Picking Through Trash

"Rest assured, fellow cultivator. I'll do everything I can to repair these puppets."

Qin Fei cupped his hands, looking utterly righteous.

But inwardly, he was glad to have the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion's help.

Otherwise, with his skill in puppetry, he would have had no way to tell which parts of these scrapped puppets had value and which were utterly useless.

No wonder no other Puppet Master was willing to come. To any normal person, this was a hopeless mess. They might as well set fire to the lot; that would be more practical.

Seeing Qin Fei's earnest attitude, Lin Man's eyes lit up, and she felt a trace of goodwill toward him.

"I'll leave this place to you. Just deliver the repaired puppets to me together at the end of the month, and I'll pay your salary then."

Qin Fei's expression remained calm, but inwardly, he nodded again and again.

Forget a salary—he would have done this job for free.

After seeing Lin Man off, Qin Fei didn't immediately go treasure hunting in the puppet scrapyard. Instead, he first circled the entire square.

Once he had committed a map of the surroundings to memory, he raced back to his courtyard.

The Technician Number Ones were all in the courtyard's basement. He would need them to dismantle the puppets and turn trash into treasure.

He also had to set up the Black Tortoise Breath-Concealing Array here to prevent others from spying.

Few people ever came here, but he still had to take precautions.

It took a full four hours for Qin Fei to retrieve what he needed from home and buy some necessities at the market before he returned to the puppet scrapyard.

The scrapyard was enormous. Scrapped puppets covered the ground everywhere, leaving no place to set foot.

Qin Fei first found a secluded spot far from the main gate and cleared a large patch of ground.

Then he summoned a squad of puppet soldiers to dig down into the earth.

He wanted to build another underground factory here.

While the puppet soldiers worked, Qin Fei quietly set up the Black Tortoise Breath-Concealing Array. An invisible ripple rose from all directions, enveloping the entire scrapyard.

Even if someone passed by outside, they wouldn't sense the slightest trace of what was inside.

It had to be said that the puppet soldiers worked without complaint or fatigue, far more efficiently than ordinary people.

In just five or six days, the rough outline of the underground factory had been dug out.

The space he was building this time was enormous, nearly four or five times the size of the underground chamber beneath his courtyard.

Qin Fei then directed the puppet soldiers to construct supports, erect pillars and wall panels, and reinforce the ground.

He didn't want to be buried underground while crafting puppets.

After another four or five days, a brand-new underground factory was finally complete.

It had everything: a material processing area, a refining area, a core manufacturing area, a storage warehouse, and more.

With the Black Tortoise Breath-Concealing Array in place, presumably no one would discover the factory as long as he didn't reveal it himself.

With all that done, Qin Fei could finally go aboveground to pick through the trash.

Thinking about the two hundred and fifty Spirit Stones he still owed the merchant association, he was full of motivation as he rummaged through the mountains of puppets.

[Blood Night Stalker, first-tier puppet. Its breastplate contains power spirit patterns of considerable research value.]

[Shadow Monitor Lizard, first-tier puppet. Its teeth and bones contain rare materials that can be extracted.]

[Heavenly Mystery Key, special puppet. A strange key. Blueprint recorded.]

"Heavenly Mystery Key? What's this?"

Qin Fei looked puzzled. It was his first time seeing a special puppet.

But after fiddling with it for a while, he found nothing special about it.

The Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion had already recorded the key's blueprint, and its complexity left even Qin Fei dumbfounded.

After studying it for a while, he shook his head helplessly and put the key in his Storage Bag for future study.

Looking at the piles of puppets, Qin Fei couldn't help feeling delighted.

At first, he had thought the usable materials in these discarded puppets would be his greatest gain.

But as he examined more and more puppets, he realized that the ideas behind their construction and the spirit patterns, arrays, cores, and so on within them were the greatest treasure he could gain.

There were many kinds of puppets, and most were completely wrecked, with no value in repairing them.

But the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion could always find something worthwhile in their construction for Qin Fei to draw on.

As for the puppets that weren't completely wrecked, the Heavenly Craft Creation Pavilion could also find the value they held.

Qin Fei felt as though he had found a priceless treasure, and he immersed himself entirely in the ocean of the Puppet Technique.

Not until evening did a familiar voice suddenly come from outside the scrapyard.

"Qin Fei, where are you?"

"Oh, come on, what kind of dump is this? There isn't even anywhere to put my feet."

Qin Fei knew from the voice that Old Zhang had come looking for him.

He climbed out of the pile of puppets, brushed the dust from his clothes, and ran over to Old Zhang.

"Isn't this all your fault? If you hadn't insisted on dragging me here to become some kind of Attendant, would I have ended up picking through trash?"

Seeing Qin Fei covered in dust and grime, Old Zhang burst out laughing.

"Never thought I'd see the day, kid."

He summoned a curtain of water and held it up in front of Qin Fei.

Only then did Qin Fei see that his hair was a mess and his face was covered in dust. He looked like a wild man.

Qin Fei formed a Method Formula with one hand and cast a Cleaning Technique, restoring his appearance to normal.

"So, Old Zhang, how's your job as a Talisman Attendant? Is it easy?"

"Not bad. With my current skill in talismans, supplying ten first-tier talismans each month doesn't take much time.

"Unfortunately, my cultivation isn't high enough, so I can only be an outer sect Attendant.

"If I could reach Late Qi Refining or become a second-tier talisman master and an inner sect Attendant of the Lin Household, then I could really strut sideways through Shangyu Market."

At the end of the day, an outer sect Attendant was still an outsider.

The relationship with the Lin Household was more like a partnership, and the pay was low: only five Spirit Stones a month.

But an inner sect Attendant would be treated as an honored guest by the entire Lin Household, so the difference in status was plain.

Qin Fei made a teasing remark, but becoming an inner sect Attendant didn't interest him much.

Those were the Lin Household's own people, and how easy could it be for someone with a different surname to become one of their own?

Although he could enjoy the benefits of the Lineage, both sides had to sign a blood contract forbidding betrayal, and he would have to live and die with the Lineage in times of trouble. The restrictions were simply too great.

Old Zhang was only talking offhandedly himself; he didn't dare hope for it.

"Come on, let's go to the Gathering Immortals Pavilion. My treat. You're getting a bargain today, kid."

He didn't say it, but he actually felt quite guilty that Qin Fei had been assigned such a "thankless job."

If he hadn't insisted on asking Qin Fei to accompany him and become an Attendant back then, Qin Fei would probably be at home now, lying in a rocking chair, drinking tea, and taking it easy.

Naturally, Qin Fei didn't refuse. The two drank until midnight before parting ways.

As they left the Gathering Immortals Pavilion, the roar of an engine came from the distance. It was the sound of a Zhang Yu Motor Vehicle.

Both turned their heads, the same thought rising in their minds:

Could it be that Tang Zhan and the others caught us red-handed drinking without inviting them?

But once they got a clear look at the rider, they both breathed a sigh of relief. It was a Rogue Cultivator they didn't know.

"Kid, that puppet of yours really has changed the way everyone gets around."

Old Zhang marveled inwardly.

Qin Fei smiled faintly. Watching someone else use his product was a wonderful feeling.

Just then, the voice transmission talisman in his Storage Bag suddenly stirred.

When he opened it, he found a message from Tang Zhan urging him to deliver more goods.

It turned out that ever since Tang Zhan and Wang Hu had made a great splash riding Zhang Yu Motor Vehicles during the counterattack against the barbarians that day, the motorcycle's name had resounded throughout Shangyu Market.

Afterward, the merchant association's orders had surged. They were reportedly booked three months ahead, and even the Lin and Lu Households had come to buy them.

With no other choice, Tang Zhan could only soothe the customers while urging Qin Fei to hurry up production.

Qin Fei's face fell, and he sighed helplessly to himself.

"You lot get to show off on motorcycles, while I have to work overtime to keep you supplied. There's no justice in this world!"