Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse

At that moment, a thatched hut hung with tools appeared in Qin Fei's sea of consciousness.

A plaque hung from the door beam, bearing the words "Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion" in large characters.

But a large black lock on the door barred entry to the entire room.

"I wonder if this lock will open after the upgrade."

Qin Fei pondered the question, then looked at the panel before him and silently chose to upgrade.

[Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion upgrading, please wait]

The thatched hut in his sea of consciousness transformed rapidly. Not only did it become a brick-and-tile house, but it also grew considerably larger.

[Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion unlocked]

[New blueprints available to unlock]

With the notification that the upgrade was complete, the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion had taken on a whole new appearance.

[Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion (lv1) (0/200)]

[Pavilion master: Qin Fei]

[Puppets: Puppet Soldier (ungraded)]

[Bonuses: puppet speed +1%, power +1%, energy consumption -1%]

[Blueprints available to unlock: Wooden Ox (tier-one puppet), Flowing Horse (tier-one puppet)]

When he looked again, the large black lock was nowhere to be seen.

Waves of unfamiliar information entered his mind, and Qin Fei immediately understood how to use the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion.

It was a tool room, somewhat like a manufacturing workshop from his previous life.

Qin Fei could select blueprints inside it and simulate the process of crafting puppets.

Once he selected a blueprint, the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion would prepare the corresponding virtual materials.

They were inexhaustible and impossible to use up.

He would never again have to worry about wasting materials when he failed to craft a puppet.

However, the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion was limited to simulations. Neither the materials it generated nor the puppets made inside it could be used in reality.

Even so, it was an enormous help to Qin Fei.

After all, a major reason the path of puppetry was so difficult to advance in was the materials it consumed.

Ordinary Rogue Cultivators simply lacked the wealth to buy large quantities of materials for practice, leaving them unable to improve their success rates.

A low success rate meant consuming even more materials, trapping them in a vicious cycle until they had no choice but to give up.

Now, the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion had solved the problem of material consumption outright.

Qin Fei could simulate and practice in his sea of consciousness without restraint. The results would be easy to imagine.

What was more, after the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion's upgrade, it had gained [bonuses: puppet speed +1%, power +1%, energy consumption -1%].

Though the bonuses did not seem like much, they improved every aspect of the puppets Qin Fei made.

As it continued to level up in the future, these bonuses would keep increasing.

Of course, what interested Qin Fei most were the new blueprints that had just appeared.

"Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse. Chancellor, have you come to help me?"

He chose to unlock them without hesitation, and a vast amount of information flooded into his mind.

[Wooden Ox]

[Materials: Purple Cloud Bamboo ×3, begonia sand 20 jin, red copper ore 300 jin...]

[Array inscription: Storage Array]

[Flowing Horse]

[Materials: Purple Cloud Bamboo ×2, begonia sand 100 jin, red copper ore 100 jin...]

[Array inscription: Storage Array]

The Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse were two different puppets. They used the same materials, but in different proportions.

Both were inscribed with Storage Arrays and had far more space than Storage Bags. They were functional puppets designed to carry cargo.

The Wooden Ox was better suited to heavy loads, with a single puppet capable of carrying eighty thousand jin of cargo.

The Flowing Horse combined carrying capacity with transportation speed. It could carry thirty thousand jin of cargo while traveling a thousand li in a day.

In theory, as long as there was enough spiritual power to drive them, they could work day and night without stopping.

As expected of tier-one puppets!

The only pity was that the storage spaces in the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse had to be activated before use, making them less convenient to carry around than Storage Bags.

Still, they served different purposes, so there was no need to compare them.

"A Storage Array. This puppet actually needs an array inscription."

Qin Fei had only heard of such things.

It was said that some high-tier puppets could even bear dozens or hundreds of array inscriptions.

Naturally, the more array inscriptions they had, the greater their functionality.

As Qin Fei studied the blueprints, the methods for making the puppets inexplicably appeared in his mind.

They included how to process the materials, inscribe the arrays, manufacture and assemble the puppets, and so on.

All Qin Fei had to do was practice the process in his sea of consciousness until he was proficient, then make them.

"Although I've obtained new blueprints, I still need to prepare the materials. I might as well keep crafting Puppet Soldiers to earn spiritual essence while I wait until I have everything."

Qin Fei soon settled on a plan.

He first sold off the Puppet Soldiers he had crafted earlier, then bought a large batch of materials.

This time, instead of crafting them right away, he went to the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion in his sea of consciousness.

As soon as he entered, several options popped up before him.

[Please select the puppet to simulate]

[Puppet Soldier] [Wooden Ox] [Flowing Horse]

Puppet Soldier!

Light flowed, and the scene inside the room changed in an instant. The materials needed to make a Puppet Soldier were laid out before him.

Qin Fei's eyes lit up. He carefully examined all the materials and found virtually no difference between them and those in reality.

After getting himself ready, he immediately set to work.

The Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion truly was remarkable.

Qin Fei was not in the best condition that day. Perhaps he was still a little excited, for he made one mistake after another while making puppets, ruining several batches of materials.

Yet as soon as the materials were used up, new ones immediately appeared to replace them.

Seeing this, Qin Fei was finally able to put his worries aside.

One simulation, two simulations, three simulations...

"The connection at this joint isn't quite right. No wonder it always feels like it's catching."

"The materials in this section were processed too roughly. They need finer work."

"Oh, come on, this is completely wrong! How did I not notice the problem here before? I can't believe it!"

In just half a month, Qin Fei had simulated making puppets hundreds of times in his sea of consciousness-more than the total number he had made before.

In the past, he would never have dared to imagine it.

As the saying went, read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will reveal itself.

As he made Puppet Soldiers more and more often, Qin Fei gradually discovered quite a few problems.

He pondered, investigated, corrected, and improved.

Before he knew it, his success rate at making Puppet Soldiers had risen steadily.

Previously, when his luck was good, he could make three Puppet Soldiers from a batch of materials. When it was bad, two was the absolute limit.

Now, with the same amount of materials, he had made five, with some left over.

Once his mastery improved further, he might be able to make even more.

Qin Fei had a faint feeling that he was not far from becoming a tier-one Puppet Master.

After simulating for several more days in his sea of consciousness, he finally set to work making them.

[Puppet Soldier completed, experience +1]

[Puppet Soldier completed, experience +1]

Perhaps his luck was good, for he managed to make six Puppet Soldiers in one go.

Their performance had also improved considerably across the board.

Unfortunately, ever since the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion had leveled up, making Puppet Soldiers only earned him one experience point each.

The next day.

Qin Fei arrived at his stall early and put out all the Puppet Soldiers he had just crafted.

"Well, look at you, kid. Your skills have improved. I've never seen you put out this many Puppet Soldiers before."

Old Zhang noticed something unusual and was filled with surprise and suspicion.

Qin Fei chuckled and said, half-truthfully:

"My skills have improved a little. I had a sudden flash of inspiration a while back and figured a few things out. But the reason I managed to make so many was that I had some materials left over from before."

Old Zhang was far too shrewd to take Qin Fei at his word.

He was about to ask more when he saw several fierce-looking Rogue Cultivators closing in around them.

Without a word, one of the burly men flung a round object onto Qin Fei's stall.

"Finally, we've caught you. Is this the Puppet Soldier you crafted?"

Looking closely, he saw that the Puppet Soldier was yellow all over and looked exactly like the Bumblebee he had crafted earlier.

But a careful inspection revealed that the techniques used on its joints and mechanisms were completely different from his own.

He understood at once what was going on.

"Damn it, my new product hasn't even made a name for itself yet, and there's already a high-quality knockoff on the market?"