There was no need for Chen Kuang to explain any further, how could Shen Xingzhu possibly not know what "puppet techniques" were?
In Cangyuan, such methods were as common as weeds. The most iconic, of course, was the so-called "Descending of the Deity" technique used by Mu Zhao.
Back then, Mu Zhao relied on the incense power of countless followers who revered him as the Martial Sage, portraying himself as a divine figure and tricking Mo Xu into willingly becoming his spirit medium, thus falling under his control, he nearly died as a result.
And back in the Heavenly Prison, the Divine Mountain Borrowing Jade Shen Xingzhu gave to Chen Kuang had been a similar kind of preliminary setup.
Infuse one's cultivation, manipulate Spiritual Consciousness, and ultimately, seize the host body.
If, at that time, Shen Xingzhu had truly resolved herself and tried to lead Chen Kuang into making a fatal error so she could righteously kill him, he never would've escaped that prison.
What Chen Kuang meant now was also obvious.
The greatest threat was no longer the rocket launchers.
It was the few Heavenly Demons who, due to Shen Xingzhu's reckless exposure, had already discovered her identity as a trespasser into the Realm of Desire.
Shen Xingzhu hadn't expected this "Realm of Desire" to be such a mundane, normal-looking world, and that had caused her to make a critical error. From then on, she could no longer conceal herself.
Chen Kuang's plan was simple: as long as Shen Xingzhu pretended to be under his control, they could muddle through and deceive those "Heavenly Demons," at least temporarily preserving her life.
Shen Xingzhu did not refuse.
But she said flatly:
"And why, exactly, would they believe that I could be controlled by you?"
This wasn't spoken with contempt, just plain reasoning: Chen Kuang's cultivation level was publicly known to be at the Moon-Embracing Realm.
No matter how talented he was, it was simply unthinkable for him to leap two major realms and exert control over a Profound Realm cultivator.
At least, that was what most people believed.
Chen Kuang merely smiled and said:
"I never do things I'm not confident in. You, of all people, should know that.
Besides... do you have a better option?"
"You're running out of time.
In this strange world, you know almost nothing."
"Even if you managed to escape this time by risking heavy injury, what about the next time? Can you keep betting your life?"
Chen Kuang didn't reveal the full truth of his current condition.
After all, who could've imagined that he had already surpassed the Moon-Embracing Realm?
Even Chen Kuang himself had believed his cultivation was still stuck at that level.
No matter how much he trained, no matter how much the "Fetal Breathing Technique" passive steadily increased his strength, as long as he hadn't formed a Dao Foundation, then by Cangyuan's conventions, he was still a Moon-Embracing Realm cultivator.
"Those who establish a Dao Foundation are known as Masters."
This was universally accepted in Cangyuan.
Only by forming a Dao Foundation could one present an answer sheet, and thereby qualify to respond to the Heavenly Dao, the question that only the self could answer.
Chen Kuang had thought so too.
After all, cultivation was a step-by-step process, wasn't it always this way?
But the problem was...
He couldn't figure out what his "Dao" was.
He had never even considered the question.
For Cangyuan's cultivators, from the moment they began training, they were constantly told:
You must eventually find your "Dao."
Only then can you become a Master, and move toward the Upper Three Grades.
So many of them began pondering their future "Dao" from the very start.
By the time they stood at the threshold of becoming Masters, they had long been prepared and confident, they handed in their well-prepared answers.
But Chen Kuang was different.
If you counted precisely, he'd only been in this world for less than half a year.
Even though he had gone through cycles of Time-Space and Illusion Realms, deep down, he was still a man from Earth.
Back when Huo Hengxuan tried teaching him cultivation, it took a miracle to get him started, otherwise, he wouldn't have made progress in 800 years.
So, Chen Kuang couldn't find his "Dao."
Or more accurately, he could have picked any "Dao" he wanted, and followed the rules of this world to "prove" it.
That would've been easy for him.
But he never did it.
Because in this world, one's "Dao" would shackle the one who proved it, if your Dao-heart collapsed, your cultivation would fall back to its starting point.
To Chen Kuang, that was entirely backwards.
"Dao" should be discovered,
a naturally flowing, mysterious law woven into the world, grasped in a moment of clarity.
But the cultivators of Cangyuan were like people applying for jobs.
They submitted resumes to the Heavenly Dao to prove they were qualified, and if approved, they got a certificate.
In Chen Kuang's eyes, the way this world cultivated was just plain ridiculous.
"It shouldn't be this way."
"It absolutely should not be this way."
This nagging sense of wrongness had stopped him from forming a Dao Foundation, even though his power had long exceeded the limits of the Moon-Embracing Realm.
During his time in Pure Land, however, seated daily beneath the Bodhi Tree, in meditation, he finally saw through it, these so-called conventions were meaningless.
"Who says I can't move forward without a Dao Foundation?"
"If I already possess a 'Dao,' why can't I call myself a Master?"
"If I can expand my 'Dao' into a Dao Domain, why can't I call myself Profound Realm?"
"If my Three-Foot Killing Sword contains a complete 'Time' Great Dao, why can't I be at the Celestial Vastness Realm?"
Once he cast off those layers of useless shackles, Chen Kuang saw everything with clarity.
His cultivation had already undergone a complete, earth-shaking transformation.
It was only then that he understood:
"Why has Cangyuan not produced a single Celestial Vastness Realm cultivator since ancient times?"
Because everyone took the wrong path.
Someone, at some point, had set the rules.
And those rules led all down a false road. Now the world was so deeply entrenched, no one could turn back.
Those already on that road, unless they willingly shattered their Dao hearts, would never have a chance to step into the Celestial Vastness Realm.
But the cruelest part was, even if someone did realize the mistake, how could they ever be as lucky as Chen Kuang, to encounter a true Dao, and take it as their own?
Even Chen Kuang couldn't fully control the "Time" Great Dao.
(Partly because the cost of wielding it was far too high for his current power.)
But that was all beside the point.
The key takeaway was this:
When Chen Kuang saw Shen Xingzhu again, he already knew that his cultivation had surpassed this cold and arrogant woman.
And seeing her in such a miserable, ragged state?
He absolutely planned to enjoy the moment.
Of course, he wasn't going to let her die.
Because the body Shen Xingzhu was using...
Was Shen Meinan's.
Even though Chen Kuang didn't know the full story, just the fact that they could swap consciousness meant one thing:
He couldn't let Shen Xingzhu die.
If she died, her soul might return to her real body.
And then, wouldn't he be facing a woman with two souls in one body, with Shen Xingzhu's body?!
Chen Kuang really didn't know whether that would be erotic or horrifying.
From across the way...
After hearing Chen Kuang's plan, Shen Xingzhu's expression flickered uncertainly, but after silently staring at him for a long while, she ultimately gave in.
"If you dare lie to me..."
Chen Kuang spread his hands, shrugged, and said:
"What then? You going to self-detonate? Even if you did, your explosive power wouldn't beat a couple of rocket launchers out there. At most you'd just become a puddle of mush."
"My dear Miss Dao Beacon, I don't think you want to die meaninglessly here before you've even found out where the Heavenly Demons make their nest, do you?"
Shen Xingzhu paused, then asked quietly:
"What exactly is a rocket launcher?"
Chen Kuang kept a straight face:
"I don't think this is the time you want to find out."
Outside, the commotion grew louder. The sirens of police cars and shouted commands intertwined, and the red-and-blue flashing lights made the abandoned construction site glow eerily, like a ghost town.
Shen Xingzhu lowered her gaze to the sword in her hand, her sect's ceremonial weapon, and walked forward slowly. She lifted it with both hands and offered it to Chen Kuang.
But Chen Kuang didn't take it. Instead, he smiled gently and said softly:
"Good girl. That's not how a puppet presents herself."
Shen Xingzhu's grip tightened around the sword. Her lowered eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings. Her appearance, once again, seemed cold and fragile, like a porcelain sculpture.
It was strange.
She was using Shen Meinan's body, yet the same face that had been so bright and charming in Meinan's hands, now seemed ethereal and icy in hers.
These two sisters... their souls were truly nothing alike.
Shen Xingzhu looked up and met Chen Kuang's eyes. In that instant, he felt a bone-deep killing intent that made his spine stiffen.
Mm... a bit tingly.
But Chen Kuang was no longer the helpless mortal trapped in the Heavenly Prison.
Now, he was the blade, and she was the fish on the chopping block.
So he just kept smiling that half-smile at her.
Shen Xingzhu's face was deathly pale. She took a deep breath, lowered her gaze again, and slowly knelt on one knee, lifting her sword above her head.
Just before coming to this world, she had once said she'd never fall into the same humiliating position Chen Kuang had been in, back in the prison.
But now, all her strength and cultivation had vanished...
And she realized: she'd only been able to say that because she'd assumed her power would never allow it.
If their places had been reversed, she wouldn't have been able to preserve her pride either.
Shen Xingzhu spoke blandly:
"May Master accept this slave's sword."
There was undeniably a trace of seductive ambiguity in that phrase.
But Chen Kuang felt none of it.
He visibly shuddered, a wave of goosebumps rising on his arms. Even though that murderous aura had vanished, he felt colder than before.
What the hell?
A proud woman like Shen Xingzhu would never say such words sincerely.
Chen Kuang had assumed that getting her to lower her head and concede would already be the limit.
Who'd have thought she'd go this far?
She hadn't suddenly become docile. If someone leaked this scene, it would be as catastrophic to her Dao-heart as when it had been shattered in the past.
So there was only one possible reason,
She was planning to stab him in the back the first chance she got. That's the only way she could act this way without hesitation.
As someone who had fought and bested her multiple times, perhaps the only person who could see through her, Chen Kuang was sure that was exactly what she had in mind.
This woman... is black-hearted as hell.
He'd known it since he first caught her lying.
Still...
If she wanted to backstab or silence him, that would be a problem for another time.
Right now, their goals were aligned.
Compared to the still-murky motives of Xiuzhu, Chen Kuang would rather trust Shen Xingzhu.
He didn't push his luck. He took the sword, pulled out his phone.
Before entering, he'd already made contact with the three "Heavenly Demons" outside, and added their phone numbers.
If he hadn't claimed he could control Shen Xingzhu, they'd already have bombarded the place.
He called them now and said it was time to regroup and talk.
"Let's meet at the nearby hospital. Perfect place to patch up your puppet."
The one who spoke was the demon who had previously possessed Chan Master Not-Hearing, now, on Earth, he went by the name George, a blonde, blue-eyed foreigner.
He was dressed in a sharp suit, three chunky rings on his hand, looking like a nouveau riche, wearing a strange grin.
Another was an East Asian man with black hair and eyes named Ishigami Tomo, though he wasn't from Huaxia but from the island country Yingzhou.
As for Xiuzhu, he was now a large, muscular bald man with a face full of tattoos, a complete contrast from his frail monk appearance in Cangyuan.
All three had rushed over after seeing Shen Xingzhu on the news, and fortunately, Chen Kuang had moved fast enough to intercept them.
George had considerable influence in the area. He could even give orders to the police. If Chen Kuang hadn't intervened, the site would've been turned to rubble.
They'd dealt with other Cangyuan cultivators who tried to enter the Realm of Desire. Those people, ignorant of Earth's rules, no matter how powerful, were useless here, and could be squashed like bugs. Shen Xingzhu was just another one of them.
Even Chen Kuang found the situation surreal.
The absurdity of it all, the reality that Earth might already be crawling with disguised "Heavenly Demons", made him laughless and wary.
Is Earth truly the Realm of Desire?
Are these "Heavenly Demons" born that way?
If they die... what happens to them?
What about the ordinary humans, completely unaware of any of this?
These questions churned in his mind.
But now that he was a "Heavenly Demon," he couldn't ask them out loud. He could only keep observing.
And the more he thought, the more he realized just how different he was.
He used to think Xiuzhu had sensed "Demon King" aura on him due to his contact with the Demon King of the Son of Heaven, and had mistaken him for one of them.
But it turned out, he actually was a Heavenly Demon.
Which made it even weirder. If he was really a demon, why had he never known?
Unlike George or Ishigami, who clearly knew their mission and moved in tight coordination, Chen Kuang's arrival in Cangyuan had been a freak accident.
He seemed... like a complete anomaly.
But now Chen Kuang was starting to think..
That he wasn't an accident at all.
That he had been deliberately planted.
...
Hospital. Private room.
The hallway was quiet. Cold rain drummed outside, thunder crackled through thick black clouds.
Chen Kuang pushed open the hospital door, carrying some clothes he'd bought at a roadside store. Damp with raindrops, they chilled the air.
Inside, Shen Xingzhu sat at the edge of the hospital bed.
Her injuries had stopped bleeding. Her long black hair spilled behind her, her black skirt swaying slightly.
She looked out the window quietly, like a lonely, fragile girl.
Only... she wasn't fragile. And she wasn't a simple girl.
Though her physical toughness and regeneration had greatly diminished, as long as her injuries weren't fatal, she'd recover in a few hours, no help needed.
The two "Heavenly Demons" had brought her here not to treat her, but to observe her.
And likely, to test Chen Kuang as well.
It was only now that Chen Kuang realized why they had shown such complete trust in him and Xiuzhu, and hadn't hesitated to bring them into the Realm of Desire.
If the two of them were spies, they'd have exposed themselves instantly in such a foreign environment.
But Chen Kuang... he was truly from Earth.
So, of course, no flaws to be found.
On the contrary, George and Ishigami, who had left Earth long ago, frequently showed awkward unfamiliarity with the place.
Chen Kuang took the opportunity to feign suspicion and look at them coldly.
He flipped the dynamic, and soon the two were feeling inexplicably nervous around him.
They stopped questioning him at all, and simply informed him:
"In seven days, the Heavenly Demon army will regroup. We will return to Cangyuan... and take the Pure Land."