Chapter 381: Return to Shenmu Sect

After all the equipment and puppets were debugged, the puppet factory, which had burdened Chen Mobai with a load of debt, was finally completed.

After seeing off Chai Lun and Zhou Tiangong, Chen Mobai checked his account, which had less than a million merit points left. He couldn't help but feel a little pressure.

Although as a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator, and with Qin Baipeng as guarantor, his interest rate was already the lowest, the merit points in his account were barely enough to cover the interest by the end of the year.

The immediate priority was still to open up sales channels.

This applied to both the Tianhe Realm and the Immortal Gate territory.

However, Chen Mobai already had a plan in mind for this.

Within the Immortal Gate, only minimum standards were stipulated for talisman paper production.

Talisman paper produced by tens of thousands of talisman factories across the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands was mostly similar in quality, merely qualified products produced by barely meeting the minimum standards.

This led to significant differentiation.

For instance, some talisman factories, unable to sustain themselves amidst the fierce competition in the ordinary talisman paper market, would begin improving the quality of their talisman paper to create premium products.

In the entire Immortal Gate's talisman market, virtually every factory had its own premium products as a showcase.

For example, the Feitian Talisman Factory produced a type of talisman paper called "Biyu" (Jade Green), researched by Wu Shangru.

As the name suggests, it was a second-tier talisman paper formulated and produced using the local specialty, Biyu Wutong (Jade Green Parasol Tree), from Danxia City as pulp. It had gained some fame in the talisman market of the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands in the eastern part of the Immortal Gate.

The production of this Biyu talisman paper was much more complicated than that of first-tier talisman paper.

For first-tier talisman paper pulp, cultivator workers only needed to add the appropriate spiritual additives in normal quantities and mix them with mashed and steamed wood pulp. The remaining processes of impurity removal, bleaching, and pulp coagulation were all automatically completed by papermaking machines.

However, for second-tier talisman paper, the pulp production was almost as intricate as alchemy. Although Feitian Talisman Factory had custom-ordered machines for it, the raw materials required were several times that of first-tier paper.

Moreover, experienced papermakers were needed to constantly monitor the pulp quality. If the spiritual additives were too much or too little, it would affect the quality of the finished product, or even lead to failure.

If the Feitian Talisman Factory operated at full capacity, it could produce approximately 10 sheets of second-tier Biyu talisman paper per day.

But if it were high-grade first-tier talisman paper, the quantity would increase by 100 times, producing 1000 sheets daily.

In the Immortal Gate market, the price of second-tier talisman paper ranged from 500 to 5000 merit points, depending on its grade. Some top-tier second-tier talisman paper almost rivaled third-tier talisman paper.

Unfortunately, even when Wu Shangru personally oversaw the papermaking, Feitian Talisman Factory's Biyu talisman paper at most yielded mid-grade second-tier paper from one batch of pulp.

Besides Biyu talisman paper, Feitian Talisman Factory's other signature product was talisman ink called "Chixia" (Red Radiance).

Thanks to the abundant Cinnabar Spirit Sand resources in Danxia City and the excellence of its raw materials, Feitian Talisman Factory had even successfully refined third-tier talisman ink.

Chen Mobai had already decided that once completed, the puppet factory could operate 24 hours a day without stopping. The equipment he had heavily invested in, commissioned from Tiangong Artifacts Factory, could perfectly leverage the puppets' advantages, making its efficiency in producing first-tier talisman paper ten times that of Feitian Talisman Factory.

The drawback, however, was that it could only produce first-tier talisman paper and ink.

So, from now on, Feitian Talisman Factory would be responsible for high-end, premium Biyu talisman paper and Chixia talisman ink, while the puppet factory would operate at full capacity to produce first-tier talisman paper and ink. This would allow them to flood the Tianhe Realm market while gradually capturing market share within the Immortal Gate.

This morning.

Chen Mobai, who had finished meditating with a spirit stone in his hand, opened his eyes. He looked at the spirit stone, its spiritual energy completely depleted, and put it back into his storage bag.

This item was a spiritual essence; giving it to either Qing Nv or Wang Xingyu would make them jump with joy.

He got up and pushed open the wooden cabin's door. This cabin was located in the core area of the puppet factory, on the small hillside where the Vermillion Fruit Tree was planted.

Ordinary people could not cultivate in this place, but he directly used spirit stones to advance his Pure Yang Dharma Body, so he didn't need to absorb the spiritual energy here, which still contained fire poison.

Besides the Pure Yang Dharma Body, his Five-Element Sword Finger only required applying ointment, and his spiritual sense training also had not slackened in the slightest.

The wooden cabin on the hillside was naturally constructed using talismans.

The wooden cabin talismans from the Immortal Gate were truly essential for travel; whether in the Tianhe Realm or here, they were extremely useful.

Besides his home, the most familiar sight to Chen Mobai now was this type of wooden cabin.

At Wuqi Daoist Academy, on the peak of Mount Xiaonan, and here, all the cabins were of the same style, giving a feeling of home everywhere.

After stepping out of the wooden cabin, Chen Mobai looked up towards the sky.

He saw that high in the sky, at an unknown altitude, a wisp of mist and cloud, faintly tinged with blue and red, was indistinctly visible.

This was the Chixia Cloud Mist Gauze, re-refined by Ming Yihua.

At the beginning of the year, while handling student union matters and taking the second-tier Talisman Master exam at Wuqi Daoist Academy, Chen Mobai happened to have a lot of free time. He used this time to ask Ming Yihua to refine the Pure Wind Fiend into this magic artifact.

After being re-refined, the Chixia Cloud Mist Gauze, in addition to its previous light red color, gained another layer of blue glow, turning into the current blue-red mist and cloud.

And above the blue-red mist, a blurred figure sat cross-legged.

It was a puppet that had evolved to the Core Formation realm, propelled by the energy of a high-grade spirit stone.

In the depths of the distant void, a wisp of endless solar essence slightly dispersed. After being absorbed by the Formless Puppet on the Chixia Cloud Mist Gauze, it slowly descended towards this place.

Chen Mobai had long since split a portion of his spiritual sense and lodged it into the Formless Puppet.

Since deducing the method of using a puppet to evolve to the Core Formation realm and refine Pure Yang Purple Qi, he had tried several times, but all his attempts had failed.

In previous attempts, either the solar essence ignored him, or, if it acknowledged him, it wouldn't be drawn, or the direction of the draw was incorrect.

After experiencing multiple failures, the energy of the high-grade spirit stone Chen Mobai obtained from the Water Mansion was almost depleted to below 40. If this attempt also failed, he planned to give up for the time being.

Fortunately, this time, a wisp of solar essence perfectly followed the Formless Puppet's pull, descending from the outer starry sky towards the sky above Danxia City's fire poison land.

Just as Chen Mobai focused his entire mind on the puppet, he saw that the wisp of solar essence descending towards him, the moment it touched the outermost layer of Dizhou Star's atmosphere, was like a raindrop falling into a vast ocean, as if it had been assimilated, disappearing without a trace from his spiritual sense.

What was going on?

Chen Mobai was completely confused. After much hesitation, he still did not call Che Yucheng to ask about this matter.

After all, if he brought this up, the high-grade spirit stone would certainly be exposed.

Although this teacher treated him very well, high-grade spirit stones were almost considered strategic resources within the Immortal Gate; even Golden Core True Persons had to apply for their use.

Although he was known as the Immortal Gate's foremost Foundation Establishment cultivator, the origin of his high-grade spirit stone simply couldn't be explained.

So, after some thought, Chen Mobai kept this matter to himself and paused the refinement of Pure Yang Purple Qi.

Then, with a thought, the Chixia Cloud Mist Gauze, carrying the Formless Puppet, which had ascended to several thousand meters high, transformed into a streak of blue-red mist, like a cloud of vibrant colors, and rapidly descended towards the ground.

When it reached the sky above the puppet factory, a layer of pale red light barrier appeared out of nowhere. This was the grand formation laid down by Yun Yangbing, which had taken shape after a thousand saplings were planted. Although its power had not yet reached its maximum, it already possessed basic protective capabilities.

Chen Mobai, standing by the Vermillion Fruit Tree, waved his hand, and the protective shield of the grand formation covering the entire fire poison land immediately opened a gap large enough for the Formless Puppet to pass through.

As Chen Mobai watched the Chixia Cloud Mist Gauze pass through the formation in the sky, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.

He suddenly looked up at the sky.

His expression was thoughtful.

He recalled something: all spiritual energy on Dizhou Star, including celestial starlight and other energies, had been suppressed and controlled by the Immortal Gate. So, was it possible that the solar essence he had drawn down using the Formless Puppet, the moment it entered Dizhou Star's atmospheric barrier, was already absorbed and refined by the grand formation set up by the Immortal Gate that enveloped the entire planet?

Just as if he, the formation master, didn't open a gap, the Formless Puppet would need to possess the power to break the entire formation to enter this fire poison land.

He was refining Pure Yang Purple Qi within the Immortal Gate's territory. The solar essence he had painstakingly drawn down was directly intercepted and refined by the Immortal Gate's grand formation the moment it entered Dizhou Star.

Although it was just his own speculation, based on rumors he had heard since childhood and recalling the scene of the solar essence falling like water merging into a vast ocean, Chen Mobai felt that this should be the truth.

He decided to go to the Eastern Barrens to test it and see if this was indeed the case.

All spiritual energy of Dizhou Star, whether underground, from outer space, or between heaven and earth, had been suppressed and controlled by the Immortal Gate.

But Chen Mobai had another cultivation world that possessed a sun.

However, this time before teleporting, he first went to the puppet factory's warehouse.

A full one hundred thousand sheets of high-grade first-tier snow-white talisman paper were neatly stacked on the shelves.

This was the puppet factory's output over the past ten days since it began operation, enough to equal the Feitian Talisman Factory's quarterly output.

With the endless supply of Chiyang Spirit Tree raw materials from the Divine Tree Secret Realm, Chen Mobai spared no expense on spiritual electricity, operating the puppet factory at full efficiency.

However, these talisman papers lacked the necessary certification for spiritual trees. If they suddenly circulated in large quantities in the Immortal Gate market, it would easily attract the attention of market regulatory authorities.

Chen Mobai was a patient person. He decided to release the talisman paper produced by the puppet factory at a rate of twice Feitian Talisman Factory's annual output from previous years, and planned to sell the rest to the Eastern Barrens.

He took twelve thousand sheets of talisman paper. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, he found that most were qualified high-grade first-tier, about 2% were mid-grade first-tier, but there were no low-grade first-tier sheets, which were considered defective.

Besides the fact that the equipment in his puppet factory was still brand new, it was also because the raw Chiyang Spirit Tree logs had abundant spiritual energy, naturally resulting in high-quality pulp.

When Chen Mobai was young and earning pocket money, the talisman paper he cut was the defective product from Feitian Talisman Factory's papermaking process. These were generally bought by students, and using these low-grade first-tier talisman papers was perfect for beginners.

Defective products were also a perk for Feitian Talisman Factory's employees; when Wu Shangru was the boss, they were directly given to the employees.

Chen Mobai, with a storage bag full of talisman paper, teleported to Mount Xiaonan.

"Greetings, Master."

A short while later, his three disciples, who had received his message about ending his seclusion, all arrived.

"Hmm, nothing major has happened in the sect recently, has it?" Chen Mobai stood in front of the wooden cabin and skillfully inquired about the situation.

"Reporting to Master, nothing major has happened," said Luo Yixuan. "However, a few days ago, the Sect Master took a group of people to visit Jinguang Cliff. Before leaving, he seemed to want to take you, the sect's foremost sword cultivator, along, but I told him you were in seclusion, so the Sect Master gave up."

She represented Chen Mobai in communicating with other Foundation Establishment True Cultivators within the sect. Any messages sent by Chu Zuoshu to Mount Xiaonan in the Sect Master's name, when Chen Mobai was in seclusion and no one else could receive them, would all be forwarded to her.

"Jinguang Cliff! What a pity," Chen Mobai said. "If I could have exchanged pointers with the sword cultivators of that sect, my sword dao would surely have made great progress."

Hearing this, Chen Mobai couldn't help but feel a little regret.

As brother sects with shared origins, the Divine Wood Sect would send a group of sword cultivator disciples to Jinguang Cliff each year for exchange and study. Chen Mobai had yearned for this even when he was still in the Qi Refining stage.

However, at that time, he thought he should first reach Foundation Establishment, and he always felt that the Eastern Barrens were very dangerous and didn't want to go out.

As a result, it dragged on year after year, until he became the Chief Disciple, then reached Foundation Establishment, and up to now.

Although he was called the Divine Wood Sect's foremost sword cultivator in the Eastern Barrens and even held the title of "Second Sword of the Eastern Barrens," Chen Mobai himself knew that his sword dao cultivation was purely based on his higher cultivation realm to overpower others.

Compared to the sword cultivators of Jinguang Cliff, whose sword dao realms were all elevated through combat and struggles with others, his foundation was truly somewhat lacking.

When Chen Mobai fought others now, he merely relied on the power of sword light or sword fiend to forcefully overwhelm them. If he could make a trip to Jinguang Cliff, he believed he could definitely make up for his shortcomings in practical techniques.

"Master, there's another matter," Liu Wenbo, his eldest disciple, added. "This year you are already the guardian of Jian Kingdom. By rights, you should visit and inspect Jian Kingdom's five major markets."

"Yes, I came out of seclusion this time precisely for this matter," Chen Mobai replied. "It's already been delayed for nearly three months. Spring is almost over; it would be improper to delay any further."

Chen Mobai had originally planned to take some time at the beginning of the year to conduct an inspection. After getting acquainted with the leaders of the various cultivation families, he would then hand this matter over to Liu Wenbo.

However, the puppet factory's matters were more complicated than he had imagined. Coupled with the Daoist Academy and the second-tier Talisman Master exam, the result was that it was delayed until now.

But now was actually the perfect time.

"Ming'er," Chen Mobai instructed, "divide these talisman papers into dozens, 12 sheets per dozen."

Zhuo Ming stared blankly at the large pile of extremely high-quality talisman papers Chen Mobai had taken out of his storage bag.