C879 Soul Control

Deep within the head of the Soul Wood Puppet, Yu Yuan's Yin God had taken residence in another wooden figure, discovering himself in an enigmatic space. He was seated at a long, ethereal table, his hands resting flat on its surface. This table was no ordinary object but resembled a murky, obscure sea of souls. As the puppet he represented made contact, his soul consciousness unfurled, slowly spreading along the table's length and out toward its sides.

Flanking the table were six shorter wooden puppets with indistinct faces. Only Yu Yuan, occupying the principal seat, had his true visage revealed in this arcane realm, thanks to the presence of his Yin God.

From the table, akin to a bizarre sea of souls, his consciousness rippled outward like water, sensing a multitude of thoughts and memories converging like a swarm of fireflies.

"The Soul Wood Puppet comprises seven seats, with the foremost being the controller. The six puppets on either side of the table are to be the vessels for captive souls."

"A cultivator's three souls, or the transformed Yin God—whichever is drawn into a puppet, gains dominion over the rest. The original body, the Yang God, and even marked items..."

In time, Yu Yuan grasped the workings of the Soul Wood Puppet, its secrets inscribed upon the soul-sea table.

"What an uncanny artifact," he murmured to himself. Shifting his consciousness, he found himself with a wooden physique. Glancing down, he was astonished to see a hand protruding from the puppet clutched by his other self, its thumb bearing his own likeness!

Moreover, six additional fingers sprouted from that same hand, their tips like faces, yet blurred and indistinct.

Yu Yuan paused, realization dawning on him. The seven fingers of the Soul Wood Puppet's hand corresponded to the seven puppets within the mystical space. The thumb represented the master seat—his position as the controller. The remaining six fingers, currently devoid of souls, bore no clear faces.

After a moment's consideration, he cleared his throat and addressed his companion, "Qin Yun, release your Yin God and enter this Soul Wood Puppet. I wish to conduct an experiment. Come now, why hide? What is there to fear?"

Qin Yun, resembling an old Confucian scholar, fixed his gaze, brimming with a perception of utmost evil, on the figure before him as he steadily retreated.

Judging by his demeanor, it seemed that any additional pressure might send him fleeing from the Evil Cauldron, darting chaotically through the miniature universe woven by the Illusion Pearl and the Spectral Umbrella.

"I am still Yu Yuan!" he insisted.

"Stop right there!"

Qin Yun's voice echoed as he pressed his back against the cauldron's wall, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.

Yu Yuan, seated in tranquility, had his eyes shut as though in deep slumber.

In his hand, he clutched a small puppet that had sprouted Yu Yuan's face. It had just struggled fiercely, extending an arm from within Yu Yuan's palm, revealing seven fingers.

The thumb, bizarrely, bore Yu Yuan's face as well!

Three faces of Yu Yuan manifested simultaneously: the true Yu Yuan in a dormant state, the puppet Yu Yuan shouting and flailing, and even the thumb was an image of Yu Yuan...

This eerie tableau sent shivers down Qin Yun's spine. "The Soul Wood Puppet, a sinister relic of the Fiend Sect from the legends! The Master... may have been overtaken by this malevolent entity."

Yu Yuan had informed him during their journey that something had been unearthed deep beneath the Yu family's estate.

Qin Yun was aware that both the Astral Shield and the Soul Wood Puppet were now in Yu Yuan's possession.

"He aims to consume my Yin God, forcing me to willingly enter the puppet!"

Qin Yun's spirit quaked with fear.

"The Master's mental acuity remains intact."

It was then that Qin Yun discerned a frigid voice.

The voice emanated from the cauldron's wall he leaned against. "I am Yu Yiyi, the Artifact Soul of this great cauldron. Fear not. Such is the nature of the Fiend Sect's wicked treasures. The Master's visage emerging on the Soul Wood Puppet, and its thumb mirroring the same, serves as undeniable proof."

"Proof of what?" Qin Yun exclaimed, alarmed.

"It confirms that the Master is the true mastermind behind the Soul Wood Puppet," Yu Yuan's cool voice, imbued with a serene essence, began to soothe Qin Yun's frazzled nerves. "The Master is merely conducting a minor experiment. There's no need for fear."

"But I am truly frightened. You are the soul of the cauldron; could you possibly release a fiend demon to verify this?" Qin Yun tentatively responded to Yu Yiyi, his voice laced with entreaty and appeasement.

"Fiend demons are out of the question; only human cultivators are permitted," Yu Yiyi stated.

Yu Yuan listened intently to their exchange, a hint of surprise crossing his features. Observing Qin Yun's extreme fear, a chuckle almost escaped him.

He suppressed a smirk.

"Soul Wood Puppet!" His face contorted into a bizarre and frightening grin.

Whoosh!

Disregarding Yu Yiyi's counsel, Qin Yun was so terrified by the puppet's grin that he bolted from the Evil Cauldron, exclaiming, "He's been possessed by an evil spirit. You, as the cauldron soul, must be under his spell too!"

Qin Yun remained unconvinced by anything Yu Yiyi said.

"Uh..."

Yu Yuan, now inhabiting the Soul Wood Puppet, found himself in an awkward predicament. He paused, attempting to gauge his ability to move.

"Crack crack."

Another hand emitted an odd noise from its joints as it wriggled free.

The puppet's hand, with just three fingers, was as sharp as a dagger.

"How peculiar. The entry of the Yin God into the puppet caused my true body's Heavenly Soul and main soul to momentarily fall into slumber," Yu Yuan mused. He was astonished to find that his soul consciousness had seamlessly infiltrated every nook of the table, even circulating through the other six puppet bodies.

Some of his soul consciousness returned, seemingly creating an imprint within the puppet that held the primary position.

"An imprint? With this imprint, can my Yin God extract itself? And then, using the Yin God's imprint, can I maintain control over this puppet and the imprisoned soul spirits?" He had a moment of clarity.

"Ghosting Arts!"

Within the Soul Wood Puppet, his Yin God commenced the Ghosting Arts, a secret technique capable of engulfing and drawing in a Heavenly Devil, coaxing it into his Consciousness Little World.

To his amazement, he sensed numerous thread-like remnant souls within this peculiar realm.

These remnant souls, strewn across the distance, all bore the essence of Qi Yunhong.

"Qi Yunhong's Yin God was obliterated by Chu Jing and the Spirit Void Sect's master. Yet, since he perished within the Illusion Pearl, the fragments of his Yin God lingered, failing to fully vanish. Had he died in the outside world, his Yin God would have long since rejoined the cosmos, merging with the Yin Vein's source in Horror Land."

As the thought crossed his mind, he immediately recognized that the remnants of Qi Yunhong's Yin God, drawn by the Ghosting Arts, were slipping into the Soul Wood Puppet.

Strand by strand, dozens upon dozens...

These soul fragments, akin to the dismembered pieces of Qi Yunhong's Yin God, were being tugged by the Ghosting Arts and reassembling within the Soul Wood Puppet.

They converged within an enigmatic space in the puppet's head, on one of the figures flanking the table.

The puppet's once indistinct face was meticulously carved, slowly revealing Qi Yunhong's visage.

Correspondingly, on the seven-fingered hand of the Soul Wood Puppet, another finger emerged.

The fingertip, too, transformed into Qi Yunhong's face.

Sizzle, sizzle!

In that instant, the puppet inhabited by Yu Yuan's Yin God, its hand pressed upon the table, was invaded by a soul consciousness that surged like invisible lightning into the puppet infused with Qi Yunhong's Yin God.

Yu Yuan's soul consciousness spread like an intricate, seamless net, tightly enveloping the puppet bearing Qi Yunhong.

Suddenly, countless tiny sparkles came into contact with Yu Yuan's soul consciousness.

Each sparkle bore the imprint of Qi Yunhong's memories.

"What an extraordinary revelation," Yu Yuan whispered to himself.

Sizzle, sizzle!

The Crimson Electric Snakes, lurking in the shadows, manifested once more, dense and numerous.

On the foreheads of these snakes were twisted, crazed soul shadows of Qi Yunhong, contorted with agony.

Curiously, the frenzied expressions on Qi Yunhong's soul shadows gradually ceased, as if they could no longer sense the excruciating pain that once made them yearn for death.

Dozens of Crimson Electric Snakes, each bearing the soul shadow of Qi Yunhong, let out a fierce, bizarre cry.

Intersecting lightning sigils, emanating from the snakes' foreheads, Qi Yunhong's soul shadows shone, coalescing into a secret array in the sky, infused with the profound essence of the Lightning Dao.

Crack!

The dispersed Crimson Electric Snakes willingly converged, their bodies intertwining, compelling the secret formation to take shape.

"This can't be," exclaimed Chu Jing, emerging once again from the darkness, his hand clutching the black umbrella.

Staring at the Crimson Electric Snake, born from the fragments of Qi Yunhong's Yang God consumed by the "Soul Blaze Electric Current," he spoke, bewildered, "What sort of external force could possibly restore his sentience and afford him the energy to escape his bonds?"

He gazed at the Soul Wood Puppet bearing Yu Yuan's likeness, his expression one of deep confusion.

The Soul Wood Puppet, absent from the world for centuries, had become an enigma; it was no wonder he failed to recognize it.

"..."