Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 237 Soul-Shattering Shadow, Vajra Horse Legs (5,000 words, what a long chapter!)

The wind is blowing, the snow is falling, and the demons are roaring.

A second-tier body cultivator, with keen hearing and sharp eyesight, could see every detail of the Blood Demon Puppet from several miles away.

These blood demons resembled clumps of bloody slime, with blurred features, unusually long limbs, and their entire bodies were bubbling with bloody foam, making them look extremely disgusting.

However, it must be said that apart from its poor appearance, this puppet is still one of the best among first-grade high-quality puppets, far superior to the likes of the Wang family's previous heavy cavalry.

According to Su Qing's understanding.

This Blood Demon Puppet is made primarily from Blood Spirit Crystal, a liquid spirit crystal. Each puppet contains a vengeful spirit, which is combined with the Soul Demon Runes passed down by the Lin family to create its effect.

By harnessing the sinister combat instincts of the undead, they possess the effects of both intelligent and combat runes, enabling them to work closely together in large-scale battles without requiring individual puppeteers to control them.

The Blood Crystal also granted them the ability to flexibly change their shape.

The ability to restore one's condition by absorbing the essence and blood of living beings.

Even if it is blown up, it can explode into four blood orbs, and when the blood orbs merge back together, it can instantly revive and fight again.

These combined abilities made this puppet shine on the Yunluo battlefield, no wonder Lin Fan had full confidence in it, boasting that he could kill more than half of his lizard knights.

According to Su Qing's observation.

Both sides' puppets are ready.

With Liu Songqing's command.

The puppets on both sides moved towards each other.

Two hundred lizard-riding heavy cavalry lowered their heads, raised their spears, and galloped away.

The fifty cavalry lizards landed behind the heavy cavalry lizards, waiting for the heavy cavalry lizards to disperse their opponents before slaughtering them.

The last fifty mounted archers unleashed a barrage of spirit arrows the instant the two sides charged at each other.

As soon as the spirit arrow was fired, it split into several arrow shadows, scattering among the blood demons. Any blood demon hit by the arrows immediately emitted wisps of black energy from its body, and in an instant, it was as if it were paralyzed, frozen in place, unable to fight any longer.

"What's going on! It's just a Yellow-level combat skill, how come it's immobilizing the Blood Demon!"

Lin Fan sensed that several Blood Demons had lost their connection with him and asked in confusion.

Blood Demons are never this vulnerable; there must be something strange about that spirit arrow!
"It's the Soul-Severing Arrow! Su Qing equipped these mounted archer lizards with Soul-Severing Arrows!"

"This arrow, when combined with the Yellow-level combat skill Shadow Arrow, can temporarily slow down the vengeful spirits within the Blood Demon!"

"That despicable rogue cultivator! He's come specifically for the Blood Demon of my Lin family!"

"No need to worry, the effects of the Soul-Severing Arrow will only last a few breaths. As long as the remaining Blood Demons can hold off the charge of those heavy cavalry lizards, once these wounded Blood Demons recover, all his preparations will be in vain!"

Hearing the explanations from the puppeteers behind him, Lin Fan, who had been slightly uneasy, immediately calmed down again.

He had inadvertently revealed the puppet he had prepared, and given Su Qing's cunning, it was normal for her to target him.

He can deal with the Blood Demon, and with his intelligence, he certainly has ways to deal with the Lizard Heavy Cavalry!

"Those heavy cavalry lizards are heavily armored and difficult to deal with, but those black-armored horses cannot be covered in heavy armor, otherwise it will definitely affect their speed."

Therefore, as we had prepared beforehand, we ordered the Blood Demons to conjure Blood Demon Blade Arms and, regardless of the heavily armored lizards, to attack the horses' legs!

A puppeteer shouted loudly, and everyone in the Lin family responded in unison.

Meanwhile, the blood demons on the battlefield, under their control, transformed their arms into blades.

As the heavy cavalry lizards arrived, the blood demons shrank in size, their arm blades lengthened, and they aimed directly at the horse's legs.

Just as Lin Fan revealed a cruel smile, preparing to watch the horse's legs fly off and the lizard fall over.

But then came a series of loud clangs of metal clashing. The blood demon with the large sword and small body struck the horse's leg, but the horse's leg lit up with a golden light and not only remained unharmed, but also stepped straight down onto the blood demon's body.

"Golden... Vajra Legs?"

"Damn it! Su Qing made these Xuanjia horses practice the Yellow-level combat skill, Vajra Leg!"

"No, it's the effect of the combat skill runes. He branded the Xuanjia Horse with second-tier combat skill runes!"

"It never existed before!"

"Is he only selling inferior goods on the market now?"

"Trickster!"

"mean!"

"I am not reconciled to being defeated by such a despicable person!"

If you can't cut off someone else's horse's leg, you'll be trampled by it.

The Xuanjia horse remained unharmed, its speed undiminished, while the heavy lizard riders on its back charged with immense force, their spears carrying the weight of a thousand pounds, which the Blood Demon could not withstand.

In the blink of an eye, the Blood Demon Arm Blade Squad at the front was almost wiped out. The burst blood clumps were chopped into pieces by the mounted lizards behind the heavy lizards before they could merge.

The mounted archer lizards were never idle. Every time the Soul-Severing Arrows fell, the Blood Demons would be slowed down and easily killed by the heavy cavalry and mounted lizards.

If Elders Li and Liu hadn't spoken up to stop it...

In at most another quarter of an hour, the Blood Demons scattered on the field will be completely wiped out by the Lizard Knights!

Of course, things aren't much better now. Of the original three hundred Blood Demons, only a mere one hundred or so are still capable of fighting.

Lin Fan, who had been in a daze since the Blood Demon's defeat, suddenly turned around in a rage and looked at the group of puppeteers in his family.

At this moment, his eyes were bloodshot and eerie, and his heart was filled with raging anger.

"Wasn't it said that the Lizard Knight was the Blood Demon's toy? Why has the Blood Demon become the Lizard Knight's toy?!"

"Didn't they say they made improvements, so the arm-blade could cut off a horse's leg without fail? How come they haven't managed to cut off a single horse's leg!"

"They call others cheapskates and worthless, but right now our Blood Demons are utterly defeated, trampled into the mud!"

"You said you had victory in your grasp, you said you had the advantage on my side, where is it now?!"

Enraged, Lin Fan could not hear the explanations of the family puppeteers.

Yes, he knew that every puppet launched on the market was a mature puppet, which was the culmination of the puppeteers' efforts over a period of ten to several decades. It would be difficult to make corresponding improvements in just one month. It was already quite remarkable that these puppeteers were able to research the Blood Demon's arm blade form.

But why was Su Qing on the other side able to make improvements to the mounted archer lizard and the Xuanjia horse?

Even the heavy lizard-riding lance and the twin swords used to slash the lizard were different from before, each lance aimed at the Blood Demon's heart, and each sword slashed at Lin Fan's arteries.

I'm going to die!

Instead of teaching Su Qing a lesson, he lost a big order from Yunshan Sect, and even the loss of about two hundred Blood Demon Puppets had to be borne by Lin Fan himself!

Lin Fan felt a chill run down his spine at the thought of the consequences, and glared fiercely at Su Qing, who had come with Elders Liu and Li.

He turned and left in a huff.

Just as the family puppeteers had said before.

Once the results of the competition are announced, any two elders of the Yunshan Sect with a brain would know who to choose.

"But what if he dies? If he's gone, won't this order still belong to the Lin family?"

One of the family puppeteers said cleverly.

"If I could kill him, I would have done it long ago. Why do you need to tell me?" Lin Fan cursed the stupid fool who pretended to be clever but was actually not.

The wind seemed to be blowing even louder on the way back than it had on the way there.

I absolutely hate it!

I hate the wind, I hate the snow, I hate the useless puppeteers behind me, and Su Qing and that group of green-skinned lizards behind them!

"Fellow Daoist Lin, do you still want the Blood Demon's remains on the ground?!"

The annoying Su Qing was making nasty noises from behind.

Even though they knew that the Blood Spirit Crystals left behind in the pile of Blood Demon remains could still be used.

But after losing face like this today, if Lin Fan were to turn back and pick up the pieces, what would become of the Lin family's reputation?

Ignoring Su Qing, he led his clansmen and strode towards Baiyun Immortal City.

Looking back at that shameless Su Qing, he indeed saw him picking up blood spirit crystals from the ground. He cursed inwardly why the Golden Roc King hadn't come this way today; he should have pecked that damned Su Qing to death.

Just as he was thinking this...

Suddenly, a streak of light flashed from afar, carrying with it rolling demonic clouds, its momentum immense.

"It's the Golden Roc King!"

Lin Fan exclaimed in surprise.

It's truly a case of "when you think you've reached the end of the road, a new path opens up before you do!"
"Hurry back to the city and see how Su Qing dies!"

At this moment, the Lin family members were only three miles away from the city wall. With just a few flashes, they landed back in the city.

Su Qing, who was still twenty miles away picking up blood spirit crystals, was not so lucky.

"That's how rogue cultivators are; they pick up sesame seeds but lose watermelons, sacrificing their lives for a mere few thousand catties of blood spirit crystals!"

Lin Fan believed that Su Qing was doomed to die this time. He had already moved on from his earlier defeat and was now able to look at Su Qing's fate from a superior perspective.

It's just a pity that he lost the puppet blueprints and rune inheritance!
Just as he was sitting and waiting for King Jinpeng to kill Su Qing, who had killed his only son, on the spot.

But then a white light flashed and crashed straight into the seemingly invincible Golden Roc demonic light.

To everyone's surprise, the Golden Roc Ancestor, who had been swaggering outside White Cloud Immortal City for a long time and had fought with the Lin family patriarch several times, was...

So easily he died under that white light.

After the white light swept away the corpse of the Golden Roc King,

Everyone who witnessed this scene was still in shock as to how the Golden Roc King had died so easily, even more so than the Little Roc King!
In fact, from beginning to end, they couldn't even figure out who killed the Golden Roc King!

"That's the Profound Spiritual Light, a technique used by high-level cultivators of Penglai?"

"So the Penglai Immortal Kingdom really has designs on Lingbi Zhenren's cave dwelling, and sent people to hide in the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range to wait for an opportunity to strike?"

"It's only been a year and a half since the cave was created, and all the demons and monsters that are supposed to come will be here soon!"

"With our sect leader here, and with this White Cloud Immortal City here, our Yunshan Sect will mobilize the entire sect's strength. No matter who comes, our Yunshan Sect will seize the greatest benefit!"

A few drops of golden Peng blood scattered across the sky.

Li Mubai and Liu Songqing stared intently at the direction the white light had disappeared into the distance.

Su Qing felt that it was a good thing that the Golden Roc King died!
This time, he was only twenty miles from the city, and he was ready to sacrifice a substitute doll to escape at any time, just in case that the Golden Roc King would seek revenge for killing his son!
Now that the Golden Roc King has gone to see the Little Roc King, there will be one less threat when he comes to the city in the future.

They released several lizard riders and collected the hundred drops of Golden Roc blood and three Golden Roc feathers scattered on the ground.

Under the meaningful gazes of Elders Li and Liu, the Golden Roc Blood was distributed to all the Yunshan Sect disciples present, and the two elders were given an extra ten drops of Golden Roc Blood and a Golden Roc Feather.

"They're quite sensible!" Li Mubai put the items into his storage bag.

For a third-tier Golden Roc Blood and Golden Roc Feather, these were no ordinary items.

With members of the Yunshan Sect present, Su Qing actually had no right to pick up anything from the ground.

But since he dared to pick them up and share almost all of them with them, keeping only one Golden Roc Feather for himself, Li Mubai didn't say anything more.

"That kid's got guts, and he's pretty quick-witted too!" Liu Songqing nodded in agreement.

"Senior Brother Yuan often speaks highly of Junior Brother Su to us. Only after meeting him today do we realize that Senior Brother Yuan's words are true. We should get closer to Junior Brother Su in the future!"

"We haven't been to Junior Brother Su's puppet shop yet. We should definitely go and check it out when we have time!"

"The Dual-Handed Technique that Senior Brother Lin obtained from Junior Brother Su is indeed remarkable. Today's Lizard Knight is also quite impressive."

The Yunshan Sect disciples behind Elders Li and Liu also spoke up one after another. They were extremely satisfied with Su Qing's performance. After all, if Elders Li and Liu had picked up the Golden Roc Blood from the ground, they might not have shared it with them.

Su Qing felt a slight headache from the overtures of the Yunshan Sect disciples.

If they come often, Su's Little Shop will flaunt the prestige of the Yunshan Sect, and the Yuan and Lin families will dare not bully them even more.

But these Yunshan disciples are not easy to please. They might not be capable of getting puppets for free, but don't even think about making the same profits from them as you would from independent cultivators.

Of course, maintaining good relations with these elders and disciples of the Yunshan Sect is always more beneficial than harmful.

Therefore, taking advantage of this enthusiasm, he mingled among the disciples, addressing everyone he met as "Senior Brother," and chatting animatedly.

Lin Fan, who had been waiting to see Su Qing die in the cold wind on the city wall, was now almost green with rage.

"Let's go! We can't kill the Golden Roc King. I, Lin Fan, will definitely not let him live past next spring!"

Lin Fan stormed off in a huff, followed by several second-tier puppeteers who also looked dejected.

Today, we lost a big deal. Although Lin Fan, the third-generation young master of the family, is taking the lead, how could the family be too harsh on Lin Fan? In the end, it will be the collateral descendants who suffer.

So, Su Qing really deserves to die!

Those green-skinned lizards deserve to die too!
They couldn't talk about the green-skinned lizards anymore; just thinking about how fiercely those green-skinned lizards charged towards them on horseback made their legs tremble!
The Lin family cultivators disappeared from the city wall not long after.

Su Qing and the others also entered the city and were invited into the Yunshan Pavilion by Elders Li and Liu.

"Today, a total of thirty-eight Lizard Knights were lost. The remaining two hundred and sixty-two are intact. I can now hand over control to the two elders. I can also replenish the remaining thirty-eight within half a month. What do you two elders think?"

Eager to deliver the goods and collect payment, Su Qing chatted briefly with Elders Li and Liu before getting straight to the point.

Li Mubai and Liu Songqing exchanged a glance, and finally Li Mubai spoke:

"Let's do it this way. As for the payment, let's settle it for 300 units first. Since the amount of spirit crystals is quite large, how about settling it in spirit stones?"

"Of course, thank you both elders!" Su Qinglian bowed and expressed his gratitude.

Spirit stones are much scarcer than spirit crystals in the Immortal City now, and the exchange rate increases every other day. Yunshan Sect is willing to settle accounts with spirit stones, so he has gotten a great deal.

"Don't thank me yet. We noticed that this lizard rider seems slightly different from those circulating in the market. We wonder if Fellow Daoist Su can continue to improve it, and if so, to what extent?"

Li Mubai waved his hand and looked directly at Su Qing.

"So that the two elders may know that the lizard knight's abilities depend entirely on the quality of the materials he uses."

"I am but a rogue cultivator. I exhausted all my savings and borrowed a large amount of spirit crystals from my fellow cultivators to barely scrape together these three hundred lizard riders. Although the materials used are somewhat more solid than those on the market, it is actually not yet the lizard riders' limit!"

"Enough with the nonsense. If we don't lack materials, what's the limit of the Lizard Rider?" Liu Songqing leaned over and asked in a deep voice.

"First-tier limit! I can transform each lizard knight into a first-tier limit puppet with combat power."

Three hundred lizard knights charging together could fight against ten thousand demonic beasts, and even stand against twenty or thirty second-tier demon kings!

Su Qing had a premonition that she was about to receive an even bigger order after just receiving a large one. At this moment, she spoke with a firm and resolute tone, as if she was afraid of missing out on this big order!

“A first-tier ultimate puppet…” Li Mubai’s eyes lit up. He leaned back in his chair and pondered deeply.

Their Yunshan Sect is not without puppeteers. Although they lack third-tier puppeteers, they have just as many first- and second-tier puppeteers as the Lin family.

However, these sect puppeteers are now all on missions, frantically producing ranged attack puppets like the Gale Cannon and the Flame Cannon. They are even rarely making second-tier puppets anymore.

If the sect could recruit rogue puppeteers like Su Qing to refine puppets for its sect, it would only cost the sect a little more spirit crystals and spirit stones.

The Yunshan Sect is now least afraid of Flower Spirit Crystals and Spirit Stones.

The entire Yunshan Sect is gambling away its accumulated resources on this Nascent Soul opportunity. Everyone in the sect is not afraid of spending spirit stones, but they are afraid of not being able to spend them all!
Seeing that Liu Songqing also nodded slightly, Li Mubai made the decision:
“Alright, then my Yunshan Sect will need another three hundred lizard knights. Fellow Daoist Su, please list the required materials. My Yunshan Sect will provide three times the amount of materials, and for each lizard knight successfully crafted, we will give you ten thousand spirit crystals as a crafting fee. Fellow Daoist Su, are you willing to accept this order?”

"I have been away from the sect for a long time. Today, I have the opportunity to serve the sect again. How could I not do my best!" Su Qing's tears welled up, his feelings sincere and heartfelt.

"Then I'll make the decision: let Fellow Daoist Su rejoin my Yunshan Sect and become a true disciple of my Yunshan Sect, how about that?" Liu Songqing said jokingly.

"That's not necessary. Serving the sect, whether or not one is a true disciple, doesn't matter. As a rogue cultivator, I can still make the contributions of a true disciple!" Su Qing quickly refused. He was now living a very comfortable life as a self-employed individual, and he must have been out of his mind to join the Yunshan Sect.

"Alright, let's talk business. There should have been 320 spirit stones in here as payment for this batch of goods, but there are only 256 in the bag now. Do you think that's acceptable?"

Li Mubai tossed out a storage bag.

They deducted 20% of the spirit stones; these two old men were quite honest and didn't embezzle much.

"I received three hundred and twenty spirit stones!" Su Qing said without hesitation.

"Okay, then let's do it this way. You go and hand over the next batch of goods to Yuan Tianye. The rules will be the same as this time: 20%, with Lao Liu and I each taking 10%. You know what I mean!"

Li Mubai waved his hand to dismiss the guest, saying that in the end, Su Qing, who was only a second-level puppeteer, was not on the same level as them. He had only told him so much because Su Qing was sensible enough.

Su Qing bowed repeatedly in thanks and tactfully withdrew from the Yunshan Pavilion.

(End of this chapter)