Building an Eternal Dynasty: The Eternal Legacy System

The Everlasting Puppet (Part 4)

The moment Leandro stepped out of Victor’s residence, his entire demeanor changed.

The warmth he had shown inside disappeared almost instantly.

So did the reverence.

What remained was the cold caution of someone who had survived by never trusting his surroundings.

His emerald-green eyes moved slowly across the area.

Left.

Right.

Above.

Then below.

Nothing escaped his attention.

Not even the shadows stretching beneath the ancient trees.

The evening sun painted Sovereign Peak in a soft golden glow. A cool mountain breeze passed through the branches, carrying the faint rustle of leaves with it.

It was peaceful.

Almost too peaceful.

But Leandro did not relax.

He stood there for several breaths.

Then another.

His eyes continued moving.

Only after checking his surroundings several times did he finally seem satisfied.

His hand slipped beneath his sleeve.

A small paper doll appeared between his fingers.

It looked ordinary.

Almost worthless.

Leandro stared at it for a brief moment.

Then his spiritual energy quietly surged.

There was no dramatic explosion.

No flash of light.

His body simply began to dissolve.

His form broke apart into countless strands of spiritual light.

They scattered silently into the surrounding darkness.

A moment later, the small paper doll slipped from his fingers.

It landed gently on the ground.

From a distance, anyone watching would have believed that Leandro had already used a soul movement technique and escaped.

But that was only the beginning.

One hidden escape route activated.

Then another.

Then another.

Deep beneath Sovereign Blessed Land, concealed formations awakened one after another.

Their presence was so faint that even a powerful cultivator might overlook them.

False trails immediately spread in every direction.

Some headed toward the distant mountains.

Others disappeared into the forests.

A few even seemed to flee toward completely unrelated areas of Sovereign Blessed Land.

Every trail carried a trace of Leandro’s soul.

Every trace felt real.

They even carried subtle differences in spiritual intensity, making the deception far more convincing.

If someone tried to track him now, they would have no easy answer.

They would have to choose.

And whichever path they chose...

They would be chasing something that wasn’t really there.

Inside the pavilion, Victor quietly watched the entire process.

A faint smile rested on his lips.

His golden eyes saw through everything.

The formations.

The false trails.

The paper doll.

Even the hidden spiritual signatures scattered throughout the land.

None of them could escape his perception.

Victor leaned slightly against his seat.

"A cautious protagonist..."

A quiet chuckle escaped him.

"...truly is paranoid."

There was no mockery in his voice.

If anything, he seemed mildly amused.

To an ordinary cultivator, Leandro’s escape would have been almost impossible to unravel.

The paper doll alone was clever enough.

It had triggered dozens of carefully prepared escape routes.

Each formation had been hidden beforehand.

Each false trail carried a fragment of Leandro’s soul aura.

And each one moved with just enough independence to make the deception believable.

Even a powerful expert would have to spend considerable time determining which trail was real.

Victor simply watched.

His smile deepened.

"Not bad."

He lifted his eyes toward the distant mountains.

"Very careful."

Then he paused.

The amusement in his eyes became slightly more pronounced.

"But you still haven’t realized..."

His gaze seemed to pass effortlessly through the countless layers of concealment.

"...that none of this was necessary."

Victor leaned back.

There was no need to chase Leandro.

No need to break his formations.

No need to follow his false trails.

He already knew where the real Leandro was.

And Leandro had no idea that, from the very beginning...

Victor had never lost sight of him.

Not for even a moment.

None of them were real.

Victor’s spiritual perception had already seen through the entire deception.

The real Leandro Salvatore had never taken any of those escape routes.

The moment he stepped outside Sovereign Peak...

He had already made his move.

Long before today’s meeting had even begun, Leandro had secretly transferred his consciousness into a puppet hidden deep beneath the mountain.

The Leandro who had just walked out of Victor’s residence...

Was nothing more than another layer of deception.

Another carefully prepared substitute.

Even after gaining the Patriarch’s trust...

Even after lowering his guard for the first time in his life...

Leandro’s instincts had still refused to let him relax.

He had prepared backup plans.

Then more backup plans behind those.

And even more beyond them.

Victor couldn’t help but smile.

It wasn’t fear.

It wasn’t cowardice.

If anything...

It was simply the reason Leandro had managed to survive for so many years.

A man like him could never afford to place his entire life in the hands of a single plan.

Just then, the familiar mechanical voice of the Eternal Legacy System echoed through Victor’s mind once more.

[Ding!! Legacy Investment successful! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Saint-rank Great Medicine: Primordial Blood Sovereign Pill!]

[Ding!! Legacy Investment successful! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Saint-rank Great Medicine: Nether Emperor Pill!]

[Ding!! Legacy Investment successful! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained: Saint-rank Supreme Combat Art: Absolute Destruction Art!]

Victor’s smile deepened slightly.

The investment...

Had yielded another extraordinary harvest.

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Author’s Note

If you enjoyed this story, please support the novel by reading, adding it to your library, and leaving your Power Stones or gifts. Every bit of support motivates me to continue bringing Victor and the Salvatore Family’s journey to life. Thank you for reading!

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Authors Notes: Dear Readers, Thanks so much for joining me on this adventure! Your enthusiasm, feedback, and encouragement really keep me motivated to keep bringing *Building an Eternal Dynasty: The Eternal Legacy System* into existence. If you’re loving the Chapters, I’d love it if you supported my book with a Powerstone, review, or even a Golden Ticket—it helps me develop as a writer and lets more readers enjoy the story. I look forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts, so please don’t hesitate to share!

With love,

sat_vir_777

Creator of Building an Eternal Dynasty: The Eternal Legacy System

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