The morning class of that day passed amidst Qing Jun’s silent anger.
By the time the sun was setting and the evening glow had dyed half the sky red—
Chen Ye finally ended the day’s lessons and dismissed the disciples.
On the surface, it looked like he had been teaching disciples all day, but in reality he wasn’t as busy as outsiders imagined.
Most of the time, he just let the disciples loose, letting them cultivate on their own.
While Chen Ye, on the side, focused entirely on studying the path of Puppets.
Because the Lingyin Sect and the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect were enemies, in the past the Lingyin Sect had killed quite a few of the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect’s Foundation Establishment Cultivators; even among the six Puppet Masters of past generations, many had died at Lingyin’s hands.
Therefore, in the sect’s Scripture Depository, there were quite a few Puppet Refining Techniques from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect, more than enough for Chen Ye to study.
"As it happens, I’ve already been cultivating the Hundred Refining Technique for two years... and without realizing it, this technique is about to reach Limit Break."
Chen Ye said to himself inwardly.
Back then, not long after he arrived at the Lingyin Sect, he was sent to the Herb Pavilion in the Moon Rhinoceros Lake District.
On the way, he unfortunately ran into an assassination attempt by a Ten Thousand Puppet cultivator.
This technique was obtained from that very Ten Thousand Puppet cultivator.
Simply put,
the Hundred Refining Technique is a basic method for refining Puppets. It is divided into nine tiers, with every nine refinings constituting one tier.
Generally, once you cultivate it to the sixth tier, you can already attempt to refine a Foundation Establishment Puppet.
If you cultivate it to the ninth tier, you can step into the ranks of the six great Puppet Masters of the Ten Thousand Puppets!
Although this technique is extremely difficult to cultivate, Chen Ye had already practiced it for two years. Even though he rarely trained it deliberately, with his proficiency panel backing him, his current proficiency had already reached a shocking level!
[Hundred Refining Technique – Perfection: 382/400]
"According to the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect’s way of counting, I should be at the ninth tier—more precisely, already at the ninety‑third refining. As for those so‑called six great Puppet Masters, I’m afraid more than half of them aren’t as good as me."
Chen Ye pondered silently.
It was precisely because his attainment in the Hundred Refining Technique was astonishing that he wanted to convert that portion of his Puppet attainments into actual combat power.
If—
he fed the Nascent Soul remnant soul to the Heart Slaughter Sword, then even though the Heart Slaughter Sword could bring him a large amount of Power of Divine Soul, the increase in combat power still wouldn’t match creating a Puppet.
Besides... if he fed the Nascent Soul remnant soul to the Heart Slaughter Sword, it would truly be gone.
If he used it to make a Puppet, he could still recycle that "trash" in the future.
"This can’t be rushed. I still have to look for some top‑grade Spiritual Materials. Although I’ve got quite a few Low Tier Spiritual Materials in my Storage Bag, if I want to refine a top‑tier Puppet, I’m still far short..."
Chen Ye, while thinking about his future ultimate weapon, pulled his thoughts back and swept his gaze toward the outside of the hall.
On normal days, as soon as class ended, this girl Qing Jun would definitely be like a wild horse off its rein, dragging him off to run wild across the mountains.
But today, the little girl was especially listless.
Her head drooped, and her little hands hung feebly at her sides.
Fellow disciple Zhao Yuanyuan saw this and quickly held out Qing Jun’s favorite Spirit Fruit to her mouth.
In the end, the little girl only symbolically took a couple of bites before she didn’t want any more.
"Instructor Chen! Qing Jun seems to be sick!"
Seeing this, Zhao Yuanyuan hurriedly called for Chen Ye.
The moment Qing Jun was mentioned, Instructor Chen immediately strode over in big steps.
He was tall and straight, his features clear and handsome.
Though he wore no complicated adornments, that calm, scholarly air of his practically hooked away a little girl’s soul.
"Heavens, Instructor Chen is walking over! That wind‑like stride, that slight frown... so handsome!"
Zhao Yuanyuan screamed like a prairie dog in her heart, while on her face she tried hard to maintain the look of an obedient disciple.
"What’s going on?"
Chen Ye walked up and, seeing his own little disciple drooping like a wilted plant, was slightly taken aback.
This little girl,
normally bursting with endless energy, how had she become so lifeless now?
"In... Instructor Chen."
Zhao Yuanyuan stammered,
"Qing Jun hasn’t had any energy since just now. She won’t eat even when I give her fruit, and she says her whole body has no strength... When I felt her little hand, it was burning hot."
"Hot?"
Chen Ye’s heart tightened, and he quickly crouched down.
"Master..."
Qing Jun called out softly, her voice fluffy and weak. She struggled to lift her eyelids, staring at her master in grievance,
"Qing Jun... doesn’t want to play anymore... There’s fire in my tummy... it’s about to burn..."
Chen Ye reached out and held her little hand.
It was scorching hot to the touch!
He focused his spirit to probe, and vaguely, he could see faint silver light flowing.
"This silver light... back when Qing Jun swallowed the dragon scale, it also appeared on her body."
Chen Ye’s gaze flickered.
He remembered very clearly that, at the time, Bai Susu had given him a dragon scale left behind by the Lingyin Sect’s Founder.
And he had fed that dragon scale to Qing Jun.
After Qing Jun refined it, this silver glow had appeared on her body, but back then there had been no other unusual phenomena.
"Could it be that Qing Jun hadn’t fully digested it then? And only today did it push her bloodline to further awaken?"
If that was really the case—
then this time Qing Jun’s bloodline awakening was completely different from before!
His Little Dragon Girl might really have become a Little Dragon Girl!
"Thank you."
Chen Ye made a snap decision, scooping Qing Jun into his arms and giving Zhao Yuanyuan a nod,
"Qing Jun’s old ailment has flared up again. If we’d discovered it any later, she would have suffered. It’s thanks to your carefulness."
"Ah... it’s... it’s nothing!"
Zhao Yuanyuan stammered,
"Being... being able to help Instructor Chen is this disciple’s honor!"
"Mm."
Chen Ye didn’t say more. The situation was urgent; holding Qing Jun, he sent a voice transmission to Jin’er, telling her to head back on her own, and then rushed back to Cangli Courtyard ahead of her.
...
As soon as he arrived home—
Chen Ye immediately activated all the defensive Arrays, and still not at ease, he layered on Restriction after Restriction.
He was worried that
an anomaly might appear later and expose Qing Jun’s True Dragon identity!
At that time,
neither Xu Henshan nor Bai Susu would be able to protect Qing Jun!