The Meditating Doll Finally Bore Fruit!

There was no sense of time in cultivation.

Su Qing had never felt this phrase deeply before.

Ever since he had transmigrated, he had hardly cultivated seriously.

His spiritual roots were too poor. Even cultivating the Spring Return Technique and Taking pills, he still could not keep up with others. Naturally, he had never been particularly keen on cultivation.

But ever since he began cultivating the Needle Control Incantation, he finally understood what those words meant.

The sun rose and the moon set, clouds drifted and winds blew. A month slipped quietly away.

Over that month, he still had not seen Tang Wanqing.

According to the Rogue Cultivators, there was another camp over fifty li ahead of this one, closer to the demonic beasts, where battles broke out far more frequently.

Tang Wanqing, Pang Zhizhong, Niu Ya, whose leg had healed, and the other skilled hunters were almost all stationed at that camp.

Though Su Qing was especially curious about Tang Wanqing's current situation, he did not rashly venture into such a perilous place.

During that month, he cultivated steadily and quietly built up his strength.

Every so often, he sold a few Lizard Warriors; every so often, he followed Guo Qiao Lian in sewing up legs; every so often, he tinkered with the Fire Spirit Sword Embryo.

There were quite a few trivial matters, after all. People had to eat and dogs had to be fed. Only those Sect True Inheritances could ignore all production and devote themselves wholly to cultivation. He did not have that blessing.

After a month of diligent work, the Spirit Crystals in his Storage Bag had accumulated to over fifty thousand. But today, after another round of spending at the Hundred Treasures Small Shop, they had dropped back to just over twenty thousand.

"Throwing around ten thousand Spirit Crystals on materials for practice—no wonder Fellow Daoist Su's puppet-making skills have advanced by leaps and bounds. If you're willing to invest, you'll naturally see returns!"

A voice of praise came from the back of the shop. Su Qing looked up and saw Qing He approaching gracefully in a black Dharma Robe.

"Fellow Daoist, have you returned from Black Tiger Mountain? Did you encounter that Black Mountain Tiger?" Su Qing asked with cupped hands.

Half a month ago, Qing He had taken Liang Hai Shun and the others to Black Tiger Mountain to make their final preparations for hunting that demonic beast.

He had not expected her to return so soon.

"We did not meet it head-on. We only caught a distant glimpse of it. That beast was truly alert. It lingered on Black Tiger Mountain for only a moment before burrowing back into the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range."

Qing He remained gentle and poised, not at all like someone who had just emerged from a dragon's pool and tiger's den like Black Tiger Mountain. After answering Su Qing, she finally could not help asking, "As you know, in no more than a month, we will make our move against the Black Mountain Tiger. How is your Magic Sword Puppet coming along, Fellow Daoist?

"This time, I glimpsed that Black Mountain Tiger from afar. A Tier 2 Demonic Beast possesses an awe-inspiring presence. If I could have the Magic Sword Puppet's help during the great battle, I would have a little more confidence, would I not?"

Su Qing knew that Qing He had stopped him to ask about this. Otherwise, once the battle was over, whether Qing He lived or died would be uncertain. Even if the Magic Sword Puppet were successfully refined, what would it have to do with her?

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. Within half a month, I will deliver the Magic Sword Puppet!" he promised with cupped hands.

"Oh, does that mean Fellow Daoist already has an idea? How certain are you of refining it successfully?"

Qing He's eyes lit up, her face full of expectation.

Su Qing did indeed have some confidence, but he did not dare speak too absolutely.

"I do have some ideas, but this is my first attempt. Before I begin refining it, I cannot claim to have much certainty. If the refinement fails, I hope Fellow Daoist will not blame me."

"Of course. This item is like chicken ribs to me anyway—tasteless to eat, a pity to throw away. Fellow Daoist, simply refine it without worry. If it fails, it will only mean Qing He lacks such fortune."

Qing He nodded repeatedly, not daring to place any mental burden on Su Qing.

After bidding Qing He farewell,

Su Qing ran into Liang Hai Shun and He Lian Xian whispering to one another on the road.

"Brother He Lian, Spirit Crystals won't be easy to earn this time. I've looked over Black Tiger Mountain. Not only is it a barren mountain with treacherous waters and dangerous terrain, but there are hundreds of Tier 1 demonic beasts on the mountain under that Black Mountain Tiger's command. This bone is far too hard—I fear the Hundred Treasures Pavilion won't be able to chew through it!"

"Didn't they say they would contact several nearby hunting teams to besiege Black Tiger Mountain together? With so many fellow cultivators helping, there shouldn't be much of a problem, should there?"

"Ah, the more people and beasts there are, the bigger the scene, and the more trouble there is. We aren't War Cultivators. When the time comes, no one will have the attention to spare for us. One misstep, and we could lose our lives!"

"What else can we do? Lately, under Ma Tuan and the others' protection, we have earned no small amount of Spirit Crystals. If we try to pull out now, leaving everything else aside, we'd have to spit all those Spirit Crystals back out. Could you bear that?"

"Ah, earning Spirit Crystals may feel good, but I'm afraid we'll earn them only to have no life left to spend them!"

After listening for a while, Su Qing realized that Liang Hai Shun wanted to chicken out at the last moment after benefiting from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. He immediately lost interest in listening further.

"Fellow Daoist Su? This old man was just looking for you. Come, sell this old man four Lizard Warriors!"

Liang Hai Shun spotted Su Qing and immediately grabbed hold of him.

"Fellow Daoist wants to change his taste? In the past, I only ever saw you buy Demoness Puppets."

Su Qing knew Liang Hai Shun had been frightened by the situation at Black Tiger Mountain and wanted to buy Lizard Warriors to bolster his courage, so he pretended not to know and teased him.

To his surprise, not only did Liang Hai Shun pay for Lizard Warriors, even the ever-miserly He Lian Xian paid for two of them.

That made Su Qing uneasy as well.

Looks like I need to prepare more Puppets too. Whether they Can be used or not is one thing, but if the situation truly becomes critical, these could save my life!

Recently, as he cultivated the Needle Control Incantation, his use of spiritual sense had become far beyond what it once was.

Things that had originally required two portions of spiritual sense could now be done with one.

That meant the number of Puppets he could control had directly doubled.

But he had been busy cultivating and Making money. Most of the additional Lizard Warriors he had refined had been sold off, so the size of his personal puppet battle squad had still not increased.

As he silently calculated whether it would be more worthwhile to refine a few more Armored War Bears for himself or thirty to fifty Lizard Warriors,

he had already returned to his Spirit House.

When he saw the Hei Was that had failed in the previous refinement,

all the thoughts in his mind were immediately occupied by the Meditating Doll again.

Refine the doll!

After holding back for nearly a month, he finally had some confidence today.

How could he Have Time to refine other Puppets?

Mixing Talisman Water.

Carving the main body.

Sprinkling water and kneading clay.

Talisman Crafting.

Activating the Puppet.

Bang!

Before reaching Spiritual Synchronization, the Meditating Doll collapsed.

This was entirely normal. Though the hardest part of refining a Meditating Doll was the final step of Spiritual Synchronization,

there was also a risk of failure in every other stage. After all, his Success rate in refining this type of Puppet was pitifully low.

After wasting five sets of materials, he finally successfully activated a Meditating Doll so black it gleamed.

Filled with excitement, he began sitting cross-legged in meditation.

His spiritual sense surged out from his sea of consciousness, separating evenly into two wisps like thin smoke.

One controlled his main body, while the other controlled the Meditating Doll.

This time, the sensation was completely different from a month ago.

Through the effect of the Biomimetic Runes, he could clearly sense the minute flow of spiritual power through the Meditating Doll's meridians, allowing him to precisely control the speed at which the Meditating Doll cultivated the Spring Return Technique.

Adjusting frequencies.

Adjusting frequencies without end!

Spiritual communion.

The first spiritual communion!

Synchronize frequencies, then commune again!

When the spiritual power frequencies of both sides finally became one,

a feeling unlike anything he had ever experienced welled up within him.

Apart from the spiritual power generated by his own cultivation, another pulse of spiritual power identical to it abruptly appeared in his sea of consciousness.

An unceasing stream, enduring without end!