63: Puppet first use

Lu Ming exited the Precious Treasure Pavilion and weaved through the Immortal City.

He touched the divine sense talisman in his embrace, and after confirming no one was following him, he arrived at a restaurant in the outer city.

He went straight up to the second floor and walked towards a young Daoist sitting by the window.

He sat opposite the youth, quietly watching him leisurely eat spiritual delicacies and drink spiritual wine.

A moment later, the young man put down his wine bowl and looked at the goat-bearded middle-aged man in front of him.

A satisfied smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“As expected, no one can tell this is a Puppet…”

At the same time, Lu Ming could feel another perspective, one from the Corpse Puppet in front of him.

It was hard to describe the feeling, like an extension of his own will, even vaguely sensing the current state of the goat-bearded Corpse Puppet.

Previously, when he only had a Divine Soul Clone, although he could fly and jump, it felt more like controlling a drone to Lu Ming.

But after the Clone entered the core of the Corpse Puppet, controlling it was like moving an arm, and there was no sense of delay in its actions, which greatly satisfied Lu Ming.

However, thinking about the refining process made Lu Ming’s teeth ache.

Because the number of Corpse Puppets he had was not many, and their quality varied.

The goat-bearded middle-aged man was the best preserved among them, and his cultivation during his lifetime was also the highest.

Even so, he was only at Qi Refining Stage Sixth Level.

Since it was a dead body, after being refined into a Corpse Puppet, its level dropped to Qi Refining Stage Fourth Level.

Left with no choice, Lu Ming could only melt down all the other corpses to nourish this goat-bearded Corpse Puppet.

He also added many first-grade Materials to this Corpse Puppet and used Artifact Refining methods, forging the Corpse Puppet as if it were a Magical Artifact.

Perhaps it was his first time refining, and he wasn't that skilled.

The Corpse Puppet barely reached the Qi Refining Stage Sixth Level, and by adding Spirit Stones to its energy core, basic combat was still possible.

However, due to the addition of spiritual Materials, its Physical Body was comparable to a Late Stage first-grade Body Cultivator.

“The dead body had Innate deficiencies; I can’t blame my lack of skill.”

Lu Ming made an excuse for himself and secretly resolved that in the future, he must find a Fellow Daoist at Qi Refining Stage Ninth Level to refine a living corpse.

The main reason was that the dead body had too much Death Qi, and the refining method was too evil, so the Corpse Puppet would inevitably have some Evil Qi.

Moreover, after being forged by the Three Yin Nether Fire, it was also entwined with dense Devilish Qi.

Lu Ming certainly couldn't let the Corpse Puppet go out and move around like that, otherwise, it would definitely be treated as a Demonic Cultivator by the Immortal City Law Enforcement Team.

In his helplessness, Lu Ming could only spend some time learning a Talisman for purifying Evil Qi from the Talismans Legacy he obtained.

A Medium Grade first-grade 'Evil Purifying Talisman'.

And he made a large number of Aura Concealing Talismans and Evil Purifying Talismans to use on the Corpse Puppet.

As long as it didn’t use magical power or wasn't probed by someone's spiritual sense, generally, no one would be able to tell it was a Corpse Puppet.

However, this meant that the resources consumed for refining the Puppet were too much.

Roughly calculated, it cost at least four hundred Spirit Stones, almost the price of a Medium Grade Magical Artifact.

This made Lu Ming somewhat reluctant to casually abandon it.

And this trip to the Precious Treasure Pavilion was because he heard its reputation was good, but without seeing it with his own eyes, Lu Ming wouldn't easily believe it.

So he directly sent the Corpse Puppet to conduct the transaction, and at the same time, it was to test the effectiveness of the Corpse Puppet.

The result was naturally gratifying, and it further solidified Lu Ming's decision that in the future, he would let the Puppet handle dangerous matters; although it would pain him if it died, it was ultimately just a Puppet.

And he himself could free up more time to Cultivate peacefully in his Immortal Cave.

Looking at the Puppet in front of him, Lu Ming was very satisfied.

Clink.

In a joyful mood, he controlled the Puppet to clink cups with him.

After leaving the restaurant, Lu Ming separated from the Corpse Puppet.

Since he was creating a separate identity, he naturally had to do it perfectly, and the first step was to give the Puppet an official Immortal City identity.

It was nothing more than spending a few more Spirit Stones, and now Lu Ming was rich and completely unconcerned about such a small amount of Spirit Stones.

However, the Puppet's control distance was limited, so Lu Ming didn't dare to stay too far away, following from a distance.

After the Clone Broke through to Late-Stage Qi Refinement, the control distance was about five li, but after taking over the Puppet, this distance greatly decreased.

Perhaps it required more Soul Power to maintain its actions, so it was only about two li; once exceeded, the Clone would lose contact with the main body.

All subsequent actions would be the Clone's autonomous choices, but since this Clone was essentially Lu Ming, there was no possibility of it escaping his control.

It just couldn't achieve real-time information synchronization and required entering the range or communicating honestly through sound transmission.

However, it was completely sufficient for daily activities and wouldn't affect too much.

He controlled the Puppet to leave the Immortal City, then used the identity of ‘Han Feiyu’ to obtain an identity token.

Once everything was settled, Lu Ming decided to start his plan: finding Cultivation Techniques!

It was noon, and the sun was high, but in the Immortal City with its rich Spiritual Qi, it felt exceptionally comfortable.

Lu Ming's main body returned to his Immortal Cave to enter seclusion, while the Clone left after completing the Immortal Cave's check-in.

He strolled along, eventually arriving at the street vendor square in the outer city of the Immortal City.

A quick glance showed that there were many more people now than when he first arrived in the Immortal City, with at least a hundred stalls of varying sizes.

The larger ones even required three or four people to manage, and they sold items like Medium Grade Magical Artifacts or Talismans.

However, the quality was somewhat mixed, with some Magical Artifacts even being broken, yet business was surprisingly good.

Many people were arguing fiercely over a single Magical Artifact, and if it weren't for the Immortal City's regulations, they would probably have come to blows.

This was the normal state of Loose Cultivators; without resources or background, they would behave this way even for some broken junk.

Lu Ming felt very lucky; if he didn't have the golden book, he would probably become one of them.

He stopped thinking about these trivial matters and continued browsing the small stalls.

He even ran into Dong Pingan here, and seeing his worried expression, Lu Ming found it somewhat amusing.

He had asked Dong Pingan to look for strange tales and unusual incidents, but hadn't specified what kind, so the other party was naturally troubled.

In the past few days, he had visited several times, giving Lu Ming some collected intelligence, but none of it was what he wanted.

“Look how anxious the child is…”

Lu Ming mused, wondering if he was being a bit too hard on Dong Pingan.

Should he have him take over Old Zhou's position and sell Talismans for him?

Although he was very rich now, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

Moreover, he needed a stable income on the surface.

Otherwise, over time, observant people would definitely notice something was off about him.

However, he didn't go up to greet him now; Dong Pingan didn't recognize this body, so he would tell him next time they met.

And thinking of Zhou Yang, Lu Ming felt a faint sadness.

According to Old Zhou's family, a beast tide had swept through the nearby market, and he didn't know if Zhou Yang was still alive.

‘I hope that kid is alive…’

Shaking off the complicated thoughts, Lu Ming continued to wander.

“Come one, come all, take a look, take a look! A Legacy left by a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator, containing a lifetime of savings, and supposedly even a Foundation Establishment Pill…”

“Fellow Daoist, I see your bones are extraordinary and your talent is exceptional; you will surely be an incredible Grand Cultivator in the future. I have a Cultivation Technique here that leads directly to Golden Core, it is very suitable for you…”

“Selling ancient Divine Ability, come one, come all, don't miss out, first come, first served!”

“This was passed down from my ancestors…”

“…”

Shouts came, and Lu Ming looked in the direction of the sound.

Several Loose Cultivators were hawking to passing Cultivators with hoarse voices.

Each one sounded more enticing than the last.

However, the items they sold were varied and strange, making his head ache, and after searching for a long time, he didn't see any decent Cultivation Techniques.

Just like the Cultivator selling Golden Core Cultivation Techniques, he had just sold one, and then immediately took out an identical one from his Storage Pouch.

He held up a yellowed booklet and was diligently shouting, with four large, flowing characters ‘Great Sun Divine Cultivation Technique’ on the first page.

It looked the part, but…

“So insincere, the ink isn't even dry yet, I didn't expect it could actually fool someone…”

Actually, if you think about it, it's obvious; the reason there are so many Loose Cultivators is precisely because they don't have a way to obtain resources.

As for those grand-sounding titles, like 'family heirloom,' ninety-nine percent of them are fakes and counterfeits.

They are specifically for deceiving those inexperienced novices who have just started out and dream of getting rich overnight.

The Cultivation world is the same; it's not that you can't find treasures in the Cultivation world, but it's very rare.

Without Heaven-Defying Luck, even Immortal items would be mistaken for ordinary goods and missed.

But onlookers see clearly, while those involved are confused; there are always people who don't believe in evil and want to try their Luck.

At this moment, a dispute erupted from a nearby stall.

Initially, Lu Ming didn't pay attention, thinking it was just those Loose Cultivators arguing over Magical Artifacts again.

Such incidents were not uncommon.

But as he drew closer and gradually heard more clearly, his expression became even stranger…