Chapter 74: The Shining Prince

“Reporting to Your Highness, this is a half-finished silver-armored corpse puppet,” Ghost Face excitedly introduced his masterpiece to Shen Yian.

“Half-finished?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Time was a bit rushed, so its silver scales haven’t fully grown, and some copper scales haven’t shed yet.”

Shen Yian curiously approached, examining and touching it. The figure was robust with bronze skin and iron bones, likely crafted from the corpse of a high-level body-tempering expert.

He had seen corpse puppets before. Their quality limit mainly depended on the strength of the corpse’s original owner and the materials used in crafting. 

This was his first time seeing a silver-armored level corpse puppet. Judging by its aura alone, even half-finished, it could already match an ordinary Heavenly Martial Realm expert. If paired with enhancement spells, it could even contend with a Vast Sky (mid-stage) Heavenly Martial Realm expert.

(Heavenly Martial Realm: Azure Cloud (early stage), Vast Sky (mid-stage), Great Universe (late stage), Half-step Divine Wandering)

Out of curiosity, Shen Yian wanted to try a punch to feel the defensive power of this silver-armored corpse puppet.

The silver-armored corpse puppet took a firm horse stance, its aura gradually turning violent, with a halo of intertwined silver and copper light enveloping its body.

Ghost Face swallowed and said softly, “Your Highness, please be gentle…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll hold back.”

Shen Yian gave Ghost Face a reassuring smile, gathered strength in his fist, stepped forward, and delivered a straight punch to the silver-armored corpse puppet’s chest.

“Boom!” A thunderous sound erupted, the impact of their collision causing Wolf Head and the others’ robes to flutter wildly.

The halo around the silver-armored corpse puppet shattered instantly, its body flying backwards rapidly towards the wall at the end of the pond.

Bai Shi waved his sleeve, raising a swift water wall from the pond to catch the silver-armored corpse puppet.

Seconds later, the silver-armored corpse puppet jumped out of the water onto the shore. Apart from a few tears in its black cloak, there were no obvious injuries.

Shen Yian rubbed his wrist. He had used about 70% of his strength, giving him a rough idea of the silver-armored corpse puppet’s defensive capabilities.

Corpse puppets generally have strong regenerative abilities. Apart from spells specifically designed to counter evil beings and pure yang martial arts, one would have to rely on sheer destructive power.

If you rely solely on your fists, even if you face a finished silver-armored corpse puppet, it will just take a little more effort. If you use a sword, it’s hard to say for now.

Noticing Ghost Face’s pitiful gaze, Shen Yian abandoned the idea of stabbing it with Long Yuan.

With the silver-armored corpse puppet matter settled, the three presented their gifts.

Wolf Head offered a short dagger of excellent quality, with the potential to become a spirit weapon.

Bai Shi presented an extremely rare Rejuvenation Pill. The materials and skills required for its refinement were not something that could be easily solved with money alone.

As it came to Ghost Face’s turn, Shen Yian thought he might offer the silver-armored corpse puppet as a gift.

Instead, Ghost Face pulled out a stack of ghost talismans he had drawn using secret methods.

They might not be very effective against humans, but for exorcising evil and dealing with ghosts, they were more than sufficient. Ghost Face even boasted that ghost kings would kneel before them.

Shen Yian nodded, indicating he believed it.

In the study, Yin Hai and the other five gathered. For the first time, Shen Yian felt his spacious study was somewhat crowded. It would be even more crowded when Shen Jun and others arrived later.

To deal with the evil-nurturing jar, Bai Shi and Ghost Face worked together to set up an isolation formation in the study.

“Nurturing evil spirits? Mere child’s play.”

Everyone gathered around as Ghost Face sat cross-legged in the center of the formation, tossing the evil-nurturing jar up and down with a somewhat eerie smile.

“Can we find the owner of this evil-nurturing jar?” Shen Yian frowned.

“Of course we can, Your Highness, but it will take some time and effort.”

“Your Highness, as you mentioned earlier, they might have methods to conceal their fate. If I forcefully break open a line of fate, I fear it might draw the attention of both the opponent and that person from the Heavenly Gate Pavilion.”

“Lastly, and most importantly, if I want to determine the jar owner’s location, I’ll need to release the evil spirits. Once the seal is broken, they will surely notice that they’ve been exposed and choose to flee. I can only track them for a quarter of an hour.” Ghost Face spoke after some contemplation.

A quarter of an hour, which is fifteen minutes.

Shen Yian looked at everyone. Yin Hai cupped his hands and said, “Your Highness, a quarter of an hour is enough for us.”

Bai Shi and the others also cupped their hands, requesting the mission.

“Don’t be hasty. We need to discuss this matter carefully, and we’ll have to wait until nightfall. Bai Shi, you’ll need to stay and help me reinforce the formation,” Ghost Face said irritably as he set the evil-nurturing jar on the ground.

When the evil spirits are released, he can suppress them immediately, but he can’t ensure that the evil qi won’t leak out. That’s why he needs Bai Shi’s help to reinforce the isolation formation.

Among those present, only he and Bai Shi primarily practiced spells. Fu Sheng was considered a practitioner of both martial arts and the Dao, but his thunder magic was mainly for killing. Staying wouldn’t be of much help.

“Tonight? Very well, I’ll make a trip to the palace tonight.”

Shen Yian nodded, immediately deciding to visit Lu Wenxuan in the palace tonight for tea and chess.

The old man might not interfere or say anything after knowing this, but Shen Yian wanted to express his gratitude.

Not interfering, not speaking – silence would be the greatest support for him.

After all arrangements were made, Ghost Face activated his [Eyes Of The Underworld] to inspect the king’s mansion inside and out, confirming there was only one evil-nurturing jar.

After all preparations were made, the remaining free time was spent by the group resting, chatting idly, or playing chess. Shen Yian returned to his room to continue condensing his life-bound sword.

The ordinary guards and servants of the prince’s mansion only felt that their young master’s courtyard seemed very lively today, but they couldn’t pinpoint exactly how it was lively. Strange.

As time passed into the afternoon, two more people arrived at the prince’s mansion.

Besides the long black wooden case on his back, Shen Jun also carried a cubic wooden box in his hand.

The other person, carrying a longbow on his back and a curved saber at his waist, had a slightly thin frame wrapped in assassin’s garb. A patterned mask covered the tattoos on his face, while brown hair and light-colored eyes immediately revealed the characteristics of someone from beyond the heavens.

“Shen Jun (Blue Fish) pays respects to His Highness!”

In the study, everyone stood at attention. Shen Yian, sitting in his chair, was already entertaining the idea of expanding the study.

Blue Fish (female) stepped forward to report on her mission and present her gift.

A plain, dove egg-sized pink diamond necklace slightly shocked Shen Yian.

He had only seen such a large natural pink diamond online before.

Even after coming to this world, where various gold, silver, and jewels were not scarce, this was his first time seeing such a large pink diamond. It was indeed beautiful.

Finally, it was Shen Jun’s turn to showcase his gift.

The group instinctively formed a circle again.

Shen Jun placed the cubic wooden box on the ground and successfully unlocked it using a peculiar hand technique, tapping it a few times.

The outer shell of the wooden box fell away, revealing the true gift inside, leaving everyone stunned.

“Is that a set of balls with a glass ball inside at the top?” Ghost Face curiously asked, stroking his chin.

“What’s all this jumbled mess underneath?” E Lai squatted nearby, looking at the interlocking gears and tubes in confusion. He wanted to reach out and touch it but was glared back by Shen Jun.

The group chattered, exchanging opinions, causing Shen Jun to turn his head and snort coldly. A bunch of inexperienced fools.

“Your Highness, I boldly name this object ‘The Shining Prince,'” Shen Jun glanced at the small paper note in his hand and continued.

“Your Highness is like this object, always shining brightly, illuminating our constant progress and moving forward.”

“Hm?” Shen Yian, who had vaguely guessed what this thing was, was confused by Shen Jun’s two sentences.

‘The Shining Prince’?

The name is well chosen, but next time, don’t choose it!

The others’ gazes toward Shen Jun became strange, especially Yin Hai, Bai Shi, and E Lai.

Good, good, no wonder you have an inexplicable bond with that Xuanwu, you’re birds of a feather!

(Thousands of miles away, Xuanwu: Achoo!)

“Ahem…” Shen Yian said awkwardly, “Shen Jun, demonstrate how to use it.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Shen Jun knelt on the ground, his finger pressing on a recess, infusing strands of true qi. The gears began to turn, electricity flickered in the tubes, and the top set of balls started to rotate, emitting a faint glow.

The more true qi infused, the faster the balls spun and the stronger the light became. Even in daylight, it was dazzling, thoroughly impressing everyone.

If placed in a room at night, wouldn’t it be as bright as day? Indeed, a good thing!

No wonder it’s called ‘The Shining Prince’.

After a moment, Shen Jun lifted his finger and explained, “Reporting to Your Highness, I’ve personally tested it. At this brightness, it can last for half an hour!”

Shen Yian’s gaze towards Shen Jun was meaningful. With such a groundbreaking invention, it would be a shame if you didn’t become a scientist.

Being stared at so intently by Shen Yian, the old face behind Shen Jun’s mask couldn’t help but blush.