Taoist Antecedent of the Yellow Court

Chapter 34: Auction

“Creating a puppet from scratch is too difficult. Even a human-sized puppet is no easy task.”

“If there’s a puppet that I could disassemble and study as I pleased, perhaps it would be very helpful for me.”

After failing for the ninth time, Lu Qingfeng went to Mu Yuanyi and asked to buy two low-level puppets from the Courtyard of Destiny.

Mu Yuanyi agreed.

However, right now, the Courtyard of Destiny was operating at full capacity. Under the command of the 100 Art Sect, they were constantly having to deal with beast tide after beast tide, while, at the same time, they had to battle the aces of the Spectral Cult who were lurking in the dark. With all their disciples endangered, all the puppets were considered a part of their strength. Sure enough, they wouldn’t provide them that easily.

Mu Yuanyi couldn’t guarantee that he could acquire them.

“Spectral Cult!”

After listening to everything that Mu Yuanyi had told him, Lu Qingfeng couldn’t help but develop an ill-feeling toward the Spectral Cult.

If it had been peaceful times, with Mu Yuanyi’s connections, buying two low-level puppets wouldn’t have been difficult at all.

However, at present, it had become a difficult task.

Even if he could acquire them, the price would be several times higher than normal.

It was no wonder that Lu Qingfeng was upset with the Spectral Cult.

It just couldn’t be helped. Puppet samples couldn’t be found for the time being, and he obviously couldn’t just disassemble and study the puppets in Singularity.

Lu Qingfeng could only proceed to try to refine one on his own.

There were many types of puppets.

To classify them in detail, those that required someone to be in them to control them was one type; those that could be remotely controlled with Twin Stones was another type; and those that could operate autonomously according to remote instructions was another type.

They were also classified according to their usage: there were combat puppets, auxiliary puppets, special puppets, and so on.

In terms of appearance, they could further be classified as: humanoid puppets, beast-shaped puppets, and so on.

The first type that Lu Qingfeng studied was the humanoid puppet.

To refine a humanoid puppet, a human-shaped frame must first be constructed from metal, special materials, or the bones of Demon Beasts. Depending on the design, a puppet could be large or small.

Taking the gigantic puppet Mu Yuanyi used, for example: it was engraved with many Runic Arrays due to its colossal body size. With many Runic Arrays, its power was naturally robust.

Lu Qingfeng had probed into it.

That giant puppet was classified as a Level 6 puppet. When Mu Yuanyi was inside it, he could unleash powers in the fourth phase of the Foundation Building Stage, the Body Tempering Phase. Among beings in the Foundation Building Stage, it was a peerless existence.

However, the entire body of such giant puppets was supported by the skeleton of the Mountain Driving Beast, while its external frame was made of Black Iron. The nodes in its interior were made of Cloud Marbles, and connecting the joints were the tendons of Tier 5 and Tier 6 Demon Beasts and the 1,000-year rubber produced by ancient oak trees.

Lu Qingfeng had to search for all these materials. Black Iron, for example, was almost impossible for Lu Qingfeng to get his hands on.

Whether the skeleton of the Mountain Driving Beast, Cloud Marble, the tendons of Tier 5 and Tier 6 Demon Beasts, or the 1,000-year rubber, they were all very difficult to obtain in Miaoyin City.

Not to mention that apart from these materials, the giant puppet’s Runic Arrays also required Mithril, Tanned Beast Tendons, and Spirit Water.

So, for now, giant puppets were shoved out of the picture.

For Lu Qingfeng, small puppets looked as if they were going to be the easiest to refine in reality.

Three days passed in a flash.

Lu Qingfeng learned a little bit more about tanning the tendons of common beasts and Tier 1 and Tier 2 Demon Beasts. If he wished to refine Runic Arrays into beast tendons, he would still need to work hard on it.

At this moment, the small-scale auction co-hosted by the major guilds in Snivel Town began.

Lu Qingfeng went to the venue with Mu Yuanyi, Zhang Zong, Wang Tao, and the other senior members of Singularity.

…

Since he’d first come into contact with cultivation, excluding in reality, this was the first time Lu Qingfeng had ever partaken in an auction.

The world of cultivation!

Before Lu Qingfeng had traversed across worlds, through the various online novels that he had read, what had left the deepest impression on him about the world of cultivation were the cities and the markets, black markets, and auctions of both large and small sizes that could be seen everywhere.

Lu Qingfeng was pretty excited.

“In this auction, aside from the assorted materials obtained from the Demon Beasts, there are many broken puppets and Magical Artifacts. Qingfeng, since you have been addicted to puppets recently, it’ll be an eye-opener for you,” Zhang Zong said as he walked side by side with Lu Qingfeng.

“Well said, Zhang.”

“Though the puppets have no repair value, purchasing them for research or disassembling the parts on them to patch up other puppets can still be considered an efficient use of resources.”

When Mu Yuanyi heard Zhang Zong’s words, he turned around and smiled at Lu Qingfeng. “Qingfeng, If you are going to buy them, consider selling the parts to the guild at a low price after you complete your research.”

The Courtyard of Destiny oversaw 300 miles of mountains and nine big cities.

The major guilds were the vanguards to deal with the beast tides.

With beast tides coming unceasingly, due to carelessness, even the puppets with formidable defenses might be destroyed or be subjected to various damage that could cause them to be scrapped.

If broken puppets were discarded, it would too much of a waste.

If the puppet belonged to a guild, they would disassemble the usable parts and keep on using them. There were also some that would straightforwardly sell their battered puppets via various channels.

This time, at the small-scale auction event in Snivel Town, there would definitely be a plethora of these broken puppets.

After Lu Qingfeng heard this, the anticipation in his heart grew even stronger.

Soon, they arrived in Snivel Town.

The auction venue was in the central square of Snivel Town. This place no longer looked as it had when Lu Qingfeng came for the first time.

“Great oaks from little acorns grow!”

“What a great phrase!”

Lu Qingfeng raised his head, looked at the tall buildings before his eyes, and couldn’t help but exclaim.

Over the years, a large pagoda-shaped building had been erected in the previously empty square. The first floor below was empty and major guilds were stationed there.

The second and third floors, on the other hand, were full of seats.

When there was no auction, small booths would be in the place of those seats, just like the market in Emery Town. If the major guilds held auctions, these seats would be temporarily placed in storage and be used as VIP seats.

Lu Qingfeng and other senior members of Singularity entered the third floor.

At the same level as they were, there were the seven old guilds from Snivel Town, the top eight guilds from Mountain Shade Town, and disciples from the Courtyard of Destiny.

The second floor was reserved for the emerging guilds in the two small towns and the reputable freewheeling cultivators nearby.

The first floor was for the freewheeling cultivators with no background.

Lu Qingfeng looked at the first floor and saw hundreds of freewheeling cultivators arriving. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are there really so many freewheeling cultivators near Snivel Town?”

He didn’t travel around very often, and he really was oblivious of these things.

“There certainly are.”

“Since the Courtyard of Destiny occupied more than 300 miles of Emerald Mountain and the gradual formations of the two towns of Snivel and Mountain Shade, the freewheeling cultivators accumulated nearby have been on the rise. After the establishment of the major guilds, the rise and fall of guilds have caused the proliferation of techniques and the increase of freewheeling cultivators, which has led to the scale it is today,” Mu Yuanyi explained.

Among these freewheeling cultivators, if one or two of them amounted to something, established a clan, and got their techniques passed down by some good fortune, this would be the embryonic form of the Cultivating Clans.

Aside from this that could be the source of Cultivating Clans, when disciples of the Courtyard of Destiny marry, settle down, and aid their future generations to cultivate and enter the Path, over time, it was also possible for them to form an inheritance bonded by blood.

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At present, the Courtyard of Destiny had only been established for a short time. Cultivating Clans had not yet emerged.

But in the 100 Art Sect, there were a not at all small number of Cultivating Clans that existed both inside and outside the sect.

Another example were the Cultivating Clans located in the city of Twilight. The strength of these Cultivating Clans was often not strong. Although they have many heirs, only a very few could truly embark on the path of cultivation and become great cultivators in the Foundation Building Stage.

“I see.”

Listening to the explanations and comments of Mu Yuanyi, Wang Tao, and the others, Lu Qingfeng started to understand this world even better and became even more integrated into it.