Puppet Manipulation Art!
The information for this skill, once fused and created, naturally surfaced in his mind, already at the novice level. With a little exploration, he could use it.
Fang You snapped his fingers, and threads seemed to emerge from the surrounding void.
These threads were invisible and intangible, difficult to detect even with probing abilities.
"This feature is a fusion product of 'Thread Control' and 'Invisible Hand,' and it also possesses the stealth of 'Mind Stealing.'"
The new skill retained many characteristics of its predecessor skills, but it went far beyond them.
The strength of "Puppet Manipulation Art" lies in...
"The invisible threads can invade the target's mind, not only stealing memories but also subtly altering them. And the most terrifying aspect is erosion!"
"It can silently erode the target's consciousness, controlling them bit by bit until they become a puppet, a puppet that can be manipulated at one's will!"
This involved the characteristic of 'Ghost Control,' except instead of manipulating malevolent spirits, it manipulated humans.
Practicing this skill was like being a puppet master hidden behind the scenes, using threads to make puppets perform on stage, enacting a magnificent play.
In a short while, Fang You had explored several uses of this skill.
"During combat, subtly eroding the enemy with invisible threads can effectively disrupt them."
"Before a battle, with sufficient preparation, one can even command and manipulate several puppets to fight, creating a situation of one against many. No, it's even possible to use puppets for direct ambushes."
At this moment, he had already reached the novice level in "Puppet Manipulation Art" and was well aware of its formidable nature.
At the novice level, he could erode and control two puppets. As the proficiency level increased, this number would gradually grow, similar to 'Ghost Control.'
Another point,
"With low-level Puppet Manipulation Art, after eroding and replacing the target, the puppet would appear stiff, and its combat power would slightly decrease. However, once the skill level is raised, not only can the puppet's combat power be perfectly utilized, but it will also appear agile and natural, able to continue playing its original role without deliberate manipulation, making it difficult for even those close to it to notice!"
Whether it was strong or not could be debated, but it was undoubtedly chilling and terrifying.
Even Fang You, the possessor of the skill, felt a slight prickle on his scalp.
"However, this skill is not suitable for me. It's more suited for assassins and spies operating in the shadows. Compared to improving combat power, its ability to silently erode and control is far more terrifying."
Fang You mused.
He intended to impart this skill to only a very select few, and the number had to be limited. Of course, purple-tier skills were generally not taught on a large scale.
"How about... I teach it to Qian Mian first."
"Qian Mian is always doing dangerous work. This skill would be like adding wings to a tiger. His/Her talent and awakened abilities could make full use of this skill in creative ways."
"However, Qian Mian has not learned 'Ghost Control.' Should I first have him/her learn Ghost Control and then fuse it into 'Puppet Manipulation Art,' or should I cultivate the skill to the expert level myself and then create a skill fruit?"
Fang You had the ability to borrow abilities and skills from apostles.
Now, following this ability, he could extend his fusion authority and create new skills using an apostle's body as an anchor, not just for himself.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to put in a little more effort.
Fusing a Puppet Manipulation Art would cost 25,000 Destiny Points and require various prerequisite skills. If he learned it himself and then materialized it as a skill seed, he could teach it to several more people.
For the future of the organization, Instructor Fang had to bear the hardship himself.
After all, he was the Beacon Instructor.
Puppet Manipulation Art couldn't be mastered in a short time, so Fang You simply didn't practice it, continuing to attempt skill fusion.
"It proves that creating purple-tier skills is feasible. With the first one, there can be a second, a third, a fourth."
"Even at the mythical level, a single purple skill can bring significant improvement."
"Moreover, if multiple blue skills can fuse to create a purple skill, then if I create more purple skills, wouldn't I be able to create the legendary gold-tier skill?"
A golden future awaited him.
Fang You became energized and began to fuse.
"Ding!"
"Notification: You have created a new skill 'Resist Fire Ring (Blue)'."
"Notification: You have created a new skill 'Assault Skull Crusher Fist (Blue)'."
"Notification: You have created a new skill 'Frostfall (Green)'."
"Notification: Your skill fusion failed."
"Notification: Your skill fusion failed."
"Notification: Your skill fusion..."
Instructor Fang's expression darkened.
Instructor Fang's expression darkened further.
Instructor Fang's expression was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
All his grand ambitions were met with only the words 'failed,' 'failed,' and 'failed.'
Fang You adjusted his mindset. Da Feng Novel Network
"Skill fusion has patterns. Like Palm Thunder and Blade Slash, even though they are both offensive skills, their manifestations and combat modes are different, so they cannot be fused into one."
"Through this pattern, it can be roughly determined which skills can be fused and which cannot."
"That's the theory, but..."
A clever cook cannot cook without ingredients!
Although Instructor Fang had learned many skills, when broken down into specific categories, the suitable combinations were very few. He could only fuse a pitifully small number of new skills.
Or skills that didn't change much after fusion, essentially useless.
"Is the Fusion Authority a chicken rib?"
"No, at least I've created Puppet Manipulation Art and several blue-star level skills, so it can't be considered a chicken rib. With more time, I'm confident I can fuse several valuable blue skills."
After all, fusion consumed Destiny Points, and higher-tier fusions consumed more, which prevented him from constantly experimenting.
He had to carefully consider each fusion.
Otherwise, Fang would have to bring in a supercomputer to list all possible permutations of dozens of skills.
This wouldn't do.
As he pondered, an apostle's avatar in his panel vibrated slightly, displaying a small red dot that felt uncomfortable if not clicked.
It was Yin Ling.
Destiny Apostles could communicate remotely with him, via text or voice messages. However, except for the early days of the organization or when apostles were far away in the Ghost Realm, Fang You rarely used this function, and few apostles contacted him.
Yin Ling, the notorious slacker, would never @ him.
She'd prefer to hide.
The last time she @'d him was when Yin Ling went on a mission far away, asking him three times a day when she could get off work and go home.
"But Yin Ling is lazing around at the base right now. Is she suddenly contacting me because something happened to the organization?"
Thinking of this, Fang You abandoned his idea of developing new skills and quickly opened Yin Ling's chat interface.
"Instructor, if you don't show up soon, something big is going to happen!"
Fang You was startled.
"There are already over a hundred documents in your office that need your signature. Stop slacking, Instructor, and get to work???"
Fang You: "???"
Was he, the boss, being accused of slacking by the notorious slacker? Damn it!
After a brief explanation, Fang You understood what had happened. It wasn't a world-ending disaster, but it wasn't a small matter either.
Indeed, too many matters requiring his approval had piled up, and his assistant, Jiang Siyun, couldn't find him for several days. This forced her to contact someone easily reachable within the organization, the high-ranking Yin Ling, and ask Minister Yin Ling to send him a message.
Fang You stroked his chin.
"Indeed, my advancement to myth tier took some time, familiarizing myself with mythical power took more time, and experimenting with skill fusion took even more time. But I've only been absent for a few days. I've been away for longer periods before. Why has this time accumulated so much work?"
"Oh, right..."
He remembered that Little Huan was in the process of transformation.
Without the support of the mascot, any important matters would require his personal attention.
He opened the panel and glanced at Little Huan's status. It still showed "transforming" and required time. Fang You rubbed his temples and finally rose from the closed training ground.
Upon arriving at the office, the documents were piled almost half his height.
"Instructor, this section is from the local branch offices, concerning investment and cooperation matters between various oases and Blue Star."
"Instructor, this section details the expenditures and task execution of the organization's extra-curricular personnel."
"Instructor, the First Prince of Falling Star City visited again two days ago."
"Instructor,..."
These matters had already been processed by the first-level branch offices at various locations, simplifying most of them.
Yet, many remained.
However, Fang You was now a mythical-tier being. His mental power spread out, and the documents in the office floated up, arranging themselves as if pinned to the wall.
His divine sense followed suit, scanning them. This was far clearer than reading with his eyes, ten lines at a time, processing multiple documents simultaneously.
His entire brain operated like a computer, categorizing different types of information and simultaneously devising the best course of action.
Several pens also floated up, manipulated by invisible hands, signing his name on various documents.
After a while,
In about an hour, Fang You snapped his fingers, and the documents suspended in the air began to descend, returning to their original positions.
It was fast, only an hour to finish.
It was just a little tiring.
Fang You rubbed his aching temples. It wasn't due to excessive energy consumption; maintaining his mental power, controlling the invisible hand, scanning with his divine sense, etc., was something he could sustain for several hours without issue.
His control over energy ensured precise manipulation, preventing him from tearing the paper by using too much force when making it float.
After reaching the mythical tier, his life energy recovery rate was several times faster than before.
Most importantly, his brain was working faster.
What previously took at least half a day to process was now done in an hour.
As for being tired? Work was naturally tiring!
"This instructor is truly working too hard."
After finishing the work, Fang You remained seated in his office chair, legs crossed, gazing up at the white ceiling.
"Now, more and more oases are cooperating with Blue Star, many shedding their final reservations. However, despite talking about in-depth cooperation, many oases still hold back."
"The scale of their factory investments on Blue Star is not large, and the personnel sent to Blue Star are mostly Second Awakening elites, with only experienced technicians, not a single expert."
In simple terms, even if all their investments on Blue Star failed, these large oases would not suffer significant losses.
Fang You was not unaware of the reasons.
"The root cause is still that Blue Star has a short remaining 'lifespan.' In the eyes of the oasis dwellers, even if the evil god faction stops attacking Blue Star, Blue Star will still be devoured sooner or later."
"Resisting erosion is possible, but completely resisting the erosion from the Ghost Realm? That's impossible."
Fang You could not explain this reasoning; he hoped outsiders wouldn't see through it.
This would buy Blue Star more time to develop.
But because of this, the scale of investments and construction in Blue Star by the oases was small – why would they invest heavily in something that would be obsolete in a few years?
He understood that.
"If Blue Star had its own oasis, the situation might be very different."
"Large-scale transactions with oases wouldn't require so many intermediaries, and more importantly, it would allow them to trick more oasis dwellers into the 996 work schedule, as there are too few oasis elites entering Blue Star, while entering oases has no restrictions."
The plan to find an oasis had begun about a month ago.
It was being executed by An Jianyou's team.
Only her team could bypass the evil god faction's blockade and quietly enter the depths of the Ghost Realm.
However, after a month, they still hadn't found a suitable target.
No need to rush, cannot rush.
Fang You glanced into An Jianyou's field of vision and then withdrew his gaze, continuing to research skill fusion.
The matter of finding an oasis could wait for Sister An's news.
He had time, why not create more skills?
...
Sunset, sunrise.
After dealing with a pile of tasks, Instructor Fang was once again immersed in the training ground, spending a full three days and nights without eating or drinking.
But it didn't matter. Mythical beings had surpassed mortal limits and were full of energy even without food or drink.
"Limited by Destiny Points, I dare not fuse randomly, but I have still created several blue-tier skills."
"Furthermore..."
Through his exploration, Instructor Fang discovered that skill fusion was not limited to just skills.
He closed his eyes.
Dozens of green, blue, and purple light orbs appeared before him. These were the skills he had learned. As he looked through these skill orbs into the depths of an indescribable space, he also discovered...
A light orb that was almost transparent, yet seemed to flash with wisps of other colors within.
"Awakened Ability: Faith of Burning Fire"!
"Fusion is not limited to skills; awakened abilities and even innate talents can be incorporated as materials."
Instructor Fang himself had no skills.
As for the ability "Faith of Burning Fire," it could be paired with any skill, but the fused result... didn't change much.
After much deliberation, Fang You decided to reserve this precious opportunity for someone else.
He opened the panel.
Selected an apostle's avatar and entered.
He scanned their skill slots one by one, analyzing and judging.
After a while,
Instructor Fang made his choice.
"It's decided, you're the one."
...
...
Ghost Realm, Falling Star Grotto-Abyss region, Lamplight Town.
Lamplight Town was the name of this oasis. It was not a large oasis, nor an elite one, but simply one of the numerous, unremarkable ordinary oases that existed in the Ghost Realm.
These oases might be the continuation of a world or a civilization from a certain world, or they might have split off from a large oasis.
No one cared.
Because they could disappear at any time.
Lamplight Town was an 'established oasis' that had existed for over thirty years.
"You were born in the oasis and have never seen the vast mountains and earth, but you must remember, and not forget our history. We come from the World of Ail, a country called Deng Huang."
"This is also the origin of our name, 'Lamplight Town.' I hope that one day, our Lamplight Town Oasis can be renamed Deng Huang Great Oasis!"
In a simple classroom, a hunched old man with white hair and wrinkles all over his face recounted Lamplight Town's history with a kind smile.
Memories flowed like water.
It was said to be inherited from a glorious country, yet at present, Lamplight Town, like its name suggested, was just an ordinary, even somewhat dilapidated small town with a population of only a few thousand. Most of the historical documents, technical data, and ancient artifacts from Deng Huang Country had been lost in the migration. The old man himself seemed to have some fuzzy memories of those days.
As he spoke, he fell silent.
In over thirty years, Lamplight Town had grown from a few hundred people to several thousand. The development speed was not slow. However, small oases like Lamplight Town had a poor foundation and were too weak to explore far from the oasis. Coupled with their weak risk resistance, they suffered occasional heavy losses, making development naturally difficult.
"Compared to other small oases, our Lamplight Town is at least fortunate enough to have a connection with Falling Star City and be chosen as a transit point for rest."
This statement was somewhat boastful, but due to its geographical location, teams traveling from Falling Star City to other great domains would occasionally rest for a night in Lamplight Town before continuing their journey the next day.
This brought a substantial income to Lamplight Town.
The most magnificent building in the entire Lamplight Town Oasis was not the mayor's house, but the Lamplight Inn. Over time, Lamplight Town gained some notoriety, and occasionally, passing awakened individuals would rest there.
"Mayor..."
When the old man left the simple classroom, a one-eyed middle-aged man approached and said in a hushed voice,
"Mayor, a few girls arrived at the inn today. They look very young and tender, but they are wearing very valuable ghost artifacts. Should we..."
A fierce glint flashed in the one-eyed middle-aged man's eyes.
Lamplight Town was too poor. So poor that even bandits rarely targeted them. Even though teams from Falling Star City passed through frequently, many of these teams would eat and drink heartily in town without paying a single ghost crystal. Lamplight Town suffered in silence, daring not to speak out.
This was the reality of small oases.
They had to seize every opportunity to strengthen themselves, otherwise, one day, an irresistible disaster would descend, and the entire oasis would be wiped out, becoming a history that would soon be forgotten.
"Those girls casually took out a bag of ghost crystals, and even... even a spatial ghost artifact!"
"They are likely runaways from some large oasis, noble young ladies who have never experienced the world."
Said the one-eyed middle-aged man.
He had read similar novels about naive noble young ladies becoming prey.
Perhaps Lamplight Town could become rich overnight with this, rapidly growing to the level of a large oasis and getting on the right track. By then, they would no longer engage in such unsavory business.
The hunched old man heard this and pondered for a long time, but still shook his head.
The one-eyed middle-aged man was a little anxious, "Mayor, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
The hunched old man said, "Those who can travel far in the Ghost Realm are at least Triple Awakened, and even then, they are Triple Awakened from a large oasis. Do you truly think we can easily take them down?"
"Moreover, since they even have storage ghost artifacts, don't they have several high-level ghost artifacts and several life-saving items on them?"
"Even if we succeed, will it invite retaliation from the large oasis? With the capabilities of a large oasis, finding clues won't be difficult, as we have no way to conceal our actions."
"This is not making a fortune, it's inviting disaster!"
The one-eyed middle-aged man staggered back two steps, opened his mouth, and finally fell silent.
"I know you mean well for Lamplight Town, but your idea is a bit too extreme. However..."
The hunched old man paused, a shrewd glint flashing in his eyes, "Our Lamplight Town is in business. Since these young ladies have money, let's find a way to extract it from them."
The one-eyed middle-aged man blinked.
The one-eyed middle-aged man suddenly realized.
"As expected, Mayor, you are brilliant."
...
Lamplight Town, Lamplight Inn.
An Jianyou and her three companions had booked the most luxurious suite. They were now in the room. An Jianyou spread a tablecloth and took out one delicacy after another from her spatial ring, brought from her hometown.
"Wuwuwu, it's finally time to eat again!"
"But we have fewer and fewer of these pre-packaged delicacies. In a while, we might have to eat dry rations."
"I heard there are many merchant caravans passing through Lamplight Town. How about we buy some reserve food here?"
"Don't eat anything from outside carelessly, it's not safe."
Looking at her chattering companions, An Jianyou smiled cheerfully.
Suddenly, she froze.
The corners of her mouth curved upwards uncontrollably.
She quickly said, "The Instructor needs me for something. You guys guard the door for me."
With that, she darted into the room and closed the door, leaving her three bewildered companions behind.
In the dimly lit bedroom, An Jianyou's face showed surprise.
She quickly adjusted her breathing.
She sat up straight, entered a state of meditation, and closed her eyes.
A transmission process, different from before, began. She felt her mastered skills suddenly collide, sparking mysterious flames, and profound information flowed into her mind.
An Jianyou had an epiphany and smiled.
At the same time, far away on Blue Star, Fang You looked at the notification on his panel and also smiled.
"Ding!"
"Notification: Do you want to fuse 'Netherworld Eye (Talent),' 'Amplification (Ability),' 'Ghost Control (Blue),' 'Meditation (Blue),' 'Thread Control (Blue)'? This fusion requires 135,000 Destiny Points."
...
"Ding!"
"Notification: Successfully fused and created An Jianyou's exclusive skill 'Netherworld Controller (Gold)'."
——
"Netherworld Controller (Gold)"
"Description: In addition to manipulating ghost creatures, you can cultivate them to break through their limits. The cultivation and breakthrough difficulty depend on the ghost creature itself. There is a chance for ghost creatures to develop sentience through cultivation. Furthermore, the breakthrough of ghost creatures will feed back to the controller, bringing permanent improvements to physique, spirit, etc."
——Author's Note——
The update is late, damn it, I'm desperate too ah ah ah~!