Chapter 23: Chapter 23: First Contact with the Wood and Stone Puppet

During three months of cultivation, Lu Zhao had not only advanced his cultivation base but also significantly improved his mastery of Puppetry.

Inside the Cyan Rattan Grotto Stone Chamber, three Profound Iron Ingots and two Ironwood Sections lay side by side on a stone table, emitting a dim, mysterious glow. Lu Zhao’s fingertips brushed across the coarse texture of the Ironwood as his Divine Sense carefully probed the spirituality contained within.

The Refining Atlas for the Ironwood Guard from the Hundred Refinements Technique circulated in his Sea of Consciousness: Profound Iron for the skeleton, Ironwood to form the body, and Spirit Patterns running through it all to create a Warrior. However, he only had enough Ironwood on hand for two frames, though he had plenty of Profound Iron.

The three-month period was up. He needed to return to the Marketplace to deliver the Puppets and, while he was there, restock on Ironwood.

Inside the Nine Abyss Pavilion, the scent of sandalwood mingled with the heavy aroma of Spiritual Materials. When the Shopkeeper saw Lu Zhao enter, the corners of his wrinkled eyes crinkled into their usual smile. "Mr. Lu, right on time. Did you bring the ’eyes’ this time?"

Lu Zhao said nothing. With a light flick of his sleeve, three Ice Mouse Puppets and one Flowing Cloud Sparrow landed steadily on the counter. A wave of Cold Qi and a sense of vibrant life emanated from them.

"Excellent! The quality is even better than last time!" The Shopkeeper’s withered finger traced the wind patterns on the Sparrow Puppet’s bone wings, a keen light flashing in his eyes. He then looked at Lu Zhao. "Same price as always. Thirty-six Spirit Stones for the Ice Mouse Puppets and twenty-five for the Flowing Cloud Sparrow. Sixty-one in total." He swiftly counted out the Spirit Stones and pushed them across the counter.

Lu Zhao collected the Spirit Stones and stated his needs directly. "I need a large amount of Ironwood—the older, with a denser core, the better. If you have any spare Profound Iron, I’ll take that as well."

Hearing this, the Shopkeeper turned, retrieved a thick ledger from the back room, and began to flip through it. "Profound Iron? We have plenty in the warehouse. It’s Tier One Lower Grade. You can have ten pounds for one Spirit Stone."

"As for the Ironwood..." His finger paused on a line in the ledger. "We have about a thousand pounds in stock, but most of it is just scraps and off-cuts. Of the whole sections suitable for a Puppet Main Material, we only have a little over five hundred pounds left."

"It’s not a particularly rare material, it’s just that the Zhou Family has been consuming a great deal for Artifact Refining lately, and the newly felled timber is still in transit."

He looked up at Lu Zhao with a teasing glint in his eye. "What’s this, Mr. Lu? Are you trying to build something new? Ironwood paired with Profound Iron... don’t tell me you’re making a Wood and Stone Puppet."

"If you really pull it off, you’ll end up costing this old man a good chunk of his retirement savings!"

"You flatter me, Shopkeeper. I’m just stocking up for now." Lu Zhao’s expression was calm. "Five hundred pounds of Ironwood and one hundred pounds of Profound Iron."

"Deal!"

The Shopkeeper readily agreed, the beads on his abacus clicking and clacking. "Five hundred pounds of Ironwood comes to fifty Spirit Stones, and one hundred pounds of Profound Iron is ten Spirit Stones. That’ll be sixty in total." He paused. "The materials are in the warehouse. Will you take them now, or should I have them delivered?"

"I’ll take them now."

Lu Zhao paid the Spirit Stones. It wasn’t enough Ironwood, so he would have to find more elsewhere.

In the Market’s North District, deep within a back alley, the air was thick with a foul, musty stench. Lu Zhao navigated the path with familiarity and lifted a tattered animal-hide curtain covering a doorway.

Zhao the Lame was busy polishing a few blood-stained fangs. He looked up, and a glint of recognition flashed in his eyes when he saw who it was. "Well now, Mr. Lu. To what do I owe the pleasure? Looking for some merchandise?"

"Top-quality Ironwood. At least a thousand pounds," Lu Zhao said, keeping his voice low.

Zhao the Lame set down his file and rubbed his withered fingers together. "That stuff... the Zhou Family keeps a tight leash on it. It’s rare for any quality material to make its way out."

"However..." He grinned, revealing a set of yellow teeth. "This old lame-leg has his sources. I can probably scrounge up eight hundred pounds for you. All of it solid, high-quality material."

"As for the price, you know the Black Market rules. Ten percent higher than the Nine Abyss Pavilion. Eighty-eight Spirit Stones. The price is firm."

Lu Zhao nodded without haggling. This wasn’t the place for it.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhao the Lame hurried back from his storeroom and took seven or eight thick, solid Ironwood Sections from his Storage Bag. The cross-sections revealed dense growth rings, and the deep brown cores faintly glowed with Spirit Light.

Lu Zhao swept his Divine Sense over them, confirming their quality. With a wave of his hand, he stored them in his own Storage Bag. The transaction was completed in silence, their business concluded.

After leaving the Marketplace, a Flowing Cloud Sparrow soared high above to scout the path, while the faint glow of his Profound Water Turtle Shell Shield flickered in and out of sight. The journey home was peaceful, with only the mountain wind whistling through the treetops.

As dusk settled, a fissure opened in the mists of Cyan Rattan Stream, and Lu Zhao’s figure vanished within.

The heavy door of the stone chamber boomed shut, sealing him off from the outside world. Three new Puppet Guards snapped into defensive positions as the dim light of the Avoidance Array began to flow.

On the worktable, the Profound Iron Ingots exuded a cold aura and the Ironwood Sections lay dense and heavy. The newly acquired Ironwood Cores released a fresh, woody fragrance. Everything was ready.

He embedded an Earth Fire Stone into a specially made recess. A ghostly blue flame flickered to life; he had purchased the stone specifically for the purpose of smelting Profound Iron.

With a solemn expression, Lu Zhao took a Profound Iron Ingot and placed it in the flames.

He infused his Cyan Heavy Iron Carving Saber with Water Spirit Power, causing its tip to glow with a pale blue, frosty light. He cut precisely into the softened ingot, carving away impurities and shaping the rough outline of a joint. Sweat beaded on his brow, only to be vaporized by his Protective Spiritual Light before it could fall.

Processing the Ironwood Core required even greater finesse. The Carving Knife moved along the natural grain of the wood, stripping away the useless outer layers to leave only the most tenacious and dense heartwood, which he sculpted into the rough forms of a torso and a head. Wood shavings fell with a soft SHUSH, carrying their own unique fragrance.

The crucial step was the Puppet Core. Unlike with a Beast Puppet, this core could not be created separately. It had to be carved directly into the heart of the Ironwood torso, guiding the Carving Knife with Divine Sense to inscribe the complex, dual Array Patterns for Spirit Control and Gathering Power.

Lu Zhao held his breath, his concentration absolute. His fingertips were rock-steady as the tip of his knife sketched out arcane lines on the deep brown wood core. He injected his Spiritual Power in fine, silk-like threads, awakening the wood’s innate spirituality and guiding it to fuse with the Array Patterns.

The first attempt: with the Array Pattern seventy percent complete, a hidden fissure within the Ironwood Core, agitated by the influx of Spiritual Power, suddenly split open. The Spiritual Power circuit was instantly thrown into chaos, and the entire core PUFFED into a cloud of black, charred dust.

The second attempt: the Profound Iron joint was heated unevenly during quenching. After cooling, the imbalanced internal stress caused a jarring friction where it connected to the wooden frame, preventing Spiritual Power from flowing through.

The third attempt: the dual Array Patterns conflicted where they were meant to intersect. Lu Zhao tried to forcibly harmonize them, but the effort drained too much of his Divine Sense. His Carving Knife slipped, and a Spirit Pattern fractured.

The fourth attempt: the spirituality of the wood core rejected the Array Patterns during fusion. The Puppet Core was completed, but it was inert and lifeless, impossible to activate...

Six consecutive failures in the span of half a month.

Lu Zhao’s face was pale. The repeated failures had taken a heavy toll on both his Divine Sense and Spiritual Power.

He sat down to meditate and recover his energy. A short while later, he picked up a section of High-Grade Ironwood.

His Carving Knife was rock-steady, his Divine Sense focused to a razor’s edge. Deep within the wood core, the dual Array Patterns extended and intertwined perfectly. He embedded the activating Spirit Stone, and Spiritual Power flowed in like a stream, completely unimpeded! The Ironwood Guard’s torso lit up with a steady, faint glow, and its joints emitted a low hum, as if it were about to rise.

But at that very moment, deep within the Ironwood Core that held the Array Patterns, an infinitesimal, natural whorl in the grain—a flaw from when the tree was growing—could no longer withstand the constant, stable pressure from the overlapping dual patterns under the ceaseless flow of Spiritual Power. It let out an almost inaudible *CRACK*.

A critical line in the core Array Pattern snapped.

The faint glow that had just appeared was instantly extinguished. The Spiritual Power circuit collapsed completely, and the entire Ironwood Guard, painstakingly crafted and on the very verge of completion, was reduced to a lifeless husk.

Lu Zhao’s fingers hovered in mid-air. From the tip of his Carving Knife, a single bead of dark brown wood dust mixed with residual Spiritual Power slowly dripped down.

The stone chamber was deathly silent, the only movement the silent flickering of the Earth Fire Stone’s ghostly blue flame, which reflected off his face, as placid and deep as still water.

The wreckage of the seventh attempt lay scattered in a corner. The primary cause of failure was clear: a minuscule, internal flaw within the material had finally given way under the sustained high pressure of the complex Spirit Patterns. Crafting an Ironwood Guard was a far more exacting process than making a Beast Puppet.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.