Cultivation through Skin Making novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57: 57. A lone boat in the vast raging sea, rocking and swaying—where is it heading?

The Stone Seat Elder knew that he was close to death. He was stuck at the Ninth Layer of Refining Profound, always feeling that he was just a step away from breaking through to the "Crimson Palace Realm." However, the "Crimson Palace Realm" required, besides continued absorption of Profound Qi, a suitable "external blood" as the main ingredient to refine the "Crimson Palace Pill."

This blood could be from advanced demon beasts or others.

Of course... if it’s not suitable, you can try, but the success rate will be very low.

The Stone Seat Elder tried twice and failed both times.

Not only did he fail, but it also left him nearly on his last breath.

The path of cultivation is inherently a defiance against the heavens, full of obstacles—this is common.

The Stone Seat Elder resigned to fate, all he sought for the rest of his life was to find a worthy successor for his legacy.

But... there were many twists and turns. Because of a very personal thought, unexpected complications arose, leading to a pile of messy, unsolvable affairs.

He was about to die.

The backup plans he prepared inexplicably vanished.

Full of anger, he went to Paperman Peak to meet with the Puppet Sect Leader. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

However, it seemed the Puppet Sect Leader knew he would come and dismissed everyone, waiting for him in a not-so-spacious but odd Paperman Pavilion.

In front of the pavilion, a row of red lanterns dimly illuminated the paper mannequins crafted into red men and green women underneath, eerily smiling.

Behind the screen, a paper figure sat and spoke in an aged voice, "You’ve come?"

The Stone Seat Elder was astonished and said, "You’ve come?"

The paper figure waved its hand, and the doors and windows of the pavilion closed with a "bang, bang."

The aged voice continued: "Gu Tianyang is almost insane; it was my doing. Otherwise... Although he’s narrow-minded and lacks the big picture, he wouldn’t be so muddleheaded to attack your adopted son at this time, let alone... dare to attack you."

The Stone Seat Elder: ...

The aged voice eerily said: "I used to trust him, but that year, after a long setup, I finally provoked the ghost cultivator hidden within the sect, but because of him... it fell short!

Now there must be ghost cultivators still lurking within the sect. At this time, he actually wants to secure an elder position for his grandson. Do you think he deserves to die?"

The Stone Seat Elder, having experienced much, suddenly understood it was just another layer to the situation; all he believed in was manipulated by others, making him see only what they wanted him to see.

"Leader, what should this old man do?"

The aged voice suddenly said: "Actually, normally, your life limit, when reached, cannot be reversed. But now, there’s still a slight chance if you cross it, you can enter the Crimson Palace Realm."

The Stone Seat Elder was taken aback, suddenly lifting his head, and the deadening in his heart started showing traces of new life.

The aged voice said: "I can’t, but deep within the Evil Land resides an old earth-binding ghost cultivator.

I plan to offer you and the entire line of Shadow Puppet Peak, now useless, to the ghost cultivator.

The shadow puppets are significant for Evil Land, and you have endless ghosts to summon there, a perfect match."

The Stone Seat Elder: ...

He deliberated for a long time and then said, "I understand, the Leader wishes to ally with the ghost cultivator."

The aged voice said: "I intended to eliminate them, but unfortunately, I discovered that deep within the Evil Land is that old demon; although the demon cannot leave the core of the Earth Demon, it makes the ghost cultivators invincible.

Moreover, we lost the war with the fox demons, and we need allies.

The multi-tailed man-eating fox demons’ power is beyond imagination, so we need to establish the Fox Slaying Alliance.

Shadow Puppet Peak is what was agreed upon."

The Stone Seat Elder said, "Then... Leader, how will you explain to all the sect disciples?"

The aged voice said: "It was the fox demons, the fox demons killed Gu Tianyang, the fox demons killed everyone, we were too late to support Shadow Puppet Peak, and the ghost cultivators took the opportunity to rescue you, that’s the truth."

The Stone Seat Elder said, "No wonder... no wonder you don’t care about the infiltrating fox demons..."

The aged voice said: "Though Shadow Puppet Peak will be given away, I still need to leave a seed.

Seat Elder, tell me, to whom did you pass on your legacy?

I simply do not believe you only passed it to Shi Peng."

The Stone Seat Elder sighed gently and slowly revealed the name "Song Yan."

The paper figure behind the screen seemed slightly surprised but nodded nonetheless, then beckoned.

The Stone Seat Elder approached.

The two whispered secrets.

When the Stone Seat Elder left, the aged look on his face had slightly faded, his skin was still wrinkled, his hair still gray, but his eyes held a hint of "hope" and "expectation."

If one can live again, who would refuse?

...

...

Clap clap clap...

Gu Tianyang felt extremely uneasy, a sense of inexplicable irritation pounding in his chest.

He got up and was about to fly to South Bamboo Peak when he suddenly saw an Inner Sect Elder from Paperman Peak arrive, dropping off three corpses.

Gu Tianyang recognized the corpses as disciples of the Puppet Sect!

And there was still ghostly aura lingering on these corpses, but the wounds had a strangely familiar feel.

He examined them closely and suddenly remembered.

Although the wounds on these corpses were different, they were inflicted in the fastest and most direct way through the chest, just like his deceased grandson, and the ghostly aura confirmed...they were retrieved from the Evil Land.

His expression began to change.

He suddenly looked up, seeing an Inner Sect Elder from Paperman Peak watching him, saying, "The cause of death has been identified."

Gu Tianyang shouted angrily, "Who?!"

The Inner Sect Elder from Paperman Peak said, "Fox demon."

"Fox demon?"

"The fox demons enchanted these disciples, leading them to commit suicide in the Evil Land, trying to incite conflict between us and the Evil Land. They want to fish in troubled waters and observe the two sides suffer."

"Damn fox demons!"

Gu Tianyang’s anger burned fiercely. He always knew there were infiltrating fox demons, but he never connected it to his grandson’s death.

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