongmian flipped through it slightly, and with this flip... the young guard was instantly taken aback.

Her wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression sparked curiosity in the Empress as well.

Fu Shirong couldn’t help but peek too.

With just a glance, she couldn’t pull her eyes away.

...

...

Song Yan exited the Cave Mansion, the afternoon’s brilliant sunlight shone upon him, yet could not impart any warmth, as he had already learned through soul searching... many Fox Demons had infiltrated the Puppet Sect.

Among these, there were even some "Mature Bodies", which is to say, Fox Demons at the advanced demon beast level.

He thought the Puppet Sect’s higher-ups should be aware.

But why had the higher-ups... done nothing to address it?

A strange feeling welled up in Song Yan’s heart.

Or perhaps because his status was too low, he was uninformed?

Just as he was considering this, a disciple suddenly came running from a distance, stopped before him, and respectfully bowed saying, "Brother Song, the Peak Master is teaching on the peak, and all disciples who have reached the first layer of Refining Profound should go."

"What art is being taught?"

"It seems like there’s post-Entering Profound magic, as well as some cultivation basics, the rest... I don’t know either."

Song Yan nodded, responded with "I’m coming," then headed toward the mountaintop.

This indeed seemed more like a sect...

He also seized the opportunity to brush up on his knowledge.