Chapter 63: Taking Disciples
Chapter 63: Taking Disciples
“Look, it’s here!”
A startled cry rang out, and the crowd surged, looking up at the sky.
Li Yi also followed the sound and looked up. A dazzling blood-red lightning bolt snaked and roamed through the clouds, appearing and disappearing like a divine dragon, yet it was swift as the wind!
The blood-red lightning grew from small to large, and that enormous crimson shadow gradually emerged, coming into view.
It was actually a winged centipede dozens of meters long, with sharp segmented limbs and terrifying giant wings. A dreadful aura of malice and blood blended together, radiating a ferocious presence far surpassing the “false Dragon’s Aura” of the Dragon-Blooded. Even from dozens of meters away, they felt their Mana stiffen and shivers ran down their spines.
Li Yi gazed into the distance, a strange light flashing in his eyes. This creature was actually a beast-shaped puppet!
A puppet that could fly?
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Li Yi secretly felt envious.
“A Level 6 puppet—the Nine-Winged Heaven-Mourning Centipede! I wonder if it’s already the Quad-type, or the Penta-type?” someone assessed.
“Even a wyvern or a shadow-drake eagle might not have such imposing majesty! One day, I’ll get one too, to use as a mount!” someone else exclaimed, carried away.
“You? Daydreaming! When you one day reach the cultivation level of a Sigil Mage or an Arcane Mage, then you can make such grand vows…” The person beside him coldly poured cold water on his enthusiasm.
A flash of blood-red light, and the Nine-Winged Heaven-Mourning Centipede vanished into thin air, revealing the figure of an untidily dressed old man. With a Feather Fall spell cast on himself, he drifted down unhurriedly.
“A Level 7 Puppeteer, Fan Wen!” Although the other party was disheveled, Li Yi dared not show the slightest disrespect, secretly awestruck. “In other words, this Nine-Winged Heaven-Mourning Centipede isn’t even his strongest puppet!”
He wondered what his famous masterpiece actually was? He was a bit curious.
“Teacher…” Chen Deng stepped forward, about to say something softly, but was stopped by a skinny finger.
The old man’s gaze fell upon the Reverse Halberd. His turbid, dull eyes instantly became spirited and brilliant. Clearly, this person was also a puppet enthusiast.
“This puppet appears simple and unadorned, yet it is neat, concise, tightly fitted, subtly aligned with the principles of heaven and earth! I can see this puppet has no particularly outstanding specialties, but it is well-balanced in offense and defense, flawless. In terms of design, it is a top-tier choice.”
As expected of the number one Puppeteer of Dawn Cliff. Just by observing its form, with a few brief words, he had pinpointed the characteristics of the Reverse Halberd.
“Chen Deng, your discernment has improved; you’re starting to grasp the big picture from small details!” Fan Wen nodded, praising his disciple. “In the past, you wouldn’t have seen the true meaning in this.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Deng’s face flushed red. He leaned in close and whispered, “Master, my discernment hasn’t improved that much… This puppet has more to it. There’s a hidden secret.”
“Another secret?” Fan Wen looked surprised. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and countless brilliant silver lights, like shooting stars, poured through his pupils, a chilling, deep glow.
“Is this… an ocular technique?” Li Yi was startled. He could see this ocular technique was far superior to that “Eyes of the Jungle” he had once coveted.
This ocular technique seemed to have penetrative ability, actually able to pierce through the Reverse Halberd’s steel body and reach its interior.
Fan Wen’s eyelids opened wider and wider. It wasn’t that the power of his ocular technique was insufficient, but he was too astonished!
“Who designed this component? Who made it?” Fan Wen’s finger accurately pointed at the location of the Five-Tone Viscera. His gaze shifted and fell upon Zhao Xu, who wore a Puppeteer badge. “Was it you?”
“No!” Zhao Xu didn’t dare to claim credit recklessly. He first pointed at Li Yi, then pointed at the little fatty Yuan Ang. “This puppet, and this component here, were both personally designed by Li Yi. As for the Five-Tone Viscera, it was made jointly by the two of them.”
“Five-Tone Viscera? That name has a lot of flavor!” The expression of keen interest on Fan Wen’s face grew even stronger. “Your name is Li Yi? Where did you get the inspiration for this component?”
“I am an apprentice of Master Wu Yi, considered, half, no, a small half Armament Master.” Li Yi was taken aback at first, then carefully chose his words and slowly said, “At that time, facing the challenge of fighting above my level, I flipped through the Thousand Mechanisms Puppet Manual but found no solution. Because, regarding puppets, I’m just an outsider. Later, I thought, since I am an Armament Master, why not play to my strengths and make a Dao Transformation Armament for use on a puppet?”
This last sentence caused a wave of astonished whispers to quietly rise.
“This ‘Five-Tone Viscera’ contains the wonder of divine melodies. Where did your inspiration for that come from?” Fan Wen’s vision was indeed sharp. He asked again, determined to get to the bottom of this.
“Well… I once personally visited the summoning ground of the ‘Master of Melody,’ Kui. At that time, hearing the sound of the deity, I suddenly had inspiration and conceived the idea of making a Dao Transformation Armament using this method. This time, it was just opportune.”
As Li Yi narrated smoothly, everyone listened, dumbfounded.
“However, my level is not high enough. This ‘Five-Tone Viscera’ only captures one or two percent of its profound mystery.” Li Yi expressed some regret, shaking his head gently. “Its effect lasts half a minute, and recharging takes a full day! Its greatest advantage is actually its small size and light weight…”
Before he finished speaking, Lu Yin’s voice urgently rang out.
“Little fatty, what’s your name? I see you have outstanding talent. Are you willing to become my disciple?”
Hearing this, the little fatty suddenly felt dizzy, the world spinning, almost sitting straight down on the ground.
He quickly recovered, overjoyed, and kowtowed, saying, “Master above, please accept your disciple Yuan Ang’s bow!”
“Zhao Xu, are you willing to be my disciple?”
Tiemian was a beat slower, annoyed inwardly, but could only settle for the next best thing.
Learning from the earlier example, Zhao Xu was much quicker on the uptake, performing the bowing ceremony on the spot: “I am willing!”
“What’s going on?” Chen Deng was confused. “The two of them…”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” Fan Wen lightly tapped his disciple’s head. “The greatest strength of this ‘Five-Tone Viscera’ is its adaptability. Any Level 1 puppet equipped with this component can temporarily boost its combat power! For puppets Level 2 and above, although the effect is slightly weaker, it is still quite astonishing. Its value is inestimable!”
“So that’s how it is.” Chen Deng suddenly understood.
No wonder those other two were so eager.
Clearly, they saw Li Yi was already reserved by his own teacher. Since they couldn’t get the main prize, they wanted a share of the leftovers.
Beside them, that puppet assistant named Lü Xun, just as the little fatty had predicted earlier, was filled with regret!
Initially, this opportunity had been his, but he had arrogantly pushed it away.
But what use was regretting it now?
“These air vents, oh, they’re for propulsion and acceleration. Interesting… Eh, what’s this?” Fan Wen examined carefully, then showed a puzzled expression. “This puppet’s arms also conceal gun barrels? Are they Arcane Cannons?”
“Yes,” Li Yi nodded, explaining carefully, “The power of this Arcane Cannon is roughly equivalent to a full-force strike from a Level 2 puppet!”
“Nonsense!” Hearing this, Lu Yin couldn’t help but sneer contemptuously. “The power of an Arcane Cannon isn’t determined solely by the energy core; it’s also directly related to barrel length and caliber. How can such a small arm achieve that much power?”
“In its current form, of course it can’t…” Li Yi licked his lips, a somewhat sly smile appearing.
“This… form, what do you mean?” Fan Wen’s expression changed slightly.
After some rest, his mental energy had recovered considerably. A cold light flashed in Li Yi’s eyes, and the Reverse Halberd moved.
Under countless shocked gazes, amidst the sounds of clanking steel, the Reverse Halberd actually began to transform!
Its arms rose high and merged together, its feet came together, and then its upper body leaned forward, becoming parallel to the ground.
Although it was an extremely rough and simple transformation, everyone could see this puppet had now turned into an Arcane Cannon.
“For this form, I named it—’Humanity’s Great Cannon.'”
When saying this, Li Yi also felt a strange sensation in his heart.
He somewhat empathized with Xiao Changkong.
This wasn’t just a prank, but a desire to leave some marks uniquely familiar to him in this unfamiliar world.
“This form has a slow transformation, cannot move, and has many inconveniences. Moreover, a single cannon shot puts a huge strain on the steel furnace. After about fifty shots, its core will be scrapped. Overall, it’s not of much practical use…”
Nobody truly believed this self-deprecating statement.
This was the power to fight above one’s level!
In reality, what difference was there between this form and a Mage casting a forbidden spell?
What on earth was hidden in this kid’s mind? The murmurs of a deity?
Similar thoughts ran through everyone’s minds.
“Li Yi,” Fan Wen found himself liking the young man before him more and more the longer he looked at him. “How about becoming my closed-door disciple?”