Creating Soldiers from Paper Cuttings
If this book had been in a Daoist temple's library, a blue-grade spell would have cost at least five hundred Dharma Coins. It was ten times cheaper here!
"Looks like I've found a bargain."
He paid without betraying his feelings and tucked the book into his sleeve. Full of anticipation, he carefully searched every corner of the little shop, but found nothing else.
With some regret, Lin Xu bought a stack of yellow paper and a pair of scissors. He left the general store, picked up some food from the village chief's house, and returned to his lodgings.
After telling the guards to continue meditating once they had eaten, Lin Xu shut the door and used the Paper-Cutting Soldier Creation Art. A flood of knowledge poured into his mind, and the incantations and paths of mana circulation appeared clearly before him.
The spirit lamp lit, and his thoughts entered a state of overclocking. In an instant, the entire spell was imprinted deep within his sea of consciousness. Countless obscure incantations and cutting techniques were taken apart and reassembled. He closed his eyes and concentrated, his fingertips moving slightly to mimic the paths of the scissors as the incantations echoed again and again through his sea of consciousness.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, took up the yellow paper and scissors, and cast the spell as instructed. As his mana flowed, the paper trembled and became a paper figure standing in his palm.
He tossed it onto the floor. The moment it landed, the paper figure swelled to eight feet tall. Its eyes glowed faintly, and the joints of its limbs turned nimbly, giving off a faint rustling sound.
Name: Paper Figure · White Race: Puppet Level: 1 Strength: 7 Agility: 12 Constitution: 2 Spirit: 0 Intelligence: 3 Health: 8/8 Evaluation: Fit for use as a scout. Though it lacks intelligence, it follows orders and is especially adept at moving unseen at night.
Lin Xu's heart stirred. He tapped the paper figure's brow, and a faint glimmer of spiritual light entered it. With a thought, he ordered, "Circle the village once."
The paper figure's eyes glowed faintly. Its body dipped and quietly became a piece of paper, like melting snow. It slipped through the crack beneath the door and vanished from the room.
Lin Xu silently sensed the impressions returned through his divine sense. What the paper figure saw unfolded in his mind like an ink painting.
The paper figure passed through the lanes, flitting nimbly between the crossing shadows of walls. Its view was outlined in ink, every corner of the eaves and crack between bricks rendered in the finest detail.
Villagers hurried along the dirt road, but they looked like two-dimensional silhouettes. Everything resembled a silent shadow play.
The paper figure was quite fast. Before long, it had circled the village and slipped back into the room, returning to the size of his palm.
Lin Xu opened his eyes. The paper figure in his palm trembled slightly, the spiritual light in its eyes gradually dimming.
"Two points of mana..." He nodded in satisfaction. Its cost-effectiveness was truly maxed out.
He closed his eyes and meditated again, the spirit lamp burning in his hand to maintain his state of Thought Overclocking.
Everything he had seen and heard while controlling the paper figure to scout the village now served as material. His active mind repeatedly worked through and took it apart in his sea of consciousness, checking each piece against the paths of the Paper-Cutting Soldier Creation Art's incantations.
A moment later, he once again controlled the paper figure and activated it according to the spell formula. The paper figure set off again, this time passing straight through the wall and slipping into the dense forest outside the village.
His view shifted. Rocks, grass, and trees were outlined in ink, while the daylight was rendered in varying layers of light and shade. The paths of small beasts darting through the forest were captured clearly. The paper figure lay low and drifted like a dead leaf, silently gliding more than ten meters like a nimble swallow.
A moment later, the paper figure turned back, passing through woods and leaves before returning to its original form in the room. Lin Xu opened his eyes. The deductions in his sea of consciousness had taken shape, and his paper-cutting movements had become smoother.
His fingertips moved slightly as he took another sheet of paper and concentrated on cutting it. The blades moved like winding dragons and snakes, and a talismanic spell flickered into view among the paper's fibers.
The instant he infused it with mana, the paper glowed faintly. A paper figure very different from the previous one stood in his palm.
Name: Paper Figure · Cyan Race: Puppet Level: 2 Strength: 12 Agility: 15 Constitution: 4 Spirit: 0 Intelligence: 8 Health: 16/16 Skill: Traverse · Cyan (intermediate) - passes through walls like the wind, leaving no opening unexplored. Evaluation: Possesses both scouting ability and combat strength. Its spirituality has begun to emerge. It can ride the wind and tread on leaves without leaving a trace. Particularly skilled at ambushes and surprise attacks, it is a fine choice for the vanguard.
It took the same two points of mana to operate, but the paper figure's combat strength and usefulness had risen several grades.
Seeing that his paper-cutting skill had reached grandmaster level, Lin Xu rejoiced. "Just as I thought, my talent is best suited to learning spells."
He cut out some paper figures to keep in reserve, then sat back down on the bed and took out another skill book.
Name: Water and Fire Soldier Refining Curse Grade: Cyan, common Effect: Uses mana to generate the power of water and fire to refine soul bodies, improving soul quality and potential. Description: Commonly used to refine the heroic spirits of those fallen in battle or subdue wandering souls, dispelling evil and transforming Sha, returning baleful Qi to its origin, and reforging spirit bodies. Rumor has it that those who cultivate it to a profound level can refine their own souls and avoid falling into the netherworld.
The spell was only of common cyan grade, but the effects in its description were quite astonishing.
He used the skill book, and the cultivation method for the Water and Fire Soldier Refining Curse was imprinted in his sea of consciousness.
With Thought Overclocking, he swiftly took the cultivation method apart. Images of water and fire intertwining evolved rapidly in his sea of consciousness.
A moment later, Lin Xu controlled the Soul-Nourishing Pagoda to release the Yin Soldier Corporal. Formed of Yin Qi, the corporal stood beside the bed in battered armor, netherfire flickering in his eyes.
Lin Xu joined his fingers in a spell gesture and instantly activated the Water and Fire Soldier Refining Curse. The spirit lamp's flame enveloped the corporal, ghostly blue and crimson intertwining as the illusory images became flames and currents of cold that were almost tangible.
The Yin Soldier Corporal's body shuddered violently, his battered armor giving a crisp metallic scrape. The netherfire in his eyes flickered.
Like blades scraping flesh from bone and carving into a soul, the power of water and fire stripped layers of resentment, Yin Qi, and impure soul power from his soul body. They condensed into black frost and fell away in a flurry.
More magical light seeped deep into his soul body, restoring his damaged spirituality. His soul body gradually grew more solid.
The Yin Soldier Corporal threw back his head in a soundless roar. Black mist rose from his body like boiling water, then was completely dispersed in the refining of interwoven water and fire. Gradually, the outlines of his face from when he was alive appeared.
After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, the illusions of water and light dissipated, revealing the Yin Soldier Corporal kneeling on one knee. His battered armor was as good as new.
His once indistinct, illusory soul body now had clear contours. The Yin Qi around him was contained, and he gave off a grave, murderous presence.
Name: Yin Soldier Corporal (Elite) · Blue Race: Ghost Level: 2 Strength: 7 (+2) Agility: 17 (+1) Constitution: 0 Spirit: 14 (+3) Intelligence: 9 (+1) Health: 320/320 (+100) Talent: [Command Yin Souls · Blue] Skills: Netherfire Pierce · White (advanced), Spear Charge · Cyan (advanced), Formation Command · Blue (beginner) Evaluation: A ghost-path general with potential, abandoned among desolate graves, his talents yet to be brought to bear.
A single refining with water and fire had sent his attributes soaring.
That was especially true of his Spirit attribute. It was the core attribute of ghost-type beings, and both health and combat strength rose with it.
An expert-level Water and Fire Soldier Refining Curse... I wonder what it could achieve if I raised it to grandmaster level... Lin Xu thought, still wanting more.
Casting the spell consumed far too much mana. Refining the Yin Soldier Corporal just once had cost him more than a dozen Dharma Coins.
After a day in seclusion and today's big shopping trip, he did not have many Dharma Coins left.
"Forget it. I'd better go into seclusion and cultivate."
After walking around the village earlier, Lin Xu had realized that his status and permissions were insufficient. The village could only serve as a resting point; many of its functions were not available to him.