Chapter 419: Wuyue Cold Water

"Grandfather," Wang Changsheng said sincerely, a hint of expectation in his eyes. "The spiritual vein at Green Lotus Villa is second-tier, and upgrading it to third-tier requires a significant amount of spirit stones. As you know, our Wang family's foundation is shallow; we simply cannot afford it. To be honest, to form my core, I incurred a large debt. I borrowed spirit stones from my father-in-law and scrounged together funds to repay that debt. However, I truly don't have the spirit stones needed to upgrade the spiritual vein. Could you possibly help me? I promise to repay you as soon as possible." Upgrading the spiritual vein required too many spirit stones. To gather the 400,000 spirit stones sooner, he had no choice but to borrow from Wang Huashan.

Wang Huashan frowned. His Wang family had not been doing well in recent years. The members of the Wang family whom Wang Huashan had brought to Chu State had fully integrated into the Three Sects of Medicine King Valley. The Three Sects and his Wang family merged to establish a new sect, the Three Immortals Sect. As one of the elders of this new sect, Wang Huashan received a certain stipend annually. Had Wang Changsheng not formed his core, he would have been reluctant to even give him a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Wang Huashan pondered for a moment. "For the time being, I don't have many spirit stones on me," he said. "How about this: once I return to the Three Immortals Sect, I'll try to find a way to get some spirit stones and send them to you immediately. However, don't get your hopes up too high; I won't be able to acquire too many."

"If Grandfather is willing to lend me spirit stones, your son-in-law will be endlessly grateful," Wang Changsheng said.

Wang Changsheng nodded gratefully. Even if Wang Huashan could only lend tens of thousands of spirit stones, it would still significantly reduce some of his pressure.

After a brief chat, the two parted ways. Wang Changsheng went to a large pill shop and bought ten bottles of second-tier pills that enhance spiritual power. Most were for Wang Ruyan, and a smaller portion for Wang Changhao and Wang Qingshan. Their cultivation advancement would benefit the family's strength. As for the pills needed by other Foundation Establishment stage clan members, Wang Qingqi could usually refine them, or they could be purchased at Qingyue City Market.

Returning to his lodging, Wang Changsheng sat cross-legged on the bed and meditated. Three days later, a sound transmission talisman flew in, stopping before Wang Changsheng. Wang Changsheng opened his eyes, crushed the talisman, and Daoist Ziyang's voice immediately rang out: "Fellow Daoist Wang, I've acquired what you asked for. Please open the door, and let's have a good talk." Wang Changsheng looked pleased. He got up from the bed, opened the door, and invited Daoist Ziyang in.

Wang Changsheng closed the door. Daoist Ziyang sat down on a stool, took out a blue gourd, and handed it to Wang Changsheng. Taking the blue gourd, a bone-chilling coldness spread from Wang Changsheng's palm straight to his forehead, making him shiver involuntarily.

"Inside are sixty catties of diluted Black Moon Cold Water," Daoist Ziyang said with a smile. "It's more than enough for one Golden Flame Fruit."

Wang Changsheng pulled open the stopper, and an intensely cold, biting chill surged out. The room's temperature instantly plummeted, the surface of the blue gourd rapidly froze, and a layer of ice quickly spread up Wang Changsheng's hand. Wang Changsheng poured out a few drops of the Black Moon Spiritual Water and swallowed them. One should always be wary of others. As a body cultivator, Wang Changsheng knew that even if the spiritual water contained other substances, consuming a small amount wouldn't harm him.

Wang Changsheng nodded and asked, "Excellent. Fellow Daoist Lu, is this all the Black Moon Cold Water?" Daoist Ziyang smiled faintly and said meaningfully, "I have another thirty catties of diluted Black Moon Cold Water, but one Golden Flame Fruit is only enough to exchange for sixty catties."

"Let me see the other thirty catties of Black Moon Cold Water." Daoist Ziyang nodded, took out a green gourd, and tossed it to Wang Changsheng.

Wang Changsheng carefully examined it. After confirming there were no issues, he took out two Golden Flame Fruits and said, "I only have two Golden Flame Fruits, and ninety catties of Black Moon Cold Water isn't enough to exchange for two Golden Flame Fruits." Seeing the Golden Flame Fruits, Daoist Ziyang felt a surge of secret delight, and the smile on his face deepened. "Fellow Daoist Wang," he offered, "how about I make up the difference with spirit stones? Twenty thousand spirit stones."

Wang Changsheng shook his head. "I'm not short of twenty thousand spirit stones," he said. "I want a third-tier spiritual item!" Daoist Ziyang thought for a moment, then took out a bundle of dark silk threads. "This is silk spun by a third-tier mid-grade spiritual insect, the Ink Cloud Worm," he explained. "It's also worth twenty thousand spirit stones."

Wang Changsheng carefully examined the silk threads. After confirming they were acceptable, he said, "Alright. However, I have one small condition. I'm quite interested in puppet arts, especially the crafting of third-tier puppet beasts. I'd like to ask Fellow Daoist Lu for some guidance. Of course, if it involves your sect's secrets, Fellow Daoist Lu can choose to decline." Daoist Ziyang hailed from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect, one of the seven great sects, and was skilled in crafting third-tier puppet beasts. Wang Changsheng wanted to seize this opportunity to consult him. This request was not excessive, as whether it involved the Thousand Mechanisms Sect's secrets was entirely up to Daoist Ziyang.

"Agreed. It's a deal." Daoist Ziyang agreed and began discussing the crafting of third-tier puppet beasts with Wang Changsheng. He only briefly described the crafting process and did not reveal the core procedures to Wang Changsheng. Even so, Wang Changsheng benefited greatly.

The two conversed for several hours until their throats were dry. "Alright, Fellow Daoist Wang," Daoist Ziyang said, "this is all I can tell you. Whether you can craft a third-tier puppet beast depends on your luck. You are only at the first layer of Core Formation, so I advise you not to rush into crafting a third-tier puppet beast." "Thank you for your guidance, Fellow Daoist Lu," Wang Changsheng replied.

After seeing Daoist Ziyang off, a thoughtful expression appeared on Wang Changsheng's face. Daoist Ziyang, as an elder of the Thousand Mechanisms Sect, truly possessed profound mastery in puppet arts. He offered many ingenious ideas, and Wang Changsheng gained significant insights.

First and second-tier puppet beasts were crafted from spiritual wood that wasn't very old. Third-tier puppet beasts, however, required third-tier spiritual wood, which had to be over five hundred years old. Spiritual wood had an extremely long growth cycle, similar to third-tier spiritual herbs. Therefore, for puppet beasts of the third-tier and above, metal was used to replace spiritual wood. Naturally, the core components of puppet beasts were still crafted from spiritual wood, but their limbs were mostly made from metal or demonic beast materials.

After fully processing what Daoist Ziyang had explained, Wang Changsheng sat cross-legged on the wooden bed and began cultivating using the Black Moon Cold Water.

Meanwhile, in the Wei State, at Green Lotus Villa.

In a certain secret chamber, Wang Ruyan sat cross-legged behind a green wooden table, her eyes slightly closed. A layer of green light enveloped her body, and numerous blank talismans and wooden boxes filled with cinnabar were scattered around her. After the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, Wang Ruyan opened her eyes, exhaled lightly, and looked utterly exhausted.

She took a deep breath, stood up to stretch, then sat back down. After consuming the Foundation Establishment Pills, Wang Qingkai and Wang Qingjun successfully advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage. Wang Qingjun and Wang Changhao led clan members to hunt demonic beasts in the surrounding states, while Wang Qingkai managed the family. Wang Ruyan, meanwhile, diligently refined talismans in the secret chamber.

More than two years had passed since Wang Changsheng left, and during this time, she hadn't cultivated for even an hour. Most of her time was spent refining second-tier talismans. When her spiritual power was almost depleted, she would meditate to recover, and then continue refining talismans once her spiritual power was restored. To accumulate the spirit stones needed to upgrade the spiritual vein sooner, she frantically refined second-tier talismans. Her sole aim was to gather enough spirit stones quickly to upgrade the spiritual vein, so that Wang Changsheng could cultivate on a third-tier spiritual vein.

Wang Ruyan exhaled softly, picked up her talisman brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and began drawing a talisman on a blank piece of talisman paper. A moment later, a red rune appeared on the talisman paper, followed by a second, then a third…