Since the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus was given to the Emei Sect by a descendant of Lu Ban who designed the Flying Cloud Palace, it meant that this descendant of Lu Ban must have a way to access the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus.
If Yan Shouyi, also a descendant of Lu Ban, were to be helpless against the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus in the end, it would be a great disgrace.
According to his plan, since the glacial water around the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus was extremely cold, living creatures could not approach it. Designing and building a mechanical puppet to harvest it was the best method.
However, this mechanical puppet could not be controlled using the Yin Yang Lu Ban Incantation like the San Yuan, because according to the guidance of Master Guan Yun, the glacial water could even freeze souls.
Therefore, the harvesting tool had to meet the following three conditions.
First, it must be able to move freely in the extremely cold glacial water.
Second, it must not have life, not even a soul, otherwise, it would be sent to its death.
Third, it must be obedient and flexible enough, otherwise, it might damage the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus during the harvesting process.
Any one of these conditions alone would be easy to solve, but when all three became simultaneous requirements, the difficulty of the problem increased exponentially.
Yan Shouyi sat on the ground, thinking hard, and slowly came up with a plan.
Since it was purely for tool usage, the designed item could completely detach from a biological form, retaining a body that could swim like a fish, and coupled with a mechanical pincer like a crab's, it would be sufficient to cut the lotus root and dig out the lotus seeds.
To meet the dual conditions of the second and third criteria, Yan Shouyi decided to use the method of the Wood Puppet Dharma Body. He would separate a wisp of his scattered soul to control this fish-crab-like contraption. Simultaneously, he would place several Li Huo Talismans inside its body to maintain its temperature and resist the cold.
This way, he could achieve absolute control over the tool without the risk of his soul being frozen by the glacial water, and without harming the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus.
It is worth mentioning that the method of injecting the soul involved a secret technique of the Wood Puppet Dharma Body. While this would be an extremely painful process for others, it was not so for Yan Shouyi.
The secret of the Wood Puppet Dharma Body was that after the descendant of Lu Ban created the puppet dharma body, he had to forcibly extract a wisp of his soul and inject it into the dharma body to control it from a first-person perspective.
For ordinary descendants of Lu Ban, forcibly extracting a wisp of their soul was akin to pulling out bones and tendons, requiring them to endure indescribable pain.
However, Yan Shouyi was a Heavenly Fiend Corpse Puppet. His soul was already scattered, and enemies could not truly attack his soul. He could also easily detach a wisp of his soul without feeling any pain.
With the initial plan in place, he rummaged through his satchel and found a piece of birch wood that was quite resistant to cold.
Birch trees prefer sunlight, are intolerant of shade, are resistant to severe cold, and are adaptable to soil. They have deep roots and can tolerate barren land. Their bark is as smooth as paper, and one can even write on it directly with a pencil.
Ordinary birch wood was not particularly rare, but the one taken from Yan Shouyi's satchel was naturally extraordinary.
This piece of birch wood was about the size of two palms, with clear grain on its surface, smooth as a mirror.
It was left by Yan Shouyi's grandfather.
Yan Baixiang had once been to North Korea and fought a battle there. During the battle, artillery shells blasted open an ice mountain, within which was a fallen birch tree. According to Yan Baixiang's estimation, this birch tree might have originated from two thousand years ago and had been frozen until he discovered it.
Due to his limited abilities, Yan Baixiang could only cut off the best piece and bring it back. He had not found an opportunity to use it until now, when it appeared in Yan Shouyi's satchel.
Next came the design, carving, and assembly…
This process took the longest, but Yan Shouyi enjoyed it so much that he did not notice the passage of time at all.
It was only when he occasionally stretched and changed positions that he realized Long Feicheng and the others had already fallen fast asleep, and five or six hours had passed.
Yan Shouyi named his design "Fish-Crab," which was concise and self-explanatory.
By six o'clock the next morning, the Fish-Crab was finally completed. Yan Shouyi was very satisfied looking at the palm-sized little monster.
The little Fish-Crab had the body of a fish, but with slender crab claws on its sides. Its belly was large, like a small pufferfish, but on its back was a groove just the right size to hold a lotus seed.
At the bottom of the Fish-Crab's body was a hidden compartment, which also existed on the San Yuan, used to store talismans for immediate use when necessary.
According to Yan Shouyi's plan, this hidden compartment was for storing the Li Huo Talismans. As long as the core temperature within its body existed, the soul Yan Shouyi injected into the Fish-Crab would not be frozen.
After testing the Fish-Crab's body and confirming it was functioning correctly, Yan Shouyi began to extract his soul and inject it into the puppet.
The process was very quick, almost in the blink of an eye. The Fish-Crab suddenly came alive, starting to wag its fish tail and move its crab claws.
At this point, Long Feicheng and the others also started to wake up. Seeing the strange wooden little monster in Yan Shouyi's hand, they all curiously gathered around to observe.
"Brother Yan, how did you create such a strange creature? It has a bit of a Lovecraftian vibe!" Long Feicheng chuckled.
Yan Shouyi did not quite understand what Lovecraftian meant, so he shook his head without explaining and walked straight out of the room to find Master Guan Yun.
Master Guan Yun and Grandma Wen Yuxian had stayed up all night, chatting about childhood memories. They comforted each other, and their feelings of guilt and sorrow were somewhat alleviated.
However, when they saw Yan Shouyi arrive with the Fish-Crab, they were still surprised, not expecting him to be so quick and to have already devised a plan for the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus.
Master Guan Yun was also becoming impatient. She had long coveted the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus, so she immediately took Yan Shouyi to the Immortal Pond.
Upon reaching the Immortal Pond, Master Guan Yun dismissed everyone else, leaving only Yan Shouyi and Wen Yuxian. Even Ling Xiaoxiao had to wait outside and could not enter.
In just one night, when Yan Shouyi saw the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus again, he noticed that its petals had already withered, and the lotus seedpod had grown much larger. It was estimated that the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus would completely wither soon and enter its next thirty-year cycle.
This meant that if they failed to harvest it today, they would have to wait another thirty years.
"Shouyi, do you have confidence?" Wen Yuxian asked.
Yan Shouyi replied confidently, "There definitely won't be any problems!"
"Good, then let's give it a try!" Master Guan Yun urged.
The transparent glass at the bottom of the Immortal Pond was controlled by a mechanism. Master Guan Yun activated the switch, the glass opened, and the glacial water from the upper and lower parts mixed together. The temperature around the Immortal Pond dropped by several tens of degrees instantly!
This coldness was unbearable for ordinary people.
Yan Shouyi gasped, "I still underestimated the coldness of the Ice Mountain Snow Lotus… but my Fish-Crab should be able to handle it."
Saying this, he threw the Fish-Crab into the Immortal Pond and then sat cross-legged by the edge of the pond, closed his eyes, and focused all his attention on controlling the Fish-Crab in the Immortal Pond.