A Sword That Cuts People on Its Own!

As a mature sword, it should learn to cut people on its own.

That was more or less what Qing He meant.

Su Qing, who had thought his own ideas were already unrestrained imagination, now stared blankly at Qing He.

It was hard to imagine that this female cultivator before him, who understood propriety and etiquette, could harbor such wild thoughts.

Refine a magic sword into a puppet and have it cut people on its own?

If that could work, He Su Qing would have done it long ago. What prestige was there in commanding a dozen or so Lizard Warriors? He would command millions of swords tomorrow and flatten Hundred Beasts Mountain.

But he could not do it. Artifact refining and puppet refining both required Rune Techniques, but their respective methods were as far apart as heaven and earth.

If Su Qing were asked to refine a puppet shaped like a magic sword, he might be able to manage it. But for that Magic Sword Puppet to be like a genuine magic sword and unleash the ultimate might of a real magic sword—that was sheer fantasy.

"Fellow Daoist is quite beautiful, and your thoughts are beautiful as well. It is only that I am lacking in talent and learning, unable to realize Fellow Daoist's exceptionally creative idea."

Su Qing waved his hands even more firmly than before. This was no longer a matter of crossing professions; it practically meant creating an entirely new profession.

Artifact-Puppet Master? Puppet-Artifact Master?

In any case, it was not within Su Qing's line of work. He was powerless to help, powerless to help!

Seeing that he seemed ready to ignore her, Qing He hurriedly said:

"Fellow Daoist, do not be hasty. This Fire Spirit Sword is merely a sword embryo and has never passed through an Artifact Refiner's hands. Fellow Daoist only needs to treat it as ordinary material and refine it into a puppet capable of carrying out complex commands!"

At these words, Su Qing's heart stirred, and he asked Qing He about her requirements again.

It turned out that this Fire Spirit Sword had been cast from an entire piece of Crimson Fire Profound Crystal. By the usual size of a Fire Spirit Sword, this one piece of Crimson Fire Profound Crystal could have been made into more than twenty swords.

After Qing He spent most of her savings to buy it, she found such a large piece of Crimson Fire Profound Crystal too rare to bear breaking it into several pieces. Thus, she had a Spirit Craftsman cast it into the shape of a Fire Spirit Sword.

Yet if a Fire Spirit Sword of such specifications were refined into a magic artifact by an Artifact Refiner, her spiritual power would be completely insufficient to control it. She would not be able to make it do anything at all.

Originally, Qing He had intended to cultivate a Profound Grade Daoist Art called the Sword Control Art, using its techniques to operate this Fire Spirit Sword.

But she did not know whether she had overestimated her talent for Daoist arts or underestimated the Sword Control Art, a technique known as the most difficult among Profound Grade Daoist arts.

In short, after painstakingly cultivating the Sword Control Art for several years, she had gained a little understanding of it, but was still far from being able to wield an enormous Fire Spirit Sword more than twenty times heavier than normal.

She had gradually forgotten about it and put this Fire Spirit Sword away on a high shelf. Only when she occasionally saw it did her heart ache, and she blamed herself for her impulsive spending back then.

But after seeing the intelligence displayed by Su Qing's Lizard Warriors, an idea had taken root in her mind.

She truly could not wield the Fire Spirit Sword through her own divine sense alone, but what if the Fire Spirit Sword could move by itself?

As long as she gave it a little command and guidance, it would still make a formidable weapon in combat. At the very least, it would no longer have to lie there gathering dust!

Su Qing stroked the Fire Spirit Sword Embryo and secretly thought that materials worth five or six Spirit Stones really did feel different from other materials.

At this point, he was already prepared to accept the job.

Still, he did not forget to give Qing He a reminder, lest she quarrel with him after he finished refining it.

"If that is the case, this humble Daoist may give it a try. However, without passing through an Artifact Refiner's hands, this sword cannot be imbued with all sorts of special effects, and the material's advantages will be difficult to bring out in full. Fellow Daoist must understand this."

When Artifact Refiners made magic artifacts, they would imbue them with effects such as sharpness, armor-piercing, and swiftness according to the properties of the materials. Su Qing did not know any of those techniques.

If Qing He ended up dissatisfied with his finished product, he had no desire to compensate her.

"Please rest assured, Fellow Daoist. Qing He is not an unreasonable person. An ordinary Fire Spirit Sword has four or five effects, such as Giant Strength, defense-breaking, and fire poison.

"But this sword embryo is enormous to begin with. Even without an Artifact Refiner's work, its Giant Strength and defense-breaking effects already far surpass those of an ordinary Fire Spirit Sword. As for the other effects, they are neither here nor there to Qing He. Fellow Daoist may refine it without worry."

Qing He only wanted to make use of something otherwise wasted. Why would she care about special effects? Even if it had none at all, having such a huge sword go out and cut people would surely feel more satisfying than an ordinary little sword.

"Fellow Daoist looks so delicate and frail, yet I never expected you to favor such a violent style of combat!" Su Qing said, as though he were getting to know Qing He anew.

"What, is that not allowed? What do you puppet masters know about fighting!" Ma Tuan, who had listened at the side for a long while, opened his sleepy old eyes and mocked him.

"Go back to sleep!" Qing He glared at Ma Tuan, then turned back to Su Qing with a smile, waiting for his answer.

Su Qing did not understand combat, but he understood puppets. Besides, he still needed this person's help!

"Fine! I'll take Fellow Daoist's job. Once it is refined, Fellow Daoist Ma Tuan can serve as the sparring partner when we test the sword!"

Su Qing glanced at Ma Tuan and accepted the job with a smile.

Neither of them discussed the refining fee. Under normal rates, for a custom puppet made with the client's own materials, a puppet master would take thirty percent of the material costs, depending on the difficulty.

But Su Qing feared that he might accidentally ruin the sword embryo, so he was too embarrassed to bring it up first.

Qing He felt that her idea was somewhat forcing the impossible on him, and she did not know what price she should offer.

Thus, both of them played dumb, leaving everything to be discussed after the refining was complete.

While he and Qing He were discussing this business.

Tong Xin rummaged through boxes and chests in the back, and finally gathered all the materials Su Qing needed from the goods he had brought with him.

"Five hundred Spirit Crystals per set? Tong Xin, you really are wasting your talents. If you ask me, you should be a shopkeeper in the Central District. When it comes to having a black heart, you are far worse than Shopkeeper Liu!"

Hearing that Tong Xin wanted five hundred Spirit Crystals for a set of spiritual materials that would only last half a month and normally cost just over a hundred Spirit Crystals at the Market, Su Qing was so shocked that he nearly cursed aloud.

"Fellow Daoist, that is not fair. You know that prices at the Market have soared. And this little shop is in the Hunting Grounds. While we do not have to pay taxes and fees, the risks are great. One careless mistake, and we could lose everything.

"With the risks we bear, along with the Expenses of making Round Trips to the Central District to restock goods, it is only normal for the price to be somewhat higher than in the Central District. Of course, if Fellow Daoist is willing to make the trip to the Central District, you can get a set for a little over two hundred Spirit Crystals!"

Tong Xin's argument was sound and well-supported. Though Su Qing was unhappy, he was not about to make a round trip for a few hundred Spirit Crystals. He could only obediently pay up and let Tong Xin carve off his share.

But before he could take out the Spirit Crystals, Qing He said in a voice gentle as spring breeze and rain:

"Put it on my account. Consider these five sets of materials Qing He's advance payment to Fellow Daoist Su. What does Fellow Daoist Su think?"

"Fellow Daoist is forthright. Then I shall humbly accept!"

An advance payment of two thousand five hundred Spirit Crystals—once the deal was truly complete, how much would she pay?

It had to be said that Qing He really knew how to handle people.

Su Qing had not been very interested in refining the Magic Sword Puppet at first and had only planned to tinker with it slowly in his spare time. But now, he was eager to quickly refine the puppet.

After all, it was an income stream!

Recently, his Spirit Crystals had only been going out and never coming in. If this continued, he would not be able to hold on for long.