Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 747: Three Months Pass

"Blood mastery." Han Yu muttered.

Here, the difference was night and day.

The Puppet Peak's library was overflowing with texts related to blood. Manuals, treatises, experimental notes, refinement records, and theoretical discussions. Entire shelves were devoted to blood manipulation as it related to puppets and jiangshi.

Han Yu immersed himself completely.

This was knowledge he desperately needed.

Ju Fan had been born into a blood cultivating clan. Even if his practical abilities were mediocre, his theoretical foundation should have been solid.

Han Yu did not have that luxury.

If anyone probed him deeply, the gaps would show.

"Can't have them finding out, I'm all bark and now show..."

So he studied.

He learned about the classification of bloods. Human blood, beast blood, hybrid bloods, mutated bloods, ancient bloodlines, artificially refined bloods, and cursed bloods.

He learned how blood was used differently depending on context.

In pill refinement, blood acted as a carrier and catalyst.

In formations, it acted as an anchor in the form of ink.

In puppets, it was something else entirely.

Blood was not just fluid.

It was information.

This was the first concept that truly shook Han Yu.

Blood carried more than Qi.

It carried imprints.

Most cultivators referred to these as bloodline memories. Traits inherited from ancestors, instincts passed down through generations, latent affinities that could awaken under the right conditions.

But the books made something very clear.

That was only the surface and wasn't the aspect needed for puppets.

Blood could be altered and it could be rewritten.

Refined blood was not merely purified. It was encoded.

Han Yu read case after case detailing how refined blood was used to control jiangshi. Unlike mechanical puppets, jiangshi were undead. They possessed bodies that once lived. Bodies that remembered.

Formations alone were not enough.

Over time, jiangshi could develop will. Not full intelligence, but a rudimentary sense of self. When that happened, external control weakened.

That was where blood mastery came in.

By refining instructions directly into the blood used during creation, one could impose control on a fundamental level. Not as a command, but as an instinct.

Obey the master.

Protect the master.

Do not harm the master.

These were not orders issued from outside.

They were truths written into the jiangshi's existence.

Han Yu's breath grew shallow as he read.

Using the creator's blood during refinement strengthened this effect exponentially. The jiangshi would recognize the master not just as a controller, but as an origin.

This was why blood cultivators dominated jiangshi refinement.

This was why the Doll Seal existed.

And this was why altering such seals required mastery of blood, soul, curses, and formations all at once.

Han Yu closed one book slowly and stared at the wall.

"So that's how it works…"

The more he read, the clearer his path became.

Blood mastery was not optional.

It was the foundation.

Days turned into weeks.

Han Yu's merit points climbed steadily.

His reputation at the Puppet Peak shifted subtly. People no longer called him a newcomer. Some began referring to him as that fast apprentice. Others simply nodded respectfully when he passed.

Compared to the other peaks, the Puppet Peak was certainly a lot more 'calm'. At least the people did not break out into fights over minor scuffles, and even if they did, they'd fight by showing their skills rather than drawing blood.

Han Yu did not seek attention nor did not avoid it either.

At night, after studying blood texts, Han Yu would often sit in silence and let his mind organize what he had learned. The pieces were coming together.

Puppets.

Blood.

Jiangshi.

Soul.

One day, he would refine them all into something greater.

For now, he kept working.

Quietly.

Relentlessly.

Building a foundation that no one could see yet.

Three months passed in what felt like a strangely compressed blur for Han Yu.

Days folded neatly into one another, measured not by sunrise and sunset, but by merit points earned, books finished, puppets repaired, and formations refined. By the time he finally stopped to take stock of everything, even he was startled by just how far he had come.

In those three months alone, working almost exclusively within the Puppet Peak, Han Yu had accumulated over one hundred and twenty thousand merit points.

And that was just from routine work.

Maintenance missions. Calibration tasks. Assembly jobs that other apprentices groaned about and postponed until the last moment.

Han Yu took them all, one after another, with relentless consistency. His speed never dropped, and his success rate never faltered. Supervisors had long since stopped hovering over his shoulder. They simply glanced at the mission token, saw his name, and waved him through.

If anything, they were relieved.

It was rare to see an apprentice who did not cut corners, did not complain, and did not try to bargain for easier assignments.

Han Yu did none of that.

He worked.

But the puppet work, impressive as it was, was not the true windfall.

That had come two months ago, when the Mission Hall finally sent him a message.

At the time, Han Yu had been in the middle of recalibrating the internal nodes of a mineral sorting puppet. He remembered the faint vibration of his jade slip against his robes, subtle but insistent. When he checked it, he froze for a moment.

Mission Complete. Rewards Issued.

At first, he had thought it was a mistake.

It was only when he went to the Mission Hall personally and spoke with the clerk that the full picture emerged.

The Fatui Clan mission had not been a minor errand.

It had been classified as a high tier mission.

Originally, it was meant for an experienced inner disciple alchemist, someone with decades of refinement experience and a stable backing within the sect. But due to Zhao Liumen's influence, the mission had been reassigned to Ju Fan.

To outsiders, this looked like favoritism.

Assigning a valuable mission to a junior disciple was unusual, but not unheard of, especially when faction politics were involved. To most observers, it seemed Zhao Liumen was pulling Ju Fan closer, not pushing him away.