Chapter 1

In the far western land, a seemingly thick stone door suddenly burst open from the outside with a loud "bang."

Amidst the countless flying debris, a young man in a green robe walked in calmly and composedly.

The young man had dark skin and an ordinary face, but his eyes were clear, with a faint blue glow flickering in his pupils.

"This is the holy hall of the Qianzhu Sect that disappeared thousands of years ago. It doesn't look like much. However, the restrictions outside were indeed powerful. It took me most of the day to break through them," the young man paused, his gaze sweeping the room, and he muttered to himself with a slight frown.

Behind the stone door was a spacious chamber over a hundred feet wide. Apart from a gray, ancient stone coffin in the center and a dozen broken puppets scattered around, there was nothing else.

The floor of the chamber was covered with a thick layer of dust, as if no one had entered for many years.

The young man pondered for a moment at the stone door, then his gaze fell on the stone coffin in the center.

As for the puppets nearby, with his expertise in puppetry, he could see at a glance that they were all broken and unusable, so he paid them no further attention.

"It is said that this was the final retreat of the Great Yan Divine Lord. Since there is a coffin here, it seems the rumors are not baseless," the young man murmured again.

Then, his shoulders slightly trembled, and his figure blurred, disappearing from the spot.

In the next moment, a faint shadow appeared near the stone coffin, and the young man's figure reappeared.

He flicked his sleeve!

With a "pu" sound, a gust of green wind swept out, instantly clearing all the dust from the stone coffin, revealing the densely inscribed spiritual patterns on the lid.

The young man carefully examined these patterns for a while, then silently calculated for a moment before stepping back and raising his hands, quickly forming seals with his fingers.

In an instant, colorful runes danced out from the young man's fingers and quickly merged into the stone coffin, transforming into points of spiritual flame.

A buzzing sound rang out!

The surface of the stone coffin glowed brightly, and layers of crystalline nets appeared, forcefully pushing the spiritual flames back out of the coffin.

Seeing this, the young man's eyebrows twitched. Suddenly, he raised his arm and slapped the air in front of him, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth as he said:

"A mere dead object, trying to stop me from doing my business."

As he spoke, a spatial fluctuation occurred, and a large green hand appeared above the stone coffin, pressing down forcefully.

With a loud "bang,"

The crystalline nets formed by the spiritual patterns on the stone coffin were shattered by the giant hand, and even the stone coffin itself cracked and shattered under the impact.

Everything inside the stone coffin was revealed.

The young man focused his gaze and was taken aback.

Apart from a light green, human-shaped puppet several feet long, there was nothing else in the stone coffin.

"This is..."

The young man narrowed his eyes and reached out with a hand.

With a "swoosh,"

The green puppet trembled and rose from the ground, landing steadily in the young man's hand.

The young man held the puppet in one hand and quickly examined it with the other.

After a while, he shook his hand and threw the green puppet away, a look of disappointment on his face as he muttered:

"It's just a facade, completely useless. This place is not where the Great Yan Divine Lord passed away. This trip was in vain, and I will return empty-handed."

After saying this, the young man turned to leave the chamber, but as his gaze inadvertently swept over a broken puppet in a corner, he changed his mind and walked over.

The Great Yan Divine Lord had been a formidable figure in the far western land for over a hundred years, and puppetry was one of his most skilled techniques.

Although the puppets here were no longer functional, they were clearly high-level entities of considerable rank. If he could take them back and study them, he might make further progress in puppetry.

The young man's figure flickered, and with a series of sleeve movements, he collected seven or eight puppets into his storage bracelet.

But as he moved to another giant ape-shaped puppet, a sudden change occurred!

The puppet, which had been motionless, suddenly opened its mouth and spewed out a beam of seven-colored crystalline light, shooting straight at his face.

The young man was startled but not overly panicked. He abruptly tilted his head back and waved his hand in front of him, causing a small black shield to appear in front of his face.

With a "pu" sound,

The seven-colored crystalline light passed through the black shield as if it were intangible and disappeared into the young man's forehead.

The young man staggered backward several steps before regaining his balance, but his face showed a mix of shock and anger.

"Hehe, boy. You have been hit by my Seven Emotions Decree. If you don't submit to me now, you will soon experience a fate worse than death!"

At this moment, a thin voice whispered in the young man's ear.

"Seven Emotions Decree!"

The young man's heart sank upon hearing this, but his nature would not allow him to give up easily.

Without hesitation, he shook his sleeve, and seventy-two green flying swords surged out, forming a green misty sword array in the air to protect him.

The young man then sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.

"Hmph, you really need to see a coffin to shed a tear. Fine, I will cast a spell to show you the true power of the Seven Emotions Decree!"

The young man's face twitched slightly but remained seated without moving.

At the same time, a series of incomprehensible incantations began to echo in the air above the chamber.

The young man's body trembled upon hearing this, but he did not open his eyes and remained still.

After another cold snort, the incantations became several times more rapid. The young man's eyelids flickered, and a strange expression appeared on his face.

"Turns out the Seven Emotions Decree is used on the yuan ying. If that's the case, you've chosen the wrong target," the young man suddenly burst into laughter, stood up, and pointed a finger at the air in front of him.

A flash of green light!

A sharp green beam sliced the giant ape puppet in half, revealing a golden figure about a foot tall inside.

This figure had crystal-clear eyes and was covered in numerous spiritual patterns, clearly a rare human-shaped puppet.

Although the golden figure was a puppet, it showed an expression of disbelief. As it tried to say something, the young man in the sword array twisted his body, appearing ghost-like in front of it. With a raised hand, an invisible force surged out, immobilizing the golden figure on the spot.

"Senior, you call yourself a divine lord. Could you be the Great Yan Divine Lord who was renowned in the far western land ten thousand years ago?" the young man asked, staring at the golden figure.

"So what if I am, and what if I am not!" The golden figure remained silent for a moment before its voice changed, becoming somewhat aged.

"Ha ha, if you are not, then since you attacked me, we must settle this. If you are, then I came to the far western land specifically to seek you out, and I will treat you with respect," the young man replied with a half-smile.

"Seek me out? Who are you?" the golden figure was surprised.

"Indeed, you are the Great Yan Senior. It's incredible that you have survived for so long! Let me introduce myself again. I am Han Li, and I learned the Great Yan Decree by chance. I came here from the Southern Heavens specifically," Han Li exhaled, a sincere smile on his face, and released the golden figure from his restraint.

"Han Li? You cultivated my Great Yan Decree?" the golden figure was also stunned.