Divine Puppet Artisan

"Boss, good news!" Wang Sheng said excitedly.

"What good news?"

“The assistant to the manager of the Nancy Building Project called today to ask about Dream Glass. Looks like our plan is working.”

"It'd better be. We sank hundreds of thousands into it. If it didn't work, I'd have to jump off a building," Shen Bing grumbled.

Wang Sheng said nothing. He knew his boss was still sore about it. After all, the Illusion Immortal Glass Factory's first order for Dream Glass had been free.

"What did they say?"

"They probably got our contact details from the Sanitation Bureau. Since we built the public restroom on Financial Street for free, they don't know our price yet. They don't even have the full product specifications. That's what they called to ask about."

"Then send them our test report."

"What about the price?"

"Add ten yuan per square meter."

"Uh... why add ten yuan?" Wang Sheng looked utterly baffled, though Shen Bing couldn't see him.

"You think building that restroom was free?"

"Uh... it didn't cost that much. The whole thing came to just over four hundred thousand." Wang Sheng knew the company's expenses well.

"Interest!" Shen Bing hung up.

He couldn't exactly say it was because two people connected to Nancy Group had rubbed him the wrong way. Besides, adding ten yuan was merciful. He could have added a hundred and told them to take it or leave it.

Merciful, my ass. He was just afraid that asking too much would kill his first sale.

Shen Bing didn't need to worry about the negotiations. He only had to sign the contract once both sides reached an agreement.

This was a project worth over a hundred million yuan. Given Phantom Immortal Technology's size, Shen Bing had to sign a deal like this himself.

Good news put a spring in his step. He had barely finished the call when a system notification popped up on his phone.

"Exalted One, wake up! How did you fall asleep?"

What the hell? Shen Bing was baffled. Was his mobile carrier playing a prank?

The next second, he realized it was no prank. It was a push notification from the Gate to the Immortal Realm.

Shen Bing felt as though ten thousand censored beasts had stampeded across his forehead.

He had spent nearly four days staring at the screen, terrified he would miss Lu Ban. And now he found out the game sent notifications.

It was like staying up all night grinding monsters by hand, only to learn the game had an auto-play feature. What a wonderful feeling.

Shen Bing had no time to dwell on it. He opened the Gate to the Immortal Realm and, sure enough, found Lu Ban shouting beside his character.

"Exalted One, you're finally awake. Were you cultivating just now?"

Cultivating, my ass! Could I tell you I'd logged off?

This game was ridiculous. His character stayed there like a robot even after he logged off.

One-star review.

Shen Bing ignored Lu Ban's question and asked, "Fellow Immortal Ban Shu, have you finished that Immortal Carriage?"

"That's why I came to find you, Exalted One. The Immortal Carriage is finished, and I couldn't have done it without you. Would you like to come see it?" Lu Ban's face was full of admiration.

"Let's take a look, then." Shen Bing struck the pose of a lofty master.

Shen Bing guided his character behind Lu Ban. Before long, they reached the foot of a mountain, where a cliff hundreds of meters high rose straight into the clouds. It was a magnificent sight.

A section of the cliff face opened on its own, revealing a resplendent Cave Abode within.

"Damn, an automatic door!" Shen Bing muttered as he followed Lu Ban inside.

Shen Bing froze.

What is this place?

From outside, the mountain was only a few hundred meters tall. Inside was a space thousands of meters high and nearly as vast as the entire island.

Pavilions and towers dotted the space, with little bridges arching over flowing streams.

Mist drifted among them, and Immortal Birds wheeled overhead. It was a scene fit for immortals.

This had to be the legendary power of an Immortal, some spatial art like the Sumeru Ring.

A world in a flower, enlightenment in a leaf.

Of course, the space before him fell far short of a world in a flower. At most, it expanded the available space a hundredfold or so.

Shen Bing, this fake God, couldn't walk very fast, so Lu Ban had to slow down and proceed patiently, step by step.

At last, they reached a huge plaza. The scene here was completely different from everywhere else.

More than a dozen Divine Puppets moved about the plaza. Some carried materials, some hammered away at objects, and others took measurements with rulers.

“These are Divine Puppet Artisans I made,” Lu Ban said proudly. “Every one of them is a master craftsman. They can even inscribe complex Immortal Arrays. They can also change their shape and size, making them suited to crafting components of any dimensions.” Across the entire Immortal Realm, only he, Craftsman God Lu Ban, could do such a thing.

In the real world, Shen Bing was practically drooling.

After browsing tasks for days, Shen Bing was no longer completely ignorant of the Immortal Realm. One task description had taught him that inscribing an Immortal Array demanded precision beyond belief.

On Earth, companies capable of nanometer-level precision were already among the best in the world.

But what scale did the most complex Immortal Arrays reach? Shen Bing had seen a unit in that task description: Yomimeters.

He had looked it up online.

Afterward, he had only one thing to say.

Yocto, my ass...

The gap between a meter and a light-year was enormous. The gap between a Yomimeter and a Nanometer was about the same.

These unassuming Divine Puppets could inscribe complex Immortal Arrays! Earth's machining technology lagged behind them by tens of thousands of light-years.

Shen Bing watched one Divine Puppet extend a carving knife from its arm and slice a piece of metal in two. Its hands darted about, rapidly shaping a grinding-wheel-sized chunk of metal into a precise form.

Damn it, that's a humanoid machine tool!

I'm not asking for much. Just give me one Divine Puppet Artisan like that.

If one's too few, a dozen would work too.

I wouldn't complain...

With anything else, Shen Bing could have put on the air of an aloof immortal indifferent to worldly things. Faced with something this valuable, though, how could he stay calm?

"Immortal Friend Ban Shu, these are fascinating. Could you bear to part with one and give it to me?" Shen Bing felt his face heat up. His game character's face probably hadn't changed color, though.

Lu Ban looked troubled. "Please don't blame me, Exalted One. After all the help you've given me, offering you a Divine Puppet Artisan would only be right. But I have only twelve. By the Jade Emperor's decree, I must make ten thousand Self-Propelled Immortal Carriages within six months. A month has already passed. Without even one of these artisans, I won't finish in time."

"That's a shame." Shen Bing couldn't do anything about it. He could hardly take one by force, especially when he wasn't strong enough.

Then Lu Ban changed tack. "If you truly want one, I could make a new one for you, Reverend. But you would need to obtain one material."

"What material?" Shen Bing asked eagerly, looking as though the Divine Puppet Artisan was already within his grasp.

Lu Ban calmly replied, "The key to a Divine Puppet Artisan's abilities is the Unclaimed Immortal Soul in its head. It must be the soul of a Great Golden Immortal. When a Great Golden Immortal dies and the soul is kept without a vessel for several dozen epochs, its consciousness fades, leaving an unclaimed soul. My twelve Divine Puppet Artisans used up nearly every such soul in the Immortal Realm. If you can obtain another, Reverend, I'll make you one."

Calm, my ass! What the hell are you talking about? A Great Golden Immortal? Why not ask me to fly to the Heaven Realm?

Well, Lu Ban was already in the Heaven Realm.

There couldn't be more than a handful of Great Golden Immortals in the entire Immortal Realm, could there?

This was impossible, especially since one would have to have died several dozen epochs ago.

An epoch here wasn't a sum of money. It was a unit of time: 129,600 years.

"Immortal Friend Ban Shu, do you know where I might find another Unclaimed Immortal Soul like that?"

Lu Ban gave Shen Bing a look reserved for idiots. His expression said it all: If I knew, would I need you to get one?

Shen Bing abandoned the idea at once. Getting one of Lu Ban's existing Divine Puppet Artisans seemed far more realistic.

Just then, a pop-up appeared on his phone screen.

System notification: A Random Quest has appeared. Accept it?

Please bookmark and recommend the story! Brothers, if you have any votes or tips to spare, send them my way...