Dawn had barely shown its fish-belly white when the clicking of his tinkering with puppets rang out over the flagstones in the West District of the Market.
Whenever the sun first rose, a newly crafted Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet would lie on a beast hide, the Spirit Runes flowing around its claw tips drawing Demon Hunters to stop again and again.
At such moments, Lu Zhao would make the puppet suddenly roll over and bare its sharp fangs. Sometimes, he would even cast spells, making the puppet break through his own Water Curtain Technique or Ice Cone Art on the spot.
Once the crowd had gathered, he would smile, form a hand seal to rein the puppet in, and explain its uses in detail. With this routine of "demonstration and explanation," he successfully attracted a large number of customers.
Old Huang would always grumble sourly beside him, "If I'd known, I would've learned Puppet Art too. Instead, here I am, having to sell the talismans I draw at a discount."
When the sun climbed above the Bronze Beast Head, the crisp strikes of a Spirit Pickaxe against rock walls would invariably ring out deep in the mine.
Every day, Lu Zhao would touch the frost crystals on the rock wall and think of that piece of Cold Spirit Jade hidden between layers of cold iron ore.
It was a fist-sized, first-tier middle-grade associated spirit material, flowing with a deep blue, chilly glow. A light tap of his knuckle produced a trembling note like an echo in an empty valley.
This was the first time in three years that he had mined a first-tier middle-grade material. The two spirit stones he received for handing it in were not much, but they still brought him a little joy.
Besides mining, he also hunted packs of Spirit-Devouring Rats every day. Whenever the cornered rats lunged at him, he would flick out three ice cones with a backhand toss. The bursting cold instantly condensed into icy mist, freezing the rats into individual frost sculptures.
During his final hunt, the other cultivators looked at him with probing gazes. He had killed dozens of Spirit-Devouring Rats that month and reaped quite a good harvest.
By dusk, Azure-Grain Wood shavings would invariably cover the table in the cellar, though most attempts to refine puppet cores ended in failure.
Yet whenever he saw a finished rat puppet, Lu Zhao felt filled with comfort. Ever since grasping the knack of "Wood Marrow Spirit Guiding" in the Hundred Refinements Art, he had discovered that he needed only four pieces of Azure-Grain Wood to carve a puppet core blank. He had also made seven Puppet Guards from the offcuts accumulated during this period.
At the end of the month, Lu Zhao collected that month's allotment of Cold Jade Pills and carefully tallied his accounts for the past three months by moonlight:
Zhou Household guest elder stipend: three spirit stones
Income from handing in the associated spirit material: two spirit stones
Three rat puppets sold: thirty spirit stones
Puppet Guard income: two spirit stones
Expenses for Azure-Grain Wood and Ice-Congealing Stone: seven spirit stones
Total: thirty spirit stones
At that moment, thirty spirit stones were stacked neatly inside Lu Zhao's Storage Bag, along with four taels of deep blue cold iron ore that remained unused.
He had also carefully stored three Cold Jade Pills. Each pill was worth seven days of arduous cultivation for an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator.
After three months of arduous cultivation, the bottleneck was as thin as a cicada's wing.
That day, he went to cultivate at the Cold Pool as usual, only to gain a sudden insight.
As the mist above the Cold Pool condensed into ice crystals and fell in a soft shower, the three originally entwined strands of true qi in his Dantian unexpectedly twisted into a spiral.
He discovered with surprise that his efforts over the past three months had not been wasted-mining, hunting demons, refining puppets. Every time his spiritual power was exhausted and then restored, his meridians had quietly widened considerably.
Now the Little Spirit Rain Art circulated smoothly. Spiritual energy no longer rampaged through him, but flowed gently like a spring stream over pebbles. Even the cold energy that had once stung him had become mild.
His protective spiritual radiance was exceptionally clear, and the icy-blue vortex reflected on the pool's surface spun three rotations faster than usual.
Lu Zhao acted without hesitation and swallowed a Cold Jade Pill. The instant it dissolved, the cold energy dormant in his marrow suddenly stirred into motion.
The spiritual energy that had once pricked like fine needles now circulated on its own along the cultivation art's pathways, as though an undercurrent suppressed beneath the ice for a thousand years had finally found an outlet.
Several stalks of ice thorn grass beside the pool stirred without wind, their dewdrops hanging in the air and condensing into mist that gathered toward him.
Crack!
Rather than alarm, Lu Zhao felt delight. This was the sign of a breakthrough described in his cultivation art.
Sure enough, an invisible force drew the spiritual energy into the eye of a vortex in his Dantian, and the Cold Pool's spiritual energy surged into him like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.
He felt as though his meridians had become glacial river channels, vast spiritual power rushing through them with shards of ice in its current, scouring him until even his bones trembled. Inch-long icicles formed at the tips of his hair, and frost flowers gathered between his brows, making him resemble an ice sculpture.
A gray-robed guest elder cultivating thirty feet away abruptly opened his eyes. Frost flowers swirled back around Lu Zhao, his robes stirred without wind, and his protective spiritual radiance burst into an Ice Ring with a pop.
The pool churned as though boiling. Silver fish leaped from the water in panic, turning into ice sculptures the instant they landed.
The guest elder immediately retreated, only to discover that his shoes were already stuck to the flagstones-excess spiritual energy had spilled out, turning everything within thirty feet into a cold domain.
"Break!"
With that clear shout, the icy domain exploded with a boom.
Lu Zhao inspected his Dantian internally. The original three entwined strands of true qi had grown a size larger, and a new strand was slowly forming.
Wisps of spiritual energy circulated on their own through his meridians, which had widened by thirty percent.
The Cold Pool's cold energy melted the instant it touched him. Gone was the needlelike sting of the past; instead, he felt as though he were immersed in warm, soothing jade liquid.
It was another long night when Lu Zhao returned from beside the Cold Pool after his breakthrough.
In the cellar beneath his small courtyard, Lu Zhao ran his fingers over his thirty spirit stones as the panel flashed before his eyes in the moonlight.
Name: Lu Zhao Lifespan: 23/120 Cultivation: Qi Refinement fourth layer (Middle-Grade Water Spirit Root) Primary cultivation art: Little Spirit Rain Art (incomplete · low-grade) Spells: Water Bullet Technique, Water Curtain Technique, Ice Cone Art, Breath Concealment Technique, Water Mist Technique Auxiliary skills: Puppet Art (First-Tier Low Grade): Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet (33% success rate)
Over these three months, Lu Zhao had maintained a regular routine. Not only had his cultivation broken through, but his Puppet Art had also advanced by leaps and bounds. He could now successfully craft an Azure-Patterned Rat Puppet core once in every three attempts, while his success rate for refining the other components approached ninety percent.
As for other puppet materials, he had bought three Ice-Congealing Stones needed for the Frost Rat Puppet from the Zhou Household. Yesterday, he had also traded with the Hunchbacked Old Cultivator in the Black Market for one the size of a pigeon's egg.
The wind-pattern stones needed for the Flowing Cloud Sparrow had long since been prepared, and he had obtained several bird corpses over the past few months as well. He had also received news from Wang Yun: a large number of Azure-Plumed Sparrow nests had been discovered at the northern foot of the Heavencloud Mountain Range. If he could obtain their corpses...
With the thought of "reaching the peak of the Middle Stage of Qi Refining before thirty" passing through his mind, Lu Zhao divided the spirit stones into three stacks: ten to buy pills, fifteen for puppet materials, and the remaining five for unforeseen circumstances.
As for the Cold Jade Pills he still had, they were no longer sufficient now that he had reached the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, so he could consider selling them. Once he exchanged his Guest Elder Token for a new one, he should also receive one new pill each month.
If Lu Zhao's guess was correct, the pills he received should be Ice Jade Pills.
With his allotted pills and the income from selling puppets, perhaps he could reach the threshold of the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining within two years.
Better still, Lu Zhao's understanding of the Little Spirit Rain Art had deepened considerably after his breakthrough. Two hours of cultivation at the Cold Pool now equaled three hours of arduous work in the past.
The daily routine continued. A night-patrol cultivator passed the courtyard. The Puppet Guards no longer merely trembled; one puppet suddenly turned its head. This was the Warning Formation Lu Zhao had learned from the Hundred Refinements Art. The Puppet Guards were more alert and sensitive than before, and more agile as well.
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