Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 381

382. Chaos Stones and Ancient Puppet Techniques

True Person Tian Jing’s expression remained blank, but his eyes were cold, and he kept silent. Seeing this, Han Li grew even more cautious, yet he maintained a nonchalant demeanor. He once again reached into his storage pouch, retrieving a jade box about the size of his palm.

The jade box opened, and a crystal much larger than the previous one was placed on the table in front of the Daoist.

True Person Tian Jing’s cold facade wavered, and he was visibly shocked.

“Where did you possibly get such a large Chaos Stone? Do you have more?” the old Daoist asked seriously, but Han Li only smiled and remained silent.

“I will answer your question, Fellow Daoist Han, but you must also tell me where you obtained these,” he stated.

“Very well,” Han Li replied.

The old Daoist tapped the table with his finger, and Han Li, who had anticipated this, immediately agreed to the proposal.

“As you guessed, a few friends and I discovered the ruins of an ancient cultivator and learned the refining methods of ancient puppet techniques. However, puppets, as powerful as they are, require extremely rare materials. Moreover, Chaos Stones are essential for the refining process to have any chance of success. Despite searching for Chaos Stones for a long time, I’ve only managed to acquire a few. If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have hosted this exchange meeting. Now it’s your turn. Where did you get so many Chaos Stones?” True Person Tian Jing asked coldly.

“The source of the Chaos Stones is simple. I didn’t even know they were called Chaos Stones before, but I knew they were created within the bodies of a demonic beast called the Yinming Beast. I also went through a lot of hardship to barely obtain them,” Han Li explained.

“Yinming Beast? I’ve never heard of it. Where is this demonic beast located?” The Daoist’s eyes lit up, and he asked with a hint of urgency.

“Could I take a look at the puppet techniques you obtained, True Person?” Han Li asked calmly and casually, instead of answering his question.

At Han Li’s words, the old Daoist erased his anxious look and hardened his face again.

“Are you threatening me, Fellow Daoist?” he asked.

“Threatening? That’s absurd. I’ve given you several precious Chaos Stones for free without any real compensation. If you were uncomfortable, you could have simply ignored my question. I won’t take back the Chaos Stones I’ve already given,” Han Li replied calmly, but True Person Tian Jing’s expression was confused.

“If I give you my puppet techniques, you can immediately verify their authenticity, but how can I verify if the information about the Yinming Beast is not false?” the Daoist questioned.

“Frankly, even if you knew where the Yinming Beast lives, you wouldn’t be able to go there. It’s an extremely dangerous place, and even if you were lucky enough to get in, you wouldn’t come out alive. I was fortunate to survive back then. Even if you don’t believe my words, the Chaos Stones are definitely real, aren’t they? Even if I exchange some of my Chaos Stones for your puppet techniques, you won’t be at a loss. No matter how good your puppet techniques are, what use are they if you don’t have Chaos Stones?” Han Li reasoned.

At his gentle words, True Person Tian Jing frowned but showed a hint of impatience.

“Alright. I still can’t be sure about the source of the Chaos Stones you mentioned, but Chaos Stones are different. First, tell me how much you’re willing to exchange for the puppet techniques. If the amount is too small, it would be better for me to keep the puppet techniques to myself,” he said.

“First, we need to assess the value of the ancient puppet techniques you possess. If you can only make puppets like the ones you showed me during the day, I wouldn’t be very interested,” Han Li replied, secretly pleased but not showing it.

“The ones I showed you during the day were just remnants from the ruins. What you mean is that if I can refine more powerful puppets, the amount of Chaos Stones for the trade will also increase,” True Person Tian Jing stated.

“Exactly! If you can create puppets that can strike a Nascent Soul stage cultivator [a high-level cultivator], wouldn’t it be possible to give you 20 or 30 Chaos Stones?” Han Li asked.

“Are you talking about all of them being the same size as the first Chaos Stone we traded?” True Person Tian Jing seemed genuinely tempted.

‘Can he refine puppets that can fight against a Nascent Soul cultivator?’ Han Li thought with joy.

“I will never make false claims,” Han Li guaranteed.

“Alright! This is the jade slip containing the ancient puppet techniques. I’m not lending it to you; I’m giving it to you,” the Daoist said quickly, taking out a pure white jade slip from his storage pouch and handing it to Han Li, a cunning look flashing across his face. Han Li was surprised by the other party’s actions and thought something was strange, but he still infused his consciousness into the jade slip to examine it.

After a long while, Han Li, with a flushed face, withdrew his consciousness and stared at True Person Tian Jing without saying a word.

“Why do you look like that? Surely, there are puppets that can unleash divine abilities close to a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator’s attack. Doesn’t it meet your requirements?” the old man asked with a knowing smile.

“Hmph! It does meet them. But the main material for refining such puppets is unexpectedly ten-thousand-year-old ironwood. Not only is it an absurd material, but most of the auxiliary materials are also difficult to find. Some of them I’ve never even heard of. Where am I supposed to find them?” Han Li revealed an angry expression.

“Hehe! I don’t know about that. But there are blueprints for each material, so you might find them if you have the right fate. Isn’t that so?” True Person Tian Jing was much more relaxed now.

“Did True Person Tian Jing gather all these materials? Otherwise, how could you have the Chaos Stones…?” Han Li asked.

“I don’t remember saying that I would refine the puppets myself. I was just trying to complete the unfinished products I found in the ancient cultivator’s ruins. If I fuse them with Chaos Stones, it’s worth a try,” the Daoist replied.

“…” Han Li was speechless. To reveal the most important fact at the very end, this old man was hard to deal with.

“Then, since I’ve given you the puppet techniques, you should…” the Daoist began.

“I’ll give them to you!” Before the Daoist could finish his sentence with a wide grin, Han Li, with an uncomfortable expression, flicked his sleeve. A green light flashed, and a pile of Chaos Stones appeared in the air.

The crystals shone with a truly strange light. True Person Tian Jing was greatly delighted, but he was a little embarrassed and was about to say something when Han Li waved his hand.

“I have suffered a great loss in this transaction, but I won’t blame you, Fellow Daoist. Since the deal is done, I’ll be leaving now,” Han Li said, leaving without looking back, with a gloomy face.

The old Daoist shook his head as he watched him disappear, then nodded again. He checked the number of crystals and put them into his storage pouch.

He was very satisfied with exchanging a useless puppet technique book for so many Chaos Stones. With this amount, he would be able to complete some of the unfinished puppets.

However, he was greatly surprised by Han Li, who possessed so many Chaos Stones, and changed his evaluation of him.

Unknown to the old Daoist, Han Li, who had stormed out of the building with a gloomy face, was holding the jade slip and letting out a strange smile.

Ten-thousand-year-old ironwood, while others might not know, was not a difficult material for him to obtain if he had enough time. Moreover, according to his memory, most of the other auxiliary materials could be found in the remains of the puppets he had taken from the Void Sky Hall.

If he was lucky enough to refine several puppets that could fight against Nascent Soul cultivators, puppet techniques would once again become one of his trump cards.

If he could refine hundreds of puppets at the Core Formation stage [a mid-level cultivator], like before, he might be able to give a Nascent Soul cultivator a hard time. However, each puppet would cost as much as refining a normal magic treasure. [a powerful magical item]

When he had created hundreds of third-grade puppets for the Heavenly Bamboo Sect, he had almost gone bankrupt, and he had to sell a significant portion of the demonic beast parts for that. But the cost of refining the puppets he had obtained today was beyond imagination.

He swallowed a bitter smile and headed towards the west gate of the Heavenly City.

It was more important to increase the power of his natal magic treasure [a magic item tied to one’s life force] than external factors like puppets. Once the power of his magic treasure increased, its utility would be limitless.

He could only hope that what the owner of the Jing Cauldron wanted was not too great. If he could exchange it with the demonic cores he possessed, that would be the best outcome.

* * *

Half a month later, the once-in-a-century exchange meeting officially began, and cultivators from all over the Southern Heaven poured into the Heavenly City. The atmosphere at the auction houses, which were open for several days in a row, was truly heated.

In particular, precious items were pouring out of the auction houses in the city, causing many cultivators to squander their fortunes.

“760,000 spirit stones! The Jing Cauldron goes to the Fellow Daoist!” a middle-aged cultivator standing in front of the auction house’s main hall was beaming.

On a jade tray placed on an ebony table, a peach-sized golden ore was placed, attracting everyone’s attention.

A cultivator with a vague face, wearing a silver robe, stood up, paid the spirit stones, and took the Jing Cauldron. Han Li, who had been watching the auction, sighed and left the auction house. It didn’t matter to him what items were auctioned after that.

That night, Han Li easily found the owner of the Jing Cauldron, but the other party said that they would only trade for a seventh-grade demonic beast egg or one of the legendary magic treasure materials, the Transforming Divine Mud.

And the other party said that the Jing Cauldron they possessed was small, and it seemed that they could only get enough material to make six or seven flying swords.

Still, Han Li, who had participated in the auction just in case, had completely given up when the price exceeded 500,000 spirit stones. It seemed that the Great Gengsword Formation would not be realized in the short term.

Han Li did not return to the auction house and instead wandered around the market, buying the auxiliary materials needed to refine ancient puppets.

Although he still lacked materials and it would take time to cultivate the ten-thousand-year-old ironwood, if he could refine puppets that could match a Nascent Soul cultivator, his combat power would greatly increase.

Then, he headed somewhere in the Heavenly City.

It was already the fourth day of the exchange meeting, which was the time that Nan Longhou had mentioned before. He walked towards the place written on the jade slip with a bit of curiosity.

When Han Li scanned the area with his consciousness, he found an ordinary-looking stone building not far away. On the outside, it was a simple building with only two rooms.

Before he could knock on the door, the gate opened automatically with a hum. A man with a long beard, wearing a jade crown and a purple robe, stood at the door, smiling.

“Fellow Daoist Han, you’ve finally arrived. There are some fellow Daoists I’d like to introduce you to, so let’s get acquainted,” Nan Longhou, as if he already knew Han Li was coming, greeted him with a gentle expression and voice.

“You’ve worked hard, Lord Marquis,” Han Li greeted him out of courtesy and followed him inside. However, Han Li paused at the situation inside.

How could there be no one inside the empty building?

And only after scanning the building with his consciousness did he realize that there were fluctuations of a restriction inside. Nan Longhou noticed Han Li’s actions and smiled.

“I knew that such a trivial trick wouldn’t fool you, Fellow Daoist. Please, follow me!” After speaking, Nan Longhou formed a hand seal, and golden mist shot out from his sleeve.

A corner of the stone room touched by the golden mist strangely glowed, revealing a dark staircase like an illusion.

Nan Longhou walked down, and Han Li followed him without hesitation.

The staircase was not long, and as soon as they stepped down, they could see a small basement. The faint light from a few moonstones illuminated the darkness. Inside, five of the seven cultivators were sitting in their seats, and a man and a woman were standing close together, seemingly a pair.

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