Demonic Demoness Training Project

This scene is exactly the same as the stamping mechanism inside the stamping workshop.

With just a thought, Lu Li could mold these spirit-guiding coppers at will.

"Ok?"

The next moment, Lu Li remembered the two lines of incantation recorded in the Stamping Technique—

[Iron pivots are forged into molds, refined a hundred times to form a finished product.]

[A thousand pounds of true form can be fixed, but a single thought can shatter ten thousand forms.]

"Although I don't have a stamping die or immense strength, I do have a powerful inner energy that surpasses even a stamping die. In this way, I have achieved what is called mold making and blank forming."

"Although my physical body is weak, I possess the Qi-Gathering Cauldron, which allows me to transform external objects into my own. Only in this way can I achieve what is described in the Stamping Technique: 'A thousand pounds of true form is fixed, and a single thought can urge ten thousand forms.'"

If there really is a technique in this Stamping Technique, it is definitely not something that can be achieved by simply reciting incantations. It is far less mysterious than what is described in novels from my previous life.

The essence of stamping techniques is to utilize external forces and transform them into one's own.

With this realization, Lu Li felt enlightened. The Spirit-Guiding Copper completely turned into dust and merged into his Qi. This Qi, which had been fused with the Spirit-Guiding Copper, turned scarlet and flowed around his body, eventually gathering in his palm.

The next moment, Lu Li suddenly stood up, walked slowly to the bow of the ship, and gently pushed out a punch.

boom!

The fist was fierce, transforming into a crimson giant hammer that slammed into the river surface from a distance, creating a wave three zhang high that was more than ten meters away.

Its power was so great that Lu Li was speechless.

If this punch were to land on someone, they would either die or be maimed. Its power is far greater than what Lu Li could achieve with the iron filings he manipulated back then. If he were to encounter those two disciples again, he might be able to blow their heads off in a single exchange.

The old pliers master was right; there really is a technique hidden in this stamping method!

Chapter 19 Anvils and Milling Cutters

Lu Li felt a surge of energy. He circulated his inner energy again, gathered it in his palm, aimed it at the rocks on the shore not far away, and then pushed it forward.

Clang!

The boulder, half a person's height, was pierced directly through, the opening of which was smooth and round, as if it had been milled out by a rotating cutting tool.

If the previous punch was like a hammer, equivalent to a blunt weapon, then the slash that Lu Li is now unleashing is like a milling cutter, equivalent to a sharp weapon.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Blunt weapons rely on impact to transmit kinetic energy, penetrating the armor and causing internal injuries, while sharp weapons can target weak points and attack a single point.

"No, my spirit ore!"

Before unleashing those two deadly moves, Lu Li had also sent out the Spirit Guide Copper. However, when Lu Li swept his surroundings with his Qi, he did not find any remnants of the Spirit Guide Copper.

"To unleash the full power of the Qi-Mixing Cauldron, one must nurture Qi with spirit ore. The higher the purity and hardness, the greater the power. Once the killing move is unleashed, the spirit ore will dissipate."

"So it's a one-time use only? That's way too expensive."

Roughly calculated, the spirit ore that Lu Li just threw out was worth at least three to five spirit stones.

"You get what you pay for. Although the Qi-Harmony Cauldron is expensive, if you can find suitable spiritual ore to nourish your Qi, its power can be comparable to a second-grade mechanical weapon. Besides, there are many other expensive but deadly tricks. You will understand in the future."

Lu Li quickly recovered from the depression of losing three spirit stones. There are many things in this world that money can't buy. Lu Li took out some gray silver again and put it into the Qi-Mixing Cauldron for purification.

Soon, Lu Li followed the same method, integrating the gray silver into his internal energy.

Its power is still considerable, but not as great as before.

Is it because the gray silver isn't hard enough?

Gray silver is known for its toughness, while spirit copper is known for its excellent spiritual energy conduction. The latter is harder than the former, but neither is the best choice.

Similarly, lead blue is also a relatively soft type. Among the pile of ores in Lu Li's hands, the hardest is the Void Stone.

The "Stamping Manual" states that Kongming Stone has an extremely high hardness, and most of the hammers and milling cutters used in the stamping process are made from Kongming Stone.

Lu Li then passed the Void Stone powder through his lungs and immediately felt a slight stinging sensation in his throat. Once the powder entered his gray-silver trachea, the stinging sensation disappeared instantly.

The spiritual ore passed through his lungs, filtering out impurities and nourishing his inner energy, finally converging in his palm. Lu Li aimed at another boulder as tall as a person and slashed it from a distance.

Clang!

The boulder split open with a sharp crack, its power even greater than before.

"it is good!"

Lu Li was overjoyed. Cultivators often passed by the Liubao River, and Lu Li's sale of high-purity spirit ore inevitably attracted the attention of others.

In addition, he earned so many spirit stones in one go. Whether it was ordinary people looking for gold or passing sect disciples, there were quite a few covetous eyes among them. Lu Li was always worried that he would be targeted. As the saying goes, people's hearts are unpredictable, so one must be on guard.

Now that he had this trump card, Lu Li felt much safer.

Lu Li comprehended these two killing moves, but they were not recorded in the Stamping Technique. So he took it upon himself to name them "Stamping Technique: Anvil Hammer" and "Stamping Technique: Milling Cutter" respectively.

"Unfortunately, my lung capacity is limited, and the Void Qi I store is only enough for me to unleash the Strike Technique killing move three times."

It is called lung capacity, but it is actually the capacity of the aikido. The aikido is not like the human body, and its capacity seems difficult to improve through training. If you want a larger lung capacity, you will have to find a way to modify it in the future.

In the end, Lu Li spent two hours absorbing six ounces of Void Stones, transforming them into Void Qi, and then used them to make two jin of Spirit-Guiding Copper and Gray Silver.

Compared to buying spirit stones directly, Lu Li saved a lot of time, which made him feel very happy.

The work continued late into the night, with Lu Li busy making money and marking locations.

……

The next morning, Lu Li ate a pear and ate a steamed bun. There were quite a few cultivators who came this morning, five or six groups in total. He didn't see any independent cultivators. The people who came were either from Qingyang Palace or Baiyue Palace.

Lu Li knew from his time in Nanyang Town that the two sects were currently engaged in a trade war. The stock market expert from Baiyue Palace threatened to raise taxes, causing the stock market to crash overnight. His mother lost all her family fortune because of this.

The two groups clearly didn't get along. When they met, they didn't talk to each other and acted as if they didn't see each other. The atmosphere was tense, as if a fight could break out at any moment.

To be honest, Lu Li was still a little scared when he encountered people from Qingyang Palace. Logically speaking, he owed Qingyang Palace money and had killed their people, so he didn't dare to go up and sell mines whenever Qingyang Palace came out.

Today is the third day since Lu Li came to Liubao River. He sold off the spirit ore he had in hand one after another, and a total of thirty-three spirit stones were received.

As expected, word of yesterday's sale of trading points leaked out, and early this morning dozens of people followed Lu Li, wanting to buy the trading points he controlled. Seeing how enthusiastic the people were, Lu Li raised the price slightly.

"One spirit stone per location? Why don't you just rob someone?"

“I said yesterday that I only know a limited number of locations, and the price will definitely go up later. You, I remember you, you were there at the time.”

"You're raising prices tenfold in a single day?! Are you even human?!"

"Don't even mention ten times the return. All these locations my father left me are rare mineral deposits. Even if they increase twenty times a day, you'll still make a profit."

Even though everyone knew that what Lu Li said was true, their faces were still grim, and they secretly cursed Lu Li for being a rich second-generation miner.

Only those few who pooled their money to buy a spot yesterday were secretly happy, glad they had followed suit. At the time, they felt a pang of regret for spending a penny or two, but now it seemed like they had made a killing.

In one morning, Lu Li sold six spots because he spent most of the night refining ore and only had time to look for mining sites in the latter half of the night.

Even so, demand still exceeded supply, and the last available spot was sold at auction, ultimately fetching thirty taels of silver.

Lu Li tallied his assets, converting the silver into spirit stones, bringing his total assets to fifty-nine spirit stones, or about twenty kidneys.

Just a few days ago, his assets were negative 36 spirit stones, but in just four days, his spirit stones turned from negative to positive.

As for the money I owed in the past...

Lu Li dares not go to Qingyang Palace to repay the money now. Two disciples died at his hands, and the consequences would be unimaginable if he were convicted.

To paraphrase Master Duan, you've slaughtered all the debt collectors, which in a sense makes you a deadbeat turned outlaw. Even if you're not a demon, you've at least evolved into a half-bandit. If you still think about paying back the money, you're really not very ambitious.

After listening, Lu Li felt that Old Duan was probably the kind of old scoundrel who liked to cheat people out of money, but what the other party said did make sense.

Well, since the fairy grandmother has said that it doesn't need to be repaid, then it probably really doesn't need to be repaid.

Chapter 20 Lu Ling

At noon, Lu Li sat down at the buckwheat noodle stall while yawning, quietly watching the owner cook the noodles.

The owner didn't poison it, so it should be safe to eat.

Lu Li was in a good mood. He sold three locations and dozens of kilograms of spirit ore in one morning, earning a total of thirty spirit stones. His total assets also successfully exceeded one hundred spirit stones.

Within just five days, the pseudonym Duan Li spread almost throughout Liubao River. Gold prospectors passing by bowed and scraped before him, and their address for him changed from "child" to "Brother Duan," "Big Brother Duan," and even now, ordinary people call him Young Master Duan.

However, when everyone saw the small package he carried with him, they couldn't help but drool. One hundred spirit stones was a windfall they could never earn in a lifetime.

The noodles were cooked under Lu Li's watchful eye. Lu Li's meals had changed from a bowl of buckwheat noodles with two ounces of beef to a bowl of buckwheat noodles with two ounces of beef and one ounce of pig's head meat.

Lu Li held chopsticks in one hand, picked up a piece of pig's head meat and put it in his mouth, while covering the package on his thigh with his other hand.

Inside were his one hundred spirit stones, his life-saving money. He was afraid someone would steal them if he left them on the boat, so he felt safest carrying them on his person.

Just as they were halfway through their meal, a middle-aged man who had gained weight walked towards them. Unlike the other gold prospectors, he did not lose his hair due to the influence of the spiritual mine.

"Hey, Young Master Duan, eating?"

"You are……"

"Young Master Duan, you've forgotten me so quickly? You must be a man of great importance with a short memory. My surname is Liu, and you rented that boat from us."

"Oh……"

Lu Li remembered; this guy was Old Liu, the one who rented the boat. Before Lu Li could speak, Old Liu shouted to the noodle stall owner behind him:

"Shopkeeper, bring me a jar of wine. This meal is on me, Young Master Duan."

The other party's enthusiasm made Lu Li feel very uncomfortable. They were completely different from the person they were on that day. Were they trying to trick him into buying a boat?

Lu Li was not fooled.

"Young Master Duan, to be honest, my employer sent me here to discuss something with you."

"The boss?"

"Our boss is none other than the Monkey King. Tell me your secrets, how many positions do you still have?"

"What do you want to do?"

"The Monkey King wants to take that River Map you have in your hand."

As for why he was able to find so many locations, Lu Li's own explanation was that his father left him a River Map, which showed many locations where spirit ore could easily accumulate.

In reality, he would search for any so-called "locations" by boat the night before and sell them the next day. There were no more than one such location, so how could he possibly produce any "river map" (a map of the river)?

Moreover, over the past few days, Lu Li has basically searched out all the locations within a dozen miles. Even if he finds the rest, he doesn't plan to sell them. Instead, he will keep them to dig himself and leave once he has collected 170 spirit stones.

Therefore, Lu Li said directly:

"Almost sold out."

"The Monkey King wants them all, one location for one spirit stone. Are you selling or not? Give me a straight answer."

Regarding the price of the points, the final price per point stabilized at around two spirit stones. Lu Li thought that the Monkey King was some kind of extravagant tycoon. How could this guy be so shameless as to offer a price of one spirit stone per point?

“I know this price is a bit low, but you have to think about it. The Monkey King is our boss. He controls more than a hundred miles downstream of the Liubao River. If you sell it to him at a low price, you will definitely benefit in the future.”

"I'm so sorry, I didn't bring the Hetu with me. Maybe next time."

Lu Li looked apologetic. He quickly finished his noodles, stuffed the remaining pig's head meat into his mouth, and then got up and left.

Lu Li had considered making a fake Hetu (River Map), selling it, marking multiple points, and then running away with the money.

But then Lu Li thought again, he could raise enough money to leave in three days or two days at the latest, but at this critical juncture, Lu Li did not want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

No sooner had he left than the smile on Old Liu's face froze, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes.

……

The dimly lit house was eerily quiet.

Lu Li opened his eyes and felt an inexplicable strangeness in his body. Looking down, he saw that the ground was farther away than he had imagined. Could it be that he had grown taller?

No, he hung himself from the roof beam!

Lu Li tried to move his feet, but found that his feet were off the ground and he couldn't move. He felt a strange sensation near his neck. When Lu Li raised his hand to touch it, it felt like a rope.

This scene... it makes me feel like I'm hanging myself.

How could he possibly hang himself?!

Lu Li looked around. The stove, the heated kang bed... the surrounding furnishings were so familiar. This was his home, that dilapidated thatched hut.

I'm back?

How did I get back?