Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 266 The Alchemy Furnace Child, the Wandering Talisman Master

The advancement of the puppeteer's realm led to the growth of their divine sense.

This allowed him to avoid reducing the puppet corps and even continue to expand it.

"It's just that spirit stones are hard to earn these days. Even with a government job, there's no money or rations, so all we can do is worry!"

Seeing that he still had enough spiritual energy to control more than ten second-tier puppets, Su Qing couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

For more than a year, he has been earning spirit stones as if he were robbing them.

He resold all the materials he withheld from the puppet-making workshop of Yunshan Sect to Baibaoge and Yuanlailou. After deducting the cost of maintaining relationships, he earned at least a hundred spirit stones every month.

The lizard series puppets, shovel series puppets, and the recently launched Thunder Serpent puppets from Su Ji's shop are selling like hotcakes, bringing in anywhere from a hundred to two hundred spirit stones every month.

In addition, he occasionally takes on orders for second-tier puppets from high-end clients, earning substantial profits from each transaction.

Pang Feifan's spirit beast shop, with a monthly profit of 80%, only yielded twenty or thirty spirit stones, but it was better than nothing.

With such a high earning capacity, he also has a high spending capacity.

The number of mandrill burial spirits has been expanded to four.

The number of Tude Buddha spirits has been expanded to two.

The number of dragon-snake tree spirits has been expanded to two.

Senior Brother Torlin obtained a second-tier ultimate Ironback Bear King and Cloud Roc King from the front-line battlefield, and then forged a five-star General Bear and Cloud Roc mothership.

The storage bag also contained a thousand lizard knights, as well as a second-tier lizard general who commanded them.

There are also two more Tier 2 Ultimate Combination Puppets equipped with Tier 2 Spirit Explosion Rings, namely Spirit Explosion Flame Cannons.

One hundred Gale Cannons equipped with Tier 1 Spirit Explosion Rings.

Without being immodest, he is currently not equipped with the Tiger Egg.

Even thirty to fifty ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't touch the hem of his robe!

Building such a lineup naturally cost him most of his savings, and the reforging of the tiger egg completely depleted his entire fortune.

Now, he only has a mere two hundred spirit stones left in his storage bag.

Does this even count as money?
That's enough to cover the daily needs of his puppets and the cultivation of the Black Boys; he wouldn't dare to spend it recklessly!

"Oh right, there's also the Thunder Serpent. Three hundred Thunder Serpents are still too few. Fortunately, Pang Feifan can provide the basic materials, which won't cost too many spirit stones. Let's use the remaining spiritual energy to prepare the Thunder Serpents!"

After suddenly reciting a sentence, he finally looked down.

[To advance to the third tier of Puppeteer, you can choose any one of the following four runes to upgrade it to the fourth tier, with a guaranteed success rate of 100%: Damage Reduction Rune, Exorcism Rune, Material Rune, and Flight Rune.]

[Exorcism rune selected. Information regarding this rune has been transferred. Proficiency increased to: 1000/1000 (Tier 4), success rate 100%!]

After hesitating for a moment, he finally chose the exorcism talisman.

Although the material runes are suitable for crafting any kind of puppet, and it is one of the five runes in the world, ranking second grade, his proficiency with this rune is almost at the fourth level.

In comparison, it's more cost-effective to simply max out the proficiency of the exorcism runes that have a lower proficiency level.

Please choose one of the following three blueprints to unlock.

[Advanced Blueprint for Crossing the Sea and Hiding the Dragon - Dragon Island Bixi (Tier 3 Limit)]

[Wood Spirit Advancement Blueprint - Wood Spirit King (Tier 3 Limit)]

[Black Coffin Granny's Advancement Blueprint - Evil Refining Furnace Child (Tier 3)]

"The Dragon Island Bixi is like a super-giant logistics platform similar to the Cloud Kun that chases the sea. If I want to develop in the Kingdom of a Thousand Islands, I cannot miss this puppet."

Zhi Mu Ling can relieve the pressure on my spiritual sense, and its ability is beyond doubt. Its advancement into a puppet must be even more wonderful.

Let me see what wonders this Demon-Refining Furnace Child possesses that can rival these two types of puppets!

You know what, this little thing is actually quite useful.

Su Qing only glanced at the brief introduction before unlocking the puppet blueprints without hesitation, eager to forge the puppet.

[Refining Evil Furnace Child]

[Quality: Tier 3 (Specific tier depends on the number of main and secondary soul spirits)]

[Type: Exorcism-type Soul-devouring Puppet]

[Required Materials: Tier 3 Fire Seed (1 type), Tier 3 Obsidian Soil (100 jin), Golden Core Bone (1 set), Golden Core Main Soul (1), Foundation Establishment Secondary Soul (8-72), Qi Refining Secondary Soul (36-720).]

[Ability: Can refine at least Tier 3 low-grade evil spirits, and at most, can refine False Infant evil spirits.]

[Refining Realm Requirement: Third-Tier Puppet Master]

[Requirements for crafting runes: Exorcism, Soul Devouring, Bionic, Yang Fire, Sealing. (Of the above five runes, Exorcism and Soul Devouring must be at least Tier 4, and the other three must be at least Tier 3.)]

The requirements for crafting a third-tier puppet and the materials required are extremely demanding.

He simply couldn't gather the materials for the other two types of puppets.

So I simply chose the Evil Refining Furnace Child.

In his view, there was still a slight possibility that this puppet was created before he went to the Kingdom of a Thousand Islands.

Store the puppet blueprints in your storage bag.

He took out the Heavenly Talisman, and as soon as he infused it with spiritual power, several pieces of information appeared on the talisman.

[Xihe: There is a great terror within White Cloud Immortal City. Even with Yun'er's abilities, she is not yet able to enter. Fellow Daoist, please be careful.]

[Xihe: If you truly have nowhere else to go, you can go to He Xinyan. If she asks you to join the He family, you can agree. Yun'er lied to you before; although the Penglai Sect is no good, the He family is quite decent.]

[Xihe: Forget it, Fellow Daoist, go to the eastern battlefield. You don't need to swear an oath to leave the city. Yun'er will see if she can snatch you from the city wall.]

[Little Fool: Dijun, stop lying! Adding personality to puppets with intelligent runes is completely unnecessary. Take a look at this book on intelligent runes and see how ignorant you are!]

[Little Fool: Why are you ignoring me? Do you know you were wrong? If you still won't admit it, then take another look at this book on the analysis of Inspiration Runes. You must know that only Inspiration Runes have the ability to increase the probability of a puppet developing self-awareness!]

[Wandering Rune Master: Fellow Daoist Su, can you really apply a fourth-tier bionic rune to this old Daoist?]

[Wandering Talisman Master: Fellow Daoist Su, say something! This old Daoist is getting on in years; I can't take your provocations!]

[Wandering Talisman Master: Fellow Daoist Su, are you home? This old Daoist is coming to find you right now!]

After replying to Liu Yun'er, he told her that there was no need to risk going to the west city wall to save him. With her abilities, if she approached the city wall and was surrounded by a group of Golden Core cultivators and third-tier professionals from the Yunshan Sect, she would have a hard time protecting herself, let alone saving him.

To reassure the witch, he made it clear that he would not join the He family. If he wanted to join, he would have already done so. Now that He Xinyan has probably been taken away by her clan, it's too late for him to try and climb the social ladder by using the witch's connections.

Replying to Xiao Hutu, he still insisted on his own opinion, claiming that the intelligent runes were extremely useful for setting the puppet's personality, comparable to the work of heaven and earth. This angered her so much that, in order to further convince him, she sent him another free rune manual. As for the wandering rune master, Old Daoist Tong...

Before he could reply...

They then saw Master Tong walk into the first floor of the shop.

······
"you are not human?"

Su Qing, who was welcoming Tong Chang to the second floor, almost spat out her spirit tea after the old Taoist priest spoke.

He knew this old Taoist was unfathomable, but he never expected him to be so unscrupulous as to be utterly inhuman!

"I never said I was human!" Old Daoist Tong calmly took a sip of spiritual tea. Judging from his comments on the spiritual tea, who could tell that he wasn't human?
"Yes, you didn't say that, but you also didn't say you were a puppet!"

It's one thing if it's not human, but it's actually a puppet that can draw third or fourth-tier talismans and is just as good at making money as the talisman-making puppet that imitates him!
Su Qing thought that he had become invincible after creating Xiong Er to work for him.

I never imagined there was a puppeteer who could exploit puppets even more than him!
If he could have a puppet like Master Tong...

Thinking of this, Su Qing's gaze towards Master Tong began to change.

Old Master Tong tensed up, pulled a handful of talismans from his pocket, and squinted his old eyes, saying:

"Don't you dare try anything funny with me. Over the years, quite a few puppeteers have had designs on this old Taoist priest, and they're all buried in the ground now!"

Knowing that this old Taoist dared to covet the Nascent Soul cave, his strength was far beyond what she could subdue. Su Qing immediately suppressed any inappropriate thoughts and quickly said:
"I dare not have any designs on you, fellow Daoist. I am merely curious about what kind of puppet you are. I have never heard of it before."

Upon hearing this, Old Daoist Tong sighed, put his hands behind his back, walked to the window, and gazed at the distant city walls and high-rise buildings. Blood Cloud Black Sky said:

"I once set foot in the Wu Kingdom, where the people called me the Yellow Turban Taoist Soldier. I once flew to Penglai, where the people called me the Western Desert Buddhist Soldier. I also went to the Hundred Beast Demon Kingdom, where the demon kings called me the Fire Crow Demon Soldier."

The Cursed Spirit Witch Kingdom calls me the Giant God Soldier, and the sea beasts call me the Sea God Soldier. They all claim to know the old Taoist's origins, but in reality, they only want to control the old Taoist.

Therefore, I no longer care what kind of puppet I am; I prefer to be called a Dao puppet, a puppet who has attained the Dao, a Dao puppet who seeks the Dao and questions himself!

"Dao puppet? I have never heard of it before, but since you have no master now and can do whatever you want, you can call me whatever you want. I just want you to confirm."

"Fellow Daoist, do you really want me to draw fourth-order bionic runes? Aren't you afraid that if I make even the slightest mistake, I might ruin your hard-won cultivation?"

Su Qing asked seriously, "Old Daoist Tong had long wanted to invite him to explore the Nascent Soul Cave, but after he repeatedly declined, he offered to help him draw a third-order bionic rune."

Su Qing initially thought he was like a witch who wanted her to help her create a puppet.

Little did they expect that it would actually cut itself!

This requires careful consideration.

Although Su Qing loves to overcharge people, he still ensures quality and quantity when it comes to meeting customer needs, and he is honest and fair to all, young and old.

He is now 100% confident about the third-tier bionic rune.

However, if it's a fourth-tier rune, no one can say for sure what kind of interaction or bond it will create with the original runes on Master Tong's body after it's drawn.

"Fellow Daoist, please do as you please. That Jade Wall True Person is really stingy. Only human cultivators are allowed to enter the cave. Although I appear to be a human cultivator, this is actually an illusion technique. It can fool others, but it cannot fool the dying consciousness of Jade Wall True Person."

"Originally, if I were to draw a third-tier bionic rune, I would only have a 30% chance of successfully deceiving everyone. Now that you have mastered a fourth-tier bionic rune, my confidence is much higher!"

According to Master Tong, over the years he has made deals with many puppeteers. Apart from the original ancient runes on his body, all the modern runes on his body were drawn by him using his own skills. Although there have been accidents, they have not caused any problems, so he can do it with peace of mind.

"In that case, I'll take this job, but the previous conditions might need to be changed?"

"That's natural. In addition to the original three third-tier talisman papers, this old Daoist can also give you a fourth-tier talisman paper!"

"That's not enough, fellow Daoist, I also need you to perform a divination for me!"

"This is quite difficult for this old Daoist. The emergence of the Nascent Soul Cave is related to the complete Five Elders Dao Patterns, which has led to a gathering of heroes and powerful figures here. Fellow Daoist's fate is entangled with these powerful figures, making it extremely difficult to predict. Even if one were to try, it would be neither accurate nor reliable. But if Fellow Daoist insists, this old Daoist can do his best!"

The terms of the transaction have been met.

The two of them said no more.

After Master Tong withdrew the effects of the fifth-order Illusionary Heart Rune engraved on his body.

In Su Qing's eyes, Tong Laodao was already a humanoid puppet who was over three zhang tall, with a yellow turban wrapped around his head, yellow water and fire array flags on his back, and inexplicable golden material flowing around his body.

"Isn't it similar to the image of the Yellow Turban Warrior summoned by the Yellow Turban Warrior talisman?"
Fellow Daoist, do not use your divine sense, but purely rely on your qi and blood to perceive again!

Old Master Tong said with a smile.

Su Qing immediately withdrew his divine sense and shut down his five senses, relying solely on his qi and blood to perceive its form.

At this moment, in his perception, Tong Chang transformed into a towering giant over a hundred feet tall, with a red face and ears, a dragon and python wrapped around his head, golden pillars in his earlobes, and a bare chest and exposed breasts, almost identical to the Jiuli Ancient Witches sacrificed by the curse spirit masters.

"Fellow Daoist, are you sure you've deactivated the Illusionary Heart Rune's effect?"

Su Qing raised his eyes, observed with his divine sense again, and bowed to the puppet in the shape of a Yellow Turban Daoist soldier in front of him, asking a question.

"It's not the Illusionary Heart Rune. This old Taoist's body is just so strange. Whether you're a magic cultivator, a body cultivator, a human, or a demon, the way you observe him varies depending on your observation methods and race."

Fellow Daoist, there's no need to delve too deeply. Just draw the runes according to what you see now!

Old Master Tong said calmly, as if it were commonplace.

But the impact he had on Su Qing went far beyond that.

Because when he followed what he said and ignored the changes in its form.

As soon as I focused my attention on him, I was drawn to the large Dao patterns on his chest.

Without any warning, without any preparation.

He then saw specks of Daoist light gathering in his mind.

When he turned back from the strange image of the Daoist pattern called Celestial Master, Old Daoist Tong still thought he was thinking about the idea of ​​drawing talismans and was completely unaware of his gains.

Su Qing didn't say much, but during the subsequent talisman drawing process, she couldn't help but chat with him a bit more.

"Fellow Daoist once told me that you have profound attainments in the Human Fortune Rune and have always wanted to glimpse the Heavenly Secret Rune. Both of these runes are derived from the Celestial Master Dao Pattern. I wonder if you have ever searched for the whereabouts of this Dao Pattern!"

"I have searched for it, but the Daoist pattern of the Heavenly Master seems to have vanished from this world. I have traveled across countless mountains and rivers, but I have never heard of it. Perhaps I am destined to be without this Daoist pattern. For the past thousand years, I have given up the idea of ​​searching for it!"

"That's a real pity. But have you ever wondered why you, a mere puppet, could comprehend the Human Fortune Runes, which even human cultivators struggle to understand, and possess such exquisite talisman-making skills?"

"Fellow Daoist Su underestimates me. I am no ordinary puppet. I am an enlightened puppet. It is only natural that I possess these abilities!"

"Of course, what a perfectly reasonable thing to do!"

Thank you all for your support! It's made it onto the monthly ticket rankings. While few people will scroll down to the top 400 or 500, some clever minds might scroll up, giving the book some exposure. Thank you all!

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(End of this chapter)