Demonic Beasts Descend the Mountain, Vast Fortune Falls from Heaven

The slight displeasure over the Immortal Path Runes did not affect Su Qing's subsequent refining.

Once the runes had been drawn, it was time to apply materials to the puppet's basic frame.

He only needed to melt the Mysterious Iron Crystal into molten iron and coat the puppet frame's vital areas with it.

As for how many layers to apply, that depended entirely on the puppet master's mood. If one was willing to spend the materials, using over a hundred pounds of Mysterious Iron Crystal to brush on more than ten layers would naturally make the completed Lizard Warrior more imposing and ferocious.

Since Su Qing had known from the start that this puppet would certainly fail,

he naturally would not be foolish enough to apply too many coatings. He spent only fifteen pounds of Mysterious Iron Crystal, lightly brushed on a single layer, met the basic requirements, and called it done.

The final step was installing the Demon Lizard Claws.

The Lizard Warrior was a close-combat puppet, and a pair of nimble claws was indispensable. Spirit-Calling Wood could not meet the requirements, so he could only use the real thing.

"Every successful or failed Lizard Warrior comes with the death of a Clawed Demon Lizard!

"If Lizard Warriors are refined in large batches someday, the Clawed Demon Lizards nearby will be cursed with truly rotten luck!"

Demon Lizard Claws were a relatively unpopular material, so they were not particularly expensive. A pair cost only around three Spirit Crystals, and Hundred Treasures Pavilion even offered discounts for bulk purchases.

But precisely because they were unpopular, neither Hundred Treasures Pavilion nor Fate Comes Pavilion kept much stock. Su Qing silently reminded himself that the next time he went out, he should buy more, lest Hundred Treasures Pavilion and Fate Comes Pavilion jack up their prices once the Lizard Warriors hit the market.

He fitted the Demon Lizard Claws seamlessly onto the puppet frame.

Su Qing pressed his hand against the puppet's chest, injected spiritual power into it, and began activating the puppet for the first time.

A moment later, all the runes on the puppet frame lit with a faint glow. Then, under the effects of the Biomimetic Runes, the entire puppet became brand new.

Its eight-foot body was covered in green scales. Hot air poured from its gaping maw, its powerful tail swayed flexibly, and its clawed hands, each with only three fingers, seemed capable of tearing apart anything.

It was a savage demonic beast almost identical to an adult Clawed Demon Lizard, but before it could flaunt its might for even a moment,

its body collapsed to the ground like rotten mud.

Su Qing was not surprised in the least. As he directed the Wood Spirit Servant to clear away the scrap, he checked the notification panel.

[Refining Lizard Warrior (Tier-1 Mid-Grade) failed. Lizard Warrior Proficiency +1. Current Proficiency: 1/200]

[Intelligence Rune +30, Biomimetic Runes +10, Combat Rune +120, Immortal Path Rune +50]

"Good. The Lizard Warrior doesn't require much Proficiency. At most, after two hundred attempts, I can max out both its Proficiency and Success rate!"

In truth, he knew very well that as his Proficiency increased, so would the Success rate. Therefore, he would not need two hundred attempts to max out the Lizard Warrior's Proficiency.

"The cost of a single attempt is over eighty Spirit Crystals, mainly because the Tier-2 Biomimetic and Intelligence Talisman Water are rather expensive.

"And according to the going rates for Combat Puppets in the Market, one Lizard Warrior can sell for at least five hundred Spirit Crystals. In other words, as long as my Success rate reaches around twenty percent, I can turn a profit?"

Su Qing calculated it in silence and felt that the future held great promise. The materials he had prepared were enough to support more than thirty attempts. If his luck exploded, he might even successfully refine one or two.

"It's just that refining this puppet is rather troublesome and consumes a great deal of spiritual power. Even with the Wood Spirit Servant's help, I can refine at most three in a day!"

Over the next ten-odd days,

Su Qing never stepped beyond his doorstep. He refined puppets during the day and meditated at night to recover. With the Wood Spirit Servant tending to his Daily Life and spirit rice and beast meat at every meal, other than being somewhat dull, life was not difficult.

During that time, only Tang Wanqing visited once. She brought over ten pounds of beast meat and bought all five remaining Demoness Puppets in his stock. It seemed her Flesh Puppet business was doing Not Bad and was now in the stage of expanding its scale.

But Su Qing expected that this was as far as it would go. White Cloud Market Town had only two or three hundred thousand cultivators. No matter how much they wanted a taste of a Demoness, the Demoness Puppets Tang Wanqing currently possessed were enough for them to charge through.

Even Shopkeeper Liu had not sent anyone to place additional orders lately. Presumably, the cultivators outside had also lost some of their initial fascination with Demoness Puppets.

Su Qing had expected this long ago, but he could not help feeling a little pained. After all, Demoness Puppets were currently his most reliable source of profit.

"Next, it'll depend on whether these Lizard Warriors can satisfy Shopkeeper Liu!"

After using up the last of his materials, Su Qing looked at the two Lizard Warriors standing guard before the courtyard gate and placed great hopes on them.

Over these ten-odd days, he had refined Lizard Warriors thirty-three times in total. Thirty-one attempts had failed, and only two had succeeded.

At the Same Time, both Combat Rune and Immortal Path Rune had reached Tier 1, while Intelligence Rune was not far from Tier-2.

Today, he would bring these two finished products to Hundred Treasures Pavilion and let Shopkeeper Liu inspect the goods.

Both Lizard Warriors had already acknowledged him as their master. Their half-human, half-beast bodies were covered in green scales, looking both disgusting and intimidating. They followed closely behind him as he walked out of the courtyard and even knew to help him lock the gate.

This scene happened to fall into the eyes of several nearby cultivators. One of them, a tall and burly Body Cultivator with a somewhat fierce face, strode toward Su Qing and cupped his hands in greeting.

"This humble cultivator is Gao Erqiang. I moved here a few days ago but have not yet paid you a visit, Fellow Daoist. I hope you will forgive me."

"So it is Fellow Daoist Gao. A pleasure, a pleasure."

Su Qing returned the salute. He had heard of this man long ago. It was said that one of his ancestors had been a Tier 3 Body Cultivator, and his family's inherited battle techniques had quite a few tricks to them.

With those inherited battle techniques and his Tier-1 peak cultivation, he led a group of underlings in the Market's Central District and ran a beast meat shop. He was considered one of the Market's well-known butchers. Tang Wanqing's Ironback Bear meat had previously been sold to him in a bundle.

He usually operated in the Central District, though, so Su Qing did not know why he had moved to the Living Area.

"I see that the two Puppets behind you are quite Not Bad, Fellow Daoist. I imagine you purchased them because you intend to try your luck in Hundred Beasts Mountain.

"If you gain anything, I hope you will look after this humble cultivator's business. I guarantee that my price will be no lower than anyone else's!"

Gao Erqiang narrowed his eyes. Like a hyena catching the scent of blood, he scrutinized the Lizard Warriors a few times before bending toward Su Qing with a smile.

Su Qing froze upon hearing this, realizing that Gao Erqiang had misunderstood. He quickly waved his hands.

"With my meager abilities, how would I dare risk myself in Hundred Beasts Mountain? To be honest, Fellow Daoist, I am a puppet master. These two Puppets were not purchased—they were refined by my own hand!"

At these words, the smile on Gao Erqiang's face grew even wider.

"This humble cultivator was blind indeed. I failed to see that you are actually a puppet master, Fellow Daoist. But you are far too modest. With a puppet master's abilities, there is no reason for you to pass up the vast fortune in Hundred Beasts Mountain!"

Having said that, he again reminded Su Qing not to forget his business if he gained anything in Hundred Beasts Mountain in the future.

This left Su Qing utterly baffled. Fortunately, a cultivator beside them whom he knew somewhat cleared up his confusion.

It turned out that during the ten-odd days Su Qing had secluded himself to refine puppets,

some unknown change had occurred in Hundred Beasts Mountain. Large numbers of Tier 1 demonic beasts that had originally nested deep within the mountains had flooded down to the foothills. Some, like the Ironback Bear, had even begun attacking the Spirit Field District.

For the Spirit Planters of the Spirit Field District, Tier 1 demonic beasts ravaging their spirit fields and threatening their lives was undoubtedly a disaster.

But for most cultivators in the Market, it was vast fortune falling from heaven.

Originally, cultivators who wished to hunt demonic beasts had to venture deep into Hundred Beasts Mountain. Miasma filled its depths, and Tier 2-3 Great Demons prowled there. Disaster could strike at any time.

But if Tier 1 demonic beasts left the deep mountains, then without the cover of Hundred Beasts Mountain's miasmic forests and without the threat of Tier 2-3 demonic beasts, they became far easier to deal with.

What delighted the cultivators even more was that just a few days earlier, Hundred Treasures Pavilion and Fate Comes Pavilion in the Market's Central District, along with several official shops under Cloud Mountain Sect's jurisdiction, had all announced that they would purchase demonic beast materials in bulk. They would Accept Allcomers, dealing fairly with young and old alike!

With all that, how could the cultivators of the entire Market not go mad?

And shops such as Hundred Treasures Pavilion and Fate Comes Pavilion, which had originally only done a small amount of beast meat business, had begun competing with the butchers. It was therefore no surprise that Gao Erqiang had been forced to come to the Living Area, hoping to procure goods nearby.

After understanding the reason, Su Qing had not the slightest interest in hunting demonic beasts.

He could earn money while lying low at home. How stupid would he have to be to Risk One's Life fighting demonic beasts?

Still, Fellow Daoist Zhang Hai before him was speaking with great animation and seemed somewhat tempted, so Su Qing could not help offering a reminder.

"Does Fellow Daoist Zhang also wish to try his luck in Hundred Beasts Mountain? If I remember correctly, Fellow Daoist is a Formation Master. There is no need to change professions and become a Monster Hunter, risking your life, is there?"

Zhang Hai looked even frailer than Su Qing. Hearing this, he gazed enviously at the Lizard Warriors behind Su Qing before replying,

"You flatter me, Fellow Daoist. What kind of Formation Master am I? I'm merely a formation apprentice. A few Fellow Daoists have kindly taken a liking to me and asked me to help maintain their formations, and I can share in some of the gains.

"To be honest, I'm somewhat uneasy myself. I wonder how much the two Puppets behind you cost, Fellow Daoist. If the price is suitable, I intend to buy one."

There would be no need to worry about selling the Lizard Warriors!

The moment Zhang Hai finished speaking, Su Qing rejoiced inwardly!

These demonic beasts descending the mountain were also vast fortune falling from heaven for him!