Entering Seclusion Again

Qin Fei had already learned this through their conversation.

The old man's name was Wei Zhao, and he was a Second-Tier Puppet Master from Repel the North City.

Twenty years ago, during the great war between humans and barbarians, the human border was pushed back eight thousand miles.

After that, he and several friends founded the Puppet Association, spreading puppetry skills far and wide and recruiting geniuses in the art of puppetry. He now serves as the vice president.

The woman's name was Zhou Ping, and she was Wei Zhao's personal disciple.

The two then began discussing the Puppet Core, the content of which was like a wordless book, leaving Zhou Ping completely bewildered.

Wei Zhao praised Qin Fei repeatedly, becoming increasingly satisfied with him.

According to him, the most difficult part of becoming Second-Tier Puppet Master is crafting the Puppet Core.

Cultivators often progress from simple to complex, accumulating knowledge step by step.

This process is extremely slow; even those with dull aptitude may not be able to forge a Puppet Core for a Battle Puppet even after decades.

Even he himself started with a rudimentary second-tier puppet and spent more than ten years before successfully crafting a Battle Puppet.

After their conversation, he realized that Qin Fei seem like a complete novice at all; on the contrary, he seemed to have been studying this subject for a long time.

This greatly shocked him.

It's important to understand that making progress in mastering the Puppet Core requires a great deal of practice.

In a small place like Shangyu Market, let alone whether there are enough materials for Qin Fei to use, even if there are, ordinary people might not be able to afford them.

Qin Fei's skill level clearly surpasses that of many veteran Puppet Master.

This puzzled him greatly, and in the end, he could only attribute it to the extraordinary talent of the young man before him.

As a result, he grew to like Qin Fei even more and decided to offer him some guidance.

With a wave of his hand, Wei Zhao conjured a crimson humanoid puppet beside the tea table.

Qin Fei's heart tightened; he felt a sense of oppression from this puppet, a feeling typically associated with Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"This is a second-tier puppet."

Qin Fei's expression was serious as he carefully studied the structure of the Puppet Core.

"Senior Wei, may I use my Divine Sense to take a look?"

Using one's Divine Sense to examine another's puppet without permission is a very offensive act.

Although Qin Fei sensed the old man's appreciation for him, he dared not be presumptuous, lest he lose more than he gained.

"Yes, this core is composed of two hundred and eighty intricate spiritual runes. You can focus on understanding the arrangement between them."

Wei Zhao stroked his beard and pointed.

Qin Fei's heart skipped a beat. The puppet recorded in the Divine Soul Sensing Chapter had as many as 320 spiritual patterns, so it seemed that its strength was even greater than that of this puppet.

He slowly closed his eyes, carefully sensing the structure of the spiritual patterns within the core.

"The Qian position belongs to metal, which generates Kan water; the Dui position also belongs to metal, but it overcomes Xun wood. Therefore, water-attribute spiritual patterns should be depicted here, not wood-attribute ones..."

Whenever Qin Fei showed any confusion, Wei Zhao would explain a sentence or two at the right time.

The two were both teacher and friend, and they spent every day discussing Puppet Technique.

Zhou Ping initially listened with great interest, but the more she listened, the more confused she became, so she eventually went to pet the Big Yellow.

The Big Yellow always acted affectionately towards the beautiful female cultivator, constantly rubbing its head against her chest, making Zhou Ping giggle repeatedly.

Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, Wei Zhao had been living in the puppet scrapyard for three months.

On this day, he took Zhou Ping with him and said goodbye.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, then it's a deal. If you ever come to Repel the North City, you must visit my Puppet Association."

"Senior Wei, please rest assured. If I go there in the future, I will certainly trouble you. Please don't find me a bother then."

They both burst into laughter.

Over the course of three months, Qin Fei and Wei Zhao forged a deep friendship.

Wei Zhao valued talent and was very fond of this exceptionally gifted junior.

I noticed that he had already become Second-Tier Puppet Master, and we treated each other as equals, without any airs of seniority.

Qin Fei humbly sought advice, and whenever he had a question, the other party would answer it immediately without holding back any knowledge.

This won him favor, and he respected this senior even more.

During this period, his Puppet Technique skills improved rapidly.

In the simulation within the sea of consciousness, a Puppet Core can be successfully refined every hundred attempts.

Compared to the previous success rate of one in a thousand attempts, it's already so much better.

If possible, he would like to keep Wei Zhao here for a while longer, but unfortunately Wei Zhao had to go to other markets to preach, so he had to give up the idea.

Before leaving, Zhou Ping also bowed respectfully.

"Fellow Daoist Qin is truly talented; I have witnessed his abilities firsthand. My teacher once said that there are heavens beyond heavens and people beyond people, and today I realize that this is indeed true."

"However, fellow Daoist, do not slack off. I am prepared to catch up quickly when I return this time. When we meet again, please do not let me surpass you."

Qin Fei smiled slightly and said:

"Fellow Daoist's talent far surpasses mine. I look forward to our next meeting to discuss the art of puppetry."

He escorted the two of them out of the puppet scrapyard before returning to his own courtyard.

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, a glint of light flashed in Qin Fei's eyes.

"It's time to go into seclusion."

This time, he vowed not to leave seclusion until he had successfully crafted a second-tier puppet.

However, some preparations need to be made before that.

Qin Fei pondered for a moment, then headed towards the Patrol Office.

At this moment, the elderly man at the window who was in charge of reception looked surprised.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, are you saying you want to carry out missions for a whole year?"

"That's right, doing it once a month is too troublesome. I plan to complete the tasks for the next year all at once. I hope you can be lenient with me."

"This..."

The old man was somewhat bewildered. Everyone avoided patrol duties like the plague; he had never seen anyone eagerly volunteer for them.

Qin Fei's request wasn't unreasonable, but no one had ever done it before. If this precedent were set, it was hard to say whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing.

The old man was somewhat embarrassed.

Just then, a voice came from afar:

"There's no need for such trouble. If Brother Qin wishes to go into seclusion, I will waive your task."

Turning around, I saw Lin Man walking slowly towards me, and these words came from her mouth.

Qin Fei frowned and said:

"If Fellow Daoist Lin still wishes to invite me to become an inner disciple, then don't waste your time."

Lin Man gave a wry smile and shook her head:

"Brother Qin, you misunderstand. Senior Wei visited my Lin Household before he left. Since you are his disciple, you naturally don't need to do these chores anymore."

Upon hearing this, Qin Fei looked enlightened.

So it was because of Wei Zhao; no wonder the Lin Household became so easy to talk to.

"In that case, thank you, fellow Daoist."

Qin Fei wouldn't refuse. He cupped his hands in greeting and disappeared at the end of the Patrol Office.

Afterwards, he went to the market to buy some items needed for his seclusion, and then sent messages to Tang Zhan and the others.

According to his estimate, this retreat will not end in a short period of time.

He wanted to let everyone know in advance to avoid any misunderstandings if they couldn't contact him.

After completing these tasks, Qin Fei plunged into the secret chamber, activated all defensive restrictions, and officially went into seclusion.

Time turns, seasons change.

Spring flowers and grasses bloom and wither, wither and bloom again.

No further movement was heard from the puppet scrapyard.