The Haul, Zhao Family Market District

After leaving the stall, Lu Zhao headed straight for another stall selling Icewind Stone.

The stallholder was a female cultivator dressed in blue-green robes, with a slender figure and a cloud-patterned veil that concealed her face.

"Fellow Daoist, how much is this Icewind Stone?" Lu Zhao asked.

The woman replied, "Ten Spirit Stones per catty. If you have talismans, magical artifacts, or pills that catch my eye, I can reduce part of the price in exchange."

Without wasting words, Lu Zhao took out an Ironwood Guard.

"A first-tier low grade Wood-and-Stone Puppet, capable of fighting a first-tier middle-grade Demonic Beast in close combat. How about trading it for your ten catties of Icewind Stone?" Lu Zhao said evenly.

After a moment of silence, the woman said, "Fellow Daoist, may I inspect it?"

"Please go ahead." Lu Zhao handed her the puppet.

Half a quarter of an hour later, the woman finally gritted her teeth. "Deal!" She carefully put away the valuable Ironwood Guard and handed the Icewind Stone to Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao made another circuit, found nothing else he needed, then let Chen Moyang know and returned to camp.

Back in his room at camp, Lu Zhao closed the stone door behind him and activated the Sense-Evasion Formation. Only then did he walk to the stone table and take out, one by one, the things he had brought back from the trading gathering.

First was the piece of "Earth Spirit Crystal." He held it in his palm and channeled a thread of spiritual power into it through his fingertips.

Under the wash of spiritual power, the dull gray camouflage on the Spirit Stone's surface peeled away in flakes, revealing a deeper, lustrous, earthy-yellow crystal within that seemed to contain an entire miniature earth vein. Wisps of pure, dense earth spiritual energy seeped out on their own, making even the air feel somewhat heavier.

Earth Vein Crystal (first-tier superior-grade spiritual material): the information on the Puppet Pearl panel confirmed it once again.

The corners of Lu Zhao's mouth curved noticeably upward.

Earth Vein Crystal was a higher-grade substitute for Earth Spirit Crystal. Their formation processes were similar, both requiring long years of nurturing within an earth-attribute spiritual vein.

Earth Spirit Crystal formed at the fringes of a spiritual vein or after a shorter period of nurturing, whereas Earth Vein Crystal lay deep within its core and required a much longer immersion in the essence of the earth vein.

A small number of Earth Spirit Crystals had only just been nurtured to the level of Earth Vein Crystal, leaving their appearance extremely similar to Earth Spirit Crystal. Had he not seen the real thing before, coupled with the Puppet Pearl panel's unerring appraisal, he would never have been able to distinguish these treasures from a pile of ordinary Earth Spirit Crystals.

At Market District prices, first-tier middle-grade Earth Spirit Crystal was worth around fifty Spirit Stones. First-tier superior-grade Earth Vein Crystal, however, was worth at least two hundred Spirit Stones! Moreover, it was an excellent material for refining the cores of first-tier superior-grade earth puppets and setting up powerful earth formations, and often could not be bought even if one had the money.

He had bought it for just fifty Spirit Stones, making a net profit of nearly a hundred and fifty Spirit Stones on this deal! More importantly, this was the first time the Puppet Pearl had truly demonstrated its ability to distinguish heavenly materials and earthly treasures, making it extraordinarily significant.

After carefully putting away the precious Earth Vein Crystal, Lu Zhao turned his gaze to the pile of Icewind Stone radiating an icy chill.

Naturally, he had a reason for sparing no expense and exchanging a valuable Ironwood Guard puppet for these ten catties of Icewind Stone. He was already close to the peak of a first-tier low grade Puppet Master, his success rate with Ironwood Guards was steadily rising, and his skill at refining Flowing Cloud Sparrows and Frost Rat Puppets had reached the point of a furnace's pure blue flame. It was time to prepare to advance to a first-tier middle-grade Puppet Master.

The first first-tier middle-grade puppet he planned to attempt was precisely the "Icewind Wolf Puppet" recorded in his inheritance.

With a slight stir of Lu Zhao's thoughts, the Puppet Pearl panel displayed the Icewind Wolf Puppet's detailed data:

Icewind Wolf Puppet (first-tier middle-grade puppet)

Main materials: one piece of Icewind Stone, one hundred catties of Black Iron, one intact corpse of a middle first stage demonic wolf.

Abilities: high-speed pounce and kill, Icewind Claw (strength comparable to a stronger middle first stage Demonic Beast)

Lu Zhao's gaze remained calm as he studied the requirements listed on the panel. Icewind Stone was one of the core materials, and he now had it. He would need to hunt down a wolf or purchase its corpse, while his reserves of Black Iron were ample.

However, the hardest part of refining this puppet was inscribing the dual ice-and-wind Spirit Runes, a challenge he was not yet capable of undertaking.

He needed to raise his success rate with Ironwood Guards above forty percent before he would have enough confidence to try.

Having tallied his gains and drawn up his plans, Lu Zhao sat down cross-legged and began cultivating the Little Spirit Rain Art. He had yet to finish today's cultivation, and he had to seize every minute to make himself stronger.

Three days later, the rest period ended, and all the cultivators returned one after another.

A month later, the army had finished repairing its damaged magical artifacts, the injured cultivators had largely recovered, and the pills and talismans they had consumed had all been replenished.

That day, the order came to resume the march.

The camp gates swung wide with a rumble, and the Cloud-Pattern Cavalry set out first. The Enforcement Team and Guest Elders followed, with the subordinate lineages and hired rogue cultivators bringing up the rear.

As for the Hundred Arts Battalion cultivators, they marched at the very back alongside the baggage camp.

After ten days of travel, a vast market district appeared before them, no smaller than the Zhou Household Market. This was the Zhao Family Market District, the Zhao Family's largest market district and one of its most important assets in Tianfang Commandery.

At that moment, the normally bustling market district was utterly silent inside, as though no one was there. Yet the formation's earthy-yellow curtain of light had already risen, showing that the cultivators within had long since made their preparations.

After they had made camp, Lu Zhao sat cross-legged in the Hundred Arts Battalion barracks, thinking about what had happened three days earlier.

Three days earlier, the Hundred Arts Battalion had informed its cultivators of their destination: the Zhao Family Market District. They had also provided some detailed information: it stood atop a first-tier superior-grade spiritual vein and possessed a second-tier formation—the Blackstone Rocklight Formation.

When Lu Zhao first heard the news, his heart sank.

Although his knowledge of formations was limited, he understood that a second-tier formation would be very difficult to breach without a Foundation Establishment cultivator taking action. With the many cultivators certain to be inside the formation, it would be even harder to contend with.

Naturally, Lu Zhao was not the only one to realize this. A Zhou Household Alchemist about his age immediately asked the Battalion Commander whether the elders and the ancestor would take action.

But the Battalion Commander merely kept a stern face and told him not to ask about matters that did not concern him, saying only that the lineage had a hidden move that would ensure they could breach the market district.

The moment Lu Zhao heard this, he understood. The Foundation Establishment cultivators probably would not take action; it would fall to their nearly two thousand Qi Refining cultivators. As for whether that hidden move actually existed, only Heaven knew.

"I'm afraid even the Hundred Arts Battalion cultivators will have to join the fighting," Lu Zhao murmured to himself.

Naturally, Lu Zhao was not the only cultivator who felt this way. After the meeting ended, everyone was weighed down with worry.

Then several people came to Lu Zhao, hoping to buy an Ironwood Guard from him.

During this time, everyone had learned that Lu Zhao could refine not only Flowing Cloud Sparrows and Frost Rat Puppets, but also a kind of Wood-and-Stone Puppet.

This puppet had powerful defenses, making it a potent tool for staying alive on the battlefield.

Seven people came to see Lu Zhao in all, but aside from the three he needed for himself and one spare, he had only two Ironwood Guards left.

In the end, he could only sell them to the highest bidders. The two puppets sold for a hundred and thirty Spirit Stones and a hundred and forty Spirit Stones respectively, earning Lu Zhao a hefty profit.