Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 36: Being arrogant and cowardly!
"Ouch! Ouch!"

The spirit dog, with its dark yellow fur and golden threads, let out a series of strange howls as soon as it was released from its enclosure.

"Its bark sounds like a wolf or a tiger, but it doesn't sound like a dog at all!"

Su Qing vaguely sensed something was wrong and tried to command it:
"Shut up, squat down, wag your tail and take a look."

He had never raised a dog in either his past or present life, but even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had at least seen pigs run. In his past life, those dog owners could make their puppies do all sorts of things. This spirit dog was a spirit dog, so it should be even less of a problem, right?

But as soon as he gave the order, the spirit dog only glanced at him sideways and then ran wildly around the courtyard gate as if it couldn't be caught.

It ran like lightning, its movements unpredictable. In just a moment, it not only ran several laps around the small courtyard, but also casually dripped two drops of yellow urine at each of the four corners of the courtyard.

"The speed is not bad, but I don't know if it can carry people. Its size is similar to that of a foal in my previous life, so I think it shouldn't be a big problem for me to ride it."

Su Qing stroked her chin and muttered to herself.

The Spirit Dog possesses the abilities to track, hunt, and avoid danger, making it a valuable assistant to demon hunters.

He had no intention of capturing demons; he wanted this precious dog for two reasons: first, to guard the house and property, and second, to ward off evil spirits.

Last night, the headless evil spirit appeared without a trace, and even the Wood Spirit servants couldn't find it. However, Pang Feifan's spirit dogs barked fiercely last night, so it seems that dogs' noses might be more sensitive to evil spirits than the Wood Spirit servants' vision.

Seeing how nimbly the dog runs, Su Qing is considering using it as a mount. It might not be as fast as a horse for long journeys, but for short runs and maneuvering in tight spaces, this little thing is quite capable.

"Stop! Come here!"

Su Qing's face darkened as he watched the treasure dog trying to jump onto the armored war bear, and he quickly scolded it.

But the precious dog showed it no respect whatsoever. Its golden fur fluttered in the wind, and it kept growling. In no time, it leaped onto the shoulder of the armored war bear.

The dog lowered its eyes and looked at Su Qing with a slightly provocative gaze.

"This spirit beast just doesn't obey its puppets!"

Su Qing, who was being looked down upon by a dog for the first time, was furious. With a thought, he was about to activate the master-servant mark and teach this precious dog a lesson, so that it would know who the boss was.

The precious dog seemed to understand that he was going to be ruthless. In a flash, it jumped off the armored war bear, leaping down from a height of three zhang (approximately 10 meters) without any injury. Wagging its golden tail, it licked its face and came closer.

"Goodness, you're quite the dog."

Look at your fur, so shiny and golden, it looks so noble. From today onwards, I'll call you Little Gold!
Hey, what are you yelling about?
"Holy crap, you can breathe fire?"

Perhaps dissatisfied with its name, Baoquan stood still, its mouth wide open and belly bulging, from which a blazing fireball spewed forth.

If it weren't for the timely protection of the lizard warriors beside him, Su Qing would have been seriously injured by the fireball.

In a fit of anger, Su Qing pinched the dog's muzzle and attacked it from both sides.

"So what if you can breathe fire? Go ahead and try it again!"

"Don't point your dog's mouth at me anymore, remember that, Fireball!"

After being disciplined, the dog lay on the ground whimpering, feeling that the name "Fire Egg" was not as good as "Little Gold," but it was powerless to resist.

It only calmed down after Su Qing threw out a piece of fanged pork.

After finishing the meal, we went to see the busy little people, who were the Wood Spirit servants.

It clearly couldn't understand what these puppets were, but having just been taught a lesson by Su Qing, it didn't dare to mess with these little people. It just felt that they were so pitiful, running back and forth without getting a single bite of dog food.

Sigh, looks like I've been sold to a stingy owner. I guess this is the first decent meal I'll get.

The psychic dog, with its limited brain capacity, began to worry about its future.

After Su Qing finished dealing with it, seeing that it was relatively well-behaved, she didn't have time to deal with it for the time being.

Last night, the headless evil spirit delayed our progress, so we need to catch up today.

Two lizard warriors carried a large container of molten iron boiled from black iron essence.

Holding a brush the size of a broom, he began brushing from the head of the armored golem bear.

Since this puppet was for her own use, Su Qing had no intention of cutting corners.

Compared to the armored war bear he bought from the Treasure Pavilion, which was only coated with three layers of Xuan Iron Essence, the one he was crafting for himself had the coating applied to the maximum extent that the Ironback Bear's bones could withstand—a full 5000 jin of Xuan Iron Essence!

As a first-tier superior puppet, the Ironclad War Bear has advantages over the Lizard Warrior in that it is much larger, has strength comparable to a first-tier superior body cultivator, and can release red moon demonic light from its eyes.

For Su Qing, what he cared more about was its defensive capabilities. As long as the Xuan Tie Jing was fully replenished, this war bear would be able to withstand the bombardment of mid-grade Yellow-level Dao techniques, and it could also block a few high-grade Dao techniques as long as they weren't too outrageous.

In this way, he could be safer hiding in the bear's chest.

"Use Big Bear for fighting and attacking fortified positions, and I'll use Little Bear as a mobile fortress!"

Brushing the Xuan Tie essence is purely physical labor. Although I have made some progress in cultivating the Immovable Heavenly King Technique and my body is getting stronger day by day, I was still drenched in sweat and exhausted after brushing for a whole morning.

When the sun was high in the sky and his stomach was empty, he called for the wood spirit servants to start serving the dishes.

Bear blood curd drizzled with chili oil, crispy fried pork chops, and refreshingly cool and flavorful vegetables and fruits with a touch of spirituality.

When the meal was served, Huodan's dog eyes looked at Su Qing, then at the Wood Spirit servant.

Are these little figures being fed?

Does this new owner deserve to eat such good food?
The dog turned its head around, wagged its tail, and grinned, its skin wrinkling with laughter. It looked so obedient and ingratiating that even Pang Feifan, who had raised it with milk and meat, had never seen it like this before.

"Woof woof~~ (I can't wait to meet my master! From this day forward, I, no, Fireball, will follow my master's lead and be his head dog!)"

"Woof woof~~ (Quick, give me some food! I want bear blood, it's best when it's piping hot, it won't taste good when it's cold!)"

Looking at the wagging tail of the fire egg, Su Qing knew what it wanted even though she had never raised a dog before.

He didn't know how much the dog should eat in a day, but he wasn't short of food, so he had the Wood Spirit servant prepare some special food for it, which made Fire Egg so happy that its tail swayed like a phantom.

"Woof woof~~ (It's so nice to have someone feed you.)"

After the man and the dog had eaten and drunk their fill, Huodan jumped onto Xiongda's shoulder, striking a cool pose, his nose twitching constantly, always on guard.

Having eaten the master's food, Huodan had to stand firm in his post. Reluctant to give up this good treatment, Huodan was determined not to disappoint his master.

Su Qing, however, was not as happy as it was.

Another busy afternoon, and I finally finished brushing five thousand catties of Xuan Tie essence, my back aching and sore.

"Whoever wants to forge this armored war bear can do it; I'm not planning on making money from it!"

Compared to the lizard warriors, which require less material and time, the time it takes to forge the armored war bear is enough for him to forge seven or eight lizard warriors, and the profit from seven or eight lizard warriors is much higher than that from one armored war bear.

From a purely cost-effectiveness perspective, Su Qing had no intention of grinding for proficiency with the Ironclad War Bear.

After applying the coating, hammer two round, bowl-sized red moonstones into the giant bear's empty eye sockets.

At this point, the entire forging process of this armored war bear was completed.

Hundreds of spirit crystals were inserted into the energy supply area of ​​his calf, and then a divine sense was imprinted to establish a connection to begin activation.

"Success or failure hinges on this one hurdle. Several days of hard work, several thousand spirit crystals—we hope it won't all go to waste!"

Only then did Su Qing understand the psychological state of an ordinary puppeteer when activating a puppet.

Activating the puppet with an uncertain success rate is a huge gamble.

If successful, you'll make a small profit, but not a loss.

Failure means losing everything!
Fortunately.

He is lucky.

As the spirit crystal on his calf released its spiritual power, the runes on Xiong Er's body lit up one after another, and the five thousand catties of Xuan Iron essence transformed into pure black armor, with the armor in the chest hole being particularly thick.

The bear's eyes glowed red, and when they swept over Fire Egg, it made its golden fur stand on end, and it trembled uncontrollably, not even daring to stay on Big Bear's body.

"Big Bear and Little Bear, twelve lizard warriors, a spirit dog, and several runes—with this setup, navigating the hunting grounds should be a piece of cake!"

Su Qing was suddenly filled with heroic spirit and extremely bold.

(End of this chapter)