Chapter 16: Chapter 16: One Year Later

A day later, Lu Zhao returned to Cyan Rattan Stream.

He stood in his stone chamber and cast a Cleaning Talisman on himself.

With a flash of runic light, dust, pebbles, and bits of grass fell from his body, scattering across the floor.

The journey back had been even more perilous than the trip out—he had encountered a Tier One Middle-Grade Mantis Demon Beast that was an expert at ambushes.

Not even the Flowing Cloud Sparrow flying overhead had managed to detect it. Had it not been for Lu Zhao’s unusually strong Divine Sense and vast experience, the sneak attack would have succeeded.

The battle was a stark wake-up call.

The Cultivation Realm was vast, teeming with an endless parade of strange beasts and bizarre insects, and deceit among cultivators was the norm. He realized that although he had been prudent lately, his temperament still needed to be honed.

His sense of restlessness quietly faded, replaced by a deeper caution and vigilance.

「A year passed in the blink of an eye.」

"Fellow Daoist Liu, processing Ink-Scale Snakes again, I see."

"Unlike you, with your brilliant Puppetry skills," Liu Fengchun replied with a smile.

Lu Zhao had just finished his shift for the day and happened to see the old man deftly stripping the Poison Sacs and bones from the snake carcass.

After spending over a year together, he had come to know the other four members of the garrison better.

Yin Jiu was an Insect Master. He had a gloomy personality, was aggressive and laconic, but his strength was impressive.

Then there was Chen Moyang, a Tier One Middle-Grade Array Master. Lu Zhao had been quite surprised when he first learned this—most Array Masters came from Major Sects or Noble Families, and though Chen Moyang was from a cultivation family, it seemed to have fallen on hard times.

According to him, his family’s lack of resources had forced him to serve as an Honored Guest Elder for the Zhou Family. As for his character, he could only be described as pragmatic; he kept a low profile but was not without his own astuteness.

As for Liu Fengchun, he was a Wanderer with a tendency to lecture, but he was deeply devoted to the younger generation of his family.

He often said, "My own path in cultivation has reached its end. I can only place my hopes in my descendants." This was the fate of many Wanderers—out of ten who began to cultivate, it was a stroke of good fortune if even one reached Late-stage Qi Cultivation. The dream of Foundation Establishment was little more than an unreachable legend.

Finally, there was Zhou Qixing. Lu Zhao had little contact with him, knowing only that he was of the Zhou Family’s direct lineage—a status evident from the "Qi" in his name.

"Cheng, Xian, Qi, Ping"—this was the generational naming order for the disciples of the Zhou Family’s direct lineage. For him to have been stationed here for fourteen years, his past was likely anything but simple.

Back in his stone chamber, Lu Zhao opened his status panel.

Name: Lu Zhao

Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer

Lifespan: 24/120

Main Cultivation Method: Little Spirit Rain Technique

Magic: Water Bullet Technique, Water Curtain Technique, Ice Cone Technique, Breath Concealment Technique, Water Mist Technique, Water Nurturing Technique, Wind Manipulation Technique, Thousand Threads Technique

Supporting Skill:

Puppetry (Tier One Lower Grade):

Cyan-striped Mouse Puppet (Success Rate: 60%)

Flowing Cloud Sparrow (Success Rate: 25%)

Ice Mouse Puppet (Success Rate: 35%)

In the past year of cultivation, not only had his Puppetry advanced by leaps and bounds, but he had also reached the Entry Level with his Thousand Threads Technique. He could now manifest two strands of Divine Silk. Through his own tests, he found they could reach a maximum distance of forty zhang. And under the control of the Divine Silk, his puppets moved as freely as his own arms.

However, after the medicinal power of the Concentration Fruit was fully depleted, his progress in cultivating the Thousand Threads Technique slowed down again. Even so, he estimated his Divine Sense was now comparable to that of a Late-stage Qi Cultivator.

As long as he continued to practice the Thousand Threads Technique, his Divine Sense would only grow stronger and stronger. After all, one could manifest up to nine strands of Divine Silk with this technique during the Qi Cultivation Stage. Once he could manifest all nine, his Divine Sense would be comparable to that of a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Over the past year, he had made a monthly trip to the Marketplace to sell puppets and collect materials. After deducting his costs for the year, he had earned a profit of nearly three hundred and forty Spirit Stones.

Nearly half of his income came from the Flowing Cloud Sparrows. He sold a total of sixteen of them, each priced at twenty-five Spirit Stones, netting a profit of almost ten Spirit Stones per puppet.

As for the Cyan-striped Mouse Puppets, Nine Abyss Pavilion had stopped buying them six months ago. The Shopkeeper explained that his initial purchases had been a form of support for Lu Zhao; the puppets had too small of a market. If Lu Zhao really wanted to keep selling them, the shop could only offer to buy them for five Spirit Stones each.

At five Spirit Stones, even with his current success rate, the profit would barely be worth the effort. It would also waste time he could be spending on other puppets, so he had already stopped refining Cyan-striped Mouse Puppets.

Lu Zhao had already decided that once his success rates for the other two puppets improved, he would attempt to refine an "Ironwood Guard."

He hadn’t attempted it at first not only because the materials were expensive, but also because it was a "Wood and Stone Puppet," which was more difficult to create than a "Beast Puppet."

Beast Puppets and Wood and Stone Puppets are two different classifications of puppets, with neither being inherently superior to the other. In terms of refining difficulty, however, Wood and Stone Puppets are significantly harder to make than Beast Puppets.

Novice Puppet Masters generally start with Beast Puppets.

He was already in the process of collecting the materials. Ironwood and Profound Iron weren’t exceptionally rare, and he had already prepared some. However, the cost of refining a single Ironwood Guard Puppet was simply too high, and unlike Beast Puppets, it could not be refined in separate stages.

Much like Artifact Refining, Wood and Stone Puppets had to be completed In One Fluid Motion. The Puppet Core was directly connected to the puppet, so a single failure meant the entire thing was scrap. According to Lu Zhao’s calculations, a single attempt would cost nearly ten Spirit Stones.

’If I fail a few times, I’ll go bankrupt.’

Having finished calculating matters related to his puppets, Lu Zhao turned his attention back to his cultivation. At his current rate, he could break through to the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer in three more months.

Over the past year, what with the twelve Ice Jade Pills from the Zhou Family, the sixteen he had bought himself, a monthly Middle-Grade Vessel-Protecting Pill, and the Spiritual Qi from the Spiritual Spring, his cultivation speed had nearly doubled compared to right after his last breakthrough.

The price for such rapid cultivation was that the pills he consumed in a year cost nearly one hundred Spirit Stones. If he had relied solely on his meager salary, he would have gone bankrupt long ago.

It was a far cry from his current situation, where his cultivation speed for the year was satisfactory, and he had even managed to save over two hundred Spirit Stones.

He was a bit startled when he did the math. His income was higher than many Late-stage Qi Cultivators. He estimated his earnings were second only to a Tier One High-Grade master of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation. And he was currently just a Tier One Lower Grade Puppet Master.

’It seems Shopkeeper Zhou was telling the truth about supporting me.’

’Otherwise, even with Puppet Masters being so rare in Changfeng County, I wouldn’t have earned this much.’

’Flying Puppets...’ The only reason Shopkeeper Zhou would support him was his Puppetry.

Coupled with Shopkeeper Zhou’s previous urgent demand for Flying Puppets, it wasn’t hard to deduce that the Zhou Family probably had a significant need for them.

At this thought, Lu Zhao couldn’t help but recall the Cloud Pattern Cavalry, Zhou Pingyuan, and the object the Zhou Family was searching for. He vaguely pieced together some clues, but due to a lack of detailed information, he could only speculate. Lu Zhao had the faint feeling that he was somehow getting entangled in the Zhou Family’s affairs; it seemed that earning this money was not going to be easy.

’Well, since I’m already here, I should just take things as they come. There’s no use overthinking it now.’ Lu Zhao shook his head. Was he supposed to stop refining puppets just because of a few suspicions?

Even if he really did get involved in something major, he wouldn’t have to be afraid as long as he was strong enough. His cultivation was advancing by leaps and bounds, and this was precisely when he needed Spirit Stones the most. Besides, crisis was also an opportunity. As long as he wasn’t greedy and remained cautious enough, he was confident he could escape even if the worst came to pass.

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