The market

Cold air seeping from the cellar slipped between Lu Zhao's fingers. He gazed at the faintly glowing puppet in his palm as seven years rose and fell in his heart.

He curled a finger and tapped the corner of the table, slowly opening memories sealed beneath dust. In his first year in this world, he had discovered an azure pearl in his mind, but no matter how he tried to activate it, it showed no response. Only later, when he happened upon the Puppet Art, did the pearl in his mind react, conveying a message: "Reach a grade and receive the inheritance." Beyond that, there was nothing else. Lu Zhao had named that pearl the "Puppet Pearl."

When he first encountered the fundamentals of the Puppet Art in the Lu Household, he had merely regarded it as an alternative form of technology, vainly hoping to improve this ancient art through memories of his previous life. Reality, however, had delivered a resounding slap to his face.

Having little understanding of the Puppet Art, he had not yet known that engraving spirit runes required following the grain of the wood marrow, rather than rote memorization. Following the instincts of his previous life, he had tried applying his past experience to a puppet's joints, only to blow one of its legs clean off.

Only later had he understood that spirit runes were "alive," and every engraving required adjustments based on the properties of the material.

Only after Lu Zhao truly grasped this had he successfully crafted "Puppet Guards"-palm-sized puppets made from the tailbones of Ore-Vein Spirit-Devouring Rats and scraps scavenged from the black market, each costing no more than half a spirit stone.

Apart from the Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet, these Puppet Guards were his greatest accomplishment over the years, as well as his main source of income beyond his stipend from the Zhou Household.

Lu Zhao had sunk nearly fifty spirit stones into crafting the Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet. Without the income from selling Puppet Guards, he would have gone bankrupt long ago.

He crafted three Puppet Guards each month. After deducting costs, he could earn a net profit of one spirit stone if they all sold. Unfortunately, these puppets were ungraded and served only a single purpose, so few people bought them. On average, he earned only half a spirit stone a month.

Even so, his income was considerable among Qi Refining Stage cultivators. Between his stipend and earnings from his stall, he could save nearly twenty spirit stones a year. Many cultivators at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining had less wealth than he did.

If not for crafting this graded Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet to unlock the Puppet Pearl, his aptitude with a middle-grade water spirit root should have allowed him to break through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining long ago.

Before the morning mist had dispersed, Lu Zhao was already standing beneath the bronze gate with a Bronze Beast Head at the Zhou Household Market, a token identifying him as a guest retainer of the Zhou Household hanging at his waist.

The Market District's eastern district, the stall area, reeked of blood and animal musk. Most rogue cultivators sold demonic beast materials here.

The first thing he saw was a one-eyed man hawking his wares. "Fresh Spirit-Devouring Rat fangs! Killed in the mine just last night!"

Lu Zhao recognized him. His name was Hu San, a low-level rogue cultivator who made a living hunting demonic beasts. His reputation was poor, however; he often passed off inferior goods as quality wares, slipping duds among the genuine articles.

He glanced at the pile of fangs, and panel information appeared-this was the experiment he intended to conduct today: checking whether the Puppet Pearl could truly judge an item's authenticity based on his own knowledge, as he suspected, and exploring whether it had any hidden functions.

His gaze swept over the pile of rat teeth. The items Hu San called "Spirit-Devouring Rat King Fangs" appeared on the panel as "Spirit-Devouring Rat Teeth."

Looking away, Lu Zhao walked a few steps to an elderly man's stall. A scattering of beast bones and pelts lay on it.

As he scanned the stall, panel information appeared:

Early First Stage demonic beast Green-Phosphor Python bones

Early First Stage Green-Phosphor Python skin

Early First Stage Black-Clawed Cat claws

Suspected Middle First Stage Green-Horned Ox skull

As the information poured into his mind, he could be fairly certain that the contents of the Puppet Pearl's panel were generated based on his knowledge.

But they did not depend on it entirely. For instance, he could only identify the Black-Clawed Cat claws as "suspected" himself, whereas the panel gave a definite conclusion.

He guessed that the panel might possess some capacity for judgment, allowing it to identify anything he had seen accurately.

This Green-Horned Ox skull, for instance, was something he was seeing in person for the first time. Previously, he had only read accounts of it in a demonic beast bestiary.

Leaving the Market District's eastern district, Lu Zhao arrived in the southern district. Facing him stood a pavilion—the Hundred Refinements Pavilion, operated directly by the Zhou Household. Several standard magical artifacts were displayed in its counters.

When he glimpsed the First-Tier Low Grade Cold Iron Sword priced at thirty spirit stones, he could not help sighing inwardly—that was enough for him to successfully craft five Azure-Patterned Rat Puppets.

He had tested the Cold Iron Sword's power before. A full-strength strike was no weaker than his fully mastered Ice Cone Art. And his Ice Cone Art was already one of the more formidable ice spells.

Still, this was normal for rogue cultivators. Most fought their enemies with spells and talismans; few possessed magical artifacts.

Most rogue cultivators had no magical artifacts at all during early-stage Qi Refining, and even at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, they owned only a single low-grade magical artifact.

As for middle-grade magical artifacts, prices started at nearly a hundred spirit stones. Some impoverished cultivators in Late Qi Refining still used low-grade magical artifacts.

Lu Zhao returned to the West District of the Market, where he usually spent the most time, and found that quite a few people had already gathered.

The West District of the Market was mainly the domain of cultivators who practiced crafts. He glanced around and, sure enough, spotted several familiar faces.

Returning to his usual stall location, he took a beast hide from inside his robe and spread it out, then took out three Puppet Guards and gently set them on it.

Just then, Old Huang, who sold talismans beside him, came over to chat. "Fellow Daoist Lu, you're rather late today. The beast-hunting cultivators are about to head into the mountains."

Demon Hunters were the main customers for Lu Zhao's puppets. Those with ample wealth occasionally came to buy a Puppet Guard. Although the puppets could not fight, they could provide early warnings and scout the way when necessary.

Old Huang was a Low-Grade Talisman Master nearing sixty. His aptitude was probably poor, and he most likely had a low-grade spirit root; otherwise, he would not still have been stuck at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.

Lu Zhao glanced at him and asked, "Fellow Daoist Huang, do you have any Body-Protection Talismans left?"

Body-Protection Talismans were First-Tier Low Grade talismans that produced a barrier when activated. Their defensive power was unremarkable, but they were cheap and quick to use, allowing one to respond to sudden danger.

Old Huang perked up at once. "I do. How many would you like, fellow Daoist?"

"Give me five," Lu Zhao said.

"Certainly! You're a regular customer, so I'll make it a little cheaper. Twenty spirit sand for five."

Spirit sand was made from spirit stone offcuts. Although the exchange rate fluctuated, it generally remained at one hundred spirit sand to one low-grade spirit stone.

Lu Zhao took out the spirit sand and handed it over, and Old Huang passed him the talismans.

Lu Zhao still had to visit the Cold Iron Ore Cave that afternoon, so the Body-Protection Talismans would be of some use to him.

At that moment, a middle-aged man nearby also came over to join the conversation. He was a First-Tier Low Grade Spirit Plant Master, commonly known as a "Spirit Farmer."

His voice was rough and hoarse. "Fellow Daoist Lu, Fellow Daoist Huang, have you heard the news from the Zhou Household? If I remember correctly, Fellow Daoist Lu, you're still a guest retainer of theirs, aren't you?"

Lu Zhao was completely in the dark. Lately, he had been busy crafting puppets and had paid almost no attention to events outside.

He shook his head. "I've been busy crafting puppets lately and haven't paid attention to outside news."

Old Huang shook his head as well. "I haven't heard anything."

Looking rather pleased with himself, the middle-aged man lowered his voice. "It's that genius from the Zhou Household-Zhou Pingyuan. Apparently, they say someone injured him."

Lu Zhao's interest was immediately piqued.

The Zhou Household was the dominant power in Changfeng Commandery, and the lineage reportedly had several Foundation Establishment cultivators. As the foremost member of its younger generation, Zhou Pingyuan was about Lu Zhao's age, yet he was already a Late Qi Refining cultivator with boundless prospects.

And now news had actually emerged that someone had injured him...

He could not help frowning, vaguely feeling that another storm might be coming.