nownovels Chapter 29 Sincerity is the most ruthless calculation
Chapter 29 Sincerity is the most ruthless calculation
They left the cave.
Li Tianran breathed a sigh of relief.
This old devil Han, no, it should be Han's mother.
That's fucking perverted.
Li Tianran had previously thought that he wasn't being used as fertilizer, but simply because he had bled a lot.
Now it seems that's not necessarily true.
Because Han Laomo's son also lacked spiritual roots.
After practicing the Blood Puppet Technique, he will look similar to his current appearance.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I've been able to live until now?
Li Tianran shook his head.
The die is cast; there's no turning back now.
We must obtain the complete version of Blood Puppet Technique.
Otherwise, he would end up like Han Laomo's son.
Gain her trust first, then proceed gradually.
Since there's no way to escape anyway, I might as well stay in the Blood Spirit Sect and work my way up.
After making a plan in mind.
Li Tianran quickly returned to his dilapidated woodshed.
Shen Qing returned before him and was already curled up asleep by the stove.
He didn't disturb them.
He climbed into bed and began his cultivation.
The next day.
He and Shen Qing continued to water the spirit field as always.
Zhao Ling didn't come looking for him again; everyone understood each other perfectly.
After all, he still had to go to Han Laomo's cave tonight.
I don't know what she meant by teaching.
The ordeal lasted until nightfall.
Having prepared himself mentally, Li Tianran arrived at the entrance of the Crimson Cave once again.
Unexpectedly.
Old Man Han was not as sinister and terrifying as one might imagine.
"Starting today, I will teach you nurturing and patterns. Later, you will work with them to help me teach the Foundation Establishment Puppet."
"Yes, Master."
Li Tianran was extremely respectful.
"Nurturing is the first step. Blood jade has pores that cannot be filled with spiritual energy, and it will shatter when it is embedded in the puppet."
Old Demon Han handed him the Blood Jade.
Li Tianran took it, his fingers steady.
Although the spiritual power is weak, it doesn't tremble; this is the result of three years of training by watering the spiritual field.
"Your hands are very steady."
"Reporting to Master, it was from watering the spiritual fields."
After teaching for only two hours, Li Tianran was dismissed.
The second night.
Old Demon Han taught him how to carve the blood pact patterns.
She held the blood jade between her fingers, condensing her spiritual energy into fine lines that carved twisted patterns on the jade's surface.
"The blood pact pattern is the core. If you carve even one wrong line, the puppet will not recognize its master."
Li Tianran looked at the patterns.
His hand almost trembled; the angle of the first stroke and the curve of the last stroke were perfectly accurate.
Han Laomo suddenly spoke up: "What's your relationship with that woman from the Heavenly Sword Sect?"
Li Tianran's finger paused on the blood jade for a moment.
"Shen Qing? The prisoner that this disciple captured."
"captive."
She repeated it, her tone flat.
Without asking any further questions, he turned around to adjust the puppet's skeleton.
Li Tianran continued carving the patterns, a fine layer of sweat seeping from his forehead.
Han Laomo's words came without any warning.
He mentally reviewed all the loopholes but couldn't find any.
No, we need to be careful.
The next few days.
Li Tianran would come to the cave every night on time, finish his lessons, and leave without engaging in conversation or asking many questions.
The way to gain trust is through sincerity.
Especially when dealing with the demons of the Demonic Sect, you have to disguise all your scheming as sincerity.
On the third night, Li Tianran brought a damp cloth and placed it on the left corner of the stone platform.
The day before, Han Laomo casually mentioned that materials tend to dry out if left out for too long, and he made a note of it.
She didn't ask him to bring it, so he brought it himself.
She saw it, but didn't ask.
To gain her trust, you need to get her used to your hands.
I've gotten used to the rhythm of handling materials myself.
When you get used to someone else, it feels awkward to use them, and naturally, you develop initial trust.
On the fourth night, Li Tianran decided to test the waters.
While organizing the materials, he suddenly reached out and wiped the puppet's cheek with his sleeve, removing a layer of fine dust.
This is a gamble.
Bet on how deep her possessiveness towards the puppet is.
He won the bet and slipped a finger under her psychological defenses.
I lost the bet, and all the trust I'd built up over the past few days has been wiped out.
Han Laomo stopped, and his eyes turned dangerous.
"What are you wiping?"
"His face was covered in dust. His master touched his face every day, but it was hard to touch it when it was covered in dust."
Han Laomo did not speak.
No one ever helped her wipe the dust off.
Silent for a long time.
She turned around and continued adjusting her bones, her movements a little slower than before.
"Who told you to touch his face?"
The sound wasn't loud, but the temperature in the entire cave dropped sharply.
Lost the bet?
No, she didn't say I couldn't touch her.
Li Tianran knelt down, his forehead pressed against the stone slab.
"This disciple has overstepped his bounds."
Han Laomo didn't look at him.
He placed his hand on the puppet's forehead, his fingertips gently stroking the two tufts of white hair, as if trying to bring back the dust that had just been wiped away.
A long time passed.
She said, "From now on, I'll ask before I wipe it."
Li Tianran: "Yes, sir."
As he left the cave, the back of his gray robe was soaked with cold sweat.
He stood at the door for two breaths.
Old Man Han didn't say I couldn't touch it.
She said to ask first.
Asking first means that it's okay to touch, but you need to let her know.
Is this slit wide enough? It's barely big enough for him to stick in one finger.
The next step is to find a way to slip your fingers into the crevice and reach deeper without her noticing.
On the fifth night.
When Li Tianran was nourishing the blood jade, his sleeve slipped down, revealing a row of old scars on his wrist.
Layer upon layer, extending from the wrist bone to the forearm.
These marks are the result of three years of wrist-cutting and bloodletting.
Old Demon Han saw it.
"How did this happen?"
He pulled down his sleeve to cover it.
"Water the sacred field."
They continued to nurture the plant gently, and said nothing more.
She could tell the age of each of these scars.
For three years, she could calculate at a glance how many times she would have surgery each month and what kind of incisions she would make.
Let her calculate.
After she finishes calculating, she fills in the blanks in her mind.
A blood slave, bled for three years, his wrists are covered in scars, but when he is being cared for, his hands are steadyer than anyone else's.
Trust built through imagination is more solid than trust that is begged for.
After finishing the lesson that evening.
She suddenly pulled a jade slip from her sleeve and placed it on the stone platform.
Li Tianran's eyes narrowed, pretending not to see.
"The Blood Jade Refining Method contains the complete technique for embedding blood jade into puppets. Come find me after you've finished reading it."
Li Tianran accepted the gift with both hands, then knelt down to express his gratitude.
"This disciple will certainly live up to Master's expectations."
As he looked down, he noticed her fingers resting on the puppet's wrist bone.
There was a very fine engraving on the puppet's wrist.
The patterns carved on the magic artifact were in the exact same position as the latest scar on his wrist.
She noticed it.
She compared him to Han Sheng, and after the comparison, she gave him the jade slip.
Hard work pays off.
He made the right bet.
Li Tianran was excited inside, but he remained composed on the surface.
After returning home that night.
Zhao Ling also came to the woodshed to deliver the blood essence, leaning against the door panel with her arms crossed.
"What did you cook for your master?"
"Tea."
"What kind of tea?"
"It's tea."
Zhao Ling stared at him for two breaths.
"Do you know what Master said after drinking your tea?"
Li Tianran looked up, somewhat curious.
"She said that the blood slave was more attentive than any of you. She never praised any of her disciples."
Li Tianran paused for a moment, then chuckled and asked.
"My senior sister is jealous."
Zhao Ling remained aloof and turned to leave.
She paused at the doorway.
"Would you like to cook me a bowl tomorrow too?"
Li Tianran: "I'm busy."
With a bang, the door slammed shut.
On the sixth night, Han Laomo made him do all the steps in a row.
Nurturing, engraving, and embedding.
There are no prompts at each step. If you make a mistake, you don't need to come back to it.
Li Tianran lowered his head and began.
Nurturing it, spiritual energy seeped into the blood jade, and its dark red light remained as steady as an inextinguishable lamp.
The engravings, the blood pact patterns, were carved one by one onto the jade surface, perfectly in place, exactly the same as those carved by Old Demon Han.
The blood jade was embedded perfectly into the indentation in the puppet's chest.
He kept 30% of his spiritual power unused.
If you don't hide anything, you'll be seen as a threat; if you hide too much, you'll be seen as useless.
Seventy percent is just right for stability, but not perfect.
Let her see that he is hiding something, but not how much he is hiding.
She'll only feel at ease if he makes her feel like she understands him.
The blood jade flashed, and a dark red light spread from the puppet's chest to its limbs.
"You didn't use your full strength," Han Laomo suddenly said.
"This disciple only used 70% of his spiritual power."
Why?
"Master only allowed us to do it once, and didn't say we had to go all out."
Old Devil Han turned his head.
Her lips twitched, her wrinkles crinkling together to reveal a strange smile.
"To be continued tomorrow."
She turned around, her back to him, and spoke in a flat tone.
Don't try to outsmart me.
"This disciple dares not."
"You were just playing around."
She didn't turn around, her tone as if she were talking about something trivial: "But you're better at it than others."
Li Tianran left the cave.
As I stepped out of the stone gate, my palms were sweaty.
She was admiring him, but at the same time, she was warning him.
She was telling him:
I can tell you're trying to be clever, and I don't dislike it at all; I kind of like it. But if you mess it up just once, all of this will be gone.
Therefore, we cannot afford to make a single mistake. Starting tomorrow, every move must be calculated more precisely.
On the night of the seventh day.
After nurturing the blood jade, Li Tianran did not leave immediately.
He took out three excellent-quality second-level Blood Spirit Grasses from his sleeve, placed them on the stone platform, knelt down, and pressed his forehead against the stone slab.
"The disciple stole more than just those four spiritual herbs; he also secretly kept three level-two herbs, which he has never dared to take out."
Now I understand. Master is the only one who gave me a chance, and I can no longer lie to you.
His back was very tense.
This gamble was on her bottom line of trust, exchanging a secret she already knew for a secret she thought didn't exist.
If she accepts, it means she acknowledges that he is no longer hiding things from her.
He bet that Han Laomo liked this feeling.
Inside the cave, there was a long silence.
"Keep what you've been hiding. You don't need to hide it anymore."
Become!
She accepted!
From now on, in her eyes, he is someone who made a mistake but took the initiative to confess.
More credible than never being wrong.
It's more effective than voluntarily confessing such things, or brewing tea for her, wiping away the grime, or showing her the scars so she can fill in the blanks in her mind.
He needs to make her feel that he belongs to her.
Old Demon Han turned around and shook his head.
"No matter how hard you try to imitate him, you will never be Han Sheng."
"This disciple knows his mistake."
Han Laomo did not answer.
She placed her hand on the puppet's forehead and gently combed through the two tufts of white hair.
Han Sheng never dared to speak up when he did something wrong; he would keep his head down and remain silent, waiting for her to ask him.
Li Tianran is different; he dares to speak his mind.
"My foolish son never dares to admit his mistakes." Old Man Han's voice was very soft, as if he were talking to a puppet, or as if he were talking to himself.
"Every time he made a mistake, he would just sit there without saying a word. He would only speak when I asked him. His voice was very soft, as if he was afraid I would hit him."
She paused for a moment.
"I never hit him."
Li Tianran knelt on the ground without moving.
He suddenly understood why she kept saying, "You're not Han Sheng."
She was disappointed, disappointed in this person who dared to steal, admit it, and draw his knife.
It's not her son.
If Han had had half the courage he had while he was alive, perhaps he wouldn't have become this puppet.
This disappointment can be used as an opportunity.
She needs someone like Han Sheng, but better than Han Sheng.
He could be that person, at least before he obtained the Blood Transformation Technique. After he did? Heh.
That evening.
Zhao Linglai came to deliver blood essence again. She saw three excellent second-grade blood spirit herbs on the stone platform.
She picked up a plant, looked at it, and then glanced at Li Tianran.
"A reward from your master."
"I took it."
Zhao Ling's fingers stopped.
"Take it yourself? Ha, you dare to show it off after stealing it?"
"I confessed to my master, and she told me to keep it for myself."
Zhao Ling put the Blood Spirit Grass back and stared at him for a long time.
"I spent ten years in the Blood Spirit Sect, and do you know what the most important thing I learned was?"
"What?"
"Don't reveal your hand to anyone."
She stood up, walked to the door, and paused for a moment.
"You're something else, you stole something and then confessed. Were you gambling, or are you genuinely stupid?"
Li Tianran carefully put away the Blood Spirit Grass.
"What do you think, senior sister?"
Zhao Ling did not answer.
I pushed open the door and stepped into the gray fog.
Eighth day.
After nurturing the blood jade.
Li Tianran took the initiative to speak: "Master, you said last time that you needed to ask Steward Ma for some materials."
The disciple can go ahead to scout the way. If you are not comfortable with that, you can send Senior Brother Zhang and Senior Sister Zhao along. There is no need for Master to personally come.
If anything goes wrong, the master only needs to say that the blood slave acted on his own initiative and doesn't need to take responsibility.
Han Laomo looked at him.
Seeing his sincere face, without a trace of flattery or hypocrisy.
She was stunned.
I only mentioned this casually a few days ago, but I didn't expect this newly accepted disciple to take it so seriously.
Steward Ma was her old rival, having competed for the position of vice sect leader for three years.
If her personally taught disciple gets into trouble on someone else's turf, she has to step in.
But for a disciple born from a blood slave background, death doesn't mean any loss.
But if successful, the puppet-making process will be accelerated.
After considering it in his mind, Old Devil Han still gave a cold warning.
"You think I don't know what you're thinking?"
Li Tianran kept his head down and didn't say anything.
She turned around and tapped the puppet's chest twice with her fingers.
The blood jade hasn't been embedded in that recessed area yet.
Suddenly, he said something completely unrelated.
Do you know when Han Sheng was the most obedient person you've ever been?
Li Tianran raised his head.
"I asked him to turn me into a puppet, and he agreed. He didn't make a sound throughout the entire process."
Her finger stopped on the puppet's chest.
A long time passed.
"You want to help me? Okay."
"Take Zhang Xuan and Zhao Ling with you, and bring that disciple from the Heavenly Sword Sect as well."
"Your disciple obeys."
Li Tianran left the cave.
A thick fog rolled in.
He clutched the jade slip containing the "Blood Jade Refining Method" in his arms, his fingers tightening slightly.
The second half of the complete Blood Puppet Technique is already in my hands, but the final step, the Blood Transformation Technique, is still missing.
Once you obtain the Blood Transformation Technique, refine the Blood Guide, and preserve your consciousness, then you can truly be safe.
But when she said that last sentence, Han Sheng was the most obedient he had ever been; he didn't utter a sound throughout the entire process.
Are they comparing him to Han Sheng?
After the competition, I gave him the task.
What is she expecting?
Do you hope he will never utter a sound in the future?
Li Tianran suppressed this thought.
Regardless of what the female demon is thinking, we should first figure out how to obtain the Blood Transformation Technique.
Do you want him to become the next Han Sheng?
Do you really think he's a submissive blood slave?
Inside the cave.
Han Laomo stood in front of the puppet, his hand on its forehead, the gray-white eyes reflecting the skull face.
The blood jade hasn't been embedded yet, and she hasn't shed any blood.
"Do you think he could be you?"