Chapter 255: Chapter 219: 8 Years of Dormancy, Mortal Martial Artist, Unconventional Puppet

Although it was impossible to quantify exactly how much the difficulty had been reduced, based on the scant details in the *True Water Spirit Transformation Skill* and his own insights, he knew one thing: as long as his innate aptitude wasn’t absurdly poor, breaking through to the Mid-stage of Foundation Establishment with the effects of his perfected Third Layer Thousand Waters Spirit Body would be far from difficult.

This undoubtedly laid a solid cornerstone for his future path of cultivation.

Of course, the cost in Cultivation Resources had been enormous. Right now, he only had a single bottle of Tier Two Middle-Grade Seven-Flower Spirit Water left.

This forced Lu Zhao to temporarily give up on cultivating the Fourth Layer of the Thousand Waters Spirit Body.

Next was his Magical Power accumulation:

In terms of Cultivation, Lu Zhao’s progress was nothing short of miraculous. Within his Dantian Qi Sea, drops of pale blue Magical Power True Liquid floated like stars, slowly spinning. He had already condensed fifty-four drops of Liquid Magical Power! This meant he had already traveled nearly half the path of the Early-stage Foundation Establishment.

This speed far surpassed that of ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators. On one hand, it was thanks to his near High-Grade Water Spirit Root and the incredible effects of the *True Water Spirit Transformation Technique*.

On the other hand, the absorption of Spirit Water Essence while cultivating the Thousand Waters Spirit Body also played an indispensable role. And of course, none of it would have been possible without the support of a massive quantity of Tier Two Pills.

However, the thought of Pills brought a cloud of gloom over Lu Zhao’s heart. He still had over three hundred Water Jade Green Radiance Pills left, and he hadn’t even touched his Gathering Splendor Green Moss Pills.

It seemed like a lot of Pills, but by his rough estimate, Refining all of them would only support about fifteen more years of intensive cultivation at his current pace.

What worried him even more was his projection based on his current speed and consumption rate. By the time those three hundred-plus Pills were gone, he would likely still be short nearly ten drops of Magical Power to reach the peak of Early-stage Foundation Establishment!

The number of Pills required for those ten drops of Magical Power was by no means small.

Refinement Pills for the Foundation Establishment Stage were already expensive and rare, and they were even harder to find in a remote place like Broken River Castle. This ten-drop deficit weighed on his heart like a giant stone.

Then there were his Magic and Puppets:

Lu Zhao had never slacked in his daily Magic practice; honing his various skills was a top priority.

He had cultivated the *Thousand Waters Hundred Spirits Skill* to near the Great Success Realm. It could be cast with a single thought, seamlessly blending offense and defense with unpredictable transformations.

Similarly, by combining his understanding of Cultivation Techniques and Escape Techniques, he had made further progress with the 2nd Layer of the *Thousand Waters Spirit Transformation Escape*. His Escape Speed was faster and more agilely ethereal, and it consumed less Magical Power.

As his life-saving trump card, the *Blood Shadow Escape* was rarely practiced due to its immense consumption of Essence Blood, but he had still managed to refine it through repeated mental simulations.

He had even cultivated his *Breath Concealment and Shapeshifting Skill* to a level approaching the 3rd Layer.

However, when it came to the art of Puppetry, Lu Zhao’s progress over the past eight years had been practically nil. One could even say he was at a complete standstill.

The reason was simple: a master craftsman can’t work without materials.

The core Main Materials for refining a Tier Two Puppet were the corpse and Demon Pill of a Tier Two Demon Beast.

In eight years, the confirmed sightings of Tier Two Demon Beasts brought back by the exploration teams could be counted on one hand. He had only acquired one additional Tier Two Lower Grade Demon Beast corpse, which made him afraid to experiment rashly.

His only attempt was five years ago, when he had used the corpse of that Tier Two Lower Grade Green-Scaled Poison Python to try and refine a Tier Two Lower Grade Puppet.

He spent over a month in meticulous preparation, adjusting his condition to its absolute peak.

However, he still failed during the most critical step: refining the Puppet Core. When he tried to fuse the Green-Scaled Poison Python’s Demon Pill with a vessel inscribed with complex Poison Element Spirit Patterns, the process failed.

The violent Spiritual Power within the Demon Pill clashed fiercely with the inscribed Spirit Patterns, ultimately causing the vessel to shatter and the Demon Pill to be destroyed on the spot.

Since then, Lu Zhao had completely stopped trying. Although he still had a few Tier Two Demon Beast corpses, they were all from the Tier Two Middle Stage. These were prime Main Materials for refining Tier Two Middle-Grade Puppets!

Using them to refine Tier Two Lower Grade Puppets would be a criminal waste of precious resources, and the success rate wouldn’t be much higher anyway. Unless he had absolutely no other choice, he would never commit such a wasteful act.

After considering all this, Lu Zhao’s thoughts returned to the present.

’I’m not short on Pills for now, so I can take my time and figure something out. But the lack of Tier Two Demon Beasts... that’s a fishbone stuck in my throat. It has to be removed!’ Lu Zhao paced over to the terrace of his cave residence and leaned on the railing, gazing into the distance. His eyes seemed to pierce through the continuous mountain ranges beyond the castle, looking deep into the Wilderness.

’Go to the Liuu Family Marketplace in Northern Wilderness County and recruit more Wanderers?’ The thought had barely surfaced before he swiftly extinguished it.

After all, a small number of Wanderers would be a drop in the bucket, while a large number would inevitably alarm the Liuu Family, who controlled the Marketplace.

In the eyes of the Liuu Family, those Wanderers, regardless of their Cultivation level, were either "resources" or "potential resources" under their jurisdiction.

’For me, a Commander from the Bixia Sect stationed at Broken River Castle, to recruit Wanderers on a large scale into ’my’ territory is an extremely sensitive act. All the Liuu Family would have to do is file a complaint with the Bixia Sect, accusing me of ’overstepping my authority,’ and that alone would be enough to put me in hot water.’

’Lower the Cultivation requirements? Let Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, or even early-stage cultivators, form teams and go in?’ A cold smirk touched Lu Zhao’s lips. This idea was even more absurd.

The Wilderness was no back garden. It was teeming with Tier One Demon Beasts, riddled with countless Poisonous Miasmas and traps, and its weather was bizarre and unpredictable. Even teams of cultivators at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer or above suffered considerable casualties. Sending in cultivators at the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer or lower was no different from sending them to their deaths.

If ten people went in, maybe only two or three would come back alive.

Not only was this inefficient, but it would also completely disillusion the dependent families outside the castle, shaking the foundations of the authority he had worked so hard to establish.

This was the equivalent of draining the pond to catch the fish—a destructive, short-sighted path that no wise person would take.

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