Coach, I Want to Learn This

A long while passed.

Shen Jin leaned back against his chair, lost in a daze for quite some time.

Amidst the scorching gazes of the men and women present, Qingqiu Ningning smoothed out her clothing and nestled into his embrace.

Suddenly, she pointed outside the window: "Isn't that Yu Shanjun? Why is he down at the Weapon-Forging Platform? Is he planning to participate in the Puppet Assembly too?"

Shen Jin let out a contented sigh: "Naturally. His father is the Nine-Nether Underworld Tiger, and the Tiger-Thrall Technique is inherently one of the top-tier puppet arts. Since this is a golden opportunity to trample the Gongshu Clan underfoot, why wouldn't he participate?"

A look of confusion filled Qingqiu Ningning's flushed face: "But I heard that Yu Shanjun hasn't even broken through to the sixth rank yet. Isn't that a bit too reckless?"

"That is where you are wrong!"

Shen Jin raised his eyebrows confidently: "Although I do not know who is behind the Puppet Assembly, at the auction, that servant shattered Gongshu Songting's masterpiece simply because its movement in inserting a hairpin was too clumsy.

In my view, this person's requirement for puppets is not raw power, but agility—the ability to perform tasks that ordinary puppets cannot.

The Tiger-Thrall Technique uses living people to create puppets, which satisfies this requirement perfectly.

Even if Yu Shanjun's strength is a bit lacking, he may not necessarily lose.

If he takes the crown, let's see who still dares to look down on us."

Qingqiu Ningning revealed a look of admiration: "You are so clever."

Shen Jin lifted his chin slightly: "You flatter me."

"Then, are those people behind him the living subjects used for puppet-making?"

"Yes, I bought a few commoner death-row prisoners."

"You are so generous!"

"Now that you are one of us, I shall treat you the same way."

The two whispered sweet nothings to each other.

Wang Li suddenly spoke up: "The organizer is announcing the rules!"

Shen Jin sounded somewhat displeased: "What rules?"

"Artisans must enter the arena empty-handed and forge their puppets using materials provided by the organizers."

"..."

"Look, Yu Shanjun has withdrawn from the competition!"

"..."

Seeing Yu Shanjun withdraw, Qin Muye was amused: "This humorous black-gradient tiger actually thought he could pass off his Tiger-Thrall as the real deal?"

Qin Yanying, however, could not laugh at all, her eyes filled with gloom: "A beast is a beast. His Majesty has truly lost his mind, allowing these Demon Race to run wild on Great Gan soil. The bottom line is sinking lower and lower."

Chen Sui whispered a reminder: "Actually, those great clans also engage in the buying and selling of death-row prisoners."

Qin Yanying's eyebrows shot up instantly: "How can that be the same? The reason Great Gan is so absurd now is entirely because of sycophants like you! I don't know if you are too blind to see the situation or simply too cowardly to speak up! You are nothing but a waste!"

Chen Sui shrank his neck and shut his mouth, looking quite timid.

Bai Yuji quickly smiled to smooth things over: "Aunt! Muye spent a large sum of money today, and that tiger demon has already been driven away. Let's just enjoy the puppet competition happily. If we spend money and still end up angry, wouldn't that be a loss?"

Qin Yanying's anger would not dissipate so quickly, but upon reflection, what her niece-in-law said made perfect sense.

If she spent so much money and still stayed angry, wouldn't that be a total loss?

She took several deep breaths and shot a glance at Chen Sui: "I'm giving my niece-in-law face, so don't you dare provoke me again!"

Chen Sui nodded hurriedly.

Qin Muye smiled and simply closed his eyes to rest.

His paper-doll puppet, draped in a cloak, had already stepped onto the Weapon-Forging Platform. The perspective of a contestant was far better than that of a spectator.

After the rules were announced, a large number of artisans had withdrawn.

Looking at the materials on the table, he felt much more confident.

Most of the materials were not of high grade, with the exception of the flexible ones.

His guess was correct: Li Xingluo's requirement for the puppets was not combat power, but greater flexibility.

Such puppets were highly difficult to craft; even a master artisan might not be able to make them sufficiently agile.

However, such a puppet was certainly not worth two thousand spirit stones; the markup was quite severe.

Qin Muye felt that Li Xingluo buying puppets was merely a facade; her true goal was to bring the artisans who could craft such puppets under her command. He had to perform well—even if he couldn't cling to Li Xingluo's thigh, he had to ensure those two thousand spirit stones ended up in his pocket.

Of course.

It would be best to earn a massive wave of attribute points along the way.

He scanned the arena. There were actually few people who could pose a threat to him. Although master artisans were not particularly rare in this world, their areas of expertise did not lie in puppet-making.

Even those who did craft puppets mostly focused on combat power, so many simply did not bother to come.

Although they wanted to use the Gongshu Clan as a stepping stone to rise, they were equally afraid of being stepped on by some other unknown puppeteer.

The only ones worth noting were just a few.

For instance, that vicious hound from Nanzhao.

And Gongshu Xia, who wore Taoist robes and looked utterly bored.

Qin Muye deliberately chose a spot near Gongshu Xia and scoffed, "I thought the so-called 'refining prodigy' Gongshu Xia was above it all. They say you're the youngest master refiner in the world, standing at the lonely heights of success since your youth—yet here you are, picking up your old refining tricks again?"

Gongshu Xia yawned, "Don't try to provoke me, brother. I won't be withdrawing. My old man said any spirit stones I earn are mine to keep, and he's even subsidizing my master's Taoist temple with another thousand spirit stones."

"Tch!"

Qin Muye curled his lip, thinking that Gongshu Songting was certainly willing to pay a heavy price.

One spirit stone was worth thirty taels; a thousand spirit stones amounted to thirty thousand taels. Given that one tael of silver had the purchasing power of roughly three thousand yuan in his past life, that came out to nearly a hundred million.

A hundred million just to save face.

But then again, Li Xingluo was trampling on the dignity of the entire Gongshu Clan; the reputation of a refining family was worth that much.

What kind of grudge could it be? He had never even heard of any conflict between Li Xingluo and the Gongshu Clan!

Regardless.

Qin Muye looked up at the top floor of the Sword-Viewing Tea Pavilion.

After mastering the Thread-Crafter technique, his spiritual senses were quite sharp. He vaguely felt that someone up there was scrutinizing every single refiner.

It was very likely Li Xingluo.

A direct interview with the boss!

Sword-Viewing Tea Pavilion, top floor.

Pu Mingzhu said respectfully, "Imperial Princess, everything is prepared. Shall we begin?"

"It's starting already?"

Li Runyue frowned, "Where is your Imperial Princess? Won't she come to keep her aunt company?"

Pu Mingzhu smiled, "The Imperial Princess says that all puppets in the world belong to just a few schools. She is only interested in military puppets, which are under the direct control of His Majesty, and she has no interest in the other schools, so she simply went into seclusion to cultivate."

"Oh..."

Li Runyue waved her hand, bored, "Then let's begin!"

Pu Mingzhu smiled and sent a voice transmission to the organizers below.

Soon, the refiners on the Weapon-Forging Platform were busy at work.

Li Runyue leaned lazily against the window, her gaze sweeping over the various refiners.

Suddenly, she pointed at Gongshu Xia, "Is that the refining prodigy of the Gongshu Clan?"

"Replying to the Imperial Princess, it is!"

"Not bad! I thought he wouldn't participate. I hope he can bring me a surprise!"

Li Runyue was pleasantly surprised. She had heard that at fifteen, Gongshu Xia had fully grasped all the family techniques and stepped into the realm of a master refiner. Afterward, he chose to specialize in puppetry for a year—for no other reason than that crafting puppets allowed him to realize many of his whimsical ideas.

But what he had actually researched during that year, no one knew.

After coming out of seclusion, he had simply announced he was giving up refining to study Taoism.

She had sent people to contact Gongshu Xia, but they only ever received one answer: Gongshu Xia was washing his hands of it. No amount of money would change his mind because refining was too boring, especially puppetry.

It had taken her a long time to think of a way to force Gongshu Xia out of hiding.

That was... to trample the face of the Gongshu Clan into the dirt, forcing Gongshu Songting to personally invite his son to step up.

It seemed that had been a success.

On the platform, Gongshu Xia still looked half-dead.

But his hands moved with incredible familiarity. Although his cultivation base was lacking, he could still easily refine various materials using the flames ignited by the Li Fire Array.

Just looking at his demeanor, many master refiners couldn't even compare.

He truly deserved the title of prodigy!

Not bad!

Li Runyue nodded with satisfaction.

Only...

She suddenly frowned, "Why did that kid stop?"

Pu Mingzhu looked in that direction.

She discovered that Gongshu Xia had put down all the work in his hands.

Moreover, he had run over to another refining station, watching the refiner in the bamboo hat craft a puppet with rapt attention.

His lethargic appearance had long since vanished.

On the contrary, his eyes were glowing, "Brother! Your technique for crafting puppets is quite interesting!"

The man in the bamboo hat knew how to play it cool, "Want to learn? Beg me!"