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Chapter 227 - Fox Lady
🕑 Added 2025-01-27 07:00:06 +0000 UTC"It's Sawi's latest invention—a fighting puppet that can be controlled by spiritual sense. Since it can be controlled by spiritual sense, a Nascent Soul surely can as well," Anda said.
"Hoo... Sawi is that good already?" Leyvi was impressed.
"We call it a fighting puppet because that's the aim, but it can't actually do that yet. Even a Qi Refinement cultivator can beat it easily. However, it's enough for her to move around and do some miscellaneous things," Anda explained.
"Hahaha! That's already very great. If it were me, maybe I couldn't even make a proper chair." Leyvi didn't diminish Sawi's accomplishments.
"Of course, she is great. I'm not sure whether a similar invention like the fighting puppet exists out there or not since I haven't seen one, but Sawi definitely discovered this on her own."
"Do you remember the demonic heart crystals we got from the demonic plants?" Anda asked.
Leyvi nodded.
"That is where her inspiration came from. If demonic plants can think and control their bodies with the demonic hearts, which are their consciousness, she thought that maybe she could create something to replicate how it works."
"At first, she studied the dead demonic heart crystals and couldn't find any clue. She almost gave up, but guess who saved the day?" Anda popped a quiz.
"You?" Leyvi guessed.
Anda shook her head while smiling.
"Me?" he tried again.
Anda rolled her eyes. "Darling Leyvi, you were in seclusion."
"Hahaha! Then who is it?" Leyvi laughed it off. Even he felt his guess was stupid. He ran his hand through his hair, slightly embarrassed.
"It's our Melon Goddess!" Anda revealed the answer.
"Lilian? How did she help?" She was the last person Leyvi expected to help Sawi.
After all, she only had plants in her mind. Oh, correction—plants and Jojori. She talked about her nephew a lot now, aside from plants.
He heard many stories about how Jojori grew up in the Mountain Dew Sect when he spent his time with Lilian.
"With a real demonic plant," Anda said.
"Eh? When did she tame one?" Leyvi was surprised.
"Did you forget already all the demonic heart crystals you put into her bottomless valley?"
Leyvi was silent for a few seconds, recalling that moment. "Ah... that. Yes, yes, yes. I remember now. She said the demonic heart crystals sprouted again in her garden. They have grown already?"
"They have. And Lilian has tamed all of them."
"All of them? Didn't we let her keep around a hundred of those crystals? She has an army of those now? Are you sure Lilian doesn't have intentions to take over the world or something?" Leyvi sounded worried. The image of an army of demonic plants under Lilian's control painted a dramatic picture in his mind.
"If she wanted to, let's support her," Anda said casually.
Leyvi felt like crying. He did say he wanted to be their pillar and let them lead the life they want, but not like this.
Anda giggled at seeing Leyvi's constipated expression.
"Yes, she has many, but they aren't very strong yet. They grow very slowly. I guess it's true that the hunting grounds around Mercenary City have something special that affected their growth." Anda tapped her chin thoughtfully, as though pondering the mysteries of the area's unique properties.
"So Sawi studied the demonic heart crystal from the demonic plant and replicated it?" Leyvi was impressed. She had replicated his holy rod, and now she replicated something more complicated.
"Bingo! So let's go to Sawi's workstation right now. We are going to put that Nascent Soul into the puppet. If it doesn't work, we kill it," Anda said nonchalantly.
Fantylia, you better pray that this will work, or Anda might kill you, Leyvi said inwardly.
In a certain sea of consciousness, a Nascent Soul suddenly felt chills, as if death visited it for a moment.
A few minutes later, Leyvi and Anda arrived at Sawi's workstation.
"Yo, Sawi, we came to visit!" Leyvi shouted at the door, his voice echoing slightly in the corridor leading to the workstation.
A few seconds later, the door slid open, and a narrow-eyed woman with baggy clothes showed up.
It was Sawi. She was still wearing baggy clothes most of the time and only wore sexy clothing that Nala made for her during her private time with Leyvi.
"Leyvi, Big Madam, what are you doing here? Ah, do you want to improve the holy rod artifact now? Sure, I can take new measurements," Sawi said.
"Yes. Husband, can you take off your pants?" Anda asked politely, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She went along with Sawi to mess with Leyvi.
Leyvi rolled his eyes and ignored them as he walked into the workstation. The place was full of weird-looking inventions and many toys.
Suddenly, Leyvi realized something and chuckled.
No wonder his melon wife voluntarily came to help Sawi. She must be doing it for the sake of getting a bunch of toys to shower Jojori with.
"Sawi, bring out the fighting puppet," Anda instructed while also entering the workstation.
"Oh, it's for that. Right away, Big Madam." Sawi immediately went to another room and brought it out.
Leyvi immediately scrutinized the puppet that was put in the middle of the workstation.
The puppet had a feminine shape of pure mechanical design. At first glance, it was a marvel of intricate craftsmanship, its body made entirely of interlocking metal plates and sleek, polished surfaces. Its structure was humanoid but distinctly artificial, with joints and segments that hinted at both strength and flexibility.
The chest housed a crystal-like core, held in place by a kind of metal. Delicate, thread-like conduits extended outward from the core, weaving across the puppet's body like veins.
It was clear that the puppet was still a prototype by the look of it. Knowing Anda, she probably wanted it to appear like a real woman.
However, there was one aspect of the puppet that baffled him.
"What are those two big protruding things on its head? Horns?" Leyvi asked, pointing at the peculiar additions. His eyebrows furrowed as he tilted his head for a closer look.
"Hehe. Big Madam wants the puppet to appear like a fox lady. So I put those things as replacements first," Sawi explained excitedly.
Leyvi was stunned for a few moments before replying. "A fox lady? Weird. Why not a panda lady? Oh, right. We already have one. So a fox lady is understandable."
A familiar hand quickly reached for Leyvi's ear and pulled it down.
Anda smiled. "Alright, Leyvi. Tell that Nascent Soul to enter this demonic heart crystal replica. Warn her that if she does anything suspicious, I wouldn't hesitate to erase her from existence. I'm actually quite curious to experiment with what kind of attacks would harm a Nascent Soul the most." Her smile became somewhat terrifying at the end, the sharpness in her tone making it clear she wasn't joking.
Anda wasn't lying. She had bought a few things that were effective against a Nascent Soul. The moment things went south, she would use them.
Leyvi gulped. Why does my panda wife sound like a villain?
He didn't feel like killing Fantylia, but if she died, he wouldn't think much about it either since she did try to harm them.
Leyvi quickly entered his sea of consciousness and relayed everything Anda had said to Fantylia.
Fantylia was frightened out of her wits. Even getting hunted by her old enemies couldn't scare her this much. She truly believed that if she did anything suspicious, she would go through hell.
A few minutes later, a Nascent Soul slowly came out of Leyvi's forehead. He also opened his eyes a moment later, studying the small figure before him.
"So this is your true size? Weird. Why are you so small in there, then?" Leyvi asked Fantylia, who now floated in front of him.
"Y-Yes, Lord Leyvi," she replied using the sound transmission.
"But why is your form so wiggly?"
Fantylia was silent. She was afraid to answer.
"I see. Are you afraid of me?" Anda came closer with a terrifying smile—or at least, that was how it looked from Fantylia's perspective. Her steps were deliberate, and her presence seemed to loom larger with every movement.
"Big Madam! Goddess Anda! Heavenly Maiden Anda! Holy Empress of Cloud Continent! Please forgive me! Please give me a chance. I have no intention to harm any of you. I just wanted to survive. Everything was a coincidence," Fantylia stammered, making up a bunch of mighty-sounding titles just to please Anda and desperately ask for forgiveness.
Her spiritual form shrunk a little and wiggled even more chaotically while speaking to Anda. It was evident she was very terrified of Anda.
"Don't worry. I am not that unreasonable," Anda said with a comforting tone.
Are you sure about that? Leyvi thought. He cast a sideways glance at Anda, silently questioning her definition of "reasonable."
Suddenly, he saw Anda glare at him for a split second. What the heck! Did I say that out loud? I better shut my mind. He straightened up, looking away to avoid any further suspicion.
"I know you were not specifically targeting us and were just looking for a suitable body to survive. However, you failed, and your fate now will be mine to decide. That's just how life goes. Do you agree?"
"Yes, Big Madam. My life is now yours. Please just spare me!"
Anda smiled. "Very good. Since we have reached an agreement, from now on you will be serving our household as a mechanical fox girl."
Huh? A what? Fantylia was stunned.
