Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 441 Purchasing a Puppet

Having traveled alone this time, Ji An could only rely on himself, so he decided to improve his skills.

He was confident he could handle a small number of enemies, but if he encountered a large number of enemies, he would need the power to restrain them.

The Pulling Silk Spell he obtained from the Golden Puppet Pavilion is nearing perfection, and he can now separate more than twenty strands of divine thought.

If he had enough high-grade spirit stones, he wouldn't be so stingy; he would have at least acquired ten or eight second-tier top-grade puppets.

Fang Shiping smiled and said:
"Fellow Taoist, please come with me."

He immediately offered a top-grade puppet. If the deal goes through, I'll make a profit of several dozen high-grade spirit stones today.

The two exchanged pleasantries as they walked, and upon arriving at the testing area on the third floor, Fang Shiping gave instructions:
"Bring over all the top-tier second-tier defensive puppets."

The maid replied softly, "Yes," and quickly left with small, quick steps.

A moment later, the maid handed several storage bags to Fang Shiping.

"Fellow Daoist, let me demonstrate for you. This is the most popular puppet among cultivators."

As the words fell, a black gorilla-shaped puppet, about the size of a small house, landed on the ground with a dull thud.

Ji An gently patted his forehead, thinking to himself:
'How much you enjoy making gorilla puppets!'

The superior defensive puppet that Han Yan bought was shaped like a chimpanzee, and frankly, it was a bit ugly.

Fang Shiping made a hand seal, and the puppet's chest cavity opened, revealing a groove.

"Similar to other defensive golems, the material used in the chest area is the thickest, which can better resist damage."

Therefore, the core of the organization and the central location for storing spirit stones are both here.

These puppets are powered by high-grade spirit stones, and three stones need to be placed at a time.

After placing the spirit stone inside, he activated the puppet. Dark light shone from the gorilla's eyes, and its body slowly shrank until it was only eight feet tall.

"The puppet can shrink, at which point its defense becomes stronger."

After demonstrating the gorilla puppet, Fang Shiping demonstrated two more puppets.

One is a humanoid golden-armored puppet, and the other is a turtle-shaped puppet.

"Fellow Daoist, I have demonstrated the basic functions once. You can now test its power."

I remember your Golden Light Technique is incredibly sharp; you can confidently test it this time.

The defense of a top-grade puppet is much stronger than that of a high-grade one, and Fang Shiping was confident that all three puppets could withstand such an attack.

It may not be possible to achieve immunity, but the other party will also be unable to cause too much harm.

Ji An shook his head slightly and said:

"This time I'll use the Fire Dragon Burning Heaven Technique."

With the added benefit of a superior Geng Metal Dao Seed, the damage his Metal-based spells can inflict is something that other cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage probably wouldn't even understand.

He's a low-key person, so using the Fire Dragon Burning Heaven Technique is just fine for him.

With only a mid-grade level of Bing Fire Dao Seed, he could use less magic power when casting spells, which allowed him to test the puppet's strength while keeping a backup plan.

Ji An cast a spell, and a lifelike crimson fire dragon appeared in the void, with scales, whiskers, horns, claws, and even detailed textures that could be seen.

The temperature in the room soared rapidly, and the maid involuntarily shrank back. At that moment, she felt as if she were right next to the stove, and all the exposed skin on her face and hands felt intensely roasted.

The fire dragon gracefully charged towards the gorilla puppet that was waiting in battle. With a thunderous roar, the powerful shockwave knocked the puppet back more than ten feet.

Fang Shiping raised an eyebrow slightly. He unleashed the Fire Dragon Burning Heaven Technique with all his might, but could only push the puppet back one step.

He scratched his head. The gap between the two sides was too great. If he were to fight the opponent, his magic would have no advantage. He could only rely on the number of puppets to suppress the opponent.

The thought that he could control twelve puppets at the same time, and also control a top-grade spiritual artifact, made him feel much more at ease.

The power of the direct descendants of the Nascent Soul sects in the Central Continent is unimaginable to disciples from small, insignificant sects in the Western Continent.

Ji An unleashed a series of spells, attacking from different angles, and each puppet endured five attacks.

The puppet's entire body was glowing with intense red light, like molten iron boiling.

He stepped forward and carefully observed the puppet's condition, finding that it had not caused any substantial damage.

The puppet's body was covered in a shimmering aura of magical resistance, which kept all damage at bay.

Fang Shiping stepped forward and said proudly:

“Fellow Daoist, the crafting method for second-tier top-grade puppets is similar to that for third-tier puppets, employing a method of nesting multiple magic arrays.”

These puppets all possess dual magic arrays, enabling them to withstand dozens of attacks from the Chaoyuan stage, while being completely immune to lower-level attacks.

"If you can find a top-grade spirit stone to power your energy source, just one stone will be enough to withstand dozens of times more attacks."

Ji An chuckled; the other party really dared to say that!
Top-grade spirit stones are rare commodities; it's said that even Nascent Soul cultivators use them. I wonder if the sect has even five top-grade spirit stones in reserve!

"If I use top-grade spirit stones as the driving force, can the puppet's defense withstand attacks from a Golden Core level cultivator? How many times can it withstand them?"

"It can withstand several attacks from early-stage Golden Core cultivators for a short period of time, but it won't last long, since they are not on the same level."

Fellow Daoist, think about it. Whether you're a cultivator or a demon beast, how much effort and how many years of training do you need to put in to reach the Golden Core stage!

Fang Shiping knew that this was not something that could be fooled by boasting, nor would he dare to do so. There might be many greedy cultivators, but there were not many fools.

Ji An stopped dwelling on the topic and said, "Fellow Daoist Fang, please make these puppets move so I can see if it affects their actions."

When he launched his attack, he took care of the puppet's joints.

"Fellow Daoist, please look," Fang Shiping said, simultaneously manipulating three puppets to make them move nimbly.

Ji An nodded with satisfaction as he watched the swiftly moving puppet.

What is the value of this humanoid golden-armored puppet?

This puppet holds a large shield in its right hand and a javelin in its left, making it capable of both offense and defense.

It was forged from various metals smelted together, and in terms of tonnage, it was the largest of these puppets.

Putting aside everything else, just the fact that it jumps up and hits someone can cause huge damage.

"Fellow Daoist has excellent taste. The weapon in this puppet's hand can be replaced. If you have enough money, you can exchange it for a top-grade spiritual weapon."

Because it can only be used for ground combat, it is priced at only fifty-five high-grade spirit stones.

For you, fellow Daoist, it's just a drop in the ocean.

Ji An grinned, offered no comment, and asked again:
"Thirty years ago, when I came to your esteemed establishment, I saw a Flame Dragon Eagle. How many spirit stones was it worth?"

The Flame Dragonhawk can unleash fire clouds and explosive fireballs. He values ​​the Fire Cloud spell, which can compensate for the lack of area-of-effect attack spells.

Fang Shiping answered fluently:
"The Dragon Eagle is also a top-grade puppet, worth sixty high-grade spirit stones."

Ji An had enough spirit stones, but if he bought two, he wouldn't have enough spirit stones to power the puppets.

"This price is acceptable. If you can fill the two puppets with high-grade spirit stones, I will buy them."

Fang Shiping shook his head. "Fellow Daoist, we don't negotiate prices here."

The Golden Armor Puppet was loaded with three spirit stones, and the Flame Dragon Eagle with two. In total, it was equivalent to selling two top-grade puppets for 110 spirit stones.

I really want to close this deal, but I can't explain it to the person in charge.

He appeared serious, but was secretly overjoyed. The other party didn't even flinch at the transaction involving hundreds of high-grade spirit stones; such a straightforward cultivator was a rare sight.

He had only ever seen such a magnate among the most trusted members of powerful factions in the Central Continent; he never imagined that such a magnate could exist in the remote Western Continent.

At this moment, he couldn't help but become curious about Ji An's identity. Even if he was the illegitimate son of a Golden Core cultivator, he shouldn't be so wealthy!

"Sigh, I'm broke, I can afford to buy it but can't afford to use it."

Ji An sighed softly, "Get me a brand new golden-armored puppet."

Fang Shiping turned his head and instructed:

"Go and do it quickly."

A moment later, the maid brought the puppet over, and Ji An took out enough spirit stones and placed them on the table.

He learned the manipulation technique, loaded it with spirit stones and experimented with it, then shrunk the puppet and stored it in the void space.

After the money and goods were exchanged, he took his leave.

Upon reaching the stairs, Fang Shiping coughed lightly and said:
"Fellow Daoist is considered a major client of our Golden Puppet Pavilion, and it's a pity that you can't get what you want because of a few spirit stones."

I'll go and ask the head of the department to see if we can grant your request.

"Fellow Daoist, please return to the testing grounds and take a seat."

The merchant ship is stationed in the Western Continent, and it might not be able to sell two top-quality puppets in half a year.

It seems like you're giving away five high-grade spirit stones, but you actually make more than twenty yuan more profit.

Ji An chuckled and went back. The so-called "no bargaining" rule could be followed flexibly.

About 15 minutes later, Fang Shiping hurriedly returned from outside and took out the Flame Dragon Eagle Puppet:
"Fellow Daoist, I went to great lengths to persuade the chief steward, and finally managed to get you the discount."

As he spoke, he placed two high-grade spirit stones into the puppet, tested it, and then handed it over.

Ji An commanded the puppets to launch an attack, and took out enough spirit stones to complete the transaction. At this point, he only had three high-grade spirit stones left.

"Thank you for your kind words, fellow Daoist."

Even though I knew perfectly well what was going on, I still had to say the polite words.

After leaving the merchant airship, Ji An entered Qingyun Immortal City and arrived at the talisman shop area.

The Pang family's talisman shop, which used to sprinkle tracking powder on spirit stones, has vanished without a trace. It is said that the Pang family was wiped out during the years when the demonic calamity broke out.

He sold all the top-grade spirit talismans he had at the Treasure Talisman Pavilion he opened in Maple Valley, and the shopkeeper personally received him.

“Fellow Daoist, you have sold a total of 360 first-grade top-quality explosive talismans this time, each worth 45 spirit stones, for a total of 16,200 spirit stones.”
"Two hundred and forty top-grade Panshan Talismans, each worth fifty-five spirit stones, totaling thirteen thousand two hundred spirit stones. I will personally contribute thirty thousand spirit stones to purchase them all."

Ji An said:

"Could I pay with high-grade spirit stones?"

"Fellow Daoist, exchanging for high-grade spirit stones requires paying a 30% fee, unless you make up the difference."

While inwardly grumbling about how damn expensive the handling fee was, Ji An took out a large pile of mid-grade spirit stones. "I agree to pay the fee, and the rest will also be exchanged for high-grade spirit stones."

Over the years, he had accumulated a lot of mid-grade spirit stones, and it would be more convenient to exchange them for high-grade spirit stones.

(End of this chapter)