Leaving the mine entrance, Lu Zhao trod over the frost fragments littering the ground and walked slowly toward the Cold Pool.
When he reached the Cold Pool, he found several people already meditating there. He was not the Zhou Household's only guest retainer. Although Late Qi Refining cultivators would not cultivate here, there were quite a few early- and middle-stage Water-attribute cultivators.
Lu Zhao swept his gaze around. Most of them had gathered around the Cold Pool, keeping several zhang apart from one another-cultivation was a private matter, and no one wanted to be disturbed.
He chose an open spot and sat cross-legged. Icy spiritual energy traveled through his meridians, faintly producing a rushing sound like a mountain stream striking rocks.
Forming seals with his fingers, he drew the water-attribute spiritual energy into his body bit by bit. As he circulated the Little Spirit Rain Art, it slowly gathered in his Dantian.
"Comparable to a First-Tier Low Grade spirit vein." Lu Zhao closed his eyes and looked inward. Three strands of pale blue true qi twisted into a spiral in his Dantian.
Ice-blue mist formed a vortex around him, only to be blocked by the bottleneck of his middle-grade spiritual root-like a stream pouring into a narrow-necked porcelain bottle, however fiercely the spiritual tide surged, there was a limit to what he could draw in and release.
Every wisp of cold carried pure water-attribute spiritual energy, but the instant it touched his meridians, it turned into fine needles, making his brows knit tightly with pain. Just as his meridians were about to crack, the hour of the Rooster arrived.
Lu Zhao took out a porcelain bottle and poured out a brown pill. The bitterness of the Meridian-Guarding Pill dissolved on his tongue, and a warm current enveloped his meridians, which were on the verge of rupturing. This pill could double cultivation time and was indispensable to cultivators.
Qi Refining Stage cultivators could only meditate for a limited time each day: roughly half a two-hour period at the first level, one two-hour period at the second, and one and a half at the third...
Another three hours later, Lu Zhao opened his eyes.
"Still no good. After all, I'm not someone with an outstanding spiritual root," he murmured to himself.
He had only just broken through to the peak of the third level of Qi Refining yesterday. With his middle-grade spiritual root, he would not get stuck at the bottleneck, but advancing to the middle stage was not something he could easily accomplish in a few days.
"I still have to take it step by step." He sighed, ended his cultivation, and stood up.
After returning to his small courtyard, he soaked the Rat King Fang in a basin. He had just returned from the Zhou Household's storehouse today, having replenished the amount of cold iron ore he had lacked yesterday.
Entering the cellar, he stirred his mind, and a first-tier puppet inheritance surfaced in his thoughts. Attached to it was an art designed specifically for crafting puppets-the Hundred Refinements Art.
This art recorded in detail the classifications of puppets, the key points of carving different types of puppet cores, how to grant puppets attributes, and the techniques for assembling, activating, and controlling them.
It also included a puppet-control spell-the Thousand Threads Technique-which could remotely control multiple puppets to fight in coordination.
After recalling the contents of the Hundred Refinements Art, the inheritances for three types of puppets surfaced in his mind:
First-tier puppet primer: Frost Rat Puppet (First-Tier Low Grade) Materials: one Ice-Congealing Stone, one Early First Stage rat demon corpse, ice explosion talismans embedded in the claws Abilities: damage radius of one zhang, with spell-breaking and freezing effects Ironwood Guard (First-Tier Low Grade) Materials: ten jin of black iron, one hundred jin of ironwood Abilities: a body as hard as iron, boundless strength, capable of fighting first-tier middle-grade demonic beasts in close combat Flowing Cloud Sparrow (First-Tier Low Grade) Materials: one Early First Stage sparrow-type demonic beast corpse, half a jin of Wind-Pattern Stone, Spirit Runes engraved on the wings Abilities: capable of flying over a hundred zhang high, used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and early warning
Compared with the Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet he had crafted himself, these three had clear advantages in combat, defense, or support.
The three types of puppets flashed through Lu Zhao's mind one after another, and he promptly made a plan:
Tomorrow, he would sell an Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet for some spirit stones; on the fifth, he would go to the Zhou Household's storehouse to exchange for Ice-Congealing Stone—another spiritual material found alongside cold iron ore; he would craft a Frost Rat Puppet and a Flowing Cloud Sparrow puppet, the former for combat and the latter for reconnaissance and keeping watch; the Ironwood Guard would be set aside for now because of its expensive materials and higher requirements for craftsmanship.
Early the next morning, before the morning mist had dispersed, Old Huang stared at the rat puppet glowing azure on Lu Zhao's stall, and the talisman paper in his hand slipped to the ground.
At the tips of the puppet's claws, "Spirit Runes propagated on their own," the very hallmark of a tiered Puppet Master.
Old Huang exclaimed in surprise, "You really became tiered?"
"Fellow Daoist Lu actually obtained a true puppet inheritance?" The old woman selling rime grass also cried out, nearly shaking the spiritual herbs out of her basket.
A stir ran through the onlookers. Without betraying anything, Lu Zhao formed a hand seal, and the rat puppet on the stall suddenly raised its head and stood upright, remarkably lively.
An hour later, Lu Zhao hefted the ten spirit stones in his hand. Looking at everyone's astonished gazes, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
Tiered puppets were exceedingly rare in Changfeng Commandery. Even the dominant Zhou Household had never been reported to have a tiered Puppet Master.
But thinking of the astonishing quantity of materials Puppet Art consumed, and the limited usefulness of the Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet, he could not help frowning again. Without the Puppet Pearl System's assistance, he would not have dared hope to break through cultivation realms by this path.
His fingertips rubbed the tattered Little Spirit Rain Art inside his sleeve. He suddenly recalled the words "First-Tier Low Grade Puppet Master" flashing on the Puppet Pearl's light screen last night, and still found it hard to contain his joy.
Following yesterday's plan, Lu Zhao visited numerous shops throughout the Market District, yet failed to find any Wind-Pattern Stone. Only at the very end did he learn that the Nine Abyss Pavilion might have some in stock.
The Chaofeng Beast on the Nine Abyss Pavilion's upturned eaves breathed clouds in and out. One of the Zhou Household's businesses, it was also the largest shop in the Market District.
As he stepped through the entrance, a young attendant dressed in blue-green approached him. He was only sixteen or seventeen, with a cultivation level of first-level Qi Refining and delicate, handsome features.
"I'm a receptionist at the Nine Abyss Pavilion. May I ask what you need here, fellow Daoist? Magic artifacts, spiritual pills, or spiritual materials? Our shop has everything."
"Do you have Wind-Pattern Stone?" Lu Zhao asked directly, without beating around the bush.
The attendant frowned slightly at his words and sighed. "That item's grade is too high for me to handle. Please come with me to see the shopkeeper."
With that, he led Lu Zhao to the counter, where they met the old shopkeeper, who was resting with his eyes closed. Upon hearing the purpose of the visit, the old shopkeeper opened his cloudy eyes, yet a glint of sharpness shone in his gaze:
"You wish to buy Wind-Pattern Stone, fellow Daoist? That is a first-tier middle-grade material. It isn't cheap."
"Since I've come to the Nine Abyss Pavilion, naturally, I've come prepared," Lu Zhao said calmly.
The shopkeeper nodded and turned to enter the rear courtyard. Half a quarter of an hour later, he returned to the counter holding three boxes, opened them one by one, and arranged them on the counter.
The first box held a fist-sized pale green stone, none other than Wind-Pattern Stone; the second held an egg-sized piece; the third, a pigeon-egg-sized piece.
"The first weighs five jin and four liang, and costs twenty-five spirit stones; the second weighs two jin and one liang, ten spirit stones; the third weighs nine liang, four spirit stones."
A quarter of an hour later, Lu Zhao walked out of the Nine Abyss Pavilion. Looking at his nearly emptied purse, he smiled bitterly. "These spirit stones really don't last."
In the end, he had gritted his teeth and bought the latter two pieces of Wind-Pattern Stone. After bargaining with the shopkeeper, he had settled the deal at thirteen spirit stones.
He now had fewer than five spirit stones left and could truly be called penniless, but he did not regret it.
For now, he planned to seek out an old acquaintance-the demon hunter Wang Yun.
Before you continue