Spiritual Sense Micro-manipulation

[Failed to refine Meditating Doll, Proficiency +1, Current Proficiency: 1/500]

"Your first attempt is always bound to fall short. That's only human nature. Perfectly understandable."

Six hundred Spirit Crystals vanished without a trace, but Su Qing had no time to grieve. In the next instant, he threw himself into another round of refinement.

Carving the main body, sprinkling water and kneading clay, filling earth to shape a figure, brushing on skin, crafting talismans, Spiritual Synchronization.

Black smoke rose from the doll, and Su Qing shuddered.

[Failed to refine Meditating Doll, Proficiency +1, Current Proficiency: 2/500]

"It's fine. This one lasted longer than the last!"

Bang!

This time, the doll's head exploded outright. Spiritual power overload was to blame; he was not even given time to shudder.

[Failed to refine Meditating Doll, Proficiency +1, Current Proficiency: 3/500]

"Impatient, Su Qing. You're getting impatient again. Nobody's doll can be done in one stroke—unless it isn't their own!"

[Failed to refine Meditating Doll, Proficiency +1, Current Proficiency: 22/500]

"Ninety miles is halfway through a hundred-mile journey. I was just a little short that time. Hold on, don't panic."

Su Qing muttered like a man possessed. Having stayed inside his Spirit House refining puppets for three days and three nights without stepping outside, more than twenty failures had now driven his eyes bloodshot. He looked crazed, little different from Gao Erqiang back at the Market.

[Failed to refine Meditating Doll, Proficiency +1, Current Proficiency: 23/500]

"What Puppet Master hasn't gone through failure? As long as this one succeeds, I can win back everything I lost, principal and interest!"

Bang!

After the twenty-fourth Meditating Doll exploded where it stood—

The residual blast struck Su Qing's shoulder, and the searing pain from his wound instantly snapped him awake.

"It's Gambler's Blight! I actually fell into Gambler's Blight too!"

Having regained his senses, he summoned the Spider Doctor to mend his wound and said with relief.

Gambler's Blight was a calamity that Artifact Refiners, Talisman Masters, Puppet Masters, and other Professionals might all encounter.

After repeated refinement failures and the loss of vast amounts of materials, these Professionals would become like gamblers whose eyes had turned red from losing. They would stake their entire fortunes, fantasizing about winning it all back in one go. Yet in most cases, all that awaited them was ruin.

Su Qing had suffered failures before while refining other Puppets, but he had never fallen into Gambler's Blight.

In the past, he had thought it was simply because he was cautious by nature and possessed strong self-control. When he saw those gambling dogs, he would only mock them in secret, thinking them unworthy of pity.

But now he understood. It was because those Puppets had never truly mattered to him.

Demoness Puppets and Lizard Warriors—no matter how many he refined, they only earned him a few more Spirit Crystals.

To achieve nothing in cultivation, to have only a hundred and fifty or sixty years to live, then dwell in a grand house, keep beautiful maidservants, father seven or eight children, and live with food brought to his mouth—what meaning was there in a life like that?

He wanted to establish his foundation, form a Golden Core, attain the Dao and live forever, enjoy immortal blessings for all eternity.

The Meditating Doll had given him hope.

And because his obsession with the Meditating Doll ran too deep—

Even knowing that things could not be done, he had continued refining again and again, falling into the trap of Gambler's Blight.

That was close. He had nearly squandered his entire fortune!

"More than twenty sets of materials—that's over ten thousand Spirit Crystals! I earned that money Puppet by Puppet, Puppet by Puppet. How did I dare spend it so crazily, without even seeing the slightest ripple!"

In truth, there had been a slight ripple. More than ten thousand Spirit Crystals had bought him over twenty points of Proficiency, raising his Success rate for refining Meditating Dolls by around five percent.

But what was five percent worth?

When refining Lizard Warriors, he could force up the Success rate by piling up failed attempts. That was because Lizard Warrior materials were not expensive, and Fate Comes Pavilion also supplied materials for him to practice with.

Meditating Dolls could neither be sold for income nor were their materials remotely cheap. He did not dare refine them that way, nor could he afford to.

"Almost every failure gets stuck at the Spiritual Synchronization step. There's no problem with my Spiritual Sense Intensity. The hard part is Spiritual Sense Micro-manipulation. If I improve that, the Success rate should rise."

Su Qing calmly analyzed the reasons for his failures. He immediately stopped his futile attempts, pushed open the Spirit House door, and headed toward the White Tooth Elephant.

Spiritual Sense Micro-manipulation was the signature skill of Spirit Healers!

During his recent Cooperation with Guo Qiao Lian, Su Qing had seen more than once how she used her spiritual sense to manipulate Spirit Needles as thin as hairs, stitching wounds together.

In emergencies, she could even control dozens of Spirit Needles at once, each sewing its own stitch.

This level of Spiritual Sense Micro-manipulation was precisely what Su Qing lacked most desperately right now!

"Still, this kind of technique is a Spirit Healer's bread and butter. I wonder what price I'll have to pay before Guo Qiao Lian agrees to teach me."

Along the way, Su Qing furrowed his brow, considering what he possessed that might move Guo Qiao Lian.

Demoness Puppets? Guo Qiao Lian had no use for them.

Lizard Warriors? One or two showed no sincerity, while her Spiritual Sense Intensity might not support controlling many more.

Armored War Bears? She did not seem capable of handling those either.

After turning it over and over in his mind, aside from smashing the problem with Spirit Crystals, the only bargaining chip he could think of was the Spider Doctor.

Guo Qiao Lian would certainly like a miniature medical Puppet like the Spider Doctor.

But this Puppet consumed few materials and had outstanding functions. It could be refined in large quantities.

Once word got out, Cloud Mountain Sect might seize him and make him endlessly refine them for the War Cultivators at the front lines, turning him into nothing more than a Tool Person for puppet refinement. The risk was too great.

"If Guo Qiao Lian is willing to sign a Spirit Contract with me, then with the contract as assurance, I could give her two or three hundred!"

For the Meditating Doll, he was willing to take a little risk.

When he reached the area near the White Tooth Elephant, he saw his Fire Egg wearing a fawning expression, waiting beside the White Tooth Elephant for Guo Qiao Lian to feed it. Upon seeing him, it let out a whimper, its dog eyes brimming with tears and grievance.

Wasn't it aggrieved? Did anyone know how Fire Egg had spent these three days? Its master had stayed inside the Spirit House without coming out, and its Dog Food had been cut off at once. If it had not mooched off the White Tooth Elephant's meals these past three days, Fire Egg would have grown thin!

He shoved the approaching Fire Egg aside.

Su Qing cupped his hands toward Guo Qiao Lian, who was focused on feeding them, and said:

"Fellow Daoist Guo, have you been well these past few days?"

"Fellow Daoist Su? You've come out of seclusion?" Guo Qiao Lian lowered her eyes and saw Su Qing standing tall before her. Her gaze immediately lit up with delight.

At the Forward Camp, guards like Ma Tuan were not from the same world as them—cold and difficult to talk to. Liang Hai Shun was too old, He Lian Xian too ugly, the Spirit Pattern Master too terrifying, and the Flute Musician far too glib.

In Guo Qiao Lian's heart, she only felt most comfortable when she was with Fellow Daoist Su.

Fellow Daoist Su was handsome, and his words were pleasant to hear. The key was that he could treat illnesses and save people with her. Not a single person who had used the legs Fellow Daoist Su installed had failed to praise them!

Guo Qiao Lian loved making house calls with Fellow Daoist Su. During the three days Su Qing had been in seclusion, she had been all alone and no longer as happy as before.

Seeing the delight in Guo Qiao Lian's eyes, warmth also stirred in Su Qing's heart.

He had a rather favorable impression of this lively, cheerful, kind-hearted Female Cultivator, a clear stream among Rogue Cultivators.

Only after she flipped down from the White Tooth Elephant did he give a wry smile and say:

"I've recently been refining a New Type of Puppet. It is only because my skills are lacking that after three days of bitter refinement, I failed to produce even one. Left with no choice, I came out of seclusion to seek your guidance on a matter."

"Ah, I don't understand puppet refinement. You came to the wrong person, Fellow Daoist!"

Hearing that Su Qing wanted to ask her for guidance, Guo Qiao Lian immediately became flustered. When she had followed Su Qing before, she had only been secretly studying his Biomimetic Runes, feeling that Fellow Daoist Su surpassed her by far.

Now that she suddenly heard Su Qing wanted to learn something from her, she felt the awkwardness of a poor student being asked a question by the top student.

"I wish to know how to improve my Spiritual Sense Micro-manipulation. I wonder under what conditions you might be willing to teach me."

Though he had a good relationship with Guo Qiao Lian, teachings were not passed outside the school. Guo Qiao Lian's skills were crafts passed down through generations, the means by which she made her living. Asking so abruptly naturally made him feel somewhat embarrassed.

If Fellow Daoist Guo agrees, I would not hesitate to give away the Spider Doctor! Su Qing silently thought.

Yet before he could name his further terms, Guo Qiao Lian exhaled, patted her chest, and smiled brightly at him, her lovely eyes shining.

"I really do know Spiritual Sense Micro-manipulation. You want to learn? I'll teach you!"