Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Marketplace

Staring at the panel that had appeared, he was overcome with a complex mix of emotions as memories slowly began to surface, like a rising tide.

In his first year after arriving in this world, he had discovered a cyan bead in his mind.

No matter how he tried to activate it, the bead remained unresponsive. Then, during a chance encounter with Puppetry, the bead had finally sent him a message: "Reach Entry Tier to receive the inheritance."

Beyond that, there were no other clues.

Lu Zhao’s repeated attempts were fruitless, so he had no choice but to give up for the time being and focus on practicing Puppetry.

He named the mysterious bead the "Puppet Bead."

He still remembered the first time he tried to make a Puppet. Back then, he’d viewed Puppetry as just another form of technology, foolishly attempting to improve it with knowledge from his past life.

Reality, however, dealt him a harsh blow.

With his shallow understanding of Puppetry, he hadn’t known that Spirit Patterns had to be carved in harmony with the natural grain of the Spiritual Material.

Relying on intuition alone, he had applied the engineering principles from his past life, causing one of the puppet’s legs to explode on the spot. The incident nearly left him with a lasting trauma.

Only later did he truly understand that Spirit Patterns were "alive." Each inscription had to be adapted to the material’s unique properties; success could never be achieved through mere mechanical replication.

It was this realization that led to the creation of the "Puppet Guard." And these Puppet Guards were Lu Zhao’s main source of income, aside from his salary from the Zhou Family.

Of course, his hand had been forced. To refine the Cyan-striped Mouse Puppet, Lu Zhao had invested nearly fifty Spirit Stones. If not for the income from selling the Puppet Guards, he would have gone bankrupt long ago.

He crafted three Puppet Guards a month. After deducting costs, he could net one Spirit Stone if they all sold.

Unfortunately, this type of puppet was Non-Tiered and served a single purpose, so there weren’t many buyers. On average, he only earned half a Spirit Stone a month.

Even so, his income was considerable for an Early-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator.

Between his salary and his stall, his annual income was nearly twenty Spirit Stones—more than many struggling Mid-stage Qi Cultivation cultivators earned.

If he hadn’t been focused on refining an Entry Tier Cyan-striped Mouse Puppet to activate the Puppet Bead, he would have broken through to Mid-stage Qi Cultivation long ago, given his aptitude as a Middle-Grade Water Spirit Root.

Before the morning mist had scattered, Lu Zhao stood beneath the Bronze Beast Head Gate of the Zhou Family Marketplace. A token identifying him as a Zhou Family’s Guest Minister Elder hung from his waist.

As he walked along the main street of the Market East District, the air was thick with a foul, bloody stench. This was because most Wanderers sold their Demon Beast Materials here.

He hadn’t gone far before he saw a one-eyed man shouting, "Fresh Spirit-Devouring Rat King’s Fangs! Killed in the mine cave just last night! Everyone, come take a look!"

Lu Zhao glanced at him. He recognized the man. His name was Hu San, a Low-Tier Independent Cultivator who hunted Demon Beasts for a living, but he had a bad reputation and was known for passing off shoddy goods as the real thing.

Lu Zhao glanced at the pile of fangs, and information instantly appeared on the panel. ’This is the test I wanted to run today,’ he thought. ’To see if the Puppet Bead can identify things based on my own knowledge, as I suspect, and to probe for any hidden functions.’

His gaze swept over the pile of fangs. The items Hu San was calling "Spirit-Devouring Rat King’s Fangs" were displayed on the panel as "Spirit-Devouring Rat Fangs." Clearly, the man was lying again.

Looking away from Hu San’s stall, Lu Zhao walked a few paces to an elderly man’s stall. A few beast bones and pelts were scattered across it.

As his eyes swept over the stall, information appeared on the panel:

"Bones of a Tier One Early Stage Cyan-Scaled Python"

"Hide of a Tier One Early Stage Cyan-Scaled Python"

"Paw of a Tier One Early Stage Black Claw Cat"

"Suspected Tier One Middle Stage Cyan-Horned Bull Skull"

...

A wealth of information flooded his mind. ’I’m mostly certain now,’ he thought. ’The content on the Puppet Bead’s panel is generated based on my own knowledge. But not entirely. For example, when I appraised the Black Claw Cat’s paw myself, I could only label it ’suspected,’ but the panel gave a definitive identification.’

’I guess the panel has some kind of appraisal function. As long as I’ve seen something before, it can accurately determine what it is.’

Take this Cyan-Horned Bull skull, for instance. This was the first time he had seen a physical one; previously, he had only read about it in the Demon Beast Atlas.

After walking for half an hour, Lu Zhao left the Market East District and arrived in the South District. He was greeted by the sight of a pavilion—the Zhou Family’s own "Hundred Refinement Pavilion." A few Standard Spiritual Artifacts were displayed on the counter inside.

When he glimpsed a Tier One Lower Grade Cold Iron Sword priced at thirty Spirit Stones, he couldn’t help but sigh. ’That’s enough to successfully craft five Cyan-striped Mouse Puppets,’ he thought.

Lu Zhao had tested the power of a Cold Iron Sword before. A full-force strike from one was no weaker than his Ice Cone Technique, which he had cultivated to the Great Success stage. And his Ice Cone Technique was already considered one of the more potent Qi Cultivation Skills.

This, however, was the norm for Wanderers. Most fought their enemies using Magic and Talismans; few owned Magical Artifacts.

Most Wanderers had no Magical Artifacts at all during the Early-stage Qi Cultivation. By the time they reached Mid-stage Qi Cultivation, they might possess a single Tier One Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact at most.

As for Tier One Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifacts, their prices started at nearly one hundred Spirit Stones—far beyond what they could ever afford. To Lu Zhao’s knowledge, some impoverished Late-stage Qi Cultivators were still using Lower Grade spiritual artifacts.

Lu Zhao briefly toured the South District before returning to the Market West District, where he usually spent his time. A sizable crowd had already gathered.

The West District was primarily the domain of artisan cultivators. A quick scan revealed several familiar faces: Old Huang selling his Talismans, an old woman selling Frost Grass, and others.

Returning to his usual spot, he took a beast hide from his robes, spread it out, and carefully placed three Puppet Guards on top of it.

Just then, Old Huang, who sold Talismans from the next stall over, came to chat. "Mr. Lu, you’re late today," he said. "The Demon Hunting Cultivators are already heading for the mountains. Any later and you won’t make a sale."

Demon Hunting Cultivators were the primary customers for Lu Zhao’s puppets. Wealthier Demon Hunters would occasionally buy a Puppet Guard from him. While they couldn’t fight, they were useful as an early-warning system and could scout paths in a pinch, so they had their uses.

’Old Huang is a Lower Grade Talisman Master,’ Lu Zhao noted. ’He’s nearly sixty, with mediocre aptitude—probably a Lower Grade Spirit Root, or he wouldn’t still be stuck at Mid-stage Qi Cultivation.’

Lu Zhao looked at him and asked, "Mr. Huang, do you have any Protective Talismans left?"

A Protective Talisman was a Tier One Lower Grade Talisman that, when activated, created a barrier. Its defensive power was average, but its advantage lay in being cheap, quick, and useful for handling unexpected dangers.

Hearing he had a customer, Old Huang perked up. "I do! How many do you need?"

"I’ll take five," Lu Zhao said.

"Alright then. Since you’re a regular, I’ll give you a little discount. Twenty Spiritual Sand for all five."

Spiritual Sand was a byproduct of Spirit Stones. Though the exchange rate fluctuated, it generally hovered around one hundred Spiritual Sand to one Lower Grade Spirit Stone.

Lu Zhao took out the Spiritual Sand and handed it over, and Old Huang gave him the Talismans in return.

Lu Zhao had a trip to the Cold Iron Mine Cave planned for the afternoon, so the Protective Talismans would come in handy.

At this time, a dark-skinned, middle-aged man from a nearby stall also came over to join the conversation. This person was a Tier One Lower Grade Spirit Plant Master, also commonly known as a "Spirit Farmer."

His voice was hoarse. "Mr. Lu, Mr. Huang, have you heard the news from the Zhou Family? I seem to recall that you, Mr. Lu, are a Guest Minister Elder for them. You ought to be better informed than us."

Hearing this, Lu Zhao was baffled. He had been so busy with Puppet Refining lately that he hadn’t paid any attention to outside events.

He shook his head and said, "I’ve been busy with Puppet Refining recently and haven’t been paying attention to news from the outside world."

Old Huang glanced at the man and also shook his head. "I haven’t heard anything."

The middle-aged man lowered his voice, looking slightly smug. "It’s about that genius from the Zhou Family—Zhou Pingyuan. Rumor is, he’s been injured by someone."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhao’s interest was immediately piqued.

The Zhou Family was the Overlord of Changfeng County, and it was said that there were several Foundation Establishment Cultivators within the family. And Zhou Pingyuan, as the number one of the younger generation, was around the same age as Lu Zhao, yet he was already a Late-stage Qi Cultivator.

And now there were rumors that he had been injured...

He couldn’t help but frown, sensing that trouble was on the horizon once more.

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