Chapter 24: Zhou Ming Comes Looking
Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Zhou Ming Comes Looking
He had failed seven times in a row, and Lu Zhao felt his spirits flagging. After a moment, he picked up the Spirit Tea beside him and drained the cup.
The tea leaves floating in the water were a dark, inky green, shaped like fine needles and emitting a faint Cold Qi.
As the Spirit Tea entered his mouth, a refreshing coolness spread through his body. Lu Zhao froze for an instant, feeling as if he had swallowed a block of ice on the hottest day of summer. Even his Divine Sense felt significantly restored.
’Worthy of the Spirit Tea I spent five Spirit Stones a pound on.’
Lu Zhao remarked with a sigh.
It was a Tier One Lower-Grade Spirit Tea called Cold Frost Pine Mist, made from the needles of a Spirit Pine. It had the effect of calming one’s Heart Spirit and slightly restoring Divine Sense.
Lu Zhao would drink a cup whenever his Divine Sense was overtaxed. He had acquired it during a supply run, after asking Shopkeeper Zhou if he had any similar Spiritual Objects. The shopkeeper had reluctantly sold it to him.
Even now, he found it amusing to recall the pained look on Shopkeeper Zhou’s face. He never expected someone so shrewd and experienced to show such an expression.
But the tea was indeed precious. It was the first time Lu Zhao had seen it in all his years at the Zhou Family Marketplace.
’Perhaps this tea only circulates internally within the Zhou Family,’ Lu Zhao thought.
Once Lu Zhao had mostly recovered, another problem presented itself: should he continue trying to craft the Ironwood Guard, or should he craft other puppets first to improve his Puppetry skill?
If he continued with the Ironwood Guard, given the terrifying failure rate, he had only enough materials left for seven or eight more attempts.
Yet, the light of success seemed just within reach. He felt he was so close.
As for buying more materials, Lu Zhao wouldn’t be doing that anytime soon. He had other uses for the hundred-odd Spirit Stones he had left.
Lu Zhao had already wasted close to eighty Spirit Stones trying to craft the Ironwood Guard. He only earned a little over three hundred Spirit Stones a year. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make more; he was limited by the availability of materials.
After a moment, however, he decided to continue. He would persist even if crafting the Ironwood Guard wasn’t profitable for now, and even if it meant taking a loss.
Because this was a necessary experience to become a Tier One Middle-Grade Puppet Master. If one couldn’t even craft a Tier One Lower-Grade Ironwood Puppet, one shouldn’t even think about Tier One Middle-Grade Puppets.
Lu Zhao decided to take advantage of his current surplus of Spirit Stones, trading them for an improvement in his Puppetry skill.
The air in the stone chamber seemed to freeze. Only the eerie blue flames of the Earth Fire Stone silently licked at the air, illuminating Lu Zhao’s face, which was as serene as a deep pool.
He took a deep breath, the air of the valley stream filling his lungs, and suppressed the impatience and heartache he felt.
The eighth attempt was a failure. The ninth was a failure.
Another pile of expensive scrap material accumulated in the corner.
Lu Zhao’s face looked pale in the eerie blue firelight. The continuous, high-intensity drain on his Heart Spirit had even washed away the refreshing coolness from the Cold Frost Pine Mist.
He silently sat cross-legged to meditate, circulating the Little Spirit Rain Technique. A cool Spiritual Power nourished his weary Sea of Consciousness. ’Spirit Stones can be earned again,’ he thought, ’but an opportunity to break through a skill bottleneck, once missed, is time wasted forever.’
He once again picked up a piece of High-Grade Ironwood Core. It felt smooth and tenacious in his hand, its woody pith brimming with spirituality.
This time, he did not rush to put his knife to the wood. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused, mentally reviewing the key points regarding the Wood and Stone Puppet Core from the Hundred Refinements Technique. The experience of his failures was seared into his mind like a brand.
His Carving Knife descended again, its movements slower and steadier than any time before.
The tip of the knife was no longer just a carving tool, but an extension of his Divine Sense and Spiritual Power, a feeler delving into every corner of the wood’s texture. Every turn of a spirit line, every injection of Spiritual Power, was done with a caution that bordered on pious reverence.
Time flowed slowly in the stone chamber. Sweat soaked his inner shirt, only to be evaporated by his Spiritual Power. Lu Zhao’s eyes saw nothing but the tiny space where the Ironwood Core met the tip of his knife.
When the final "Gathering Power" Array Pattern perfectly merged into the hub of the "Spirit Control" network, the entire Puppet Core suddenly lit up with a warm, restrained, earthy-yellow Spirit Light, as if a slumbering beast had opened its eyes.
Spiritual Power circulated within it, smooth and unimpeded, with no trace of stagnation or conflict! Lu Zhao held his breath, carefully embedding the Spirit Stone into the reserved slot.
HUM!
A low hum, as if originating from the depths of the earth, resounded.
It was not the harsh grating sound or dead silence of his previous failures, but a resonance brimming with power!
The Ironwood Guard’s torso, a perfect fusion of Profound Iron and Ironwood, suddenly trembled. The earthy-yellow Spirit Light stably enveloped its entire body. A dark gleam flowed across the Profound Iron joints, which emitted a clear ringing, like the sound of metal being quenched.
It slowly raised a sturdy arm encased in Profound Iron. As its five fingers clenched and unclenched, the air cracked with a faint pop!
’Success!’
Lu Zhao quietly gazed at the Ironwood Guard before him. It stood about seven feet tall and exuded an aura of steady, solid power. His fingertips trembled slightly from the exertion, yet his heart was filled with a strange sense of peace.
There was no ecstatic joy, only the relief and certainty that comes from finally striking a clear spring after chiseling through stubborn stone.
On the panel, the words "Ironwood Guard (Unmastered)" quietly blurred, then changed into "Ironwood Guard (10% Success Rate)."
Nine scrapped attempts and a cost of nearly one hundred and ten Spirit Stones, all for a ten percent success rate. ’Was it worth it?’
Lu Zhao stroked the cold, hard arm of the Ironwood Guard, feeling the immense power contained within—a power that far surpassed his Ice Mouse Puppets. The corners of his mouth lifted in the faintest of smiles.
With Spirit Stones and perseverance, he had finally pried open a crack in the door to higher-tier Puppetry. This was only the beginning.
「Several months passed quietly amidst the cold mists of Cyan Rattan Stream and the soft scraping of a carving knife.」
Lu Zhao’s cultivation steadily advanced within the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer. He used up all the remaining materials for the Ironwood Guard, painstakingly raising his success rate to thirteen percent. His crafting of the Flowing Cloud Sparrow and Ice Mouse Puppet also became increasingly proficient.
On this day, he made his routine return to the Zhou Family Marketplace to report on his station at the Guest Minister Pavilion and collect his salary.
Just as he stepped out of the rustic main gate of the Guest Minister Pavilion, a familiar voice called out from the side, "Mr. Lu, have you been well?"
Lu Zhao looked toward the voice and saw Steward Zhou Ming standing under a gnarled, ancient pine. His black steward’s robes were spotless, and he wore his usual friendly smile.
He seemed even more composed than when they had first met several years ago, and his aura had grown deeper as well.
"Steward Zhou."
Lu Zhao cupped his fist in salute, his expression calm. "Thanks to you, Steward, everything is well. Were you waiting here specifically for me?"
"Haha, just a coincidence, a coincidence." Zhou Ming laughed and waved his hand, walking forward to fall into step beside Lu Zhao as if they were old friends catching up.
"I heard your cultivation has improved again, and you’ve even tinkered with some new little things? To have such drive for progress and research while out in a place like Cyan Rattan Stream... it’s truly not easy."
"You flatter me, Steward. I’m just trying to make a living and daren’t slack off," Lu Zhao replied humbly, though his heart stirred.
’For Zhou Ming to "coincidentally" run into him here... this was definitely not just a casual chat.’
The two of them walked slowly along a quieter, bluestone-paved road in the marketplace.
Zhou Ming seemed to be in high spirits and asked, as if making a casual inquiry, "Mr. Lu, you’ve been with our Zhou Family for some years now. From a Lowest-Rank Guest Minister to a Middle-Rank one today, I’ve watched you climb the ladder, step by step."
"I wonder how much you know about the distinction between our Zhou Family’s direct and collateral lineages?"