After escaping, Ming Li sighed then sat on a boulder near a river to rest for a bit. The puppet who was nowhere to be seen earlier was again floating above Ming Li. "Hey why did you escape? You should have killed all of them back there." Ming Li shifted his gaze to the puppet and said "I am not sure if I can defeat them. Also, there might be more of them in the area." "What a sissy, oh well you're such a weakling after-all." The puppet said while floating away to get himself busy in the river. Ming Li then asked "Hey, can I use your ability without demonic energy." The puppet turned his head back at Ming Li and said in a slightly furious tone. "Use my power without demonic energy!? Are you kidding me!!? Demonic energy is my favorite type of energy! No demonic energy, no skill!" "So does that mean I can use you with natural energy?" "No way! Just No! Natural energy is gross." The puppet then quickly flew away and ignored Ming Li. Ming Li doubted the puppet that it can't be used with natural energy, but he had no way to force it. He then put the matter aside for now and decided to practice his new art. His excitement grew again as he focused on a giant boulder and waved his hands while saying "Distort!" The boulder suddenly distorted visually for a second, and when it turned back to normal, it crumbled to pieces when numerous cracks appeared on its surface. Ming Li was delighted with his new skill, he might not be able to tear the space open to travel to a different location with his current realm, but being able to distort the space is something only seekers at a higher realm could do, and it would also require great energy just to do it. Satisfied with his new skill, he stood up and leisurely walked towards the forest. When suddenly, a person from above came descending towards him! The man was wearing long tribal clothes; Ming Li instantly recognized him as one of the people who were part of the group who tried to kill him earlier. He immediately glanced around to check if there were other seekers, however, he did not feel anyone. "Do you think you can run away from the Holy River Tribe after killing the tenth son of our Tribe Master!?" The young man said in a cold tone while floating a few meters infront of Ming Li. He wasn't as strong as the other seekers on the group, however, the aura he was emitting was still from someone on the Soul Realm. The Soul Realm is vastly different from the Fusion Realm, these people can fly and can do instantaneous short body relocation. The difference in strength between the two is also vast. To compare it, stepping on the fusion realm to the soul realm was as hard as getting from level 5 of fusion realm directly to the tenth level. It was as hard as getting five levels or even more. So the difference in their fighting potential was immense, that beating someone from the Soul Realm if one was at the Fusion Realm was near impossible. Ming Li was only able to slaughter soul realm seekers back then because of the poison he used and the incredible power of the golden plate. Even Ming Li knew that it would be a hard fight if he doesn't have the golden plate or the poison spirit he used. However, with the things being the way it was, he had no choice but to fight the man in front of him to avoid being captured. Immediately, he waved his hand as he said "Distort!". The man's eyes suddenly went wide as his figure distorted as if the space around him was being forcefully stretched and crumpled. When everything came back to normal, blood suddenly oozed from his mouth, every muscle in his body shook, then he fell on the ground on one knee as he felt as if he was ripped to shreds. Many of his organs were instantly damaged, If not for him being in the soul realm, he would have been severely injured by that simple attack! He quickly tapped the ground when he fell, which caused beads of water to form in the surface of the land and floated upward then stopped in mid air as if time stopped while raining. This hundreds of beads of water shot towards Ming Li like bullets which made him flinch. Waving his hand, his body turned red as extreme heat emanated from him and expanded 1 meter from his body which blocked all of the water drops that was shooting towards him. The man was surprised that Ming Li could actually block an attack from him, he was at the first level of the Soul Realm while Ming Li was clearly at the 9th level of Fusion Realm. While Ming Li was blocking the attack, the man recovered from the surprise attack using distort. Now that he was aware of Ming Li's strength, he was sure that he needs to go all out to defeat Ming Li. His energy surged as he roared and raised his hand transforming it into water! His hand that turned to water began to expand and swirl violently gathering more water towards it. After a brief moment, the water turned into a cyclone that swept violently at the air around it. The man gritted his teeth as he slammed the giant cyclone towards Ming Li. This attack was extremely strong that Ming Li was forced to to back up a bit, but it was too late to dodge, so he stretched his arms placing his hands in front of him as he shouted "Distort!" Everything in front of him shook as the space distorted causing the portion of the cyclone which was about to hit Ming Li to distort and disintegrate. Ming Li avoided the deadly attack however it does not mean he was safe. The man was serious about killing him or capturing him alive. There was no way to avoid a battle of death with him, so he shouted. "Puppet! Use the remaining demonic energy at the book to catch this man! I will get you more later!" When the puppet who was playing at the river trying to catch fish heard this, his attention shifted towards the fight as he said "How much more?" "Enough to satisfy you!" Ming Li replied hurriedly. The puppet then closed its eyes and placed its hand at its chin rubbing it while thinking deeply. "Hurry!" Ming Li shouted. Having a consciousness of its own, Ming Li needed it to agree so he can use the demonic energy in the book, however if it was his demonic energy he could still use the puppet without its consent. The puppet then said "Alright, Alright calm down." Ming Li quickly did a grasping motion as the puppet's eyes glowed and immediately appeared above Ming Li. Thousands of threads appeared around the soul realm seeker when Ming Li completed his motion. The threads forcefully attached itself to the man rendering him unable to move. Then Ming Li used despair against him making him vulnerable to attacks. The puppet laughed loudly as the strings tightened and the conciseness of the man slowly faded away! After a few breaths when the strings completely controlled the man, everything calmed down. The man has a blank face and was not moving. This was the first time Ming Li saw how the puppet actually took control of someone. Back then, the only thing he saw was a hand grabbing the person he wants to control. Ming Li sighed then said "Hey, do you have a way to control him while allowing him to retain his consciousness? Or if not, read his memory?" He has trouble using the captured seekers as his pawns, since he has no idea how to make them act if he has no background about them, so he got the idea that if they could act on their own, it would be really helpful to him. The puppet then looked at him then said "Eh, of course that's easy, however I can't read memories. Not my thing. I can have him act as if nothing happened though and he wont remember that he met you and me here. That's the most I can do with his memory." Ming Li's eyes glittered in excitement as he said "So will we know everything he does while he is acting on his own?" "Yes, we can also alter his decision without him knowing. This is what the great me can do." The puppet said while proudly laughing. Ming Li did not mind the conceited attitude of the puppet, because he was extremely excited of what he can do by being able to control someone without them knowing! It was like playing God with the life of someone. "Although I would need a lot of demonic energy to do that." The puppet added. Ming Li's face fell when he heard those words. But he had no choice but to get those demonic energy if he wanted to try the interesting skill of the puppet. Since it has already caught his attention, he would do anything to get enough demonic energy needed for the skill! He kept the man in the book and immediately decided to head to the nearest town to get some demon's grace. Everything around him was a forest, so he has no idea where to go, but he already met a group of people earlier which meant that there is probably a town nearby.