Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 12 Armored War Bear.

Puppeteers invest heavily in the early stages, and there is a risk of failure in crafting puppets. Researching new puppets is costly and mentally taxing, and if a new puppet is not popular, they will lose everything.

Su Qing thought to herself that puppeteers also had their share of difficulties, but there was no need to tell Tang Wanqing these things.

"It's much easier to be a spirit butcher. Others hunt and they slaughter, easily making dozens or even hundreds of spirit crystals in the bank."

Seeing Hu San wielding a meat cleaver, making swift and precise cuts on the Ironback Bear, Su Qing smiled and remarked with admiration.

Tang Wanqing chuckled when she saw his somewhat thin appearance:

"Not just anyone can be a butcher. One must have the strength of a first-level body refiner and be thoroughly familiar with the body structure of various demonic beasts. Bleeding, skinning, butchering, deboning, and removing the core—every step has its own intricacies."

Su Qing nodded silently upon hearing this, knowing that what Tang Wanqing said was true.

Making a living in the spiritual practice world is indeed not easy in any profession.

After all, in this world, those who can be supported by various resources without engaging in production, and who only seek breakthroughs in their cultivation realm and longevity, are the cultivation geniuses who are treasured and cherished by the major sects.

Most cultivators, once they understand their own aptitude and potential limits of cultivation, are no different from ordinary people; they simply want to live their lives better in the present moment.

Even so, it's not that easy.

The exorbitant taxes levied by various powers, the plundering of cultivators, the presence of evil spirits and monsters—fortune and misfortune are always unpredictable, and danger is ever-present.

There are many cases like Ge Ling's, where simply losing a pair of legs caused a family's years of hard work to go down the drain.

Thinking of this, Su Qing looked at the villagers picking up scraps of meat from the ground and couldn't help but feel that she was already lucky enough.

Perhaps the Ironback Bear was too big, or perhaps Hu San was not skilled enough.

He finished preparing the iron-backed bear around dusk.

During this time, Su Qing led Ge Ling through more than an hour of rehabilitation.

To his relief, the Spirit Lotus Legs were indeed a mature puppet certified by the system; at least for Ge Ling's Qi Refining stage, these legs were enough for her.

Because the quality of the lotus root leg was excellent, he accepted the 2,600 spirit crystals that Ge Changyuan had obtained from selling the bull without any qualms.

The cost of the Spirit Jade Lotus Root is not worth this price, but when a puppeteer makes a purchase, he never considers more than just the cost.

Putting aside the fact that if someone else wanted to refine a pair of spirit lotus legs, the cost Su Qing would charge would be far more than this amount.

It's even less likely that anyone else would ask him to travel overnight and incur favors by hiring Tang Wanqing.

"I know this little bit of spirit crystals is far from enough to buy back Ling'er's legs. Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Su, I'll sell this year's harvest and gather another four hundred spirit crystals to send to you!"

Knowing the difference between good and bad, Ge Changyuan added a comment as he saw Su Qing accept the spirit crystal.

Su Qing shook her head, not intending to make him bleed any more. The old man's life was hard, and his wife was just an ordinary person. He did almost all the work in the fields by himself.

If it weren't for giving Ge Ling a good start, he might have fared better if he moved out of the Spirit Field District and into the secular world. But in the Spirit Field District, after exhausting all his previous savings and selling him a year's harvest, his family would be unable to make ends meet the following year.

"Fellow Daoist, please don't thank me in such a hurry. I have a favor to ask. I've noticed that quite a few people in this Spirit Field District are interested in my puppets."

I don't want to travel back and forth, so I'm thinking of asking you to run errands for me in the future. If the villagers want puppets, please bring me the deposit. After I finish making the puppets, please deliver them to them.

"I wouldn't dare let you work so hard in vain, so for each order, I'll give you ten spirit crystals as a reward. What do you say?"

Su Qing spoke slowly and deliberately to Ge Changyuan.

His experience in Gejia Village made him realize the demand for puppets in the Spirit Field District. Admittedly, the purchasing power here is far less than in the residential area, and there is hardly any market for high-end puppets among the cultivators in the central area.

However, with a large number of cultivators and a lack of competition from other puppeteers, the villagers' strong demand for puppets could not be met, and they desperately needed a puppeteer like him to save the day!
A few villagers can pool their money to buy a passionate secret doll.

These puppets aren't really used for anything productive. If they were to forge production tools like iron horses and wooden oxen, the villagers wouldn't have any trouble earning spirit crystals!
The risk of having to travel back and forth between the residential area and Lingtian District is somewhat difficult to manage.

Su Qing herself was unwilling to take such a risk, but a spiritual plant master like Ge Changyuan was not someone that ordinary cultivators would even consider. As long as the returns were high enough, Ge Changyuan would probably be willing to take this risk.

Sure enough, as soon as he said those words, Ge Changyuan was somewhat tempted.

"How could I dare to accept Fellow Daoist Su's hard work fee? After the busy farming season is over, this old man will also go to the market to sell some things from the fields. I'll bring some things for you while I'm at it. It won't take much effort at all."

"One thing at a time. What you deserve, you will get your share. So it's settled then. I hope you'll help me promote my skills in the area. My skills have improved, and I can now refine most first-grade low-level puppets."

After discussing the matter with Ge Changyuan, Su Qing walked out of the house and saw Hu San selling demon blood for Tang Wanqing.

"Ironback Bear demon blood, two spirit crystals per pound, nourishes qi and blood, strengthens internal organs. Fellow Daoist Tang is kind-hearted and willing to let us cowards take advantage of it. Otherwise, in the market, this pound of demon blood would cost at least five spirit crystals."

It's unclear how much commission Tang Wanqing gave Hu San to motivate him to promote the product so diligently.

But what Hu San said was true. If it weren't for the fact that the storage bag couldn't hold it all, Tang Wanqing could have sold all that demon blood in the market for more than two spirit crystals per pound.

Su Qing still had space in his storage bag, so he decided to take advantage of the opportunity. He not only bought more than 20 catties of bear blood to have his servant Mu Ling make Mao Xue Wang (a spicy Sichuan dish), but also bought four bear paws, which cost him more than 600 spirit crystals.

In his previous life, he had never had the chance to eat bear paws, nor did he know what the bear paws of this demonic beast tasted like.

"Don't you buy some more monster meat? Even as a puppeteer, you need to nourish your body more."

Ironback bear meat costs seven or eight spirit crystals per pound. Although many villagers were attracted by Hu San, they mostly consumed demon blood, and few people bought ironback bear meat.

Even the villagers who had previously bought Su Qing's passionate lover's puppet had no intention of buying the iron-backed bear meat. Clearly, they all understood the principle of saving when necessary and spending when appropriate.

Thinking that these monster meats would inevitably be overcharged by the shops in the market, Tang Wanqing wanted to persuade the wealthy Su Qing to buy more.

Su Qing, however, had no interest whatsoever. He wasn't stupid; he did need to replenish his strength, but the meat of the Ironback Bear was far more stimulating than that of wild beef. For someone as weak as him, eating this meat would only make him feel weak and unable to benefit from the nourishment; there were no other advantages.

But when he saw the Ironback Bear's bones, which Hu San had cleanly and efficiently disposed of, he had a change of heart.

Animal bones are a widely used material for crafting puppets. The bones of a Tier 1 superior Ironback Bear can be used as the main material for crafting a Tier 1 superior puppet—the Ironclad War Bear.

He was now a first-tier high-grade puppeteer, and as long as he bought the blueprints for the Ironclad War Bear from the market, he could try to forge it. So he asked Tang Wanqing for a bargain.

Tang Wanqing was not easily fooled.

Although she wasn't entirely clear on the exact value of the Ironback Bear bones, she knew they were one of the most sought-after materials by puppeteers, and that they would fetch a good price if brought back to the market.

However, wanting to build a deeper relationship with Su Qing, he readily sold the beast bone to Su Qing after Su Qing offered 2,200 spirit crystals.

"Thank you for your kindness this time, Fellow Daoist Tang. Rest assured, if you ever need puppets in the future, I will definitely offer you the lowest possible price!"

Having received the benefits, Su Qing was generous with her compliments.

"Talk is cheap. Once I've built up my Passionate Couple business, just don't try to rip me off."

Tang Wanqing glanced at Su Qing sideways and said bluntly.

Su Qing waved her hands repeatedly, making it clear that she was not the kind of unscrupulous businessman who would arbitrarily raise prices.

(End of this chapter)