One year later

A day later, Lu Zhao returned to Green Vine Ravine.

Standing in his stone chamber, he activated a Cleansing Talisman on himself.

As the talisman's light flashed, dust, gravel, and bits of vegetation fell from his body, scattering across the floor.

The return journey had been even more perilous than the trip out-he had encountered a first-tier middle-grade Mantis Demon Beast adept at lying in ambush.

Even the Flowing Cloud Sparrow flying overhead had failed to detect its presence. Had Lu Zhao not possessed stronger divine sense than most and ample experience, its sneak attack would almost have succeeded.

That battle set alarm bells ringing in his mind.

The cultivation world was vast and boundless, with strange beasts and peculiar insects appearing in endless succession, while deceit and treachery among cultivators were the norm. He realized that although he had acted cautiously of late, his disposition still needed tempering.

His restlessness quietly receded, replaced by deeper caution and vigilance.

Time flew like a shuttle, and in the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, processing Ink-Scaled Snakes again?"

"Unlike you, fellow Daoist, I don't have such advanced Puppet Art," Liu Fengchun replied with a smile.

Lu Zhao had just finished his day's duty and happened to see the old man deftly removing the venom sacs and bone joints from a snake carcass.

After more than a year together, he had come to know a little more about the other four stationed there.

Yin Jiu was an insect master with a gloomy disposition. He acted aggressively and spoke little, but his strength was considerable.

Chen Moyang, meanwhile, was a first-tier middle-grade formation master. Lu Zhao had been quite surprised when he first learned this-most formation masters came from major sects or prominent clans, and although Chen Moyang was from a lineage, his family seemed to have fallen on hard times.

According to him, his lineage lacked resources, forcing him to leave and serve as a guest retainer for the Zhou Household. As for his character, he could only be described as fairly pragmatic, showing little edge but no lack of shrewdness.

As for Liu Fengchun, he was a rogue cultivator with something of a penchant for teaching others, but he was deeply concerned for the younger members of his lineage.

He often said, "My Dao Path has reached its end. I can only place my hopes in my descendants." This was also the fate of many rogue cultivators—if one out of ten who cultivated reached Late Qi Refining, that was already a blessing. The dream of Foundation Establishment was merely a legend far beyond their reach.

Last was Zhou Qixing. Lu Zhao had little contact with him and knew only that he belonged to the Zhou Household's direct line, as could be seen from the generational character "Qi" in his name.

"Cheng, Xian, Qi, Ping"-this was the order of generational characters among the Zhou Household's direct descendants. Having been stationed here for fourteen years, his past was probably far from simple.

When Lu Zhao returned to his stone house, he opened his panel.

Name: Lu Zhao

Cultivation: Qi Refinement fourth layer

Lifespan: 24/120

Primary cultivation method: Little Spirit Rain Art

Spells: Water Bullet Technique, Water Curtain Technique, Ice Cone Art, Breath Concealment Technique, Water Mist Technique, Water-Nurturing Art, Wind-Riding Art, Thousand Threads Technique

Secondary arts:

Puppet Art (First-Tier Low Grade):

Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet (success rate: 60%)

Flowing Cloud Sparrow (success rate: 25%)

Frost Rat Puppet (success rate: 35%)

Over this year of cultivation, not only had his Puppet Art advanced by leaps and bounds, but he had also successfully gained an initial grasp of the Thousand Threads Technique. He could now split off two divine threads. His tests showed that their maximum range was forty zhang. Under their control, his puppets moved as freely as his own arms.

However, after the Concentration Fruit's medicinal power was exhausted, his progress in cultivating the Thousand Threads Technique slowed again. Even so, he estimated that his divine sense rivaled that of a Late Qi Refining cultivator.

Now, as long as he continued cultivating the Thousand Threads Technique, his divine sense would only grow stronger. After all, the Thousand Threads Technique allowed him to split off nine divine threads during the Qi Refining Stage. Once he could split off nine, his divine sense at the Qi Refining Stage would rival that of the Foundation Establishment realm.

Throughout the year, he had visited the Market District every month to sell puppets and gather materials. Over the course of the year, after deducting costs, he had earned nearly three hundred and forty spirit stones.

Nearly half of that income came from Flowing Cloud Sparrows, of which he had sold sixteen in total. Each sold for twenty-five spirit stones, earning him nearly ten spirit stones apiece.

As for Azure-Patterned Rat Puppets, the Nine Abyss Pavilion had stopped buying them half a year ago. The shopkeeper had even said that he had bought them initially to support Lu Zhao. There was too little demand for those puppets, and if Lu Zhao really wanted to sell them, he could only offer five spirit stones each.

At five spirit stones, even with Lu Zhao's current success rate, he would earn only a little for his trouble while wasting time he could spend crafting other puppets. He no longer crafted Azure-Patterned Rat Puppets.

Lu Zhao had already decided that once his success rates with the other two puppets improved, he would attempt to craft an Ironwood Guard.

The reason he had not tried crafting one at the beginning, apart from the expensive materials, was that it was a "wood-and-stone puppet," which was more difficult to craft than a "beast puppet."

Beast puppets and wood-and-stone puppets were two categories of puppets, neither inherently superior to the other. In terms of crafting difficulty, however, wood-and-stone puppets were considerably more demanding than beast puppets.

Novice Puppet Masters generally started with beast puppets.

He had already begun gathering materials. Neither ironwood nor black iron was particularly rare, and he had prepared some of both. However, the cost of crafting a single Ironwood Guard puppet was simply too high, and unlike beast puppets, it could not be crafted in separate parts.

Like artifact refining, crafting a wood-and-stone puppet had to be completed in one uninterrupted process. Its puppet core was also connected directly to the puppet, and a single failure would render it completely useless. By Lu Zhao's estimate, a single attempt would cost nearly ten spirit stones.

A few more attempts, and he would be bankrupt.

Having finished his calculations concerning puppets, Lu Zhao turned his attention back to his cultivation. At his current pace, he would be able to break through to the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining in another three months.

Over the year, the twelve Ice Jade Pills issued by the Zhou Household, the sixteen he had bought himself, one middle-grade Meridian-Guarding Pill each month, and the spiritual energy from this spirit spring had made his cultivation speed nearly twice what it had been just after his breakthrough.

The price of such rapid cultivation was that the pills he had consumed over the year cost close to a hundred spirit stones. Had he relied solely on his meager stipend, he would have gone bankrupt long ago.

That would have been nothing like his current situation, where a year's cultivation had progressed at a satisfying pace and he could still save over two hundred spirit stones.

Calculating it this way gave him something of a fright. His income was higher than that of many Late Qi Refining cultivators. He estimated that only first-tier superior-grade practitioners of the hundred cultivation arts earned more than he did. After all, he was currently only a First-Tier Low Grade Puppet Master.

It seems Shopkeeper Zhou really meant it when he spoke of supporting me.

Otherwise, even with Puppet Masters being scarce in Changfeng Commandery, he would not have earned so much.

Coupled with Shopkeeper Zhou's earlier urgent need for flying puppets, it was not difficult to guess that the Zhou Household might have a great demand for them.

At this thought, Lu Zhao could not help recalling the Cloud-Pattern Cavalry, Zhou Pingyuan, and the thing the Zhou Household was searching for. He vaguely pieced together a few clues, but lacking detailed information, he could only speculate without a basis. Lu Zhao had a vague sense that he seemed to have become entangled in some of the Zhou Household's affairs. It seemed earning money was no easy matter either.

"Since I'm here, I might as well settle in. There's no use thinking so much about it now." Lu Zhao shook his head. Was he supposed to stop crafting puppets over mere speculation?

Even if he truly became involved in some major affair, he would have nothing to fear as long as he was strong enough. His cultivation was currently marching forward in triumph, and this was when he needed spirit stones most. Besides, danger was also opportunity. As long as he was not greedy and remained cautious enough, he believed he could at least escape, even if things went badly.