Chapter 475: The Eerie Soulless Golden Man (Part 2)

The books were densely packed with writing.

"First-level Soulless Golden Man, a special puppet refined by a Soul Witch. It has self-awareness and can also be controlled by a soul invading it. It is equipped with a spirit stone array inside and requires no cultivation. When several work together under unified control, they possess immense offensive power. Disadvantages: ..."

Self-awareness?

What does that mean?

Could it be that this thing isn't dead, but alive? Otherwise... how could it have self-awareness?

He continued reading.

"...Disadvantage four: The consciousness is voluntarily extracted from the body, leaving only a spark of undying flame inside, unable to awaken. Disadvantage five: ..."

"Could it be..." Suddenly struck by a thought, Zhang Xuan's face darkened.

Legend had it that Soulless Golden Men were refined from living humans by Soul Witches. He hadn't quite believed it before, but now it seemed to be true.

Forcibly extracting the soul, leaving a spark of undying flame inside to keep the person alive and prevent the body from decaying—this was like a vegetative state, appearing no different from a corpse but retaining vitality within, making it a living person.

Otherwise, without a soul, the person would be dead, and the body couldn't be preserved. How could it be refined into a golden man?

Not to mention other things, just soaking the entire body in metal to turn it into this form would take considerable time. If the flesh weren't kept alive, it would rot before the process was complete.

Clenching his fist, he was about to condemn the Soul Witch's cruelty when he shook his head: "No, that's not right. The consciousness is voluntarily extracted from the body. Could it be that these people willingly died?"

The Library of Heaven's Path indicated that the soul was voluntarily extracted.

In other words, when the soul was剥离, it wasn't forced by the Soul Witch but was voluntary on the part of the golden man's original owner. Only then could the undying flame be left behind. Otherwise, if resisted, both would be destroyed, and the entire soul would perish.

Not only would it be impossible to make a golden man, but even the corpse couldn't be preserved.

"Legend says that some major powers can raise death warriors willing to die. Probably these golden men are the same. Raised by Soul Witches, their mission is to become golden men and serve loyally..." After pondering for a while, he guessed.

Major powers could raise death warriors, and Soul Witches might do the same. Moreover, this profession specialized in souls, capable of brainwashing cultivators to willingly have their souls extracted.

Terrifying!

Eerie!

Refining living humans into puppets and making them willing—Soul Witches were truly fearsome.

He had initially thought of capturing a few himself to refine and boost his cultivation, but seeing their cruel methods, he shuddered... Forget it!

He continued reading and soon finished the entire book.

The rest contained nothing noteworthy, mostly introducing the weaknesses of the Soulless Golden Man and how to use it.

"Too bad I can't use it..."

After finishing, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly.

Soul Witches excelled in souls, able to leave their bodies to control this thing, but he couldn't.

He had yet to study any soul cultivation methods. In other words, although his strength had reached Half-step Mortal Transcendence, his soul was still fused with his body and couldn't leave it to act independently.

It was like driving a car: to go where you wanted, you had to get inside first. If the soul couldn't leave the body, it couldn't enter, so how could it control this thing?

He had thought that once he bought it, he would have a Mortal Transcendence-level death warrior at his command. Now it seemed that wasn't the case.

His soul was confined to his body and couldn't leave, so he couldn't use it. In other words... this thing would just lie here, useless.

Of course, if he ever faced real danger, he could sacrifice it as a meat shield.

Cough, after auctioning for so long and spending such a high price, only to buy a shield... The thought was intoxicating.

"Store!"

After looking a bit more and finding no useful information, he stored the golden man in his storage ring. Then, with a flick of his palm, a sphere appeared.

It was the Ingenuity Skill Box that Elder Chen had compensated him with after losing a bet and having no money to pay.

"There's a flaw here, and here, and here..."

Caressing the round, shot-put-like object, he infused true energy into his fingers and pressed each flaw recorded in the library one by one.

There were seventeen flaws in total, and he quickly pressed them all.

Crack!

A spring snapped, and the sphere in his hand suddenly changed, as if a box were opening.

"This..."

Zhang Xuan was startled.

From the outside, this thing looked exactly like a shot put, with no gaps or seams. He had even suspected it was just a lump of iron.

He never dreamed it could actually open.

"So intricate..."

He glanced down and couldn't help but admire: "Could this so-called Ingenuity Hall be a gathering place for Ingenuity Masters, like the Beast Hall and Alchemist Guild?"

Having read all the books in the Appraisal Pavilion, though he hadn't fully integrated the knowledge, he had learned about a very powerful profession—Ingenuity Master!

This profession didn't focus on high martial power but on mechanisms, belonging to the lower nine professions.

Legend had it that they could design the most precise hidden weapons and the most complex puppets. Especially armor—though blacksmiths could forge armor that fit the body, to maximize its effectiveness, one needed to seek out this profession.

Countless experts, when forging weapons, would invite both Ingenuity Masters and blacksmiths to design together. Often, a single weapon contained countless mechanisms, making it unpredictable.

For instance, Zheng Yang's spear was the most ordinary kind, needing to be folded section by section, which was troublesome. If an Ingenuity Master had worked on it, with a spring mechanism inside, it could be as short as a chopstick in hand and, with a light press, extend to over ten feet, with immense power.

And this Ingenuity Skill Box—the flaws recorded in the library were probably the weak points of its connections. Only by touching these could it be fully opened.

Otherwise, no amount of force would work, and forced attacks would only destroy the contents inside.

"What precious item could be stored in something like this?"

He casually pulled the Ingenuity Skill Box open.

When he first touched this item, the Library of Heaven's Path had judged it as "crafted by the Ingenuity Hall, unparalleled in mechanism, unopenable without a specific method, used to store important confidential treasures!"

Since it was stored in such a clever device, it must be extraordinary.

The opened box contained a thin piece of beast hide, made of some unknown material, extremely tough. It had been preserved for who knows how many years, yet it was intact without any damage.

He casually opened it.

"Red Dust Heaven-Stepping Steps? What's this?"

At the beginning of the beast hide were five large characters: "Red Dust Heaven-Stepping Steps," which he couldn't understand.

He continued reading, and a line of verse appeared before his eyes.

"Three thousand miles of red dust, a smile steps into the blue sky!"

After the verse, the origin of this item was recorded.

"The Red Dust Heaven-Stepping Steps were created by Zhong Sheng, a disciple of Master Kong. On the day of completion, carrying a great mountain, he stepped three thousand miles in one stride and soared into the nine heavens. Our lineage, favored by Zhong Sheng, passed down one volume of Heaven-Stepping Steps to be treasured by future generations. To prevent mishaps, it is specially placed in the Ingenuity Skill Box, unopenable without the blood of our descendants..."

"It's a footwork technique?"

Zhang Xuan understood and his eyes lit up.

Created by a disciple of Master Kong, the value of this technique was immense.

No wonder it was stored in an Ingenuity Skill Box.

Logically, this item had a special opening method, as written: without the blood of their lineage's descendants, it couldn't be opened. Zhang Xuan was naturally not their descendant; he didn't even know what this lineage was.

The reason he could open it was that the Library of Heaven's Path had found its flaws.

This was like a password from his previous life: knowing the password allowed entry. If forgotten, entering the admin interface with an admin password could also open it.

He was using the latter now.

The library directly penetrated the essence of the skill box, striking at its foundation. No matter how tight or clever, it became vulnerable.

"I wonder if the technique left by Master Kong's disciple has any flaws."

Holding the manual, Zhang Xuan silently called for flaws.

Now, no matter what technique it was, he had formed a habit of first checking for flaws.

This technique was personally created by a disciple of Master Kong, so its level was undoubtedly high. But... high level also meant there must be loopholes. He'd take a look first.

Whoosh!

A similar book appeared in his mind, and he casually opened it.

"Only forty-two flaws?"

After quickly flipping through the book, Zhang Xuan was astonished.

As expected of a footwork technique created by a disciple of Master Kong—it was truly formidable. At least forty-some flaws was relatively few among martial techniques.

The martial techniques he had seen before typically had hundreds of flaws. Because of that, each technique required thousands of manuals to compensate, achieving perfection with no loopholes.

This technique didn't even have fifty flaws, which showed its power. If leaked, it would surely cause a bloodbath.

"With so many flaws, I dare not cultivate it either..."

If he hadn't known the flaws, it would be one thing, but knowing them, Zhang Xuan's face turned bitter.

It was like a delicious fruit: once you saw countless worms crawling inside, you lost your appetite.

Having grown accustomed to cultivating techniques and martial arts without flaws, knowing there were over forty here made it hard to swallow.

"By the way, the Heaven's Path Movement Technique is also a type of footwork. Let's see if they can merge!"

The Heaven's Path Movement Technique was formed by collecting countless footwork and movement technique manuals. Though it was only basic, it represented the mystery of simplicity. Perhaps the two could merge.

"Merge, correct!"

He placed the two books together and focused his mind again.

Whoosh!

A new book appeared.

He opened it again.

"Only three flaws? Great! Though there are three, it's already cultivable..."

Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

Three flaws, though more than previous techniques, were still worth cultivating. At worst, he could collect more footwork manuals later and find a way to merge them again.

Knowing he could cultivate it, he didn't hesitate and looked at the content of the manual.

One look, and his pupils contracted, his lips instantly turning pale.

"Red Dust Heaven-Stepping Steps—Qi Tian Volume. Could it be... flight?"