Chapter 1525 - 1081: Gamble
Jiang Yuan was so angry that he laughed.
No matter whether the other party is good or bad, if they’re in the way, they just extract the soul, seal it, and throw it into a dump from which they can never escape. Claiming to do good by extracting souls and refining artifacts?
That’s just gilding the lily!
If so, I specifically target utterly evil Evil Cultivators, neither extracting their souls nor destroying their bodies, turning them into immortal and bizarre beings.
Not only does it suppress the wicked and support the righteous, but it also grants them eternal life. It’s practically gaining merit from both sides; the bizarre beings should collectively kneel to me!
"How could there be such shameless people in the world?" Yun Ying was stunned, "If it were to punish bad people for a reason, that would be one thing; but to treat innocent victims like this, it’s simply Evil Cultivator among Evil Cultivators!"
Yun Shu couldn’t hold it in, "Could it be that the entire Ten Thousand Puppet Sect is filled with such terror-driven Evil Cultivators skilled in disguise?"
Yan Zheng, who was emotionally agitated, composed herself, shook her head, and said, "I don’t know much about the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect. I only know that as the largest Major Sect on Mingqi Star, it has super strong comprehensive strength and high prestige, but I’m not sure whether the sect’s internal behavior regards human life as nothing.
When I was thrown in, I was in utter despair.
The master and disciple, wanting to destroy the evidence, sealed my soul with trash that even an entry-level disciple wouldn’t look at. At first, I still held onto the thought of being picked up, using the Nightmare Technique to seek justice for myself.
But at that time, there were so many Puppet Masters in the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect that countless discards fell down every day.
I was quickly buried. Occasionally, some new disciples would come in like treasure hunters, picking and choosing, or looking for puppets that could still be used or recycling some valuable refining materials.
The junk that sealed my soul? No one cared about it.
Seeking a way out was impossible, my inner resentment had nowhere to vent, and I was afraid of driving myself insane, so I tried using the Nightmare Technique to construct a Dream Realm. The intention was to drag any suitable Cultivator that came in into the dream, maybe there would be hope.
However, with this attempt, I discovered that there were so many souls sealed in this dump! By pulling them into the dream, I managed to piece together some information about the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect."
Initially, extracting souls and sealing them in Puppet Bodies was indeed an act of kindness.
Just like Yun Ying, whose body for some reason was on the verge of dying, but still had remaining lifespan, and her soul was intact. They wished to live on, while the Puppet Masters needed truly intelligent Puppets to enhance their strength, using real human souls as Artifact Spirits.
It was a mutual need and a perfect match.
So, statements like "the soul is still there, not considered death" and "swapping the soul for an immortal body is a meritorious act" arose. But these statements must be based on mutual agreement, not one side forcefully taking what they want!
"Voluntarily sealing a soul into a Puppet Body falls into two scenarios: one where memories are retained, usually when the body is ill or severely injured beyond healing, necessitating a way to continue living;
the other is where memories get sealed as well, often due to tragic pasts, wanting to sever ties and start anew."
Hearing this, Jiang Yuan and Yun Shu instinctively glanced at Yun Ying, who hadn’t opted to keep her previous memories.
Yet, unlike Ten Thousand Puppet Sect’s leisurely picking and choosing, Yun Ying’s puppet was somewhat lacking. She had no choice; if she wanted to retain memories, she had to preserve them beforehand and later infuse them back into herself.
"This makes it hard to determine whether the soul in a puppet is voluntary or involuntary," Jiang Yuan frowned slightly and said, "Anyway, with the sealing of memories, who knows what truly happened back then?"
Yan Zheng nodded and replied, "Precisely. The reason I was thrown in here is special, whether by accident or haste, but Zhang Bingyi didn’t seal my memories.
However, most of the souls entering the Dream Realm had their memories sealed. It’s only after many years, when the memory seal loosens and no Puppet Master reinforces it, that the memories gradually return.
Aside from a small fraction who voluntarily entered as Puppets, the vast majority were ’abducted’!
Among them were Cultivators as well as Mortals; most were deceived by Evil Cultivators. Their bodies’ fate unknown, their souls extracted and sold to Ten Thousand Puppet Sect’s Puppet Masters.
Once the memory is sealed, it’s easy to obtain an obedient ’Artifact Spirit’ with normal intelligence. Compared to painstakingly seeking souls voluntarily entering Puppet Body, using monetary transactions is much more convenient!"
"Yun Shu, could it be that you are also..." Yun Ying reacted quickly, immediately associating this with her close friend who had no past but a deep fear of being a puppet.
If the memory was voluntarily sealed into a Puppet Body, would she be so afraid of being ’useless’ or ’dismantled and discarded’?
Having such thoughts can only mean she lived poorly after becoming a puppet!
"If there’s a way to unlock the memory seal, would you want to try it?" Jiang Yuan also looked at her, softly asking, "Maybe you experienced something worth forgetting; but there’s also a possibility that your memory was forcibly sealed, and unlocking it might reveal who you really are."
Yun Shu vigorously nodded, "If I forgot on purpose, no matter how terrifying, it’s already the past. I’m living well now, enough to counterbalance what happened. But I have a feeling that my memories might have been forcefully sealed, just unsure if a method to unseal them exists."
Yan Zheng continued, "Without a Puppet Master adding layers to the seal for you, it could take as long as ten years or as short as three to five years, for the memories to gradually return. So, even if a method to unseal the memory isn’t found, waiting patiently is still an option."