Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 2 Flesh Puppets, Business Booming
"Shopkeeper Liu, business is booming! You've finished crafting all ten witch puppets you ordered last time. Consider the extra two as interest on the materials I owe you?"

Led by Manager Liu, Su Qing arrived on the second floor but did not sit down immediately. Instead, she bowed to Manager Liu with great politeness.

Despite Manager Liu's smiling demeanor, he was well aware of his place.

He's no longer an inner disciple of the Yunshan Sect; he's no longer part of the official hierarchy and is no different from the other rogue cultivators. The only thing he has is some skill in puppetry, which helps Manager Liu boost his sales.

In a way, Manager Liu was also his provider, so naturally he had to treat him well.

"It's been half a month since I last saw you, Fellow Daoist Su. You've made further progress in the art of puppetry. With just one hundred materials, you've managed to craft twelve puppets. The success rate is even higher than I expected. I won't let you suffer any losses. How about I offer you four hundred spirit crystals each for the two extra puppets?"

Manager Liu, unwilling to take advantage of Su Qing, said generously.

Su Qing nodded in agreement. He knew very well that these witch puppets were all high-end products, not the simplified versions he sold at his stall.

According to Baibaoge's requirements, not only are the biomimetic runes more vivid, but they can also simulate some of the witch's aura according to the customer's needs.

After being resold through the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, especially to those demonic cultivators in the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom who are burning with lust for Liu Yun'er, the price could easily increase dozens of times.

As the puppeteer who developed the witch puppets, Su Qing was not envious of them. In fact, he left the name of Baibaoge on each puppet.

You earn as much money as you're capable of, and you take on as much responsibility as you're capable of. Baibaoge is clearly more capable than him. They make a lot of money and take on a lot of responsibility, while he just stays in Baiyunfang and drinks some soup.

"If you have some free time recently, please refine more witch puppets. The last few witch puppets were very popular and in short supply. It seems that as the war between the two sects intensifies and the witches continue to act violently, more and more fellow Daoists are harboring resentment towards these witches."

"Furthermore, using this puppet to simulate the witch's alluring abilities can also enhance our resistance against the witch herself. For the sake of all my fellow cultivators, I'm entrusting this to you, fellow cultivator!" Manager Liu said earnestly.

"Resisting the Demonic Sect is our duty. As usual, one hundred sets of materials will produce ten puppets. Manager Liu, I will make as many puppets as you have materials!"

Su Qing was filled with heroic spirit; he didn't care what those cultivators used these witch puppets for, he just wanted to make money.

Seeing that Su Qing agreed so readily, Manager Liu's smile became even more sincere.

This witch puppet, in terms of quality, is only a mid-grade first-tier puppet.

However, due to its extremely high requirements for biomimetic runes, even ordinary second-tier puppeteers find it difficult to craft such puppets. Those who can craft them are guests of honor of major powers, who disdain and are unwilling to craft such puppets.

It was this Fellow Daoist Su, who was accepted into the inner sect of Yunshan Sect because of his extremely high comprehension of biomimetic runes, but was later kicked out because of his low spiritual root and difficulty in breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, that made him do this business with him.

Clap your hands, and the waiter will come over carrying a storage bag.

"In a position like Fellow Daoist Su's, you should already have a storage bag. This bag contains materials for over 360 items. Fellow Daoist Su, you will fulfill your requirement by handing over 30 witch puppets to our pavilion in a month. Consider this storage bag a small token of our appreciation to you!"

A low-grade storage bag can't be held without three thousand spirit crystals.

The fact that this witch puppet could be given away as a bargaining chip suggests that its profit margin is even greater than I imagined!
While muttering to herself, Su Qing outwardly appeared flattered and accepted the storage bag.

After finishing the deal on the witch puppet, Su Qing bought some other materials from Manager Liu, spending most of the spirit crystals she had earned from the stall before finally stopping.

Then, just as Manager Liu was preparing to see the guests off.

Su Qing suddenly pulled out a puppet blueprint from his pocket and said to Manager Liu:

"Manager, take a look at this puppet. Is Baibao Pavilion interested?"

Manager Liu unfolded the blueprints and saw that they depicted a puppet resembling a green-skinned lizard. He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "This can do that kind of thing?"

"What are you thinking, Manager Liu? This is a war puppet! I plan to focus on this puppet next. If you are interested, I will bring you a test piece next time we deliver goods," Su Qing said irritably.

"Oh, oh, a combat puppet? Then bring it with you next time, fellow Daoist. If the bionic effect is good, our sect may not be unable to accept it."

Upon hearing that it was a combat puppet, Manager Liu was initially somewhat disappointed. Combat puppets could be crafted by any proper puppeteer, and Su Qing's expertise in biomimetic runes wouldn't be of much use in combat puppets, so he naturally had little interest in them.

But then it occurred to me that there are countless cultivators in the world, and perhaps some of them enjoy passionate battles with lizard puppets?

After finishing their business, the two chatted for a few more minutes. Seeing that Manager Liu was getting impatient, Su Qing got up to take her leave. With her remaining spirit crystals, she bought some spirit rice, spirit noodles, and other daily necessities in the market. She also reluctantly bought three Yellow Sprout Pills, which could enhance her cultivation. Then she mounted her iron-legged horse and headed along the bluestone-paved road towards the residential area not far from the city center.

Along the way, Su Qing could feel faint gazes locking onto her, but the pricking sensation immediately disappeared.

"This Iron-Leg Horse is too conspicuous. Next time it comes out, we'll use storage bags to transport supplies, and we won't have this problem."

Even though she knew that Baibaoge would definitely have warriors secretly escorting her to prevent the materials she had just been given from being stolen by thieves, Su Qing was still somewhat apprehensive. She tightly gripped the thick armor talisman and returned to the living area with trepidation.

The residential area outside the market is built around the lake, with beautiful scenery. It is protected by the array set up by Baiyun Market all year round, and the Baiyun Sect law enforcement team maintains order. As long as you stay in your room, you don't have to worry about being attacked by thieves.

It can be said that apart from the slightly expensive monthly rental fee of 500 spirit crystals, there are no other drawbacks.

"Oh, Fellow Daoist Su is back. I heard you sold three witch puppets in the market today. Tsk tsk, I never thought I'd have my business stolen by a man!"

Outside the house, a beautifully dressed, charming female cultivator saw him return and spoke with a sharp tongue.

Tang Wanqing, my next-door neighbor, is a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. She has several female cultivators under her command and runs a prostitution business in Baiyun Market. Because she is decent-looking and a good person, I have a fairly good relationship with her.

"There are hundreds of thousands of independent cultivators in the market. With only three puppets, how can they compete with Fellow Daoist Tang for business? It's just that Fellow Daoist Tang himself is unwilling to serve customers. Otherwise, I would be willing to offer some of my hard-earned money to Fellow Daoist Tang!"

Su Qing's gaze swept unabashedly over Tang Wanqing, calculating that if she were used as a template to refine puppets, the sales should not be bad.

"Pah! You've got the desire but not the guts. My door's open tonight, do you dare come in?"

Tang Wanqing took a sip of water, seemingly genuinely, and the two trembling mounds on her chest stirred Su Qing's heart. However, he immediately realized that with his cultivation level, he could not tame this wild horse.

"Stop joking, fellow Daoist. It seems you've been waiting for me for quite some time. You're not really here to flirt with me, are you?" Su Qing said with a serious expression.

Seeing this, Tang Wanqing explained her purpose.

It turns out that she also had her eye on the witch puppet.

She had been eyeing this ever since Su Qing created the first batch of witch puppets.

She and a few of her girlfriends ran a prostitution business. The girls were all made of flesh and blood and could not withstand the beatings, so they could only take a few customers a day.

Nothing beats entertaining customers with a group of puppets. At most, you can charge a lower fee for using the puppets. As long as the volume and frequency are high, you can definitely earn more.

Of course, the witch puppet based on Liu Yun'er was still too expensive for her, so she took out a batch of portraits of beautiful female cultivators and asked Su Qing to tailor-make some cheaper ones.

"The basic model costs 200 spirit crystals per set, with 80 biomimetic runes and 2 water and fire runes engraved. No repairs or refunds."

"Upgraded version: 300 spirit crystals per set, with 120 inscribed runes. You can freely change between three types of runes: water, fire, lightning, and spiral. No repairs, no refunds."

"A deluxe version costs 500 spirit crystals and is engraved with 372 bionic runes. Warranty or money-back guarantee!"

"I suggest you choose the deluxe version. This is a top-quality product that the Hundred Treasures Pavilion exports to the Desire Demon Sect. It's only because we have a very close relationship that I would sell it to just anyone!"

Su Qing's face was beaming with joy at the unexpected business opportunity right at her doorstep.

"Heavens above, five hundred spirit crystals for one body? Why don't you just rob me!" Upon hearing Su Qing's price, Tang Wanqing exclaimed, repeatedly calling it too expensive.

Bargaining is not difficult.

After Tang Wanqing gave her a treat, Su Qing readily agreed to have five basic puppets custom-made for her for 185 spirit crystals to try out.

To Su Qing's surprise, one of the templates Tang Wanqing chose was actually herself.

She probably knew that there were quite a few cultivators in the vicinity who coveted her, and since she herself wouldn't earn that money, she could let her puppet do it.

Looking at Tang Wanqing's body data on the drawings, Su Qing was amazed by her impressive figure and promised to complete her order within a month.

(End of this chapter)