Chapter 294: The Path of Cultivation Is Open... Cut Off

In the living room of 66 Wutong Road, four Alines sat in a neat row on the coffee table, with Aline Pro Max 66.6cm occupying the spot closest to the edge, staring wide-eyed at Yu Sheng and Xuan Che, who sat on the sofa opposite.

Beside them, Hu Li was leisurely combing her tail, wearing an expression that said she was just here for the show.

"Let me confirm something first," Xuan Che finally spoke after a long silence, pointing at the little dolls on the coffee table. "Did you just say that this young lady... ladies... are dolls from 'Alice's Cottage'?"

"That's right," Yu Sheng nodded. "There's a very complicated reason she ended up like this... The bodies you see now are all 'temporary containers' I made for her. Her original body is lost somewhere."

"Oh, oh," Xuan Che suddenly looked enlightened, nodding repeatedly. "I thought at first she'd shattered completely, and there was a problem when reshaping the shell, forcing her to split into four pieces..."

Yu Sheng and Aline were both stunned for a moment. Even the fox next to them, who had been grooming her fur, perked up her ears. Three people, six eyes, all snapped onto the handsome young man on the sofa. The next second, Pro Aline shot into the air, cursing up a storm: "You're the one who split into four pieces!"

Yu Sheng immediately pressed the little doll back down, turning to explain to Xuan Che: "Don't mind her, don't mind her. She's a bit hot-tempered... Let go! Let go! Don't bite!"

"My apologies, my apologies," Xuan Che quickly recovered and clasped his hands in apology. "I've been curious for a long time about why these young ladies are so... petite. After all, I've seen Alice dolls in my early years, and they weren't like this. After thinking it over, I came up with that one reason... I was being presumptuous. Forgive me."

"Don't be so polite with her. She'll get above herself," Yu Sheng said helplessly, while holding down the still-thrashing Pro Aline, speaking to the overly courteous young talent beside him. "Let's get to the main topic first—for some reason, one of Aline's bodies now needs 'spiritual power' to move, but under normal circumstances, her 'recharging' speed is a huge problem. I was thinking, maybe you folks at Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain might have a solution."

Xuan Che listened intently, but couldn't help frowning slightly. "But living dolls are a race blessed by the ancient holy spirits. The techniques they use are vastly different from the 'cultivation' path of the Taixu Spiritual Pivot. Using them together recklessly might cause problems, right? In the end... how did this Miss Aline's body come to need 'spiritual power'?"

"That has to do with this nine-tailed fox before you," Yu Sheng said a bit awkwardly, pointing at the fox girl who was now combing her second tail. "And a little bit of my personal research spirit got mixed in..."

He then briefly explained Pro's situation to Xuan Che, and also mentioned the matter of 'Spirit Fox Mysterious Iron.'

Throughout the entire explanation, Xuan Che basically wore an expression that said, 'What are you saying? What are you saying now? What did you just say?!' By the end, the look on his face truly lived up to his name—pure clarity.

This senior disciple of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, considered a young talent throughout the entire Taixu Spiritual Pivot, had cultivated for a hundred years and never heard of anyone being so reckless!

A metal from another world with unknown principles and untested parameters, ancient alchemy techniques from who knows where, rocks and soil from a foreign realm, mixed with the blood of this 'exalted one' before him who didn't even qualify as a living creature—knead it together into a human shape, dare to forge a golden body, and transfer a soul into it!?

And yet these great wis... great sages before him actually succeeded? And judging by the row of dolls on the coffee table, they'd succeeded at least four times using various reckless methods!

Xuan Che was momentarily dazed. If this was how you could forge a physical body, then what about the scoldings he'd endured over the past century for misremembering pill recipes, the kneelings he'd been punished with for mistiming the clock, the beatings he'd received for messing up the alchemical fire... what were they all about?!

But despite his inner turmoil, he quickly snapped out of it. After Yu Sheng finished speaking, he thought carefully before cautiously replying: "I can first take a look at this 'Spirit Fox Mysterious Iron' you mentioned. That way, I can determine whether it conflicts with the cultivation methods of the Taixu Spiritual Pivot."

"Easy enough," Yu Sheng immediately patted a fox tail near his leg. "Pull out a small piece and show him."

"Coming right up!" Hu Li nodded happily, dug around in her tail, and pulled out a small lump of iron that had been left over from casting Aline's skeleton earlier, placing it on the coffee table. "This is it."

Xuan Che clearly paused for a moment when he saw Hu Li pulling something out of her tail, but just for an instant. His gaze was immediately drawn to the unremarkable lump of iron on the coffee table.

"This object..." He widened his eyes, hesitated briefly, then reached out to pick up the 'mysterious iron.' He examined it closely for a long time, then extended a finger to gently tap its surface.

Instantly, a faint but pleasant hum emanated from the iron lump, and translucent ripples shimmered in the air, layered upon layered, lasting a long time.

Yu Sheng didn't understand it, but he thought it looked pretty cool.

"Remarkable, remarkable! Not forged, not enchanted, just a rough piece, yet it's already so translucent!? I've truly never seen anything like this. It looks like it should be just an ordinary object, but what kind of structure lies in its finer details?"

Xuan Che suddenly looked up, eyes shining as he stared at Hu Li and Yu Sheng.

"The main component is iron. As for why it has some strange properties, the people over at the Special Affairs Bureau couldn't figure it out either," Yu Sheng shook his head. "Hu Li doesn't know herself."

He paused, and seeing the expression on Xuan Che's face, added: "If you want it, you can have this scrap—if Hu Li doesn't mind. But if you want a bigger piece, you'll have to get in line. The Special Affairs Bureau already placed an order."

Xuan Che's face immediately showed a bit of embarrassment, and he quickly put the iron lump back on the table. "You jest. That would make me seem ill-mannered... Let's first check on Miss Aline's situation."

As he spoke, he pulled a small jade token from somewhere on his person and handed it to the little doll sitting at the edge of the coffee table, explaining: "Based on my earlier test, this 'mysterious iron' doesn't conflict with the cultivation methods of the Taixu Spiritual Pivot; in fact, it adapts quite well. But whether this young lady doll can use our sect's techniques... that depends on the individual. This jade token is a basic spiritual artifact. It has some effect in drawing in spiritual energy and nourishing the mind and spirit. Hold it in your hand first."

The little doll took the jade token with some confusion. In an ordinary person's hand, it would only fill the palm, but she had to grasp it with her whole hand. "Ah, what next?"

"Then you should feel a slight warmth spreading from your palm toward your heart..."

Aline: "I don't have a heart."

Xuan Che: "...Then toward your torso. This warmth will follow your mind. Try to guide it..."

Aline blinked: "I don't feel any warmth either."

Xuan Che was instantly stunned.

Even more dumbfounded than when he heard how Yu Sheng had used a bunch of bizarre materials and various 'techniques' to forge a shell.

"The sensation might be very subtle," he said after several seconds of stupefaction, a strange look in his eyes as he continued. "Feel more carefully. It must be there."

"Nope," Aline said matter-of-factly. "My six senses are extremely sharp! I just don't feel it!"

"Not even a tiny bit?!"

"No. Hey, why are you so wishy-washy?"

Yu Sheng noticed the expression on Xuan Che's face.

"Does this mean Aline has poor aptitude in this area?" he asked as tactfully as possible. "She can't use your cultivation techniques?"

Xuan Che hesitated, almost with a hint of alarm: "No, it's not that she's poor."

"Then she has absolutely no talent?"

"No, no, it's not about talent anymore," Xuan Che suddenly took a soft breath, took the jade token back from Aline, and organized his words before speaking again. "Even people with no talent can feel it. Talent only affects the intensity of the sensation and the ease of guiding it. At the very worst... it's not like this."

Yu Sheng opened his mouth, hesitating: "Could it be because she's a doll, with a special constitution?"

"In theory... it shouldn't," Xuan Che shook his head. "Dolls are also living beings. Living beings have the blessing of spiritual nature. This item isn't only effective on flesh and blood."

Yu Sheng frowned.

"Let me try."

He reached out and took the jade token from Xuan Che, and followed the instructions, carefully feeling for it.

After a moment, he tossed the token to Hu Li beside him: "You try too."

A few minutes later, Xuan Che was faced with six blank stares.

Aline was the first to break the silence: "Is your token broken?"

"It shouldn't be," this time even Xuan Che himself began to doubt. He took the jade token, held it in his hand for a long while, then lifted it up to examine it carefully, tapping it a few times. "It's not broken."

"It is broken. None of us felt anything," Hu Li said firmly. "I know something about magic arts. I can tell if yours works just by touching it..."

Yu Sheng glanced at Hu Li. He didn't know where this nine-tailed fox, who came from another world with a cultivation system different from the local one, got so much confidence.

But he was also leaning toward the idea that Xuan Che's token was broken.

Seeing the situation, Xuan Che had no choice. He reluctantly put away the jade token and pulled a talisman paper from his bosom. "Then use this. When lit, the smoke won't disperse. Inhaling it can activate the blood, use blood to control qi, and thereby communicate with the world's spiritual..."

Aline interrupted before he could finish: "I don't have blood."

"Then use this Spirit-Embodiment Pill. You can directly..."

Aline: "I don't have a digestive tract either."

"Here's also a gold hairpin. Although it's a shortcut and a lazy method, it can directly stimulate the brain, open..."

"I don't have a brain either."

"...You don't have any internal organs at all?"

"None. Alice dolls never had them. Don't you know that?"

"I... I'm ashamed."

(Chapter End)