Prosthetic Limbs and Artificial Bodies

Ge Changyuan's words made Su Qing's heart sink. The Spirit Field District was vast and sparsely populated, with more than half of it lying beyond the Market. Incidents of demonic beasts harming people were frequent enough to be nothing unusual.

For someone like Ge Ling to escape alive from a demonic beast's jaws was already a blessing amid misfortune.

And in the Cultivation World, losing a limb was not considered any great matter.

The superior method was to use the Limb Regeneration Technique, restoring the limb to its original state. But such means could only be wielded by Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivators of the Late Foundation Establishment stage. Neither Ge Changyuan nor Su Qing had the standing to ask such a figure to intervene, much less afford the price.

The middling method was to seek a Spirit Healer, provided the severed limb had been preserved intact. The limb could be reattached, and after several months of recuperation, there should be no further trouble. But from Ge Dayuan's description, the demonic beast had torn off her leg and fled. By now, that severed leg had likely already been digested into pulp.

The inferior method was prosthetic modification—using external objects to replace some of the missing limb's functions. Some Puppet Master Apprentices and Artifact Refining Apprentices could accomplish this.

But with differing skill levels, the effectiveness of prosthetic limbs naturally varied as widely as heaven and earth.

Artifact Refiners treated a prosthetic limb as an independent entity, refining it with the methods used for Magic Artifacts. The limb itself might have no major flaws, but the sluggishness when operating it constantly reminded the patient that they were wearing an artificial body part.

In comparison, Puppet Masters treated the patient as a whole, with the prosthetic limb merely one part of that whole. Once installed, it not only connected seamlessly with the patient's flesh, but also possessed a degree of intelligence. If not for the fact that cultivation became impossible after installing a prosthetic limb, the limbs refined by Puppet Masters could truly contend with a Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivator's Limb Regeneration Technique.

Su Qing's main means of making a living in the Spirit Field District had once been twofold: repairing Farm Tools for Spirit Planters, and occasionally refining prosthetic limbs for Spirit Planters who had lost theirs.

At the time, he had only been a Puppet Master Apprentice. Yet because he was meticulous, Good at fulfilling needs his customers had thought of and needs they had not, coupled with his unique attainments in Biomimetic Runes, every customer who had used the prosthetic limbs he refined spoke highly of them.

That was why Ge Changyuan had rushed over in the dead of night to ask him to refine a prosthetic limb for Ge Ling. It proved that his former reputation had been well earned.

Of course, another reason was that he was now a Mid-grade Tier 1 Puppet Master, and the only Tier 1 Puppet Master Ge Changyuan had any hope of hiring.

"Ling'er has loved beauty since she was little. This old man cannot bear to let her use those crudely made prosthetic limbs. Please make the trip, Fellow Daoist. This old man has already prepared the payment. See whether this is enough. If it isn't, this old man can scrape together more. My family's spirit fields are still worth over a thousand Spirit Crystals."

Although Ge Changyuan had once allowed Su Qing to stay in his home for several years, and there was some friendship between them.

Cultivators were thin in sentiment. Since Su Qing had advanced to a Tier 1 Puppet Master, the two sides had rarely interacted. Whether Su Qing still remembered their old ties was something Ge Changyuan could not be certain of.

Concern had thrown him into disarray. Afraid that Su Qing would look down on such a small job, he stuffed the money pouch in his hand toward Su Qing before Su Qing could agree.

Su Qing did not refuse. He took the pouch, weighed it in his hand, and estimated that it contained over four hundred Spirit Crystals.

That was no small sum.

For a Spirit Planter like Ge Changyuan, after laboring for an entire year and deducting all expenses, he could only save two or three hundred Spirit Crystals. Add in the purchase of plowing beasts and Farm Tools, along with his family's expenses, and there would be almost nothing left at the end of the year. The Spirit Crystals in this pouch were already his savings from many years.

But for Su Qing, not to mention the risks of making a round trip from the Living Area to the Spirit Field District, just the time wasted meant that, at his current efficiency in Refining Puppets, he would only be taking a loss.

Moreover, he was currently at a critical stage in pushing the Passion Puppet's completion rate to perfection. If anyone else had come asking, he would have refused outright.

But the Ge family naturally held a different place in his heart from ordinary people.

"Wait outside for a moment, Fellow Daoist. Let me make some preparations."

Seeing Su Qing accept the money pouch, Ge Changyuan felt greatly relieved. He silently thought that his wife had been right—Fellow Daoist Su was a man who valued sentiment and loyalty.

Before long, with the Wood Spirit Servant's assistance, Su Qing strapped all the tools needed for puppet crafting onto an Iron-Footed Horse and walked out of the courtyard.

The Living Area was utterly silent in the dead of night. Few cultivators went outside, lest they run into Evil Entities.

The moment Su Qing stepped out of the courtyard, his brows faintly furrowed.

This world was unlike his previous life. Evil Entities were not delusions born of ignorance, but things that truly existed.

As Su Qing knew, Evil Entities belonged to yin. Wherever sins, grievances, and injustices ran rampant, the greater the chance of Evil Entities being born. They acted according to certain patterns. Anyone who encountered them would, at best, fall seriously ill, and at worst, lose their life.

The area around White Cloud Market Town was densely populated and had enjoyed peace for a long time. In addition, the Market held an Exorcism Ritual every half year, so Evil Entities rarely appeared.

But even so, Rogue Cultivators still avoided going out at night whenever possible.

He did have Exorcism Talismans purchased from the Old Daoist on him, but with the meager cultivation of Ge Changyuan and himself, even with Talismans protecting them, if they truly encountered an Evil Entity, they would likely find it difficult to escape disaster.

Beyond that, Su Qing was even more concerned about the Robber Cultivators lying in wait along the hundred-li stretch between the Living Area and the Spirit Field District.

Ever since the misfortune had occurred, Ge Changyuan had focused only on finding Su Qing. All he had thought about along the way was what to do if Su Qing refused, and he had not spared a thought for the dangers of the journey.

Now, seeing Su Qing lead the Iron-Footed Horse and stare wordlessly into the pitch-black night, he came to his senses and broke out in a cold sweat.

"This old man deserves death. I never considered the dangers on the road. I cannot let Fellow Daoist risk danger with this old man. Shall we wait until dawn before setting off?"

Ge Changyuan slapped his forehead in frustration. After speaking, he squatted by the courtyard wall. Though his heart was filled with urgency, he did not dare urge Su Qing in the slightest.

"The sooner the prosthetic limb is installed, the better. The longer it is delayed, the worse its effects will be. We cannot wait until dawn!"

Su Qing set the Iron-Footed Horse aside and walked to Tang Wanqing's courtyard.

Before he could knock, Tang Wanqing—dressed in a plain-colored Dharma Robe and seemingly having listened for movement outside all along—opened the door and stepped out.

After the two spoke quietly for a few moments, Su Qing hired Tang Wanqing, a Late Qi Refining Stage cultivator, to accompany them as a Guard, at the price of one premium Passion Puppet.

Though Ge Changyuan did not know what price Su Qing had paid to enlist Tang Wanqing, he knew that Su Qing had done it for his daughter's sake. Moved, he patted his chest and declared that he would bear the hiring fee.

Su Qing gave a slight nod, intending only to symbolically collect a few Spirit Crystals from him afterward.

The three spoke no further. Ge Changyuan led the way on a short-legged horse, Su Qing rode in the middle on the Iron-Footed Horse, and Tang Wanqing came last, activating her Dharma Robe to float several zhang above the ground.

Along the way, perhaps because Demonic Cultivators had caused trouble that day, the Robber Cultivators had chosen to wait and lie low for a few days. Or perhaps Tang Wanqing's Late Qi Refining Stage cultivation was sufficiently intimidating.

In any case, the three traveled without incident. They encountered neither Evil Entities nor Robber Cultivators, allowing Su Qing, who had used his divine sense to control the Wood Spirit Servant as a lookout all along, to secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

As the darkness of night faded and the great sun stood on the verge of rising, the three, having traveled through most of the night, finally reached the territory of Ge Family Village.