Song Changsheng’s eyes narrowed. He knew this was an extremely rare Living Puppet!

The method for creating a Living Puppet was exceptionally cruel. It required placing a living person or creature into a Furnace Cauldron with various materials to be refined. Throughout the process, the subject could not die and had to remain fully conscious.

Upon successful refinement, its Divine Soul would be imprisoned within the body, forever unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Due to the extreme cruelty of this creation method, it was universally scorned by Righteous Cultivators.

However, since Living Puppets could retain a portion of their memories and combat instincts from life, their combat prowess was far superior to that of ordinary puppets. Moreover, they could attack autonomously without needing to be controlled.

Thus, those self-proclaimed "righteous" Cultivators, while publicly decrying the method for creating Living Puppets, would spend fortunes on them at auctions. This very one had cost Wuy Luochuan one hundred twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

Song Changsheng inwardly grew wary. ’A Tier Two Top Grade Living Puppet is already on par with a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection Cultivator. It’s even more dangerous than Cheng Yufei.’

Wuy Luochuan activated the puppet and pointed at Song Changsheng with a savage grin. "Kill him!"

The puppet, its eyes tightly shut, suddenly snapped them open. Unlike the Werewolf, its eyes were far more expressive. If not for the metallic sheen of his skin, he would have been indistinguishable from a normal person.

After hearing Wuy Luochuan’s command, it didn’t move. Instead, it stood frozen in place.

Wuy Luochuan grew annoyed and urged it on, "What are you waiting for? Kill them!"

After being urged several times, the puppet finally moved, slowly raising its hands.

Wuy Luochuan looked at Song Changsheng, a smug expression on his face, as if to say, "You’re dead."

But he didn’t get to be smug for long. A sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest, and his smile froze on his face. He stared down at the hands that had plunged into his chest and were gripping his heart, his eyes filled with disbelief.

In a voice mixing accusation with confusion, he stammered, "How... could this be..."

But the puppet, mere inches away, revealed a bizarre smile, sending a chill through Wuy Luochuan as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss. Even a Living Puppet shouldn’t be able to make such a human-like expression.

SQUELCH.

As Wuy Luochuan watched in despair, the puppet crushed his heart. A prodigiously talented Tier Two Puppet Master had just died at the hands of the very puppet he had purchased.

As Wuy Luochuan collapsed with a look of utter disbelief, Song Changsheng gasped. ’A puppet killing its master?’

Wuy Luochuan hadn’t had time to properly refine the puppet, but he still had the Jade Token from its previous owner for simple control. While it didn’t allow for perfect manipulation, it should have been more than enough to prevent the puppet from turning on its master.

To the very end, Wuy Luochuan was still clutching the Jade Token, but it hadn’t worked at all.

By then, Xu Yunhe had already dealt with the other two puppets. He walked over to Song Changsheng’s side, his face grim, and stared warily at the puppet with blood-soaked hands.

"Legend has it that puppets can undergo certain Evil Dao rituals to gain Spiritual Wisdom and break free from their master’s control."

"One such ritual is called ’Possession,’ where one’s own Divine Soul can replace that of the Living Puppet. Just who are you?" Song Changsheng asked coldly, the Godslaying Flying Knife concealed in his palm.

Upon hearing this, the puppet glanced at Song Changsheng in surprise. It didn’t answer, but instead grabbed Wuy Luochuan’s corpse, and to everyone’s astonishment, leaped onto a rooftop and sped away.

"Should we give chase?" Xu Yunhe asked softly.

"With our combined strength, what could we possibly do even if we did catch up?" Song Changsheng shook his head with a wry smile. Everything that had happened today was simply too chaotic.

’First, a mysterious Cultivator abducts an auction house’s Auctioneer in broad daylight. Then, the Blood Demon appears, trying to snatch the heir of the Blood Bat King. And now, a puppet has killed its master...’

’Any one of these incidents would be enough to cause a massive uproar on its own, but now they’re all happening at once. No matter how I look at it, there’s something very unusual going on.’

Before Song Changsheng could sort through his thoughts, his expression suddenly changed. He grabbed Xu Yunhe and beat a hasty retreat.

The next moment, two streaks of light shot in from the distance. The newcomers surveyed the wreckage and the people still brawling, their faces filled with anger. They roared, "Private duels are forbidden within the city! Violators will be executed!"

Seeing that people from the City Lord’s Mansion had intervened, some fighters immediately and obediently stopped. But others, their eyes red with battle lust, paid no heed to the warning and continued to fight with wild cries.

The two elders exchanged a look and acted decisively. They heavily wounded the two who had ignored their warning, then sealed their acupoints to restrain them.

"Two at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection."

"It’s Elders Qianri and Qianyue! I heard they’re from the same generation as the three City Lords."

Someone had recognized the newcomers, and their words sent a chill through the crowd. Everyone immediately became submissive, not daring to act out of line.

Elders Qianri and Qianyue wasted no time, directly restraining everyone who had been fighting. Regardless of the reason, anyone who violated the city’s rules would be punished.

Several miles away, the distant Song Changsheng finally stopped with Xu Yunhe. He glanced back with some lingering fear and chuckled, "Good thing we ran fast. Otherwise, we’d be in the same boat as them right now."

Xu Yunhe gave a noncommittal response. Looking at the surrounding chaos, he asked in confusion, "What in the world happened? How did it get this chaotic?"

Song Changsheng sighed and recounted everything he had seen and heard. Even though he had witnessed the entire series of events himself, it still felt like a dream.

"Even if these were all just sudden accidents, they couldn’t possibly affect the entirety of Luoxia City. There must be villains fanning the flames!" Xu Yunhe had keenly sensed that something was amiss. The scope of the unrest was simply too wide—so wide it defied logic.

It was then that Song Changsheng realized it too. ’Someone is definitely pulling strings from the shadows!’

"The entire city has descended into chaos. The City Lord’s Mansion alone won’t be able to get the situation under control," Xu Yunhe said with great concern. He had come to Luoxia City to seek refuge from trouble, but it looked like this place wasn’t much better.

Just then, the exquisitely beautiful notes of a zither abruptly rang out.

It was as if the music came from the Nine Heavens, a sound not of the mortal world. Every person in every corner of Luoxia City could hear it clearly.

The music seemed to possess a magical quality; anyone who heard it felt a sense of calm and detachment wash over them, suppressing all their worldly desires.

Xu Yunhe was also affected by the music, becoming involuntarily immersed in it.

Song Changsheng’s mind went blank for a moment. He suddenly shuddered, instantly snapping back to his senses. The melodious zither music still lingered in the air, but it could no longer affect him.

He nudged Xu Yunhe beside him, bringing him out of his trance.

They were then shocked to discover that under the influence of the music, all the chaos had ceased. The only sound left in the entire city was the lingering, graceful melody of the zither.

"To affect an entire city with just the sound of a zither... it’s unheard of," Xu Yunhe exclaimed. Anyone could understand what a heaven-defying feat this was.

It meant that if the player wished, they could reap the lives of everyone in the city with ease.

"It’s the Great City Lord. The Great City Lord has made his move," Song Changsheng said. He had heard this zither music before and instantly realized who was behind it.

Sure enough, a divinely handsome middle-aged man had appeared in the sky above the city’s center. He wore a White Jade Crown and an embroidered robe, standing weightlessly in the air. A Jade Zither hovered before him, his robes fluttering like an Exiled Immortal from the heavens above.

The moment he saw him, a single phrase surfaced in Song Changsheng’s mind: "Peerless elegance."

He played his melody in serene concentration, unmoved by the world, as if he had merged with heaven and earth, becoming one with them.

He was like a peerless prodigy stepping out of a legend. A single glance, even from afar, was enough to be permanently seared into one’s mind, impossible to ever erase.

"Truly a god-like figure," Xu Yunhe murmured softly.

Song Changsheng’s own heart was in turmoil, unable to find peace for a long time.

A short while later, the song ended. The man put away the Jade Zither before him and announced calmly, "I am Muu Guibai of Luoxia City!"

...