The head of the virtuous lamia was cut off with a single slash. The metallic puppet had mercilessly killed this beautiful flower.

　　“Hehehe.” The metallic puppet laughed smugly.

　　But right at this time… the head of the virtuous lamia suddenly opened its eyes, and her hands held onto what was left of her neck. Then, she revealed a painful expression, and, seemingly in great pain, cried out, “Aaaaah~”

　　The metallic puppet almost got a heart attack.

　　After screaming, the lamia closed her eyes, and her body stopped moving.

　　The metallic puppet used the sharp blade mounted in its arm to poke at the head of the virtuous lamia. After seeing that she didn’t react, it heaved a sigh of relief.

　　“It is rumored that the head of a snake doesn’t die right after getting cut off. I hadn’t expected that the same would apply to monster snakes as well,” the metallic puppet said in a soft voice. “It’s a pity that I’m using a puppet right now, and I can’t transform this monster snake into a skin puppet. Otherwise, I would have gained a fine servant to order around.”

　　After saying this much, the metallic puppet stood up, and its eyes quickly rotated, scouting the glacial world.

　　“From the looks of it, some incredibly powerful cultivators just fought here… the ones fighting were probably the last guardian of the forbidden area and that ‘White’ from before. But now, both of them have disappeared… did they kill each other?” the metallic puppet wondered out loud.

　　As far as it was concerned, it was a wonderful turn of events. Now, he could retrieve from this glacial world the item it was interested in.

　　The metallic puppet opened its chest and took out something similar to a ‘treasure map’.

　　“In the past, the master of the Palace of Winter created a glacial world in their territory, and beneath this world of ice were buried the enemies that died in their hands. That glacial world should be precisely this place…” the metallic puppet said.

　　After saying this much, it followed the treasure map and started exploring the glacial world.

　　Now that the stone giant had been dragged to the Netherworld Realm, no one could stop the metallic puppet.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Around ten or so minutes later, the metallic puppet stopped above an ice mound.

　　“Found it, this is the place. I can feel the puppet of the ancestor resonating with me,” the metallic puppet said excitedly. Then, it brandished the sharp blade mounted in its arm and chopped at the ice mound beneath its feet.

　　The blade mounted in its arm was extremely sharp, even sharper than Song Shuhang’s treasured saber Broken Tyrant, but its all-out attack left nothing but a small dent in that block of ice.

　　“Dammit, how can it be this hard?” the metallic puppet said. Then, it retracted the sharp blade and spun its wrists, revealing shiny black cannon barrels, which he aimed toward the ice.

　　“Puppet Cannon!”

　　“Boom, boom, boom~”

　　Several explosive attacks hit the ice mound, and the sound of the explosions echoed nonstop. The blazing red cannon light caused a burst of steam to rise from the surface of the ice.

　　The metallic puppet kept attacking with all its might.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　At this time, the virtuous lamia stretched out her hand and grabbed her head, placing it on her neck just as though she was wearing a cap. In the end, she was nothing but a mass of light of virtue~

　　Although others could attack her while she was in her solid form, she could easily put her body back together as long as she wasn’t disintegrated in one blow.

　　After recovering her head, the virtuous lamia grabbed the blood bone in one hand and the Face Slapping Flip-flop in the other, heading toward the location of the metallic puppet.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　“Puppet Cannon, Puppet Cannon!” The metallic puppet kept firing.

　　But after he had fired around ten times, the hole he had created in the ice mound was only as big as two rice bowls.

　　The metallic puppet was speechless.

　　This place wasn’t the coldest place in the forbidden area for nothing. The hardness of the ice here was astonishing.

　　After more than ten cannon shots, only a small hole of the size of two rice bowls was left in the surface of the ice… and the ancestral puppet he wanted to obtain was located at a depth of a hundred meters.

　　It was unknown how long it would take him to reach it!

　　The ‘ancestral puppet’ was the term that the members of the Jet-Black Sect used to refer to all the puppets that an incredible genius in their sect—the only person in the entire Jet-Black Sect to ever reach the Immortal Realm—had personally manufactured.

　　All the puppets that manufactured by that talented Immortal were called ‘ancestral puppets’.

　　Beneath this glacial world was buried a damaged ancestral puppet. It was a puppet that the young Immortal had manufactured when they still had yet to find their path to immortality.

　　Afterward, during the battle between the genius that would later become the only Immortal of the Jet-Black Sect and the master of the Palace of Winter… the puppet was damaged and carried off by the master of the Palace of Winter, finally buried in this glacial world.

　　“Without General’s help, I have no way to dig up to a depth of a hundred meters,” the metallic puppet said, depressed.

　　However, it was aware that his ally had possibly come to a bad end. After all, that ‘Venerable White’ had reappeared and entered the forbidden area while that general guy was nowhere to be found.

　　“From the looks of it, I will have to sacrifice this metallic puppet,” the metallic puppet said softly.

　　This metallic puppet was a pretty good, high-quality puppet at its disposal, and it would be truly a pity to sacrifice it. However, everything would have been worth it as long as he could extract that ‘ancestral puppet’ buried in the depths of the ice.

　　After saying this much, the metallic puppet lay on the surface of the ice mound.

　　The cold of the ice mound quickly invaded the body of the metallic puppet, creating a layer of frost on its surface.

　　“Detonate!” the metallic puppet shouted at this time.

　　“Boom~”

　　Its body exploded with a loud boom.

　　This metallic puppet had been manufactured after combining puppet techniques and modern technology, and a powerful bomb was loaded in its abdominal area, which was then modified and strengthened through the techniques of the Jet-Black Sect.

　　In addition, the bomb and the metallic puppet were a single entity. As such, the body of the metallic puppet was a tool that could further enhance the strength of the bomb.

　　When it came to technological power in the world of cultivators, the Jet-Black Sect was definitely in the lead.

　　A magnificent mushroom cloud appeared in the glacial world.

　　That ice that hadn’t changed in the slightest during the past ten thousand years was blown up by this powerful explosion, and a hole was created in it.

　　The layer of ice close to the center of the explosion melted due to the high temperature.

　　The body of the metallic puppet also melted alongside that layer of ice.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　The luck of the metallic puppet was pretty good.

　　The explosion he was so proud of had created only a 12-meter-deep hole in the ice mound, and it was still far from reaching a depth of a hundred meters.

　　But, the place where he decided to self-detonate was relatively close to the place Senior White had bombarded with the God Slaying Cannon, as well as his other 300 cannons, earlier. Although it looked fine from the surface, the ice inside had been greatly weakened.

　　As such, the layer of ice below quickly cracked as the metallic puppet self-detonated. Finally, the grave the metallic puppet was looking for appeared… the resting place of the ancestral puppet.

　　It had succeeded.

　　Then, 10,000 meters away from the glacial world…

　　A puppet that seemed to be made of metal, but also not, and wood, but also not, opened its eyes. The puppet got up and quickly dashed toward the glacial world. Just like that metallic puppet from before, this puppet also had the aura of that purple-robed cultivator.

　　This guy had a lot of puppets in its hands. Moreover, it also possessed some special techniques. Earlier, it was even able to evade Senior White’s eyes and ‘came back to life’.

　　The speed of this puppet seemingly made of metal, but also not, and wood, but also not, was very high.

　　In a few breaths, it had already reached the place where the metallic puppet had self-detonated.

　　Soon after, it looked inside the hole, gazing at the coffin within.

　　“There is no mistaking… that’s the thing.” The puppet jumped in the hole.

　　Soon afterward, it excitedly opened the coffin. It had successfully obtained the ancestral puppet!

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　The first thing the puppet saw after moving the lid of the coffin aside was a glistening snake tail. All the scales on the snake tail were giving off a golden light.

　　If one looked upward, they would notice that the upper half of the snake had the appearance of a beautiful woman.

　　The eyes of the woman were tightly shut, and there was an extremely attractive beauty mark beside the corner of her eye. Right, there was also a sharp arrow stuck in her throat.

　　As soon as the lid of the coffin was moved aside, the lamia suddenly opened her eyes and grabbed her throat, screaming in pain, “Aaaaah~”

　　When the male voice was matched with the appearance of the woman with the beauty mark, the resulting scene was spicy to both the eyes and the ears.

　　After screaming, the woman with the beauty mark tilted her head to one side and ‘died’.

　　The eyes of the puppet stared at the lamia. At the same time, the muscle of ‘reason’ in its head was torn.

　　“Ah!” the puppet roared. Its two hands transformed into cannons and crazily fired toward the woman with the beauty mark.

　　“Boom, boom, boom~”

　　The body of the woman with the beauty mark disappeared amidst the light of the explosions.

　　The light of the cannons gradually subsided.

　　The puppet turned around and started to look for the ‘ancestral puppet’. It was sure that the ancestral puppet was somewhere close. After all, it’d resonated with it just a moment ago!

　　It was impossible for that monster snake to hide the ancestral puppet somewhere far within such a short amount of time. Therefore, the ancestral puppet was definitely nearby!

　　At this time, that male voice again pitifully called out, “Aaaaah~”

　　The puppet turned its head around, not daring to believe what was happening. It looked toward the coffin, and that golden monster snake was still screaming at the top her lungs, her expression one of pain. Several gaping holes had appeared in her tail due to its attack, and fresh blood was flowing out.

　　After screaming, the monster snake tilted her head to one side and fell into the broken coffin, not moving in the slightest.

　　“Do you have an indestructible body or something?!” The puppet arrived beside the lamia, and a pair of scissors popped out of its wrist area, pressing them against the body of the lamia. “Hand over the ancestral puppet!”

　　The golden lamia didn’t move, and she looked no different than a corpse.

　　After continuously grinding her death-feigning, she had managed to max it out.

　　The puppet angrily growled and used that scissors-like blade to ruthlessly cut the waist of the lamia.

　　But right at this time, the lamia suddenly opened her eyes and brandished the blood bone in her hand, blocking the scissors.

　　“Clang~”

　　The blood bone and the scissors bumped into one another.

　　The lamia got up from the coffin with the sharp arrow still stuck in her throat. She no longer needed to play dead. Song Shuhang had ordered her to come back.

　　She made use of the Face Slapping Flip-flop in her right hand and threw it at the puppet.

　　“Slap~”

　　The puppet was sent flying.

　　The virtuous lamia waved the Face Slapping Flip-flop again and again, slapping the face of the puppet until it broke to pieces.

　　After attacking twenty times, the virtuous lamia took back her Face Slapping Flip-flop. Then, her body slowly disappeared…

　　When she disappeared, the blood bone and the Face Slapping Flip-flop disappeared alongside her.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　The puppet got up from the ground.

　　It was definitely that Song Shuhang’s doing! It remembered that this monster snake was part of Song Shuhang’s [Three Heads and Six Arms Technique].

　　Earlier, its purple-robed clone was also slapped to the ground with that Face Slapping Flip-flop.

　　Song Shuhang, I absolutely won’t let you off!

　　However, the most important thing to do right now was to find the whereabouts of the ancestral puppet.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　In the Inner World.

　　Song Shuhang and Senior Sister Ye Si were sizing up the puppet before their eyes.

　　The structure of the puppet resembled that of a human-spider hybrid. The greatly damaged upper half was that of a human, while the lower half that of a spider. The lower part was likewise damaged, and around half of it had been destroyed.

　　“Is this what that purple-robed cultivator was looking for, the ancestral puppet?” Song Shuhang gazed at the broken puppet. He just couldn’t understand what kind of purpose this broken gadget could serve. Was it really worth it for that purple-robed cultivator to barge into the forbidden area and look for it?

　　Song Shuhang said, “Ye Si, have you heard of this thing before?

　　Senior Sister Ye Si shook her head. “I’ve never heard of it before. Our Crystal-Clear Water Pavilion also had some contact with the Jet-Black Sect in the past and bought a few battle-type puppets from them, but I’ve never heard about these ‘ancestral puppets’ before. However, there is a source of energy within the body of this broken puppet, and I can feel that this energy is very powerful. Moreover, this source of energy is still active.”

　　Song Shuhang’s eyes lit up. Was it possible that the purple-robed cultivator was looking for this thing because it wanted the source of energy within the ancestral puppet?

　　After pondering for a moment, Song Shuhang took Swordsman Wooden Ox’s gloves of passion off his hand, placing his bare hand on the ancestral puppet.

　　As time was passing by, Song Shuhang’s understanding of the secret appraisal technique was getting better and better. As a consequence, the price he had to pay for the appraisal had also been reduced quite a lot.

　　But, even more importantly, he could now control a little the amount of blood that was going to spurt out of his body when he used the secret appraisal technique. If the item he wanted to appraise contained too much information and could possibly endanger his life, he could choose to appraise only a portion of the information, stopping the secret appraisal technique before losing all the blood in his body and dying.

　　Start with the appraisal! Song Shuhang thought to himself!

　　Golden runes flowed out of his eyes and fell on the ancestral puppet. Soon afterward, the golden tunes transformed into a clock, and the hands of the clock turned counterclockwise.

　　At the same time, wounds started to appear on his arms.

　　The nearby Senior Sister Ye Si quickly used a healing technique, treating the wounds that had opened on his arms. Thanks to Senior Sister Ye Si, the appraisal technique ended up affecting only his arms this time.

　　Five breaths later.

　　The golden runes returned to Song Shuhang’s eyes.

　　Then, the information related to the ‘ancestral puppet’ resurfaced in his mind.

　　[Half Spider Puppet King, one of the ancestral puppets of the Jet-Black Sect that Immortal ??? personally manufactured. When in perfect condition, its strength was comparable to the peak of the Eighth Stage, but now, 89% of its body is damaged, and there is no point in repairing it. The technology the core of the puppet uses makes it act as a ‘pseudo-eternal furnace’. The energetic core was preserved in good conditions, and it can be extracted and utilized.]

　　He did not obtain that many information related to the ancestral puppet.

　　The majority of that price was due to the information about the manufacturer of the puppet, and in the end, the appraisal technique only told him that the manufacturer was an Immortal from the Jet-Black Sect. As for the details of the Immortal, he was unable to appraise them.

　　It was very likely that this Immortal of the Jet-Black Sect was still alive and had kept its details hidden, making others unable to get information on them.