After passing through a boundless sea of forest and crossing countless mountains, Li Chen came upon another Imperial Road leading who knew where. He stopped the newly replaced humanoid Puppet he was controlling and consulted a map inside the Magic Cube Maze. Only then did he realize he had entered Xining Commandery.
"Xining Commandery, Great Chu?"
"For thousands of miles around, this seems to be a peaceful rear region that suffers relatively few Demon incursions. With the Long Capital to its south and cities such as Yi'an and Jiangfeng to its north, it occupies a fairly favorable position."
"That suits me. I'll rest here for a while, buy some materials I might need for researching my craft, and then see which route I should take farther north."
The humanoid Puppet crested a slope and stopped before the Imperial Road. Opening its mouth wide, it released the Void Gate and began hauling things outside.
A short while later, several Puppets and mechanical creations were assembled on the Imperial Road.
Like the previous humanoid Puppet, these were all standard two-star Armored Warriors. Most of their bodies had been purchased elsewhere, then modified and assembled.
Li Chen had specially made human Painted Skins for the Armored Warriors he had now brought out. The one carrying the Beacon Spirit Ring resembled a young man with a thunder god's face, leopard-like eyes, powerful muscles, and a fierce air. One glance was enough to tell that he was no saint.
Three others looked like ordinary Wilderness Rogue Cultivators, their appearances and bearing strikingly similar to Old Huang and the others Li Chen had known in the past.
The last, however, was a fair-skinned, refined middle-aged man who looked nothing like a Wilderness Rogue Cultivator, but rather a modestly wealthy merchant.
The five each had Puppet transport: