Immortality begins with meditation puppets

"Tiger Egg, you've been with our Lingbao Sect for quite some time now. We haven't shortchanged you a single penny of your monthly salary, and you've also taken plenty of benefits. You've even taken a lot of the old, broken swords in our Lingbao Sect's Sword Tomb. I heard you've opened a Lingbao Secondhand Sword Shop with someone in the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom."

We don't care about this. Once we're in Lingbao Sect, we're all family. We're our own disciples, so if we don't care for them, who will?

However, "An army is raised for a thousand days to be used in one moment," and now the sect needs you!

In the Ancestral Hall of the Lingbao Sect, Wu Gongyi, the Hall Master of the Array Hall, was speaking amiably with Su Hudan, the chief disciple of Zongjian Peak.

"Hey buddy, just say the word if you need me. There's no one in this world I, Tiger Might, wouldn't dare to chop down. Tell me, who do you want me to chop down!"

Despite being influenced by the Lingbao Sect for many years, Tiger Egg, still retaining his bandit-like nature, spoke frankly.

"Chopping people up? There's no need for you, Tiger Egg. Our Lingbao Sect disciples may not be good at other things, but they are all first-rate at chopping people up. We can easily send a few juniors to chop down those villains who disrespect our sect. The task the sect wants you to do this time is something only you can do. The sect wants you to represent our Lingbao Sect and discuss a project with your master, Su Qing!"

Wu Gongyi said with a smile, having heard that Su Qing was preparing the Lingxiao Palace puppet and needed to set up many formations on it, hoping to win this big order!

It's hard to make money in this world, no, it's hard for any conscientious person to make money in any world!

To be honest, the Lingbao Sect has had a tough time these past few years.

Back then, the patriarch moved away from East Kunlun Mountain for a moment of pleasure and started anew on Jin'ao Island, but it made his later disciples suffer a lot.

The Yuanshi Sect occupied Kunlun Mountain, a sacred mountain and blessed land of immortals, with countless resources and endless minerals, so that the disciples of this sect never had to worry about resources.

Although their Lingbao Sect occupied Jin'ao Island, which had been transformed into a blessed land by their ancestor, its resources and natural beauty were clearly inferior to those of Kunlun Immortal Mountain. The resources on this island might be enough to supply the major sects of the surrounding heavens, but they were somewhat insufficient to supply a major sect like their Lingbao Sect.

Not only do they have fewer resources than the Yuanshi Sect, but their earning power is also inferior to that of the Yuanshi Sect and the Taishang Sect.

With its strong advantage in the weapon crafting industry, coupled with the strong demand for various magical artifacts from countless cultivators across the myriad realms, the Yuanshi Sect has almost monopolized the magical artifact industry, one of the most profitable industries in the myriad realms. Spirit stones are flowing into their sect like a flood.

They weren't satisfied with that, so they started making money with talismans, puppets, beast taming, cultivation tutoring classes, and so on. They did whatever made money, turning an ancient sect into a money-grubbing mess, making the Lingbao Sect disciples seethe with envy and resentment.

The alchemists of the Supreme Sect also make a lot of money. Having few disciples and producing few pills doesn't stop them from earning money at all!
They're just using scarcity marketing, pulling those limited-edition tricks, turning pills into luxury goods. The same pill from the Supreme Sect might only be one or two percent more effective than those from other sects, but just because it's marked with the Supreme Sect's mark, the price can increase a hundred or a thousand times. There are those foolish, rich people who buy Supreme Sect pills but don't even eat them, treating them like ancestors at home. I really don't know what they're thinking.

In contrast, the Lingbao Sect truly understood the difficulty of making money in this world. No, it's true that no matter the world, it's difficult for people with a conscience to make money!

As the three major sects of the Dao lineage, they have a significant advantage over the Yuanshi Sect and the Taishang Sect in the fields of swordsmanship and formation.

However, their ability to monetize is mediocre. In the realm of array formations, they only deal in high-end array formations, disdaining low-end business. While there are quite a few sects and forces that demand high-end array formations, the Lingbao Sect differs from the Yuanshi Sect. The Yuanshi Sect focuses on business; the magical artifacts they refine can be used by demonic cultivators and evil cultivators. Their propaganda emphasizes that magical artifacts are innocent. They are purely business-minded; customers pay, they provide products. What customers do with these magical artifacts is none of their concern, nor do they need to. If there are truly vicious individuals, they will punish them themselves. It is the people who are harmed, not the magical artifacts.

The disciples of the Lingbao Sect are absolutely intolerant of any impropriety. When they visit someone's sect to set up an array, if they find that the other sect has members who steal chickens or dogs, bully men and women, abuse their power, or kill innocent people... In short, you can ask us to set up an array, but you'd better be a person with no flaws in your conduct. Otherwise, before we even set up the array, our Lingbao Sect disciples will kill people first.

With this kind of business style, who would dare to do business with them?

Businesses related to array formations and swordsmanship are not profitable, and it's understandable that they don't earn as much as the Yuanshi Sect and the Taishang Sect.

Originally, these three sects were born from the same root. However, the Supreme Sect and the Primordial Sect, seeing their brother sect suffering, not only did they not offer any support, but they also showed no consideration for their brother sect's difficulties.

On the occasion of Dao's birthday, the Yuanshi Sect would hold a grand celebration, sending out invitations and hosting a lavish banquet. Even the Taishang Sect, which had a small number of members, would hold a pill-tasting banquet on this day, providing a free feast of pills for the participating cultivators.

Since these two sects are so extravagant and ruthless, even if their Lingbao Sect is poor, they cannot lose face. They must open the Sword Tomb so that cultivators from all over the world can come here to search for spiritual swords.

Such a prestigious but unprofitable endeavor already cost a considerable amount. In order to compete with the Yuanshi Sect and the Taishang Sect for cultivation talents, the treatment of disciples has been continuously increasing, with monthly stipends rising from hundreds of spirit stones to thousands of spirit stones. The elders' vehicles have changed from Qingfeng Baiyun to magical artifacts and puppets.

After living such a life of earning money like dirt and spending it like water for too long, even though their ancestors in the Lingbao Sect were once wealthy, the sect's finances gradually began to show signs of collapse.

After Tianyuan recovers, other sects in the heavens are increasing their investments in Tianyuan Realm, hoping to gain greater benefits after its recovery.

The Lingbao Sect could only sell its treasured magical swords, spiritual swords, and ancestral artifacts to scrape together some spirit stones. They had originally planned to rebuild the Lingbao Mountain Gate in the Tianyuan Realm, but unexpectedly, a great calamity of evil swept through Tianyuan, causing devastating losses to the various immortal kingdoms and leaving the people displaced and in dire straits. At this time, under Su Qing's call, a massive fundraising campaign unfolded in Tianyuan and throughout the myriad realms. The Lingbao Sect, already short of spirit stones, still had to maintain the dignity of the three major sects of the Dao lineage, and reluctantly donated the same amount as the Yuanshi Sect and the Taishang Sect. This donation, however, wiped out their last reserves. Now, except for exceptional talents like Hu Dan, the monthly salaries of all the other disciples had been withheld for twenty or thirty years.

Even a hero can be brought down by a penny, and one cannot become an immortal without money. Even the Lingbao Sect's Array Hall Master, a big shot in the cultivation world and the only seventh-level array master in the entire heavens, has to show his face and find ways to make money.

To make money, you have to target the rich. Poor cultivators are burdened with countless debts, and there's no way to extract any profit from them. Only a tycoon like Su Qing is the target of a righteous sect like Lingbao Sect to slaughter!
He only wanted to use Tiger Egg's relationship with Su Qing to obtain a large order for the Lingxiao Palace puppet's formation from Su Qing. Tiger Egg, however, did not serve two masters and had a very upright attitude. It knew that Su Qing was its true benefactor, and the Lingbao Sect was just its temporary home.

"Palace Master Wu, it's not that I, Tiger Egg, am unwilling to serve the sect. It's just that you don't know the character of my master, Su Qing. He's the kind of person who considers it a loss if he doesn't pick up money when he goes out. He's never satisfied with taking advantage of others. When I was working for him, I had to earn my own maintenance and upkeep fees. It's simply unrealistic to expect him to give the sect a big order because of me!"

"Impossible. I've heard he's cunning, but I've also heard he treats his people, his puppets, old brothers, and new friends quite well. Take Xiong Er, who's also a puppet under his wing, for example. He's now a Buddhist Arhat, enjoying the respect of Buddhist disciples, and also the owner of Xiong Er Money House, incredibly wealthy. Su Qing doesn't treat him as harshly as you say. Shouldn't you think about your own situation? You're also a puppet, so what did you do wrong to not be as well off as him?"

"Palace Master Wu, if you can't speak properly, then speak less. All of you tech people are like this, so I don't blame you. Let's stick to the facts. My master has also told me about the Lingxiao Palace Puppet formation project. He intends to have the Three-Legged Crow Clan handle it." Tiger Egg glared at the old man, but since he couldn't beat him for the time being, he chose not to argue with him and just got down to business.

Upon hearing this, Wu Gongyi immediately became anxious: "The Three-Legged Crow Clan? They obtained the Heavenly Emperor's array inheritance, but the array masters within the clan are utterly useless. They're all talk and no action; when it comes to actually fighting, they either fudge the numbers or make numerous mistakes. If Su Qing chooses them, then that Lingxiao Palace puppet will be a complete waste!"

Among the myriad arts of cultivation, array formations, artifacts, alchemy, and puppetry are paramount. Array formation masters who have achieved mastery are naturally honored guests of all factions. Even a second-tier array formation master is enough to meet the talent recruitment standards of major factions. They are given a spirit house and a Daoist partner, and the Daoist partner can even be assigned a formal position. They are truly upper-class professionals.

However, the reason why array masters are sought after by major forces is because they are scarce, and the reason they are scarce is because the cultivation of array masters is extremely difficult.

The first difficulty lies in talent. This thing is mysterious and unpredictable. You are born with it or you are not. If a formation is placed in front of you, if you have talent, you can understand its mysterious changes at a glance. If you don't have talent, you can only say "Aba aba" even if you go blind. This is not something that can be changed by taking pills or working hard later. This talent hurdle alone will eliminate more than 90% of cultivators.

The second difficulty lies in perseverance. Noble array masters are not like puppeteers or alchemists, who can live a comfortable life without ambition by simply holding onto a puppet and a type of pill.

Array masters are no good, because there's a group of idiot cultivators in this world who cultivate in a way that completely undermines the array master profession. They specifically target array masters. You've just developed an array, and while everyone is still unfamiliar with it, and you've only made a few years of money, there's an array-breaking master who won't even eat while studying your array. After breaking down your array into pieces, they'll compile the array setup instructions into a book and sell it widely. In an instant, everyone knows how to set up and break your array, and trying to sell it for a higher price becomes harder than climbing to heaven.

Thus, array masters are one of the few professions in the heavens that requires constant learning and innovation. It is not difficult to work hard for a day, or even for a year, ten years, a hundred years, or a thousand years. But that would be a bit torturous, and for ten thousand years, you would be considered a fool. If you can persevere in learning for a hundred thousand years, then even if you don't study arrays, you can still make a name for yourself by learning anything else.

This single hurdle eliminates countless more people.

The third challenge is the resource challenge.

Just as the success of an alchemist is built upon repeated failures, furnace explosions, and bankruptcies, array masters also grow through repeated array malfunctions and failures.

Setting up an array takes less time than a pill refiner, but the cost of failure is no less.

The loss of materials related to setting up the formation is secondary; the main concern is compensating the employer. Since formations are often placed in crucial locations, employers are reluctant to set up formations to protect them if they are not. If an accident occurs, it's not just the formation flags that will be blown up, but also the employer's home, the employer's mountain gate, the employer's treasures... Just one accident can bankrupt a formation master, turning them from rich to poor.

Therefore, if a formation master wants to advance and gain enough opportunities to practice and learn from mistakes, they must have the support of a powerful force behind them, providing them with sufficient resources and confidence to continuously refine their skills in formations and strive for new heights.

That being said, Wu Gongyi wanted to take on Su Qing's Lingxiao Palace puppet formation project not only to earn Su Qing's spirit stones, but also to let the formation disciples of the Formation Hall practice their skills there.

It should be noted that Su Qing's Lingxiao Palace Puppet Project involves setting up not just one formation, but a system composed of dozens of formations.

Guardian formations, offensive formations, life-sustaining formations, intelligence formations, monitoring formations, early warning formations, summoning formations...

There are dozens of types of formations, and there is demand for formations ranging from level one to level seven. If this business is completed, all the disciples of their Formation Hall can benefit from it. The education expenses alone can save their Lingbao Sect a large amount of spirit stones.

Such large-scale projects are currently only feasible for a very small number of forces across the myriad realms. The mountain gate formations of the major sects have been in place for many years and only need minor repairs. They have neither the inclination nor the money to build new ones. Even those sects that have made money in recent years and have nowhere to spend it, and wish to rebuild their mountain gates, prefer to do it themselves and train their own disciples along the way. They are unwilling to let the Lingbao Sect earn money and train array masters for them.

Only emerging powers like the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, with their strong financial resources but lack of sufficient talent, could only hire a professional array team from outside to complete the Lingxiao Palace Puppet project when they urgently needed to launch it.

This is an opportunity that Lingbao Sect cannot afford to miss. Do those three-legged crows even deserve to compete with them?

"Go tell Su Qing that no matter what price the Three-Legged Crow tribe offers, our price will be 30% lower!" (End of Chapter)