92: Causal conjecture

After the great battle, the scene was in constant turmoil.

Some Cultivators tried to fish in troubled waters, seizing the opportunity to loot various shops.

Yuan Hong was already furious, and seeing these Cultivators who wished for nothing but chaos, his eyes gleamed with killing intent.

“If I can’t deal with that person, can’t I deal with you all?!”

The Cultivators of the Law Enforcement Team swarmed forward, suppressing the rioting Cultivators everywhere.

Meanwhile, Lu Ming himself quietly retreated amidst the chaos.

His Clone had already led people out of the city, so there was no need for him to remain there.

Returning to his Immortal Cave, Lu Ming opened the Restriction and entered, where the goatee Puppet was already waiting.

“Phew~”

Lu Ming finally let out a sigh of relief upon returning to his Immortal Cave.

Today’s incident was quite significant, and it might eventually attract the attention of a Golden Core True Person.

However, it had little to do with him; he hadn't shown his face from beginning to end, and everything was handled by his two Puppets.

His original plan for today was to join the fun.

He intended to use Zhao Tiancheng’s identity to cause trouble and disrupt Liu Yunlong’s Foundation Establishment Banquet.

If possible, he would try to kill Liu Yunlong.

But he never expected to encounter Zhou Yang at the banquet, and to find him tortured beyond recognition by those scoundrels from the Poisonous Dragon Gang.

Lu Ming was furious at the time; although he wasn't a good person and had even used Zhou Yang as a pawn once, after spending time together, there was still some affection.

He could treat Zhou Yang that way, but no one else could.

It was just that at that time, Lu Ming couldn’t protect Zhou Yang and retreat safely at the same time.

The Cultivators of the Poisonous Dragon Gang also guarded the main entrance, not allowing anyone to leave.

So, his main body quickly brought the goatee Puppet out of Ink Talisman Pavilion.

Then, working from both inside and out, the Clone controlled Zhao Tiancheng’s Corpse Puppet, and the main body controlled the goatee Puppet.

He then used the ‘Demonic Soul Entangling Blood Silk Curse’ to sacrifice Wu Qishan, the Right Protector Wu of the Poisonous Dragon Gang, cursed Liu Yunlong, and created chaos in the venue.

The terrified Cultivators rushed the main entrance, and he took the opportunity to have the goatee Puppet go in and take Zhou Yang away.

Afterward, with no more reservations, Lu Ming began his slaughter of the Poisonous Dragon Gang.

Finally, the goatee Puppet returned to the scene to clean up the battlefield, collecting Storage Pouches and Cultivator corpses.

Everything was interconnected and within his plan.

However, tonight, everyone suffered losses except for him, who won big.

The Drunken Immortal Tower goes without saying; the nine-story ancient building was reduced to eight stories.

The Poisonous Dragon Gang was crippled, all high-ranking members died, and the gang leader’s fate was unknown.

A section of the outer city was reduced to ruins, and the prestige of the Immortal City was challenged.

“All victims…”

Lu Ming was a bit speechless; he seemed to be quite a troublemaker.

Recalling his thoughts, Lu Ming looked at the dull-faced goatee Puppet in front of him.

Then he looked at Zhou Yang lying on the ground at its feet.

“I truly don’t know if meeting me is a blessing or a misfortune for you.”

He checked Zhou Yang's injuries and found him severely wounded.

His flesh was torn, his hands and feet bones were shattered, his internal organs were bleeding, and his Meridians were severed.

The worst part was that his Dantian was somewhat damaged, putting his Dao path in jeopardy.

He wouldn't recover for several years of recuperation.

However, surviving was a good thing; if he didn't die, he could continue to Cultivate Immortality.

Lu Ming took out various Medicinal Pills for healing and fed them all to Zhou Yang in one go.

Then, he circulated his magical power to help him refine the medicinal properties of the Medicinal Pills.

As the medicinal power spread, it emitted a faint green glow, beginning to infiltrate Zhou Yang’s broken body, gradually repairing his injuries.

His skin and flesh began to heal rapidly and quickly scab over, but his bones and Meridians would require time to recuperate.

Lu Ming hadn't expected Zhou Yang to recover immediately; he simply wanted to prevent the injuries from worsening.

After an hour, Zhou Yang’s external wounds gradually healed and stopped bleeding, so Lu Ming had the Puppet take Zhou Yang away.

Lu Ming had once rented an Immortal Cave using Han Feiyu’s identity, which was perfect for Zhou Yang to recuperate.

He would send him to Ink Talisman Pavilion once he felt a bit better.

‘This counts as returning to an old profession…’

Zhou Yang used to be a miscellaneous worker in a talisman shop, but Lu Ming would not exploit him.

Although Zhou Yang couldn’t help him much now, he wouldn’t deny him a meal.

Lu Ming now had an exaggerated amount of resources and certainly didn't lack that one portion for Zhou Yang.

“Now, it’s time to study you.”

In the Void Realm, the golden book slowly opened.

Lu Ming stared at it, his brows deeply furrowed.

Why wasn't anyone on the list?

If it was said that the Puppet couldn’t attract hatred, leading to it not being on the list, that would be too ridiculous.

The goatee Puppet was a precedent; the people of the Poisonous Dragon Gang were put on the list because of him.

But if there had to be a difference between the two, there really was one.

The goatee was a rogue Cultivator he had casually killed in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range; essentially, he was a dead man.

Zhao Tiancheng, however, was somewhat different; he was alive when Lu Ming refined him into a Corpse Puppet.

Although he was also a dead man, Lu Ming had preserved his most basic bodily activity.

Combining this with the Karma golden book, Lu Ming had some conjectures.

“Is it because I sacrificed the Corpse Puppet alive, so I don’t bear Karma? Or is it that Zhao Tiancheng bears the Karma, so it has nothing to do with me?”

Unless the golden book was broken, Lu Ming felt this conjecture was very likely.

It was also possible that when Lu Ming caused trouble, he used Zhao Tiancheng’s name, while Han Feiyu was a name he fabricated himself.

However, this possibility was small, but not entirely unreasonable.

“Karma is truly difficult to fathom…”

Lu Ming rubbed his forehead, feeling his brain itch.

“But if the conjecture is correct, then the scope for action is much larger…”

The more Lu Ming thought, the brighter his eyes became.

Not bearing Karma meant that no matter how much trouble Zhao Tiancheng caused, it would have nothing to do with him, Lu Ming.

Perhaps he could even evade some Heavenly Secret Divination Spells!

Although he hadn’t heard of anyone who could use such Spells, he might encounter them in the future.

This was like putting several firewalls on himself.

Even if someone could divine it, they could only divine Zhao Tiancheng, or other Corpse Puppets.

He could then hide behind the scenes, Cultivating quietly.

“However, this would waste a lot of resources. It would be great if I could see the names.”

As Lu Ming thought this, the golden book suddenly stirred, trembling violently.

Accompanied by a golden light, the golden book automatically turned a page, and a piece of information had already appeared on the flyleaf.

【Puppet (Karma Body): Zhao Tiancheng】

【Realm: Qi Refining Stage Ninth Level】

【Cultivation Technique: Synchronized with Main Body】

【Spell: Synchronized with Main Body】

(PS: Don’t mind this setting, it has no impact on the plot, it’s just a patch. Because people on the list will not disappear unless they die. So, to prevent the protagonist from using alternate identities to cause trouble and implicate innocent people on the list, this setting was created. After all, no one wants their friends and family to be implicated!)

“Holy crap!”

Lu Ming was dumbfounded.

He had just casually thought it, but he didn't expect the golden book to actually give feedback.

Then Lu Ming's face darkened.

“If I don’t ask, you won’t take the initiative, right?!”

It was a good thing he asked, otherwise wouldn’t he be wasting resources for nothing?!

“But what is this Karma Body?”

After some study, Lu Ming no longer dwelled on this; it was just a different designation, not worth too much attention.

He was more curious about what changes the golden book would undergo.

With a thought, the golden book began to turn pages.

The content, as expected, was a long string of names floating on the book.

【Yuan Hong】 【Li Si】 【Wang Wu】 ……

Lu Ming tried to select one, and the feedback he received was no different from before; he could still choose these people to be scapegoats.

The only difference was that once the Karma Body died, all the Karma entanglements associated with it would disappear.

This was not difficult to understand; when a person dies, Karma dissipates. This had little to do with the identity of a Clone Puppet.

If he himself were to die one day, the names on the golden book would also disappear.

However, this made things much more flexible, and he wouldn't have to worry about accidentally harming teammates when causing trouble one day.

After all, once someone was on the golden book list, unless the person on the list died, Karma would always exist and remain on the golden book list.

But with a Karma Body, there were fewer worries, even if someone was on the list, there was no need to worry.

At worst, he could just abandon it and replace the Clone.

“However, in the future, I still need to conduct more experiments to confirm whether my idea is correct.”

Having resolved a concern, he temporarily put these thoughts aside, and Lu Ming prepared to inspect the spoils of war.

The harvest this time was quite abundant; looking at the Storage Pouches left by the Puppet before it left, Lu Ming’s face was numb with a smile.

Inside were not only the Storage Pouches of those guys from the Poisonous Dragon Gang, but also some contribution money from Loose Cultivators.

It was just that the scene was too chaotic at the time, everyone was preoccupied with themselves, and no one paid attention to this.

“It really benefited me; I’ll grudgingly accept these contributions…”

Once it was in his hands, it was his; Lu Ming never thought of returning it.

However, these contributions were nothing; the Cultivators of the Poisonous Dragon Gang accounted for the majority.

Although not many Cultivators from the Poisonous Dragon Gang came to this banquet, that was only in relation to the entire Poisonous Dragon Gang.

Lu Ming had been killing for a full quarter of an hour, his eyes dry, so the harvest was imaginable.

Moreover, Lu Ming valued not only their family assets, but the Cultivators themselves were also a resource.

Their scattered Divine Soul power was refined and collected, and their blood Qi was extracted to Cultivate Cultivation Techniques.

The remaining bones Lu Ming prepared to feed to the Three Yin Nether Fire.

This was the only Second-Tier Spell he possessed.

At the First-Tier, its power wasn't very apparent; he mainly used it for Artifact Refining and Puppet making.

But once it reached the Second-Tier Spell pattern, its power would be incomparable.

Lu Ming took out several Storage Pouches containing corpses and, one by one, extracted the Cultivator bones from them.

In a short while, a ‘mountain of corpses’ was piled up in the Immortal Cave, a very eerie and terrifying sight in the dim Immortal Cave.

Lu Ming, however, was unconcerned. He flicked his finger, and a point of eerie green flame flew out, quickly spreading as soon as it touched the ‘mountain of corpses’.

As time passed, devouring more and more corpses, the eerie green flame gradually deepened, and the extreme high temperature even caused the air to begin to distort.