Demonic Demoness Training Project

In contrast, the Yanshi also has a second branch—the Welder. The craftsmen in this path mainly work by welding array patterns.

There are very few welders in Nanyang Town, and even few schools that train welders. Lu Li had only heard the old teacher in the private school talk about the concept of a welder, and his knowledge of this area was completely blank.

Today marks the first time Lu Li has seen the magic array of this world with his own eyes.

Unlike the magic arrays in the fantasy novels Lu Li was in his previous life, the array plate in his hand was about the size of a walnut, round in shape, with a spirit stone embedded in the center for power supply.

Dozens of raised, tiny fragments of spirit ore are inlaid one after another and connected by raised patterns. At first glance, they appear intricate and complex, but upon closer inspection, they are quite well-organized.

However, some of the spirit ore had melted, emitting wisps of white smoke, and the magic array was dim and could no longer function, clearly damaged in the battle just now.

Thump, thump, thump~

Lu Li's heart pounded. He stared intently at the array plate in his hand, his breathing becoming increasingly heavy.

Seeing Lu Li's expression, Elder Duan assumed he was inexperienced and intimidated by the complexity of the formation, and couldn't help but feel a little smug. She explained slowly and deliberately:

"This is just a first-stage magic array. Oh, of course, this is too early for you. To independently engrave a first-stage magic array, you need to be at least a top-grade welder."

"..."

Lu Li didn't speak, he just stared blankly at the array plate in his hand.

"Most welders' work is nothing more than magic arrays that are not even of a certain grade. Only by possessing both a first-grade magic array and a first-grade component can one forge a first-grade puppet."

"See those scattered crystals over there? Those things are called array elements. There are many kinds of array elements, all of which are made from spirit ores of different attributes and have different characteristics. Of course, it's not something that can be explained to you in a few words."

"Array element...?"

Lu Li muttered these two words, gradually coming back to his senses from his daze.

In fact, he was not frightened by the complex magic array in front of him as Elder Duan thought. On the contrary, he saw the shadow of the circuits from his previous life in this magic array.

He wouldn't dare say his understanding of circuits was profound, but that was his major in his previous life.

The Dao is not electricity, and spiritual energy is not electrons, but the two lead to the same goal and have similar structures and principles.

Lu Li is no longer the same Lu Li from his previous life. After living in this world for fifteen or sixteen years, he has been ravaged by cruel reality and has become unrecognizable.

The saying "it's a pity we didn't meet sooner" perfectly describes this situation. Lu Li spent half a year tinkering with the art of clamping before discovering that he and welding were kindred spirits, like sisters he had met in a past life.

The array plate in his hand was three-tenths similar to the circuit board in his previous life, as if an old friend had returned. This unexpected reunion made Lu Li panic for a moment.

If this array was indeed created by an old friend, Lu Li suddenly felt that he was not without anything. Perhaps he really had the ability to change something, and perhaps he really had the opportunity to make a name for himself in this world.

While he was pondering, Old Duan was lecturing on the basics of array formations.

Is there any chance that thing in my chest can be removed?

"You mean the aikido? Oh, that's a bit complicated. What do you want to make it for?"

“I mortgaged my lungs in exchange for this artifact. Only when I refine it will it truly belong to me. I want to see what the array plate inside looks like.”

“Young man, you haven’t learned to walk yet, but you’re already thinking about running. I know you’re in a hurry, but don’t rush. You know nothing about welding. Even if I showed you, you wouldn’t be able to learn it.”

Lu Li shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.

"However, on the other hand, since you want to see it, it's not impossible. You can use the method of internal vision, but the prerequisite is that your spiritual sense reaches level C."

"Is there a way to improve one's spiritual power in a short period of time?"

"Yes, of course you can. If you bring a magical artifact that can enhance your divine sense, you will be able to see it."

"Why do we have to rely on puppets for everything? Can't we do without them?"

"Okay, but you need to have money. I'm asking you, do you have money?"

Lu Li stared intently at the corpse of the Qingyang Palace disciple on the ground, then took out the thirteen spirit stones he had just seized from the body.

"Is thirteen yuan enough?"

In Lu Li's view, thirteen spirit stones were a huge sum of money, enough to buy four and a third of his kidneys.

"Haha, you're quite humorous. Thirteen spirit stones, even if I calculate it at cost price, you can't even gather enough spirit materials for the Qi-Harmony Cauldron."

"Wow, that's so expensive! How much did it cost to forge this mechanical artifact in total?"

"The total cost of Vitality Jade Marrow, Spirit-Guiding Copper, Gray Silver, Blood-Generating Soil... is only about two hundred spirit stones."

"Two hundred spirit stones!"

Lu Li couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Two hundred spirit stones are equivalent to sixty-six and sixty-six kidneys!

Chapter 11 Liubao River

After listening to Elder Duan's words, Lu Li suddenly realized that he seemed to have returned to the very beginning of the problem—making money.

If he had money, he wouldn't be suffering in this godforsaken place.

If he had money, he wouldn't be in debt, his father wouldn't have died, his sister wouldn't have been sold, and his mother wouldn't have been deceived into pursuing those illusory things like the Tongxian Sect and stock refining.

If he had money, he could enter the academy, practice the Puppet Dao, and then participate in the Qingyang Palace's entrance examination to become a cultivator, thus rising rapidly in rank.

If only he had money—

"Alas, Qingyang Palace, alas, Baiyue Palace, alas, those wicked immortals."

“You people don’t hate immortals; you just hate that you’re not immortals.”

Old Master Duan revealed the secret in a single sentence. Lu Li was taken aback at first, then nodded, revealing a very helpless expression.

"That's true, but I feel like I'm different from them."

"If one day, you truly embark on the right path of cultivation, and become a righteous fairy or a demonic demoness, and you suddenly discover that you can easily exploit mortals and low-level cultivators to obtain unimaginable benefits, who knows how wicked you might become."

"I don't know, wait, why are they fairies and demonesses?"

"Hehehe, I was just giving an example. Just take it as a slip of the tongue."

Duan Lao's voice carried a hint of evasion. Anyway, this wasn't the first time she had done something similar. Although Lu Li was a poor boy, in her eyes, he had already become a stunning beauty, so she subconsciously said those words just now.

Realizing he had let something slip, Mr. Duan quickly changed the subject.

"Keep going. If I remember correctly, Liubao River is about 50 li ahead. If you need money, you can go there and take a look."

Who is Liu Baohe?

"It's not a person, it's a river. Have you ever heard of the sky tilting the sea?"

"Unheard of."

"Tianqing Sea is the center of our entire cultivation world. The seawater of Tianqing Sea contains countless spiritual minerals. Tianqing Sea radiates outward to form three major spiritual rivers. These three major spiritual rivers continue to radiate outward to form nine spiritual rivers. The spiritual rivers continue downward to become eighty-one spiritual rivers. And what is in front of us is one of the eighty-one spiritual rivers, the Liubao River."

As Duan Lao described, a spiderweb-like map of river distribution unfolded in Lu Li's mind.

"All sects in the cultivation world are built around water, and they are strictly hierarchical. The sects around the three great spiritual rivers are called upstream sects, the sects around the nine great spiritual rivers are called midstream sects, and the sects around the eighty-one spiritual rivers are called downstream sects."

"So, the mid-tier sects consume the wastewater from the upstream sects, and the downstream sects consume the wastewater from the mid-tier sects?"

“You are a promising young man. The Qingyang Palace and the Baiyue Palace are separated by the Liubao River. Of course, the area in front is the downstream of the Liubao River.”

"Where did that spirit ore that overwhelmed the sea come from?"

"Well, I don't know."

"Could it also be wastewater discharged from above?"

"Bullshit!"

"I was just saying, what does this Liubao River you mentioned have to do with me making money?"

"You'll understand when you get there."

Lu Li was puzzled. He returned to the dilapidated temple and rested for the night, listening to Old Duan ramble on about the knowledge of Yan Dao.

Thirty days isn't a long time, but Lu Li had attended university in his previous life, so compared to starting from scratch three days before the exam, thirty days was still far too much.

Besides, Lu Li has made some efforts over the years, so he doesn't fall asleep in class like he did in his previous life.

When the rain stopped, it was already the next morning, and he set off again on the muddy path.

After a day's journey, Lu Li finally arrived at the Liubao River that Old Duan had mentioned.

The river, glowing orange-red in the sunset, bisects the vast plain, while the fishermen, oblivious to the swift current, row their boats busily across the water.

Far from Nanyang Town, far from the streets overrun by crows, far from the stamping workshop filled with the smell of spirit oil, Lu Li arrived at this riverbank and looked at the fishermen on the water, feeling somewhat dazed.

"The life of a fisherman is so good! There are even fish in this water?"

"Which eye of yours saw them fishing? There are no fish around in this Liubao River, only gold-devouring beasts. Look closely, see what they are doing."

Lu Li fixed his gaze on the nearest ship, where there were two people, both of whom were emaciated and looked exhausted.

Holding a long pole with a rope-thick line attached to the top, the other end of which is extended into the water. After stirring the water for a while, he scoops up the mud and sand from the riverbed and puts it into a bucket next to him.

His companion, sitting cross-legged beside him, used a winnowing basket-like device to wash the mud and sand. Finally, he poured the brownish-red mud and sand into another wooden bucket next to him.

Looking at the people on the other ships, although they had different tools, the jobs they did were all pretty much the same.

They weren't fishermen at all; they were gold prospectors.

Lu Li immediately understood why the river was called the Treasure River. These people were washing away the remaining spirit ore in the wastewater and then selling it.

"Cultivators are really rich and powerful. They just throw away so many mines like that."

"That's not the case. If you find something good, Qingyang Palace will still take it back. There are two reasons why cultivators are unwilling to engage in this line of work."

"One reason is that the river water itself is toxic, and cultivators are unwilling to get involved. Another reason is that the benefits are not proportional to the effort, and cultivators often have more important things to do, so the income from gold panning is not very stable."

"After several rounds of washing, the valuable spiritual minerals in the river have long been taken away by the downstream sects along the riverbank. Mortals can only find a very small number of the fish that slipped through the net."

"So my goal is to find that one who slipped through the net?"

"If you can do it."

"Is that a 'Turning Weapon' in their hands?"

"They are far inferior; what they have are nothing but low-grade mundane mechanisms, not even worthy of being called mechanical devices."

Lu Li seemed to be deep in thought. He suddenly recalled the scene of him killing the Qingyang Palace disciple. At that time, he used his qi to control iron, turning iron filings into flying blades to kill the enemy.

Since he could manipulate iron filings, perhaps he could also manipulate the spiritual ore in the river. Having made up his mind, Lu Li was eager to try.

But since he wanted to pan for gold, he couldn't find any on the shore. He needed a boat. Lu Li looked around and finally found a ferry crossing where dozens of gold panners wearing straw hats were gathered and haggling with boat dealers.

"I'm just running a small business, twenty coins a day, payable daily. Take it or leave it."

"Old Liu, please give us two more days. You know there's been no shipment coming down from upstream these past few days, and the brothers haven't been doing well."

"That's your problem. I've been renting boats to you for so many years, have I ever raised the price? You've had it tough, but have I? Do you know how much I have to pay the Monkey King every month for this section of the river? Five spirit stones! A whole five spirit stones! Do you think you're just renting boats? Your protection money is also charged to me."

Chapter 12 He'll behave himself once he turns around.

Monkey King? Protection money?

Lu Li had thought this place was unclaimed land, and that he could get all the spiritual minerals in the river for free. It turned out that someone had contracted out this river channel.

So, who is this monkey king that this guy is talking about? Is it a monkey that has become a spirit?

Twenty coins a day, that's six hundred coins a month, almost equivalent to Lu Li's original monthly salary at the stamping workshop, which is quite a considerable expense.

But he had thirteen spirit stones in his hand, which was enough to pay for the boat. He stepped forward, explained the situation to the boatman, and prepared to rent it for a day to see how it went.

Lu Li hesitated for a moment, then took out a whole spirit stone. He had only taken fifteen coins with him when he left home, and he really didn't have any loose change. If he hadn't killed two disciples of Qingyang Palace, he wouldn't even be able to afford a day's boat rental.

As soon as the azure stone, brimming with spiritual energy, was taken out, the boat merchant's initial impatient expression vanished, replaced by a beaming smile and gleaming eyes.

"Oh, sir, don't rush. I think you don't need to rent a boat. Since you have the money, you can just buy one. That way, you'll be set for life."

How much for one?

"Two spirit stones, just two spirit stones, and this boat over there is yours."

Following the boat dealer's finger, Lu Li saw the dilapidated awning boat not far away.

"Your price is unreasonable. Eight thousand coins is enough to buy a ship, not to mention that your ship has been used for many years and is about to sink."

“Hey, you can’t think like that. You must have heard my conversation with those guys who were trying to renege on their debts. When you buy a boat from me, you’re not just buying a boat, you’re also buying the right to use this waterway. As long as you keep making money here, I’ll pay the Monkey King’s protection money.”

Lu Li thought for a moment and decided that he would just make some quick money here so that he could buy enough spiritual materials to refine the Qi-Melting Cauldron. A month was really too short a time. He would leave as soon as he had saved enough money. If he couldn't sell the ship or had to sell it at a low price, it would be a real loss.

Having made up his mind, Lu Li put the spirit stone back into his pocket.