Chapter 67: Qinglin Horse

Time, like a white steed flashing past a gap, quickly passed, and four months went by in a blink.

Inside the guest room, Wang Changsheng held a black eagle puppet, meticulously engraving spirit patterns.

He was currently refining a first-grade mid-tier black eagle puppet. After extensive practice, his success rate for crafting first-grade low-tier puppets had reached eighty percent, and the puppets he produced were increasingly agile.

Creating a single first-grade low-tier puppet took at least three days, sometimes up to five.

His puppets were well-made and affordable, making them quite popular. However, the profit from first-grade low-tier puppets was not substantial, and he was no longer content with them. His current goal was to refine first-grade mid-tier puppet beasts.

The Flying Eagle Puppet was a first-grade mid-tier puppet beast, with a flight speed exceeding even that of a mid-tier flying spirit artifact. Its only drawback was the need for spirit stones to power it.

The cost of refining a first-grade mid-tier puppet beast was higher; one set of materials cost fifty spirit stones. Naturally, the selling price of a first-grade mid-tier puppet beast was also higher, at one hundred and twenty spirit stones.

First-grade mid-tier puppet beasts could cast first-grade spells, making their offensive power stronger than that of first-grade low-tier puppet beasts.

At Wang Changsheng's feet lay five black eagle puppets, all failures, ruined by errors during the spirit pattern engraving process.

As time slowly passed, a layer of sweat permeated Wang Changsheng's forehead.

After engraving the last Swift Wind spirit pattern, a smile spread across his weary face.

With the spirit patterns complete, only the final step of soul attachment remained.

He prepared the spirit liquid and used his divine sense to control it, enveloping the black eagle puppet.

The spirit patterns on the black eagle puppet seemed to possess a special attraction, drawing the spirit liquid into them, causing the patterns to glow brightly.

This black eagle puppet had a total of four spirit patterns engraved: Swift Wind, Solid, Potent, and Water Arrow.

The Swift Wind pattern on its wings enabled flight. The Potent pattern on its talons allowed it to attack enemies with its claws. The Solid pattern on its body made it more resilient, and the Water Arrow pattern on its head allowed it to cast the Water Arrow spell.

If only casting Water Arrow, one low-grade spirit stone could power ten uses. If only using its claws to attack, it could last for about half an hour.

Wang Changsheng took out a black porcelain bottle and released a green light orb, about the size of an egg, which slowly flew towards the black eagle puppet.

When the green light orb entered the black eagle puppet's head, the first-grade mid-tier puppet beast was finally complete.

"It's finally a success!" Wang Changsheng exhaled slowly, a look of delight on his face.

It took six sets of materials to refine one first-grade mid-tier puppet beast, indicating a very low success rate. The cost in spirit stones alone was close to two hundred.

Fortunately, he had sold many first-grade low-tier puppet beasts previously, earning a good amount of spirit stones. Although he was currently at a loss, he believed he would become profitable once he improved his success rate.

Wang Changsheng put away the black eagle puppet, intending to sell it at the rogue cultivator market.

Just as he stepped out, Wang Mingzhan approached, his face clouded with worry.

"Sixth Uncle, what's wrong? What happened?" Wang Changsheng's brow furrowed as he asked with concern.

"I'm afraid we might have to leave White Dragon Valley," Wang Mingzhan sighed, turning back into the room.

Closing the door, Wang Mingzhan gave a wry smile and said, "An executive from Tianbing Tower found me. He said they hope you can refine puppet beasts for Tianbing Tower. They would provide the materials, and you would only need to focus on refining. For each puppet beast you complete, they would give you a sum of spirit stones. If you don't agree, they won't allow us to sell puppet beasts in the market. Their words carried a clear threat."

Wang Changsheng's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. He hadn't expected to attract the attention of Tianbing Tower.

To be honest, he was reluctant to leave. The profit from crafting puppet beasts was significant, and White Dragon Valley offered abundant cultivation resources. If he stayed here for ten or eight years, he might accumulate enough spirit stones to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill. However, Tianbing Tower's visit presented him with two options: either refine puppet beasts for them or leave.

Tianbing Tower was a shop opened by the Tianbing Sect, a prominent cultivation sect in Wei Kingdom, and they could not afford to offend them.

"If you refine puppet beasts on your own, you can still find time to cultivate. But if you refine for Tianbing Tower, they will treat you as a tool to create wealth. While they won't work you to death, they will ruthlessly exploit your time, leaving you with very little for cultivation. Thankfully, they offered a second option, allowing us to leave White Dragon Valley. I've discussed it with Changxue; I'll leave with you, and she will stay."

"What? Leave Second Sister behind? Won't Tianbing Tower trouble her?"

Wang Mingzhan shook his head. "Probably not. We've affected Tianbing Tower's interests, which is why they want us to leave. Your second sister has already been hired as a pastry apprentice at Hundred Spirit Tower, earning three spirit stones a month, with food and accommodation provided. She works five hours a day. She plans to learn pastry-making at Hundred Spirit Tower, as she's a latecomer to it and there's still a significant gap between her and professional spirit chefs. Hundred Spirit Tower is a shop opened by the Hundred Spirit Sect. Tianbing Tower won't make things difficult for your second sister, as she hasn't affected their interests. Let's return to Song Kingdom! You can still refine puppet beasts in Immortal Fate City, and in Song Kingdom, you have the family to support you."

"Alright, that's the only way then. When do we leave?"

"Let's depart as soon as possible, before any more complications arise. But for caution's sake, we should buy a few spirit talismans for self-defense. Oh, by the way, Changsheng, how many spirit stones do you have left?"

Wang Changsheng truthfully replied, "I have four hundred and fifty-two left. What's wrong, Sixth Uncle? Do you not have enough spirit stones?"

"The White Dragon Mountain Range is rich in a type of demonic beast called the Green Scale Horse. It can run on land and fly in the air. It's said that an adult Green Scale Horse can travel a thousand li in a day. A few spiritual beast shops sell Green Scale Horses, and I want you to buy one for our journey. This will shorten our travel time back. Traveling by Wind Control spell is far too slow, and driving a flying spirit artifact can't last for too long. Most importantly, I'm worried Tianbing Tower might try something. The path we took here was mostly hills and mountains, with dense forests. Flying by artifact could easily lead to an ambush. Buying a spiritual horse for travel is the most suitable option."

"No problem, then let's buy a Green Scale Horse for transportation!" Wang Changsheng felt Wang Mingzhan's reasoning was sound and agreed.

Fifteen minutes later, Wang Changsheng and Wang Mingzhan appeared in a spacious courtyard.

Dozens of Green Scale Horses of varying sizes were tethered in the yard. Each Green Scale Horse had a pair of green feathered wings on its back and some fist-sized green scales on its head.

"Fellow Daoists, these are all the Green Scale Horses we have in our shop, ranging from first-grade low-tier to second-grade mid-tier," an executive-like middle-aged man said enthusiastically, pointing to the dozens of Green Scale Horses. "A first-grade low-tier Green Scale Horse can travel a thousand li a day and can also fly in the air, with a flight speed far exceeding that of a low-grade flying spirit artifact. It costs three hundred spirit stones. A first-grade mid-tier one can travel three thousand li a day, costing six hundred spirit stones. A first-grade high-tier one can travel five thousand li a day, costing a thousand spirit stones. Which kind would you like?"

After some bargaining, Wang Changsheng purchased a half-zhang tall first-grade low-tier Green Scale Horse for two hundred and ninety spirit stones. He also spent ten spirit stones on fifty catties of Qinghua Grass.

Qinghua Grass was a first-grade low-tier spirit herb, easy to cultivate, growing taller than a person in a year. It was commonly used to feed spiritual horses and was relatively inexpensive.

After leaving the spiritual beast shop, they went to a talisman shop and bought two Earth Evasion Talismans and two Great Fireball Talismans. That evening, Wang Changsheng placed a restriction on the Green Scale Horse to make it easier to control.

The next morning, at dawn, Wang Changsheng and Wang Mingzhan left the inn and headed straight out of the valley.

Once outside White Dragon Valley, Wang Changsheng released the Green Scale Horse. The two mounted it and galloped towards Song Kingdom.

The Green Scale Horse was incredibly fast. Before long, the two disappeared into the vast mountains.